Busy, busy

Busy, busy

First off let me extend deep sympathy to everyone affected by Australia’s current disasters, floods at one end and those almost unbelievable bushfires at the other. Hope all of you and your loved ones are safe and well. The fires have been on the news here (Al Jazeerah) and so have seen some footage, and of course have been keeping up on the net. A very sad time.

Otherwise, g’day from sunny, albeit cold and windy, Cairo – soooo sorry that I haven’t managed to write before now, I seem to have been really busy since I got back with lots going on every day and not very much time spent in the house. Mohamed found me a lady (Umm Rami) to come and clean twice a week while I was away and so with most of the cleaning chores out of the way I now go with him pretty much everywhere all the time.

One of the places we go is the office, although we have yet another holdup in the company process. We thought we would be working full steam ahead by now but we are still waiting for our final paperwork while the Ministry and the government debate whether we will be able to supply visas for pilgrims to the Hajj in Mecca. I find it frustrating but Mohamed remains philosophical. Meanwhile he did an excellent job while I was gone and the office looks great, we are just waiting for the chairs which will be ready about the middle of the month. He organized a paint job, new blinds, new glass door, air-conditioning, desks, computers, phones, fridge and stove and resurface on the wooden floors upstairs while I was away and had it cleaned so it all looks good. We need a plumber to do a little work in one of the bathrooms and that’s about it. Some plants, carpets and wall decorations and we will really look ready for business.

We are meeting a prospective partner from an Aussie company there on Wednesday so we’ll go again today and have another quick clean and make sure it all looks as good as it can.

We had Hagar stay for a week which was nice; she has started a ticketing course so that when she is done (3 months x 2 nights a week) and we are ready she will come to work with us. She is still planning her wedding for July although there’s no date set yet. Sister Walaa who lives in Kuwait is expecting baby no. 3 in June so I’m guessing Hagar wants to make sure that she and the family will be right to come.

Had a computer disaster with the laptop dying not long after I got back – when they took it to fix it they completely wiped my hard disk so I have lost lots of things including photos. Some I had on my external hard drive but not all – another hard lesson learned. But it did mean that I lost Yonas’s story which I had promised to post – I now have to wait to get it again from Ethiopia, sorry.

We’ve also been out to dinner at Mohamed’s friend Mohamed’s house – Elkardy and Sabah and their two children, Sabah speaks a little English - to City Stars a couple of times, the movies etc. etc. We had a small household disaster when the bedroom door slammed in the wind and the decorative glass panel smashed to pieces (have ordered a replacement – 600 pounds gone in the blink of an eye) and another when one of the figs blew over on the roof and broke the pot. We have had power outages, the net going super slow, the water off, the traffic is still totally chaotic and parking almost impossible – life is normal really.

Went to the Cairo International Bookfair although my hopes were not fulfilled by it. The site covers about 15 hectares with a large number of exhibition halls and try as we might we couldn’t find any maps of it. So we set out in hopes of finding books in English but sadly no, we were exhausted before we came across them. We did find some religious items in the Saudi hall and I did buy 3 books in English about the Muslim religion and also a Qu’ran in English. I hope this will all help me understand the Egyptian culture better and maybe also the people. I have dipped into them but not had any sort of concentrated read yet.

Today has turned into an appalling day with a strong wind and the sand so thick we can’t see the pyramids. It looks like the khamseen although that’s only supposed to come in March. We had a quick trip out to deposit money in the bank and visit the office but I’m pleased to be home again. It’s cold and miserable. There’s been no rain so far this winter except the very lightest sprinkle one day before I left to go to Oz. Mohamed says none while I was away.

Last night we went into Mohandaseen to order a new sheet of glass for the bedroom door and also to take a new fire extinguisher to one of the Coasters (the driver helped someone else put out a fire). On the way home we went past one of the luxury car places and thought we’d stop off the have a look at the Mercedes roadster and the Porsche Carrera etc. The boss wasn’t there so we had a look round, looking terribly interested and discussing which one we liked best etc. – definitely prospective buyers and everyone being very attentive. Until I looked down and discovered that I had odd shoes on…. I have two pairs exactly the same except one pair is pink and one pair is natural leather and I had managed to stick my feet into one of each… Needless to say I left the shop very rapidly, leaving Mohamed a bit bewildered until he came out to see why and I showed him my feet…. Doubt that I’ll be able to forget this one in a hurry. But we did laugh all the way home and now I am Linda Two Shoes who must be checked before she is allowed out of the house .

Anyway, time to go and wash the dishes after “lunch” (that is the main meal which we had at 4.00 pm today). For anyone interested I now also have a Facebook page that I keep up-to-date, must admit it’s easy to keep in touch that way… so maybe I'll see you there.

So until next time take care, lots of love

Lyndall