| Friday, Aug. 29, 2003 I'm in Dubai airport, on the flight back from the Maledives. I am tired and irritable. The plane was supposed to leave Male at 2.15, but in the end only did so at 3.15. I went straight to sleep and put that little "do not disturb" sticker on the top of the seat. The stewardess woke me up at 5 nonetheless. I was just a bit cranky. I had a really bitter cup of bad coffee and then had to suffer through the olfactory assault of the full breakfast of my neighbours. Some unspeakable warm egg concoction that smelled as if something had had a terrible death. How on earth can people eat that at that time in the morning? Eventually arrived in Dubai, wandered around aimlessly in the duty free without buying anything and am now contemplating another cup of coffee, just for the hell of it. More on the holiday when I am actually awake, should be in Cairo in about 6 hours or so, give or take an hour. I have no clue what time it is supposed to be.... Friday, Aug. 22, 2003 Water Bungalows: Additionally the Water Bungalows are poised on columns linked to the beach by a boardwalk. Private sun deck, four-poster bed and exclusive breakfast. Sounds good, ey? I am almost off, will pack now, the taxi will pick me up in about 2 hours. This is where I am going: Emirates Holidays/Maledives. At the Baros Holiday resort….. Back next Friday... Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003 Everybody is in holiday mood. Everybody is just interested in what they are going to do next week. The number one spot is safely held by “staying at home and sleep for a week”, closely followed by “going to Alex and stay at the beach”. Nobody has a clue where the Maledives are, so I just keep telling them India. That sorts of points them towards the right subcontinent. I was afraid that this week would go really slowly, But it has just gone by in a blur. Only tomorrow left and I haven’t done half of the things I wanted to get done. Malesh. 1 more day at work, wehee!!! Monday, Aug. 18, 2003 Been to one of the factories today that we are outsourcing to. We have a new account manager. Turns out she is not only German, but also went to the same Polytechnic in Southern Germany I went to, doing the same course, just 3 years after me. Global village. 3 more days at work – HOLIDAYS!!!!! Sunday, Aug. 17, 2003 I finished my anitbiotics, pills and other stuff two nights ago. Apparently the bladder infection is still not dealt with though. Yesterday I felt as if I was playing both main characters in my own personal “Itchy and Scratchy” episode. It drove me absolutely crackers. So after work I went to a pharmacy and picked up another load of all those pills. It was slightly better today. Although I felt like crap in the morning. Can antibiotics make you feel nauseous? And, uh, oh, 4 more days of work and then HOLIDAY!!!!!! Saturday, Aug. 16, 2003 The factory has been without water for the last two days of the week – again. It happens every now and then, but it tends to be only for a couple of hours or maximum a day. Two days was a first. Needless to say, after that amount of time our toilet was in urgent need of flushing. I don’t know what to call them, but our toilet, as most toilets in Egypt and presumably in the Middle East, has a little metal pipe curving up in the toilet bowl. No, not a bidet. For cleaning yourself with water after doing your thing. I have been lamenting the sad lack of toilet paper in this country for a long time…. Anyway……I fiddled about with the knob that turns that thing on and a little water came out. It didn’t exactly flush the toilet, but every little helps. I thought I turned it off again, but apparently not. The next moring the toilet seat and lid were soaked, the floor was wet and the bucket beside the toilet full with water. Now we come to the high point of my disgusting story. Bad plumbing = we throw nothing in the toilet, all the toilet paper etc goes into that bucket. There were unspeakable things floating in that bucket! I slowly emptied it into the toilet and then spent some quiet time by myself, gagging….. Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 One week until the holidays and counting….Took a friend to L’Aubergine this week. Nice food, though a bit heavy on the carbohydrates. Have also finally been to Chillies last night. That Banana-Peanut-Smoothie is obscene! We stuffed ourselves so much, that every time the waiter came by with another platter of food, we turned green and wanted to puke. I was surprised this morning, but I actually fancied breakfast. Never mind. I was asked recently what kind of music I like and I couldn’t come up with anything definite. I am very much a Top40 person. But it got me thinking and I started downloading some Jazz. While I am typing this, Billie Holiday is singing….Much better this way….. Sunday, Aug. 10, 2003 Had dinner with Christine and her boyfriend. Great view over the Nile! Missed the bats, though, as well as the probably spectacular sundown. Got stuck at a factory in Sadat City, which is in the middle of nowhere. Literally. Woke up late on Friday with the realization that the bladder infection I had been battling with for a week, still hadn’t gone away. Finally called the doctor today. He came round after work and prescribed anitbiotics, something for cristals…???…I’ve got cristals in my bladder??? And these what-ever-they’re-called-again in English. Don’t worry, I know that I’m not supposed to swallow them! Anyway, let’s hope this massive dose of pharmaceuticals will clear this mess up. Meanwhile my parents are moaning about the heat in Germany. So are my friends over there. Supposedly last week they had a day when it was hotter than in Cairo. Congratulations, anytime! German New Romantics band? Which one? After how many Gin Tonics exactly did I mention that? Can’t remember anything besides Nena…. Sunday, Aug. 03, 2003 Met someone new, Christine, American, grad student at AUC (American University in Cairo). We.went to L’Aubergine, supposedly the only decent veggie restaurant in Cairo. Gazpacho, Ravioli, nice. We discovered that we have a couple of shared interests. Good evening. Last, but not least, my favourite bookstore had a “buy 3, pay for 2”-deals on and I stocked up on Wilbur Smith… 3 weeks to go until the holidays….I finally booked last Wednesday. Tomorrow I’ll pick up the ticket. |
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| Getting bored yet seeing pictures of the pyramids? This one, yet again, I took from the balcony of my room at the Mena House Hotel.... |
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