I'm afraid this post contains expletives. Not about the football, mind. The football scarcely merits comment, except to say I've never seen an English defence made to look so porous.
English football fans are notorious around the world for their despicable conduct. For some reason it brings the worst out of us, as a nation. I'm lucky enough only to have witnessed such behaviour on a handful of occasions. Sadly, today that list grew.
I don't meet many fellow Englishmen here in Cairo - it's mainly Americans and continental sorts I run into around and about. I was pleased, then, to see a compatriot greet me as I sat down to watch the match in a trendy and peaceful garden cafe in the leafy suburb of Maadi.
As Rooney and Defoe kicked off, a gentleman with a shock of hair which hardly looked his own asked if he could make use of one of the empty chairs at our table. I obliged - the more the merrier.
When an offside Miroslav Klose breezed past the hapless Matthew Upson to fire home Germany's first, the strange-haired man raised his fists and cheered. A German equivalent of "get in!" The Englishman and I exchanged glances, shellshocked and in awe of Upson's pathetic effort at "defending".
Minutes later, Podolski slotted home the second, and the German cheered again. His ecstasy must have been directly disproportional to my dismay. This was too much for my countryman. Concepts of stiff upper-lipped sportsmanship went out the window as the Englishman, maybe a little younger than myself, began a foul-mouthed tirade. "Stop screaming in my fucking ear! Just shut the fuck up." Turning, he moved to within a few inches of the German's face and let out an ugly shout, demonstrating his grievance. "How do you like it? I'll give you something to fucking scream about."
The stunned German tried to reason with him - it's only a game, just because you're losing... Upson made amends for his earlier mistake to make it 2-1, and once again the offensive youth turned, screaming in the German's face, nose to nose. The German sat peacefully, barely remonstrating, which seemed only to inflame the Englishman. As waiters and customers tried to calm the situation and prevent the young man from becoming more physically aggressive, I wanted to curl into a ball and hope no one would remember that I too was English. It was all I could do to meekly ask the waiters to turn the character out on his heels, and pray for any Germans celebrating their team in England. The waiters offered to reseat the Germany supporter. He politely declined.
As the screen showed replay after replay of the goal that never was, the German went out of his way to placate the young Englishman - it was a goal, it's clear, I'm sorry. The graceful self-deprecation continued throughout the match, and as the third and fourth went in, it was a more muted celebration shown. Fists in the air, but tight-lipped.
As the German left the match, I tried to apologise for my countryman's behaviour, but he didn't seem to listen, only extending his condolences about the margin of the result.
What it is about football, about England-Germany matches in particular, that leads us to such indignity is not entirely clear to me. There is simply no reasonable justification or explanation. I'm not sure I've ever felt quite so ashamed, embarrassed in front of my foreign colleagues and the gentle Egyptian waiters.
If, by chance, the Englishman I ran into today is reading this: You should be deeply, profoundly ashamed of yourself. I sincerely hope our paths never again cross, either in this crazy city or another. You have single handedly lost me my appetite for football at the time when it should be most celebrated.
Leaving the match, I felt sick to the stomach. And not at the result.
Merry Christmas one and all! I'm writing from Manchester Airport (where there is, predictably, no free wireless) on my way home to Egypt. Delayed again. It's been a fabulous week-and-a-half of fantastic food, good wine (finally) and – most importantly - thoroughly excellent company.
My first couple of days involved trying to catch up with some old friends, who were on fine form as always. I also managed to visit my darling brother, who is working a proper job for a year before he goes to London next year. He has a desk on the top floor of a double-decker bus with TWO screens. I'm going to link my new 12” netbook to the 15” CRT in my new office just so I can compete.....
The netbook, a Samsung NC20, is running like a dream by the way, a real breath of fresh air after the battle-weary Fujitsu-Siemens that got so hot I would have to manually fan in order to use Skype (a sight so absurd as to be almost unsavoury for any with whom I was in video communication.)
The main highlight, aside from seeing my dearest family and friends, was the abundance of snow that made Saddleworth a very speical place to be at Christmas, and that also meant my mum didn't want to drive anywhere, thus leaving me free to run wild in her car. Well, as wild as you can run in a Mitsubishi Colt. On Wednesday, after fearing Mona stuck somewhere in the Channel tunnel, I finally picked her up from Piccadilly so she could see Christmas “ha2ee2ee” - (“real Christmas”, whatever that is). Mona, for those of you who haven't had the good fortune to meet her, is Andrea's host sister and best friend from Alexandria. She's something of a legend after the way she looked after Andrea in the hospital and was generally a star, and it was a real privilege to have her visit the family for Christmas and for me to get to know her a little better.
In recent years, our Christmases have acquired a fairly consistent international flavour, with guests now from Cameroon, Brunei, Egypt and the US, and with one Christmas being spent overlooking the Pyramids in Giza. For Mona's visit, we slightly cut down on the pig products (last year's main meal unwittingly starred 5 different kinds of pork) bought in some halal lamb and chicken, and some Schloer – a syrupy sweet non-alcoholic wine replacement. I showed her Manchester, took her shopping in Primark on Christmas Eve – her choice – and hit the Boxing Day sales with an uncharacteristic enthusiasm. Mona was an all-round great sport, even at one point impressively managing to persuade my dad to pull out his melodion for a tune and, even more commendably, getting my 84-year-old grandpa to pull out his handkerchiefs and give a brief masterclass in morris dancing. As I mentioned, it was a privilege, and Andrea and I both miss Mona whilst she is out of Egypt studying in the UK.
I'm sad to be leaving, it's been great to spend some time with my family and another week would have been nice, but you can't have everything. Next I'm meeting Michael in Cairo and then heading south for my first trip to Luxor for new year, and I'm reminded of how lucky I am to live where I do and travel as I do. The new job starts on January 4th, and I know I've already got a lot of editing to do along with meeting and getting to know the trainees I will be supervising. I'm looking forward to the challenge, and it will be good for me to have lots of work to do to occupy me until Andrea comes back to Egypt on the 25th.
Merry Christmas everyone! See you next year!
Txxx
For those of you who are technologically astute, and have no qualms with following me on that most often pilloried of fiends Twitter, you will have noticed that but days before my homecoming I "tweeted": Home in 4 days, I dearly hope Blighty is suitably festive. (For my American audience, "Blighty" is how us Brits tenderly refer to Britain when given occasion.)
Well, it appears that someone, somewhere is listening. Festivity, or festive-ness - I can't decide which - is something no doubt unique to each and everyone. The Christmas I spent in Egypt with my family was wonderful, Chistmas lunch overlooking the pyramids and all, but festivity was in short supply. For about 2 months I've been happily listening to Andrea excitedly talk about her Tucson Christmas that is very clearly her ideal of festive-ness (which I hope to experience at the earliest opportunity :) For me, however, festivity-ness currently exists right now in Scouthead. The house has been tastefully decorated, there are hot mince pies in abundance, the living room smells deliciously of Christmas tree and, best of all, the trees and fields outside my bedroom window have been sprinkled with a generous dusting of snow.
For about as long as I can remember, classical music and carols have also been a part of my Christmas experience. Not necessarily performing, although there's been plenty of that over the years, but even just having a service of nine lessons and carols gently playing in the background. Classical music is something which, to me, seems strangely out of place in Cairo. Listening to Elgar's Cello Concerto seems almost bizarre as I'm wandering the streets of Downtown, and Cairo's metro is no place for Allegri's Miserere. I have, at times, managed to shut myself in the apartment and get through both discs of the Messiah, but still something feels wrong. Even in Alexandria I could listen to classical music (perhaps another escape provided by the vast blue-green of the Mediterranean) but Cairo seems almost antithetical to that very Western of traditions. One of the things I have missed most over the last six months has been long drives through England to the tune of Elgar and Vaughan Williams.
Last night, as I returned from visiting some friends in town, I experienced a beautifully festive, English moment as I was briefly caught in flurry of snowflakes whilst driving over the hill into Saddleworth, listening to my favourite of Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols". It was perfect.
To think it's been six months and five days since I arrived again. It hardly seems possible. Lots has happened, plenty been learned, and - I feel - a fair amount achieved. As my writing has dried up of late, I'm sure I have plenty to fill you in on. Alas, now is not the time. It's almost 3am, and Cairo airport is pleasingly quiet.
Perhaps all the flying I've been doing in the last 2 years has left me jaded, but the prospect of 10 hours in airports or on planes overnight has really lost the appeal it once held in my childhood. I used to love those all-night flights to Florida, when I could pick a film and beat a curly haired, bespectacled Dominic at Top Trumps. Now it's genuinely hampering my ability to be excited to be going home. I'm sure that will change when I finally board my plane in Amsterdam, in about 6 hours time.
Well, good night and farewell Egypt! More from the UK as it happens.tx
As I've written many, many times before on this blog; Once you stop writing, even for a week or two, it gets very difficult to get back into it. The longer you leave it, the longer the list of things you have to write about gets. It becomes a daunting task. Without further ado...
First things first, and with updates demanded from parents, grandparents and even members of the Twitterati: The girls I mentioned in my previous post - now enjoying almost rockstar-like fame after the coverage they received on the Egyptian blogosphere - are fine, doing well and by most accounts enjoying their time here. When I saw Katie a few weekends ago, she was looking well and was raving about teaching English at the university. They eventually managed to navigate the Egyptian judicial system and get the man pardoned and let off with the beatings he'd already received.
Andrea is also doing well - she's admirably determined to read the impossibly difficult novels she is given each weekend, and has far more patience with them than I would have. The content seems to range from the sublime to the ridiculous, and the books seem to have a consistently depressing and/or violent theme. Just how you want to spend a weekend!
As for me, well I'm working hard, keeping busy, and still very much enjoying the madness of life in Cairo. Teaching is going well, although 4 evenings a week somewhat takes its toll. I've also started teaching a private student, which is great fun. She's a marketing manager at a firm owned by her and her husband and we have a good time practising business emails and discussing articles I find each week.
A few weeks ago Son of a Duck, SoD's housemate John and I headed for an only-in-Egypt style adventure to a camel market a little ways north of Cairo. I hope to write fully about this soon, for now I recommend SoD's thorough entry on our excursion.
I'm currently excitedly preparing for short break in Pakistan, I leave on Tuesday, arrive on Wednesday, see Michael (of Michael in Pakistan) ordained at the cathedral on Sunday, and am back in Cairo on Monday in time to teach Level 2. International flights are a wonderful thing.
In addition to packing, teaching, Meedan-ing and writing, I'm looking at options for next year. As fun as this year is/has been, I'd really like to find something a little more financially consistent and stable for next year. Suggestions on a postcard! I'm currently preparing applications for scholarships in various locales.
All for now, more soon. I'll try and figure out a way of blogging each day whilst in Pakistan to let everyone know I'm well and safe, although this may rely on Andrea relaying posts as I will be sans internet for a few days after I arrive.
One final thing; a word of congratulations to my granddad Philip Slack, from whom it seems I have inherited most of my good looks, who yesterday got married to Vivien. Sorry I couldn't be there, I hope my message reached you safely.
Salam and, as always, thanks for reading.
I just wanted to take a quick opportunity to say Eid Mubarak to Tom in Egypt readers! Yesterday was the last day of Ramadan and today is the first, and biggest day of Eid al-Fitr celebrations. I won't go into the religious traditions of the celebration, Wikipedia has a thorough entry on the feast that's worth a read if you're interested, but it suffices to say that it's a very big deal here in Egypt. I also found a beautiful series of photos on HuffPo showing how Eid is celebrated around the world
Sadly, recent Eids have seen some pretty nasty incidents involving serious sexual harassment in downtown so we're hoping to avoid a repeat (as is the government by the looks of things). Andrea and I are getting into the spirit of things and are organising a small dinner for a few friends, hoping that we have enough cutlery and crockery to go round! Our good friend Clare arrived last night, just in time for the party, and is going to stay with us for a while, which is very exciting as I haven't seen her since I left Manchester just over 3 and a half months ago.
Everything else is going well, I have a few days off from teaching so will hopefully get a few more pieces written for Bikya (follow here on Twitter) in the break. Ramadan has been nice, but it will be nice to be able to hang out in a few downtown 'ahwas and speak a bit more Arabic. This is something I really want to knuckle down on over the next few months, as I've gotten a little lazy. Last week I noticed that, because I was writing and working in the days for Meedan, I wasn't really speaking much Arabic at all apart from exchanging a few greetings with people at the ETC - this can't be allowed to continue! In spite of this, I'm reading a lot of blogs and news pieces, and (as you may see via my GoodReads status) I'm also getting stuck into a great pair of novels - Bahaa Tahir's Wahat al-Gharoob (recently translated by the man who lives down the street Mr. Humphrey Davies) and one of my favourite books when I read it in English, Mourid al-Bargouthi's Ra'aytu Ramallah (I saw Ramallah). Either way, talking more is something I'm resloved to working on, hopefully whilst drinking tea and learning to play backgammon in a local coffee shop.
Here are links to a couple of new pieces I've written and had published on Bikya Masr.
Egypt: Kefaya distances itself from Gamal supporter
(15/09/2009)
CAIRO: Egypt’s Kefaya opposition movement has distanced itself from remarks made by founding member, Dr. Hany Anan. Speaking on Egyptian television channel O-TV last week, Anan stated that he would support Gamal Mubarak, the son and likely successor to Hosni Mubarak, as a presidential candidate on the condition that he agreed to abolish article 77 of the Egyptian Constitution, which allows presidents to hold unlimited consecutive terms in power. (Click here to read more of this article)
Egypt: American University enters Swine flu scare, suspends classes
(16/09/2009)
CAIRO: The American University in Cairo has announced that classes will be suspended starting from tomorrow until October 3. The move comes as part of a bid to prevent a new outbreak of H1N1, Swine flu, in Egypt, and follows the Egyptian government’s postponing the start of the academic year in public schools and universities. (Click here to read more of this article)
Sadly, (or happily, she can't decide) this second piece of news means that Andrea has another enforced break from CASA due to swine flu. This gives her more time to do the reading she needs to finish (lots and lots) but I'm sure it's an annoying break in momentum. I just hope for everyone on the programme's sake that rumours about the academic year being pushed further back turn out to be just rumours.
A few weeks have gone by since my last proper (or improper?) entry, so I'm sure I have lots to tell you. Where were we? Ah yes, on the train from Alex to Cairo. The week following my return to Cairo was filled with copy editing all over the city and interspersed with Meedan shifts and the start of some exciting online community development work there. It also saw the start of Ramadan, which is a wonderfully special time of year here in Egypt. Yes, it means that it can be difficult to get a bite to eat during the day, yes it means that people are sometimes grumpy at around 5.30, yes it means traffic can be chaos just before Iftar (the breaking of the fast) and yes, it means it's tricky to get a beer. I love the party atmosphere every night though. Streets downtown are full of people until the early hours shopping, buying clothes, sitting in cafés and generally embracing the holiday spirit.Great fun, and we still have a three day long Eid to look forward to!
Aside from enjoying Ramadan, I have started teaching at the ETC again - 12 hours, two levels, plenty of challenges -and made an unexpected trip to Alexandria to sort out my visa and pay a visit to a certain Mr. Nevadomski. Because I have received two residency visas from Alex (I studied abroad there 07-08), that is where my files are. As such, immigration officials in Cairo would/could not process my late application for a visa extension, and I had to make a Joseph style return to the city where I was registered. Only without the donkey. After some tedious waiting, and after a fine for overstaying my tourist visa, I was finally given the extension I had requested, but am now faced with having to go back to Alexandria to try and collect the multiple entry stamps I need to prevent my visa from becoming void if I leave the country. All quite complicated and not a lot of fun!
As the more regular readers amongst you may have noticed, I have started writing more regularly for an Egypt-based site, Bikya Masr, where I hope to continue writing in the long gaps between Meedan shifts and teaching. As we're talking about the blog, there is some housekeeping and introductions to be done - I've added various applets down the side from some clever sites that I'd recommend to anyone and everyone:
- My beautiful Meedan blog badge, showing the most recent event, my most recent translation and my most recent comment - all in beautiful Arabic as well as English.
- My Diigo roll of links I'm tagging as I find them, complete with comments. Usually, but not always, interesting stuff I read about the Middle East.
- My Good Read widget - a good-looking and well-resourced online library of sorts, allowing you to track what you've read, what you thought about the books and see what friends are reading. Be warned, this is completely addictive and you will quickly be trying to remember every book you've ever read.
What else, what more? The new apartment is working wonderfully (one AC broke as I was writing this entry); Andrea is doing well and has started back at CASA, where she will be reading an Arabic novel a week. An important, and enjoyable, part of the summer has been getting to know some of her coursemates better and I'm looking forward to spending the next 9 months or so experiencing Cairo and Egypt with them. Also importantly, in addition to the aforementioned Mr. Nevadomski, it's been great to find out that more of mine and Andrea's friends will be returning to Egypt; Clare and Naya.
All in all, we're both excited to be here, although we now have to start plotting next year - more on this in the not too distant future.
I hope you're all well, please keep in touch - I have thus far been disappointed with the quantity of comments, dear reader - and please continue to read Tom in Egypt!
Salam, love, peace.
Here's a piece published today on Bikya Masr. I'll carry on pasting stuff into here, but I'd really recommend you have a look over at BM - particularly if you're interested in current affairs in Egypt.
Bibi comes to town
It’s been a busy couple of days for Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. Last week he held talks with Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, where apparent progress was made over a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas, regarding a prisoner exchange between the two factions, and about the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Following Meshaal’s visit, Suleiman released a new set of proposals to the relevant parties in Palestine, based heavily on prisoner exchange and multi-party elections early next year. After two long years of division, there is a feeling that time is running out for reconciliation, particularly under Egyptian supervision: an unnamed Arab league official described this new plan as “Egypt’s last chance.” Suleiman is the man charged with the unenviable task of ending this division, and forging a Palestinian representative with the authority and willingness to provide a legitimate partner for negotiations with Israel. Egypt’s last chance is a chance, nonetheless.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, is Suleiman’s next guest in Cairo (how many people can claim to having met both the leader of Hamas and the Israeli PM within a week? – answers on a postcard). His visit comes on the back of a newly authorized 455 homes to be built in the West Bank and statements to the effect that any proposed freezing of settlement activity would exclude some 2,500 homes already being built in the West Bank, as well as any building in annexed east Jerusalem. Bibi arrives in town tomorrow, but how will he be received by Mubarak and Suleiman?
Will this meeting be stiff handshakes, plastic smiles and platitudes – the diplomatic equivalent of a discussion about the weather? This would suit Netanyahu, who will want to talk about gas, Shalit, the Rafah border and the smuggling tunnels, the lack of an aforementioned negotiating partner, perhaps even Farouk Hosni’s UNESCO nomination. Anything but the settlements.
Or will Suleiman cut to the chase? After two years of mind bogglingly excruciating diplomacy to mediate between Fatah and Hamas, Suleiman can see the faint glimmer of the fruit of his labor. The two parties are actually considering his proposal, each set to respond within the next 48 hours. With an agreement signed, we could plausibly expect a united, elected Palestinian government in place by early next year. But Suleiman knows that if Netanyahu continues to authorise the building of settlements in the West Bank his work may all be in vain. Whether Hamas, Fatah, Meshaal, Abbas or any other leader or group, anything other than a complete and permanent cessation in settlement construction is unacceptable: no Egyptian crafted, moderate, legitimate Palestinian representation would want to negotiate with Israel under the current circumstances. After two painstaking, thankless years, it must take every shred of human restraint for Suleiman not to scream this at Netanyahu.
Will Mubarak and Suleiman be able to succeed where the US has not in securing a settlement freeze? Unlikely. But with George Mitchell also visiting the region next week, they could certainly apply some timely and hard fought pressure.
If I’m an international rugby player, Travis Randall must be a blogger and activist
0 comments at Wednesday, September 09, 2009Here's a post published today on Bikya Masr, about an American refused entry at Cairo airport last week.
When I tell people I’m an international rugby player, they take a second glance. “Surely not?” I see flash across their eyes as they assess my less than athletic physique. I’m no Jonah Lomu, but it’s true. Well, sort of. I’ve played rugby for an international team? Well, sort of. I’ve played against a national team? Well, sort of. In truth, I played as part of an Expat XV who beat an Egyptian XV (not recognised by the IRB at the time) in the first match where an all-Egyptian team was represented. On a school playing field in Maadi. For the first half.
It’s not entirely inaccurate for me to describe myself as an “international rugby player” although it is misleading. My deception, however, is harmless. The way Travis Randall has been portrayed in the national, and now international, press is quite the opposite. When Travis was stopped at the airport everyone’s minds flashed straight back to Wael Abbas being similarly detained in Cairo on his way back from Sweden, back in June. Updates via Twitter, laptop and phone seized, no reasons given. Whilst Wael’s detention is certainly no less deplorable, the two men’s stories bear little resemblance. Rather, the media and human rights groups – perhaps out of laziness or perhaps more sinister reasons – recycled Wael’s story changing a few minor details; times, names, places. Travis Randall the freelance writer and sometime consultant thus became Travis Randall the American activist and blogger.
Being an activist and blogger here in Egypt is not for the faint-hearted. One cursory online search reveals the important and brave role bloggers play here, at tremendous personal risk. Look no further than Abbas’ blog Misr Digital or Twitter account. This is in no way to say that Wael Abbas is any more legitimate a target for Egyptian Authorities, but rather that when people say “blogger and activist” in an Egyptian context, this is what springs to mind. The national and international media knows this and are now using these associations to their own ends.
Travis Randall is a blogger. Well, sort of. Travis Randall is an activist. Well, sort of. He has a blog that had, before he was refused entry, been in disuse for over 2 years. It is an infrequent personal record of one young man’s time in Egypt, the kind of stuff probably read by family and friends back home. It reminds me a lot of my own blog, attracting around 4 hits a day, three of which are almost certainly my mother. He once attended a 10 person rally in support of Gaza during the Israeli war on the Strip in January. It wasn’t mentioned on the blog, though.
“Travis Randall, American blogger and activist” isn’t entirely inaccurate, but it is dangerously and irresponsibly misleading.
The train from Alex to Cairo is usually a very pleasant affair. By far the best way to get between the two cities, the gas powered Turbine train can make the 208km journey in just under two and a half hours, whilst passengers in both first and second class enjoy wide reclining seats and powerful air conditioning. At 35 LE for second class and 50 LE for first class, the train provides an affordable, although not cheap, means for Cairenes to escape the furnace that is Cairo in August to the breezy, sweeping sea-front of Alexandria.
As I boarded yesterday's two o'clock - first class, "no space in second I'm afraid sir" - I was not greeted with the wall of dry, cool, conditioned air to which I have become accustomed on such trips, but rather by a stagnant, humid heat that on a hot day makes Alexandria intolerable in the summer. "We're working on fixing the AC," the guard assured me, before I nodded off with my first class seat fully reclined. Shortly before the train was due to leave, and as the carriage was filling up with travellers no doubt reluctant to be making the return trip to Cairo, I was awoken from my afternoon nap by angry shouts behind me. "So what have I paid 50 pounds for?..What do you mean it's only broken in this car?..Why can't I change my ticket?" An angry mob, led by three or more fifty-something women were unhappy about the air conditioning situation and were baying for blood. One brave husband ventured to suggest there was nothing this man could do about it, only for his wife to resume her volley of questions to the guard. After the guard retreated to find another poor soul to become the object of carriage #3's fury, I listened as they continued their complaints, fascinated by how, to this group of travellers, a simple technical failure became ever increasingly symbolic of a troubled Egypt.
The difference between first and second class on these trains, in practical terms, is tiny. 3 seats to a row rather than 4. For me, it's not worth the 15LE extra. For this group of ladies, however, the fact they had paid, and could afford the extra money was clearly important. For them, it was far more troubling that the lowly people riding second class had what they did not - working AC - than was the heat itself. As a resigned youth sitting beside me politely told the complainers that their efforts wouldn't change anything, that they'd sit down and the train would leave and the AC would still be broken, a uniformed police officer told them the same thing, ordering that the complaints stop, before he himself changed carriages.
As the train pulled into Sidi Gaber, a few opportunists followed the officer's lead and a new group of travellers boarded the train. They showed a more bemused, knowing acceptance on hearing the news - "typical in this country... this wouldn't happen in Jordan, Syria." Of the various words they used to describe the train, and Egypt, one stands out: ta'ban. Tired. Sick.
Continuing south, and with temperatures inside the carriage becoming unbearable, tempers flared as one man tries to make an official complaint to the guard. After minutes of shouting in a way the Arabic language seems perfect for, and with popular support mounting with shouts of "Aiwa! (Yes!)" the beleaguered guard stormed from the carriage, telling the man to make his complaint at the station.
Although exhausted by the end of the journey, I wandered along, bag in hand, to make a complaint to the appropriate official. But for all the talk, anger and frustration, not a single other passenger from carriage #3 was there to complain to the authorities. They were tired. Daunted by the infamous Egyptian bureaucracy, and wanting to get home, I left without making a complaint.
Mum’s turned the screws again re: the lack of blog entries, so here we go.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks here in Cairo, which after the lazy first few weeks I spent here makes a nice change! I’ve been flitting around Cairo looking for more work and good experience with some success – I’m now copy editing for two publishers and a total of 6 magazines (after a recount) – as well as working plenty for Meedan in the absence of some of the regular team members and preparing my ever more lively Level 4 class for their final exam on Wednesday. I’ve enjoyed teaching more than I thought I would, I’m excited to have a new class at the ETC in September and in the meantime I’m going to be teaching a conversation class at the Coptic Cathedral here – somewhere I’ve never visited – for August .
Hopefully the break from the ETC will allow us to do some travelling this month, as Andrea has her summer vacation, and we have various plans of places and people to visit. I’m still hoping we can battle the heat and go to Siwa for the start of Ramadan, and it’d also be great to spend a more extended period back in Alex. Failing either of those, or perhaps in addition to, I’m always keen to get back to Dahab and at some point – though probably not this break – I need to go south to Aswan and Luxor. Something for the Autumn methinks.
For those of you interested and previously unaware, I have now officially graduated with a 1st in Middle Eastern and Modern European Languages (all of them..), congratulations to all my classmates, it made me extremely happy to see everyone in the graduation photos.
I promise that my next update will be less of a, well, update as to what I’m doing and will contain more interesting thoughts as to life in Egypt and my experience here: it’s tough to get all of that in whilst satisfying my mother’s thirst for news!
I do hope everyone’s well, particular thoughts go out to Submerge this week and my darling sister in Croatia. Don’t forget – you can always email me here and my Skype, for those of you with the technology is tom.trewinnard
Salam.
It's been an exciting, busy, tiring, stressful, fun, chaotic, excellent first month back here in Egypt. Four weeks have flown by and I feel like I've been here forever, and as a result of my ever increasingly busy schedule I've not posted an update for a little while. After spending a little while sitting on my hands, cleaning the flat and generally not doing very much - much needed after a busy last few weeks at uni, no regrets - I decided to be a little more pro-active with my job search and started ringing people, firing off more emails, and turning up unannounced at offices. Happily the first office I tried was that of the Episcopal Training Centre, a language centre run by the Diocese of Egypt. After explaining what I was looking for and what I was willing to do, I was hired as an English teacher by the director and have now been an English teacher for almost two weeks. As I'm new and my experience is limited, I only teach one class (6 hours a week) with a view to taking on more in September, but I've really enjoyed the first couple of lessons and the staff and students at the centre are extremely welcoming and accommodating.
Just a quick post today, in honour of Egypt's masterful mauling of Italy last night. Watched the game with the CASA kids in Gad (budget kebab and kofta chain) Maadi, the place went crazy at the final whistle after an outrageously tense final 15 mins, where Hadari kept Egypt's hopes alive. With performances like that against Brazil and Italy, should have no problem brushing aside the US and qualify from the group on their march to the final! Yallah Misr! I can't think of anywhere else I've been that a group stage victory in the Confederations CUp would have been celebrated with dancing on the street, it all brought back wonderful memories of the African Cup of Nations victory 18 months ago.
Great news: at long last we have in-flat internet! It's not an ideal situation (running a 30ft cable from the landlord's flat through our window) but the exhausting routine of trekking around 4 or 5 internet and wireless-capable cafés is finally over. This also means that I can once again return to Tom in Egypt, as for the past few days whenever I've been near an internet connection I've been hooked to following what's going on in Iran. As if I didn't have big enough Twitter addiction problems already....
Here are some photos of our place, though I'm not sure they really do it justice.
..is leaving, and the view of the beautifully lit Citadel by night on the way home. I’d naively forgotten the nature of the Carrefour beast and was actually looking forward to the trip in the taxi on the way there. Initial excitement fast evaporated as I saw the ant-like hordes entering the mall and flocking towards the hypermarché. After an exhausting hour or so hunting for things for the flat – pans, knives, bins and the like – I retired to the nearest restaurant and abused their bottomless drinks, tortilla chips and salsa offers and waited for Andrea to get back with the other food items we needed. It’s difficult to explain the Carrefour madness to people who’ve never been as it’s really unlike anything I’ve experienced anywhere else. There have been times, I admit, when I have rushed to Carrefour in Alex as a safe-haven to buy some reasonable cheese and half-decent bread, but every time I go on a more concerted shopping trip the experience is somewhat soul destroying. Picture trying to do food shopping on a match day at Old Trafford, or Boxing Day sales with trolleys. I can see its appeal to middle and upper class Egyptians who can justify the inflated price tags because they can buy everything they need there, like at Tesco Express. But one of the things that I enjoy most about wandering through places like the street market on Mohammed Farid, next to our apartment, is that you can find a shop for everything. One man sells plastics, the next sells eggs. One man sells bread, the next is more of a lime specialist. I also love the way that shops group together here: on our street there are maybe six shops selling glasses and sunglasses in a row of seven. In other neighbourhoods I’ve seen stationery, kitchen supplies and even prosthetic limbs sold this way. Happily, Carrefour won’t threaten these shops too much any time soon, I suspect – with only a handful of stores it doesn’t have the presence to enjoy the stranglehold Tesco has on the UK market – but one feels it may only be a matter of time. For now though, I’m happy to enjoy buying onions and carrots from different shops.
Nouredin = Hero. Two long afternoons trailing round in mid-afternoon heat finally paid off as we found an excellent little flat 10 minutes walk from Andrea’s bus stop that is excellently air conditioned and generally very homely. It’s in a really great part of town that is very Egyptian – we live in front of a subsidised bread stand and above a makeshift coffee shop – but that is also not too far away from the trendy cafés of Tahrir. Everyone we’ve met here has been extremely friendly and welcoming and people are trying to help us with everything from the internet to the washing machine and to the sofa I broke after being in the flat a mere 3 hours. Guinness World Record anyone? I think it may be the result of 2 days of kosharee and one cheesy bites pizza.
This morning we went shopping in the local street market for some groceries and cleaning products, which I then deployed in expert fashion in a revival of my pro-lifeguarding days, “squeejee-ing” the floors with meticulous accuracy and speed. It’s looking good – I’m reluctant to upload pictures just yet as we have some work to do putting up posters, buying throws etc. but I’ll sort it ASAP. We also have plenty of space for people to stay, so Ahlan wa Sahlan!
Right, off to Carrefour to buy towels, bedding and all things nice. More soon!
After taking a couple of days to enjoy Cairo and kosharee the exhausting search for an apartment is now well and truly on. As previously mentioned, the dirty Americans at the AUC have swine flu (although there are now some unconfirmed rumours on Twitter that there has been a first Egyptian infected) and her classes were cancelled until Monday, which means she can help look for a place. We visited Maadi (location of suspected Egyptian swine flu case), which is closest to the AUC after its move from the handily located Downtown campus, and decided that it was very beautiful and would probably be a nice place to live, but that we'd actually prefer to try the Downtown chaos for a while. In that vein we hiked round the areas surrounding Meedan Tahrir led by an energetic and resourceful simsar - the man who finds people a flat. The way the simsars work is amazing, they seem to be able to know someone in every building and a phone number to call to see whether a flat is available. Their local knowledge and networking ability is truly astounding - I have no idea how Nouredin (our simsar) manages this whilst studying for a law MA. Speak of the devil, we're off to meet him now (Nouredin not the devil) and I've killed two laptop batteries in the time it's taken me to check emails and write an update. More soon, love and peace.
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