Negotiating on James' Birthday: The Market and Swanky Celebrations

Khan el-Khalili Market

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Another relatively straight-forward day in Egypt!  In the morning James and I headed to the Egypt museum, which was stunning, despite the fact that there was no air conditioning.  I've never been a huge museum person or ancient Egypt fan, but seeing the artifacts up close and personal was insane.  The hieroglyphics, the catacombs, king tuts tomb, the jewelry...awesome, awesome, awesome.  It was worth the entire trip.

We spent the afternoon at the Khan el-Khalili market, Cairo's most famous market.  I was expecting insanity akin to that in Nairobi or the Arab quarter of Jerusalem, but it turned out to be relatively mild.  James and I teamed up, leaving Aryan and Anant to negotiate on their own.

It was fascinating to see how James was treated.  James is half-Indian, half-white, and has olive skin and wildly curly hair.  He could be anything from Indian to Israeli to Egyptian to Venezuelan, which is extremely advantageous when traveling the world.  James fit right into Egyptian life and used this to his advantage.  Vendors warmed up to him immediately.  And whenever something needed to be negotiated, he was the one to do it.

The whole crew at Sequoia

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Most of my female friends told me to be mean while in Egypt; in markets this usually works well (tested and approved in the markets in Nairobi and Yafo).  But James has a different approach: play their game and equal the playing field.  And boy, does he know how to work it.  Be as overwhelmingly friendly as the vendors.  Laugh at them and say 'habib' with a charming smile when they offer ridiculous prices.  Be mean if you need.  Use the Arab card ('my mom is arab...she speaks arabic'...). 

I'm a tough cookie; I could negotiate on my own if needed.  But it was immensely helpful having James there.  I was taken more seriously with him behind me.  People took him more seriously than me (after all, he was the man...).  And despite my background, with my dad's family being Iraqi, nobody believed me when I played the Arab card.  (Sad.  Dad, how did all of us fail to gain your complexion?).  I've seen plenty of markets, but it was a whole new world going with James.  It was amazing to see him in action.

That evening, for his 22nd birthday, we headed to a swanky restaurant called Sequoia.  It is very upscale, situated on the NIle with huge fans keeping you cool.  The food was good, but the hookah is what sealed the deal. They brought out an assortment of flavors unparallel to anything I've ever seen - Jasmine, lemon, rose, you name it, it was there.  And I've never had such smooth hookah tobacco .  I only had about two smokes (by that time my stomach was not doing very well), but I'm glad I tried it; now I know what quality hookah should taste/feel like.

(For the record - I smoke hookah MAYBE once a year - so don't worry; I promise not to contract lung cancer or something from excessive smoking)

I was sad to be heading to Eilat the next morning - just when I was getting the hang of Cairo, becoming brave enough to go out alone (during the day) and talk to locals.  I was also sad to be leaving James.  For many reasons, I think, our bond really increased in those last two days, and it seemed ashame to leave right as our friendship grew infinitely  stronger.  But the itch to get back to Israel far exceeded my desire to accompany him on a 10-hour bus ride to Dahab, where he spent his next three days scuba diving.  It was time to head back - unaccompanied, this time.