9.08.09

Tonight I had a fun little adventure...everything started off pretty normal, a group of us met up at the sheesha cafe around the corner for tea/coffee. Afterwards we decided to get some food, for the first time since arriving I tried an Egyptian dish I'd heard lots about - Koshery. It's basically a bowl layered with pasta, then rice, then tomato sauce, then spicy tomato sauce, then some fried onions and finally a few chick peas. About 1 pound of this mixture cost me 3.5 LE or about 60 cents. It was pretty good, very filling at the least.

And here's where the fun begins...walking home we cut through an alley and made it out to a main street, but a part I hadn't been on before. Once we crossed the street we saw a man walk into a building and when he opened the door there was music blasting from within. Dance music. This is odd here so we decided to investigate. We walked in and found a woman scantly clad, well at least by Egyptian standards, a man singing karaoke and a few other men smoking sheesha and having tea. Within seconds of walking in the woman was hanging onto my friend's arm trying to get him to come dance and the old man who was working by the door was trying to push him further into the prestigious establishment. I bet by now you've realized we discovered the wonderful world of Egyptian brothels. We quickly learned our mistake and nearly fell out onto the street laughing hysterically.

And yes, the inside of the Carroll Restaurant was lit with an all too distinctive soft red hue!