Sizzling Sands - 2019

The Sizzling Sands of Egypt - 2019

Taken from emails, newsletters, jottings, scribbles and notes of the day.

1999 Travel Tips to Egypt

from the perspective of an amateur traveller...

NB: some things have changed since then but not many - most of what is written below is still current in 2004.

My husband and I recently returned from a trip to Egypt. Like most amateur travellers, we did some obligatory pre-reading about our destination and sallied-forth with great excitement and expectations. Also, like many of our kind, we soon learnt that some of the recently-gained information was next to useless while vital pieces seemed to be completely left out. Contrary to what we had or had not learnt, we offer the following for fellow travellers who wish to see this ancient of lands, first hand. Unlike many travellers, we actually know people who live in this vast and fascinating of cities and rather than staying at the Nile Hilton or equivalent, we were offered B&B in the suburbs. However, some things remain the same, no matter where you rest your weary bones.

Arriving at Cairo International Airport:

Before going through Immigration and Customs, you have the opportunity to exchange your Travellers' Cheques for Egyptian Pounds. DO SO at this point because most Egyptian traders do not accept Travellers' Cheques as legal tender; nor are credit cards in popular use, especially outside the major Hotels. Therefore, ensure you have plenty of Egyptian Pounds or American Dollars. Egypt is very much a cash-economy! At the SAME time, obtain plenty of low denomination notes, especially One Pound notes - you can never have enough One Pound notes as they are essential for tipping everybody! It is strange, but even though you are constantly using One Pound notes, traders and taxi drivers are reluctant to change larger notes into this denomination and therefore additional supplies can be difficult to obtain. We found that many Banks did not change Travellers' Cheques even though they "offered" the service. 

Water

Each person will need to carry bottled water with them, where ever you go. Therefore, ensure that you can easily do so by using a back-pack, waist-pack or large enough shoulder bag. If you need to buy additional supplies during the day, traders of this commodity are a common sight. However, do NOT buy a bottle if the seal has been broken as chances are the bottle has been filled with ordinary tap water; which will mean the difference between seeing the sights you have dreamt about, or "spending a penny" - all day long! Ensure you use bottled water to also clean your teeth and rinse your toothbrush in!

Food

One piece of valuable advice we were given prior to leaving was: boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it! It served us very well. Do not eat salads or shellfish ie prawns, etc unless you KNOW they are safe to eat. For visitors, the salads you consume should be soaked in a bleach solution for at least 20 minutes and air-dried before you even think about eating them. The same advise goes for vegetables and fruit, unless they are to be cooked and except bananas, which will be peeled. In relation to bananas, peel them yourself with clean hands - do not use a knife without washing both the knife in a bleach solution and soaking the banana, as above. The reason? By cutting a banana with a knife, you drag any bugs from the skin onto the flesh and then you eat them! We took over with us a bundle of 4711 towelettes, which were perfect. Before we ate or put our fingers near our mouth, we wiped our hands thoroughly (including under the finger nails) and then proceeded to do what we wanted to do! This is especially so, after handling money!

Religion and Culture

Egypt's State religion is Islam. If you are not a Muslim, it will make your visit much more pleasant if you acquaint yourself with some of the basic "do's" and don'ts" before you go; especially if you plan to "do your own thing" and more specifically, if you are a female. There are also do's and don'ts for western men, though!

Purchases of Goods and/or Services

A lot of "tourist" commerce is transacted by way of Barter and Tipping systems, rather than set prices. You offer what you expect to pay and the trader will either accept your offer or reject it. If he accepts it, you will never know if you could have gone lower but if he rejects it, you know you have gone too low, or at least, for now! With a bit more bartering, you may still get it at "your" price, but it will take a bit longer!

Cairo Taxis

There are approximately 3 million taxis in Cairo and every one of them is black and white and 99% of them are battered and bruised but most of them will be clean, at least by Cairo standards. The major pieces of advice I can offer, is to state your destination BEFORE you get into the cab and ensure the driver understands where you want to go and pay him AFTER you and your other passengers have alighted. If there is a man in your party, then he must sit in the front seat and pay the driver. Payment is made after everyone has alighted and you pass the money through the open window (all the front windows of taxis are always wound down!). The driver will often turn the meter on when he starts your journey but in most cases it does not work properly, therefore you need to know how much the trip is worth before you accept the ride. When you reach your destination, you pay the driver what you think the ride is worth, taking into account the number of people and additional luggage (the more people or luggage, the more you pay!). If what you offer is not sufficient, he will soon let you know. By the way, travelling by taxi in Cairo is very cheap, quick and exciting.

Do Visit

The Pyramids & Sphinx 

**Egypt Museum 

**Citadel 

**Khan El Khalili and Tentmaker Street (Market areas)

Nile Cruise (between Aswan and Luxor or vice versa)

Dine at "Sultana's on the Nile", in Maadi 

** When you visit these sites, buy yourself a Guide. Egyptian Guides are qualified University graduates who have a Degree in Egyptology and have studied the history for at least 3 years at University. They major in either Upper or Lower Egypt but rarely in both. Your Guide will bring to life all that you see and provide an informative and personalised account of Egypt's past. Without a Guide, you will miss more than you will see and remember even less!

Reading Material

An excellent resource is "Egypt" from the "Culture Shock" series. This outlines many points for the intrepid traveller, without a lot of hype. It also goes into many of the do's and don'ts that I referred to in "Religion and Culture". As Egypt is not a regular destination for Aussies, you will probably have to order a copy from your favourite bookshop - it is well worth it!

By adequately preparing yourself for your visit to Egypt and then following that advice, you will have a wonderful holiday. We found the Egyptians to be warm and friendly and most were eager to practice their limited knowledge of English on us. We had the holiday of a life-time and returned with many fascinating stories.

Happy travelling!

1999 – Pocket Cross

This is a silly story written (by me), after we were given a Pocket Cross each as a gift in 1999, just before we went to Egypt the first time. It was given to us from a visiting Professor of ENT from USA and with whom we had a wonderful relationship, in the 3 weeks he and his wife were in Adelaide. He and Beegee went on to financially support us for the duration of our time in Egypt and also gave us a substantial donation for our 4 months of service in SE Asia, several years later – such was our friendship and their generousity. He tried to recruit us to work in Vietnam for the mission agency with whom they were connected but alas (for him and most likely for us as well), we were accepted by IXV and as they say, the rest is history.

My friend and I, another pocket cross, were sitting on a shelf waiting to be purchased. We had been designed and made by an expert craftsman, who had been constantly telling us, while we were being made, that a wonderful life awaited us. He kept saying that only He knows where we will go, the people we would meet and the sights we will see but the craftsman knew we were destined for an interesting life and reminded us to be patient. Others of our kind were already out in the big wide world and it seemed as if we would be left sitting on the shelf.

Then almost miraculously, one day an urgent telephone call came to the workshop. It seemed as if it were a long distance call from a country far, far, away. My friend thought the craftsman repeated the word Australia, but in our limited experience, we didn't know who or what Australia was. Patiently we waited to see who the call was for and almost immediately realised that the call was for us. We could hardly contain our excitement. At last, we had been bought. The craftsman reminded us that he knew we had been made for a specific purpose but not even in his wildest dreams did he consider a destination of "down under" for us.

We were quickly gathered up and lovingly wrapped in soft cotton wool to protect us on our epic journey. The craftsman reached for a specially made container for us, which would ensure our safe arrival to this strange place called Australia. All the while, he reassured us that this was truly the place of our destiny and that we would be lovingly cared for and appreciated for what we had been designed and made for: to remind our new owners of the Love and Grace of God the Father and the forgiveness of their sins through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before we could gather our thoughts, we were being sent by special delivery to the Airport, where a plane awaited us. Wow! Where is this place called Australia, we wondered. Our next recollection was being lifted high into the sky. We had heard about the wonders of air travel by the myriad of people who visited the showroom but didn't dare think that we would also experience it. Crossing the international date line, we realised that we had skipped a whole day out of our lives. We went from Sunday to Tuesday in one blink of our eyes! Things were happening so fast that we could hardly believe it all. When our plane landed, the first voices we heard seemed so strange to us. We exchanged glances with each other and continuously reminded ourselves, that "yes! It sounds like English" and yet, it didn't. But, no time to ponder for long, as no sooner were we on terra firma, than we were up in the air yet again, this time our destination was a city called Adelaide in central/southern Australia.

We soon came down to earth with a thud, as Pat the Postman who had been given the responsibility of delivering us to our final destination at Wayville, an inner suburb of Adelaide, threw us onto the Receptionists' counter. Wow! What was that? In a daze, haze and fog, we slowly realised that we were almost at our final destination. We were placed in the coolness of one of the offices, which was just perfect as it also gave us the time and space to compose ourselves in preparation for our big debut and introduction to our new owners. We were so excited that we were almost overcome by it.

Later that day, our sponsor gently picked us up, released us from our secure packaging and quietly placed us in the pockets of his coat, in preparation for our introduction. After a very heartfelt and warm thank you to our new owners for the friendship and special relationship that had developed in such a short amount of time between our sponsors and our new owners, we were joyfully handed over. Once we were opened and introduced, we knew that our craftsman in America had been right - these were definitely the people our Lord had designed us for.

But wait, read on because our story doesn't end there.. We soon discovered that this was just the beginning of a wonderful and exciting relationship with our new owners. From the moment we met our new owners, we learnt that in three days time we would again be in a plane - this time continuing west to a country called Egypt via Singapore. What a life! 

We arrived at Adelaide Airport, only to be informed as we were booking in that the flight probably would not be going out that day as there were engine problems. And yes! They were right! Another aircraft was being flown in from Singapore but it would not be leaving until first thing tomorrow. So we were all put up at the Adelaide Hilton International Hotel overnight. Dinner and accommodation expenses would be covered by Singapore Airlines. Disappointed and rather heavy of heart, we all were transported to our Hotel - it was not part of the plan and concerns were being voiced about possible options for connections to Cairo, our destination. When the air settled, it was revealed that as we had lost our Singapore-Cairo connection and the next opportunity for another straight flight was 2 days hence, we all agreed on the suggested Singapore-Istanbul-Cairo connection which was offered to us the next day. It would mean a day in Singapore and a day in Istanbul, at Singapore Airline's expense. At each location they would provide us with a Hotel room for our use during the day which would serve as a base for us to do as we wished. It was soon settled and our minds were now set on a new route.

Needless to report that we were all totally exhausted on our eventual arrival at Cairo - the end of a 60 hour trek. Because we had flown at night, no-one had had adequate sleep and by the end, we were starved of it.

We were met at Cairo Airport by Raylene, Alison and Nabil.

010810 – Cargo Village

See separate page for this experience

010915 – ChitChat

Hi! This was started pre the attack on the US, possibly about 8th Sept or thereabouts and bits have been added as time has permitted:

Just thought we'd touch base and let you know that we are both fine, fit and healthy and seem to be acclimatising pretty well into our new surroundings. We arrived safe and sound, although we had a hiccup at Adelaide Airport, as they didn't want us to leave. Anyway, that all got sorted in time for us to still catch our flight, even though we didn't have enough time to bid farewell to those who came to see us off, except for a quick hug and kiss as we flew into Customs and straight on to the plane!

We were sure that was the start of new experiences for us, and we weren't wrong! Everyday brings its own surprises and adventures and even in the ordinary everyday things, there are surprises galore. We have kept healthy since arriving but the heat has been fairly oppressive and constant. Fortunately, we have fans and an airconditioner - or at least, we did! Within the last couple of days both fans in this flat have conked out and the ac is now dripping water everywhere, so Mr-Fix-It-Albert has been busy trying to see if he can do anything about any of them. His plan of action for the fans was easy - he went out and bought a new one! But as for the ac, the answer is not so straight forward!!! 

Every now and then Albert's tummy does a wobbly on him but so far there's been nothing serious to worry about that a rest and taking it easy hasn't fixed. He's been put on to some tablets whenever it bothers him and they seem to be doing the trick and settle things down pretty quickly. Apart from that, though, every thing is going OK.

The mega-city of Cairo is much different than life in Adelaide from every imaginable perspective. 

We have commenced our Arabic classes and are doing colloquial speaking and reading/writing. It's still early days but already it is obvious that we have much practise to do between classes! There are sounds we have to make that are not a part of our language structure and those who are in the class from other countries can get their tongues to do what we are finding to be rather difficult. We stumble and fall continuously but keep at it! There are people from South America [Spanish language] as well as European countries and they seem to be doing quite well. Like us, the Americans, who are also the majority, are finding the going a bit tough! A relative of a friend of ours recently commented that Arabic is the language of a thousand years as it takes that long to master it!

The weather has shifted from being just plain hot all the time to giving us a cooler day every now and again. By cooler, we mean a day in the low 30's rather than constantly in the high 30's. Apparently, this will continue for a few weeks until it remains in the low 30's before settling into winter [or not-summer] when the temperature will drop even lower! Oops spoke too soon, the last three days have been back near the 40's, lucky us!

We are eating really well, but not too much, as we continue to lose weight slowly. In the main, we eat much the same as at home except we have less meat in our diet. When mince is priced at AU$12kg and other meat is even more expensive, you find other foods to substitute. Within the last 6 weeks a shop has opened locally called The Australian Meat Import Company and apparently it is doing really well. We popped in to have a look at the prices and they are very reasonable. Prime veal is AU$9kg, BUT it is in a frozen block. We thought we might buy some when we are doing a bit of entertaining and maybe there might be some scraps left over for a meal the next day, also. They sell lamb and beef as well but all of it is in large hunks and as it is frozen already, you'd have to use it all in one go, or at least cook it in one go and maybe freeze left overs in meal size packages.

We have discovered that expats eat lots of smoked turkey which replaces ham, corned beef and/or bacon and so we have also been enjoying that with either salad or with mashed potatoes and other vegies. We have also been eating fresh mango, although it is now at the end of the season and the price has increased dramatically, so that will be shelved until next season! Everything you buy in the way of fruit & vegies is fresh and seasonal - they don't have the big cold storage sheds like at home, where you can buy anything these days, all year round! Most of the stuff comes from the Delta, just north of Cairo, or imported from near neighbours, usually from other Arab Nations! 

We have been warmly welcomed by the expat community, who are extremely supportive of one another, especially to those new in their midst. We are no longer the new kids on the block, as others have arrived since we came and we now are helping them to settle in as they orientate themselves. It's good because we are all learning together but with a support team behind us.

Since arriving we have been out flat-hunting most days and have concentrated in the Maadi area as this is where our community of interest has been and will be. We think we have found the place we will live in but are yet to sign the contract - that should happen next week, all being well! 

We have recently ventured out of Maadi; into the city and beyond but because we were looking for a flat, our time was consumed by staying local. This actually was very good, as it also orientated us as to what is near to us, as we walked the streets looking at this flat and that. Of sights out of our own area, we have been to the major market place or bazaar [Khan el Khalili] which is a 20 minute train ride away [@ AU$0.25pp one way] and then a 10 minute taxi ride [cost = AU$2.50 for the two of us]. It is a very exciting place; noisy, bustling and colourful with lots and lots of people. It's one of those must-see places for all visitors to this city.

We also went right out of Cairo, into the desert for a long weekend which was an amazing experience. One of the Bishops has built a Retreat out there and it is a popular place for the Christian community - both locals and expats. Amongst its many features is an excellent swimming pool which is always well used and never more so than at this time of the year. On another occasion we returned to the other side of the city, near the Airport, to collect our unaccompanied baggage. Now that WAS an experience. In all, we had 66 transactions before our stuff was put onto the back of a taxi-truck [or the Egyptian equivalent]. Everything here is extremely labour intensive. Even to buy one item from a department store you will have contact with 3 or 4 shop assistants - one will show you the goods, another will write you out an invoice [or equivalent], another will take your money, another will wrap it for you and maybe will hand it to you, but someone else may do that! None of these people are standing or sitting next to one another - you will trek from one side of the store to the other and back again, for that solitary purchase. This is also the case if you buy a cup of coffee from the coffee lounge! Patience is certainly one of the key elements for living here. Nothing is done in a hurry and there's nothing you can do to speed up the process. Egyptians do not have the luxury of unemployment benefits and therefore it is better for 4-6 people to do the job of one person, at least those 4-6 are getting some sort of a wage and are gainfully employed. Otherwise the other families will starve as jobs are very precious here.

Post US Attack

The effects of the attack on America had an immediate reaction here in that everything American shut down almost straight away. The US Embassy closed its gates, the American University in Cairo [AUC] and the Cairo American College [CAC], as well as the American-run Community Services Association [CSA]. The latter affected us as that is where we are doing our Arabic language classes. All are shut until further notice and their people are keeping a low profile. We were advised by the Australian Embassy to do likewise, ie keep a low profile, keep away from crowds [which we thought was funny in a city with 20m people] and if out and about to try and look and sound as Australian as possible and to clearly identify ourselves as being Australian - or any other nationality other than American!

 

Like you, we had a continuous coverage on many channels c/o CNN and on most channels it was in English. Some channels had voice overlay in Arabic [for obvious reasons]. Normally, we can get 15 minutes of news on either Channel 2 or Nile TV in English at 8.00pm and 9.00pm but most of the coverage is for the Middle East but we get snippets of news out of Indonesia and Malaysia [both are Muslim countries]. We did see Johnny Howard for about 15 seconds with the incident of the Norwegian freighter as the refugees were of Muslim &/or Arab nationality. So it was quite something to watch TV for hours on end and all of it in English - its a tragedy about the subject matter, that's all! Through the ABC website, we have caught up with the Ansett collapse. What a blow to the travelling public at home and what a surprise, but maybe not considering all the groundings and take-over attempts made prior to us leaving Oz.

Well, folks, that's about all for now.

We look forward to hearing from you as time permits.

All our love.

010924 – ChitChat

This has been sent to many people using the "Blind CC" (BCC) function, as we are getting so many emails (keep them coming, we love them) and there are also some of you we haven't had the chance to send one to as yet.

We are both well and keeping safe in these early days of the aftermath of September 11th. Life on the streets of Cairo is much the same as it was before, especially for us, as Australians. All the American establishments have re-opened but now they are guarded much more heavily than before. This week we returned to CSA [Community Services Association which is American-run] to resume our language lessons and noticed more guards than usual out the front and one or two more of a higher ranking than is usually present. This will probably continue for a while yet, especially while the world waits on what America will do next! It's a waiting game which is felt very keenly here in the Middle East! No doubt there will be extra guards at the church this Friday, also - like last week!

We are having 6 lessons a week of Arabic; 2xreading & writing, 2xspeaking and 2xprivate tuition. The first 4 are held at CSA but the latter are at an Egyptian friend's home. We are finding the reading and writing to be easier than speaking, although for both it is still very early days! Our private tutor assists us with market-place vocabulary eg what potatoes are in Arabic, or tomatoes, or beans etc. She also helps us to practice what we are learning at CSA by making us ask each other questions or make statements and we have to translate it to English but reply in Arabic [so we understand what we are saying and not just repeating a whole lot of words that have no meaning to us]. She is very good. The other day she took us around the souq [market place] and showed us where to buy this and that at much cheaper prices than in the Western-style supermarkets. She also has shown us how to cook some of the local foods, which we have started doing. We can now buy more food than we can eat for a lunch [for example] for less than AU$0.35 for the 2 of us or AU$0.18pp. MInd you, you'd get bored eating the same stuff every day for lunch but even if we have this twice a week, what a bonus. She showed us a good baker [and what bread to buy], a shoe maker [for repairs of all things leather ie shoes, handbags, suitcases, etc], a carpenter, where to get cushions made [which we will need in our new home], where to buy everyday kitchen and household goods, or a fresh chicken [and when we say fresh, we mean fresh - like one minute we see it in the cage and 5 minutes later it is 'dressed' in a plastic bag, without its head] and all that sort of stuff.

Life here, as we have said before, is never dull, uninteresting or boring and we love it. We are also looking forward to the cooler weather which is starting to happen but we still have many hot days. The nights are much cooler than before, though!

We go out for a walk at least once a day - by walk, we mean for at least 30 minutes but it's usually an hour or two as we wander the streets. Some streets we only walk through by day. "Ballady" is the word here for "local" or "native". Hence, there are ballady areas [those places where the locals live and Westerners generally don't], ballady bread [local Middle Eastern bread], there are ballady shops [where the locals do their shopping and many Westerners don't, although we have started going into these shops for some items, as they are sometimes much cheaper, although their range is far less than the Western-style supermarkets]. The shops cater for local tastes and therefore don't have many "Western" items on their shelves - although even here, the ways of the West permeate every society and many homes now have washing machines and therefore the ballady shops will sell clothes detergents, etc. Persil and the like come in 3 sizes, 1kg, 3kg or 5kg - most people buy it by the 5kg buckets [30LE or AU$15]. Certainly, in all of our wanderings, whether they be in the souq or down the streets, we feel safe and the people are very friendly and welcoming to us. We are starting to use our little Arabic from time to time and are always repaid by the delight we bring to whomever we are conversing - they are thrilled that we are making an effort and extract more and more Arabic from us! We are sometimes rewarded with material things, like a stick of chewing gum or something! We are getting quite a collection of gum - especially as neither of us eats the stuff!

Speaking of things "ballady": we bought a fuul pot and cooker the other day. We had priced a pot in the Govt department store @ 78LE and bought one in the souq a few days later [with the help of our friend], including the small electric hot plate for 47LE. It's one thing to own one, it's another to actually use it! Well, Albert cooked up our first pot of fuul yesterday and we had some of it for breakfast this morning, much to the delight of our friend. It's a long drawn out process and takes about 13 hours from start to finish, so one has to plan in advance that that's what you want to do! Once made, it keeps in the fridge for a few days [we're not sure how long it keeps but no doubt we'll soon find out]. It's eaten in lieu of meat or as a breakfast dish. In fact our friend was saying there is a rhyme about it but couldn't remember all the words indicating that fuul is the food of the rich for breakfast, the middle class for lunch and is the poor man's supper [dinner].

Accommodation Update

We are still on target to get this half-villa which we like and meet the landlady and her daughter tomorrow [Thurdsay] when they will go through the place and list all the things that belong to them. The current tenants will list those things that have been theirs but are selling or giving to us. The contract will then be drawn up and be ready for our signatures this coming Saturday and once the villa is vacated, we can move in [probably 1st or 2nd October]. We will keep you informed as to how all this goes. The landlady, by the way is an 85 year old Coptic Christian who does not speak much English. Her daughter, on the other hand, speaks English very well - she's in her late 50's but we haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet. We inherit the maid, who speaks reasonable English and has helped the current tenants enormously with their Arabic. Of the bawwaab, we are not sure! Officially, he is the "gate-keeper" [which is the literal translation of the title] and the fountain of all knowledge in regards to local affairs. In reality, he keeps a watch on the premises [like a security guard] and cleans the cars [of which we have none] plus does odd-jobs as required. We're not even sure where he lives, although generally they live on-site; in a room downstairs or out the back. I guess, once we move in, we will find out many things! The landlady is obviously not short of a penny as already she has invited us to her villa on the Red Sea, which according to the current tenants is very palatial and we will be well looked after whilst there. She also has a home on the Corniche [Esplanade] and we will receive invitations to her "town-house". She is a good landlady and will only rent her property to people she likes. We must have passed the test, somehow!

They don't have postal or zip codes over here. In fact no-one really knows how the mail is delivered even, as no-one has seen a postal delivery person but somehow it just happens. It's one of the many mysteries of living here!

Did we share with you what El Ma'adi means in Arabic? It means The Crossing, as this is the site in Cairo from where the Holy Family left to travel to Upper Egypt. There is a church on the actual site, as history records it!

We were walking home from the villa this evening and just ahead of us we saw a huge stack of smoke in the middle of the street. Our immediate thought was that a car engine had blown up, as car maintenance is not a top priority over here! Anyway, as we walked towards it, it seemed to be getting closer to us and I thought oh! no! it's still moving and is going to blow up right in front of us and there was no where to escape! Well, there's no flys on us! It was the fumigator and we walked straight into it. It's amazing how long you can hold your breath for, when you have to [but of course, it's never long enough!]. Anyway, we shouldn't have any mozzies tonight if the fog was carried on our clothes back to our flat!!! We keep saying that there's never a dull moment here and one should always expect the unexpected! Well! That's a certainty! The last time we experienced this (the fogging machine) was when we lived in Darwin, as it's a common occurrence up there, also.

May we reiterate that we, and all our expat friends, are perfectly safe in this city. We know not to take undue risks, like being amongst large crowds and also keeping a low profile, etc but we are not house-bound! Certainly, we are safe here in Maadi and as we said before we left Australia that because so many foreigners live in this part of Cairo, those nationals who also live &/or work here are used to seeing us and take no notice of us. Some foreigners have been asked their nationality but these instances have been few and far between and as more distance is put between the events in the US, then things start to settle down of their own accord. We continue to meet regularly with those we are involved and take time out to contact one another. It is a fairly close-knit community and much support, wisdom, knowledge and experience abounds. We are in safe Hands.

Well, before this turns into another epic in the days and nights of N&M, we had best go!

A few days later on 22/9/01

Oops! We didn't get around to sending this email and so have decided to add the latest news but we'll try to keep it to a reasonable length, so here goes:

Today we signed a lease for our new accommodation. In this part of the world the word that our friends are using is "mabruuk" which means "congratulations". It is a three storey villa with 3 bedrooms upstairs and a lounge, salon and dining room downstairs [with the appropriate "wet" areas both up and down and the usual utilities]. The basement is being sub-let to friends for their private use. We are really excited about our new home and can't wait to move in on 1st October. As the current tenants own the stove, the landlady bought us a new one today [and we chose it] and then she took us upstairs of the government department store to select the fabric for recovering the lounge suite. Our landlady claims to be about 85 and is very active, although her body is starting to show the signs of old age. She is also a very shrewd business lady with the gift of bargaining very hard but is also extremely generous. We had previously been told by her to have a look at some fabrics @ 20LE/metre [but no higher than 22LE], which we dutifully did.  Within her price range we found a couple of fabrics [@18LE] which we liked. Anyway, today when we went upstairs and showed her our selections, she immediately pointed to another fabric and asked if we liked that better. We said yes but it was priced at 25.50LE and outside the price range. She asked again, waving her arms about, "but do you like it?" We said yes and with that she bought it saying it was much nicer and we'd be much happier with it and as we have to see it everyday then she would like us to have it. How could we argue with her reasoning? What she didn't know was that it was the same fabric we had already eyed off but when we discovered its price, we immediately discounted even thinking any more about it and found other fabrics which we would be happy with. PTL. All this happened after we signed the contract at her home, which is another amazing story altogether!

May I just add that our new landlady is a Christian [Coptic Orthodox] and we had been told by the current tenants [H&M] that she had asked them if she could increase the rent with these new people coming in [us]. They said "no", that we are in the same situation as they are and could not afford to pay any more than what they [H&M] are paying. She appeared happy with that but wanted to meet us before accepting us as possible tenants. Once she approved of us, then her daughter also had to meet us and give her stamp of approval. Today, when we were at the signing of the contract, she [the landlady, hereafter referred to as Madam I] also told us of this conversation.  She went on to add, though, that she could easily get double what she is charging for rent [and she could!] but would rather place the "right" people in her villa, according to what formula, we don't know! She also confided in us that she is not interested in the money as much as having the "right" people in her place. The villa was once her home, before she built her current place on the Corniche, where she has "placed" her family in a 7-storey building [we can confirm that from what we have observed that money is not a major consideration for her, or so it would appear]. That's not to say it is not important but it is not what is "driving" her. Anyway, armed with a huge list of what we can do and what we can't do, we went ahead and signed on the dotted line! Both mother and daughter are beautiful people and we feel there will be a strong, ongoing relationship with them both, rather than purely a tenant/landlady arrangement. PTL. From the various conversations we have had with different people about the villa, it seems that she has only rented the villa to Christians [some may have been more nominal than others] but amongst her tenants has been a Lutheran Pastor from Europe who by day was a banker and by night used the basement as a Church until the authorities closed it down [via word from the neighbours]. We asked how she felt about him using the rooms as a Church and she confided that she was very pleased and was extremely sorry when it could not be used in this way again. The neighbours watch the villa like hawks and report any "inappropriate" activities.

On another, but similar, tack. In answer to the question from new arrivees about security matters, we were told of the time when 2 friends were chatting over the telephone in their native tongue when a voice was heard asking them if they wouldn't mind speaking in either Arabic or English as "they" could not understand the conversation.

Today, also, we went with our friend R, who only the other day was told that she had to find alternate accommodation as her landlord is selling his block of apartments and going back to Europe to live [she is the only tenant left in the building]. Anyway, the 3 of us went to this flat just around the corner from where she currently lives and bingo, she's signing her contract tomorrow! Her new flat is really nice - large, spacious and clean looking with lots of white tiles on the floors [which is wonderful in this part of the world]. She now has 3 bedrooms and a really nice kitchen and well appointed bathrooms which are colour coordinated [they are often the most hideous combinations of colour and usually the colours and patterns of the floors, walls and porcelain bear no relationship to one another, except they share the same room]. Another PTL.

Things continue to be safe here for Westerners and although some expats have attracted unwelcome comments &/or attention, for most people it is a case of life goes on as normal. We are being urged, yet again, not to go where there are large crowds and keep off the Metro [trains] unless we really have to use them. Normal tourist attractions are areas, also, which we are being discouraged from going, at least for a while. Some new arrivees [newer than us] were going to the Khan [the big market place, downtown] or the Pyramids today but were encouraged to do something else and put them on hold for a few weeks. It's merely as a precaution. We asked about walking around our local souq and other local shopping areas and were given the OK, as they are sites which we have frequented and our faces are known and easily recognised. I guess we will continue to stay close to Maadi but with what else is in store for us in the next few weeks, we'd have probably done that anyway! The situation is being closely monitored on our behalf constantly and arrangements are in place to keep us safe. Language lessons, study and "gatherings" keep us off the streets a lot anyway, and keep us very busy to boot.

We were horrified to read on the ABC [on-line] about the incident in Queensland re the mosque, as it could have ramifications for all Oz expats, especially those in some areas, depending on how it is reported by the international media [and you'd be absolutely amazed as to how they are reported back to their home networks]. We pray it was not arson, but due to an electrical fault or something like that. It puts our country in the same category as some others, which up until now has not been the case. Australians enjoy a good reputation here and this fact alone has provided extra safety for the likes of us, especially in these uncertain days!

Anyway, we really MUST close off now! Will write again soon and look forward to hearing from you, as time permits. 

For every "story" which we share with you, there are another 5 or 6 in the wings that we would also like to but it is just impossible to share every single moment with you, even though we'd love to. After all, how much can you take in? You'll just have to save up and come and visit us and see it all for yourselves - but if you do, stay a while. We'll give you access to a great holiday, jam packed with new and exciting experiences! Come and stay with your friends in their Middle Eastern Villa, just 5 minutes walk from the Nile! What an invitation?

Ah! I nearly forgot to mention that yesterday at Church a Memorial Service was held for the recent events. The US Ambassador was present, as was the British High Commissioner and high-ranking representatives from many other countries [we didn't find out if Oz was represented, though]. Wow! The security! We have NEVER seen anything like it before. Even some of our longer term friends said they hadn't seen that much before. Streets were closed one block back from the Church in all directions but for several blocks further away, security officers [police, army and some plain clothes officers (they were the ones with the walkie talkies)] were stationed at the ready. Each of the dignitaries arrived with a full police escort. Normally we have about 4-6 police officers guarding the Church whenever there are activities within the walls but yesterday I lost count as we entered the gate. I also didn't feel inclined to stand there and do an actual head count! The service itself was a powerful one indeed! At one time the Pastor mentioned that there were representatives of 45 countries who also lost nationals in the events. To bring home the point to everyone he called out either individual countries or regions and asked those people who came from those countries or regions to stand when theirs was mentioned and to remain standing. In the end everyone was standing, except for the Americans. At this time more than half of the congregation was standing. He then asked the Americans to look about them and observe how many were grieving with them at this time for their own nationals and pointed out that they are not alone in their grief! We went to the first service and missed the grand dignatories, which disappointed Victoria, as we only heard a representative of the US ambassador speak. We had previously booked into a new comers talk at church and went to that instead. We now know all about the Maadi Community Church and how it interacts with the community and its philosophy, given the diverse backgrounds of all the worshippers who attend. Their theology is rock solid and nothing to be worried about at all.

On that note, we had best go or you'll go cross-eyed reading it all!

Much love from us.

011014 – ChitChat

It's Victoria here - I've got my hands on the keyboard for a few minutes and thought I'd touch base with you, although my time will be short as Albert has to finish our quarterly newsletter, as it's due out about now!

Life continues to be interesting and full of fascination. No doubt that will soon stop the longer we are here and the more mundane it will appear but for now, we are soaking up the atmosphere as much as we can. 

It's been good settling into our own place and emptying our barrels and cases. I have more variety of clothes now instead of just 3 or 4 pairs of pants [jeans and the like] and a few t-shirts. While we were living out of suitcases it didn't seem worth while to spread ourselves too far and wide as we knew one day we would have to repack everything. It was much easier to just select a few items and keep rotating through them. I have the house almost as clean as it is possible to get and feel much more settled. Some of the dirt is decades old and there's no way it's going to budge - but that's OK, I can live with that knowing at least I have tried to clean it. At least the surface is clean! The whole place could use repainting, but that's for the landlady to worry about and if she is not willing to do it, then who are we to worry about it? As friends come and visit us, they marvel at how we ever landed such a home! It's a lovely place and has so much character and charm. We are looking forward to adding our own touch of middle eastern artifacts and wall hangings over a period of time but for now, we are happy just being!

As Albert describes in our newsletter, the street is also one full of character and characters. Every day the hawkers come along with their donkey carts trying to sell everything from fruit and vegetables to cushions and other household items. We saw a cart collecting broken plasticware one day and smiled to ourselves! When the rubbish truck comes you smell it before you see or hear it but it soon passes by and so does the smell! We weren't sure what to do with our rubbish. We didn't know when it was collected or where we put it but Ola [our maid] put us right with that one. As we fill a rubbish bag we just throw it over the fence to our neighbours place and it gets collected from there. If we have rubbish in the outside bin it too is emptied and we don't have to do any more than that. At first we were horrified at the thought of throwing our rubbish next door but no, that is what is done!

What a dear Ola is! We get on so well together. She speaks a little English and I speak a little Arabic but somehow we communicate really well. Each week I am learning more and more Arabic words and therefore, each time she comes our conversations are more lengthy. We chat and laugh and work together, especially in these early days of moving in. Ola came with the villa and we are her 3rd set of 'bosses' She calls me Madame Victoria and Albert is Mr Albert, although she finds it difficult to remember his name or pronounce it correctly! Rather than getting her to clean the whole house in one day [which is what she had previously done], I prefer her to do a couple of rooms really well and that is now our system. As each room is cleaned it's easier to keep clean and thus we can get through more rooms each Thursday [the day she comes]. In between times, I also clean, as housework here is a constant task and the floors need to be swept and lightly mopped daily. Every week we give the floors a polish, which lasts till the next week. The first time we polished the floors, the wood just soaked the oil up and we went through so much liquid "Pledge", but even now we are using less, which is economically very good, also. Last week Ola cooked our lunch consisting of fried eggplant. It was delicious. She has promised to cook for us in coming weeks, so that we get to try different Egyptian dishes. Ola has 5 children but is not in a happy marriage and so she enjoys her time cleaning for the 3 expat families here in Maadi. She said that she likes my system of cleaning, ie doing a few things well, rather than everything not so well! It's funny how much of my grandmother's training has come back to haunt me since being here! She certainly laid the ground work for good house management for this part of the world, at least! I am using lots of elbow-grease, which of course, is cheaper and more effective than a whole lot of potions and creams!

We have just had a phone call from a friend inviting us out to "6th October City" this coming Tuesday night. They have funny names for some of their places. There's also a 26th July Street or Boulevard [as it is a main thoroughfare]. All these "names" are from significant dates in Egypt's history! 6th October City is like Elizabeth is to Adelaide. The government is trying to resettle people out of Cairo and have built satellite cities on the perimeter but the people don't want to move. New, cheap and clean housing is NOT a good enough incentive here for people. They like living in close quarters and the litter-laden streets have a homely charm and comfort about them! But the government is persistent! Land is very cheap and so many factories and other businesses are starting to relocate but at the moment the workers are still living where they always have and are commuting between home and work. No doubt one day, people will start to move out but because of how the family relationships work here, the whole family may have to move! That, of course, means that other members of the family will have to commute back to Cairo each day, so it's a no-win situation. Anyway, we'll report later on our visit to 6th October City. No doubt it will be another interesting adventure for us!

We have continued to visit the souq on a regular basis, even though the Embassy recommended that Aussies stay away from such places at this time. On a local level, because we already have a relationship [of sorts] with many traders in the souq, it was felt that we were not in danger by continuing to do what we have done since coming here. It would be different if we had never visited it and then all of a sudden decided to do so - this is not the time to change normal practices. Looking about us as we wander through the souq there are not many Westerners who frequent it and this in itself offers us a certain amount of protection, as we are becoming well known. We have started buying some produce from one of the vegetable stalls and each time we go, we get a big warm and friendly handshake and a hug and this massive smile! He chooses good produce for us and allows us to check the quality before buying it. He also gives us some discount, as he seems to like us! We visited him again yesterday and he was proudly introducing us to all his friends [by doing lots of shouting and pointing at us - we're not yet on first name terms, but in time even that might happen]. We have decided, though, that since 11 September we don't go deep into the souq but stay in the main areas and not into the back alleys! The start of the souq is near the Metro station and as such there is always much activity. Two of the biggest government department stores in Maadi provide 2 sides of the perimeter [sort of], the Metro line is the 3rd and balladi housing is the 4th - that's the area, we steer clear of, unless we are with an Egyptian! It's a fascinating and colourful place and where possible we buy most of our stuff there, rather than in the supermarkets. There are set prices for most things these days, so there's not much bargaining. You either want the goods or you don't but even though, it it still cheaper than the supermarkets [as their overheads are so much less].

Oh! By the way, if ever you are thinking of sending us goody parcels, may we be so bold as to say "thank you but no thank you". Not only do you have to pay to send it to us but we have to pay to collect it from the post office - and that's only if someone else doesn't help themselves to it first! The fee for collecting parcels is quite steep and so what many people do is try to arrange goodies via the office in Melbourne with someone who is coming over this way! Mind you, not that there's much that we can't get here, although I must admit that already I have a shopping list for when we leave the country to bring back with us. Some of the Aussies will bring in extra jars of Vegemite and the like for friends but as they also have their own shopping lists, it gets hard to ask them to bring in too much. We discovered, though, that anyone coming in from out of the country has 24 hours to front up at the Duty Free store to purchase stuff from them! Most expats take advantage of this, although, here again, the range is fairly limited! We had a look at a couple which are in Maadi and amongst other things, you can buy baked beans and canned sweet corn - just what every good Duty Free store should be selling! Ah! This is certainly a different world here in Egypt!!! 

Already we can see why R and others buy up on clothes and shoes whenever they go offshore, as the range, colours and quality is so much less than is available in the West. Most of the clothes are very drab coloured and apparently any shoes you buy may last the week out, although some friends have had success with longer lasting shoes and sandals! There are heaps of shoe stores everywhere and the shops are stocked to the hilt but it's because there's a massive turnover of sales!

Well, I had best go, as we still have some Arabic homework to do and time will start to run out on us! We are visiting R tonight with a few other friends, so it should be a good night! She is so much more settled in her new home - it's great to see!

Love from us.

011123_ChitChat

Hi! Thought it was about time I got some typing practice!

Started [c] 1st November

We are both well and continuing to find life interesting and exciting in this part of the world. It is yoom el sabt [Saturday] today and the last day of the weekend and tomorrow it's back to learning Arabic. We start our 2nd semester this week, having "passed" the first semester! We can now write and read some words in Arabic and know about 2/3 of the alphabet. Some of the vowels and consonants are completely different in Arabic than in English in that the vowels are there and spoken, but are not always written. Oh! and there are only 3 vowels in Arabic A, E/I and O/U. We say e/i and o/u because they are the same letter and share the same pronunciation when converted from either English/Arabic or Arabic/English. As beginners, we learnt all 3 and "wrote" them in words but now, in this semester, we learn to read and write words without them! So instead of writing "the cat sat on the mat" we will start to write it as "th ct st on th mt". I forgot to mention that they also leave out words like "an, a, is", etc etc. When we translate Arabic back into English, we have to remember to add these words so they complete the sentence! We can read VERY short sentences or rather phrases and individual words. Arabic also has different "rules" in that the noun is always said first, so again, when we translate back to English we have to remember to reverse the "green bag" from "bag, green". We have also started trying to read street and advertising signs with limited success! It helps if you already know what the words are supposed to say in Arabic and then it is easier to make out the various characters and thus read the word! It is pretty satisfying when we have the odd bit of success! 

A few days later...

So, language is going OK and we have a range of words under our belts but somehow they still aren't sufficient to have meaningful dialogue with people on the streets! Unless, of course we ask them:

• how are you 
• where are you from [and we can tell them we are from "osturalya"] 
• we can ask for various vegetables and drinks [both hot and cold] 
• we can ask them if their house is big or small, or has a garage - we can even name some of the rooms and ask them if they have a good/beautiful/nice/big/small lounge/dining room/kitchen/bedroom 
• we can give directions ie left, right, straight ahead and stop [as long as we can understand their question to us, that is] 
• we can tell them we are wearing trousers, shirt, skirt, shoes, sox/stockings [same word] and are carrying a handbag or a plastic bag from the supermarket [again, same word] [but of course they would know all that by looking at us anyway] 
• we can ask if they are arriving or leaving by car, bike, plane, train, bus, horse, donkey or walking and if they will be early, late or coming today, this morning, after lunch, this evening, tomorrow or we can ask if they came yesterday!!!

As you may see, these are wonderful words and in the right context are extremely helpful and necessary but do not encourage anything meaningful or long lasting! However, we have only started our second semester and are feeling comfortable with the amount of new vocabulary we have. After all, when you are learning a new language, from where do you start?

I had a thrill the other day. I was walking to another supermarket in the district. We usually go to the Metro supermarket which is about a 3 or 4 minute walk from home but the Alfa-Mart is a bit further away - on the Corniche! I timed myself and it took me 8 minutes to walk there! So 8 minutes there, 8 minutes back and 10 minutes walking around inside makes for about a half hour trip. Not bad, eh? Anyway, there are big international directional signs for motorists above the roadway and of course they are written in Arabic [for the majority population] and as I was walking towards one I looked at it and tried to work out what the words said. Even though I wasn't walking really fast, it was fast enough that I only had enough time to work out one of the words - letter by letter and then say them together and hear how they sounded and if I could recognise the word from the sounds of the letters. Anyway, I was tickled pink with myself and couldn't wait to get home and tell Albert. I worked out that one of the words said K-R-N-II-SH, aah! Corniche!!! By the time I had worked it out though, I was too close to the sign to figure out the other words, without having to stop for a while, but I found it really encouraging to at least decipher one of the words!!! On Friday, we went for a walk taking photos with another friend and as we passed McDonald's we all stood and deciphered the word [maakdoonaldz], however, the golden arches gave it away and so we knew what we should be reading!!! Nevertheless, it was interesting. Small things amuse small minds!!!

We went to an Arabic-speaking church service on Saturday night and naturally their choruses are shown through the OHP in Arabic. I could read some of the words but out of the 100 or so on the wall, my number was only something like 3 or 4 words! Hardly a drop in the ocean and yet so encouraging to be able to read even that few. One of our hopes is that we will get good enough to read the choruses and thus join in with the singing. One thing with reading - if you can read the words, even though you may not know what the words are, you can feel a part of the body and share with the people at a different level than just standing there, feeling awkward! I have figured it out that initially if we can decipher the last row of each chorus, then by the time everyone else gets to that point, we should be able to join in with them! From there, we can slowly move backwards and who knows, within a short time we may be able to sing half a chorus and ultimately, the whole chorus. On Saturday, a man sat strategically behind all of us [us and RW] and without being asked, interpreted for us. He was extremely good and his words were charged with the same emotions as that of the preacher. After the service, we saw RW into a taxi and stood by the roadside to wait for another one for us when out of the blue we heard "Victoria" and looked around. Our interpreter was there in his van [and his family] and they offered to drive us home. It's funny, everyone remembers my name [as Victoria is a common name in this part of the world] but most people have much trouble saying and then even more trouble remembering Albert's name. We are hoping to return to this service on a semi-regular basis. There are only about 80 or so who meet together and it is very much a local Egyptian service but we were warmly welcomed and are sure they would not mind us coming back again and again. There were one or two other foreigners there also, so we weren't alone!

The Egyptians have a really good sense of humour and we heard this story the other day... President Mubarrak went to America to visit President Bush. Upon his return to Egypt he ordered that his name be written on every door in the whole country, as after all, he is the President and a very important person! When he was challenged as to why he would want to do this, he said that President Bush has done it and therefore what's good enough for President Bush is good enough for him. That's the end of the story but it takes on a whole new meaning when you realise there is no letter "P" in the Arabic language and the letter "B" is used instead! There is no such drink in Egypt as Pepsi but lots of people drink Bebsi! It's also funny when they translate from Arabic to English and obviously someone struggles over the fact of when do you use the letter "B" and when do you use the letter "P". Hence many cans and bottles of foods have the words "pest before" xxx date. 

Our cleaning lady was putting on her garb that covers her head and shoulders the other day, just before leaving our home, and said we call this a "barrachuut", said with a grin from ear to ear. When she held out her arms and flapped them up and down, we could see just what she meant as it was a shiny synthetic material and there was so much of it, it looked just like a parachute. We know she was only joking but it came right out of the blue!

You know the items found in booklets and magazines along the lines of "you've been here too long when...". Well, we found one for Egypt or more specifically Cairo!

You've been here too long when...

• you consider a Vespa to be a family vehicle [this is true, as you'd be surprised how often you see them with many people aboard] 
• you think driving in a straight line to be absurb 
• you call your friend down from the 24th floor by hooting your horn for an hour [we've experienced this, to our annoyance, I must add] 
• you're offended when someone calls you a donkey [I can't imagine this happening, as I love donkeys, but it is a derogeratory term over here] 
• you expect all microbuses, buses and taxis to swerve in front of you [just wait till you come and visit us!] 
• you can cross a street [now, this IS a challenge!!!] 
• you think midnight is a good time to go out for dinner [no joking!!!]
  Items in brackets are our comments!

I well remember RW saying to us how she loves Cairo and Egypt, in general. She always used the term "earthy" when describing the place. I can now see what she meant! Cairo IS a very earthy city! There is earth everywhere, including in every nook and cranny of your home and as well, most of the clothes in the shops have the very same earthy tones about them. I'm not sure if this is just the colours for this season or if these are the colours the ladies prefer to wear? By observing their dress, though, I fear it is the latter! Our Arabic tutor, an Egyptian lady, had a lovely bright pink top on the other day and I commented on how striking it looked on her. She said she bought if from an American lady who was returning home and was having a garage sale before she left! And there I was hoping she was going to say that she had bought it downtown!

 

I've been able to borrow a sewing machine from one of our friends and have been busy making curtains for the villa. I have 8 pairs made and have another pair yet to do! Hopefully, they will be done within the next few days. With the left over material I will make covers for some of the electrical appliances to keep out the dust ie iron, heater, etc. This is much easier than washing them down every week or so and besides, the covers are also easier to clean - they can simply be tossed into the washing machine and then popped back over the top whereas the appliances take a lot more effort and can be a bit fiddly to clean!

10 November

Today I must report that we not fine, fit and healthy but are recooperating from a bad bout of whatever they call it here. We'd call it a flu, wog or a bug. Whichever of us was feeling better then the other would get the next meal or round of drinks and medication. Fortunately, we had a few meals stacked away in the freezer, so it wasn't a big effort to organise a good wholesome meal in a few minutes with minimum effort! Even though we were feeling so miserable today, we had to go out - on 2 accounts! Firstly, we had to be at the Australian Embassy in the World Trade Centre by 8.00am to vote [or we would incur a fine]; and secondly we had made arrangements with friends to attend the European Embassies' Christmas Bazaar at the Nile Hilton. We had already bought the tickets and had been looking forward to going from the first week we had arrived in Egypt, as it is ONE of the must-do events prior to Christmas, according to some of our new friends. So feeling miserable, we went to both and are ever so glad we did, as it lifted us momentarily from the doldrums of feeling poorly. Voting was a breeze, that is, once the lady behind the table opened the SA Electoral Roll to find our names, rather than the Victorian book! 5 of us made the trek and we were laughing while we were waiting, wondering if we would hear the results on CNN [in the foyer] before we even had a chance to register our vote. All went well, and apparently the overseas booths are organised to coincide with polling times in Australia - which is why we had to be at the WTC by 8.00am or just after!

The Embassies Christmas Bazaar was also a big hit and is attended by hoards of people BUT you have to know someone in one of the Embassies from whom you can buy your entrance ticket! Fortunately, friends of ours knows someone who knows someone and so we were able to purchase our tickets! Many of our friends were there, including RW and it turned out to be quite an event. Because we had come from the WTC at such an early hour, we were amongst the first in the queue, which turned out to be just wonderful because armed with much information from our friends, we were in an excellent position to make good purchases. What happens at these Bazaars is that each of the European Embassies brings in goods from their country ie food, wine, spirits, and gift items and they are sold at the Bazaar, with the proceeds going to local charities. It is an opportunity to buy some things and store them away for Christmas either to be consumed with friends or given away as gifts - most of the goods are not locally available and so it is an opportunity to spoil yourself a little! RW was disappointed to discover that the consignment from UK did not arrive in time for the Bazaar and so missed out on her much anticipated Christmas Cake & Pudding as well as Fruit Mince Pies BUT she found other goods, so it was not a total waste of time! By far the biggest seller was the alcohol as many people living in this city work for oil companies and the like and whilst they get lots of money for doing so, some products are fairly restricted and so they arrive armed to the hilt with Egyptian Pounds to purchase their Christmas Cheer!

Just reading back over what I'd started beforehand, already I can give an update on the curtain situation! They are all finished, including all the hems! And, I have made the aforementioned covers for electrical appliances and it feels good, I must say to have them all finished!

Cairo, as well as the rest of the Muslim world, is gearing up for Ramadan 2001. The special foods that are only on sale at this time of the year, are already on the shelves and most of the kids have their crackers, which they delight in setting off and scaring as many people as they can - especially foreigners!!! We have been hearing some pretty awful stories of what can happen when you mix fire-crackers and children with the frenzy that Ramadan creates! We're not sure if we're looking forward to it or not but either way, we have no choice in the matter! It will start when it starts and finish 30 days later. The latest dates we have heard is anywhere between 15th and 18th November - it all depends on the moon!

We are meeting an Aussie couple tomorrow, who we met earlier this year in Sydney. We are taking them around the place a bit and then seeing them again on Tuesday to go somewhere else with them and finish back at our place for a potluck tea with other Aussies, as a bit of a get-together! They are just here for 3 days but are not staying with us! We have another friend, who we also met in Sydney at the same time, who will be staying with us for 3 days in early December. We also have an Egyptian friend who comes for sleepovers on a regular basis every couple of weeks. We have to steel ourselves for her stayovers, as Egyptians are night-people and think nothing of going to bed at 3.00am or even later and so we have to make sure we rest up beforehand! She is such a delight but what a chatter-box! I'm teaching her how to do cross-stitch and tatting and she now wants me to teach her how to sew! I didn't bring my sewing machine over with me but that's no bother! Her mum has one that isn't used much and has been stored away somewhere, and so she is lending me that one - so that it is here whenever she comes and stays! She stayed here last night but the time before she came for one night which turned out to be 3 nights in the end! It didn't matter to us, as the guest room is always ready and available! Already this is one of her "homes" and she's more than comfortable here with us and potters about doing this or that!

The longer we are here in this villa and the more we see of Ola [our helper], the more we get along really well. Some of our friends are saying that we have fallen on our feet well and truly with her! What a treasure she is! Last week, as well as doing some of the housework, she also finished off the ironing and cooked 3 dishes for us! She made a lentil soup [that she had also made the week before and was such a hit], but this week she made babaganoo and finished off Albert's fuul that he was making. She taught us another way of cooking the fuul and it's even better than the original recipe we were given! This week she is going to make kucherie for us! I don't ask her to do the cooking but she loves to do it and after all, who are we not to accept her offer? I work out before hand what I want her to do on the day she is with us and she sets about it in a methodical manner and usually gets through the list! The villa is too big for her to do in one day and do it properly and so I do bits and pieces during the week and each week I get her to do different things so she's always got variety in her tasks!

The temperature has dropped and it seems we are now officially in winter. You can tell those who have been here for many years. They are in winter garb and then there are those like us who are still in t-shirts. I thought it got cool enough to put on a long sleeve top the other day but within minutes I had it off and replaced it with a t-shirt! At night it is decidedly cooler and we are sleeping with a light blanket over us. It's not cool enough yet for a duna but we no longer sleep under the whirring of the overhead fan.

Christmas is looming - even in the Middle East! The shops are all decorated with Ramadan stuff at the moment but interspersed are some Christmas goodies. We will be sharing in 2 Christmases this season. The expats have their's on 25th December but the Coptic Christmas is celebrated on 6th and 7th January. We have been invited out for the 25th and also for Dinner on the 6th January to our landlady's home to join her and her family for their Christmas!

Albert and I are starting to get ourselves geared up for a change of pace and action from January. We will continue with our language lessons but commence our volunteer tasks from then. I will be doing administrative work, as decided before I left Oz but Albert's role has changed quite a bit. He looks like doing some work for IS by bringing in short term volunteers, interspersed with teaching English and learning Arabic. More of that later, no doubt.

A few days ago we went to lunch with our landlady, who is a Coptic Christian. On arrival, we were offered some wine to drink and said "yes, we'd love some". To our surprise, out came a bottle of Jim Beam whiskey and she poured us two full drinking glasses of it. Oh boy thought I, we'd better sip this slowly as two of these and we won't be able to find our way home. I could see by the look on Victoria's face that she didn't fancy finishing her drink, as that much spirit would have seen her on her ear in no time. Well, fortunately for us, it was the landlady's own version of home made wine (same colour as Jim Beam) and it tasted somewhere between a sweetish port and tokay. Very nice it was and not anywhere near as alcoholic as we expected. Needless to say we enjoyed about three glasses before and during lunch. Madame Iriny is about 85 and doesn't get out a lot, but she entertained us with so much food, we thought we wouldn't eat again for a week. We started with a pasta dish, linguine I think she said. Neither of us had tried it before and it was delicious. Then we had a beef fillet dish with vegetables, followed by crumbed and fried chicken fillets and to finish, we had a desert of fresh fruit salad. There was, needless to say, much left over, which she gave us to take away with us, as she doesn't eat much herself and in fact only has one meal per day. We then sat on her balcony and enjoyed the setting sun, over the Nile, with the Pyramids in the background, while she showed us her paintings, the ones she paints herself. They were very good and she is going to give us two, to hang in the villa.

 

Two weeks ago, we went to a baby presentation ceremony. This is a traditional Egyptian ceremony, where the baby is introduced to the community 3 months after birth. Everyone gets in a circle, lights candles and sings a traditional welcome song, whilst the baby is carried around to everyone on a round material carrier with a hood. Underneath the baby are several different grains to represent new life, the new harvest and to bring blessings. The Coptics have made it a religious occasion by singing a religious welcome song, having a huge feast, which was followed by a Coptic sermon and speeches. There were three babies presented, but only one in the traditional way and it was very special to have been invited to attend the ceremony.

23/11/01

The weather has definitely become much colder and even we are agreeing that winter is upon us! We are now sleeping under the duna and have taken all our winter clothes out of the cases. We still haven't thrown off our malaise and have good days interspersed with not-so-good days. On the whole, we are much better than we were, but we are still not 100% healthy. Albert spent all of yesterday in bed and most of today as well.

Well, we must finish this off or it will be another week before you get it and we would have added yet another paragraph or two to the tome. Tomorrow we'll start on the next one!!!!!!!

We look forward to hearing from you, as time permits, and hearing what's new in your neck of the woods!

Love from us.

020215 – Letter to Family

Dear Friends and Family,

I couldn't let another weekend come and go without writing home. We have been so busy settling into our new roles and trying to come to terms with the huge workloads and the limited time we have to do anything, that we have badly neglected the important people in our lives (you) both at home and in other parts of the world. We have been trying very hard to get the workload under control and we are having some success in this, but it has taken a lot out of us. We get home, sometimes quite late, and just want to go to bed, however we have the homework for language studies or we have to ring people re new arrivees. Cairo never sleeps it seems and of course I have English lesson plans to prepare, as there is never enough time during the day. Everything here takes so much longer to do than at home, so sometimes simple things can take hours. Our home continues to be a home for company visitors and new arrivees while they find their own place to live. This will drop off shortly, but there have been so many people visiting the work we are involved with here and the places for them to stay are so few, that it has kept us both busy. Victoria and I have also become involved in people's lives here, both expat and Egyptian. Our Egyptian friends are growing and so is the time required to explore these new friendships. In one case we started out knowing one person and now have a relationship with the whole family, including the married sister and her husband. In fact, we are going to our friend's parent's home in Giza for dinner tonight, along with our friend, who is just recovering from an appendicitis operation last Saturday. Yesterday, we had the Pastor from the Giza Evangelical Coptic Church over for lunch. He and his brother joined Victoria and I at the Maadi Community Church for the morning service, and then some of our friends who had previously visited his church with us, as well as others who have heard about his ministries and want to also visit his church in Giza, joined us for lunch. I think by the time we started to eat, there were about 14 or 15 people for lunch. We had been warned by many people that if you invite an Egyptian for a meal, that you must laden the table with an array of different food and a lot of it. And so, with the help of a few friends our table was laden with all sorts of foods, representing many nationalities, including the obligatory Egyptian foods, so that our guests would feel comfortable eating at least their own dishes, if they were not all that adventurous with Western foods. To have a table laden with more food than can be eaten, is to honour one’s guest and show them that you value them as people and their friendship. Many Westerners, accidentally offend or hurt Egyptian guests by serving food the Western way. Our friend, RW, joined us for lunch and as is often the case, she was the last to leave, which gives us all a chance to debrief on the occasion!!! We all agreed that it was a wonderful afternoon and our guests were delighted to have been invited. Then, in the evening, we attended our regular IXS p mtg.

Victoria, I, along with a Dutch and an American friend, have been invited to Upper Egypt, to visit the Pastor's family and the place where he grew up. Everyone here is saying go, go, go, as it will be an opportunity too good to miss and a special way to really get to know the people. For a greater understanding of what this invitation means, may we briefly explain that, as foreigners, we are only allowed to go to certain places in Egypt and on specified forms of transport. We can go to the normal "tourist" destinations but must fly there, go by train or drive. Even by train there are only specified services that we can take - we can't just hop on any train going to the destination of our choice. We cannot even buy a ticket to some places. If we go by car, we must register with the police where we are going and then check in at points en route. They, in turn, will contact our next check point and advise them of our expected arrival time. We are luckier than Americans, as there are certain places in Egypt that they simply can't go - the places are completely off limits to them, even with police escort. The place to which we have been invited is one of those places that foreigners can only go by invitation of a resident of the village. Apparently, we will be given the royal treatment and be the special guests of not only his family but also of their friends and the wider church family. Many of the villages of Upper Egypt have a large population of Christians, but their life is extremely difficult and they suffer harshly under the persecution of the majority religious group. It will, indeed, be a very special weekend for us - date to be advised!!! Many people can live in this city for years and years and never receive such an invitation and yet within 6 months of being here, we have been granted this special privilege. 

We have also been invited to another village in Upper Egypt, but this time with our landlady, as she also comes from there and goes back regularly to help in practical ways. The previous tenants of our home used to go with her and so she extended the same invitation to us. What a landlady we have! We pay our rent every two months and each time we do, we come home with a cake or something which she bakes for us. Last time we came home with a bottle of her homemade wine, and the obligatory cake. We also got told off by her! Why you only come here to pay your rent, why you not come and join me for dinner??? I only see you every two months!!! So, we have promised her that we will come and join her for dinner before the next rent is due! We have invited her to our place for dinner but no! She tells us that we are busy people and she just sits about her home all day - she will cook for us!!!

Victoria and I sincerely apologise for not writing for so long and only sending out general letters when we have written. We are both spiritually and physically well, but very tired and I am somewhat emotionally drained. I am recovering from a cold, possibly because I have given it to Victoria. It has hit her very hard, resulting in a sore throat and very sore ears. Victoria needs your prayers, as she is prone to perforated eardrums, serious in any country, but especially so here. Physically we are fitter than we have ever been with all the walking we are doing. We are still very happy and feel we are becoming a part of the environment, with more and more people recognising us and saying hello as we walk around our local neighbourhood.

Despite how busy we are, we are both enjoying our roles here. They are very rewarding and bring us into contact with many beautiful people. Victoria, as part of her role, has two trips planned for later this year, one to America and one to the UK. We hope to take a holiday when Victoria is in the UK and I will join her there for a week in October, so we can visit my family and some friends.

Well, I have to study some Arabic and go over my lesson plans for tomorrow. 

We look forward to writing individual emails to you from now on and keeping the general ones for those really busy times.

Our love to you all and we hope this email finds you well.

020215 – Train Fire

One of the relationships which we are building is with a male uni student who is training to be a tour guide, which in itself is a 3 or 4 year uni course, as we’ve previously mentioned. We met him at one of the Coptic Churches [in Coptic Cairo] and he is the one who came with us to Alexandria the first time, and showed us around. He's a bonza christian guy [coptic] and we have been having this relationship via email for a while but every now and again we meet up. He'll be coming to our place in a couple of week’s time, as sometimes he comes to our church on a Friday - one of these days, we'll go with him to his church on a Sunday night. However, we received this email from him and we thought you might be interested to read what he had to say about the recent train tragedy - it's a bit graphic in parts [for our culture, at least - but not for their's].

 

His English is not bad but keep in mind that in Arabic they only have 3 vowels, they being A, E/I, O/U; E & I are interchangable as are O & U. In addition, either of them can also be interchanged with A, depending on the word - hence you have to make allowances when you read his wording. Also, they don't have all the consonants that we have but in addition they also have some additional ones. Sound confusing? Anyway, read on...

hi there...

how r u? miss u

long time no talk

ok, i know that u r wondering about the train...

sure the accident has affected me, but i'm still alive!

here's the story of my trip in Aswan & the train accident:

i went to Aswan on Saturday by train, it took 12 hours & when we reached Aswan we took a 4 hours bus further south to Abu-Simbel

we spent the day there & then back to our hotel in Aswan...

we were in Pyramisa (Isis Island) it's the best 5 stars hotle in Aswan

it's in an island, so we have to take a boat 10 times everyday whenever we wanna go out or in the hotel, it was a very good boat & for free

the food was great, Open Buffit!!

the 2nd day again with the busses but north to Edfu & KomOmbo temples & then back to the hotel, then the 3rd day we went to the monuments in Aswan such as the unfinished obilesk & the museums the high dam, Philae....etc..... & everyday in the after noon we r in the Disco in our hotel or shopping in the bazars like tourists!!!

then we came back on the night train on Tuesday night at 9:00pm

it should take 12 hours, but because of the accident, it took 20 hours:-)

the burnt train was in its way from Cairo to Aswan, so we were walking very slowly & we stopped in El-Menia for 3 hours & we stopped in other stations 1 hour each, shit it was sooo boring & our families were so worried...

then we passed exactly beside the burnt train, it was so painful... most of the girls were crying & we saw the train very slawly.... the 6 burnt coaches were almost melted, there was only the iron of the seats left, we saw all the dead bodies, but they weren't only burnt, but they were completely ashes, workers were carrying the bodies, but they can't carry a 

body, they carry hand or a foot, & u see a heap of clothes mixed with a heap of ashes, oh my god, it was awful....

more than 370 people died & u see hundreds of people & police & ambulances.....

the minister of transportation was discharged by the presedent!!

while we r in the train, no one knew any news, we just knew it through our parents who were phoning us & telling us about what they see on TV

that's it...then in Cairo, the railway station was full of people.

then, as soon as i reached home, i found that my family has bought the sattelite dish!!! finally, now i have more than 500 new world channels to go through everyday!!! so since i came back, i'm just watching it!

i have more than 100 Italian channels & that's exactly what i want!!
i hope it helps with improving my Italian language....

c u soon

keep in touch & expecting ur call or e-mail

bye

Biisho

020123 – ChatChat

Hi!

Just a very quick note to say that we are fine, fit and healthy but VERY busy. We apologise, yet again, for the lack of communication from us these past weeks and hope to rectify the situation as soon as possible. We have had a steady stream of people staying with us and also I have been involved with new folk coming to these lands thru my job  - all of which take an enormous amount of time and energy. The lifestyle here is just so different that you can't just meet and greet people at the airport and leave them to their own devices - well, not if you want them to maximise their time here and leave Egypt feeling like they have had a great experience. We don't go with them when they are doing their "tourist things", otherwise, we would fall into a screaming heap in the corner and be no good to anyone.

We have found that we are running the local B&B and now have a large scheduler on the wall with all the dates marked as to when the guest room is being used and by whom. We have people coming from the USA, UK, Australia and Holland - our Guest Book will be full in no time, if the current situation continues. Fortunately, because much of this is to do with my work, I don't have to be at the office from 8.30am -5.00pm every day regardless - I can come and go as I wish - as long as I get my work done!

Albert is also extremely busy and has learnt much these past few months about computers. He is the resident IT expert but is juggling that with also teaching English and learning the ropes about his next new job of looking after the On-Trackers [short term workers]. He has also taken on the role of Treasurer, at least for 6 months while the current person is on Home Assignment, although she has indicated fairly strongly that if Albert would like to continue in the role, she would be glad to let him. So, he too, is a busy boy. 

One thing we were told before we arrived was that things take much longer to do or to be done in this country but the full realisation of that advice does not hit home until you are here. There are many basic things that at home would take 5 minutes or so to do but here, they can take hours or even half a day to do and all the while you are just hanging around doing nothing because you are expecting that it will be done within the next few minutes - before you realise it, several hours have passed and what have you achieved? Nothing! It's not a complaint but it is reality!

In addition, we have found that we have a family now. An Egyptian girl has adopted us as her parents and as she is going through a very difficult time in her life, we are spending many, many hours with her, as she shares her ups and downs with us. She is a single girl [aged 27]. What a joy and delight she is, though. We have met her "real" parents and spent the evening earlier this week with her married sister and her family. She introduced us to her sister as her Mama and Baba [Papa]! As well, 4 children have adopted us as their grandparents for the duration of their stay in this country. 3 belong to one family and as they live in the next street, we often babysit for them. The fourth little boy lives on the coast but we see him from time to time. Each of them asked their parents if we could be their grandparents - it's the grey hair [or lack of hair, in one case], I think!

Yes, life is busy but ever so rewarding. Anyway, this was meant to be just a quick note and we'll expand in another letter.

Love from us.

020220 –After The Fire

Subject: We're OK

Just a quick note to reassure you that we were not on the train which burnt so many people. It is the Islamic BIG feast this weekend and thousands of people are moving all over the country right now. We were planning to go north to the Sinai this weekend [which is in the opposite direction to where the disaster happened] but decided not to go when one of our friends had emergency surgery a week ago - she was coming with us!

The train that was affected was a 3rd class train and foreigners can't even buy tickets to get on them [unless an Egyptian buys it for you and you sneak on the train past the security people, which isn't really a good idea]. Hence, the train was crowded! We've seen the 3rd class trains and there's no way I'd want to travel on them unless I had no other choice to do so! They are like the pictures of trains in India and the like!!!

Anyway, must go.

Just thought we'd reassure you that we're OK. 

020314 – ChitChat

Dear All,

I thought I'd start out in truly-Oz fashion and chat about the weather for a couple of lines!

We were asked by a friend if we enjoy the summer or winter better? This is our response to that question...

You asked if we prefer the summer or winter in Cairo? We haven't been here a year yet, so it's not fair to truly answer the question, but I think we are enjoying the in-between times, better! Winter here gets R-E-A-L-L-Y cold [like zero] and everything is freezing. I can't stand the cold and I didn't bring enough clothes with me for weather that cold! I listened to the wrong people and in the end, I had to borrow clothes just to get through it! Fortunately, the really cold weather only lasted about 6-8 weeks and then it warmed up slightly. We've been in short sleeves for a few weeks now! The weather at the moment is nothing short of perfect - absolutely glorious! Summer is heading for the home straight! That's when it gets R-E-A-L-LY hot! Like sizzling sands!!! No-one likes it when it is always 38-44C and the nights stay around the 35C mark! There's no relief from it, except that you can take a ride on the Nile in a feluka and being only 3 streets from the Nile makes that an appealing option, for us, at least!

The same person also asked about our weight loss, this is what we said about that one...

You also asked how our weight loss is going? I've lost 12kg since I started that diet 12 months ago - I lost about half of it before we left Adelaide and the rest since being here! Although, I haven't tried losing weight since being here - it's just happening but I think it's starting to plateau out now! All my clothes are swimming on me and none of my belts have enough holes in them! If I stand upright in my jeans, without putting my belt on, they just fall down again!!! It's sort of funny! I think it's a combination of walking and the diet over here. There are no pies and pasties nor fish and chips. All the meat is lean and because it's so expensive, we don't eat much of it, so it's oodles of vegies and the local breads and foods! Although some of the local foods are so fattening that I'd be even bigger than I was at home, if I truly ate like a local! The girls here are B-I-G and that's how their men like them!!! But being big doesn't suit me, so I'm happy to compromise! My sugar level has been easier to control since being here, which is a big plus! But, it's still a problem from time to time!

Now on to some new news [copied from a recent email to one of our friends]:

We are finding that these days, we have a bit of role reversal. It is still me getting up early in the morning but it's Albert who goes to bed before I do - well, sometimes, at least! Give him his due though, as he is getting over another bout of unwellness. We seem to be bouncing this bug from one to the other, like a game of tennis. Although, he met me at my work tonight and told me a funny story. One of the guys where he works [teaching English] asked him how he was. He said that he's getting better but that he might give the cold back to me, as I had given it to him, after he had given it to me in the first place. Well, he got told off. The man said "no! you keep it, you have to protect your wife - you cannot give it back to her - it is your job to protect her and therefore you must keep it". So, I hope he listens to this man - 'cos I don't want it back!!!

The other night when Albert called into my office, when he came to collect me [as we walk home together, whenever possible], he saw the mountain of work which I had been talking about and was amazed! I am processing something like 30+ enquiries, ranging from people who have made an initial enquiry more than a year ago and things are just "sitting" in their lives, waiting for their next step through to 2 lots of people arriving in the next couple of weeks. So far this year, I have had about 6 or 7 new people into this city, either to live [partners, like us], or short termers [up to 12 months] or visitors for a week or so! Many are coming through IXS, either Oz [like us], or UK or Holland and we have an IXS enquiry from USA on the books at the moment. The others are coming via different agencies! I know I am biased [and so is RW] but IXS is about the best group to be with! The level of support and commitment they give and how they interact with the seconding company is fabulous! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone who is planning to come this way!

Then, I have a whole swag of other issues that I deal with, including keeping the harmony in a dysfunctional office, with a heap of dysfunctional people! One thing about working at SAPMEA all those years, it was a great training ground for me here - and especially when combined with some of the other work places in which I have been! I can lose a whole day [and more sometimes] just chatting with people, calming them down, praying with them, offering whatever support seems appropriate at the time! Sometimes it's just a matter of asking them what are they going to do about this and that and then sitting with them as they work it out aloud!

On top of that, I still have my "L" plates on with some of the functions of the position and am forever pleading ignorance or whatever, if I can't quite grasp what the process should be! People have been very gracious to me [or at least that's what they are saying] but bit by bit, it's coming together! I've got a couple of key positions to fill and something HAS to be done soon! I'm not too sure how I'm going to get around that one but as the boss is coming from the US soon and when he gets here, he's going to ask some questions, I had best get cracking on some answers to give him!

Anyway, enough of work!!! Or, at least my work. On the other hand, I keep getting rave reviews about how well Albert is going with his English teaching. All his students simply LOVE him. They often say to me how caring he is and how gentle he is with them and they are responding by wanting to learn. One guy only had a few words of English under his belt but even they, he wouldn't use. Others are now commenting on the fact that he is not only using those words but is now eager to learn new words and use them also. His colleagues are thrilled at this guy's progress! We keep getting invited to their weddings and to their homes for lunches, etc.

In fact we had an invitation to a Coptic wedding just last Saturday night, but because Albert was feeling so poorly, we decided not to go - at the last minute! Being "invited" to weddings usually only means going to the Church but even that comes with a formal invitation and some wedding candy!

You no doubt have heard of the saying "things that go bang in the night". Well, nothing has anything on what happens here in the middle of the night. We've shared some of our previous experiences with you but wait, there's more...

Last Thursday morning [at 4.30am] we were woken to this thundering crash and it sounded as though it was inside our home. Well, a tentative investigation [on Albert's part] revealed that we didn't have intruders who had tripped over something. In addition, all the doors and windows were securely shut BUT what about looking up? How novel!!! But firstly, we had to look down and then we looked up! Part of the bathroom ceiling and cement roof had collapsed and what a mess! We couldn't believe what we were looking at! Once we had taken in about as much information as we needed, we decided to just go back to bed and worry about the next step when we woke up again! So that's what we did. But not before Albert took a couple of photos! The upper roof had fallen away to reveal the reinforcing rods but there is still a layer of cement, which is the roof, and which appears to be dubiously intact, above us. We have been checking all the ceilings in the villa since then and while many are OK there are some other suss ones. Anyway, our "fabulous" landlady has shown us her true colours. She is all smiles and warm and friendly when everything is going OK but she is refusing to pay for the repairs or to accept responsibility for what has happened. She is saying that we are responsible for all repairs inside the house and she is responsible for everything outside. What she won't acknowledge is that this is caused by lack of maintenance on the outside. It fell inside, therefore it is our responsibility. Well, guess what! We'll soon see how this all plays itself out! At worst, we won't renew our contract when it is due and will just move elsewhere! The bit that fell was immediately above the toilet and if one of us had been on the toilet when it crashed, we could have been killed with the amount of rubble and stuff that fell! PTL that we weren't! When Albert challenged her about other ceilings in the villa, she just shrugged her shoulders saying that this is Egypt and ceilings fall down all the time, and you just repair them when they do! She agreed that other ceilings are likely to collapse, but what the heck? I can just picture the kitchen ceiling collapsing and the fridge, stove and cupboards all being damaged and we would be up for the lot. No thank you! The lady next door, in the adjacent villa, told us that her kitchen ceiling collapsed not long ago and she also said that ours probably would one day. But who knows when? So, we are currently going through a whole lot of negotiations about ceilings! Firstly, though the cement has to dry. We have had so much rain this winter - like it rained on 3 consecutive days [but not for all day on those days] and then a couple of weeks later, it rained for another couple of days, on and off and this is what constituted an extraordinarily wet winter! It sounds funny to us, but to a country whose annual rainfall is 25mm, this is like a flood! The buildings and infrastructure are not built or designed for ANY rain! And, consequently, ceilings fall down and all sorts of other things happen. The roof is not designed for water to run off and the only drain up there, looks like it hasn't been cleared since Moses was found in the nearby reeds! 

Then, would you believe a couple of nights later, we were awoken to another "bump in the night" - this time, it was 5.30am and so was a bit closer to our normal wake up time. A similar investigation revealed an outside wooden shutter which had been jammed in the "up" position since way before we moved in, decided to unravel itself and fall down! We're now waiting on the 3rd incident! Mind you, maybe we had it some months ago when the big sucker truck woke us up at 3.30am to drain the pits in the road? I tell you one thing, life here is definitely NOT boring, uninteresting or dull!

Oh! By the way, I forgot to tell you. When we discovered what had happened and were checking things out, Albert found one of my bottles of perfume sitting on top of a whole lot of rubble in the toilet itself - the neck of the bottle was just above the water line. I asked him if this is what is meant by "eau de toilette"? Well, it was 4.30am, after all!!!

 

Oops! I realised that I didn't tell you how big [or small] the bit was that collapsed! It was about a metre square, so it wasn't the whole or even half or not even a quarter of the ceiling but enough to make heaps of mess! And big enough to be a concern about the rest of that ceiling and that of other rooms.

It's a week tomorrow since the ceiling collapsed and we're observing, first hand, how things are repaired Egyptian-style! We've had an interesting week! Today [Wednesday] the landlady had delivered to our footpath some sand, gravel and a bag of cement! The process of repairing the damage has started! We're still paying but to give her her dues, she's making sure that we don't pay any more than we absolutely have to! She's guaranteed us that all we have to pay is 200LE [AU$50] and she will pay any extra BUT as she has no intention of paying anything, she's pulling all stops out to ensure it gets done within that amount! Only time will tell how good the job will be, though! But also, to give her her dues, she has said that she will come and sit and watch the workers as they go about their task BUT Mr Albert has to sit with her! So, out the window goes all his plans and commitments as he sits and waits and waits and makes her cups of tea and sits some more just waiting and waiting and watching BUT the up-side of all this, is that he will be able to practise his Arabic on her as she's a chatterbox. She also loves Albert, as do all the girls here! and she'll stretch his language skills no end! Apparently, you NEVER leave a worker [tradesperson] unattended and unsupervised! Oh! He'll have to make them cups of tea as well, with lots of sugar in each cup! Each day certainly brings its own adventures and excitement! And no amount of preparation can equip you for any of this! Like, I don't recall reading in any of the "FAQ's" what do you do if your ceiling collapses?

Well folks, must go - I hope I haven't bored you too much or repeated myself too much!!!

As usual, we love to hear from each of you - even if it is just a one-liner every now and then until you get around to a bigger piece!

020517 – ChitChat

It's a while since we sent out an unofficial blurb which fleshes out what we've been up to in between the official quarterly ones?  So, we thought it was time to rerun the tapes of our memory banks and see what emerges.

As the name of this note indicates, the weather in this part of the world is warming up. Most days now are getting closer to the 30+ degrees [celcius] mark, or beyond, with only the odd cooler day in between to bring short term relief. The nights are also warming up, relative to the day temperatures and we've started sleeping with the overhead fan whirring away most nights. Only every now and again, do we even need the top sheet over us! Soon, the day time temps will be hitting the 40 degree mark and staying there for months on end - a time of the year that no-one looks forward to! PTL for air conditioners but where the real prayer is needed is for the electricity to run them! It is no different here than in most other places of the world where more and more air conditioning units are being installed in people's homes but the grid does not have the means to sustain them - right when they are most needed! But, that's life...

This year, so far, has proved to be a lot more hectic than either of us thought it would be - what with us commencing our workloads, albeit half time, as well as continuing with our Arabic studies and then time left over for a bit of a social life - it doesn't leave much time left for anything else. When I say that we are working half time - that's the official line. In reality, we have been putting in far more than that! I can say, though, with a small degree of certainty that from here on, things start to wind down for the next four months. Once summer arrives, this country almost grinds to a halt. Many of the expats start leaving for Home Assignment or Home Leave - especially those from North America and in particular those who are employed with the oil companies and the US Embassy. In fact, from one company alone, 50 families will be pulling out of here in June, not to be replaced, which will make quite a dent in the expat community.

Summer, with the reduced work load, actually gives us an opportunity to recharge our own batteries and put time into areas of our lives, that we just haven't had the time for, up until now - and that's the case for both us as a couple and also us, in our respective roles within the community.

This is also the reason why it's taken us until now to reply to the many emails we received leading up to Christmas! I know that for some people they are not looking for a personal response from us but we want to acknowledge each person who has taken the time to write - even if it's just a couple of lines!

The saga of the bathroom ceiling is pretty well over now! The job was completed on time and within the landlady's projected budget [we even had some change from our 200LE, so we were pretty pleased]. At the end of the day, we are pleased with how it all worked out - it was either a case of us paying for the repairs or she would increase the rent. We have come out ahead, they being our only 2 options! Mind you, the kitchen ceiling is only just staying up, but we're taking the wait and see attitude that everyone else is - it might stay up long enough for it not to be our concern!

Already, we have said cheerio to several families or "units", as they are called! It just brings it home to us, that we are living very much in a transient environment and it's one of the reasons why many expats don't make really deep and long-lasting friendships when they are away from home! No sooner do they get involved in people’s lives and start sharing at deeper levels than simply "news, weather and sport" than one or other of the parties is called either home or to another location! 

Back a month or so ago, we had the pleasure of seeing a couple of familiar faces here in this mega city! They were a couple who used to attend our local church in Adelaide but had since moved to Melbourne to live. Albert used to see them on a semi-regular basis when he was flying back and forth to Melbourne for a year and a half. They have kept up a friendship, mainly with our friend RW, and as they were going to be in the area, they called into Cairo to see all of us! It was such a delight to have them and made us realise that it's ages since we've seen such familiar faces - mind you, we are spoilt having RW living just a few minutes away! For those of you in the know, they were Paul & Tinneke Dodson!

This last month has seen us out and about much more than usual - we have had a spate of visitors [but not staying with us] and so, we've taken them here, there and everywhere - either by ourselves or as part of a larger group. Another place we went to was the Sufi dancing, which is held at the Citadel twice a week. Albert & I tried to go once before but chose the wrong night to do it and so we had never been! This time, we went as part of a larger group and it was great. We are going again soon, as Albert and a couple of his photography mates have sussed out the best places to sit, photographically speaking, and they want to take full advantage of the event! It only goes for about an hour and a half but is well worth going to, and free to boot!!!

I'm not sure, at this stage, when or even if, I will be going to UK or US this year. The seminars/conferences that I thought I would be attending are starting to clash with other important activities locally - so I am making a new set of enquiries about alternate events which would still meet my needs as the local IPD. We'll keep you informed as to how they pan out!!! 

Speaking of work and work stuff, it looks like I will be getting some help in some of the administrative areas soon. We have a couple arriving in mid-June for 5 months, and it's looking like she will give me a hand with some of the aspects of my work, which is just great. They are a kiwi couple, but coming via the UK! He will be working at the magazine for the duration of their stay. Did I mention to you that in the first 12 weeks of this year, I welcomed and oriented 10 family units to this city? That's part of the reason why I was so busy but couldn't stop the train to get off and take a breather. It's hard when "next week" another unit was coming! But, all the hustle and bustle is over for a few months - I have a unit arriving in mid-June and another in mid-August and no others on my books, at this stage - or at least with a confirmed date! I have another 20+ in the expressions of interest basket and who knows how many of them will actually turn up on our doorsteps? I don't!

While on one hand I am saying that things are slowing down at my office, we are in the throes of moving to a new office and Albert has found himself to be the “consulting project manager” for the move! So, at the moment, he's in full swing! I think he's enjoying the challenge but is looking forward to getting on with his "real" work! Moving day is scheduled for 25 May, so hopefully after that he can rest easy? We'll see? That is, of course, if everything goes according to plan and in this part of the world, they don't enjoy a good track record of things going according to plan. What plan? In fact, what is a plan? It also seems that the server he is looking after is finding many and varied ways of keeping him at the office late. To try and stem the flow of problems, he has changed all the administration passwords, just in case the "fiddler bugs" were at work. Time will tell. 

I was delighted the other day when we went to our local [expat] supermarket to find that the Aussie breakfast oats were back on the shelves, after not being there for the last 2 months! When Uncle Toby's is not available, there are no other choices! It's either that or nothing!!! We had make the trek around all the supermarkets to see if we could find them [and so did all the other expats] but no! when things run out here, they run out... Anyway, we bought 3 tins of oats, which should keep us going for a while and the next time we go shopping, we'll probably get another couple of tins. They ran out of orange juice the other week for about 3 weeks but that's back on the shelves again!

Did I tell you that I have a sewing machine here - it's on long term loan from a friend? She has no idea why she brought it to this country, as she doesn't like sewing and I had left mine home! After a while, we decided that she must have brought hers here, just for me! And so, now it's housed here! In return, I am going to help her improve her conversational English, as English is not her mother tongue! I reckon it's a fair deal!

And speaking of language and all that sort of stuff - I have recommenced with my language tutor, at just one hour per week and am concentrating on reading and writing Arabic for a while. Within that, comes naturally speaking it - but I am not spending time on trying to construct sentences or conjugating verbs and nouns and the like!!! When we attend an Arabic-speaking Church service, my aim is to be able to read the overheads and join in with some of the singing - for that, all I have to do is read and say - I don't even have to know what it is that I am saying!!! Albert, on the other hand, has not reconnected with a tutor but he is gaining extra experience on the street just using what he has and allowing the locals to hone his skills for him! When things quieten down for him, he will reconnect on a more formal basis with someone! Did we tell you that the lessons we were doing through an institute didn't have sufficient students to keep going - they need 6 to register for any one class before they will allow the class to commence. That's the trouble when you get as good as we are - you run out of fellow students who are up to the challenge! [said tongue-in-cheek, of course].

We are in eager communication with Albert's side of the family at the moment as he has 2 people who are planning to come and visit us and maybe a third might be in the pipeline? His nephew and neice are both independently heading for London and are planning to come and visit us at some stage - probably once they get there [London] and then south for a side trip? It might be this year, or it might be next year - who knows? We'll expect them when we see them!

On April 25, the alarm clocks of many of us Aussies starting ringing from about 3.30am - sometimes in competition with the local mosque's pre-dawn call to prayer. We decided that we would attend the annual Anzac Day Dawn Service, which was held this year at the Heliopolis War Graves Cemetery. We were collected at the end of our street at 4.15am by the mini-bus which one of the fold organised. Typical of us, many knew where to go, but when the moment of truth came, no-one quite remembered if we were to turn left or right? Phrases like "this looks familiar" or "no, down this way", rang out within the bus, but no-one really knew. Eventually, we stopped the bus and asked a local for directions. You may recall that this is a dangerous thing to do in this part of the world, as no-one wants to lose face by admitting they do not know the answer to your question, so they will always give you a confident response - but is it the truth? Anyway, our national bus driver knew his own people really well and decided to stop and ask several people the same question. When they all said the same thing, we decided to give it a go! Fortunately, they were all correct and we arrived at the designated place right on 5.00am. The exact time for the beginning of the service! 

It was a great service with soldiers from both the Australian and New Zealand Armies standing-to. The new Australian Ambassador was there, along with his NZ counterpart [I'm not sure of his title, as NZ does not have an Embassy here but it was their highest ranking representative] and the British Ambassador. There was also a representative from the Turkish Government in attendance and to complete the multi-national assembly, the Egyptian Army provided the buglers [there were 2 of them]. The service itself was taken by the Pastor from St John's Anglican Church, here in Ma'adi, who is an Australian.

After the service, we were all invited back to the residence of the Australian Ambassador for a "gun-fire breakfast"! We had no idea what a "gun-fire breakfast" would be, especially knowing that the residence is right in the middle of suburbia! Anyway, off we trekked! Breakfast consisted of bacon, eggs, tomatoes, sausages, continental pastries and fruit, etc. The "gun-fire" part of the breakfast was Bundaberg Black Rum - top of the shelf stuff, so we are led to believe! So, in true Aussie style, we all had a shot [or those of us who drink, did, at least]. It was like fire-water but at the end of the day, was good! I'm not sure if we'd spend our duty-free allowance to buy some for ourselves, but it was all part of the experience!

There were several Australian Army personnel there and we got to talking with them about this and that. Some of them, we discovered, had only been in Cairo for 2 days! They had been evacuated from Jordan, where they were part of the multi-national peace-keeping force. This set alarm bells ringing in our heads as to why this was so - just what is the situation in our neighbouring country a the moment for such drastic action to be taken? Anyway, we chatted with the Ambassador himself who reassured us that all was well and that 'yes' the Army had been redeployed but it was not because the situation was heading for breaking-point but rather because of political reasons beyond the current situation. A couple of our fold, along with us, were at that point planning a trip into Jordan fairly soon, and were naturally curious as to whether it was advisable for us to continue with our plans. He reassured us, yet again, that we would not be in any danger if we went there and for us to do so full of confidence for our safety. As things have panned out, we are not able to go now, but our other friends are still going ahead with their plans. They leave this weekend.

As for us, we are still planning a holiday but not to Jordan, this time. We have decided to go as far as Dahab [on the Gulf of Aqaba] and will be going with RW and our mutual national friend. We also leave this weekend - on Saturday. Albert went into town yesterday and bought our tickets and another local friend has organised our accommodation up there. It is a sea-side resort and is frequented by many people - nationals and foreigners alike. We'll fill you in more upon our return. 

Last night we had the first of many OnTrack monthly meetings at our home. We have a shared meal, followed by a chat and prayer time. It was great fun! Last night the room was full - we had about 15 all in all but between this and the next meeting, most will be leaving to return to their respective home countries and there will only be 4 OnTrackers left - until the next contingent start to arrive! Albert takes over the reigns officially from 20 May, so it's not that far away! There are a couple of people due within the next few months but most will start coming once summer is over and the cooler weather is upon us! I think we have interesting times ahead of us!!!

Our only other bit of news that is coming up is a dinner date with other Aussies at the home of one of this country's leading Christian women, in mid-June. We met her when one of our short-termers for MXM came and we were invited to join them for dinner with her. The initial invitation was not for us to be included but we offered to help our "friends" get to her home and in the process of arranging it, found ourselves to be also invited for the evening. Our hostess is one of the leading authorities and lecturers of English Literature at the main university here and she is bold enough to use the Bible to teach aspects of Literature to her mainly Muslim classes! For whatever reason, she is allowed to continue with this line of teaching by the authorities. She will also be leading a discussion group at our own Church, in 2 weeks time, in our current series of the translation of the English-language Bible compared to those of the Arabic-language Bible. She has a strong link with a particular Church in America, whose congregation supports the ministry of her own Church here but we're not sure where this Aussie link is in her life? I guess, we'll soon find out!!! She is of retiring age but is not yet retired and still lives a very active life, being involved in many projects and hosting many groups from her sister-Church in America. It seems that this Church sends people over here to visit the projects at a huge rate. Our newly-made friends were here for a month with a charter to assist us at MXM and also to see, first-hand, the works of these projects. We know there is another group arriving mid-May for a 3 week stint, with yet another group hot on their heels in June or July.

On a lighter side of the frustrations of living here is the absolute saga involved, and the lengths one must go, in order to get a job done. Our bowwab's helper [a young teenager who earns his money sweeping sidewalks and tiled or sealed areas, picking up the rubbish or washing the local cars] broke his key in the lock of our gate recently - like about 6 weeks ago! The bowwab [Hamdam] reassured us that as his helper [Ahmed] broke the lock, then he would get it fixed for us and that we didn't need to worry about it! The lock sort of continued to work in a fashion but it was a major exercise to open the gate - sometimes it would open immediately and at other times, we could be standing on the sidewalk for 5 minutes or so jiggling the lock! Anyway, the day before yesterday Albert spoke to the bowwab, yet again, and by the time we arrived home that night, the lock had been changed. Except we only received 2 keys. Next problem was getting additional keys cut. You see we sub-let the basement to friends and they use it as their office, so each of their staff need a gate key, as well as us and we have 2 spares for our guests - Oh! and Ola [our home help] needs a key. So, Albert dutifully went to a locksmith and asked for 10 keys to be cut! Which they did. He handed over 15LE for the job, came home and not one of them fits!!! Ahhhhh!!!!! So, today, the keys have to go back to the locksmith, to be honed! We are hoping they work, this time! Then of course, there's the issue of payment for the said lock. Who pays? Traditionally, we seem to pay for everything and the landlady gets out of every situation, seemingly scott free! Well, we decided that as her stated policy is that she is responsible for everything outside and we are responsible for everything on the inside, we thought we might at least try her and see what she said. True to form, no, it was not due to any fault on her part - it is not structural so why should she pay? We thought that Ahmed should pay the 30LE but decided against that one, even though it was him who broke the key in the lock - as he only earns 6LE a month and the replacement lock is 5 months worth of salary for him! There was no way that Hamdam was going to pay, either, as he didn't break the key! In the end, we rang the landlady back and she has agreed to go 50/50 with us [we rang her to tell her that we would pay for the new lock, in case she had a change of mind and finished up paying for it without telling us - we didn't want the payment to be made twice!!!] Anyway, we are to pay Hamdam, and then tomorrow go to her place and collect her share of the money and by the way, she's made us a cake for Coptic Easter and we should pick that up at the same time!!! The trials and tribulations of getting things done here and the complicated web they seem to weave! At the end of the day, it has all worked out well [except the keys have yet to be tested! Phew they all work, but a complete new set had to be cut and we had to pay another 15LE, as it was a different locksmith who did it. Marlesh, as they say, "it happens, so don't worry."

For those of you who are planning to visit us we offer one word of warning - don't worry about buying a new wallet or slim-line purse for the occasion - as it won't hold all your money. People here use their top pockets and simply fold their wad of notes in half and pop them in the top pocket of their shirt or the front pocket of their galabeyya. Why? When you exchange money, the chances are pretty high that you will receive, for example 1,000LE in 10LE notes! Now that's the same as receiving AU$500 in AU$5.00 notes. The 10LE seems to be the most used note, except for the 1LE, which is as prolific as the water they throw around here with gay abandon but as rare as hen's teeth in your pocket. Everyone wants yours but no-one will give you any in change. If you buy something for 6LE or 7LE you'll nearly always be asked if you have 1 or 2 1LE notes, so they can give you 5LE as change for your 10LE! Rarely will a trader just give you 3 or 4 1LE notes in your change without question. So, unless your "new" wallet can carry in excess of 100 notes of money, just bring your tatty one that you love anyway and buy a new one when you return! 

Well, I think this pretty well comes to the end of this screed. There is much to continue to pray with and for us about, some of it hidden amidst the text and some hidden between the lines! Would you please pray with us for some of Victoria's family who are going through a tough time at the moment, battling serious health issues. Thanks.

We look forward, as always, to hear from you, as time permits.

Love & Blessings,

PS: We didn't get around to sending this before we left for our holiday and so we can report that we have "been there, done that" but will fill you in on the details in another email - this is already way toooooooooooo long!!! It was great, though! 

 

Bye for now...

Other things...

Rather than sounding like the proverbial broken record, I will briefly mention that the days are getting even hotter now and knowing there's more and worse to come makes us feel a tad squirmy but that's the reality of living in this part of the world. Before long, I think we'll be moving into the guest bedroom as that, at least, has an air conditioner!

I and we [work, that is] have finally made a decision about my proposed travel arrangements which is that I will be going to the US [Florida, at least] for the first weekend in December but stopping enroute in the UK for a few days either in one direction or both! I feel that this is the best option for now and am happy with the decision. There have been many emails flying back and forth to come to this point but finally I can get on with preparing myself for the trip and setting my mind to more immediate tasks! A trip to the UK will more than likely be on the agenda for 2003.

In a previous email, we mentioned that the International Office was relocating [within the same building]. Well, we can now report that the move went according to plan, even though at one point in the day, some were wondering "to who's plan?" But, all things considered, it was a good day's work all round. There will be some ongoing modifications to seating arrangements with the comings and goings of personnel and as tasks shift to accommodate the transient office population. It is by far a better office than the previous one and I think everyone is pleased with the relocation.

You may recall that we recently enjoyed a trip to Dahab - a seaside resort on the Sea of Aqaba. It was certainly a restful time and a place to which we would love to return. It's not the least like being in Egypt with its relaxed way of life and easy going nature. Most of the people there are either international tourists or Egyptians supporting the hospitality industry for the tourists and gone are the veiled women, fundamentalists and street traders. Instead are rows of tourist souvenier shops, restaurants and coffee houses plying their wares. We went snorkeling a bit [weather permitting] and returned to Cairo with our tell-tale grazes, scratches and scars - or as we called them, our war wounds! One of the more adventurous things we did was to snorkel at low tide - not that we knew the consequences of our actions at the time but once we were out there, it soon became very evident. One of the corals is called Fire Coral and is so named because of what it does to humans if you come in contact with it! It is now one month since we were in Dahab and we are still sporting the burn marks on our bodies where we scraped across the top of it. Mind you, we'd do it all again, except next time, we'd wait until high tide to maneuver across the coral to get to the reef itself! But the reef was something straight out of a glossy nature magazine. It was absolutely beautiful and yet another must-do for any would-be traveller to this part of the world!!! Most of our friends stay at a particular place called Auski [Aus=Australia; ki=Kiwi]. It's just great and excellent value for money!

Meanwhile, back in the big smoke, the current produce of the season is shared between apricots and watermelon. As each produce comes into its own season, it's fascinating to see the donkey carts laden with them. At the moment it is the above but each fruit or vegetable has its own day! There are no facilities for cold storage here so it's either famine or feast for these things. We have been buying up big with the apricots and I have been stewing and then freezing them, so as to preserve them for use when they go out of season. Apparently, each produce has a short life span [and we've been here long enough to see that for ourselves], so you make the most of each "season". I remember how excited we got when we saw our first batch of new-season carrots - they looked so scrumptious that we wanted to buy the whole cartful! But we resisted the temptation and just bought a couple of kilos instead! The watermelons, also, are so juicy and tasty but as you have to buy them whole, we haven't made the purchase - Albert is not that keen on watermelon and I can't see me eating a whole one in a day or so! However, I make the most of it when we go out, as it's the fruit on everyone else's table! So I'm getting my fair share of it!

We recently celebrated yet another wedding anniversary and we certainly celebrated it in a way that we have never done before. We joined some of our friends on a feluka ride [not in our honour but to welcome some new people to town - the date just happened to coincide] and at night we decided to go to one of our favourite restaurants which is Nile-side and just sit and watch the night's activities on the water. What we didn't bargain on was that on Friday evenings at that place, they host the local clay shooting club's activities and so with front row seats, we were in a fabulous position to see this sport, first-hand. So, all in all, we had a great day and one which we will remember for a long time.

Well, I think that more or less brings you up to date with our recent comings and goings. Emails over the next few months will more than likely be somewhat shorter, due to the fact that much of Egypt shuts down during the summer months. But then again, there's a story every time we leave our home and who knows what's ahead for us...

Oh! By the way, we are both fine, fit and healthy. Albert had a bout of hayfever recently followed by a cold, but that's all but cleared up and we're back in good health. PTL.

Today is Saturday and other than a birthday party tonight, we have nothing scheduled. Yippee!!! Apart from, that is, some maintenance around the house. Albert has a washing machine to fix, some things to hang on the walls and we might even find the time to take a stroll down by the Nile! Who knows? Our home-helper comes in once a week and cleans the place and does all our ironing [not that we have much] and does a bit of cooking for us, so it means that in our busyness, we don't have to also juggle domestic chores as well - I'll miss the home-help when we return home as it's certainly a luxury we haven't had before. Oh! And we have to move the second bed back into the guest room, as we have a couple arriving from UK early next week for a few nights before their "real" accommodation becomes available.

I think we told you about the saga of fixing our washing machine in an earlier email. Well, today is the acid-test day! Was it really the part that had broken and which has taken nearly a month to buy or was the diagnosis wrong?  If so, we turn the clock back and start at zero again!!! 

Till next time,

Love & Blessings from us.

020914 – ChitChat

It is some time since we sent a general email and for this we are full of apologies but much has been happening in our lives since the last one and it seems much is still happening in our lives; large and small as well as good and bad.

Throughout this time, we have both kept fine, fit, healthy and busy, workwise, as well as socially.

We have actually had this email sitting in our 'draft' box since early July and the fact it had never been sent is probably a good indication as to when we last sent an update to you.

So, where to begin...

Well, I thought we'd commence back at the end of June and review what we have been up to but maybe an abridged version [otherwise, this could be a mammoth memo].

At the end of June, we were part of a special group of people who were invited to a village in Upper Egypt by their Bishop as his personal guests, for the weekend. The invitation was extended through the person who is one of our friends and who has taken many small groups to this and other villages on the Holy Family route over the past 18 months. He has co-authored a book called "Be Thou There" and after 3 years research it has been released as a coffee-table edition covering the area that the Holy Family travelled whilst they were in this country two thousand years ago. We have bought a copy of the book and it is not only very descriptive and informative but has some magnificent photos in it of the various monasteries and churches that are now on the sites of where the Holy Family rested or lived during that time.

Weather-wise, it was a hot weekend but as we had no choice in the time of the year which this particular festival is held, it was a matter of grin and bear it!

The festival itself, which is held annually in June, is one which is celebrated all over Egypt by the churches as the anniversary of when the Holy Family entered Egypt. Because Christians are the minority people group here, most of the churches can only celebrate this event within the 4 walls of their church, or within their compounds, as the case may be. However, in this particular village, the population is 100% Christian, which means that they can celebrate quite openly and visibly. There is a Muslim village a few kilometers away, and they also benefit from the extra money pilgrims bring into the area at festival times..

The festivities commenced at about 8.00am when the Bishop and his entourage gathered on the other side of the River Nile from the village and in a specially decorated boat, symbolically crossed the Nile to a spot just outside the village. From the river bank, they brought up the rear of a procession through the village [a bit like our Christmas Pageants with Father Christmas at the rear] and made their way up to a hillock, called "Kom Maria" or Hill of the Virgin Mary, where a ceremonial tent had been erected for a special thanksgiving service. We were invited to join the Bishop as part of the procession and to "walk" with him and his Priests. There were about 35 of us [50-50 media and us as other foreigners]. Our group, plus a bus load from America, were the only foreigners in the village and consequently we were the centre of much attention. This is a village which would rarely see a foreigner, as apart from visiting for a special event or purpose, no foreigners are allowed to go to it [which is also the case for many other villages in this country]! So, this was a huge privilege for us! We found it was a truly special occasion and a real honour to join with them in their celebrations. The procession itself was a sea of faces, representing every aspect of life in the village and it stretched like a huge snake through the main street, which twisted and turned amongst the dwellings. The atmosphere was quite electric and extremely colourful and was obviously a much loved and reveered occasion. It was also a fabulous opportunity for taking photos, of which Albert took 7 rolls of film and only stopped because he ran out of his supply.

Enroute, we were also taken to other villages and churches where the Holy Family stayed but not too many as the purpose of the trip was to participate in this festival and not to be way-laid by other events and sights. We stayed overnight in a nearby village which had a Guest House that could accommodate all 35 of us but even there the security was water-tight! Once we were in our rooms and had a chance to view the sights of the village from our respective balconies, we noticed that the street in which we were staying had been blocked off at both ends and the traders in the street had been forced to close early! No-one was allowed in that part of the street all night and police were on guard around the clock to ensure that no-one tried to get through. As with other such trips the security on the roads was OTT [over the top] and even more so once we arrived at our various destinations en route. At one time, we were taken out to a desert area to climb a mountain to some religiously significant caves and "we" took up 3 vehicles, another 2 vehicles were provided for us as spares [in case of breakdown] and another 8 vehicles made up the convoy and they were over-flowing with police, army and the local militia. Talk about over-kill!!! Of one thing we are certain - this country is determined to protect its foreigners, almost at any cost!

In closing this section of our letter, we can say that we had a fabulous weekend and one that will remain in our memories as a very special time. We are hoping to go on this tour again next year, as it is truly one of those special moments in one's lif

From the deserts of Egypt, we then went on 2 week's holiday to Cyprus, where we had a great time. It was good to get back into an environment where we were out from under the heaviness of the majority people group and the sense of freedom was immediately evident. There was a different aura about the people, ranging from the way they dressed, to the way they shopped and socialised right through to the architecture and especially the lack of mosques and of course the peace and quiet. For 2 weeks we didn't hear the ritualised call-to-prayer, nor see a mosque around every corner or men laying prostrate on their mats at given times during the day & night! We were surprised at the things we noticed. Cars actually stopped at traffic lights at 2.00am, even though there were no cars anywhere to be seen. Traffic lights here, we have come to the conclusion, are for decoration only.  We were both taken aback when we were taken to the 'local' hypermarket. We stood at the door with our mouth's and eyes wide open! We had obviously forgotten that we also have huge supermarkets at home, but the size of our supermarkets here in Cairo, have become the 'norm' for us. We also indulged in heaps of foods and wine that are scarce here or are just not available or as in the case of lettuce, things we have been warned to keep clear of [for health reasons]. The national doctor for our company [in Australia] warned us only to eat lettuce if it's been boiled for 7 minutes beforehand but then immediately joked with us that this defeats the purpose of eating it, as a salad!

We returned home at the end of July to be immediately greeted with the news that my sister-in-law's health had dramatically deteriorated in the 2 weeks we were away, and that by the time we saw the emails from my brother, she was already back in hospital and for most of the time, was now unconscious. Susan subsequently died on 4 August. Naturally enough her death sent shockwaves throughout both her family and mine.

At the same time as we were facing Susan's death and while we were speaking with my brother and nephew on the phone back in Australia, we were interrupted by a loud crash, thud and tinkling of glass. Upon investigation, "hero Albert" discovered a brick had been thrown through one of our windows, had landed on the staircase and tumbled down a few steps. Whilst it was disturbing at the time, we have since come to the realisation that the incident was not an attack on us, but rather was a demonstration against our landlady - we just happened to be her tenants at the time! 

Just changing the subject for a moment, it's about time we shared something as mundane as the weather! During July and into early August we endured some amazingly high temperatures. We had a spell of days continually in the 40's [like for nearly 2 weeks] but peaking to 46, 47 and finally to 48 degrees [or 118.5F]. Some people claim that it got even higher than 48 but now we'll probably never know! I can tell you, though, that it was HOT!!! While chatting about the weather, I must add here that I have really struggled with the constant and intense heat of summer. Back home in Australia, I enjoyed the summer far more than I ever enjoyed the winter and was in fact looking forward to living in a hot climate. That was, of course, until we had to live in it day in and day out! Throughout all of summer, there was hardly a moment's respite from the heat and until we borrowed an airconditioner, at least for our bedroom, it was extremely draining. As we walk around after dark, it is a common thing to see people asleep on the footpaths, or children still playing soccer up till 2.00am and even later... This city comes to life after dark, as often they turn their clocks around and sleep through the heat of the day and live at night. It is not necessarily any cooler but at least the intensity of the sun is no longer there! To walk along the Corniche at 11.00pm or midnight, it is difficult to find a place not congested with people, as they come to bask in the coolness of the breeze from the river. It is shoulder to shoulder on all the bridges that span the Nile; throngs of people jostle for a space to hang over the rails and take in the cooler air. 

And then, as if a few days of hot weather wasn't enough, we've also survived through a couple of earth-tremors - a new experience for us, at least! The first one, only Albert felt along with some neighbours [I was at work at the time and for some reason, no one at the office felt it]. However, 2 weeks later the whole of Cairo felt the next one! At 4.7 on the Richter Scale, it wasn't something which some people felt and others didn't! Our whole villa shook, the windows rattled and anything not pinned down, rocked from side to side. It only lasted about 15 seconds but then a few minutes later, another one was felt - this time less severe. We have discovered since, that 50 homes were severely damaged - mainly in the poorer areas of Cairo where the homes are not so well constructed.

All these events [from Susan's death through to the hot weather and shaky grounds] have co-incided with the first anniversary of us being in this country.

Adding to our stories of woe and concern was an email we received from Albert's sister only a day or so ago in which she mentioned that she is seeking a specialist's opinion for a growth on her thyroid. Her appointment is on the 16th [September] but from what she has indicated already, she is going to it with a great amount of trepidation, as the news so far, is not good! Naturally, we are concerned for her and really hope and pray that there is an easy explanation for it and that it can be quickly dealt with, with a minimum of fuss and bother. However, we are thinking about what to do in case this is not the outcome!!! If need be, Albert will go home for a short while to be with her and to help her in these early days of diagnosis! Both her children are also overseas at the moment and therefore her support network is quite limited.

Continuing on with stories and events surrounding our first anniversary and unfortunately along similar lines as mentioned above but more like the proverbial straw on the camel's back, Albert also had his mobile phone stolen. We left it in a taxi and realised it immediately we got out of it but the taxi had already taken off at great knots! Fortunately, we were in a location where we could ring it straight away to see if we could claim it back - all of this within the first 10 minutes of getting out of the taxi. But, alas, no! It was well and truly gone even by that time!!! We tried all sorts of things to retrieve it but soon came to the realisation that it was gone forever! We pondered and prayed as to whether we should report the incident to the authorities, and we even had evidence that may have tracked the culprit down. However, involving the authorities could have caused more problems than it was worth, so at the end of the day, we didn't. Was it worth someone possibly being sent to jail for? We decided no, since we were careless in not checking we had it with us, before getting out of the taxi! So, we started checking out next morning for a replacement one - and looked at the price of new and second hand units [wondering from where these had all come, as we were looking?]. In Albert's job as OT Coordinator, we feel that it is essential that he have a mobile, especially in this environment. Well, we were soon to discover how good is our God and confirmation soon came through that indeed, he needed a phone. We were awestruck to receive the news from one of our friends that all we had to do was to choose the model and bingo, it was ours! Our friend insisted on buying us a new one and even more surprising, insisted that Albert bought a good one and wouldn't entertain the thought of us buying a base model! So, he is now back on air, complete with the same number! PTL indeed!!!

Speaking of our On-Trackers: we now have a completely new batch of OTers! All the "old" ones have returned to their home countries and we have started afresh with a new batch! So far, there are only 4 of them but their numbers will soon be growing, as the enquiries convert to people on-the-ground! At the moment he is juggling about a dozen enquiries but while not all of them will eventuate, many are strong possibilities, with several of them being definites! One young lady recently asked, at the first meeting of this new group, "so, you are the parents for these young people?". Wow! What a responsibility? But, in one way, 'yes, we are their parents while they are away from home'! And of course, with that also comes responsibilities and accountabilities...

I have now commenced my own English-speaking sessions, starting with a European friend who wants to improve her English, as English and Arabic are the 2 languages spoken where she works and she feels that she is not good in either one! We are just doing conversational English at the moment but are also still in the early days of it! We will see where we are after one month and re-assess things at that time! So far though, things are looking good!

Recently, we were invited to join a group of special people as they worshipped together and then shared some amazing testimonies with us! We had met several of these people before in a different location and were awestruck with that time, not dreaming of a second occasion to meet up with them. I tell you, there are some stories to be heard by His people here that just blow your minds away! 

Last, but no means least and to finish on a brighter note, is the fabulous news that our wonderful friends Geoff & Ricki [from Adelaide] will be spending Christmas with us, here in Cairo. Unfortunately, from our perspective, they will only be here for 3 weeks! But wow, what a 3 weeks that will be! Already we have started looking at planning their itinerary and have the hard task of choosing what to leave off as there are so many places to see, things to do and people to visit! But, as we don't want to send them home wrung out like wet rags, we need to be mindful of offering a balanced program for them! Hopefully, and with His help, we will achieve that!

Must go, as the longer I am sitting in front of this laptop, the more I think of to write about. We'll save them for another time. 

So in closing,

Our love & blessings,

040330 – Birthday Party

Last night [30 March 2004] we had a night on the town! We were invited to a friend's birthday party. We met at her home for drinks & nibbles and then at around 9.00pm we all piled into taxis and headed Downtown to a Nightclub. En-route, we passed a significant building where some people were celebrating "Palestinian Home Land" Day. The thing that attracted us to this particular "celebration" were the 26 Army/Security trucks lined up on the road outside and away from the building and the hundreds of riot police standing shoulder to shoulder and up to 4-deep, in places, in this formation along both sides of the road. It reminded me of the fact that the one country in the world that does "pageantry" REALLY well is England. Well, here in Egypt they do "security" REALLY well, with no stone left unturned and no room for any error or miscalculation. It certainly looked impressive. 

But driving on, we headed to our destination - a place called "After Eight". The food was good and the atmosphere was interesting. When we arrived [at around 9.30pm] we were the first people there. Well, by 10.30pm the place was crowded, the air was thick with smoke, the lights were dimmed and the volume of the 9-man band was turned up to full measure! Wow! What a din! The room itself was quite small - certainly smaller than some of us expected it to be but still it's interesting to see how many people can be crammed into such spaces. We [Albert & I plus one other guy] stayed till midnight and then headed home, leaving most of the birthday group to party on, way into the wee small hours of the night. 

All in all it was a good night and we're both glad we went! By the way, we weren't even the oldest in the room! We all noted the attire of the local girls - as they walked in, they were respectfully dressed but wow! Once they shed their outer shells, we had to keep reminding ourselves that we were in the Middle East - we could have been anywhere in the world!!! 

040630 – COH (Cairo Opera House)

Albert has been coordinating evenings at COH for those who wish to participate. So far we have seen the following:

Dec 2002: Christmas Carols

Dec 2003: Christmas Carols

Dec 2003: Cairo Opera Ballet & Orchestra Companies – The Nutcracker

Jan 2004: Cairo Opera & Ballet Companies – Donezetti “L’Elisir d’amore” [or The Elixir of Love]

Feb 2004: Cairo Symphony Orchestra – Symphonic Concert

Mar 2004: Cairo Opera Company – Puccini “Tosca”

May 2004: Cairo Opera & Ballet Companies – Verdi “Un Ballo in Maschera”

He tries to organise an evening once a month but of course, this is not always possible due to other commitments. During Summer the performances don't start until 9.00pm which makes for a very late night, of which we don't get a lot of takers - even ourselves at that hour! But once the Winter program resumes, I am sure we too will make the journey once again to the COH – along with some new faces, I have no doubt!

The cost for the evening, including "Best Seats in the House" is 35LE pp plus 1.50LE pp in transport - hardly an extravagant night out, eh?

040701 – The Orphanage

An activity or pleasure outside of my "ministry" is to spend time with the girls at a local Coptic Orthodox Orphanage. The Orphanage can accommodate up to 30 girls, their ages ranging from age 6 through to about 20-22. It remains their home until they marry or are able to return to their family, depending on their individual circumstances. I enjoy being able to help and encourage them in thread-work - an interest I have had almost for as long as I can remember. There are several of us expat "girls" of varying ages and backgrounds who work together to offer some art and craft opportunities for the girls, which they always value and appreciate. Not all of us are gifted in sewing applications and therefore between us, we can offer a range of choices for the girls from art, drawing, painting, jewellery-making as well as a full range of threadwork options. The lives of the girls and their stories are as varied as they are themselves. Some of them have learnt English at school and are keen to practise it on those of us who come from a native English-speaking country but it's also a great way for us to practise our Arabic with them. They are proving to be both keen students of English as well as competent teachers of Arabic.

Life at the Orphanage is often better than it is, or was, at home. The girls find themselves living in a loving and caring environment and amongst girls and their supervisors who understand their needs. They enjoy life much the same as most girls their age, as their local supporting Church is very encouraging of their education and personal needs. The most favourite wall in the Orphanage to have their photos taken, for example, is the one on which has been painted a large picture of Jesus. The older girls support, encourage and "mother" the younger girls, ensuring that no harm comes to them and that they are adequately taken care of. This may be painting a rather idylic picture of the Orphanage but it has its "other" side as well. Life is fast, wild, noisy and sometimes appears to be undisciplined but only from a Western perspective. The more one learns about the Middle Eastern culture, the more one can see that the Orphanage is very typically operating within the confines, limitations and boundaries of its culture and its expectations.

040701 - The Monastery of Muharuq or Dier Muharuq [in Arabic]

Dier Muharuq is considered to be the 2^nd Jerusalem of Isaiah's prophecy “in the midst of the desert there will be an alter to the Lord” [19:19]. Tradition says that the Holy family stayed at Dier Muharuq during their flight to Egypt and it is considered, by some, to be the most southerly point that the Holy Family reached before being told to return to Israel following the death of King Herod. It is claimed that the HF stayed the longest time at this site than anywhere else whilst in Egypt. It is also claimed that the HF spent 4 years in Egypt and of that, spent 6 months and 5 days at the site of Dier Muharuq. Many christians make the pilgrimage to this monastery, especially as they don't have the means of travelling to Jerusalem.

The outer walls of the monastery are built like the walls of Jerusalem. Each monastery had a Bishop as well as Monks. The monasteries also have a Keep in the centre of the compound where food & water are stored in case of attack [particularly in days gone by].

It is handed down from generation to generation that the Holy Spirit came in a cloud and consecrated the particular tract of land that the monastery is built upon and made 3 promises:

1. the land would be inhabited until the last days having been established in the 4^th century, which is amongst the earliest Christian places in Egypt
2. that a “holy service” would take place every day until the second coming – a daily mass is still held in the Coptic language 
3. this place would offer peace and comfort – rest and shelter for all people.

The Church at the monastery was originally built as a house but 150 years ago it was restored to the current 'shape' of a church.

The altar is made of a flat slab of marble taken from a Pharaonic Temple. The pillars of the church were also taken from a Pharaonic Temple but have been turned upside down. There is also a piece of wood between the stone pillars and the arches to prevent earthquake damage – an old pharaonic trick! The monastery was built by the Monks who have lived, worked and died at the monastery. Currently there are 110 monks living at the monastery which also provides accommodation for pilgrims.

040704 – Holy Family Trips

Albert & I have just returned from yet another Holy Family trip - this time to Upper Egypt to re-visit one we did 2 years ago. The dynamics of each trip is so different, due to the personalities on board, the ages of the people involved, the weather and a whole lot of other factors. 

The highlights, again, were the crossing of the Nile in a feluka by the Bishop and his entourage and the village procession. This year, however, a re-enactment of the Holy Family's pilgrimage in this country was played out by members of the local Church, in a patch of the

desert. As they criss-crossed the desert seeking refuge and safety, it was a graphic demonstration of what their travel might have been like - even to the point where the donkey didn't want to participate anymore and dug his heels well and truly into the sand. It was a reminder to us, as we sat in the comfort of a large tent (but not air conditioned), being served Pepsi or 7-up, that life was not easy for them 2000 years ago! We tend to read these things in the pages of history and not give them due thought about what the conditions of the day were really like. 

For us, travelling in early July is always a challenge as the days are starting to get very hot and somewhat uncomfortable. Mind you, travelling between places in an airconditioned bus helps a long way in the area of creature comforts. 

One of the comical side issues of the weekend was a bit of fun with a few of us in establishing a rating system for the toilet stops en route. We came up with a criteria, based on a 10-point system and we each contributed to the task of scoring each facility. We visited a range of facilities and the scores ranged from 1 through to about 8 [I think that was the highest rating we gave to a toilet for the weekend]. The lowest score went to a loo in one of the checkpoints enroute - not a good experience by all and sundry! However, it was that really BAD experience that set the stage for us to rate the rest on this trip.

040704 – The Crosses of Egypt

Each of us have passions for different things in life. Each of us, or many of us at least, collect different things. Well, for the time we are here in Egypt, Albert & I are collecting crosses. We have bought crosses from the various Churches and Monasteries we have visited; from the north, zigzagging to the south of this amazing country. 

Since being here and since having my own camera, I have had a fascination for taking pictures of the various types and styles of Christian crosses, on and in a range of places, including atop buildings, on walls, doors, windows of churches & homes, as well as on the homes themselves, shops, fences, animals and the list just keeps going on and on. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my collection but the day will come when I will do something with them. In the meantime, I continue to collect a visual memory of what we find. 

I guess it's a matter of "staying tuned" as we discover together what will become of them! 

040706 – No AirConditioning – Yikes!!!

... in the Office, at least! Well, summer is just around the corner. With our days still remaining in the high thirties [celcius, that is] and peaking into the forties only every now and again, it's still hot when you're sitting in what should be an air-conditioned Office and you're expected to function as though nothing out of the ordinary has happened! It's an interesting experience to be sitting at your PC wondering if the sweat from your fingers is going to do anything dramatic to the keyboard? I'm sitting here in a total sweat with warm, salty fluid running down my body, starting at the scalp and building up motion and quantity enroute to who knows where - what you'd call the perfect work environment, wouldn't you say? Makes for a wonderful environment for thinking outside the square and being totally creative - I wish!!! Ah! Well, it's all a part of "the call". 

The ac man did come in today but in true local style, the ac couldn't be fixed today, or tomorrow or even the next day. However, good news is on the horizon - would I be at the Office on Saturday? The answer was "No!". How does Sunday sound [Sunday is a work day in the Middle East] and we had agreement, via the Engineer that is who was here at the same time to fix our photocopying machine and who had slightly better English than the ac man did and than I did in Arabic! Ah! Such challenges! Maybe I should have paid more attention to my Arabic homework than I did? I knew some of these phrases might come in handy one day but the trouble was the time difference between the learning of the phrases and the delivery of them in the real world! Anyway, so the ac isn't working and neither is our photocopier! He will be back on Sunday also [once it was established that I would certainly be at the Office], because he couldn't make it tomorrow or the next day, either!!!!

040707 – Carpentry in the Kitchen

Last night a cupboard door in the kitchen became "unhinged". Nothing new you ask? Well, upon further investigation about the cause of the problem, we discovered that the hinge had never been correctly attached but rather when the cupboards and doors were painted, the hinge somehow got "painted" into place and continual use had separated the layers of paint from the hinge until last night, they became 2 separate units. Handy-man Albert reached for his screwdriver and made the reconnection, hopefully in a longer lasting fashion. Due to the combination of continual heat, over-tiredness and lack of food and water [after-all it was while preparing the evening meal that the door fell off it's hinge], we decided to fix the problem at hand but not check if other hinges are in the same condition - we figure that if they fall off, they can be fixed at the time! After all, they may stay stuck in place until long after we leave the flat!

040715 – Photo Shoots

Albert has been out and about in this mega city on some amazing photographic assignments - he's been photographing everything from wedding dresses, to boxes [empty, full and in-between], as well as an assignment in the City of the Dead with another camera-freak and to the camel market [with the same freak]. As I haven't gone with him on any of these expeditions, I need to leave it to him to describe in whatever detail he chooses - sorry about that! Oh! And by the way, for a guy who doesn't really like tea, he's becoming quite an expert in appearing to enjoy the beverage - after all, what else is there to drink in the City of the Dead when your mine host offers 'shay' and you know it's an offence to refuse them? AHwa [or coffee] just isn't an option!

040718 – Dahab

Tomorrow we head for Dahab for a week! Yippee! We've been there twice before but never for as long a time as this. Wow! A whole week with nothing to do but swim, snorkel, eat, sleep and have fun! Oh! And don't forget the shopping! A whole week will enable us to visit every shop in town and assess the value of their goods! This time around, unlike in the past, at least I now know the price of some of the items that the shops might tempt me with and it's a great feeling. I hate haggling for something when I don't even know what it's worth and at the end of the day I never know whether I did "good" or not! It's even worse when one gets back home [to Cairo] and discovers that I should have paid almost half of what I did - it's not a good feeling, believe me! 

Anyway, even before the sun rises on the morrow, we will be half way there! What stories are ahead for us? What tales to tell? What adventures to be had? Stay tuned and we'll find out together... 

9 days later...

We're back from Dahab and I can certainly report that we had a great time. We did all that we said we'd do - swim, snorkel, eat, sleep and had fun! What more could one ask? We had great accommodation and checked out other places to stay, while we were there! Places like Auski, Sphinx [Old & New], Deep Blue [although it hasn't beach-frontage], as well as a couple of other places [when I find all my bits and pieces I'll add them to this list]. We also had safe and comfortable transport to and from [which is important when you're talking about a 7 hour drive each way]. The weather was hot and most of the time the seas were choppy [maybe that's consistent with this time of the year?]. We didn't go anywhere else [like the Blue Hole, or the Blue Lagoon or the Coloured Canyon or the White Canyon, or the local "Mountain of Moses" - Mt Sinai] mostly because the weather was so hot or the water was so choppy that it just would not have been pleasant; but we did spend our time at several of the beaches that Dahab offers! I think we rated Eel Garden as the best! 

The reef is only a few metres off the coastline – 3 or 4 steps and you’re into amazingly clear, blue and warm water where you can float out to the reef’s edge and let the salty Red Sea do all the hard work. In some spots, I must admit, the walking out is a bit trickier than in other areas and we were sure glad we had our sea-shoes for those areas, as the sharp bits of stone, rock, coral and other pebbly-type shapes forming the seabed, made it a bit awkward and unsteady on the legs.

However, once over the reef there is a spectacular view to be feasted upon! Fish and other sealife of all sizes, shapes and dazzling colours – it was truly awesome. We obtained some info about the types of sealife we could expect to see and it was fun and interesting to tick off as many different varieties as we did! Then, there is the coral, itself! Wow! Such colours and shapes – they were a masterpiece in their own right! 

Dahab is certainly a place we’d love to return to, yet again – how can one get enough of such experiences as is on offer and as I said – it’s all there a couple of footsteps away from the shore! It’s like magic.

We were intrigued, and a little disappointed, to discover that Dahab is changing – we hope not to the extent of Sharm el Shiehk, but it’s certainly a rung or two up the ladder from the Dahab we first knew back in early 2002. Back then, it was certainly on par with Byron Bay [Australia] but the local Governate has taken a keener interest in its tourist potential and monies have been set aside to clean, tidy and spruce up the village! It’s still an enjoyable and relaxing place and as long as it stays about where it is, then it will still be an attractive destination for budget-priced tourists and travellers.

040802 – Welcome to V&A’s Blog

This is the start of Victoria & Albert's blogsite, covering much of our adventures as we live in a country which is not of our birth. We hail from Scottish & English roots but our families made their homes in Australia, which is where both of us spent either all, or part, of our lives. We both had a fairly ordinary upbringing and are descended from rather ordinary stock [no offence meant to our respective ancestors].

Once we had both celebrated our half-century birthdays [ie 50] we felt drawn or even directed to make a new home in Egypt and to experience firsthand cross-cultural living. These are some of the chapters of this new era in our lives. 

So, here we are in the land of the sizzling sands where everything is the colour of the desert - even the air we breathe is sometimes filled with it - as you grate your teeth together, the sand crackles between them. 

Therefore, welcome to our Blog page. This is an experiment in whether "blogging" is the way to go, to keep in contact with family and friends who are both near and far away. We would like to share with you some of our adventures; our insights in living in a cross-cultural setting; and our observations of how life is lived differently here than we are used to in Australia. We have been here for 3 years and love it. We keep surprising ourselves as to how we are adapting, especially as visitors or new-comers arrive and we see their initial reactions to this country and it's people and way of life. 

Day 2: I'm learning a bit more about "Blogging" and how to manoeuvre around it. It's nearly time to go public in a private way, that is. We are planning to use this site as a means of sharing our lives with you, purely from a tourist perspective - albeit, a long-term tourist's perspective. We hope you enjoy being a part of our lives, even while sitting in the comfort of your own home - you can enjoy being an "armchair" tourist! It's easy, it's comfortable and it doesn't hit the back pocket half as much as doing it yourself. If, on the other hand, these pages inspire you to come and visit us and to experience first-hand that of which we speak, then "ahalan wa-sahalan" as they say here, or translated it simply means "welcome". 

040804 – Cairo in Summer

Who would visit Cairo in Summer? The days hover in the 40+ degree bracket, sometimes peaking at 50 degrees [celcius]. On the streets by day there is no one to be seen but come 6.00pm and the whole city turns out to party and picnic - anywhere! After 6 o'clock, we have seen people picnicking on footpaths, on bridges, on any lawned area and for that matter on any unlawned area - especially if it's near the Nile. Once the sun sets, the city cools down a little and especially near the Nile and so all the bridges crossing the Nile are jam-packed with people trying to get as much cool air as possible before returning to their homes, often to swelter until the new day dawns. 

If you find that the only time to visit Cairo is in the Summer and you want to visit the ancient sites [like the Pyramids for example] make sure you bring some sun shade with you because out there, there isn't any! A parasol is a great idea or at least bring a wide-brimmed hat! The same goes for the ancient sites down further in this country between Aswan and Luxor - again, shade is a limited commodity and so the more you bring with you, the more comfortable you will feel! Remember this country is near the Equator and so you can expect it to be hot for much of the year! 

The worst 4 months are June, July, August and September. 

This is being written on a day where the temperature is hovering around the 45-48 degree mark and I think I'm suffering - just a little! 

040804 – The Hazards of Walking

We live in suburbia, which is a great place to live but it has it's interesting aspects, just like in any neighbourhood. We find that walking is a challenge! We don't have a car and so walking is often our preferred mode of transport - other than by taxi or the Metro [underground]. We have come to realise that neither the roads nor the footpaths have been designed for pedestrian traffic. The footpaths, in most cases, are easily recognisable as such, except for the stuff on them, in them, under them and around them, which create barriers and obstacles for pedestrians. There are often gardens [usually shrubs or trees which you have to walk around] which are extended to the roadside, or small brick/stone walls have been built, again, extending to the road's edge but for what reason I cannot determine. On other footpaths will be found cars or bikes or other modes of transport which have been parked for varying lengths of time and looking at the dirt build-up on some of these, one might guess they have been there for many years and have just become a part of the landscape so that no-one even notices their presence anymore. Other hazards are simply drive-ways. You see, there is no guttering along the road sides and therefore the footpaths are raised about 40cm above the road and if you have too many drive-ways, it's often much easier on your knees and ankles to simply walk on the road, rather than believing you are in an outdoor  gymnasium. Other obstacles include old signage where the "pipes" have been sawn off at about 5cm above the footpath - just high enough for one not to see them [unless you are really concentrating on where you are walking] and at the same time they are high enough to stub your big toe! Ouch!!! Yet other hazards can be the tree roots which protrude above the footpath itself and which cause some interruption to your passage along the carriage-way! Of course, there are the inevitable holes in the footpath caused by a myriad of circumstances and on other footpaths sit the bowwabs, or gate-keepers, who keep an ever watchful eye on the neighbourhood! Another "hazard" are the security forces themselves who will sometimes establish themselves on the footpaths and pedestrian traffic must go around them! 

 

We once had a visitor to this city who insisted on walking on the footpaths as much as was possible. I encouraged her to do this and especially as she felt much more comfortable doing so! However, after Day 3 she too joined me on the road! I thought she was pretty good to keep it up for 3 days!! Gold stars to Mary!!! Our only other option, therefore, is to walk on the road! So we join the cars, the donkey-carts, the bikes, the trucks, the micro vans, the micro buses, the camels, the Vespa's and any other form of vehicular mode of transport that one can imagine, along with other pedestrians! We try and walk into the traffic as much as possible - after all isn't that the way we were taught as children to walk on the roads? Another unsuspecting hazard of walking on the street is that there are quite a few one-way streets but time has also taught us that a one-way street is only a one-way street while nothing is coming in the opposite direction! 

040701 – Taxi Stories

Getting around Cairo is a challenge in itself. Combine that with the fact that there are reputedly over 3 million taxis on the road in Cairo and not a single one of them has had a maintenance check on their vehicle since the day they were first registered and you get some interesting rides. Amongst some of the more strange, bizzare, ridiculous but common sights, incidents and experiences include:

• floorboards so worn that you can see the road underneath you
• no window winders [or ones that work, at least]
• no inside door handles [which you don't realise until you try to exit]
• no inside door panelling [it was obviously removed for a maintenance job many months or years previously and just not replaced]
• vehicles have run out of petrol on more than one occasion
• one taxi needed a push from another vehicle to get it over the hump of a railway bridge [once at the top, he was able to roll down the other and restart his vehicle]
• driver doesn’t want to go to your destination - whilst enroute to your destination, that is! - at which time, the driver simply stops and allows you to exit - sometimes, he will even hail another taxi for you and often it's all at no cost - after all, he didn't get you to where you wanted to go! 

Come back another day, as I'm sure there'll be more to add to the list...

040805 – Si-eedi, the Taxi Driver

Yesterday I caught a cab to go a very short distance. Nothing new! Nothing special! I hopped in, greeted the driver and told him my destination. Ah! Immediately, we both realised there was a prospective problem looming. He announced that he spoke neither English nor Arabic - could I speak Si-eedi? Umm! No! However, I tried to tell him in Arabic [which I knew he couldn't understand but at least I knew I had a better chance than if I used English] that I know where I was going. Ah! I think the message got through! But no! It didn't because he immediately started going the wrong way! I told him to turn around and then to go left [by pointing in that direction]. Now we were getting somewhere! All was OK at this point until we reached a junction in the road where all the traffic had to go in the direction of 'right' but I needed to go 'left'. OK! No problem! We'll just turn left! So left we went - straight into the arms of 2 Policemen who were ambling down the street. But no problem. They told him that he could only go in the direction of the traffic and he told them that he was from Si-eedi, didn't speak any Arabic and they all laughed and went upon their merry ways! We headed up the wrong way of a one-way street and they continued walking down the road to their personal destinations! This is the land of "no problems" or "no worries". Eventually, we were able to turn left and motored our way to my destination. However, every time we passed anyone in the street, he would slow down, yell out to them that he was a Si-eedi, laugh and wave his arms in the air and everyone seemed very pleased to meet him and make their acquaintance of him. 

He was a delightfully happy man and eager to serve. We got to my destination safe and sound [I never for a moment thought we wouldn't] and he continued on his way enroute to collecting another fare or two, to who knows where, going wherever he wanted to go, telling all and sundry from whence he had come. PS: a "si-eedi" is a person who hails from Upper Egypt. 

040810 – Beachside Holiday

I was chatting to an Egyptian friend recently and in amongst other snippets of idle chit chat, we also swapped our respective holiday stories. I found aspects of his family's recent beachside holiday to be fascinatingly different to how we tend to spend our days, given the same locale! 

We tend to remain in our Western timeframe and while we are not opposed to changes in our daily schedule, there is a sameness about them! Our body clocks tend to rule how and when we sleep, eat and laze about. Really, it's no different to his! However, the two are worlds apart! 

When on holidays, his 'day' starts at around 3o'clock in the afternoon. The family will get their goods and chattels which will be needed for an hour's relaxation on the beach. During this time, some of the family will go for a swim or snorkel [depending on where the beach is], while others will simply loll about on a beach bed and either sleep, read or chat with their kith and kin. After about an hour, they will head back to their rooms for lunch, returning soon after for more seaside activities, until it's Dinner time - at around 10.00pm-11.00pm. After-Dinner activities may include more time at the beach, but this time watching as the moonlight dances upon the water; or it could be sitting in an open lounge listening to music and watching the younger generation dance to their hearts' content. Children of all ages will be seen either sleeping in their parent's arms or else running, jumping, dancing or doing any other lively activity - but it seems to be either one state or the other! There is no in-between! The day will finish at around 4 or 5 in the morning - when it's back to bed to sleep through the sunrise and well past the heat of the midday sun. Ah! They will sigh, what a way to relax and enjoy yourself!!! THIS is a GOOD holiday!