Scratch That

I'm not sure about everybody else, but I'm a bit clumsy. It's not uncommon for me to cut a hand or foot or arm or leg on something random. Now, this in and of itself is nothing particularly new or exciting and has little to do with Egypt except for the fact that I've realized how slowly these scrapes and cuts heal here. I'm not sure if it's some kind of vitamin or nutrient that I'm missing here, because it's dirty here or if it's something else. Whatever it is, I'm not the only to suffer from it. In order to speed up, or even encourage any healing at all, I have to take extra special care to rinse my cut with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide after I shower and before I go to bed. Even then, it takes a while and I have to make extra sure that I keep Band-Aids and Neosporin on it. Not that you can find Neosporin or Hydrogen Peroxide here...)

Actually, I suspect that it's the water. The water from the tap comes from the Nile and is not very clean. My parents and I not only don't drink water from the tap, we don't even brush our teeth with it. I know it goes through some kind of chemical processing and/or cleaning because I can smell it every time I shower. The water smells like chemicals and chlorine. Like some kind of cleaner's getting sprinkled onto me whenever I clean myself. This crazy chlorine smell. I think I'm actually going to miss it when I leave here. It's just one of those smells that is so distinct that it reminds you of a particular time and place. This smell will always remind me of Cairo and of my parents apartment.