Felucca!

Let's see what we can cram into one day!  May have been ended up being the guiding principle of this Saturday.  Scott and I have a late breakfast - bran cereal as penance for yesterday's NINE cupcakes (okay, they were mini but still).  Then we decide to try our hand at running in Egypt.  A crazy pass time for mid summer in the desert, but ever so much more plausible in an air conditioned gym.

We had to go to separate gym's within the club and I understand from Scott that the man's gym is not wonderful:  Only 2 treadmills, the weight lifting equipment is old, and the airconditioning insufficient.  By contrast, the ladies gym has 6 treadmills, decent weight lifting equipment, and pretty cool airconditioning.  Too bad for the dudes, though nice to see something lopsided in our favour around here!

I found most of the ladies don't run but walk on the treadmills.  Furthermore, the most popular equipment in the workout portion is the 'butt-shaker'.  At one point there were three ladies strapped in to those 1940s machines that "shake the fat out" (at least I think that is the point).  The beauty of these machines was demonstrated as it leaves you free to flip through magazines or text on your phone whilst your thigh, butt, or hips gets their jiggle on.

A quick trip home to change and put our feet up for a minute before our first social engagement of the afternoon.  We met up with a girl from Russia that we have met at a "global mixer" the other night at the Marriott Hotel.  This building is opulent, massive, and just so gosh darn fancy.  Kazzu and her fella join us in a cocktail room there and their coffee is served in beautiful china with a lovely silver pot for their own sugar cubes.  Scott and I split a cheese platter which just not quite as fancy as we were expecting for such a place; but the accompanying bread rocked!

A bit of a tour around the Marriott (we only saw one small part) revealed amazing ceilings, light fixtures, draperies, furnishings.  Wow - you can see why they would charge so much for the cheese plate!

We said goodbye to our first social group and had to race to catch a cab to our second social group.  Unbelievable and so different from our lives in Victoria where we knew only 2 people!

We met two of Scott's co-workers and a friend of a friend at a Thai restaurant in Zamalek.  It was again, very beautifully decorated.  They know how to do impressive here!  I got to order a tofu dish, my first since arriving and it was great.  We all ordered food that arrived on a steaming, sizzling plate.  It was hilarious to see the entire table steaming.  We were all already melting because the airconditioning (despite several request on our part) did not appear to be on.  When the smoke cleared we enjoyed a great meal.  A return visit will definitely be in order.

From there all 5 of us took a cab (1 cab!  He insisted that we squish in!) to somewhere near Zamalek (I was just a passenger, I have no idea) where you can hire small sail boats (Feluccas) to take a ride on the Nile.

For a mere LE60 ( about $10) they took us out for an hour.  The sun was already down (this happens before 7:00 pm here) and the city lights were lovely.  We did not travel too fast or go too far, but this modest vessel with seating room for about 20 people was perfectly suited to the 5 of us.  There were also two crew members, one that stayed at the back with us and one that stayed at the front and worked the sails.  This was like our equivalent to taking a gondola ride in Venice.  People often bring their own snacks and wine on board to make an evening of it, however we classy folk just brought a plastic bag containing a can of beer each.  Good conversation, beautiful views, a mighty fine float in a boat - Happy Saturday Night!

It's all about the Display

Friday morning and off to church.  We live right near an Anglican Church that has services in several languages throughout the week, including an English one on Fridays and Sundays.  But since Sunday=Monday here, it makes more sense to partake on Friday.

The church is in a bit of a compound type area with a few fellas manning the gate.  The church building itself is shaped like a pineapple!  Once inside, I wondered if I had the time wrong - I didn't see anybody through the front door.  But rounding the corner, there were about 50 chairs set up in a smaller side part and a few people getting seated.  I helped myself to a bulletin and then encountered the pastor who apologized for there being no greeters there today.  The theme continued as we found there that there was also no one there to play music and also no one there to make the coffee and juice afterward.  Summer in Cairo - everybody is gone!

Despite the mini number of attendees (maybe 30 people) I somehow manage to be in a row hip to hip with my neighbors.  I started off in a row by myself (and I was there 5 minutes late) and then a girl about my age sat a few seats down from me shortly after.  But then about 40 minutes into the service an Egyptian family came in and sat in our row so I had to scoot right into the other girl's lap.  The family had a brand new baby who mostly hung out in a basket that they put on a nearby piano plus two beautiful little girls with long, dark, curly hair.  I caught the littler one (who was squished up against my other side) peeking up at me throughout the service and we kept exchanging shy smiles.  So cute!

Anyway the service was great and it felt comforting to participate in something so familiar while being very much in the minority in this far away land.  Afterward I chatted with my left hip girl as well as the pastor and a few others.  It was someone's last day so that had thought to bring cookies, and the pastor had heard in advance there would be no coffee team so he had at least brought some juice.  We chatted for a bit on the patio outside and I met people from the UK and the US.  They go out for lunch every week so sometime I might join them.  They were advising my on Egypt's most famous dish - Koshari.  Apparently there is some disagreement on who makes the best around here so I will have to try it at several places.  When we went out to eat yesterday one of our table mates ordered it and it kind of looked like one of those "cleaning out the fridge day" meals.  Macaroni, spaghetti, rice, lentils, chick peas, and red sauce.  Apparently you eat this one meal and you are satisfied for the whole day.  As a girl with impressive food consumption capabilities I will have to be the judge of that!

The afternoon and was spent lazing about for a bit at home - it is TOO DARN HOT.  Forget what I said before, I am officially uncomfortable!  Then we walked about for a little bit in Zamalek - something we really haven't done that much of.  We discovered a new grocery store a block away that has pretty much everything we need.  It is in a small building and you don't think there is much to it, but a guy there gestures to a set of stairs and so we find there is a second level.  Another guy is following us around and when we finally pick an item off the shelf we realize the reason is that he intends to carry our groceries for us.  He eagerly comes forward with a basket and takes the obviously way-too-heavy-for-us-to-manage packet of raisins from us.  We have no idea what the procedure is for tipping the grocery carrier (who is employed by the store) so in the end we just pay for our groceries and duck shyly away.  The store, like everywhere else around here, offers delivery too.  So a person can go out to shop even if they have no cash on them at the time; have someone else carry your stuff around the store; tell the guy at the register that you are going to stop at the bank and head home; and then they will take your groceries to your house for whatever time you request. Incredible!  We have life way too hard in Canada!

The evening we keep exploring around and I have been noticing that around here they are Masters of Display. The way the fruit is arranged at the stands, the candy in the shops, even the goats hanging from the ceiling. It is all so orderly and attractive (well obviously not so much attractive the meat...)

We stopped at a nut shop whose slogan is "Add Delectation to Life".  What a fantastic idea, we could all use a touch more delectation.  We also stopped at a cupcake shop which I have to say far exceeds any that I visited in Victoria or Edmonton.  We tried NINE kinds and will have to return to try more of the intriguing flavours like yam, chestnut, and mango.  Another trip to cupcake heaven?  Sure!

More Ma'adi, More Falafel

Early to rise to make some breaky for the man again. Not sure if this tradition will stick, but it is nice to have a few more hours in the day.

I called the language school where I'll be learning Arabic with Kazzu to find out if we are in fact registered for the class since they have never replied to my application request and "re-request".  They said sure you're in and you can just pay on the first day.  I guess we won't know for sure until we get there since that is definitely not how their website says it works, but anyway I am cautiously excited about starting classes beginning July 31st.

Then a quick coffee with Eneda and Kazzu at a new (to me) joint nearby called Aroma.  It does not hold a candle to Beanos so my loyalty is still in tact.  It is a quick coffee - only 1 hr - which is way too short for a couple of chatty ladies like us, but Eneda has to run to be home for her airconditioner repair guy (mine is still broken - the airconditioner, not the guy) and I have to go to the district of Ma'adi again.

Hailing a cab on my own for the third time only.  The trip goes by without a hitch.  About a 40 minute drive for LE25 (egyptian pounds) equivalent to a little more than 4 bucks.  With my map and a memory of this trip last week, the cab driver and I make it there with no common language but a few silent hand gestures!

I meet with the community centre program manager where I'll be teaching dance in the fall and happily we find a way to hold all 8 hrs of classes per week that I would like to teach.  After only 40 minutes of chatting I make a full hour long cab ride journey home.  Too bad I'll have to commute so long to and from the centre, though on a map it really isn't that far.  Cairo traffic is to blame for the lengthy voyage.

My cab ride home is great - the driver did not turn on the meter which I have been told is a bad thing.  We are supposed to either agree on a price before setting off, or better yet: have them turn on their meters.  Well, head-in-the-clouds girl that I am,  I don't notice that the meter ain't a-runnin until we are 40 minutes into the trip.  When we arrive home (which is becoming easier to find all the time!), I ask him how much I should pay him since there is nothing on the meter.  I realize after that that is not necessarily the right thing to do since he could say anything.  But it is okay, he seems to look sheepish and says "no meter".  So I say tell him that my outgoing trip was LE25 therefore that's what I'll pay him.  I'm not sure how much of that he understood and he doesn't really reply so I just hand him the money and get out.  I did everything wrong and still wasn't swindled!

By the time that Scott gets home, he is completely exhausted.  Still not quite adjusted to that good 'ol 9 hr time change.  He has a nap while I hang out on Skype.  Then we head out to Abu El Sid which is a nearby Egyptian restaurant.

We have a seat and there are not too many people smoking cigarettes, but tons of people smoking shisha.  We order foul and falafel again - awesome!  Then two staff members from Scott's work walk in so we ask if they would care to join us.  They are heading to the pyramids tomorrow and we had been planning to go too, but the promise of incredible heat has us deciding to wait a bit longer.

I know those pyramids have been around for a good long while and they are probably not going anywhere during the few years we are here, but I hope we get there SOON.

I get a card and everything.

Hurray!  I am totally a member of the Gezira Sportsclub now!  This last step was the easiest of all - I just swing in past the guards with my little proof of payment paper, go straight to the membership office, and pick up two very official looking member cards (one for Scott and one for myself).

At least there is a picture of me on one, otherwise I would not know it was for me as it has Scott's name on it instead of mine.  Apparently the Arabic text indicates something like "in the harem of Scott Miller".  Interesting.  I always thought I was running this harem of ours.

But I am getting ahead of myself.  The day began many hours before the successful membership mission.  I awoke at a time that starts with a 6 and got breakfast ready for Scott and I.  This attempt at domesticity is a direct result of hanging out with a newly wed whose level of wifely commitment far exceeds my own.

Anyway, after coffee the housekeeper arrives.  We are getting to form a routine already where we chat a bit but mostly I just stay the heck out of her way.  I am progressing with my comfort level of having her there working hard whilst I twiddle.  She cleaned for over 5 hrs so there was lots of time to develop some comfort!  Scott is over the moon at the cleanliness of the kitchen - he opened the stove up several times that evening just to marvel at its gleaming.  Oh dear.

While the cleaning is happening it is Grand Central Station around here - the airconditioner fix-it guy is back since we have some major leaks happening again.  Also two staff from Scott's work are by to inspect all the items needing repair or replacement in the place.  I am starting to think maybe I am employed after all - official apartment project manager for our unit.  Well the airconditioner fella says he already replaced parts and if it is still leaking now, we probably need to replace all of it - the only reason I have a clue what he said is that the housekeeper translated for us.

Eventually everybody leaves (except the housekeeper who is still at it) and I run out to get my membership card before having to return home for another airconditioning fix-it wiz comes to visit.  When he finally arrives he has the previous fella with him and it sounds like they are arguing.  I think it ended with them saying they will come back again tomorrow but honestly have NO idea if that is what they actually said.

Had supper waiting for Scott upon his return (domestic diva - I know - it might have something to do with my being in his harem?) and then we head to Kazzu's house before going to the club for the evening with our spiffy new membership cards.

Is it just me or is everybody else's apartment bigger, cooler, and nicer than ours?  Not bitter, just sayin'.  So we go to the Sportsclub and find it is a completely different place at night.  Families bring their children here as a safe place to hang out; bike; take tennis, gymnastics, or basketball lessons; or play with some rather adorable stray kittens (the cats seem to have tripled since that afternoon).  Kazzu and her man play some B-Ball while Scott and I hang out in the pool.

The evening is capped off with my trying an especially healthy snack which consists of a mars bar cooked inside of a soft pretzel, bathed in butter.  Oh dear I might need to do a few more laps in the pool next time.

Hazlenut Icecream and Wine on the Nile

Another leisurely morning - I fear I am wrecked for life for ever having early morning employment and making use of one of those alarm clock thingies.

This time I'm IN the Gezira Sportsclub before that firm 2:00 pm cutoff.  I got past the guards with relatively little hassle too.  One of my new friends, let's call her Kazzu, seemed to understand the whole hoop jumping process of actually being a member of this place so I follow her lead.  She takes me to the membership office where I wait in line for the lady behind the front counter who rejected me on the grounds of being tardy yesterday.  She accepted my form and supporting documents this time and then said something really fast and quiet that Kazzu somehow understood to mean "Take this piece of paper around to another building, give them your money, then come back and see me".  Well okay, that's not what I heard at all.  Thank goodness for Kazzu!  So we visit the money takers, return to the front desk lady, and she instructs (this I understand) to come tomorrow to obtain the official membership cards for Scott and myself.  Success!

So after all that hard work, we reward ourselves with some pool time.  We chat for a bit but find that unfortunately her creepy admirer from yesterday is back.  Sitting two tables away, he resumes his previous days work of ogling Kazzu.  He leans forward, smokes a cigarette or ten, and continues to gaze at her without blinking.  He even inches closer to take up this practice now only one table away.  Finally, Kazzu has had enough so she reports it to the nearby staff.  The come over and talk to me to find out what the problem is and I tell them that this guys is making my friend very uncomfortable and can they deal with it.  They say "Why you look sad?  Smile.  Everything is fine."  They even suggest that we just move to another table.  I seriously doubt that would help and imagine the creeper would just creep on over.  The one thing the staff will not do is address the guy, ask him to leave Kazzu alone, or ask him to leave.  They don't even turn to look at him.

Disheartened by this lack of support, we head over to the women's only gym where at least we know he will not be a problem.  Some hardcore weightlifting ensues and we still manage to have a nice afternoon.  Kazzu heads home to meet up with her fella and I return to the pool to meet up with our other friend who we shall call Eneda.

Eneda and I get right to the business of pumping out a few laps of the pool just to say we did.  Then we enjoy lounging by the pool (the creepy guy is long gone) and I have some magnificent hazlenut icecream.  Where have you been all my life?  Probably with my newfound ginger lattes.  We have another nice chat before heading home ourselves.

Scott is already back from another long work day - somebody has got to do it - and has ordered some mighty fine pizza for us.  We catch up for a bit before I head out to my next social engagement - an international organization networking event for people living in Cairo but hailing from everywhere.

Eneda, Kazzu, and myself step aboard a beautifully decorated and illuminated boat on the nile.  It was permanently docked, but we could see lots of smaller boats floating down the nile all around us.  My goodness, I can't believe I'm ON THE NILE and that I'm really in Egypt.  Unreal.

We sat down at table outside with a gorgeous light breeze and got to meet people from France, Russia, Egypt, Canada, US and Mexico.  Journalists, researchers, entrepeneurs, embassy workers, teachers, poolside loungers - you name it, we were all there.  I had heard that Egyptian wine tends not to be the best but tentatively I ordered a glass of "red".  It was quite fine actually though I never did find out what kind it was and if it was the exception or the rule in Egyptian wine.  Anyway, several hours were spent chatting, hearing about all the things to do in Egypt and what everybody was up to in Cairo.  All those that I met genuinely like it here and many have lived here for several years so that was encouraging too.

I came home to a sleeping Scott - a first in a long while.  Poor fella has some serious sleep debt to pay off but hey, he'll be lounging poolside in a few days himself.  Let's hear it for weekends beginning on Fridays!

I'm in! Well, almost.

What a perfect day!  How guilty should I feel I wonder for how lovely a time I am having whilst my dear husband toils...

A leisurely morning at home and then a THREE hour coffee visit with two wonderful women.  Of course I had to have the ginger latte - try this everybody!  Then off to the Gezira Sportsclub again to try and get the elusive membership.  A hard time again given to me at the gate to get in, even though I have a membership form and accompanying documents and am waiving it at the guards saying that I need to get in to register for the club...

We full out ran to the membership office at the back of the club to try and get there before the closing time of 2:00 pm (lots of places close early like that over the summer months).  But alas, though everyone is still in the office and working, they will not let me hand in my registration form because it is like 2:07 pm.  One of my new buddies who speaks Arabic pleads, but to no avail.  Come back tomorrow and get there BEFORE 2:00 pm.  Shoot, we ran in the summer heat of Cairo for nuthin.

Well, these ladies I'm with are a lot more bold than I am (though this is something I am trying to work on) and we decide that though I am not technically a member of this elite establishment yet, we should stay (since we're past the guards anyway) and enjoy our afternoon.  So we find a nice shady table beside one of the three pools and order some lemonade and continue with our lengthy chatting Part II.  A couple laps to make it seem like we're there for fitness or something and then some poolside lounging until the sun is no longer over head.

Here none of the rules of dress apply - women in bikinis, shorts, whatever - here it is okay.  Unfortunately, one of my friends had an unwelcome admirer.  After about an hour of openly starring at her, he comes over and proposes marriage.  She politely declines, being otherwise committed and also being put off by his high score on the creep-o-meter.  He never did let up with the starring though.

We head home after this lovely day to meet up with our respective sweethearts and I begin to think that being in Cairo may be a rather delightful thing.

Mrs Shannon and Mr Scott

Ok, yes: we are now some of "those people".  We no longer need to scrub our tub, mop our floors, or iron our own shirts.  We have employed someone to do these tasks on our behalf.  'But Shannon, you are not working, don't you think that you have enough time in the day to scrub a bathroom now and then?'  Well...yes, but we are helping to fuel the economy and  build the employment rate! Plus, I HATE bathrooms.

Furthermore, I am doing some hard stuff too:  I had to get up at 7:00 am  to let the housekeeper in!  I have been sleeping until at least 9:00 am every day so that was really tough.  Plus then there is the whole question of how do I look busy and keep from feeling guilty for the four whole hours that she is working?!  Truly, challenging business.  Well, I handled the first two hours by returning to complete my required number of zzz's, and the remaining two hours by puttering around doing dishes, laundry, and playing on the internet.  To make me feel even more pretentious, I am being called "Mrs Shannon" and am answering inquiries about "Mister Scott".  This will take some getting used to as well as some personal justifying on my part.

But the end result is a wonderfully clean home, and hey, like I say, we're creating jobs here people.

After a tough morning of observing work, I headed off to try and get a membership at the Gezira Sportsclub.  Check it out at http://www.geziraclub.com/

A beautiful, historic resort type place with 3 pools, 3 gyms, 30 sports, several restaurants, and tha making of some very fine lazy summer days.  The only trouble is getting in!  You first have to get past the guards who don't want to let you in without a pass, even if your objective is to get in to obtain a pass!  Well, luckily I was with a determined young lady who would not take no for an answer and who herself already had a membership there.  We went through only a small portion of this massive place (which occupies the whole southern half of the island we live on) to find the office where one can obtain a registration form.  Getting the form was hard enough, but after that you need to include a referral letter, photos, and passport info.  This is an elite club!

After successfully leaving with the form I made my way back home to tackle the always challenging task of looking busy while people work on the apartment again.  Now there were two fellas trying to repair one of our screen doors.  Over an hour later, it is still not working and there are plans to return another day.  Who needs a screen door anyway?  All the bugs seem to be INSIDE our apartment already!

The last challenge of the day was trying to order some of those big blug jugs of water to go with our new water cooler.  I called up the nearest grocery store that delivers and did not get an English talker.  After being on hold for a good while, they passed me on to one, but it was still hard to communicate much.  Eventually, satisfied that they might know where I live and they might know what I was ordering, I asked them when it would arrive and how much it would cost.  They just said "thank you" and after a few trys I just thought - oh well, surprise me.

We a bit over an hour later, two guys arrive at my door with 4 things of water, but they are just boxes filled with normal water bottles.  The guys obviously had to load and unload this heavy lot on this exceptionally hot day.  I felt terrible to tell them that it was not what I wanted!  As a gesture of apology (and to lighten their return load) I bought one box, though that too was hard to find out the cost.  They still looked annoyed but what can ya do?

So our cooler still sits empty and waiting, but we do have a mighty full fridge of water.