An Afternoon in New Cairo

As mentioned in a previous post, we ventured out Sunday to New Cairo, some 23 miles east of our place.  This suburban area is a "new city" and according to Wikipedia:

New Cairo is one of the new cities, which have been built, in and around Cairo to alleviate the congestion in downtown Cairo. It was established in the year 2000 by presidential decree number 191.  ...  The city could eventually host a population of 5 million.

Some people say that the population living here is the "Creme de la Creme" of Egyptian society.  I can't vouch for the accuracy of that claim, but I didn't see any donkey carts roaming the streets.  Most of the housing lies inside what we would call gated communities.

The route to New Cairo from the city is lined with modern office buildings.  One side appears to be mostly financial and technology companies while the other side offers retail and commerce.


We noticed that workers were just taking down the Christmas decorations from the facade that advertises one of the larger housing developments, Mountain View.



Shortly after "New Cairo" was announced, American University in Cairo (AUC), German University in Cairo (GUC), Future University and other institutions established their facilities there.  We arrived at our destination, the Point 90 Cinema and mall located near the AUC campus.  If you check the movies playing at the Cinema today, you will find a choice of sixteen including Aquaman, Mary Poppins Returns, The Grinch and Creed II.

Just as most of the movies probably sound familiar to you, the mall would look similar to any at home.  This view shows a bakery on the right, a jewelry store on the left and down the aisle you can just make out Bath and Body Works. 


We were meeting our young friend, Moody, who has been mentioned on this blog several times in the past. In 2007, Moody lived with us in Bloomington and attended Kennedy High School for a semester.  Moody has finished university, traveled the world  and formed his own business - Kira Productions - and is now a media producer.

We had lunch with Moody at a nice Lebanese restaurant in the mall and he updated us on his recent life.



Walking around the center court of the mall, I spotted a small book cart containing mostly English language works.  This stack of "Graphic Guides" caught my attention.  If you have been looking for an introduction to Fractals but though the concept was too esoteric, this may be for you.  Check it out on Amazon where you can look inside.



In the evening, when we were leaving New Cairo to return home, I noticed a large "Golds Gym" along the street.  Gold's is an international chain with numerous facilities here. This is the largest one we have seen.