A little girliness

This week I went (for the first time in many, many months) for a pedicure. There's a small salon just across the street from a friend of mine's flat and we decided after dinner one night to pamper ourselves for a little while. And pamper we did, with pedicures, massage chairs, Egyptian celebrity magazines and the most delicious Nescafe I've ever had.

For those of you not familiar with Nescafe, it's an instant coffee that's common throughout Africa. And it's not very good. I usually mix mine with as much sugar as coffee to make it drinkable, but this Nescafe at the salon was absolutely amazing. I have no idea what they added to it, but I will definitely go back, for the drink almost as much as for the pedicure.

Another falucca ride

Recently we took another falucca ride on the Nile. Since we had a couple high profile visitors in town from the CDC, a large group of us from the office went right after work one afternoon. This time we were more prepared, with hummus, tahina, pita bread, stuffed grape leaves and a couple bottles of wine. I really think this is something I may have to do every month or so. It's so relaxing to spend a couple hours cruising around on the river.

(Oh, and if you can, please notice the wine glasses in the first picture below with the official NAMRU-3 emblem on them. They're kind of awesome.)

Exciting news of the week

It's a random list, but I thought I'd share a few things that made me smile this week...

1. My neighborhood nursery/florist will have Christmas trees in two weeks.
2. A small grocery store in my neighborhood sells grits.
3. There is at least one holiday almost every week between now and the end of January.
4. Thanks to the commissary, I now have sour cream, Craisins and a huge box of Bisquick.
5. I start traveling for work in less than two weeks.
6. I found a fantastic salon tonight and got a wonderful pedicure.
7. The Cairo Ballet is performing the Nutcracker in December.

IEIP-Egypt official opening

I'm afraid this post is really late. And it might make things even more confusing about where I am and for whom I'm working. But I'm going to write it anyway.

A couple weeks ago we celebrated the official opening of IEIP-Egypt. Now, before things get too complicated, this is a different program than the one for which I am working. I work for IEIP; this was a ceremony for IEIP-Egypt. The basic difference is that IEIP is a regional office whereas IEIP-Egypt is focused only on Egypt. Conveniently, though, IEIP-Egypt is located at the Abbassia Fever Hospital, which is right next door to NAMRU-3. (See previous post called 'IEIP, GDDRP, NAMRU-3 & DoD' for more information on the IEIP for which I work.)

Anyway, the ceremony and ribbon-cutting for IEIP-Egypt was a high profile event. The Egyptian Deputy Minister of Health, the U.S. abassador, NAMRU-3's executive officer and the director of CDC's infectious disease division all spoke and many other high-ranking officials from both Egypt and the U.S. attended. Even though it was a huge pain to plan and implement, the event turned out really nicely and I think officials from both countries were impressed.

Maadi

I live in a section of Cairo called Maadi. It's a residential area on the south side of the city where a lot of expats live. And it's easy to see why so many choose to live here. It's much more quiet than the rest of Cairo, has less traffic and has tons of trees and greenery. The first two pictures below are from my street.
The next few were taken on Road 9, which is about two blocks from where I live and is such a wonderful convenience. Road 9 is full of shops, restaurants, coffee shops, vegetable stands and just about everything else you could ever need.
Yes, Road 9 even has a McDonalds, and it's right at the intersection with the street on which I live, so it's the landmark I have to give when telling people where I live. I never expected that!