My Coffee Adventure
So, around 8pm I got the idea that I wanted to learn how to make Arabic coffee. I looked it up online and it didn’t seem that hard so I went out looking for the Arabic coffee pot that I would need. I went to the coffee store on the other side of the block, which is this really cool little place just full of open sacks of coffee beans. Anyway, as soon as I got there I realized I didn’t know the Arabic word for what I needed. I tried a combination of English, hand signals and broken Arabic to try explain what I needed, but failed miserably and was eventually forced to draw a picture (those of you who know how well I draw will understand why this was a last resort). Once the owned realized what I wanted he explained that they didn’t sell them, but pointed across the street and said ‘market.’
I assume he was telling me that the market across the street has a place that sells what I need, so I went over to look. The market across the street a collection of little shops and stalls inside of an abandoned warehouse and is more than a little sketchy, even in the day time. It was 10pm and the place was pretty much deserted so I did a quick walkthrough and left. After that I wandered the streets of Cairo hoping in vain to find somewhere that would have Arabic coffee pots. After about an hour I made my way back to the apartment dispirited and without a coffee pot. I’ll try again tomorrow, I guess.