Getting to know the big city of Cairo

I woke up to the sound of loud speakers, call for prayer (Koran) around 3:30 a.m. I couldn't go back to bed, so I decided to pray. I prayed for my family and all of my friends (including those who are probably reading this blog). It was inevitable not to pray for Egypt; I had only been here a couple of days, and I've noticed how religion affects Egyptian society...
Bishoy and I took the bus to the cathedral (place where Mariam works, she will be helping me with my research this summer) around noon. Taking the bus in Cairo is quite an experience. I am suprised Bishoy and I were able to stay inside the bus. Its hard enough to get in, getting out es otra story. Back in Nicaragua's capital,buses are crowded, but Cairo is 10 times bigger! that means crowded is understatement. The majority of the people that use public transportation are men cause according to Bishoy women usually stay at home.
We arrived at our destiniy and we asked for Mariam, and she wasn't there. So we waited. Every time someone would be close to or go in her office, I would ask Bishoy "Is that her?"he wouldn't say anything. He finally replied "I've only had conversations with her on the phone." I laughed, we both didn't know what she looked like...So we waited.
After an hour we finally got to meet her. She is a very nice lady, and she seemed very happy that we were there. Mariam and I decided that we would schedule the research day by day, and we would meet in a specific location. That meant: "Leo's got to learn his way around Cairo". I am so scared!
We got back to our apartment around 3:00 p.m. It was pretty hot, and we were pretty tired: Nap time!
After our nap, we decided to take the metro to Cairo's downtown. It was about 11:30 p.m, and lots of people still walked in the streets of Cairo. This was my favorite part of the day/night. I love walking in places were there large number of people. Noise everywhere, vendors trying to sell food and clothing People laughing and enjoying the cool weath. Bishoy and I did a lot of walking. I had to buy an USB chord for my camera, and it took awhile to find a shop that had one. We crossed the brigdge that stands between the Nile River, and I told Bishoy to stop for a moment. I stood in the middle of the bridge and watched buildings, cars, lots of people, the Nile river. All in the big city of Cairo!