possible Bombay finale

It was a suitably fun final night with my friends in Bombay. We met at the studio and I saw them working through some more video footage. Then off to a Kobe steak sort of place, but this being India there were plentiful vegetarian versions of the Kobe sizzlers. My dish was almost intimidating: a heaping mountain of steaming vegetables and noodles with mushrooms. I think I finished around 70% of it. There were perhaps 8 of us altogether.

From there we went back to Yacht: a weird sort of pub with windows reminiscent of jail cell windows, the front of the place seeming like a dark pickup joint for hipsters and the back of it seeming more like a diner for laborers. Mosquitoes were everywhere and I’m usually their #1 target, but Iyesha was their greatest favorite as usual, and she took one for the team as the mosquito magnet all night long (not one bite for me, incredibly), despite a powerful ceiling fan right above us. It’s really amazing how mosquitoes prioritize among humans and reshuffle priorities based on the available pool.

So what happens next? I’ll be on the plane pretty soon, headed for Bahrain. Once there I can probably spot-check via internet what’s happening in Cairo. It’s weird to be flying in just as the U.S. Embassy is ejecting all the Americans, but I would guess that a number of my AUC colleagues are still there riding this out. And more importantly, Cairo has been home for over a decade and I feel comfortable there as long as the stories of utter lawlessness with roving gangs seem exaggerated, as I do believe they are.

That said, it may be a little tricky to get into Zamalek. It’s mostly express road from the airport, though, and I doubt there are checkpoints on all those flyovers. Most likely I’ll start getting checked only in Zamalek itself.

If no one is willing to take me into Zamalek, Plan B is to head for the new university campus, not too far from the airport, and hope someone is there with a better idea than sleeping on my office floor for a few days.

But I plan to house my journalist friend in Zamalek, and top priority is to get there to keep that implied promise.