Egypt is mainly a cash society so was not hit as hard as other countries by the financial crash but now, with no one working, it will become an even bigger issue. Seems no matter what you do you cannot escape materialism.

But then these things happen to teach us lessons that must be learned no matter where we are. Where do we stand in relation to money? And what will we do about it? What are the other alternatives to money? The only real answer is a coming together as a community or collective effort and to change our perceptions of value.

Talking with some friends on Friday it seems that the rents in Zamalek have dropped about 40%. Because of all the people who have been evacuated many apartments stand empty. Landlords would rather have less money than no money.

I spoke to one friend who is a teacher. She said that the school had asked them to only take half their salary this month. She seemed agreeable. She understands the situation and half a salary is better than the alternative, laying people off. At least you still have a job and some money coming it.

It makes me wonder if this is not an opportunity to recalibrate. The Aquarian paradigm of business is that everyone adds only a 100% mark up on any goods. This seems reasonable. It would mean that products would reflect their actual value. And 100% is still a good profit margin.

I got a call today and it was so unexpected that I couldn’t even understand what the man was saying to me. I understood that he was from a restaurant. But why was he calling me? Telemarketing? Now? We usually call them to order food. When I finally stopped, listened and asked him where he was from rather than trying to figure it out before he said anything, I got it. He was calling from the Indian restaurant that we often order from. That is why he had my number. He was calling to tell me that they were open and their working hours were from noon to the curfew. He went on to say that they would be happy to deliver what we want and that Egypt is in a bit of a mess right now but he hoped, Insh’Allah (God willing), that would be over soon and then they would go back to regular hours. He was very sweet. It made me want to order from him right then and there just as a show of support, which I will do in the next few days.

It is a delight to see people being so resourceful and trying to make it work. I never would have thought to call any of the restaurants because I just assumed everyone was closed. About a week ago I had a craving for pizza and realized ‘well that’s not going to happen for awhile’. It was almost a shock to have that realization as we are so use to just calling for home delivery anytime the mood to cook doesn’t strike. Apparently I hadn’t turned off the idea that making food at home was the only option. So it was good that he brought me back to reality or he would have lost my business.

I’m excited to see how many other ways we will find to make our lives work. This is an opening for creative thought on all levels of existence. Unfortunately we get stuck in our usual thinking and unless forced to we don’t tend to look for other ways. I guess it is time to explore new options.