All the extra little steps

Being in Egypt makes me think about all the things we have in the U.S. that we don't even realize make our lives so much easier. Tap water for example. Faucet water in Egypt is over chlorinated and not drinkable, which means I have to use boiled or bottled water for everything, including brushing my teeth. Heated apartments, high speed internet. Crosswalks, sidewalks, traffic signs, dialing 911. Shower heads. Punctuality, formal business hours. All normal things that we don't even think about in the U.S. but the lack of it here makes it glaringly evident how easy we have it.

Another thing I truly miss- dryers. We have a washing machines but no dryers, so all clothes have to be hung up on the balconies to dry, which is a major headache because it takes forever and I'm scared my underwear is gonna fall off onto the sidewalk. 9-5 office hours. Businesses here are quite informal and can shut down for no reason during the day and most close during prayers. Egyptians don't have the same sense of time as Americans, and don't schedule their days by planning to be places at exact times, which leads to less punctuality. I even miss being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet, whereas if I did that here, it would overflow. Now I have to take all these extra steps for every little thing which is making me really frustrated.

And don't even get me started on the air pollution. If I don't get hit by a car while I'm here, I'm probably gonna suffocate from all the smog. I don't mean to sound spoiled, but it's hard to adjust to this lifestyle when coming from the most powerful and industrialized country in the world. Now excuse me while I go hang up my wet clothes. Ugh.