Markets from Cairo to China
Cairo, in 1997, was primitive in so many ways, especially in what we would call grocery stores. It wasn’t until about ten years later that a big European supermarket opened up. While there was a store that had frozen chicken, that was what I was on the hunt for, I could tell the meat had been thawed and refrozen numerous times. Often the dirty sliding casing door was left open for who knows how long, coupled with frequent power cuts, guaranteed to melt everything in any freezer. Asking around, I learned of an area that had fresh chicken, so off I went with my minimal Arabic to buy a fresh bird. When I asked for a fresh chicken, the proud shop owner reached behind the counter, pulling out a live chicken, squawking like crazy. I just nodded my head and, in my terrible Arabic, said I would come back when it was ready, the butcher just grinned at me. Thirty minutes later, I picked up my fresh chicken, holding it gingerly at my side. While crossing the street, I touched it and almost ...