At Zamalek-last a few days at Cairo

I returned to Cairo for the third time. Each time I came back to Cairo, I understood and liked this city more. Now I can get around easily in Cairo. Cairo has great public transportation means. The heat and chaos seem more tolerable to me as well. When you are willing to keep your mind open and learn from a new culture, you will find yourself in no need to stress out. When you fully embrace a new culture, you are easily accepted by the culture. Eventually you gain a greater understanding of the world as well as yourself. All it takes is time and an open-mind. I often feel extremely sorry for the tourists who have traveled half way of the world just for the Pyramid and go back home with a very negative impression of the Muslim culture. Actually most of them never really get into the culture and they never even try. It's indeed a huge loss.
I spent my last a few days at a pretty neighborhood by the Nile - Zamalek. Like Rainbow street in Jordan, Zamalek is a leafy upmarket enclave with many cool bars and restaurants. I sipped lemonade juice at a popular bar "Abou El Sid" -a sumptuous fantasy with a heavy brass door and sophisticated and exclusive vibe. On the Nile river, a group of young men were canoeing. That reminds me of the young Dutch men and women athletes training for canoe on Delft's canal. There were no women athletes on the Nile. In the same evening, I met a young Egyptian college student at Sawy Center. After a hospitable tour, he got me into a concert for free. He told me he's engaged with an Egyptian lady for one year and they still each live with their own parents till the wedding day. While he seems to embrace a modern and liberal life style, he wants his fiance stay home after they get married. At last he asked me to go on a date with him. Seeing me very confused, he said it's okay to date someone else since he's not married yet.
On the last day, I went back to my favorite humble local restaurant "Baba" to indulge myself with some Kushari. At night, I had dinner with my two friends from US Aid at a beautiful waterfront restaurant " Sequoia". In this trendy setting, Muslim tradition disappeared. I remember someone told me that if you've got money, you don't need to follow the tradition and you can do whatever you want.
I caught a very early flight in the next morning to Nairobi. Thus, I finished the Middle East chapter and moved on to East Africa.