Friday kicks off the weekend for most Egyptians and is considered a day of rest. Besides Friday prayer, which shuts down the city midday for a few hours, Cairenes spend the day enjoying several different activities. Despite Cairo’s notorious traffic, cycling has yet to take off as a popular way to get around, particularly among wealthier Cairenes. Others are more traditional and one of many coffeehouses in the city where they drink coffee or tea, play backgammon, and smoke the water pipe called shisha. The coffeehouses have long been a place for discussion, recitation or the Koran, and the telling of tales by storytellers. Hamada Elrasam speaks to Cairenes from all walks of life about how they are spending their day of leisure.
