The Quarantine Kids

As some of you may be aware, we recently had several cases of Swine Flu diagnosed here in Cairo. Several of these positive tests arose in people living the Zamalek dorms of the one of the local universities. In the hours after the first cases were diagnosed, the university closed its doors for a week and locked the inhabitants of the dorm in a quarantine that would eventually last more than a week.

As you read this, the inmates residents of the dorms are preparing for what is scheduled to be their first day of freedom since those first two students were diagnosed early last week. Two of our friends, the newly named Quarantine Kids, have been going slightly stir crazy since this all began. As a consequence of the quarantine, they have missed out on a fabulous trip to Dahab that they had been looking forward to for ages.

But luckily for our poor heroes, they have great friends like Little One, Adelpha, and me! I mean, having three awesome (yet humble) ladies like ourselves as friends would be enough for anyone to count themselves fortunate, but in this case, we decided to go the extra mile and keep the inmates from going too batty.

Early last week, we put together the care package to end all care packages. There was booze, knitting, games, and even a copy of the Kama Sutra. We didn’t bother with silly things like food – we were more worried about their ability to make it through the week with their minds intact.

The three of us cabbed it to Zamalek and generously allowed Adelpha to carry the 50-pound bag everywhere. We approached on foot and all noted how quiet the normally busy road in front of the dorm was. Barriers were set in front of the stairs leading to the front door and several surgical mask-wearing officers lingered next to the building.

We were immediately told to step away from the dorms. We explained we were there to drop off a gift for friends staying inside. Since food (and care package) delivery was ongoing to the dorms, they thought nothing of this and called out to the man inside the front door.

The guard told us to "place the bag on the stairs and step away" in such a serious tone that I almost thought we were dropping off ransom for the release of the Kids. When I tried to take a photo of the goings-on, we were immediately rushed by the previously sleepy looking officers and told to stop. When Little One innocently asked why we couldn’t take photos, the response was silence.

Upon hearing we were there, the Quarantine Kids came downstairs and waved to us from their side of the large glass doors. After a great deal of screaming, waving, and jumping up and down on all of our parts, Mr. Kid came very close to mooning everyone but stopped for reasons I have yet to determine.

But the best part of the gift was yet to come! You see, I had included one of my many copies of Trivial Pursuit in the bag and later that evening we put it to good use. With the Quarantine Kids in Zamalek on their board, and the three of us in Garden City with my board, we played a game of Skype-assisted Trivial Pursuit for several hours.

Sure, we came nowhere near to finishing, and I forgot simple answers like “Niagara Falls” but a great and drunken time was had by all. The best part of our Swine Flu-free game was the simple fun of hanging out with good friends – even those separated by governments, guards, and the Nile’s waters.