Hot, hot and a haircut

It's our last weekend in Cairo before we head to Blighty for the summer so I had a few chores to do today.
I first needed to pick up a microwave and fan from a friend who is leaving Cairo this year. It was around 11am so warm, but not the full heat of the day just yet. Luckily he was a gentleman and carried the microwave downstairs, but after the taxi I carried it up to our third floor apartment. We know that it is hot here, but I was absolutely drenched in sweat by the time I got into the apartment! Hot, hot, hot!!!
I then got drenched again coming home from Road 9 where I had to pick up a few things. It's a nice walk along the backstreets, so I don't like to get a taxi unless things are really heavy, but at 2.30pm the sun was pretty much straight on me for the whole way. Got back and stood in front of the air con whilst drinking some cold water. That sorted me out.

I also managed to get my hair cut today. I'd tried a place on Road 9 run by a German lady recommended by a friend at school, and that was fine, but thought I'd try somewhere different this time. This place was very Egyptian and I'm glad I had a picture with me of me with shorter hair to show him as we didn't share much language!! This was a quick deal with no hair-washing, just a few squirts with a water spray before he got down to the job. He asked if I wanted it straight or .....I'm not sure what the other option was, but I went for straight, but gestured that I wanted some more length/weight off the back. He understood, but his method for achieving this was very different from what I expected. He took a cut-throat razor and used that to cut the back part of my hair, only changing to scissors once he got round to the front....interesting.....it turned out OK and he asked if I was happy - I was - then asked if I wanted it washed (surely that happens first) or dried. I thought a quick dry would be good but this was where our communication system broke down. Why didn't I use "schweya", Arabic for "a bit"?? As I got a full-blown ('scuse the pun) bouffant with lots of back-combing and rolls, instead of the quick once over with a hair drier that I'd imagined. I'll learn for next time.