- sand storms ensure that the sandy feeling of the beach comes to your house
- Where in Europe the rain period stops, it starts here - buckets of water coming down whereas throughout the whole winter it didnt rain a bit
- White police uniforms!!! This is actually the best sign of summer here... Suddently u think the navy is in town, until somebody explains you that these are the same policemen that used to wear dark blue or black
- Tourists come in even shorter shorts and tank tops
- Egyptians become more collourful although they are currently still wearing winter clothing
- it slowly but surly is getting hot when having breakfast on the balcony
Damn i really want to escape cairo before the big heat wave comes... So see you in good cold germany in June/ July
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
and this is how a evening/ day ends in Cairo
Saturday 5:05 am
Today is Friday, which means, it is weekend. My plans initially for this weekend were to spend it with a friend and go swimming. Well, considering my spontaneous nature and the factor x (= Egyptian re-scheduling) my plan changed about 4 times by the time the weekend actually started. So yesterday (=Thursday) I spontaneously decided to join two colleagues of mine on a field visit to Alex. Very cool. Unfortunately i didn't sleep much the night before as it was Boogie night in Jazz club. So i slept most of the time of the trip (I know, I know, some of you will say it has nothing to do with boogie night, I always sleep in the car - too true ;o)
So after 2h drive to Alex we visited the NGO and then went off for fish. And of course the final obligatory visit to Carrefour has to be mentioned. What is it about Egyptians and Carrefour - damn everybody seems to love it and looks upon it as an outing... oh well... Once back in Cairo at around 10pm my friends from Dahab called and decided to drop by... thus we had a chilled evening at home and a more or less early night at around 2am.
So today i started my day with a nice chit chat and trying to help Paula a little with her English homework. Then i remembered that there is an exhibition of artisan from Upper Egypt. After 5 phone calls i finally found somebody to join me there. And it was really nice. Lovely stuff (e.g. wooden crafts, woven blankets, and wall art)
Arriving back home, i started thinking about the evening programm - do i stay home and work, or do i go to after8 where a friend is singing, or can i persuade a friend to come over for dinner??? Well considering the fact that nobody called and that the ones i called to go to a concert with me cancelled - I then decided to stay in and finish this freaking transcription which has been taking me hours and hours. And i actually finished it!!!! YEAHHHHHHH... So by twelve i actually felt like i could go to bed. But how unfulfilling is that??? My phone then beeps and the first message comes: 12:20 am - yalla jazz club (from Tati)
2nd one: Hey whats up - going to jazz club...(Begad)
well if two sms are asking me to go out... will i say no??? So off i went... sneaking out of the house at 12:45 and of course - how should it be - stumble and fall at the corner - kiss the floor - in front of the security of City Bank ... hurray hurray...
But then i arrived safely in jazz club and enjoyed the outing although i really don't like house music. At around 2 or 3 ppl start moving, and i just join in and jump into Dingo¨s car... uhhh wait a minute ... this ain't my house... ahhhh the party is continuing... so there we are ending up at some friends of friends house for drinks and food (which actually never came - or did we just not hear the doorbell from the delivery?)
After even more ppl arrive at the house at around 4:30 am I finally take the chance to escape and get a ride home ...
and there we are 5:05am, sun is rising, and i am sitting on my sofa all awake and think that this was once a gain such a typical evening in Cairo... ready for bed at 12 and coming home at 5 am.
Today is Friday, which means, it is weekend. My plans initially for this weekend were to spend it with a friend and go swimming. Well, considering my spontaneous nature and the factor x (= Egyptian re-scheduling) my plan changed about 4 times by the time the weekend actually started. So yesterday (=Thursday) I spontaneously decided to join two colleagues of mine on a field visit to Alex. Very cool. Unfortunately i didn't sleep much the night before as it was Boogie night in Jazz club. So i slept most of the time of the trip (I know, I know, some of you will say it has nothing to do with boogie night, I always sleep in the car - too true ;o)
So after 2h drive to Alex we visited the NGO and then went off for fish. And of course the final obligatory visit to Carrefour has to be mentioned. What is it about Egyptians and Carrefour - damn everybody seems to love it and looks upon it as an outing... oh well... Once back in Cairo at around 10pm my friends from Dahab called and decided to drop by... thus we had a chilled evening at home and a more or less early night at around 2am.
So today i started my day with a nice chit chat and trying to help Paula a little with her English homework. Then i remembered that there is an exhibition of artisan from Upper Egypt. After 5 phone calls i finally found somebody to join me there. And it was really nice. Lovely stuff (e.g. wooden crafts, woven blankets, and wall art)
Arriving back home, i started thinking about the evening programm - do i stay home and work, or do i go to after8 where a friend is singing, or can i persuade a friend to come over for dinner??? Well considering the fact that nobody called and that the ones i called to go to a concert with me cancelled - I then decided to stay in and finish this freaking transcription which has been taking me hours and hours. And i actually finished it!!!! YEAHHHHHHH... So by twelve i actually felt like i could go to bed. But how unfulfilling is that??? My phone then beeps and the first message comes: 12:20 am - yalla jazz club (from Tati)
2nd one: Hey whats up - going to jazz club...(Begad)
well if two sms are asking me to go out... will i say no??? So off i went... sneaking out of the house at 12:45 and of course - how should it be - stumble and fall at the corner - kiss the floor - in front of the security of City Bank ... hurray hurray...
But then i arrived safely in jazz club and enjoyed the outing although i really don't like house music. At around 2 or 3 ppl start moving, and i just join in and jump into Dingo¨s car... uhhh wait a minute ... this ain't my house... ahhhh the party is continuing... so there we are ending up at some friends of friends house for drinks and food (which actually never came - or did we just not hear the doorbell from the delivery?)
After even more ppl arrive at the house at around 4:30 am I finally take the chance to escape and get a ride home ...
and there we are 5:05am, sun is rising, and i am sitting on my sofa all awake and think that this was once a gain such a typical evening in Cairo... ready for bed at 12 and coming home at 5 am.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Want an insight in my daily life?
I have been thinking for a while what part of my daily life I should describe to you so you know what I am doing here. Should I describe the morning routine of bargaining with a taxi and trying to get him to drive the way I want to go, or work life? Or party life? Or shopping???
Well today on my way home I decided to give you an insight on my way home. After fighting my way to work with the metro in the morning, I finally decided to stop this otherwise I guess I would have bitten my colleagues at work. Oh my was I tense.
So now I take the taxi in the morning, which takes me approx 20 min.
After working 7h work I then go back to the street life. Walking along the beeping cars (and here I have to say that I am not sure if the cars are beeping to the other car or beeping at me walking past). I am sorry - I know this sounds snobbish but it’s not meant as such at all. I am wearing dull clothes covering it all. And still while walking past the cars stuck in traffic I hear whistling, complements but also insults.
The closer I get to the Petrol station the worse it gets. More and more men are standing around, staring at me - and I don’t know why. Coz honestly there are some other girls walking round too. While walking past the little street boys, who are trying to earn a few pounds, I once again become all tense. Will they try to grab me? Will they ask me for money? Damn I feel sorry for them, but - hey please don’t get to close to me. And noooo... don’t ask me for money... shit. You know, this feeling on the one side, feeling sorry for the kids, wanting to help them (and sometimes I just give them chocolate) on the other side, I get all tense coz I don’t want these kids to get close to me. This is a new feeling for me.
When trying to cross the street, I then notice that the young grown-up guys are staring at me while passing the petrol station. They start walking behind me and I am wondering whether they are following me or if they are walking along the street to catch the bus. Once I see them jumping on the small bus, I feel relieved but at the same time anger comes up coz they turn their neck and stare at my boobs and between my legs while driving past. But they are gone. Instead another car slows down. I notice it and try to cross the street again. But he is faster and already did a u-turn to cut my road and asks me, actually in a polite way, if he may ask me something: Miss miss, please, may I ask you sth... (but even from this I feel totally harassed. Another 20m and I am in the Metro station.
Here I check the little ticket booth. Too many men around. Okay let’s wait a second before starting to fight for a ticket. Once I have my ticket and go through the machine, I keep to the left as the first two cabins of the train are for women.
And here it just continues. Girls sitting on the floor, women shouting to their kids, young girls squeaking to each other. Uff where is my music? The only way to blend out the chaos around me. After 6 stops I then have to switch trains. As the train gets into Sadat, I start pushing my way forward towards the door - just like everybody else. And then comes the moment of truth... doors open - women from outside start pushing... I get to push as 10 women want to get out at once. The prob is that I can’t lift my feet thus I just move in the crowd for 2 min until I am out.
but this aint the end of my story. Trying to get to the next floor of the metro station I try to pass the bunch of girls creeping in front of me. Don’t they know how to walk? After getting past most of them, I walk down the stairs and try to get past the guys blocking my way. Then again - the fight to get into the train with 25 other women - all through one door. And there I am squashed next to the door, happy that I am 1 head taller than the rest, as I have access to fresh air. 1. stop: Opera - nobody in - nobody out. 2nd stop: Dokki - more women in. We try to exchange positions ensuring that I get out the next stop. Finally Behoos- out I squeeze and then... last fight to get on the escalator and not to stand too close to a guy.
Finally I am up in the street and only have to walk past the men standing in the street. Not that they will do anything, but uff just the look they give any female walking past...
Then my house is in sight. I start speeding up. My bawabs (caretaker)s daughter comes up and asks for sth nice... dahhhhh.... all I can say is that I also want a nice present.
Finally one more flight of stairs, and another... and I am safe in my own 4 walls... ufff another day over...
Well today on my way home I decided to give you an insight on my way home. After fighting my way to work with the metro in the morning, I finally decided to stop this otherwise I guess I would have bitten my colleagues at work. Oh my was I tense.
So now I take the taxi in the morning, which takes me approx 20 min.
After working 7h work I then go back to the street life. Walking along the beeping cars (and here I have to say that I am not sure if the cars are beeping to the other car or beeping at me walking past). I am sorry - I know this sounds snobbish but it’s not meant as such at all. I am wearing dull clothes covering it all. And still while walking past the cars stuck in traffic I hear whistling, complements but also insults.
The closer I get to the Petrol station the worse it gets. More and more men are standing around, staring at me - and I don’t know why. Coz honestly there are some other girls walking round too. While walking past the little street boys, who are trying to earn a few pounds, I once again become all tense. Will they try to grab me? Will they ask me for money? Damn I feel sorry for them, but - hey please don’t get to close to me. And noooo... don’t ask me for money... shit. You know, this feeling on the one side, feeling sorry for the kids, wanting to help them (and sometimes I just give them chocolate) on the other side, I get all tense coz I don’t want these kids to get close to me. This is a new feeling for me.
When trying to cross the street, I then notice that the young grown-up guys are staring at me while passing the petrol station. They start walking behind me and I am wondering whether they are following me or if they are walking along the street to catch the bus. Once I see them jumping on the small bus, I feel relieved but at the same time anger comes up coz they turn their neck and stare at my boobs and between my legs while driving past. But they are gone. Instead another car slows down. I notice it and try to cross the street again. But he is faster and already did a u-turn to cut my road and asks me, actually in a polite way, if he may ask me something: Miss miss, please, may I ask you sth... (but even from this I feel totally harassed. Another 20m and I am in the Metro station.
Here I check the little ticket booth. Too many men around. Okay let’s wait a second before starting to fight for a ticket. Once I have my ticket and go through the machine, I keep to the left as the first two cabins of the train are for women.
And here it just continues. Girls sitting on the floor, women shouting to their kids, young girls squeaking to each other. Uff where is my music? The only way to blend out the chaos around me. After 6 stops I then have to switch trains. As the train gets into Sadat, I start pushing my way forward towards the door - just like everybody else. And then comes the moment of truth... doors open - women from outside start pushing... I get to push as 10 women want to get out at once. The prob is that I can’t lift my feet thus I just move in the crowd for 2 min until I am out.
but this aint the end of my story. Trying to get to the next floor of the metro station I try to pass the bunch of girls creeping in front of me. Don’t they know how to walk? After getting past most of them, I walk down the stairs and try to get past the guys blocking my way. Then again - the fight to get into the train with 25 other women - all through one door. And there I am squashed next to the door, happy that I am 1 head taller than the rest, as I have access to fresh air. 1. stop: Opera - nobody in - nobody out. 2nd stop: Dokki - more women in. We try to exchange positions ensuring that I get out the next stop. Finally Behoos- out I squeeze and then... last fight to get on the escalator and not to stand too close to a guy.
Finally I am up in the street and only have to walk past the men standing in the street. Not that they will do anything, but uff just the look they give any female walking past...
Then my house is in sight. I start speeding up. My bawabs (caretaker)s daughter comes up and asks for sth nice... dahhhhh.... all I can say is that I also want a nice present.
Finally one more flight of stairs, and another... and I am safe in my own 4 walls... ufff another day over...
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