I’m going on strike!

I feel like I am trying to do too much – and am slowly realising that “down time” is allowed…

After a very hectic work week last week (still getting used to working 11/12/13 hour days) all I wanted to do was relax this last weekend – but alas…

We had Paula and Lyndon round for dinner on Thursday night – cooked a great roast lamb. In the absence of Woolies I’ve had to get creative in order to find really good food – and after hunting around a bit I found a fabulous website: www.gourmetegypt.com. You can order Australian beef, veal, lamb, fish, pies and even avocados! Amazing find I tell you! You order online (amazing, considering how backwards the internet is here eg. the credit card details on the bank’s website include our terms and conditions – that’s it! Absolutely nothing about what a credit card is, or what products we offer…), and the food gets delivered to your door – frozen – all the way from Down Under (yes, it does cost a fortune!)

We played a very competitive game of Risk, where the girls ended up making an alliance against the boys, and I’m pleased to announce that I took over the world (it took until 2am!) Half way through our board game, we decided we wanted a sheesha – so we phoned the restuarant down the road and managed to convince them to deliver a sheesha to us! The sheesha guy brought it across and set it up for us – with the most unbelievably elaborate tin foil additions – look at the photos for the tinfoil bow!

On Friday I had my first horse show in about 3 years! I rode Foxy Lady in the 1.10m class. We had a pole down, but she went well. Amazing how horse shows are the same all over the world – hurry-up and wait! But I managed to squeeze into all my old show kit, and looked semi professional! I’ve put photos up – have a look and appreciate the highway going over the main arena!

On Friday night we had Ahmed, Sherin and Karim round for dinner, and on Saturday we headed to Karim’s travel agent to book our trips to Sharm el Sheikh, London and Croatia (how exciting!).

Then we headed to a place called the BCA in Mohandisseen to watch the rugby. It was a ground floor flat + a second story apartment, that had been converted into a sort of expat pub. I walked upstairs to be ogled at by about 7 lecherous men sitting at the bar swigging beer… Western men have an amazing ability to drool at women and make them feel very uncomfortable. Egyptians ogle in a much more polite and less invasive manner (but oh my, can they ogle!) I am going to get home one day, and be really disappointed that no-one looks and catcalls at me anymore!

Paula and I played three games of pool, and after she annihiliated me 3 times, we decided we had had enough of the grose men, and tootled off for a facial at the one and only Clarins spa in the whole of Egypt. Blissful, but still not quite the same as home! Headed off to a Korean restuarant after that and had to cook our own food on a fire in front of us.

I finally made it home, only to be compltely panicked that I was never going to survive another week of 11 hour work days having had no time to put my feet up all weekend.

So tonight I am sitting at home chilling – about to head to bed actually!

(I sent a message to Cielo and Foxy Lady that I would see them tomorrow evening…)

 

Prayer rings

Muslim people that pray a lot sometimes get a mark on their forehead because of the constant friction of their forehead on their prayer mat. I kid you not…

It sounds completely far fetched, but after staring at a couple of foreheads today at work, it is unbelievable how obvious they are! People with marks literally have a 3cm diameter dark ring on their forehead. I enquired if this was actually a cool thing to get, because it proved you were very religious, but this is not the case. Apparently some people don’t even have to pray much to get these marks – they are just prone to them…

On another note altogether – I went to my first radio ad recording today. I had to approve the final version – a fairly strange task considering my ad was in Arabic and I don’t speak or understand a word of the language. The sound effects and background music were cool though.

 

A Boring Weekend

I think I have a problem – my hangovers are really really bad these days! I didn’t drink that much on Friday night, and I could hardly move on Saturday…

Rob (a great guy who has the arduous task of putting together a data centre for our bank in Maadi and Alex) came round for dinner. He has some really amusing stories about getting these data centres up and running – a lot of it too technical for me to understand, but a lot of it is so basic that even I get that it is truly ridiculous! An example: three massive cables (about an inch thick each) go into the data centre to supply power – one should be red (live), one green / yellow (earth) and one brown (neutral) – except that at this multi-million pound data centre, there were two red cables and one brown one, because the supplier didn’t have any green / yellow cable…

Another thing he mentioned was that there were no plugs – so the guys had just grabbed the live wires and shoved them into the sockets…

Anyway, back to dinner…

We decided to roast a chicken, and in the process of shoving a lemon up it’s bum, we noticed that the neck had not been chopped off! Luke chased me around the kitchen with this stupid headless chicken, while I ran around screaming and mock charging – I still can’t believe I ate it in the end!

Maybe it had something to do with the amount of wine I had to drink beforehand – which brings me back to my sorry state on Saturday. I literally could not lift my head off the couch until the evening. I am going to have my liver tested I’ve decided – this is just not right (and I didn’t really drink that much!).

Having recovered slightly by 6pm, I had a serious case of ants in my pants, so managed to convince Luke (and Paula – who had decided that my sorry company was tolerable) to go for a walk down the Nile.

About 5 minutes outside the front door, we heard a metallic crunch from behind us. Not thinking too much of it (lots of other things to concentrate on), we noticed a tyre rolling past us – not attached to a car. This was fairly intriguing, so we finally turned around to find a black and white taxi had just lost a tyre… Honestly, the front left tyre just fell off, and the crunch we heard was the front left part of the car hitting the road. The driver just sort of steered the car to the edge of the road on 3 wheels and a cog, and jumped out to collect his tyre that had carried on going for about 50 metres.

I caught Luke having a real giggle about it about 5 hours later – just another one of those extra-ordinary things that would just never happen anywhere else in the world!

Come to think of it, our fairly boring weekend can still be classified as different…

 

Things that go “bump” in the Night

I had one of those nerve-wracking experiences when I woke up because of a strange noise in the house last night. You know the feeling - pulpitating heart, straining to hear more, trying not to move because then the baddies won’t know you’re there and not wanting to turn on the bedside light because it will mean not being able to see into the shadows…

Well, Luke heard it too and just mumbled “Don’t worry, we’re in Egypt” and went straight back to sleep!

It is strange to realise just how accustomed I’ve become to living in fear, and what a weight off my shoulders it is not to have to constantly worry about my personal security.

 Just a note – this is new to me, and it’s quite cool :-)

 

Egypt won the African Cup of Nations last night…

We went to watch the final of the African Cup of Nations between Egypt and Cameroon last night, on Le Pasha boat, just off Zamalek island…

And in the second half Egypt managed to score a goal, and the entire country went crazy! It reminded me of us winning the Rugby World Cup – so great to be part of such excitement and celebration…

This boat is one of many, and is one of the many things that I just take for granted, but the phenomenon is actually quite interesting…

There is a serious lack of space in Cairo (18 million people here), so what you get are these massive boats in the Nile that are permanently attached to land (ie. they don’t go anywhere). On each boat you get at least 3 levels, and on each level up to 3 restuarants. It is a floating restaurant, except you would never know once you are inside… It would be impossible to move these boats anyway, because they wouldn’t fit under the many bridges that go across the Nile…

Egypt Air sent a 747 to Ghana in the morning of the match filled with football fans. You could buy a ticket on this flight at a seriously discounted rate, which included a flight there, transport to the stadium, ticket to the match, and transport and flight back (straight after the game). Brilliant! Love government subsidized passion for the sport and country!

The whole country went crazy – reminded me of when we won the Rugby World Cup – so great to be part of such excitement and celebrations. So crazy in fact, that Paula was advised to stay with us last night because the roads back to Katameya (the golf course where she lives about 30 mins away) would be blocked!

 

Sharm el Sheikh

The expat team (me, Luke, Paula and Lyndon) decided to escape Crazy Cairo, 

and head to Sharm el Sheikh for a nice relaxing weekend…

Sharm is on the Red Sea and is famous for its diving… The best way to describe 

what Egyptians think of Sharm, is to compare it to what Johannesburgers think 

of Cape Town (or at least me in any case)… They rave about it: “You’re going to

 Sharm? Oooo, you’re going to love Sharm, gotta go to Sharm, Sharm is the best,

 no you’ll really love Sharm…” (in one breath).

We jumped on a plane at 7.15pm on Thursday evening (making it by the skin of our 

teeth), and arrived there an hour later… Another hour (at least) later, and we left the 

airport and headed to our hotel. We stayed at the Sofitel (and it was seriously crap 

– so if any of you reading this go to Sharm don’t stay at the Sofitel…)

Sharm el Sheikh is bizarre, but in a kind-of-good way! It is like an Egyptian version of 

Vegas by the sea… I have never seen anything like it! Picture lots of casino’s with the 

most ridiculous light schemes (obviously most of them are in the shape of a pyramid), 

loads of people and shops and cafes – and nobody sleeps! (Seriously, even at 4am in 

the morning I had to shove past people to get a taxi home – but more on that later…)

The whole of Naama Bay (the main busiest bay) is closed off to cars, and as you walk 

down the main drag, on either side of you are just rows and rows of cafes and sheesha 

dens… Each has its own man standing at the entrance (they are all open air, and have 

cushions on the floor to sit on) who tries to convince you to come in and sit down, and 

they all compete with the level of their music… Did I mention there are no walls or roofs,

so it is just complete noise chaos, unless you decide to sit down in one café, and then

all you can hear is their music?

We spent our first night at an awesome place called the Little Buddha – absolutely 

brilliant! We found it in the Lonely Planet (big up to LP – they seem to be pretty good at 

finding the best spots – I have tested them!) The whole of the upstairs looked down onto 

a massive Buddha statue. We had a delicious dinner and then headed upstairs to join 

the bar / night club area…

A very big night was had by all, with varying sizes of hangovers the next day – mine was 

by far the worst!

Friday was spent on the beach (a funny little beach that had clearly been dug out of the 

rock specifically so the hotel could advertise that it had a private beach). Luke (in typical 

Luke fashion) didn’t stay still for one second (he was kicked out of the room at 9am for being 

awake!) – and snorkeled, hired a catamaran, windsurfed – you name it he did it…

Apparently the snorkeling was unbelievable – strange that 3 metres into this very quiet ocean 

(surrounded by desert) is a bustling ecosystem with a million things to ogle at!

We went to a fantastic Indian restaurant (in the Camel Hotel – I mean, who comes up with names 

like that?!) for dinner on Friday, and another great restaurant on Saturday evening called Aboel Seed 

(actually a chain – you can’t get into the one on Zamalek without booking in advance – it is the 

best Egyptian food by miles!)

Sharm was great, but not a relaxing place to go! It is clean – a real pleasure after Cairo, and it feels 

really good not to wake up in the mornings with black schnarlies in your nose… But it certainly 

doesn’t have any of that breathtaking beauty that Cape Town has… 

 

A Day and Weekend in my Cairo Life

A normal day:

7.30am: wake up

8am: leave the house

8.07am: get to work

2.30pm: remember that I’m starving and order takeaways from a restaurant nearby

3.30pm: eat lunch (on a good day – depending on the Egyptian time it takes to get to me)

6.30 / 7pm: leave work

7.30pm: get to the stables to ride (having gone via home to change)

9.30pm: head to dinner after riding two horses (normally at a restaurant nearby, and normally in my sexy riding kit!)

11pm: head somewhere for a sheesha (the Marriot hotel is a good spot)

12.30 / 1am: climb into bed

 It’s a long exhausting day! On days when we don’t go out for dinner, we would cook at home – which doesn’t mean an earlier night! Sometimes instead of riding (although I go at least 3 times a week), I will do some chores – like head to the supermarket to buy some supplies… But I have yet to make it into bed before midnight… 

A weekend in the life of Luke and Emma:

 Thursday night: do something – usually a bit boozy and with some mates (like a dinner, or a bit of a party at a night club etc etc). Normally pretty late!

Friday

10am: start to think about waking up

11am: climb in car and head to Katameya for golf (having slept until 10.55pm)

12pm: have a bite to eat at Katameya club (they have pork – very exciting!)

12.30: tee-off for 18 holes

4.30pm: have a drink in the club house and then head home

5.30pm: collapse at home (a book, a sleep or tv!)

9.30pm: head out (dinner or a party or just a sheesha and a game of scrabble at the Marriot with mates)

Saturday

Sleeeeeep in…

1pm: head somewhere for lunch (a picnic on a felucca with some mates, or maybe City Stars for a spot of shopping too – they even have a Virgin Megastore!)

4pm: meet at the club for a bit of giddy-up

6pm: crash at home   

 I am starting to work out why I feel like such a zombie most of the time!

 

Some overdue updates

1. We took the plunge and hired a full time Filipino maid. Her name is Estrelia and she is great! Except that on day 7 she washed Luke’s Italian wool suit trousers and shrunk them – he was livid! She still has a bit of a penchant for shrinking things (the list includes 2 scarves and 2 jerseys so far…), but does everything else, and we now live in a clean house – quite something in dirty, dusty Cairo.

2. Our driver Amr is my hero! People have a really tough time with their drivers (eg. a guy in my team: his driver bumped into a car in rush hour traffic, jumped out of the car and ran away – never to be seen again! The poor guy had to placate the person who had just been driven into, and then drive himself home – no mean feat!) Still strange to know that there is someone waiting in the car outside a restaurant until we are done!

3. Last night Luke had to go to Alex (3 hours away) to check on something for work. The roads are really bad, and it is extremely dangerous to drive them at night, so Luke had to spend the night there (not too bad, stayed in the Four Seasons). But he just gave Amr LE200 (about R220) and said find somewhere to sleep, and see you in the morning at 8! Which, by all accounts, is completely normal, if not bordering on the generous side!

4. It is cold here – properly cold! Seasons are opposite to South Africa, so we are currently in the middle of winter. I wear a vest, 2 jerseys, a jacket and boots to work most days. Cairo is not good at heating things up – I’m hoping that their air conditioning is better!

5. Rain: I was also told that it rains in Cairo for only 5 days every year. Well, it has been pouring with rain for at least 10 days – fantastic for cleaning the air, but oh my! you get to see just how dirty the air is… After it has rained, everything is filthy! The roads don’t drain, so you drive through massive puddles hoping that the ground has not given way underneath. Everything you touch has a layer of grime (from the rain cleaning the air), and the mud is just all consuming. There is no way you can walk outside without getting filthy!

6. Our furniture arrived from SA on 4 January – life changing I tell you! We now have a house that feels like home. It’s pretty funny to see how far some of that furniture has gone in life (we have 2 chairs from my home in Morningside dating back to 1987, and lots of stuff from our digs at university). Can’t believe that it was all shipped here at such vast expense, when it really is not worth much at all! But I was so excited to see those mix-matched plates, and the sofa that is clearly at the end of its life!

7. I really want to learn to speak Arabic – I hate not knowing what people are saying! There are two types of Arabic to learn: 1) Egyptian spoken Arabic (which they speak here – go figure) and 2) Modern Standard Arabic (which they speak worldwide and use in media, but people would laugh at you if you spoke like that here!). Slowly learning that nothing is straightforward here! I have done some research and found some part time courses at the American University, so watch this space…

8. I have heard a rumour that you can get DSTV in these parts… Not rocket science, considering all it takes is a satellite! But the government doesn’t like it because they want to control what is beamed in. Tough sh1t if you ask me – the TV here is crap!

9. The whole of Egypt’s internet is down – has been down since yesterday. Barclays can access the internet via their network through Barclays UK… Just strikes me as odd (yes, nothing surprises me anymore) – apparently a cable broke…

 

Horsing Around

Show jumping in Egypt is big! And I say this because I have been seriously impressed with the standard of everything I’ve seen involved with this discipline. But let’s be real – it has a certain Egyptian flair!

 

I found a website belonging to a guy involved with horses in Cairo, and emailed him to find out about my horsey options while I’m here. This single email has had a profound influence on my life in Cairo…

 

I met Ahmed the next day at the Ferosia Club (on the island Zamalek). This club is amazing! So completely different to anything I would associate with horses in my past. The first thing to realize is that the club is situated in the centre of crazy Cairo – in between apartments and shops. There are 130 stables, a huge sand arena and another grass arena that is saved for shows. There is a highway going over the sand arena – I kid you not! Behind the sand arena is a school, complete with playground and basketball courts. In between this is a race track that goes through the Ferosia Club and links up to the Gezira Club (it is actually used for horse racing on Sundays – amazing if you could see what it looks like). But mostly you get people running and walking along the track. No fields or paddocks…

 

What is amazing is that the horses being worked in the arena don’t bat an eyelid at the bus that has stopped overhead and expunged 10 shouting Egyptians, or the kids next door bouncing their basketballs, or the people that come out of the shadows when they run around the track…

 

Ahmed is one of the kindest, friendliest people I have met. He schools horses for owners who don’t have the time, and owns a couple of babies that he will bring on and sell. He is a professional – has worked in Belgium and Ireland with top trainers, and this is clearly his passion too. (You can check out his website: www.ahmedhussein.info for some pics)

I met up with him again the following weekend at a horse show at the Cairo Stadium, so that we could go to the yard where he kept his horses.

 

The facilities at Cairo Stadium are amazing – truly world class! A massive flood lit fibre sand arena, with grand stand (the VIP section had really comfortable sofa chairs), fantastic jumps, state of the art judges box and rows and rows of stables… The Pan Arab Games were hosted here at the end of last year. 

 

And the horses competing in the 140cm class were gob-smacking! All imported from Belguim, UK, Ireland, Germany and all with the latest equipment and really good riders.

 

After watching the big class (which normally takes place after the 12 o’clock prayers), Luke and I accompanied Ahmed to the yard where he has been keeping some of his babies.

 

I rode Cielo – a 5 year old mare from Germany – and I fell in love! (You can check her out on http://www.ahmedhussein.info/cielo.htm) This horse reminds me of Sam (my junior horse) – and is just so cute! Also unbelievably well schooled and behaved! Perfectly balanced and able to do beautiful flying changes – amazing considering she was broken in in April 2006! I am so tempted to buy her with the money I got from selling my car – but somehow this just doesn’t seem to be a wise investment!

And this is how it all began! I now ride 3 or 4 times a week at the Ferosia Club with Ahmed (he has moved Cielo there), and have also been riding another fairly stiff horse for another owner.

 

I have to say I feel incredibly lucky: I have met fantastic people (really really great!), get to ride (my passion) and it is affordable for me (free!)…

 

From behind my Glass Walls

I sit in a glass office on the other side of the branch of the Head Office. This means that I get to see some fairly interesting things.

Like this morning: an unhappy customer started yelling at one of the tellers – really yelling (no idea what we had done to irritate her so much, had that all too familiar language barrier – but quite funny to see an Egyptian woman yelling at an Egyptian man in Arabic – I definitely understood that she was extremely pissed off!).

But what was truly amazing was the crowd that this spectacle attracted. On hearing the yelling, everyone flew out of their offices and went and stood around her listening to her woes. Hilarious! I was expecting her to take a bow at the end…

And when she was quite done, the 20 odd people she had attracted just sidled away again like nothing had happened…

Another interesting monthly occurrence I get to see from behind my glass walls: at month end we have to lock people out of the branch. This is a truly innovative way of ensuring a great customer experience. But things get seriously crazy at month end, and I suppose it’s the only way the bank can cope…

(Things are a little backwards here, so coping mechanisms are not quite what you’d get anywhere else in the world. Like no security barriers between the customers and the tellers – not too tragic until you get to appreciate the piles of cash lying on the floor behind the tellers desks. Not sure if it’s lack of storage space / lack of time / lack of necessity that causes this. The most amusing part is seeing the tellers wade through the bundles of cash when you draw LE1000 and you want it in different denominations…)