Sunday, 28 December 2008
Friday, 26 December 2008
Continuing Internet Problems
As reported in the world news, Egypt (along with the rest of the Middle East, North Africa, and much of the Indian subcontinent) is experiencing enormous internet problems. It all stems from the severing of 3 of the 4 undersea cables that connect this part of the world to Europe - and is having dramatic consequences on businesses in this area of the world.
It also means that access to YouTube is being limited and so we're struggling to upload and link to the videos we've recorded...although we've just succeeded in uploading our Christmas Update here.
According to the BBC, the cables are in the process of being repaired, but as the severed ends of each of the cables could be many miles away from each other it's proving difficult enough to locate them, let alone reconnect each individual fibre inside the cable. The main cable, SeaMeWe-4, was scheduled to be repaired yesterday but if our internet is anythign to go by then that didn't happen!
It's the second time that internet connection out here has been affected this year, as in January and February exactly the same issue occurred thanks to 2 of the 4 cables being cut.
Anyway, if you have been wondering why our contact with the rest of the world has been so erratic of late, that's why. So, sit tight, and keep checking back for further updates!
Nile Cruise 1 - Arriving in Luxor
For the first week of our break from school we sailed up the Nile from Luxor to Aswan. We've been fascinated by the "majesty" of Egypt for years - I reckon we first spoke about visiting here in 2002 - and this was our first real chance to see the Ancient Egyptian sites we'd dreamt about for so long.
There'll be absolutely LOADS of videos uploaded over the next week as we plough through the stuff we recorded and narrate it, but we hope it shares our experience.
There'll be absolutely LOADS of videos uploaded over the next week as we plough through the stuff we recorded and narrate it, but we hope it shares our experience.
Thursday, 25 December 2008
Friday, 19 December 2008
Irish music in the basilica
On Wednesday night I had a bit of a late one for a school night. Our Irish band had been asked to play a piece or two at the Christmas Carol Service of a colleague's church. We agreed that accordion, low whistle and guitar would go along, and so without much practice due to other commitments, we took a car from Maadi to the Basilica of Notre Dame in Heliopolis.
"The Basilica is in the historical heart of Heliopolis. Modeled on Istanbul’s Aya Sofya and its Byzantine style, it is affectionately known as the “Jelly Mould”. The interior has its own riches, stained glass windows, a large organ from Belgium towers over the congregation while granite pillars floated from Aswan provide the foundations for the light filled unadorned dome."
It's a beautiful church - very Coptic or Orthodox in its style and iconography inside, but is a Catholic Basilica. The organisers kept apologising for the poor acoustics. We didn't agree - the huge dome directly over where we were playing created a phenomenal reverb, and the low whistle in In The Bleak Midwinter was truly haunting. We segued from that into a slow verse of In Dulce Jubilo before picking up the pace and sprinting through it again before a key change from C to G twice. From there we moved straight into a couple of up-tempo run-throughs of Christmas in Kilarney a couple of times, for which low whistle was switched to bodhran.
We played really well - especially considering we'd barely practised - and lots of people came up to us at the end of the service to ask about gigs. The highlight for me, though, was the Choir of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word who performed some amazing latin choral pieces.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Make your own Christmas tree!
Yesterday we received a very exciting Christmas package, inside which was a "make your own Christmas tree" set. So this afternoon, sitting in the pleasant surroundings of our balcony over the smog-choked and noise-polluted streets of Maadi, we built our little tree.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Saturday, 29 November 2008
BCA Christmas Ball
On Friday night we went to the BCA (British Community Association) Christmas Ball which was held at in the Ballroom of one of the posh hotels in town. We went with some friends from work and so were on a table together. There were also a few other tables around of work people, but this was in a room for 400-odd ex-pats! The tickets were 400LE which included a five course Christmas Meal and a free bar - not bad we thought!
The bar-men were wearing Santa Hats and there were a number of fiber-optic Christmas Trees around the place to get us all in the mood! The bar was a real treat to be honest. Having been to Balls in Cam we were used to the idea of getting drinks within the ticket price, but it was nice to have such a choice (something we're not used to in Cairo when it comes to alcohol). There were three or four different brands of vodka, whisky and gin to choose from - none of which were rip-off Egyptian copies that make you go blind! You also had a waiter allocated to your table who would get another round of drinks for you if you were running low!
So the five courses were; smoked salmon (really nice thick slices too!), mushroom soup, turkey with all the trimmings, christmas pudding (with "real custard") then coffee and chocolates. It was definitly nice to have someone cook a Christmas Meal for you, but some parts of it did leave us a little dissapointed. The custard wasn't what I call "real", and the sprouts were more for decoration than eating. There was also a lone pork sausgae with the main course that although was a nice gesture, didn't look too happy.
After the meal a band started and we all went for a little boogie. The band played covers mainly, rather than anything seasonal. Some of their choices were interesting (!) and they all managed to have a latin/salsa twist on them...not sure why??!
It was a good night, and nice to have a bit of decadence. In the new year we have a Masked Ball organised by work - so we'll have to be careful or we'll make a habit of it!!
Thursday, 27 November 2008
3 Months Gone
Who would believe that we've been here for three months? That's, like, a quarter of a year. Put into terms like that it feels a bit weird, but also good that we're still surviving and adapting to the new culture. I looked back at the blog last night and saw the progression of posts from excitement, to disbelief, to frustration, and more recently towards a happier balance. Some things are still taking some getting used to, both culturally and at work, but it's a nice milestone to have passed.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
UKNova Radio - 24th November 2008
And, as if by magic, here is the next one!
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Friday, 21 November 2008
UKNova Radio - 17th November 2008
Cripes, I'm late sticking this online!! It's almost time for us to do another one!
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
The Citadel with Yanny
Yanny arrived today, having spent the last week diving in Dahab and visiting a few sites in Cairo. One site the three of us hadn't yet visited was the Citadel and so we decided to head there.
From driving past, the Citadel always looked impressive on its limestone hill, but as we walked up the size and beauty of the place really hit us. The main attraction is the Muhammed Ali Mosque which is really impressive both outside and inside.
The great thing about the Citadel site too was the view across Cairo. Seeing the pyramids up close is undoubtedly impressive, but seeing them from far away really hits home how huge they really are.
No pictures (or words for that matter) can really describe the National Police Museum ad the National Military Museum. The first has a feature on how conterfit 2 piastra pieces were made and a room dedicated to the assassinations of various Egyptian Presidents and leaders. However we now have an understanding of an Egyptian approach to a museum visit - basically walk as quickly as possible from entrance to exit whilst playing music on your mobile phone!
The Citadel is another site that the Guide Book slated as being a bit dull, but we have to say we really enjoyed it and that with the view, impressive buildings and quirky museums - it is well worth a visit.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
More dodgy electrics
Last night we bought some new lightbulbs to replace the ones that have blown over the past few weeks in our elaborate chandelier in the living room. Being sensible, I screwed them in with the power off, but flicking the switch there was an almost bang and the fuse box tripped.
Hmmm.
I unscrewed one bulb, reset the trip, and tried again. Fine! So I tried again, putting that bulb in. And this time, rather than just tripping the fuse box, it created an enormous green spark inside the switch itself before knocking out power to the whole room...eeeek!
The switch itself is absolutely knackered. The spring inside must have melted, as the switch is now permanently on. This led me to needing to open up the back box and rewiring the switches this afternoon. This, I guess, is the key (only?) advantage of having three-switch plates but which only have one switch actually doing anything! A quick change of the wires onto another switch and we had sensible light switching restored. Hooray!
Hmmm.
I unscrewed one bulb, reset the trip, and tried again. Fine! So I tried again, putting that bulb in. And this time, rather than just tripping the fuse box, it created an enormous green spark inside the switch itself before knocking out power to the whole room...eeeek!
The switch itself is absolutely knackered. The spring inside must have melted, as the switch is now permanently on. This led me to needing to open up the back box and rewiring the switches this afternoon. This, I guess, is the key (only?) advantage of having three-switch plates but which only have one switch actually doing anything! A quick change of the wires onto another switch and we had sensible light switching restored. Hooray!
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Picture Hanging
This week we looked through our digital photographs, and picked some out that we wanted to have decorating our apartment, as you'll have noticed that the walls are very plain and very white!
We went down to the local photo shop with the pics on a memory stick, and a few hours later went back to collect them - 5 A4 prints and about twice as many 5" x 7" prints. We went straight to road 233 where we visited a framing place and spent some time choosing frame designs, frame colours, and mounts. In the end we decided not to get the smaller pics framed just yet as we thought we shouldn't spend all our money only halfway through the month, and instead just had the larger ones done.
Alice went to pick up the framed pictures today and they look fantastic. Having the photos framed really makes the photos stand out, so we're well chuffed with 120LE for each framed picture...custom made frames, custom colour job, mounted, sealed and even drilled and threaded with picture wire to make them sit flush against the wall.
This video is a silly little thing we did as we worked out where to hang the pictures.
And, if you want to know what was going on with all the running around in circles, we've also recorded a "director's commentary" below!
We went down to the local photo shop with the pics on a memory stick, and a few hours later went back to collect them - 5 A4 prints and about twice as many 5" x 7" prints. We went straight to road 233 where we visited a framing place and spent some time choosing frame designs, frame colours, and mounts. In the end we decided not to get the smaller pics framed just yet as we thought we shouldn't spend all our money only halfway through the month, and instead just had the larger ones done.
Alice went to pick up the framed pictures today and they look fantastic. Having the photos framed really makes the photos stand out, so we're well chuffed with 120LE for each framed picture...custom made frames, custom colour job, mounted, sealed and even drilled and threaded with picture wire to make them sit flush against the wall.
This video is a silly little thing we did as we worked out where to hang the pictures.
And, if you want to know what was going on with all the running around in circles, we've also recorded a "director's commentary" below!
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Autumn Leaves
Thismorning I made a little mobile using the Autumn leaves that mum sent us. I'm sure the last time I made a mobile my fingers were a lot smaller - it was very fiddly!
ACE
We've just got home from our evening out and I wanted to put a quick post up - as the Gecko is back!
I noticed something scurrying in the dark corridor when leaving the bathroom and when I put the light on in the bedroom it confirmed that he has returned :) We're pleased he is back....as long as he eats mosquito's and any other pests in the flat. Scott has just opened a balcony door though to help his escape as I don't think he likes our company.
We've had two really nice evenings out this weekend; last night we went to a near-by bar-cum-restaurant for Scott's Department Nite Out. I had been invited as an "honorary member" because I support in their lessons and I support Scott :) After eating, we headed to the ACE club which is the main expat club in Maadi. As first time visitors we got in for free. You buy a raffle ticket when you go in and this can be exchanged for drinks at the bar - nice! Drinks are cheaper than any bar or restaurant around and there is a nice large outside area (although it is getting a bit cool in the evenings now!). We ended up at ACE again tonight as Dave and Caz came down for drinks and dinner (we had some of the Blackcurrant Vodka that Sam's passport forever will bear the mark of). There was a good crowd there as some teachers had entered a team for the Pharaoh Run - 100km run between Saqarra and Giza pyramids.
I noticed something scurrying in the dark corridor when leaving the bathroom and when I put the light on in the bedroom it confirmed that he has returned :) We're pleased he is back....as long as he eats mosquito's and any other pests in the flat. Scott has just opened a balcony door though to help his escape as I don't think he likes our company.
We've had two really nice evenings out this weekend; last night we went to a near-by bar-cum-restaurant for Scott's Department Nite Out. I had been invited as an "honorary member" because I support in their lessons and I support Scott :) After eating, we headed to the ACE club which is the main expat club in Maadi. As first time visitors we got in for free. You buy a raffle ticket when you go in and this can be exchanged for drinks at the bar - nice! Drinks are cheaper than any bar or restaurant around and there is a nice large outside area (although it is getting a bit cool in the evenings now!). We ended up at ACE again tonight as Dave and Caz came down for drinks and dinner (we had some of the Blackcurrant Vodka that Sam's passport forever will bear the mark of). There was a good crowd there as some teachers had entered a team for the Pharaoh Run - 100km run between Saqarra and Giza pyramids.
Friday, 14 November 2008
Cultural Gift Swap
Today, Alice received a parcel through the Cultural Gift Swap she's a member of online. She opened the package at work, but we waited until we got home and had a video camera handy to record the "real" discovery of what was inside!
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
How to send post overseas from Egypt
Today I discovered how to send mail overseas from Egypt (or, more precisely, Maadi).
I wanted to send a large envelope to the USA and had been frightened by various guide books and blogs either only talking about using FedEx etc or that 75% of mail never arrives. In addition, I had read that if you wanted to send anything larger than a letter from Cairo abroad, you needed to go to the ONE post office in central Cairo where they would open it etcetc.
This doesn't seem to be the case though, as I have managed to send my large envelope from the post office in Maadi, and although it hasn't arrive yet (give it a chance - I only sent it 4 hours ago) my fingers and toes are crossed that it makes it.
The Post Office in Maadi is beside Maadi Metro Station. There is a main door (the one closest to the Metro) and then a second door to its right, but to send mail internationally you go around the right-hand side of this building to a door beside the pedestrian footbridge. This entrance is to the PO Boxes room, but has two counters.
The staff were really helpful and spoke enough English for the transaction to take place. There are two options when sending mail internationally - sending it using "normal" stamps and "normal" mail, or using the Express Mail Service (EMS). The guy only gave me the EMS option, but to be honest, as it is a gift that I was sending, I wanted to be confident it would make it to its destination.
The main thing I wasn't prepared for was that they need the recipients telephone number. I'm still not sure what they use this for, but he wasn't happy to send anything without it. For EMS mail your envelope/package is placed inside a plastic EMS-branded envelope (that you write the name and address and telephone number (!) of sender and recipient). They then weight it and show you them sealing it and that the seal doesn't open.
I had read that you need to fill in a tonne of customs forms and that you shouldn't seal your package/envelope until it has been checked and approved. Here though he just gave it a squeeze and felt that it was material, so asked if it was a jumper (it was a cushion cover, so he was close).
My package was an A4 envelope that was a little bulked out and weighed 500g and this cost me just under 150LE to send to Florida. I was also given a little chitty with an Item Number etc which I guess could be used to track or enquire if it doesn't make it through. I will let you know when it arrives at its destination, but hopefully this will be a) soon-ish and b) in one piece and will therefore give me a lot more confidence in using post to send presents home to the UK :)
I wanted to send a large envelope to the USA and had been frightened by various guide books and blogs either only talking about using FedEx etc or that 75% of mail never arrives. In addition, I had read that if you wanted to send anything larger than a letter from Cairo abroad, you needed to go to the ONE post office in central Cairo where they would open it etcetc.
This doesn't seem to be the case though, as I have managed to send my large envelope from the post office in Maadi, and although it hasn't arrive yet (give it a chance - I only sent it 4 hours ago) my fingers and toes are crossed that it makes it.
The Post Office in Maadi is beside Maadi Metro Station. There is a main door (the one closest to the Metro) and then a second door to its right, but to send mail internationally you go around the right-hand side of this building to a door beside the pedestrian footbridge. This entrance is to the PO Boxes room, but has two counters.
The staff were really helpful and spoke enough English for the transaction to take place. There are two options when sending mail internationally - sending it using "normal" stamps and "normal" mail, or using the Express Mail Service (EMS). The guy only gave me the EMS option, but to be honest, as it is a gift that I was sending, I wanted to be confident it would make it to its destination.
The main thing I wasn't prepared for was that they need the recipients telephone number. I'm still not sure what they use this for, but he wasn't happy to send anything without it. For EMS mail your envelope/package is placed inside a plastic EMS-branded envelope (that you write the name and address and telephone number (!) of sender and recipient). They then weight it and show you them sealing it and that the seal doesn't open.
I had read that you need to fill in a tonne of customs forms and that you shouldn't seal your package/envelope until it has been checked and approved. Here though he just gave it a squeeze and felt that it was material, so asked if it was a jumper (it was a cushion cover, so he was close).
My package was an A4 envelope that was a little bulked out and weighed 500g and this cost me just under 150LE to send to Florida. I was also given a little chitty with an Item Number etc which I guess could be used to track or enquire if it doesn't make it through. I will let you know when it arrives at its destination, but hopefully this will be a) soon-ish and b) in one piece and will therefore give me a lot more confidence in using post to send presents home to the UK :)
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
UKNova Radio - 10th November 2008
Yes, it's us again! Back on the airwaves with another couple of hours (and a bonus 10 minutes to fill in while Hyperjase got ready for his show) of our incessant chin-wagging about the world we live in.
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Friday, 7 November 2008
Dried Hibiscus / Karkadai
When we visited the Khan with Fabs and Sam, Sam bought a load of dried hibiscus. Here, dried Hibiscus is added either to hot water, or infused over 24 hours in cold water, to make a refreshing drink called Karkadai. Sam showed us though that you can also chew the dried flowers and apparently it makes a mean chutney.
When we were in Alexandria we decided to buy some for ourselves, and managed to get 250g for 8LE (we gave the man 10LE and told him to keep the change - how generous!).
Last night I added a good few handfuls of dried Hibiscus to about a litre of water. It started to infuse straight away, but you are meant to leave it for 24 hours (and not more than 48 hours). This morning I tried some and it is yummy (providing you add a hefty amount of sugar).
Even with the sugar, it is quite a tart flavour, so I think it will go well with Gin. I'm going to make some next week and see if Hibiscus Gin will be the Egyptian equivalent of Sloe Gin.
Tired and run-down
In the UK, term would often be ticking along fine (albeit with teachers getting increasingly tired), and then we'd have a short break. It was just long enough to lose the momentum of the term, and find our immune systems shutting down as we slept a lot.
The same thing has happened here, resulting in me feeling terrible on Wednesday. I woke up thinking it was just the usual pre-parents-evening nerves, but as the day wore on on my muscles and joints began to ache it was clear that I was coming down with something. It was the kind of aching I usually get with a bout of flu (or related illness), but it hasn't manifested itself as that.
I was really, really thirsty and drank all the water both Alice and I had taken to school...leaving me at parents' evening with no option other than to drink the tap water. I know it was a risky thing to do, and I'm pretty sure it's that (and not the meal we had later that evening) that has resulted in me having a dodgy tummy for the past day. I avoided eating anything until last night, when I had a small jacket potato, and drank flat Sprite and fresh lemon/lime juice to destroy whatever horrible bacteria or amoebas I ingested; thank you to Alice for going to to SaveWay to buy those for me. Hopefully over the next day that will clear up and I can focus on whatever other bug I caught that's giving me drained and sore muscles and joints.
Oh, the fun of being ill at the weekend!
The same thing has happened here, resulting in me feeling terrible on Wednesday. I woke up thinking it was just the usual pre-parents-evening nerves, but as the day wore on on my muscles and joints began to ache it was clear that I was coming down with something. It was the kind of aching I usually get with a bout of flu (or related illness), but it hasn't manifested itself as that.
I was really, really thirsty and drank all the water both Alice and I had taken to school...leaving me at parents' evening with no option other than to drink the tap water. I know it was a risky thing to do, and I'm pretty sure it's that (and not the meal we had later that evening) that has resulted in me having a dodgy tummy for the past day. I avoided eating anything until last night, when I had a small jacket potato, and drank flat Sprite and fresh lemon/lime juice to destroy whatever horrible bacteria or amoebas I ingested; thank you to Alice for going to to SaveWay to buy those for me. Hopefully over the next day that will clear up and I can focus on whatever other bug I caught that's giving me drained and sore muscles and joints.
Oh, the fun of being ill at the weekend!
Thursday, 6 November 2008
New Pet?
A little gecko scurried across the kitchen as I went in to make dinner tonight. He wandered up the wall and then made his way into the second bathroom. I wasn't too worried, so left him to himself for a while. Later I got these photos as it appears that he forgot how he actually got into the flat in the first place!
He's disappeared now - so maybe he remembered how to get out, or maybe we have a new pet?
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Alexandria 4 - Pompey's Pillar
Pompey's Pillar, a whopping great big piece of Aswan granite, towers above the "slum" of the Karmooz district in Alexandria. I must say that I didn't find the district particularly "slummy", especially when compared to some of the places we've ventured around in Cairo's poorer quarters.
The pillar was apparently raised by the Emperor Diocletian to support a big statue of himself, but was later (wrongly) attributed to Pompey and the name stuck. The pillar itself is impressive, but arguably not as much as the surrounding uncovered remains. Tunnels, walls, steps, and even a couple of empty sarcophagi are all to be found in the enclosed area of the pillar's grounds. We were most impressed by the library, constructed by Cleopatra, which once housed thousands of scrolls as a daughter to the great library down the road. Next door was the "sanctuary", a temple dedicated to the Apis bulls who were a cult favourite at the time.
The pillar was apparently raised by the Emperor Diocletian to support a big statue of himself, but was later (wrongly) attributed to Pompey and the name stuck. The pillar itself is impressive, but arguably not as much as the surrounding uncovered remains. Tunnels, walls, steps, and even a couple of empty sarcophagi are all to be found in the enclosed area of the pillar's grounds. We were most impressed by the library, constructed by Cleopatra, which once housed thousands of scrolls as a daughter to the great library down the road. Next door was the "sanctuary", a temple dedicated to the Apis bulls who were a cult favourite at the time.
A 7-minute stroll from the pillar are a breathtaking set of catacombs, discovered by accident when a donkey and its cart disappeared through a hole in the road at the turn of the last century. They are a stunning site, reached down a deep spiral staircase, and once housed over 300 bodies. Only one layer is currently open to visit - the lower storey is still flooded - but what we saw was amazing. Sadly no cameras were allowed inside, but there's an incredibly detailed write-up of the tomb, alongside some pictures, at http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/komelshuqafa.htm
Monday, 3 November 2008
UKNova Radio - 3rd November 2008
Today was Fabia and Sam's last full day in Cairo, and so we spoke with them about their time here in Egypt. We all went off to visit Alexandria at the weekend and so spoke about that for a while, and they also told us of their experiences in Port Said and the towns of the delta.
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Alexandria - walking to the library
I guess that when you mention Alexandria to most people, one or more of three things spring to mind - the Pharos lighthouse, the library and of course its founder Alexander the Great. Sadly the lighthouse disappeared sometime around the 14th century supposedly after an earthquake although diver-archaologists have found enormous pieces of granite on the seabed that they reckon once formed the Wonder of the World); the library was sacked and destroyed by Christian invaders about 400 years earlier. Alexander, well, his remains are apparently under the city somewhere but nobody is really sure of their exact location.
However, in an attempt to restore Alexandria to the top-spot in the knowledge charts, a new library has been built. Designed to reflect the sun at sunset in such a way as to appear to be a second star rising out of the sea, the library is fast becoming a repository for international texts and consequently a key research spot for visiting scholars. I don't claim to be one of those, so we didn't go inside, but we did go for a nice walk from Cavafy's house down to the corniche and along the bay to the library where we came face-to-face with a bust of the city's founder himself.
However, in an attempt to restore Alexandria to the top-spot in the knowledge charts, a new library has been built. Designed to reflect the sun at sunset in such a way as to appear to be a second star rising out of the sea, the library is fast becoming a repository for international texts and consequently a key research spot for visiting scholars. I don't claim to be one of those, so we didn't go inside, but we did go for a nice walk from Cavafy's house down to the corniche and along the bay to the library where we came face-to-face with a bust of the city's founder himself.
Alexandria - Cavafy's House
Our first visit in Alexandria was to C.P. Cavafy's apartment. He was a Greek pet, who lived in Alexandria for over 20 years and his apartment is now open as a small museum. This time last year we would have stared blankly at anyone who had mentioned his name, but now he's a favourite of ours - his poem, Ithaka, was one that our friend Mel read at our wedding and so has quite special significance for us. It was great to visit the place and see the desk where Cavafy wrote it.
Arriving in Alexandria
On Thursday night, after hurriedly catching the 3.20pm bus back home from work, we headed to Ramses Station in central Cairo to take the train to Alexandria for the weekend. The station is big, noisy, and - like everything else in Cairo - absolutely filthy. There were no arrival or departure boards that worked, and so it was a case of asking around to ensure we were at the right platform and boarding the right train.
We did manage to get on the right train, though, in our bargain 1st-class seats which cost us just 46LE each way. They offered an enormous amount of width and leg-room, and made the 2.5 hour journey incredibly comfortable. 1st class, however, didn't benefit from the same quality of toilets...which were frankly terrible. If ever travelling this route yourself, try to go before you board the train!
When we arrived in Alexandria we were hit by the expected wall of taxi drivers offering us "good price, cheap" but determinedly walked past them and picked up a car from the road. To be honest, we would probably have paid the same for a cab from right outside the station but I seem to have developed an allergy to taking taxis that are stopped, preferring instead to flag one an empty one down as it's moving.
The taxi drier had no idea where our hotel - Hotel Crillon - was, but did know where the fancy Hotel Cecil was, which was only a couple of roads away, so we got him to drop us there and walk the rest of the way. Checking in gave me an idea of the kind of place we had booked into, with mottled wallpaper barely clinging to to the walls and thick layers of dust gathered on the stuffed animals that adorned reception. Approaching our room, though, was another matter. The video below honestly doesn't reflect the truly "budget" nature of our room - suffice to say we stayed for one night and then asked to move rooms with the threat of checking out if they didn't oblige.
We did manage to get on the right train, though, in our bargain 1st-class seats which cost us just 46LE each way. They offered an enormous amount of width and leg-room, and made the 2.5 hour journey incredibly comfortable. 1st class, however, didn't benefit from the same quality of toilets...which were frankly terrible. If ever travelling this route yourself, try to go before you board the train!
When we arrived in Alexandria we were hit by the expected wall of taxi drivers offering us "good price, cheap" but determinedly walked past them and picked up a car from the road. To be honest, we would probably have paid the same for a cab from right outside the station but I seem to have developed an allergy to taking taxis that are stopped, preferring instead to flag one an empty one down as it's moving.
The taxi drier had no idea where our hotel - Hotel Crillon - was, but did know where the fancy Hotel Cecil was, which was only a couple of roads away, so we got him to drop us there and walk the rest of the way. Checking in gave me an idea of the kind of place we had booked into, with mottled wallpaper barely clinging to to the walls and thick layers of dust gathered on the stuffed animals that adorned reception. Approaching our room, though, was another matter. The video below honestly doesn't reflect the truly "budget" nature of our room - suffice to say we stayed for one night and then asked to move rooms with the threat of checking out if they didn't oblige.
Our honest review? A basic, but lovely, hotel as long as you get a good room. That sounds a bit contradictory, but our first room - an en-suite on the 6th floor - was in a terrible state, while our second (room 407 on the 4th floor) was stunning. On checking the guidebook properly we found that it advised readers to "stay away from the rooms on the 6th floor" - presumably as the write had experienced the same kind of room as we had. Our second room shared toilet and shower facilities with 3 other rooms, but were kept in good condition. In fact, I could still smell the paint from an obviously recent renovation, which according to one book is part of a series of rolling renovations to all the rooms in the hotel. We peeked into other 4th floor rooms and found that some of those were less pleasant than ours, but they were definitely still habitable and still in a completely different league to the 6th floor.
Overall, though, you get what you pay for. Two rooms for four people for three nights cost 960LE including a light Egyptian breakfast of cheese salad and bread.
The Thing No-one Talks About....
...is paying your phone bill.
As we bought our sim cards and mobile phones from school; the pay-as-you-go amount is deducted each month from our salary. Sorted. But there was no guidance given at all about how to pay our landline.
Our landline is only a "local" line, which means we can't call internationally (we have Skype, so that's OK), we can't call mobiles (we have mobiles, so that's OK), and we can't call outside Cairo (not that we call outside Cairo much, either). Because of this we hardly ever used it, BUT our landline is really our lifeline, as without it we have no internet. So we know we need to keep it working, but just didn't know how!
We were tipped off that the Telecom Egypt office was the other side of their satellite field (aka our back garden), so I set off there this morning at 9am.
When I got into the building there were two doors; one to the left, and one to the right....which one to choose, Alice? I plumped for the one on the left, as there were more people there. Most people had slips of paper with a number on, but all the desks said different things; accounts, opening accounts, customer services etc. I stood around for a while looking a little bemused and then asked someone who looked official. He didn't understand what I was asking so took me straight to the front to ask someone behind the Customer Service Desk. It turned out that I had chosen the wrong room and should have turned right.
So I go into the room on the right and there is someone official with a long stream of numbers on his desk. He gives me one; number 84. A few people are sitting down, and some are standing near the desks (which say Bill Payment above them....I really was in the wrong room before!). I decide to stand and look over a man's shoulder to see his number. It is 72. I decide to sit down as this could take a while.
I grab a seat and get my book out (No One Sleeps in Alexandria by Ibrahim Abdel Meguid). I also sneak a look at the number of the person sitting two seats away. It is 82. Good. That will give me a better idea of when my turn is. To play it safe, I also put my number on my knee, so that people around me can see it. Only knowing how to say a few numbers in arabic you wouldn't be surprised to know that "84" isn't one of them.
After about 15 minutes I don't recognise the people around me, so start to pack my book away. As I do the official bloke calls out some numbers and the man next to me points to my ticket. I thank him and get to the Desk.
I tell this man our phone number and he asks who owns the phone. I volunteer the name Kawther, our landlady, but it turns out that actually her son Tamer is registered as the owner of the phone. Our bill is 138.75LE for three months.
I ask the man when I need to pay again, as we don't want to get cut off. This turns out to be important; we get billed four times a year (January, April, July and October) and we then have 6 weeks to pay each bill. So in January, we have from the 1st of Jan to the 10th of Feb to pay. That seems straightforward enough and it is only when I am walking home that I realise we were a week away from being cut off for not paying the October bill!!
A good adventure, taking about 30 minutes in total. I'm glad we've got our bill sorted and will be telling everyone at school they need to sort theirs by the weekend or may be cut off!!
As we bought our sim cards and mobile phones from school; the pay-as-you-go amount is deducted each month from our salary. Sorted. But there was no guidance given at all about how to pay our landline.
Our landline is only a "local" line, which means we can't call internationally (we have Skype, so that's OK), we can't call mobiles (we have mobiles, so that's OK), and we can't call outside Cairo (not that we call outside Cairo much, either). Because of this we hardly ever used it, BUT our landline is really our lifeline, as without it we have no internet. So we know we need to keep it working, but just didn't know how!
We were tipped off that the Telecom Egypt office was the other side of their satellite field (aka our back garden), so I set off there this morning at 9am.
When I got into the building there were two doors; one to the left, and one to the right....which one to choose, Alice? I plumped for the one on the left, as there were more people there. Most people had slips of paper with a number on, but all the desks said different things; accounts, opening accounts, customer services etc. I stood around for a while looking a little bemused and then asked someone who looked official. He didn't understand what I was asking so took me straight to the front to ask someone behind the Customer Service Desk. It turned out that I had chosen the wrong room and should have turned right.
So I go into the room on the right and there is someone official with a long stream of numbers on his desk. He gives me one; number 84. A few people are sitting down, and some are standing near the desks (which say Bill Payment above them....I really was in the wrong room before!). I decide to stand and look over a man's shoulder to see his number. It is 72. I decide to sit down as this could take a while.
I grab a seat and get my book out (No One Sleeps in Alexandria by Ibrahim Abdel Meguid). I also sneak a look at the number of the person sitting two seats away. It is 82. Good. That will give me a better idea of when my turn is. To play it safe, I also put my number on my knee, so that people around me can see it. Only knowing how to say a few numbers in arabic you wouldn't be surprised to know that "84" isn't one of them.
After about 15 minutes I don't recognise the people around me, so start to pack my book away. As I do the official bloke calls out some numbers and the man next to me points to my ticket. I thank him and get to the Desk.
I tell this man our phone number and he asks who owns the phone. I volunteer the name Kawther, our landlady, but it turns out that actually her son Tamer is registered as the owner of the phone. Our bill is 138.75LE for three months.
I ask the man when I need to pay again, as we don't want to get cut off. This turns out to be important; we get billed four times a year (January, April, July and October) and we then have 6 weeks to pay each bill. So in January, we have from the 1st of Jan to the 10th of Feb to pay. That seems straightforward enough and it is only when I am walking home that I realise we were a week away from being cut off for not paying the October bill!!
A good adventure, taking about 30 minutes in total. I'm glad we've got our bill sorted and will be telling everyone at school they need to sort theirs by the weekend or may be cut off!!
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
UKNova Radio - 27/10/08
We were joined today by DJ Fabia and "Dubstep Sam" as he now appears to be known, as they're currently visiting us here in the land of the pharoahs. We spoke about many things - the pyramids, Khan El-Khalili, and of course the good old talking point of taxis!
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Lone Woman on Metro
Seeing as we've booked accommodation in Alexandria and are planning on going there for the long weekend, we figured we'd better get ourselves some transport!!
There is always the option of getting a driver, but our trusty "yellow book" (written by teachers at school) and the Lonely Planet/Rough Guide all said that the train journey is straight-forward, so we thought we'd give that a go. Not wanting to turn up at the station to catch a train that was fully booked, I decided to head to Ramses Station (the biggie in Cairo) tonight to get our tickets. Scotty had rehearsal, so I would be taking the Metro and negotiating town by myself.
I was pleased with myself at the Maadi Metro Station, as I managed to be quite Egyptian and push in front of someone when I bought my ticket :) I followed this good start with finding a place on the platform by the "Women" sign which shows where the women-only carriages will arrive.
As Scotty and I have always travelled together this was my first experience of the women-only carriages, and what a blast! It was basically like some huge "mother's meeting"! There was just loads of friendly chatting going up and down the carriage. It was mainly young women on the carriage I would say; late-teens and twenty-somethings. As I've come to expect only one or two women were not wearing scarves. But this made the carriage so vibrant and full of colour. Yellow and green are still popular colours, but light-pink seems to be popular too. A lot of women here w denim too I noticed; either jeans, or as a long denim skirt and some had denim jackets on too. A lot of the girls were carrying books, which made me think they were on their way to night-school to learn English or Arabic.
When I got to Mubark Station I was deliberately slow leaving the train and going through the barriers. This was because I wanted to get my bearings and didn't want to exit the station on the wrong side of the main road! I eventually saw a sign that said "Egyptian Railways" and saw some other Westerners heading in that direction, so thought I must be right.
Ramses Station is the size you would expect really for a terminal station; think Kings Cross or St Pancras. I arrived at the end of prayers and so about 50 men were moving off prayer mats that had been laid in the Eastern corner of the station to find their shoes. At this stage I did consult the little map of the station in the Lonely Planet Guide. This was useful as it points exactly which of the many ticket offices you go to to buy First Class Tickets to Alexandria. It was easy to find and as someone had just finished buying their tickets I didn't need to wait at all.
Looking back, I do feel a bit bad that I didn't attempt any Arabic at all with the Ticket Office Attendant, but I guess I was just worried about making myself clear - and thought I had a better chance with English than Arabic. Anyway he understood what I was on about and we are now in the possession of two First-Class Tickets, 6pm train, to Alexandria on Thursday! Costing less than 100LE for the pair! Brilliant!!
There is always the option of getting a driver, but our trusty "yellow book" (written by teachers at school) and the Lonely Planet/Rough Guide all said that the train journey is straight-forward, so we thought we'd give that a go. Not wanting to turn up at the station to catch a train that was fully booked, I decided to head to Ramses Station (the biggie in Cairo) tonight to get our tickets. Scotty had rehearsal, so I would be taking the Metro and negotiating town by myself.
I was pleased with myself at the Maadi Metro Station, as I managed to be quite Egyptian and push in front of someone when I bought my ticket :) I followed this good start with finding a place on the platform by the "Women" sign which shows where the women-only carriages will arrive.
As Scotty and I have always travelled together this was my first experience of the women-only carriages, and what a blast! It was basically like some huge "mother's meeting"! There was just loads of friendly chatting going up and down the carriage. It was mainly young women on the carriage I would say; late-teens and twenty-somethings. As I've come to expect only one or two women were not wearing scarves. But this made the carriage so vibrant and full of colour. Yellow and green are still popular colours, but light-pink seems to be popular too. A lot of women here w denim too I noticed; either jeans, or as a long denim skirt and some had denim jackets on too. A lot of the girls were carrying books, which made me think they were on their way to night-school to learn English or Arabic.
When I got to Mubark Station I was deliberately slow leaving the train and going through the barriers. This was because I wanted to get my bearings and didn't want to exit the station on the wrong side of the main road! I eventually saw a sign that said "Egyptian Railways" and saw some other Westerners heading in that direction, so thought I must be right.
Ramses Station is the size you would expect really for a terminal station; think Kings Cross or St Pancras. I arrived at the end of prayers and so about 50 men were moving off prayer mats that had been laid in the Eastern corner of the station to find their shoes. At this stage I did consult the little map of the station in the Lonely Planet Guide. This was useful as it points exactly which of the many ticket offices you go to to buy First Class Tickets to Alexandria. It was easy to find and as someone had just finished buying their tickets I didn't need to wait at all.
Looking back, I do feel a bit bad that I didn't attempt any Arabic at all with the Ticket Office Attendant, but I guess I was just worried about making myself clear - and thought I had a better chance with English than Arabic. Anyway he understood what I was on about and we are now in the possession of two First-Class Tickets, 6pm train, to Alexandria on Thursday! Costing less than 100LE for the pair! Brilliant!!
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Exchange rate
So - the credit crunch has started to affect us. Or, more precisely, Gordon Brown's use of the "R" word last week and the subsequent tumbling of the GBP in international money markets has hit us.
Although our salary is pegged to GBP, we receive 25% of our monthly salary in Egyptian pounds. So, if the pound is strong against the LE then we get lots...and if not, we don't.
Today we received our payslip for this month's pay, and the exchange rate has plummeted. We've been watching it closely over the past few days anyway, as our "ballpark" exchange rate is 10LE to the pound, but today really hit us as we're getting an exchange rate of 8.8LE to the pound whereas last month we were over a whole LE higher. So, really, the pound has taken at least a 10% tumble against the LE (which more closely follows the USD) and so that quarter of our pay has followed suit.
I real terms, readers, that means we can no longer be the UK's largest importer of spices by volume.
Although our salary is pegged to GBP, we receive 25% of our monthly salary in Egyptian pounds. So, if the pound is strong against the LE then we get lots...and if not, we don't.
Today we received our payslip for this month's pay, and the exchange rate has plummeted. We've been watching it closely over the past few days anyway, as our "ballpark" exchange rate is 10LE to the pound, but today really hit us as we're getting an exchange rate of 8.8LE to the pound whereas last month we were over a whole LE higher. So, really, the pound has taken at least a 10% tumble against the LE (which more closely follows the USD) and so that quarter of our pay has followed suit.
I real terms, readers, that means we can no longer be the UK's largest importer of spices by volume.
A day of touring!
Yesterday we took Fabia and Sam to see some more of the sights of Cairo around the Khan-El-Khalili market.
Fabia was keen to buy some shoes, and despite being a hard bargainer with one particular seller didn't get down as low as she hoped...so we headed off on a further explore.
We stopped off at Abraham's spice shop, where we were invited inside to check out his stuff. He had shelves and shelves of every concoction under the sun, all of which he knew intimately and could advise what it was good for both taste and health wise. We spent a while in there - at least an hour, I think, having spices crushed into our hands to smell and taste.
We all bought something from him - on reflection considerably more than we will ever find use for - and consequently spent a fair amount of money there! I likened it to looking at TV's in Dixons - you see hundreds of televisions next to each other, and so the 42" plasma screen doesn't seem that big. But when you get it home...blimey! I guess that, ultimately, buying over a quarter of a kilo of spices was always going to be a bit overboard!
We began by taking the metro out to Attaba, changing at Sadat, and from there grabbing a taxi to Midan Hussein. It was the same journey as we'd done with Brad and Emily a few weeks previously to go to Iftar in Midan Hussein, so we felt confident doing it and knew a ballpark figure to pay.
Arriving at the square, we checked out the architecture, and then headed into some of the streets of the Khan to go exploring. A man stopped us and spoke to us, encouraging us to check out the spice market. It later emerged that he owned a shop, and so we went to visit him there later.
Fabia was keen to buy some shoes, and despite being a hard bargainer with one particular seller didn't get down as low as she hoped...so we headed off on a further explore.
We stopped off at Abraham's spice shop, where we were invited inside to check out his stuff. He had shelves and shelves of every concoction under the sun, all of which he knew intimately and could advise what it was good for both taste and health wise. We spent a while in there - at least an hour, I think, having spices crushed into our hands to smell and taste.
We all bought something from him - on reflection considerably more than we will ever find use for - and consequently spent a fair amount of money there! I likened it to looking at TV's in Dixons - you see hundreds of televisions next to each other, and so the 42" plasma screen doesn't seem that big. But when you get it home...blimey! I guess that, ultimately, buying over a quarter of a kilo of spices was always going to be a bit overboard!
On reflection we were probably overcharged a bit and should have bargained him down more, but on the other hand it was quite a fun experience being in the shop and trying everything out. We were all feeling a bit sore from the shop, I think, because we spent more than we'd thought we would, but soon got over it.
We stopped by Fishawy's coffee shop - another place we were introduced to by Brad and Emily - where none of us had a coffee. Indeed I had some tea with mint, while Alice and Sam had the sahlab and Fabia tried karkaday, which Sam will be brewing up back in the UK thanks to buying a load of hibiscus flowers from the spice shop.
Outside Fishawy Fabia had another round of bartering with a different stall owner over a pair of shoes, which she managed to get for a good price. While this was going on, I went to find out what music was thumping out, and stoppign by a CD shop spent some time chatting with the owner and bought the new album by Mohamed Hamaki called Naweeha. It's a mix of rai, R'n'B, and various other clashing sounds, and is actually rather good - and I think a fair price at 40LE. We'll play some of it tomorrow night on the radio show.
We moved out, and crossed out of Khan-El-Khalili and into the "proper" Old Cairo. The change was noticeable almost immediately - although still incredibly busy with people we suffered much less hassle (for which read "none") from stall owners, and felt confident walking through the streets. We headed down to Bab Zuwela where we visited the mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad, which we had been in when we toured this part of Cairo with Tom in our first week. It was (and is) a beautiful building, and although I initially felt that 20LE each was a bit pricey to climb up to the roof, felt it was well worth the cost when we were up there. You're right in the heart of Cairo, and really understand why it's called the city of a thousand minarettes. Preparing to leave the mosque, one of the men there starting saying "baksheesh good". I was going to give him a couple of LE anyway, so felt it a bit rude that he was prodding for a tip, but when both Fabia and I gave him 2LE each we were confused as to why he was staring blankly. I still am, a bit!
Anyway, we carried on through old Cairo and fortunately only experienced one wrong road (which Alice corrected the route of very quickly) and so managed to navigate our way all the way to Sultan Hassan mosque at the far end by the citadel. We hailed a taxi, and made our way back to Maadi - a successful day, all told, and now we're some of the UK's leading spice importers by volume!
Saturday, 25 October 2008
One for the Road
A few weeks ago I posted about buying myself a guitar and being invited to join an Irish band to replace their guitarist who has moved on. Last night was our first gig - up the road from us at the Boss Bar.
The lead singer has been ill all week, and his voice still hadn't recovered by lunchtime yesterday, so we had a frantic afternoon rehearsal to work out what to do. In the end myself, Claire and Jonathan divided the songs between us...meaning that on my debut performance with the band I also took some lead vocal lines.
Despite some initial sound problems (sound guys here aren't used to working with Irish bands!) the first set ended really well, and by the time we reached the curfew at the end of our third set of the night at midnight, people were still asking for more - we finally finished playing about 25 minutes later!
Loads of people were there. The first set started at 9pm and it was quite empty, but by the time we finished you could barely move. Loads of people from work came down, and Alice was there with Fabia and Sam too. Ali recorded some of the set - I've put a few clips up here and when I get time I'll put some more together.
Enjoy!
The lead singer has been ill all week, and his voice still hadn't recovered by lunchtime yesterday, so we had a frantic afternoon rehearsal to work out what to do. In the end myself, Claire and Jonathan divided the songs between us...meaning that on my debut performance with the band I also took some lead vocal lines.
Despite some initial sound problems (sound guys here aren't used to working with Irish bands!) the first set ended really well, and by the time we reached the curfew at the end of our third set of the night at midnight, people were still asking for more - we finally finished playing about 25 minutes later!
Loads of people were there. The first set started at 9pm and it was quite empty, but by the time we finished you could barely move. Loads of people from work came down, and Alice was there with Fabia and Sam too. Ali recorded some of the set - I've put a few clips up here and when I get time I'll put some more together.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
First visitors on their way...
Our first visitors are on their way! Fabia and Sam are flying out at a ridiculously early hour tomorrow morning and will arrive in Cairo in the afternoon. We plan to find them in Maadi once we get home from work and then we'll take it from there!!
We're dead excited about having them come out to stay, and have ideas for things to do, but haven't packed their schedule by any means. Also, Scotty and I have a mini-break from work in a weeks time and so the four of us will be going to Alexandria for a few days. It will be really nice to explore somewhere else and apparently Alex is a bit quieter than Cairo, so we're looking forward to it.
We're off out for dinner tonight, so that they flat stays nice and clean ready for our guests :) Next post will be soon and will hopefully link to some audio and video of One For The Road at their Boss Bar gig on Friday!!
We're dead excited about having them come out to stay, and have ideas for things to do, but haven't packed their schedule by any means. Also, Scotty and I have a mini-break from work in a weeks time and so the four of us will be going to Alexandria for a few days. It will be really nice to explore somewhere else and apparently Alex is a bit quieter than Cairo, so we're looking forward to it.
We're off out for dinner tonight, so that they flat stays nice and clean ready for our guests :) Next post will be soon and will hopefully link to some audio and video of One For The Road at their Boss Bar gig on Friday!!
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
UKNova Radio - 20/10/08
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Days in Cairo and Cairo Days
We haven’t posted for a while, and so I thought I’d better put something up!
We’ve been busy with various things and enjoying ourselves, but also having quite a few Cairo Days.
Some things have been really great – we’ve found some nice restaurants and been over to a friend’s place for a few BBQs and drinks. Scott’s also managed to get himself in a band, so they’ve been having rehearsals. While Scott is at rehearsal I go to the gym to work out and enjoy the steam room for a few hours – this works really well as then we can meet near by afterwards and go out for dinner. We’ve got our post-rehearsal/gym restaurant sorted – Lucille’s because it is close and they do great burgers. They also have booths for you to sit in – which means space for the guitar!
On the other hand though baksheesh things are still hanging over us and living in the culture here is difficult. We’ve tried to keep it simple this week, by just sticking to places we know and not venturing out, because we don’t want any hassle or things to be complicated. But the culture is hard to get along with. It’s frustrating because one of the reasons we wanted to work abroad was to experience a different culture, but I just think it is going to take some time before we can really enjoy it all here. We can’t even go to the pyramids, for example, to remind ourselves of what an amazing country we are in – because of all the hassle you get there that really pulls us down.
Yesterday we had a really lovely day. We just hung around the apartment during the day and then in the evening there was a Jam Night / Open Mic Night at the Boss Bar. We hadn’t been to the Boss Bar before, but had heard that it was a nice place for a drink and more “bar-y” than other places in Cairo/Maadi. When you go in there is a row of booths, so we think these would be good when coming for a drink another time. It was quite quiet when we first got in, but just after 8pm when things were meant to start it got really busy. There were a fair number of friendly faces there, and it was nice to have a drink and chat with everyone. Scott and a few from the band got up to play a few numbers and they went down well. This is where One For The Road are playing next week too, so that looks like it will be another top night and we’ll definitely go back to there just for a drink sometime. I just hope we can keep things simple and get our heads down for the rest of this week and try to pull through.
We’ve been cleaning the apartment a bit this weekend too. Basically the owner decided to give it a lick of paint before we moved in. This worked as it has brightened the place up, but they got splodges everywhere on the floor. So yesterday morning and this morning I have been on hands and knees scrubbing away at the floor and skirting boards to tidy it up. I think it looks much better and I have jus two rooms left to do!
We’ve been busy with various things and enjoying ourselves, but also having quite a few Cairo Days.
Some things have been really great – we’ve found some nice restaurants and been over to a friend’s place for a few BBQs and drinks. Scott’s also managed to get himself in a band, so they’ve been having rehearsals. While Scott is at rehearsal I go to the gym to work out and enjoy the steam room for a few hours – this works really well as then we can meet near by afterwards and go out for dinner. We’ve got our post-rehearsal/gym restaurant sorted – Lucille’s because it is close and they do great burgers. They also have booths for you to sit in – which means space for the guitar!
On the other hand though baksheesh things are still hanging over us and living in the culture here is difficult. We’ve tried to keep it simple this week, by just sticking to places we know and not venturing out, because we don’t want any hassle or things to be complicated. But the culture is hard to get along with. It’s frustrating because one of the reasons we wanted to work abroad was to experience a different culture, but I just think it is going to take some time before we can really enjoy it all here. We can’t even go to the pyramids, for example, to remind ourselves of what an amazing country we are in – because of all the hassle you get there that really pulls us down.
Yesterday we had a really lovely day. We just hung around the apartment during the day and then in the evening there was a Jam Night / Open Mic Night at the Boss Bar. We hadn’t been to the Boss Bar before, but had heard that it was a nice place for a drink and more “bar-y” than other places in Cairo/Maadi. When you go in there is a row of booths, so we think these would be good when coming for a drink another time. It was quite quiet when we first got in, but just after 8pm when things were meant to start it got really busy. There were a fair number of friendly faces there, and it was nice to have a drink and chat with everyone. Scott and a few from the band got up to play a few numbers and they went down well. This is where One For The Road are playing next week too, so that looks like it will be another top night and we’ll definitely go back to there just for a drink sometime. I just hope we can keep things simple and get our heads down for the rest of this week and try to pull through.
We’ve been cleaning the apartment a bit this weekend too. Basically the owner decided to give it a lick of paint before we moved in. This worked as it has brightened the place up, but they got splodges everywhere on the floor. So yesterday morning and this morning I have been on hands and knees scrubbing away at the floor and skirting boards to tidy it up. I think it looks much better and I have jus two rooms left to do!
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
UKNova Radio - 13/10/07
Download podcast here. Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Friday, 10 October 2008
Balcony furniture and emergency rations
Last night we went out buy some furniture we fancied putting on our balcony. It's from a shop down the road and, through writing numbers on a piece of paper and the translation of a guy we think came over from the restaurant across the road to help, we finally negotiated a good price for two single seats, a double seat, and a little table.
Getting them back to the apartment was an adventure, as the shop guy flagged down a man in a van driving up the road, and persuaded him to load it all on the back and drop us off. Yet again my immense hatred of tipping came into play as I was offering him money for giving us the lift (he'd already been given something by the shop owner), and he kept taking offence, shoving the money back at me, and shouting a lot. I spoke to my dad on Skype last night who completely summed up the reason it gets me so angry - I don't feel in control of the situation, and have no real means of controlling it due to not speaking the language. You hit it right on the head, dad! Still, at least I now know that "ish-reen" is 20. I won't be forgetting that in a while.
Alice also rediscovered an envelope marked "Emergency rations - only to be opened after 40 days and 40 nights" that Jim gave us as we were packign our bags in London. Unfortunately we're a few days late opening it, but we love the contents! Check the vid to see what was inside :D
Monday, 6 October 2008
UKNova Radio - 06/10/08
Today we discussed the striking amount of police around the place, water deliveries, and what nice clothes the kids wore for Eid! Plus, we played a load more fantastic new music.
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Saturday, 4 October 2008
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Musings from the Nile Hilton
At the end of a long and tiring day, we muse over adapting between living and being a tourist in the same city. The irony, of course, is that of course we're doing this from a gorgeous hotel room balcony as sunset falls over the Nile in the heart of Cairo. I guess we English will always find something to moan about!
Sphinxus!
So, out here it's the Sphinxus rather than the Sphinx, but it's still the same awe-inspiring statue. And, as we had time yesterday afternoon after visiting Saqqara and Dashur, Mohammed suggested that we check out the Spinxus. We didn't have time to do the pyramids at Giza as well, but in a way I'm pleased we didn't see them up close as we can go again some other time and see them properly (and go on a camel ride!)
Still, as you'll be able to tell from the video below, this was an absolutely brilliant way to round off our day-trip and we were truly blown away.
Still, as you'll be able to tell from the video below, this was an absolutely brilliant way to round off our day-trip and we were truly blown away.
Saqqara and Dashur
As suggested by Alice's previous post, we spent yesterday out doing "tourist-y" things. We had a driver, Mohammed, who collected us from our apartment in his clean and air-conditioned car, and then drove us all around the sites and sights of Egyptian Cairo for the day. In the morning we travelled out past the fields of crops and vegetables into the desert to check out the oldest man-made buildings in the world.
The complex at Saqqara was built for the pharaoh Zoser by his chief minister and architectural genius, Imhotep. His famous "step-pyramid" is the earliest surviving man-made structure in the world and is pretty amazing to look at.
We later moved on to the Red Pyramid at Dashur, this being the first "real" pyramid with straight sides. This was built by Snofru (2613-2589 BC), the first pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, after his first attempt was unsatisfactory. He had first had a go at building a pyramid a couple of kilometres away, but halfway thorugh building it realised the sides were going at too sharp an angle and were exerting too much stress. So this "bent" pyramid changed angle halfway up, and set in place the 43° used in all other pyramids, including Great Pyramid at Giza which was built by his son, Khufu. Sadly the bent pyramid is still in a military zone, and so we couldn't visit it up close, but we did have an incredible experience going inside the Red Pyramid...
The complex at Saqqara was built for the pharaoh Zoser by his chief minister and architectural genius, Imhotep. His famous "step-pyramid" is the earliest surviving man-made structure in the world and is pretty amazing to look at.
We later moved on to the Red Pyramid at Dashur, this being the first "real" pyramid with straight sides. This was built by Snofru (2613-2589 BC), the first pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, after his first attempt was unsatisfactory. He had first had a go at building a pyramid a couple of kilometres away, but halfway thorugh building it realised the sides were going at too sharp an angle and were exerting too much stress. So this "bent" pyramid changed angle halfway up, and set in place the 43° used in all other pyramids, including Great Pyramid at Giza which was built by his son, Khufu. Sadly the bent pyramid is still in a military zone, and so we couldn't visit it up close, but we did have an incredible experience going inside the Red Pyramid...
Saqqara
Saqqara the step-pyramid.
Been there....
Done that.....
Had the beer!
Lots more to come on our visit to Saqqara, Dashur, Memphis and the Sphinxus when we've edited the video. We've got a week off to celebrate Eid and Armed Forces Day
and plan to do tourist-y things and lots of hanging out in Cairo, so hopefully we'll blog quite a bit :)
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
The frustration of not knowing the culture
Tonight I've been feeling a bit "argh" due to simple things just winding me up. It's only over relatively trivial matters, but my imagination of "what could go wrong" often runs away with me and so I've been feeling a bit headless-chicken-ified as everything is magnified by the language barrier.
Tonight's panic has been about rent. Last month our landlady came round to the apartment to collect the rent in person. However, had she been 5 minutes later we'd have been out as we were going shopping. So...she was lucky!
This time the end of the month falls on the Eid holiday, and as such is likely to be a nightmare for everyone wanting to carry out financial transactions. We've already had enough hassle finding a cash machine that actually had money available to withdraw, but my panic was about getting the money to our landlady. She speaks no English, and we speak no Arabic other than basic words picked up from the phrasebook, so we haven't set a routine for rent collection. My assumption was that she would come round on an off-chance in order to collect the rent, but there has been no sign of her...and we're away for the next two days visiting to pyramids at Saqqara and staying in a swanky hotel downtown.
My over-active imagination has had me panicking about what would happen if she came for rent, but didn't get it for another 2-3 days, and so I was up trying to work out what to do. Fortunately we had her son's mobile number (who speaks very good English) so we sent him a text asking for advice! He told us to leave the rent with the bowab (doorman) and his mother would collect it tomorrow morning. Sorted!
Our phrasebook came in handy to say "rent", "landlady", "tomorrow morning" accompanied with animated gesticulations, but I think that he understood what I was trying to explain. However, he then asked me some other things in Arabic - now presumably mistaking me as fluent in the language following my convincing show - which I completely failed to understand. He asked if "house" was "hallas" (finished). Erm...yes, we've moved in and so it's finished. He looked disappointingly at the rent envelope and said "hallas". "Oh," I thought, "is he asking if we've finished with the apartment and moving out?" "La! (No!)" I said. Again, a puzzled look. Basically, I have no idea what he was asking and he has no idea what my positive then negative responses were all about. I seriously hope it wasn't about whether he should say tell her we were handing in our notice!
I gave him 2LE for doing the favour of handing the money to our landlady for us, and as we made our pleasantries he counted the four 50piastre notes. "Oh no," I thought, and still am thinking. "Did I not give him enough?"
So, basically, I'm feeling a bit lost and a bit helpless at the moment as I so desperately want to get along with everyone here and do the things that are expected of me, but feel I'm wallowing a bit due to not really knowing what I'm meant to be doing, nor knowing the words to ask what I'm meant to be doing, nor knowing the words to understand the reply. Even just knowing what is an acceptable amount to give to the bowab as baksheesh for doing a trivial task like handing over the rent mone to the landlady is beyond me at the moment.
Still, after my worrying it'll probably be the case that everything will work out fine and I'll be kicking myself for getting so worked up about it. I just need to remind myself that the rent is with the doorman, as requested by the landlady's son, and the doorman has made a couple of LE out of it that he otherwise wouldn't have got.
Now to get reading up on Saqqara...
Tonight's panic has been about rent. Last month our landlady came round to the apartment to collect the rent in person. However, had she been 5 minutes later we'd have been out as we were going shopping. So...she was lucky!
This time the end of the month falls on the Eid holiday, and as such is likely to be a nightmare for everyone wanting to carry out financial transactions. We've already had enough hassle finding a cash machine that actually had money available to withdraw, but my panic was about getting the money to our landlady. She speaks no English, and we speak no Arabic other than basic words picked up from the phrasebook, so we haven't set a routine for rent collection. My assumption was that she would come round on an off-chance in order to collect the rent, but there has been no sign of her...and we're away for the next two days visiting to pyramids at Saqqara and staying in a swanky hotel downtown.
My over-active imagination has had me panicking about what would happen if she came for rent, but didn't get it for another 2-3 days, and so I was up trying to work out what to do. Fortunately we had her son's mobile number (who speaks very good English) so we sent him a text asking for advice! He told us to leave the rent with the bowab (doorman) and his mother would collect it tomorrow morning. Sorted!
Our phrasebook came in handy to say "rent", "landlady", "tomorrow morning" accompanied with animated gesticulations, but I think that he understood what I was trying to explain. However, he then asked me some other things in Arabic - now presumably mistaking me as fluent in the language following my convincing show - which I completely failed to understand. He asked if "house" was "hallas" (finished). Erm...yes, we've moved in and so it's finished. He looked disappointingly at the rent envelope and said "hallas". "Oh," I thought, "is he asking if we've finished with the apartment and moving out?" "La! (No!)" I said. Again, a puzzled look. Basically, I have no idea what he was asking and he has no idea what my positive then negative responses were all about. I seriously hope it wasn't about whether he should say tell her we were handing in our notice!
I gave him 2LE for doing the favour of handing the money to our landlady for us, and as we made our pleasantries he counted the four 50piastre notes. "Oh no," I thought, and still am thinking. "Did I not give him enough?"
So, basically, I'm feeling a bit lost and a bit helpless at the moment as I so desperately want to get along with everyone here and do the things that are expected of me, but feel I'm wallowing a bit due to not really knowing what I'm meant to be doing, nor knowing the words to ask what I'm meant to be doing, nor knowing the words to understand the reply. Even just knowing what is an acceptable amount to give to the bowab as baksheesh for doing a trivial task like handing over the rent mone to the landlady is beyond me at the moment.
Still, after my worrying it'll probably be the case that everything will work out fine and I'll be kicking myself for getting so worked up about it. I just need to remind myself that the rent is with the doorman, as requested by the landlady's son, and the doorman has made a couple of LE out of it that he otherwise wouldn't have got.
Now to get reading up on Saqqara...
Monday, 29 September 2008
UKNova Radio - 29/09/08
Hello folks,We've just finished uploading our radio show for this week. We've secured a new regular weekly spot from 6pm-8pm (UK time) every Monday for our freshly-titled show, "Rock the Casbah". You can listen live by visiting http://uknr.dyndns.org/ or can catch up by downloading the podcasts we'll post here every week.
Download podcast here.
Alternatively, stay on this website and listen to the show in the MP3 player below:
Saturday, 27 September 2008
A weekly round-up
It's been a busy week for us, so it wasn't until today that we had a chance to do (in Alice's words) "a piece to camera". So, with an exciting view of our back-room, here's what's been going on in Cairo...
PART 1
PART 2
Saturday Morning in Maadi photos
Maadi's own Banksy at work.
And another perfectly framed palm tree.
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
The interweb commeth!
So we've been online for a couple of weeks now, but in that time we've been plagued by terrible Skype connections due to painfully slow speeds. We asked one of the tech guys at work to look into upgrading our speed, and duly gave him 200LE to get us on a faster package, but then heard nothing. It wasn't until last night, though, that we looked into it. Alice had the almost impossible task of acting as intermediary between me and the chap on Internet Egypt technical support as messages and data transfer rates were passed backwards and forwards.
The conversation was pretty much:
"We should be on a 1 megabit connection, but it's not fast enough."
"I've checked, and you are on a 1 megabit connection."
"But the speed isn't fast enough..."
(repeat a few times)
"Look, we've run tests and we can only download at 512kb, not 1mb like we're paying for."
"I've checked, and you're on 1mb."
"But we're sure we're not."
"Go into your router settings and read me the connection numbers."
So we did.
"Oh," say the tech guy, "I'll speak to my manager about why your speed is too slow!"
This morning, we rebooted the router and our speed had doubled. It appears that they'd updated the account to say they were charging us for 1mb but not actually flicked the switch to enable it! Still, it seems to be sorted now, and Skype calls to the UK are sounding much clearer for everyone involved. Hooray!
The conversation was pretty much:
"We should be on a 1 megabit connection, but it's not fast enough."
"I've checked, and you are on a 1 megabit connection."
"But the speed isn't fast enough..."
(repeat a few times)
"Look, we've run tests and we can only download at 512kb, not 1mb like we're paying for."
"I've checked, and you're on 1mb."
"But we're sure we're not."
"Go into your router settings and read me the connection numbers."
So we did.
"Oh," say the tech guy, "I'll speak to my manager about why your speed is too slow!"
This morning, we rebooted the router and our speed had doubled. It appears that they'd updated the account to say they were charging us for 1mb but not actually flicked the switch to enable it! Still, it seems to be sorted now, and Skype calls to the UK are sounding much clearer for everyone involved. Hooray!
Cairo roads
The roads in Cairo are an experience and a half.
Let's start with using the horn. In the UK you might use your horn once a month to warn someone of your position. Here you use your horn every few minutes. You beep to let someone know you are behind them; they then beep to let you know they've seen you and then you beep to acknowledge them. You beep to let someone know you are coming up on the inside, or the outside, or just that you are near by. Basically instead of "mirror, signal, manoeuvre" in Cairo it is "manoeuvre, beep, manoeuvre".
But this doesn't mean that they don't use their mirrors – oh no, quite the opposite. We’ve heard that if two cars run into each other, it is always seen that the driver in front who is at fault. So most drivers in Cairo spend their time looking in their mirrors at what is going on behind them, rather than what is happening in front of them. Most cabs we have been in have either an extra-large rear-view mirror, or multiple mirrors on the door frame – the most we have seen so far is five mirrors, but I am sure that will be topped soon.
Now to inside the taxis as a passenger. Getting into the cab - I haven’t found a taxi yet where the door to the back seat on the drivers side still works – most of them must have been bashed in at some point. It goes without saying that the black and white cabs don’t have air conditioning; so once in the back seat (or passenger seat beside the driver if you are feeling brave – and a bloke) you might want to open or close the window. Whilst this might seem a straightforward activity in most taxis, in Cairo we’ve found that a god proportion of taxis only have one window handle, that then has to be shared and passed around the cab to open or close the windows. For a general idea about the condition of taxis, of the taxis that we have been in only two have had a working speedometer and one was started by putting two wires together under the dashboard.
And then there are the rules of the road. The roads technically look similar to the UK; there are traffic lights and lane markings for example. It is just the interpretation of these that differ. Lane markings aren’t seen as holding any more function than simply decoration. Our route to work for example goes along the ring road, which has four lanes marked, but normally traffic flows in at least six lanes. This feat is repeated on local roads and local roundabouts which might accommodate two lanes of traffic in the UK but can manage at least three here. The traffic lights though are not only ignored, but possibly for good reason. Instead of the Green – Amber – Red combination of most countries, Egypt has gone for Amber – Amber – Amber. These flash in sequence, the meaning of which is lost to all motorists who just drive on regardless.
I must talk about one of the other road users though, who are the boys working for dry cleaning / laundry firms. These lads have adapted their bicycles to their work in the most ingenious way. On the back of their bikes they have attached a little clothes rail that is just the right height to hang ironed shirts and trousers on.
Oh, and a new law in Cairo means that all vehicals must have an emergency triangle. This means a roaring trade has started for this nieche market. Here is a picture of my favourite sign....
Let's start with using the horn. In the UK you might use your horn once a month to warn someone of your position. Here you use your horn every few minutes. You beep to let someone know you are behind them; they then beep to let you know they've seen you and then you beep to acknowledge them. You beep to let someone know you are coming up on the inside, or the outside, or just that you are near by. Basically instead of "mirror, signal, manoeuvre" in Cairo it is "manoeuvre, beep, manoeuvre".
But this doesn't mean that they don't use their mirrors – oh no, quite the opposite. We’ve heard that if two cars run into each other, it is always seen that the driver in front who is at fault. So most drivers in Cairo spend their time looking in their mirrors at what is going on behind them, rather than what is happening in front of them. Most cabs we have been in have either an extra-large rear-view mirror, or multiple mirrors on the door frame – the most we have seen so far is five mirrors, but I am sure that will be topped soon.
Now to inside the taxis as a passenger. Getting into the cab - I haven’t found a taxi yet where the door to the back seat on the drivers side still works – most of them must have been bashed in at some point. It goes without saying that the black and white cabs don’t have air conditioning; so once in the back seat (or passenger seat beside the driver if you are feeling brave – and a bloke) you might want to open or close the window. Whilst this might seem a straightforward activity in most taxis, in Cairo we’ve found that a god proportion of taxis only have one window handle, that then has to be shared and passed around the cab to open or close the windows. For a general idea about the condition of taxis, of the taxis that we have been in only two have had a working speedometer and one was started by putting two wires together under the dashboard.
And then there are the rules of the road. The roads technically look similar to the UK; there are traffic lights and lane markings for example. It is just the interpretation of these that differ. Lane markings aren’t seen as holding any more function than simply decoration. Our route to work for example goes along the ring road, which has four lanes marked, but normally traffic flows in at least six lanes. This feat is repeated on local roads and local roundabouts which might accommodate two lanes of traffic in the UK but can manage at least three here. The traffic lights though are not only ignored, but possibly for good reason. Instead of the Green – Amber – Red combination of most countries, Egypt has gone for Amber – Amber – Amber. These flash in sequence, the meaning of which is lost to all motorists who just drive on regardless.
I must talk about one of the other road users though, who are the boys working for dry cleaning / laundry firms. These lads have adapted their bicycles to their work in the most ingenious way. On the back of their bikes they have attached a little clothes rail that is just the right height to hang ironed shirts and trousers on.
Oh, and a new law in Cairo means that all vehicals must have an emergency triangle. This means a roaring trade has started for this nieche market. Here is a picture of my favourite sign....
! There's been an accident! Brilliant!
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