How the Other Half Lives

On a trek downtown, I discovered that a Nike store is coming into the location from which The Roommate and I purchased our 50% Fabulous shirts. This means that, had I stayed in my previous apartment, I would be 100 yards from a Nike store. . .

I am not sure that is an improvement. Nike is not even 25% fabulous.



I am also not sure the suburban life is an improvement on downtown, with or without Nike stores.

I visited Number 2 in her gated community, which is a ten-minute drive from AUC's new campus. It is carved out of the empty desert and separated from the dangerous outside world by an elaborate series of walls and guard posts. Nearby, there is a mall, another university campus, and a lot of nothing.



Inside the community, the world is a completely different place. This is not the arena of sand and rubble. Instead, there are vast lawns, manicured trees and even a lake.



All that is missing are some swans on the lake. . . or perhaps flamingos.

Not all of the houses are occupied, which makes for a strange contrast between the living homes and those which stand like skeletons, their swimming pools empty and gathering dust.



What about this place signals that we are in Cairo?

For many, that is probably the appeal.