بكم؟- new cell phone and sim card...

First thing's first. You all (with the exception of Phil, who had an unfair advantage) were horribly off when it came to guessing the price of 2.5 kilograms of bananas. Most of the guesses were in the 3-6 Egyptian pound (LE) range, which is madness. That's equatable to paying just over one dollar for nearly 6 pounds of bananas.

I think the problem was that you guys took my constant jabbering about the cheapness of Cairo a little too far. Yes, Cairo is very cheap. It's not that cheap, though. In fact, if a pound of bananas is actually $ .33 back home, then bananas here in Egypt are actually I bit more expensive. I got my 2.5 kgs of bananas for 15 LE, at a rate of 6 LE a kg. So doing some rough conversions, that's 3 dollars for 5.5 pounds. Meanwhile, at $ .33 a pound, 5.5 lbs would cost just under two dollars. So wow. American bananas are a lot cheaper (if William is telling the truth...I did a little independent research and found the average for bananas to be about $ .49 a pound, which would be about $2.75 for 2.5 kgs, a little more reasonable).

Anyway, maybe that one was a little too tricky and counter-intuitive. So here's the next one: how much did my new cell phone cost (sim card included)? It's a Nokia, pay-as-you-go.To make things fair, I'll say you win a prize if you come within 15 LEs of the actual price (of course, if two people do, closest gets the prize).

Click on the picture below to get a little sneak peak of the phone in action. Despite the fact that it is a model from circa 2000, the ring tone/rhythmic vibration and light show are very entertaining.

NOTICE: MAKE SURE TO GUESS IN EGYPTIAN POUNDS (LE)! THE CURRENT CONVERSION RATE IS JUST OVER 5 LEs per 1 AMERICAN DOLLAR.