Life in Gabal Asfar, Egypt - the Home of Nile Union Academy

Gabal Asfar is almost like a village, except that it is a part of Cairo.  Located on the east side of the city (the opposite side of the Pyramids), Gabal Asfar can be described as an area of tall brick and cement buildings, dusty alleyways, busy roads with tuk-tuks and donkey carts weaving in and out of traffic, and many small shops and restaurants.  Meandering along the main road, you will catch a glimpse of women wearing traditional hijabs and men smoking shisha pipes.  Young kids pop in and out of crepe restaurants, which are popular in the area.  There is even a place called "Sushi," but fish nor rice is not on the menu.  It's just another crepe shop.  

Gabal Asfar is much more than the buildings on the main drag but also consists of a maze of buildings crisscrossed by small alleyways.  In these alleyways, you will see children playing ball as motorcycles rush by.  Women carry fruit and vegetables along the streets, and you may even spot a man selling erk sous, which is a cold traditional tea, best enjoyed on a hot day.  If you dare to try it, you should be warned that for many, it is an acquired taste (I happen to enjoy it).  Along the back streets, you will find smaller markets, some with live chickens and other animals waiting to be butchered, or produce stands where you haggle for the price of goods.  There are even some convenience stores selling all sorts of sweet treats and carbonated sodas.  Look above during Ramadan, and you will see tapestries of all colors, as well as streamers hanging from the buildings.  Otherwise, you will see clothes hanging out to dry in the dusty heat.

There is something else about Gabal Asfar that will catch your eye, and that's a large walled-off compound along the main road.  What could be beyond those walls, where date palms reach toward the sky and birds flock in and out?  As you drive by, you will see a gate and the words, "Nile Union Academy: An International School" written on the wall.  A large metal gate with a small gatehouse guards the campus, and a friendly man watches for visitors.  

Once you enter the school, you are whisked away into a whole different world.  The loudness of the city is drowned out by the sound of the wind.  The rumbling of cars and backfiring of motorcycles fades to silence.  And, as you walk towards the main campus, you shall see something that does not exist anywhere else in Gabal Asfar.  A lawn.  From the center of Nile Union Academy, you can look around and see the neighborhood's high rises all in varying stages of construction.  None are finished, to avoid paying the taxes on finished buildings, they are "completed" in a manner that still looks like they are under construction.  That may mean beams sticking out of the tops, or exposed brick and cement.  

Then there are the minarets that sound their famous call to prayer.  You will hear it five times a day.  It is best enjoyed in the evening as the bright red sun sets over the buildings and trees to the west.  The smokey, hazy air makes for some spectacular deep-colored sunsets.  

What else can I say about Gabal Asfar?  It is a whole different world than anywhere in the west.  A place where people come and go, where many live, and where change is constant.  When Nile Union Academy was founded in 1954, the area around the campus was all farmland.  Now, there is no sign of that world save for one farm next to the campus, as well as the campus itself.  

Want to learn more about life in Egypt, and the place known as Gabal Asfar?  Then check out   Nile Union Academy: A Memoir.