صباح الخير يا مصر

A typical morning in the life of Anna Ziajka:

- Wake up when cell phone alarm goes off at 7:15. Hit the snooze. Hit the snooze again. Finally get up eighteen minutes later.
- Head to bathroom. While brushing teeth, turn on hot water in sink. Turn on hot water in shower. Walk to second bathroom, continuing to brush teeth along the way, and turn on hot water in sink. Wait for water heater to light. Turn off hot water. Return to first bathroom. Shower.
- Dry off and head to my room. Dress in semi-dark. Open shutters only when fully clothed (once a pair of little boys spotted me dressing from the rooftop of the building across the street and didn't budge from the spot for the rest of the morning). Do makeup, dry hair, put on shoes.
- Fetch liter jug of fresh mango juice from the fridge and pour myself a glass. Mmm.... Rinse glass after drinking to discourage flies. Leave apartment.
- Walk down two flights of stairs to catch elevator. Get out on ground floor and tiptoe past sleeping doorman. If he wakes up, engage in perfunctory "good-morning-how-are-you" routine. If he doesn't, thank my lucky stars and slip out of the building very, very quietly.
- Head toward work. Pass woman and child selling bread and vegetables (right now it's lettuce) on the sidewalk. Wish her good morning. Pass Christian grocer who I don't patronize because he charges twenty-five piastres (cents) more for a bottle of water than the Muslim grocer across the street. Wish him good morning. Pass curbside coffeeshop. Act like I don't hear when at least one man lifts his lips from his sheesha pipe to call me abyad (white) or eshta (cream). Pass young man on bicycle peddling gas tanks. Arrive at corner of Tahrir Street.
- Inch out into Tahrir Street. Wait for speeding taxis to pass. Cross halfway. Dodge swaying, overcrowded bus belching diesel exhaust. Look left to make sure there are no cars driving in reverse on the one-way street. Cross the rest of the way.
- Walk half-block to alley. Avoid passing too close to the ta'miya (falafel) shop where the servers hassle foreign girls. Round corner into alley. Take a deep breath to smell the sausages frying at the sausages-and-eggs-and-hotdog-buns stall.
- Scoot briskly down alley. Pass two men sleeping in their pickup. Pass small girl gathering glass soda bottles from the trash heap. Pass perfume shops and tiny electronic stores not yet open for business. Pass improvised mornings-only ta'miya stand operated by an astonishingly beautiful woman in a headscarf. Take another deep breath to smell the fava bean mash frying in hot oil. Pass group of policemen waiting in line to buy ta'miya. Act like I don't see them staring at me as I walk by.
- Pass McDonald's and turn corner onto Mohamed Mahmoud Street. Avoid puddles of water on the sidewalk from shopowners mopping their front stoops.
- Arrive at office and go inside. Wish security guard good morning. Take the elevator three floors up (if it's not broken) or walk up three flights of stairs (if it is). Sit down at my desk in the editorial department and turn on computer.

And here I am.