The Cairo Eye Doctor

Hector accidentally tore his last contact lens so we went off last night (8pm) in search of an optometrist recommended by the hotel concierge. All we had was a business card totally in Arabic and some vague directions that it was "near for walking". After taking twenty minutes to cross the street outside the hotel, we were then plunged into a completely non-tourist area. We stopped 5 times to ask directions and after a lot of pointing that way, we were standing in front of an old apartment building. Hanging from a 5th floor balcony was a dirty banner with a lot of Arabic writing and a picture of an eyeball. That had to be it.

Up four flights I knocked on a blank door that was thrown open by a woman who looked at us, screamed and slammed the door in our faces. After a few seconds of more screaming behind the door she opened it a crack and I stuck the business card inside. (scream, scream) "upstairs!"

On the next floor we found the Dr's receptionist and Hector managed to explain who he was. We sat a few minutes in the crowded waiting room, like a pair of fucking Martians, and then we got ushered into the Dr's office. It turns out that he was educated in Spain so he and Hector, of course, were immediate best friends. After an exam and a lot of jokes about the silliness of U.S. medical care, Hector got his box of contact lenses. Total cost for the evening: $19.22