We got to have a tour of the studios yesterday. What a great set-up! FX has its own make-up room and the studio lot is beautiful all around. It's been around for 80 + years. They even have guard dogs. There's a pool, though both the producer Rob and the DP Pete have advised us NOT to swim in it unless we want to catch something more than a cold. The building is massive yet very unassuming from the outside. There's these sort of 'gophers/waiters' that bring you snacks and drinks- crafty comes to you! Don't get me wrong, I don't think this will be a total walk in the park; I've taken a look at the next 5 scripts and we have a huge workload, and if we run out of something, it's not like we can send a P.A. to just run out to Cinema Secrets to pick something up.
We were assigned a driver (" sawwaa' "), Sa'eed. He's very quiet; we figure he's either very shy or not comfortable with English. It'll be weird having a personal driver to take us anywhere we want to go, whenever we want to go. Notwithstanding, it'll be great because there's NO WAY I could ever drive in this city. I can barely function as a pedestrian. Still, I feel a little awkward just requesting to go places and having him either wait or come back for me. Chris makes a good point; wages are pretty low here and Sa'eed is getting paid very well by the studios. Sa'eed told us he's available to take us anywhere, any time of our choosing; we feel very lucky and priviledged.
Production also showed us our apartment yesterday (it's all happening so fast!). We're in Zamalek, a district on an island smack in the middle of the Nile, connected to the rest of central Cairo by two bridges. It seems to be one of the nicer areas to be in (according to most tour books - and production, of course); a lot of ex-pats are living out there. We're #37 on the 8th Floor on Sharia (street/road) 26 July. The elevator is a nightmare: nothing more than a steel phonebooth with no door (you can watch the concrete of each floor pass by). The apartment itself is very nice- 2 bedrooms, a big living room, new-ish bathroom, all fully furnished. Sa'eed too Chris and I to the local shopping center to get sheets and towels. Things are pretty cheap here, save certain toiletteries found in the pharmacies- they're comprable with Western prices.
Part of me is fully ready for this adventure and I can easily see myself shopping in the neighbourhood, becoming 'local'. Then the other part of me that is somewhat freaked-out is wondering if I'm just a bit self-delusional. I think I'm going to side with that first part.
We were assigned a driver (" sawwaa' "), Sa'eed. He's very quiet; we figure he's either very shy or not comfortable with English. It'll be weird having a personal driver to take us anywhere we want to go, whenever we want to go. Notwithstanding, it'll be great because there's NO WAY I could ever drive in this city. I can barely function as a pedestrian. Still, I feel a little awkward just requesting to go places and having him either wait or come back for me. Chris makes a good point; wages are pretty low here and Sa'eed is getting paid very well by the studios. Sa'eed told us he's available to take us anywhere, any time of our choosing; we feel very lucky and priviledged.
Production also showed us our apartment yesterday (it's all happening so fast!). We're in Zamalek, a district on an island smack in the middle of the Nile, connected to the rest of central Cairo by two bridges. It seems to be one of the nicer areas to be in (according to most tour books - and production, of course); a lot of ex-pats are living out there. We're #37 on the 8th Floor on Sharia (street/road) 26 July. The elevator is a nightmare: nothing more than a steel phonebooth with no door (you can watch the concrete of each floor pass by). The apartment itself is very nice- 2 bedrooms, a big living room, new-ish bathroom, all fully furnished. Sa'eed too Chris and I to the local shopping center to get sheets and towels. Things are pretty cheap here, save certain toiletteries found in the pharmacies- they're comprable with Western prices.
Part of me is fully ready for this adventure and I can easily see myself shopping in the neighbourhood, becoming 'local'. Then the other part of me that is somewhat freaked-out is wondering if I'm just a bit self-delusional. I think I'm going to side with that first part.
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