Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

This blog entry will be good, trust me!

Belt Fights: The island of Zamalek is a little enclave of Westerners filled with diplomats, their families, and extremely rich Egyptian families located in the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt. After finishing class one day, I went for a long walk along the Nile and by the grace of God found a coffee chain popular in California called Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Now I've grown to enjoy the acidic gut-busting instant drink called Nescafe, which some people consider real coffee, however, some days it just doesn't do it for me. Coffee Bean was the answer, "large Americano, please."



After enjoying my drink for quite awhile, reading a local paper, and studying some Arabic, I
walked outside and up an on-ramp to try and find a minibus home. As I was waiting for a bus heading my way, I saw one on the side of the road with an big angry Egyptian yelling something to someone inside. As I got closer and stopped to watch, the yelling man charged the minibus and tried to open the door, which was being held tightly by a scared teenager inside. Well the minibus driver starts driving again; in an act of acrobatic genius, the yelling Egyptian jumps onto the side of the bus, rips open the door with one hand, and with his feet begins kicking the teenager inside the bus!!! I wish I had my camera...

Get a mental picture of this, a large Egyptian man with a potbelly holding onto a moving minibus while kicking another Egyptian through the half open door! It gets better. Traffic is bad so the bus comes to a stop, and the big guy jumps off the bus, followed by a few others from the inside. The jump-kicking pot-bellied Egyptian undos his belt, whips it off and begins making threatening whip motions towards the other guys, who then promptly do the same. I keep walking, a little more quickly this time, checking to make sure my belt can be easily undone, laught a bit, and naturally, catch a different bus home.

Stay tuned for part II: Dead Donkeys.