What's New on Our Block

It's always interesting to take our first walk down the block after arriving at our Cairo apartment. Since we are absent for nine months each year, a lot can change as new shops come and go.  We live on a long, long block. It's about a half mile long and can easily take an hour to circle completely when stopping to visit with people who recognize us.

This year, the biggest surprise was to see a new shop taking shape above the entrance to our building! Since moving in seventeen years ago, the majority of the ground floor and the entire next floor have been vacant - but available for rent to some enterprising merchant. We have always hoped for a bakery to occupy the ground floor - but so far, no luck.

Part of the ground floor has been occupied; an auto dealer selling the Chinese Chery was there for two or three years, then the space was occupied by a luxury wedding palnner -  and as the sign indicates, a swimming pool supply and construction company was present for several years; they moved down the block to more spacious quarters about four years ago.

  

When we arrived on January 5th, I noticed the electrical wiring being installed. It is now more than a month later and air-conditioners have been connected to the wires and some paint has been applied. Construction can be slow in Cairo. (Our place took nearly three years to complete) The rumor is that this is going to become a furniture showroom. We'll see.

 

Another sign of change was spotted next door at the Auto1Mazar shop. This is the neighborhood used-car lot and has been here for many years. It usually has about three used cars squeezed into the interior and during business hours, maybe three more with their rear wheels up on the curb and front wheels out in the street. The shop opens at noon and usually has two or three salesmen out at a table in the evenings. The key thing to note in this picture is the sign that says "Shop for Rent - 250 square meters." I guess these neighbors will be leaving.

Part way down the block, there is a new electrical supply store.  Electrical stores are always recognizable by the coil of orange flexible conduit hanging near the entrance. I stopped in to buy a light bulb shortly after we arrived. The owner is frequently working on a project for some customer when we pass by.  The dress shop next door is also new.

At the end of the block, there is a major change. This is busy, high-traffic area. The cart in the street on the left side of the photo is where we buy our fresh bananas, oranges and strawberries.  Linda waits patiently for me by the neighboring coffee, tea and shisha shop as I capture this photo. 

The shop on the right is a bakery where Linda likes to buy fresh balady or shami bread. We wish they had a railing on those stairs!

 

But right on the corner is a new store. This shop has been a mattress store for as long as we have lived in the neighborhood but has now become a telephone and computer accessory store.

The signs on the storefront indicate that they can even take on hard-drive repair. The store name translates to "Blessed" and appears to be a branch of a well-known local company. The "Barakat" displayed vertically is the phonetic pronunciation of the store name. Fawry is a major Egyptian electronic payments system.  I used Google Lens to produce the translations in this photo.

Upon discovering that the cordless mouse I brought along this year was totally incompatible with my current office space in the apartment, (too much RF interference of some kind) Linda and I headed down the block to check out the store. They had four mouses (mice?) in the window, two cordless and two with cords. Each one was priced at 150EGP - a bit over three dollars and all made in China. 

Like most shops one finds in Egypt, what you see in the window is what you can buy.  There is no "stockroom in the back!"  Two windows flank the entrance to the Fawry/Barakat store.  On the left are telephone accessories.  The window to the right of the entrance displays computer accessories.    

  

More photos at this Flickr Album, of course.

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