.an alexandria morning.

the air conditioner broke yesterday and the man can't come fix it because he decided to take the day off (mazag ba2a); this is disastrous for a july morning in alexandria. today, the temperature is 31°C with 64% humidity, but it feels much hotter than that. i woke up at 11, and if it weren't for the 3 fans blowing at me, one on the ceiling, one at my feet and one in my face, i would have melted in my sleep. i had a long, cold shower, put on a taupe cotton dress and threw my hair up in a japanese bun. after a quick phone call to canada, my grandma and i went out arm in arm. as soon as we opened the door to our apartment, 3am 7amdi, the farash (man who serves drinks to customers and employees, and runs errands) at the import-export company next door jumps out of his wooden chair to greet us the warmest, most sincere greeting one can imagine. wishes for our wellness and the wellness of our loved ones, for our success, our happiness, good health, for god to descend his generosity upon us and make our lives long and prosperous are all common place in his daily greetings. he calls his fellow worker who is a bit younger and more nimble to get the elevator for us, we thank him, wish peace upon him and 3am 7amdi, smile and take off. in the entrance we say hello to 3am 7assan, el bawab (door man), and step out onto saleh salem street. to the left are a few carpenter's stores and workshops, the shop where i buy my phone cards, and the stunning bank misr building (i'll post pictures of it sometime); to the right is sherif street- the rundown police station is adjacent to the freshly painted, art and music center which is well kept only because it is owned by the president's wife. traffic here doesn't stop for pedestrians, so we dodge a few yellow and black taxis, a shiny silver mercedes and a rusty red 1963 fiat to cross the street. misr travel is the first travel agency we enter- the girl is nice, but a bit dumb, she doesn't really seem like she knows what she's talking about. finally, after encountering a few more dimwits, we meet nourhan who finds the ticket i want: alexandria-lebanon. for some reason, shaymaa, may and 3ola said a ticket that departs and returns to and from alexandria is impossible. i guess, nourhan at decastro elseya7a has some magical egyptian ticket booking powers, or she's simply not as lazy as the others. we reserve the spot and tell her i'll be back in half an hour to confirm. nona and i run back home, call lebanon, confirm with lebanon, grab a pile of cash, a cardigan and a sip of water, greet 3am 7amdi, his fellow worker, 3am 7assan and his son abdullah, dodge some more sherif street traffic and confirm my ticket with nourhan. i'll be beirut bound on saturday!