Life in New Cairo

When we first learned that we would not be staying in the same residential area of Cairo that past Global groups have stayed in, I was both disappointed and somewhat relieved.  Looking at a map of Cairo I could tell that the new campus of the American University in Cairo (AUC) was well on the outskirts – away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Cairo.  But I also figured that it would likely be a safer, more collegiate atmosphere.  I expected it to feel a little less authentic, but to be easier than living right in the heart of the city.  I was so grateful that this arrangement was deemed safe enough to allow our group to still go to Egypt at all, that I was willing to set aside any preconceived, romantic notions of what Cairo was going to be and just arrive without any expectations.

Consequently, I’ve been pretty shocked at just how hard this experience has been. It is a study in contrasts, and it has been like nothing I could have imagined.  To begin with, New Cairo is not just on the outskirts of Cairo. It is actually called the 5^th settlement, and is like an entirely new city being built out in the Sahara Desert (but close enough to Cairo proper that water can be pumped out here for those who can afford it).  According to one professor, New Cairo is being built for the top 10% of income earners in Cairo.  This makes the endeavor seem utterly ridiculous, until you understand that 10% of the population of Cairo is around 2 million people!  This new settlement will be big enough to be considered a large metropolis in the US. Second, the AUC campus is enormous, but faculty are not actually housed on campus.  And contrary to the description we were given, faculty housing is more than a five minute walk from campus.

Building on the edge of the Sahara Desert

Row upon row of new housing

Our balcony, as viewed from the roof.

What does all of this mean for us on a day to day basis?  It means that we are living in a rapidly developing, but still undeveloped area, designed for well-to-do Egyptians with access to means.  As a family, we are living in the faculty housing owned by AUC that is about a kilometer from one of the five gates around the perimeter of campus.  We have a beautiful 3-bedroom apartment with 2 ½ baths, a reasonable kitchen, an office and living room, and access to laundry facilities in the basement. We have a 24 hour guard, a generator that keeps our refrigerator running when the power goes out (frequently), and excellent wifi.  When we walk out our front door (away from the lovely entryway complete with marble wall and running fountain),  there are multiple unfinished buildings all around.  The street is still dirt (well, it’s really Sahara sand).  The few sidewalks that exist have been torn up (even though they can’t be more than a year old), and the street is regularly flooded by the irrigation system in place to keep the plants watered.  The irrigation system appears to be far better than the drainage system.  If you didn't know that the rubble was from construction, you might mistake it for a war zone.

Construction zone

Gate 4 of the AUC campus

The stray dogs

On our walk to campus each day, we pass construction workers and stray dogs, but no other families. As far as I can tell, other than the few faculty members we’ve met who also live in our building, no one lives out here yet.  It feels like a desert town in more sense than one. There is a shuttle run by AUC that will take us to campus (and Greg often catches that when he’s going to teach class), but we usually just walk so we can go on our own schedule.  Campus itself is probably at least a full kilometer in length. It is a long, narrow campus with most buildings lining a central walkway. There is a lovely garden around one edge, and a great sports facility at the end of campus near the dorms. The entire campus is surrounded by a wall with 5 heavily guarded gates.  At the far end of campus from our gate (known as the Pepsi gate), you can go out gate #1 and walk another kilometer down the road (and by road I mean a five lane highway with traffic suggestions as opposed to traffic laws) to find a collection of shopping plazas.  These all contain many American restaurants (KFC, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Fuddruckers, etc.) along with other high-end shops and gyms (e.g. Gold’s Gym).  There’s one grocery store in the whole area – the 5-story Oscar that Greg wrote about in a previous blog.  After attempting a walking trip to the store with the children one time, and then getting lost with a taxi on the ride home, we’ve decided to stick with the AUC shuttle for all grocery trips! We don’t venture into this area unless we have to.  It is also still under construction, is very expensive, and is really hard to navigate on foot. 

The Americana Plaza featuring KFC and Hardees

So a typical day for us when we aren’t out on an excursion with the group, usually includes breakfast at home, some studying, and then a walk to campus.  Once on campus we use the computers in the library for math, sometimes attend a class with the Oles, and maybe get in a swim in the campus pool.  Lunch on campus is either more American food (Cinnabon and Subway), something from the bakery, or a cheap bowl of koshary (rice, pasta and lentils). Sometimes we swing into the little convenience store on campus to grab a necessity (like milk in a box, or bread) so we won’t have to go out anywhere later. After walking back to our apartment, we try to dump as much of the Sahara out of our shoes before entering as possible.  Then we figure out if we have enough food to make dinner, only go out if we have to, and head to bed.  It isn’t glamorous, or particularly exciting, but it has become our comfortable routine.

As we move into our last week here in Egypt, I am trying hard to keep my head in this experience and not jump ahead to the next one.  It would be easy to just “tread water” for the last week – survive a less than ideal living situation without savoring any of it.  But I’m trying to make a conscious effort to notice new things, enjoy the fact that something so foreign has become a routine, and appreciate the opportunity to experience this odd little place in the desert we call “New Cairo”.

New Cairo