Traveling in Maadi

Just a quick shot from a very rare moment of being stopped in the cab..

Here are some things that I have learned about traveling while I have been in Maadi:
1. Cab drivers and regular drivers will not hesitate to run your butt down. “Hesitation Kills!” has become our motto. Hug the curb for all your worth, and when you can, walk facing the traffic. This is the theory my flatmate and I are testing out: “Maybe it will suck less when you see the car coming to kill you as opposed to just clipping you from behind.”
2. Cab drivers and most cars communicate in honking. I’m serious, it is a well developed and practiced language both here in maadi and surrounding cities. 1 honk means “Watch out, I’m coming!” Two honks “Did you not hear the first honk? I am going to run you over!” and Three honks, which is usually meant for other drivers, is “*%&$ YOU BUDDY! I was here first/I want in/Don’t cut me off (whichever is appropriate for the situation)”
3. If you are a female, DO NOT sit in the front seat, it labels you as “a woman of questionable morals”. If you are traveling with four people, all women, our vote is to have the person wearing pants and most looking like she could kick your ass (our vote has always been our friend Regina, she’s a pretty bad ass Italian from New York- need I say more?)
4. Do you remember the game Frogger? If you do, you will see the human version reinacted every day! People literally dart among cars, regardless of the speed, to cross the street. This is not your normal run across, wait for a moment, (hesitation kills, remember) and then continue crossing. This is a mad dash, run three cars up, cross some more, run two cars down and finally get to the other side. People dodge cars with a grace that I am sure has to be born, for if I attempted this, I would surely die.
5. If you are going to be doing any large amount of traveling/ repeatedly/going long distances, you need to develop a relationship with a private taxi driver. This almost always insures a few things: the cab is air conditioned (a huge plus), the music is not techno, the driver knows where you are going and hwo to get there and back, and the driver speaks English (the most amazing plus). If you choose to hop in a cab at random, you may find some of these wonderful bonuses: a driver who smokes like a chimney, faux fur covering all dashboard/ rearview areas, a huge array of mirrors at various angles to make even the most modestly dressed person feeling a little scandalous, blasting techno (for some reason this is wicked popular with the cabbies here, don’t know why), the driver may or may not know where they are going. This is why you always know how to get home once you enter Maadi and why you learn three key words: ARABIC STRAIT LEFT AND RIGHT. A nice Shokran (thank you) never hurt anybody either.
6. Lastly my travels have taught me that the little cabs we take are nothing compared to the “buses” (and I use that term loosely) that many Egyptians ride. The people I have the most awe of are the women who wear complete burkas (a garment that covers all of the body except for hands and a space for the eyes.) I think I might literally sweat to death if I had to wear that much fabric and sit squashed with 30 people in a non air conditioned bus with people smoking! Those are some tough ladies!