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| Friday, Mar. 29, 2002 I was actually at work today, which sucks. Will be at work tomorrow as well, even worse. The company is doing a stock take on Monday. So Monday is off instead of Friday. Go figure. To work on Fridays is totally pointless. Nobody is interested. From 11.30 everybody is preparing for the big Friday prayer, then everybody is praying, then everybody is getting ready to go home. Great. Tuesday, Mar. 26, 2002 Last night was very windy, so the satellite connection is gone again. The motor for the dish will hopefully be fixed by tomorrow, there’s a lot of good movies on over Easter and I have a 2-day-weekend coming up……You don’t realize what a slave to that damn television you are, unless it is gone. Of all the people I know and have known, only 3 do not have a television. And they are all 3 quite normal, actually. Great people to have a conversation with… Sunday, Mar. 24, 2002 The motor of my satellite dish broke, had no telly for 2 days, started to do needle point again, had the first sandstorm of the season today and the car was absolutely filthy on the inside on the ride home. Friday, Mar. 15, 2002 Finally went to that Korean restaurant last night. Very good! Haven’t had good Korean food for a while. As Lyn was with us, we started talking about work and eventually Barbara was mentioned. Most of the expats that frequent the Portuguese club, have met Barbara at some point. I have never really told any of them, what I thought of Barbara, as I did not really know, who was close to her and who wasn’t – I did not want to put my foot in somewhere I couldn’t get it out anymore. Anyway, some weeks ago Ji and I went to a quiz night at the P. club, and while I was nursing my beer, Ji was making the rounds at the other tables. And one of the people there told her, “Oh, I recognize her (meaning me), she was Barbara’s nemesis. Barbara left because of her”. Ji told me that last night over dinner. Whoa! That’s slightly twisting the facts. She left, because she was sacked. She was sacked, because she was not capable of doing the job that she had come out to Egypt to do. We supported her in the beginning – as you do with a new colleague - and covered for her mistakes for two months at least. But eventually we had to face the facts – keep covering for her indefinitely or telling our boss that she wasn’t cutting it. And if you are in a sample room that small and you are that insanely busy, you do not have the time or the energy to carry a corpse along. But the time we came to that conclusion, our boss had already figured it out by herself. So don’t give me “I left because Cathy was mean to me”. I probably was not very nice to her, but I was really stressed and overloaded with work and in no mood to put up with that kind of shit! Wednesday, Mar. 13, 2002 Am idiotically happy about the fact that tomorrow the weekend will start – a 2-day weekend, even better! Lyn (new colleague) will stay over to have a look at Alex. She still has to make up her mind, if she wants to rent a flat here in Alex or rather in Agamy (fondly called Agony by all its fans…..). I don’t want to live in Agony….Well, ok, medium funny. Anyway, have to sort out the second bedroom now and shovel out about a ton of laundry that awaits ironing (and has done so since the last ice age….), make the bed, bla bla….. Then food, then a double feature of Stargate. Ok, I know, I’m pathetic and need to get a life. Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2002 Annoyance of the day, why does my cleaning lady have to move everything about? If I put something in the living room, it’s because I probably want it to be in there and not in the friggin kitchen! And what’s with putting my computer desk out on the balcony?????? Ok, it’s just a white plastic garden table, but it had the flaming keyboard and two mouse pads on it and was sitting in front of the damn screen! Helloooooooo!?! Ugh! Sunday, Mar. 10, 2002 Two more occurrences of Fady having a conversation with my chest. Believe me, women do not appreciate it, when men talk to their bust instead of their faces. Well, I don’t, anyway. It’s not as if I had big boobs. They are fairly average. Kind of normal. And there is Fady, eyes trailing down, talking, eyes trailing up briefly, talking, eyes trailing down again… I was tempted to say, “Hey, yo, I’m up here!”, but then decided to be nice to him. Saturday, Mar. 09, 2002 Spoke to my landlord and it turns out I don’t have to move! Told him that I’m not willing to pay that much more and he agreed not to raise my rent after all. Sometimes life can be stunningly easy! Oh, and after some R&R at home, my boss was back at work again today. So far no further throwing of furniture through boardroom windows….. Friday, Mar. 08, 2002 Went over to Sean’s place to look at that flat. Nice area, low price, but the flat wasn’t exactly great. Will go by the Portuguese Club tomorrow after work and check out the flats they have. Supposedly they are really nice. After that will speak to my landlord. Perhaps I can talk him down. Prices have dropped in Alex anyway, since many Americans left after the 11th of September and Egyptians can’t pay those sort of prices. I can’t imagine it being easy for him to find someone at that rate. Well, perhaps I will be surprised. Let’s see. Good point about Sean’s apartment block – lots of expats and the Boab is Christian and speaks good English. And, as it is in Kafr Abdu, it’s quiet and nobody pays much attention to a foreigner. Went over there by cab, which was funny, as I was having an ongoing conversation with the cab driver and 3 different people getting in and out on the way – all with a minimum of Arabic from my side and even less English from the others. Worked quite well though – good enough for all of us to have a laugh. Passed a fish ‘souk’, yuck! Sights, sounds and smells of the Orient…… Went shopping after and bought lots of strawberries and bananas. I wonder where the strawberries come from this time of the year? Was the first really nice summer day today – I was still in long sleeves and felt really hot. According to the weather channel it was 27 degrees! It sure felt like it…. Immediately went out in flip flops. As far as I’m concerned, I could go barefoot all year round! Anyway, strawberries, the Krups got some action again. Fresh fruit juice, yum! Mystery of the day: did the washing up and found a battery between the dirty plates in the sink! I have absolutely no idea where that thing came from and how it got in between my dirty dishes…… Thursday, Mar. 07, 2002 And another weekend. Thanks! I am pretty tired, had a very busy week at work. Called Sean last night to arrange a meeting to go and see that flat in his building. Funny, we’ve met only 2 or 3 times by chance and he did not remember who I was (on the phone). Err, well, that German woman with the very short hair and glasses…..Oh, yeah, now I remember. Hrmpf. Anyway, just called again, he’s off to his Arabic lessons, which suits me fine, as I am really too tired to go out again. That flat can wait another day. Too lazy to move anyway. I will end up paying 500 Egyptian pounds more a month for my flat out of sheer laziness. Summer in Alex sucks, all the Cairenes (? People from Cairo?) flock down here for the season and screw up all the prices for flats and whatever not, block up the streets, make the place really noisy yadder yadder yadder….. Tuesday, Mar. 05, 2002 Not much going on. No news yet in the “Looking-for-a-new-flat”-department. New colleague showed up first time today, to early to tell….My boss finally lost it and threw a chair through a window.... Monday, Mar. 04, 2002 Walter’s landlady does not have any other flat, John did not get back to me and I did not call him, will see tomorrow…. And a new colleague arrived today from England. A woman in her fourties, to be responsible for quality in production, don’t know any details yet. ******* A little something a friend sent me by e-mail tonight: For some time many of us have wondered just who is Jack Schitt? We find ourselves at a loss when someone says, "You don't know Jack Schitt!" Well, thanks to my genealogy efforts, you can now respond in an intellectual way. Jack Schitt is the only son of Awe Schitt. Awe Schitt, the fertilizer magnate, married O.Schitt, the owner of Needeep N. Schitt, Inc. They had one son, Jack. In turn, Jack Schitt married Noe Schitt. The deeply religious couple produced six children: Holie Schitt, Giva Schitt, Fulla Schitt, Bull Schitt, and the twins Deap Schitt and Dip Schitt. Against her parents' objections, Deap Schitt married Dumb Schitt, a high school dropout. After being married 15 years, Jack and Noe Schitt divorced. Noe Schitt later married Ted Sherlock, and, because her kids were living with them, she wanted to keep her previous name. She was then known as Noe Schitt Sherlock. Meanwhile, Dip Schitt married Loda Schitt, and they produced a son with a rather nervous disposition named Chicken Schitt. Two of the other six children, Fulla Schitt and Giva Schitt, were inseparable throughout childhood and subsequently married the Happens brothers in a dual ceremony. The wedding announcement in the newspaper announced the Schitt-Happens nuptials. The Schitt-Happens children were Dawg, Byrd and Hoarse. Bull Schitt, the prodigal son, left home to tour the world. He recently returned from Italy with his new Italian bride, Pisa Schitt. Now when someone says, "You don't know Jack Schitt" you can correct them. Sincerely, Crock O. Schitt. Sunday, Mar. 03, 2002 I did not have a good day. My landlord wants to raise the rent by 500 Egyptian pounds a month. I am pissed off. I can not be bothered to move again. Moving sucks. So do I just pay? Merde! Asked Walter if he could check with his landlady – she had this really cheap place for him. John also might also get hold of something for me. Will know more by tomorrow. On top of all that I have been back to work for only a day and |":*^%$$^&(*)_|""*(*&!!!!!. Shouldn’t I maintain a phase of “holidayness” for at least a month or so? On a more positive note, I found answers to all my questions from yesterday. Kofi Annan was born in Ghana, Indigo is a plant and originates from India and Mustard is from around the Mediterranean. Hail to the internet! Saturday, Mar. 02, 2002 I’m back - will post some photos here eventually, will let you know! Came back yesterday, with one hour delay. Started the day off by fighting with a taxi driver, who wanted a totally ridiculous amount of money. Not from me, dude, I’m not a tourist! Anyway, unpacked, went shopping for groceries (and a Krups mixer!) and then collapsed into bed for three hours. Sat around, read some, made some soup (broccoli cream) and mixed it with my new Krups…. Then watched Apollo 13 for the umpteenth time and that was that. Holiday – nice, too short. Too many Egyptian families with kids. Very noisy, screaming kids all around. Very busy. Murder at the buffet every night. Went diving for 2 days. 20 degrees water temperature, shiver! I think I liked diving in Thailand better….. Anyway, Sharm was ok, but I prefer Dahab’s backpacking charm. No families, no kids, everybody just wants to chill out. Typically Alaa was downstairs this morning to pick me up for work. I think I mentioned several times that this was my Saturday off and that I was intending to take it…. Anyway, the Krups – they had all these great fresh fruit juices in Sharm. I loved them! So I thought, ok, I have to get one of these mixers. It’s simple, it was the cheapest one I could find, it does the job. Needless to say, I’ve got a much better one already, back home in storage. I’ve got everything back home, in storage. Where I can really use it…. Ok, I will now have some breakfast……and perhaps a fresh strawberry milk, made with my new Krups? ******* During the holiday we stumbled upon some questions we could not answer, any ideas? 1. Which country does Kofi Annan come from? 2. Where do mustard seeds originally come from? 3. Natural Indigo dye stuff – is it a plant? Where does it originally come from? (ok, I should know this, but I don’t…) . |
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| Ever wondered if I am the only non-Egyptian person living here that thinks this country is strange? Go and have a look at Walters' World, that's the site of my colleague Steve. It's worth a look, although he is actually funnier live! |
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