Getting ready....

They sell the best things in Alfa Market

Alfa Market is an awesome Egyptian supermarket on the Corniche in Maadi.  I've only been going there the last few years and have found it to be the Grand Mall of supermarkets.  It is the home of #25Jan Monopoly and Ramadan material bunting.  Fabs and I went there shopping today and there were two great buys:

Monopoly Deal (our favourite card game) in Arabic!

 

Push!

 

Last Day of School

I know everyone has to take a photo on the First Day of School, but it seemed kind of fitting to have one on my last day.  So here are I am with bump at 37 1/2 weeks.

Things that are ready: 

• Baby clothes have all been washed (and folded!)
• Baby room is generally ready 
• Hospital bag is generally packed
• Work (I have handed over to a colleague my job whilst I am away - let's see what he makes of it all!)
• Freezer meals (I've frozen portions of chili, bol and herby chicken already but plan to make a curry up next week....to freeze ready to eat on/after the due date!)
• The baby apparently!  Dr Cherif said at our appointment a few days ago that the baby 'is ready' which means he is happy that the baby is the right size and weight and is full term.  The head is still pointing down, which is good, but we realised that we didn't clarify whether he also meant that the head is engaged.

Things that aren't ready:

• We need to do a practise run to the hospital again to check out different routes and timings.  Ali and Fabs will probably do this next week.  We also need to practise putting the car seat in to a car! 
• Ali and Fabs will also do a few things next week that won't get done after the baby is born, like go to the dentist and get hair cut.
• Work (it's hard for Scotty as he doesn't know when he's going to need to take time off and therefore it's hard to plan cover lessons ahead of time)
• We still haven't unpacked the pram properly and we still need to wash and get ready our Cheeky Wipes (reusable cotton wipes that we plan to try instead of tonnes of baby wipes)
• We haven't collected the Moses Basket from Nicki yet (so the baby doesn't have anywhere to sleep apart from the cot-bed which is too large for it right now), but we plan to get this in the next few days

But it will all be fine!

Kitchen Window

So if you are not working and are at home all day then you get to looking out of the window a lot.  This is the Maadi version of the Alfred Hitchcock film and so is based around the Kitchen Window where I am washing up, rather than the Rear Window because of an injury.

It seems that rope does solve every problem in Cairo.  Here is is solving the problem of how do you install air con on the side of a tall building.  The guy here has a long rope tied (some how!) at the top of the building and then he climbs up each knot (like you used to do in PE years ago) until he is where he wants to be and hooks his sling/seat over the knot.  If he needs to move position he swings himself on the rope from side to side.

Radio Ga Ga (not quite)

Well with the surprise sudden connection to the internet we were slightly unprepared for a radio show this evening!  We chatted and played music for an hour though and it was really nice to be back on and chat with friends.  Here is a picture of our current set up - it's different from our last apartment as there we could sit opposite each other over the dining room table, but here we have a proper desk/work-area and so we are side-by-side for the time being.

Faff update: The Internet

So for the past two and a half weeks I have been badgering a bloke called Eslam who is the man who can install satellite internet for us.  I last spoke to him over a week ago, because last weekend he'd obviously had enough of me calling him and so stopped answering my calls!  He did text me after two hours to say that he was sorry and they would install on Saturday.  So then Saturday comes and he hasn't called me for our address, so I text him to ask when he will come to install.  He doesn't reply and so two hours later I try to call him, but of course he does not answer.  Does this guy not want our money, or something?  I try calling him again but it's the same.  Scotty tries to call him from his phone and he does get through, but Eslam is quite vague, saying that the engineer from the office will come today.  No mention of the time, or that he would like our address even!

We're getting pretty frustrated - as you can imagine!  So we sit down and start to think about other options.  The USB dongle we've got for this month from Etisalat has been doing well and so we could just buy a router for this and run all of our internet this way.  Although the router isn't expensive, we'd probably need more than one dongle's worth of data each month, and so the unlimited data we'd get through the satellite could be a better deal. Hhmmm. We're close to going out to Etisalat to buy the router (as we've stayed in all day so far in case the engineer turns up) but then hit on another plan.

We know that the phone line in to the apartment is fibre, but we also know that there is a second, different, phone line.  We couldn't get it to call out, so didn't know the phone number to try and get the internet connected on the line.  We had assumed that as the main phone line was fibre, the other line would be fibre too (as the sockets are next to each other).

Then we had a brainwave - why don't we try to call Etisalat on the other line, as they have Caller ID and so could tell us what the number is.  We do that but we're not overly hopeful that the line will be good.  We get through to Etisalat and they tell us straight away that the line is good, but it is already signed up for Internet with TE Data. We are slightly in shock and disbelief at this news - within about 15 minutes we have gone from not having our calls answered by our only hope, to having a line that could potentially support ADSL.

We then speak to TE Data and they confirm that the line is good and say that all we need to do is to come to the office to sign a new contract with them.  We get in a cab to Nasr Street and are soon showing them our passports and the lease while they open the line up again for business.

Back at the apartment and we plug in the new router to the line, plug it in to the computer and it seems to be flashing all the right colours.  Scotty then calls TE Data to do some of the codes etc. and then we're online - wow!

Three weeks of internet faff: resolved in less than two hours!

Now we know that a lot of friends have had problems with TE Data in the past, and we really think that Etisalat have been good at their customer service over the years.  But we decided that we would be better off sticking with TE Data, rather than creating (more) faff by trying to get them to release the line and then trying to get Etisalat to take it up again.

What happens within minutes of us getting the internet all set up?  Scotty receives a phone call from 'Ali, the internet engineer' - oh, so they've finally decided to get in touch, have they?  Scotty plays dumb and does the 'crackly line' noise whilst I turn off my phone so they can't call me.  A bit evasive of us maybe, but we figure we can give them a bit of a taste of their own medicine.  Tomorrow if either of them call then I will simply explain that they had two and a half weeks to install and plenty of time to communicate with us about what was happening and when, but because they were not very helpful we have found someone else for internet.

We do still manage a final bit of faff when it comes to cabling the new router/computer set up.  The problem is that the phone sockets are beside the TV which is the opposite side of the room to the computer (but at least they are in the same room, unlike the satellite cable was initially!)  Our first cable set up is to get a really long phone cable from beside the TV, so that the phone and the router can be close to the computer.  This works, but the line is a bit crackly (especially when you move the cable, or walk on it as it runs under the rugs).  We then decide to change things round and have a short phone cable, so that the router is near the TV, but a really long ethernet cable to the computer.  Once we have run this around the room and plug it in, we notice that there is a phone socket behind the couch i.e. next to where the computer is.  A quick check and indeed this is the right line for the internet - so we can have both a short phone and short ethernet cable and the set up is complete!

Gradually getting out there

So I've been working part-time now for three weeks and have been trying to 'get out there' on my days off, rather than find myself just sitting at home.  Not that I am the kind of person who does just sit around at home, but going out and meeting new people on my own is something new for me!

I've been visiting the CSA most days, as it is open during the day (BCA only opens at 3pm) and they have a coffee shop and free wi-fi.  And, of course, it seems to be where none-working expats hang out.

On my first few visits I walked around the centre to see who was there as I was keen to try and see how many new mums would be around.  There were a few with toddlers and I did spy one with a large tum like mine, and another with a baby car seat (I couldn't see the baby, but I'm sure it was in there somewhere!).  Not quite having the courage to just go and walk to them though I then just grabbed a drink and sat down by myself.

The difficulty has been that most people seem to already be there with friends - and it's a bit more daunting to go up to a group already sat together, than to go up to someone on their own.  My last two visits though I have managed to catch people on their own for a little chat with which has felt good.

The first was another mum to be who had a bump the same size as mine.  It turns out that she too is 8 months pregnant.  This is her second child though and she lives in Katameya, but comes to the CSA as her first is at nursery in Maadi.  It was good to have said 'hi' to someone in a similar position and hopefully I'll see her around again.

The second person I spoke to was an American who has two kids (one in Primary and the other at nursery) and lives in Maadi (while her husband works in Katameya).  It was really interesting chatting to her about some of the recent goings on and she was happy to talk for a while about babies in Maadi.  She recommended that we get a carrier, rather than just a buggy for the Maadi streets and I said that this was our plan already.  Her recommendation was the ErgoBaby - which is actually what we have got (!) so I feel we've definitely made the right choice there. 

I tried to meet some other mums at the 'coffee morning' about child health the other day, but the turn out was not great.  I also tried to meet some mums by crashing the Baby Massage course being run there (that I couldn't sign up for without a baby!), but it turns out it has been postponed till November.  Although it means I might not meet some other mums through the course for a while - it does give me something to aim for in November. 

A number of people have said that the CSA run a 'mum and baby' group, but it doesn't seem like they do.  I did ask them and they said that others have been asking too, so they might start something.  I think I will ask again next week and suggest that i am happy to put up a notice if they think there has been other interest.

The other 'mum and baby' group tip-off that I have been following up is that something is run at the Maadi Community Church (opposite the BCA), but when I asked there they described it as a Bible Study Group for mums and that the babies are looked after in the nursery.  I might give it a go - just to see what it is like - but I was hoping to find something that would be mums and babies together.

My investigations have also concluded that mums and toddlers and young kids do go to Beanos on Road 9 during the day (but no babies). 

I have also concluded that Beanos do a very good 'Hibiscus and Blackberry cooler' and 'Twix Tart' :-)

Settling in to the new apartment

Sooo...it's been around three weeks, and our new apartment is feeling a lot more like 'home'.  Last night we filmed a bit of a tour around.

If you haven't already seen what it was like when we first arrived in August, check out this post first.

However, if you've already seen that then take a look at what it looks like now!

Welcome (back) in Egypt!

We thought we were seasoned at this whole ‘welcome in Egypt’ thing, but coming back to Cairo this year has been a bit more of a challenge than we anticipated!  We knew things would be different packing-wise as we were bringing back a buggy and tonne of baby supplies instead of our previous booze and pork products, and we (and the buggy) managed to survive the flight which was a relief.

What we didn’t quite anticipate were some of the difficulties with changing flat and getting settled in.

The first faff of course was actually moving – but we’re trying to forget that prolonged, sweaty and stressful period (!) as we luckily managed to complete that before the summer.

Faff number two I guess has been realising all the things we need to buy for the new place that were in the old place, or that we’ve never needed before.  It was only when we were making a spag bol that we realised that not only did we not have a peeler for the carrots, but we also didn’t have a colander for the pasta.  We coped for one night, but then had to get ourselves to Road 233 (a fair local substitute for the Grand Mall, but we still believe that you can buy everything you really need at the MGM).

Larger purchases have included a vacuum cleaner, as we now have four large rugs and two corridor carpets that will store vast amounts of dust if we don’t watch out, and an emergency light.  We‘ve found that blackouts tend to hit the apartment once a week and know that with the baby our head-torches won’t quite cut it!  The light is pretty clever as you plug it in to charge and leave it plugged in all the time.  Then when the power goes, that triggers the lamp to turn itself on!  I bought it on Sunday and we got to test it out last night when the power was out for about ten mins.  It worked a treat.  When the power went out though we both admitted that we had been thinking ‘It’s a shame we haven’t had a power cut yet to see if the lamp works’ but of course didn’t want to say anything to jinx the situation!

Now on to one of the bigger faffs; the internet.  When we left Road 206 we cancelled our ADSL contract with Etisalat (which was a faff in itself as we had to do it the night before we flew and we had to visit the shop twice because they had given us the wrong change!).  So when we got back to Cairo in August we went to Etisalat to sign-up for a new contract for ADSL at the new place.  Contract signed, we came home ready to continue using USB dongles for another week or so whilst the line was being activated.  Last week I posted about how Etisalat called us after a week to tell us that we had the wrong type of phone line, so needed to request that the phone line was changed from fibre to cable (ironically this would be a downgrading of the line!).  I spent an afternoon trying to do this and a few follow-up phone-calls found that this was not possible. 

So on Tuesday we went back to Etisalat to try and claim our money back (as we had needed to pay for 6 months in advance).  When we turned up at the shop it was unusually quiet and we found out that this was because their system was down – so they could not process any requests.  We decided to have dinner on Road 9 so that the trip down there wasn’t a total waste of time.  We had a great meal at Lucille's, so can’t complain too much, but it was frustrating that we’d have to visit Road 9 again to sort it all out.

So last night, Wednesday, we went down to Etisalat again, this time a lot earlier to try and miss the rush.  We in fact hit the rush and had to wait half an hour to be seen.  They were fine about cancelling the contract, but the paperwork took some time. When it was all over though, they guy said that they couldn’t refund our credit card for the payment but had to give us cash. Except they didn’t have enough cash in the store, so we’d need to come back in an hour!  So once again we have dinner on Road 9 (we decided to have a ‘new’ experience by going to Pizza Hut. Now we have had that experience we know we never need to go there again).  We get back to Etisalat and fortunately the guy recognises us so we don’t need to queue and we get the money back (minus the cost of a new dongle).

The other part of the internet faff of course is trying to get an alternative to ADSL and an alternative to a dongle – the only other option is satellite internet which a friend of ours already has.  I have phoned the guy most days this week to ask him to install the satellite and give us a router and subscription, but he seems a little useless and doesn’t seem to want to take our money. So I’ll just keep calling him I guess until he realises that if he doesn’t want me to call him every day he just needs to sort it out.

The biggest faff of all though has turned out to be getting our security deposit back for our old flat on Road 206. 

We were sad about having to leave our home of four years (longer than we’d even lived in our house in the UK), especially as it was such a nice place and the landlord was good.  We wanted to make sure that there were new tenants in the place, to make up for the landlord losing us, and through school a new teacher decided to take the place, so we were pretty pleased. Their contract was due to start on the first of September and so we felt obliged to pay our rent through until the end of the summer and the end of our contract.  We didn’t want to screw over the landlord and we also liked the reassurance of having the apartment until the end of the summer in case we didn’t manage to move everything in to the new place before our flight.

So at the end of June, a few days before our flight, the landlord and her son (whom we actually do most of our dealings with) came round to collect the last bit of rent and to see the apartment.  They came in and said how sad they were that we were leaving (nothing about a congratulations for our baby!) and when we offered to show them around the apartment they said that they were happy with how we had kept the place and didn’t need to see the other rooms.  We then offered them the rent and mentioned our security deposit. They asked if we could wait until September for it because they had to pay for a family wedding.  We agreed and so gave them two months rent and said we would get in touch with them in September.  We know that a few other friends had just kept their last month’s rent as the security deposit, instead of needing to collect it afterwards, but we were happy with how we’d left things with the landlord.

We were quite surprised that we hadn’t heard anything from the new tenants over the summer about moving in early – as their contract was due to start a week after they were arriving in Egypt and we knew that for us it was important to get in to the new apartment as soon as possible (!) But a few days before the start of term we heard from a friend that they had in fact moved in to the apartment – whilst it was still technically rented to us! We weren’t fussed by this personally, but thought it was a little cheeky!

We decided to wait until after September had started before contacting the landlord about our security money, so that they would have the rent from the tenants.  When we texted the landlord’s son we got this in reply:

"We have received our apartment in a sorry state u have left the key to servant she stole most important things and did not find spoons, no sheets, the apartment was dirty so my mom really sad about this"

What??!!  When we got the text through we were so surprised and shocked – at the fact that the landlord would turn so nasty and that they thought we had left the place in a bad way and stolen things.  It was just such a bizarre feeling.

Scotty tried to call them on the phone straight away, but his call was rejected, so I tried on my number and was able to get through.  When I spoke to the landlord’s son he said that the apartment was in a terrible condition again and that they were really disappointed.  I kept replying that I did not understand how this would be possible because they had seen the apartment just before we left and so knew what it looked like.  He then spoke about the missing things which he said included spoons from the kitchen and the mattresses.  Again I said that I really did not understand how this would be possible and he accused our maid of taking a copy of our keys and then stealing things.

It became clear after a short while that there was no use in talking on the phone about this, as we were convinced of our position and he convinced of theirs.  I said that we were very upset by what they had said and I would be speaking to our school to get the money that we deserve from them.

We were in such a shock by his response that we could not sleep all night.  How could the landlord turn on us like this?  What had happened to the apartment? What on earth was happening with the new tenants?

We contacted the person who sorts out apartments at school by email to give her a run down of what had happened and I resolved to go and see her first thing to see what help she could maybe give us.

When I saw Mona I started to feel a little better.  Mona did, at first, say that the apartment was not in a good condition and that they had to do a lot of work to it.  I again said that I did not understand what the problem could be because we looked after the apartment and she, and the landlord had all seen the condition we left it in.  I tried to ask about what this ‘sorry state’ was like and she mentioned the dust, dirt and things broken.  In our minds the dust was a reasonable expectation – as no one had been in for two months – but the broken and missing things confused me.

She then produced a list of the problems that the new tenants were having with the flat.  This made me realise that the problem wasn’t just between us and the landlord, but was much bigger – especially if the new tenants had had a meeting with Mona and the landlord to try and resolve their problems!  On the list were things like cleaning in each room, but also other things like the TV needing to be moved, that the step in to the kitchen was broken and that the bath was stained.

Yes all of those things were problems in the apartment, but we had never made a big deal out of them.  Things were starting to become clear – the new tenants weren’t going to be as tolerant as we were of the small problems in the apartment and the landlord was having to fix everything for them!  Our problem now being needing to make the landlord realise that these were all actually problems with the apartment itself, not problems that we had caused.

So that evening we took to looking at the old video diaries that we had recorded when we first moved in to see if they gave any hint of the general condition of the apartment.  They did, and even the video diary we recorded at the end of June just before we moved out showed the general condition we were leaving the place in. 

 

So from what we thought would be a small formality of getting our deposit back turned into a rollercoaster of emotions!

We still haven’t had the deposit back, but the most recent update has been that the landlord has admitted that they don’t have the money to pay us at the moment because they spent their money on the family wedding and because they are now needing to spend lots of money on the apartment for the new tenants.  We have said that we can wait for our money, but have said that we too will need the money for our baby (we can survive without it, but we shouldn’t have to take that hit, we don’t believe, as we think we deserve the deposit back!).  They have queried again the sheets and spoons (no mention of the mattresses again, so we think this may have been a mis-translation of sheets) and we have emailed Mona details of where we think they can be found in the apartment, stressing that they are hidden deep in cupboards because we never used them as they were so old. We have left things with Mona for the time being and will see what happens over the next few weeks.  It would be good to get the money back out of the next rent the tenants pay, but we’ve got a feeling that they might even withhold rent if they are not happy with the apartment still!

Being a non-working non-mum

I’m in this weird in-between time at the moment; I have started the school year part-time, and so have days that I am not working, but I’ve not yet got the baby, so I’m on my own on these days off.  It feels very odd to have Scotty go off to work and me stay at home – and this is only the second day of it!

My first day off I took during the first week back at work.  I took it in the middle of the week as although I was feeling ‘OK’ at the time, I wasn’t convinced I would get to the end of the week still feeling the same way!  That day I did get up at the same time as Scotty and we had breakfast together, but then after he left for work I went back to bed.  I’d planned to only rest for an hour or so, but ended up resting until 10am – which meant my plan of getting some cooking done was out of the window as I had something to do at 11am.

The big thing on my ‘to do ‘ list that day was to visit the Telecom Egypt Maadi Centraal and to speak to the Manager there about changing our phone line.

We had a call last night from Etisalat that they cannot install our internet because our phone line is not compatible and so if we want ADSL it needs to be changed.  Ironically ‘not compatible’ is because the line has been upgraded, not because the line is too old!  So I have to try and request that we are rolled-back to an old copper line again.

I head to the Telecom Egypt building by the satellites, but it turns out that this is not in fact the Centraal.  I am directed along a small dirt road beside the petrol station and in to the Cairo Contact Park which is currently being built.  About 10 minutes along this ‘road’ I find the run down building (why is this building so old and run down in the middle of a new development?) and just walk in to the first office I can find to ask for help.  No one there really speaks English, but I manage to say a few key words and they understand what I want.  I’m put on the phone to an engineer at the exchange who says he will check for me if the line can be changed.  While all this is happening the two girls in the office I find myself in are giggling and then ask, using gesture, if I am pregnant.  I say that I am and the Manager offers me his seat!  It’s very warm without any AC in here and so I accept and get out my small bottle of cold water to sip.  After a while the engineer calls back to say he needs to check later today and so I should call him back tomorrow.

The trip out has been a partial success I feel, as they didn’t say outright that it would be impossible to change the line.  And the fact that I found the Centraal to start with feels good.  Now though I have to walk back along the dust road in the midday heat which is tiring, but is good exercise I tell myself!

After all that I decided to treat myself to a cold drink and some time in the air-con at Costa by the Grand Mall.  I normally wouldn’t do this, but figure I deserve it!  The drink is cold and almost gives me brain freeze, but it’s good.  With my energy back I head in to the Grand Mall to pick out a birthday cake for Scotty.  I need to get something that is large enough to feed most of the Secondary staff, but don’t want to try and feed everyone as that might bankrupt us!  I pick out two cakes – one chocolate and one vanilla with fruit and manage to negotiate my way in to the back of a taxi with them.  I now have an hour to grab a little lunch and then get showered and down to the BCA.  I figure that arriving at 2.30 will be when most staff are on their way still, but actually most are already there.  I grab a drink and get the cakes in the fridge and start to catch up with people – my first day off successfully managed!

 

So on to my second ‘day off’ and again I get up with Scotty but head back to bed and get an hour of good rest until getting up for breakfast.  Gina is coming today and so I want to be up when she arrives.  Once she is all set I head out to the CSA.  This is the first time I’ve been to the CSA during the day and I’m hoping that if I come regularly I will have the chance to meet some other people, possibly people with babies or kids but at least have some ‘outside world’ contact during the day when Scotty’s at work.

It takes me 15 minutes to walk here (I’m using the cafe’s free wi-fi to upload this blog post) and when I walk in the gate the yard is busy with ladies chatting and having coffee.  I notice one pram (but no baby in sight….very confusing) and one toddler, but everyone seems to be just around and chatting.  Some people have been to the gym already and others are here for the Cooks Day Off – where you can buy home-made meals…a great alternative to Otlob when things get stressed for us!

The other things on my list to do today are to get myself to Carrefour and do some shopping; we need a few things including a vacuum cleaner (it’s really nice to have three large rugs in the living room, but we’re worried that without cleaning them they are going to trap dust like anything!) and an emergency light.  The emergency light idea has come about as we have had two black outs in the two weeks we’ve been back.  Whilst we can cope with a torch-lit dinner we don’t think it will be as easy to cope once the Baba Ganough comes along.  We have noted that both black outs lasted precisely one-hour…random or rolling? We think rolling.

When you move place there are so many small things that you just don’t realise you need.  We had used the peeler and the collider that belonged to the old apartment before, and now need to buy our own.  Also we’ve got a different TV set up now and so need some new cables (and cable ties of course for keeping things nice and neat!)

 

30 mins later - OK so two babies have arrived at the CSA so I’m off outside to see if I can meet them!