Rainy days in Maadi

It has been raining on and off over the past few days - not like it would in Belgium, far from it, but the weather has certainly been different from what we are used to here. It's still not really cold, and apart from about half an hour the other day, it doesn't rain much.

I had just made it to Seoudi, our local grocery store, and was browsing the vegetable section, which is close to the entrance of the store, when a big thunder struck Maadi and the electricity went out. It started pouring - Friday market in Belgium pouring - and since the store has no windows and it was pitch dark inside, everyone gathered around the entrance. Three employees went out and started pulling on a string to get the generator going. It looked like they were trying to get a motorboat started, but since the generator was sitting right there on the sidewalk and it was raining cats & dogs, it wasn't starting. Three more employees came out and started covering the generator with broken-up cardboard boxes that quickly got soaked in the rain. After a lot of pulling and discussion, a large humming sound came from the generator and a few lights lit my way away from the produce section on to the rest of my shopping. The lights went out briefly again while I was buying Parmesan cheese, but by the time I had made it to the checkout, the rain had turned into a trickle and I could return home.

The boys, who had been on their way to the CAC when it started raining, had left a pile of super filthy clothes on the floor in our apartment, and gone to take a bubble bath with our downstairs neighbor kids. Because of all the dust, car exhaust and other dirt and pollution in the Cairo air, trees, houses and anything really, are always very dirty, so when you're caught in the rain and seek refuge under a tree, you'll get showered with dirt and filth.

After a couple of days of rain, the Maadi roads, which have no drainage system, are nothing but mud puddles, but everything looks a little cleaner, including the boys.