$$

One hundred pounds (~$20):



One Pound (~20 cents):

More exactly, 5.7 Egyptian Pounds = 1 Dollar

Not the easiest calculation, but a meal costs ~5 pounds ($1), the metro costs 1 pound (20 cents), and a fifteen minute taxi ride 5 pounds ($1). The cheap taxis are everywhere, and if you're non-egyptian looking they honk and slow down when they pass, hoping for a fare. Most Egyptians I've met don't walk anywhere. I guess their thinking is why walk when the taxis are ridiculously cheap, and everywhere? (I will write later about the driving. No traffic lights--the few that exist are "optional," lanes don't apply, and there's no such thing as a moving violation.) The biggest frustration for me is that most shop owners won't give change. Breaking my hundred pound notes has been difficult (one hundred pounds roughly equals a twenty). Most purchases need simply a few pounds and a couple piasters (cents). There is a five piaster note that equals one cent. Keeping track of all my little notes is annoying :)