I wrote this post a little over a year ago and didn't publish it for some reason. I hope that publishing it now will buy me some time to write the next one.
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Every day I travel to work on the underground, which is marvellous.
There are often tradesman hawking their wares, and the weary commuter can choose from an array of delights, including beard-trimmers, classroom sets, hotel coffee sachets, inflatable Spongebobs and spinning tops (complete with full demonstration).
People are very generous with each other and will give up their seats for anyone who looks in need. When someone stands up and gets off, those sitting either side will select the oldest or most infirm looking person left standing up and yank them onto the seat. People are also happy to catch englishmen if they fall over when the train brakes suddenly.
A curious feature of the system is that the doors only stay open for a fixed length of time, and will shut suddenly while people are getting on and off. Therefore positioning yourself by the door and packing down like the All Blacks front row are necessary to ensure that your whole body makes it off and not, say, just your head and one arm.
There are two ladies only carriages on every train, which I've found a great place to meet women (joke).
A metro ticket costs the equivalent of around ten American cents (hard to calculate as the Egyptian pound can't make up its mind how much it is worth). You need to put your ticket in the barrier to get onto the platform, and when you leave the station after your journey you have to hand it to an official, who will then put it directly in the bin. Having this system has solved Egypt's problem of what to do with soldiers when you have an enormous army but sadly no reason to invade Israel.
******
Every day I travel to work on the underground, which is marvellous.
There are often tradesman hawking their wares, and the weary commuter can choose from an array of delights, including beard-trimmers, classroom sets, hotel coffee sachets, inflatable Spongebobs and spinning tops (complete with full demonstration).
People are very generous with each other and will give up their seats for anyone who looks in need. When someone stands up and gets off, those sitting either side will select the oldest or most infirm looking person left standing up and yank them onto the seat. People are also happy to catch englishmen if they fall over when the train brakes suddenly.
A curious feature of the system is that the doors only stay open for a fixed length of time, and will shut suddenly while people are getting on and off. Therefore positioning yourself by the door and packing down like the All Blacks front row are necessary to ensure that your whole body makes it off and not, say, just your head and one arm.
There are two ladies only carriages on every train, which I've found a great place to meet women (joke).
A metro ticket costs the equivalent of around ten American cents (hard to calculate as the Egyptian pound can't make up its mind how much it is worth). You need to put your ticket in the barrier to get onto the platform, and when you leave the station after your journey you have to hand it to an official, who will then put it directly in the bin. Having this system has solved Egypt's problem of what to do with soldiers when you have an enormous army but sadly no reason to invade Israel.
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| Doubtful whether I'll be able to get on this train |
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