Parking for Egyptians Only

Saw this in a private parking lot in Alexandria.

Wonder how they plan to enforce it.

Also what qualifies for parking in this spot?
1. Only Egyptian brand cars?
2. Only cars assembled in Egypt?
3. Only cars owned by Egyptians?
4. Only cars driven by Egyptians? (majority of expats with cars, hire Egyptian drivers)

Scratching my head on this one :)

How Living in Egypt Changed My Life

I wrote this article almost a year ago and it was published in the Oasis, but for some reason, I missed out on posting it on my blog. So here it is.

How Living in Egypt, Changed My Life

- Karishma Pais (Kim)

Egypt has been here for many Millennia before you and will be here for many Millennia after you, hence do not expect Egypt to adapt to you, but you will have to adapt to Egypt.

At times, living in Egypt can be really challenging: like, when a plumber is coming in for the 6^th time to do the same job that he hasn’t done properly the last 5 times and may not do properly the next 10 times, when you are stuck in traffic for over 15 minutes, because someone wants to come in the wrong way on a one-way street, when you are kept waiting indefinitely at meetings for people who haven’t arrived. Most of us have faced these problems and more and find a lot of them to be unique to Egypt. But if we try to look at the positive aspects of a work/study stint, we just might be able to balance the scale a bit.

What has living in Egypt taught me and others in the same felucca as me?

Patience is a Virtue: In these days of “Instant Gratification”, in most countries around the world, it is easy to forget how complicated it actually is, to get so many things that we take for granted. In Egypt, taking time to get things done has been perfected to an art form. Except when driving, from Point A to Point B. In all other cases, how long something will take to be achieved, is all in God’s hands.

Pick your Battles Wisely: There are some battles that just cannot be won. Like the one against dust. Choose which ones are worth the fight and which ones are just going to leave you more stressed with no change in outcome. Only focus on the first and ignore the second category or work around it. This is essential for your sanity, blood pressure and health. (Tip: Karkade tea is supposed to be good for controlling blood pressure)

Sometimes, it is better to rely on yourself: Although all kinds of help and services are easily available in Egypt, sometimes the quality isn’t as great as you may be used to.  No amount of meticulous explanations and supervision may help in getting things right, in these cases it is better to do it yourself. Some things may seem important and essential to you, but not to the people around you. Do it yourself. For e.g.: in some parts of Maadi it is essential for your safety to ground the electric mains, so you do not suffer from exploding light bulbs. If your landlord isn’t willing to bear the expense, do it yourself or shift to another house (which comes with another set of complications.  So consider your options carefully)

Sometimes, it is better to cut your losses and move on: If things are just too much to put up with, it is better to leave. A friend found that her house flooded every Sunday when the people above drained their terrace swimming pool and the building pipes couldn’t take the pressure. No amount of reasoning or pleading would get them to release the water from the pool gradually. For the sake of her furniture and the family’s health, they needed to move. At some point, you may hire someone to get some work done for you (carpenter/plumber), but as time passes you may realize that they just aren’t doing the job the way you want it done or just not doing the job at all. While you may have paid an advance to this person, and may not be able to get back any of it, it may still be better, to just find someone else.

Its Just Money: At times you may feel like you are being grossly overcharged for food, products or services, but if this is what makes you happier, indulge, as long as you balance it out somewhere else in your budget. If a bag of imported chocolate is twice the price of Galaxy chocolate, but you just have to have your Reeces Peanut butter cups, then indulge. If you have found the perfect hairdresser, but she charges 3 times as much as the woman around the corner, but the perfect hair-do will boost your self-esteem, confidence and overall mood, indulge. But remember, nothing is worth getting into debt over.

Keep your Eyes Open:  For photo opportunities, for areas where you can help bring a positive change, for opportunities to help or learn, for people who just want your money. Be aware of your surroundings. Egypt is a country full of surprises, you never know what you may find around the corner.

Benefit of the Doubt & Letting Go: Sometimes it may feel like the whole country is out to get you. Give people the benefit of the doubt; it will leave you in a better frame of mind. The only people, who get hurt when you are stressed or angry, are your family and closest friends. So give people and situations the benefit of the doubt and sometimes you will find it is better to just let go, instead of dwelling on particular incidents.

Living in a Bubble: This is the most effective advice I heard from some friends who have been in Egypt much longer than me. Living in a bubble, need not mean something as drastic as living in a gated expat oriented community in the suburbs and never leaving the premises, except to go to the airport or to try another golf course for a change. A bubble is more about surrounding yourself with the things that you like, things and people that keep you positive, things that do not upset your inner balance whether emotional, spiritual, mental or physical. The only downside of living in a bubble is that you may miss out on a lot of interesting experiences, so do give new things a try.

The best advice I could give anyone in any country in the world is to recognize your bubble. Then, treat your bubble as your center of equilibrium. Step out of it occasionally and you may find your bubble growing larger gradually, over time. Step out of it frequently, to have a more enriching life experience, but know that you have the bubble to retreat into when necessary.

Karishma Pais (Kim) consults on HR projects, delivers intercultural training at the CSA, counsels new and experienced expats, writes for several magazines – online and offline. She runs whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com among other activities. Her Social Commentary and blog about life in Egypt can be read at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

Problem with Rats?

Recently, I've heard a couple of complaints from my friends about rats entering their houses. Its not a seasonal problem, but seems to have ocurred due to construction nearby or major movement of goods in the surroundings.

My first recommendation would be to get a cat to do the job for you. I find the rat problem here in Cairo much less than most metropolitan cities and my guess is that it is the feral cat population that keeps the rat (and also cockroach) population to a minimum. In most Indian cities,  the stray dog population is high and hence the feral cat population is low and the rat population is high. In cities like Bombay, I have seen rats bigger than the average cat in size and have actually seen 2 rats chasing a cat.  (The cat did not even have a chance)

A friend of mine recommended this poison in case you have a rat problem. She said to ask for "sim li firan" at the pharmacy. Its a grey powder that you need to sprinkle over a piece of food/fruit that the rat may like to nibble on. If you put  it on too thick, it may alert the rat to the presence of poison, so just a sprinkle. You may need to do this a couple of nights in a row, till the rat dies or stops coming back inside. She also says that this is quite a toxic product so to be very careful with how you handle it and to keep it out of the way from children and household pets. This supposedly causes internal bleeding in the rat.

There are rat traps available on some parts of the city, but I'm not sure where exactly.

Home made Cotton mattresses

Was having an interesting discussion with some friends the other day about mattresses and I remembered how, Back home, our mattresses used to be home made, believe it or not. The cotton from our cotton trees (in India cotton grows on trees, not bushes/shrubs) was harvested, we kids would sit to seperate the seeds from the fluff. It used to be great fun and then when we had enuff we made our own pillows by stuffing them with pure cotton into saris and bedsheets recycled as pillow cases.

The help would clean larger quantities of cotton which was then tightly packed to make mattresses. Professional guys came around to stitch the mattresses up and also to refresh them every year or so, when they would open out the mattress, refluff up the cotton and "air it" and then add more cotton to make it nice and firm again.

These cotton mattresses were ideal for the hot humid weather we have back home on the Indian coast. Come to think of it, I dont think spring matresses came to India until the late 70's or so.

It seems this still happens in the rural areas of Egypt and happens in parts of the city too.

I did one day come down to our ground floor in Mohandaseen, to find the whole lobby covered in a snowy substance. Thats right, there were a couple of guys refluffing cotton. I have taken a picture of it, but cant find it right now, will upload when I check my other system.

I was told that the person who makes mattresses in Egypt is called a munaggid .

You can buy fresh cotton, at the Khan. The guy is pretty easy to find. With your back to Bab Zuweila start walking towards the main street of the khan. You will see this beautiful sabeel on your right, the cotton guy is right opposite. I have a picture of him too.

I need to get our photos organised into one hard disk so they are easier to find. Will upload the pictures when I find them.

Harassment of Women on Cairo Streets

Warning: While most of my posts are General Audience, this post has some material that you may not want young children reading.

Sexual Harassment on the streets of Cairo is a common topic that comes up whenever a couple of women here in Egypt meet up, online or in someone's home.

There are those that say that it isnt really bad, incidents of rape are so low compared to the US, what's the harm in a little cat calling? The problem is that if you ignore the cat calling, it then turns to men masturbating at the sight of a women (I've had friends who said they saw their taxi drivers masturbating with one hand while driving with the other, simply because a foreign looking woman got into the back seat of their car), groping (which happens in a lot of cases) and could eventually by progression lead to rape if this malaise is not stopped in its tracks.

I've posted before, about Sexual Harassment but its mostly been newspaper articles or other people's experiences. Few women choose to detail their own humiliation for dissection to the world (its a different matter between close friends who understand and have gone through the same - that is in a way, slightly therapeautic)

When I last traveled to Dubai in March, most papers were filled with the news of 2 construction worker immigrants who were facing court proceedings for cat calling/ whistling at a South East Asian maid.

Points to be noted about Dubai.
1. Women (foreigners/expats) here cover far less than the majority of women in Egypt. (think tank tops and shorts to the maximum, but off shoulder, backless, low necklines are pretty common too)
2. This is a muslim majority country and local Emirati women are predominantly dressed in the black abaya type hijab. Fully covered black robes and heads/hair covered.
3. There is a high number of single men - men who have left their wives behind in home countries because they cannot afford to bring them over when they are here on long work contracts/ unmarried men.
4. There is a large population of hired labour living in what would be considered as Below Poverty Line status in the rest of the world.

All of these have been used as excuses to brush away sexual harassment in Egypt, yet Sexual harassment in Dubai overall is not even 0.1% of what "I" face in Egypt on a daily basis.

Why? Mainly because authorities take action about any such complaint. The law is tough and it is applied without fail. No excuses.

I'm not saying that everything about Dubai culture is perfect or everything about Egypt is imperfect (I've lived in Egypt for 3 years) but harassment on the roads makes me tend to avoid going out unless absolutely necessary or in a large group of friends. I know a lot of expat women in Egypt who are here on husbands postings, who do not visit anywhere that is not an expat dominated location for fear of being assaulted. While such fears may not be justified, it is a real feeling that these women live with daily.

A closer look at my wardrobe, shows me much higher necks and back lines than 3 years ago. Sleeves below the elbows, loose fitting semi-shapeless clothes. Visiting Lebanon and Dubai makes me realise how much I have changed my own style of dressing to suit this country. (Not that I ever wore plunging necklines to work in India, but they didnt all end above my collar bone either) Changing the way I dress, was just one of the adaptations to blend into the culture and surroundings in Egypt.

My husband and I both love traveling around the country/city and discovering hidden gems of cultural, architectural and historical interest which takes us into sometimes weird areas. Our driver/translator despairs when 'Madame' wants to visit Souk al Gumma (The second-hand Friday market) and other such areas, which he tells me even his mother and sister who have lived in Cairo all their lives, avoid.

But a part of the charm and beauty of living in another country is to explore its nooks and crannies. Unfortunately in Egypt, exploration into some of these nooks and crannies brings a lot of unwanted attention and in many cases, especially if my husband isnt with me, harassment both verbal and sometimes physical. So one has to be extra careful about where one goes, with whom one goes and what kind of clothes one is wearing.

Fortunately, not being cursed with blond hair, white skin and blue eyes, the harassment that I face is less than those who look "foreign" even if they are conservatively dressed.

Yes, making a scene helps and you don't need to speak in Arabic. I remember generally strolling around the pyramids alone when my husband went inside one of them (I'm claustrophobic and chose to not go in) one of those camel ride guys was persistently trying to get my attention. As is the case with most touts in the pyramids area (I have visited over 25 times in the last 3 years) I continued to ignore him, as though I couldn't understand him and refused to make eye contact. (this may seem rude, but works in most cases of persistent touts) Usually after 3-4 tries they leave me alone. This guy actually touched my hand and attempted to give me the riding whip/stick for the camel. While his gesture was not sexual, he was still "touching" me without my permission and when I had given him absolutely no reason to believe I was interested.

In Egypt, Egyptian women will never permit a strange man to ever touch them, so why do they think it is ok with tourists/foreigners? Anyhow I screamed at him in English "How dare you touch me, what do you think of yourself, what gives you the right to even touch me?" Nothing abusive, nothing indecent. In English and loudly. It was enough to make the people around stop and look and stare at the man. There was nothing confrontational about my attitude. I just made a noise to attract the attention of other people around to what was clearly something this camel guy should not have been doing. He immediately apologised and slunk away. The incident shocked him (I train people in NLP and Body language, so I KNOW he was shocked) and I doubt he will be touching any women any time soon.

But why do foreign women coming to/visiting Egypt allow these men to touch them, hand on shoulders, holding hands (not shaking hands) People whom they have just met in a shop, not people they know. They would not allow men in their home country to impose on their personal space this way, but yet some of them are perceivably ok when it happens to them in a new country. Any theories?

Point to be noted. Most of the harassment, my friends & I have faced, has been in Cairo. Men in Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria (unless during the Cairene summer invasion), Dahab, Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada, Abu Simbel, Bahariyya, Siwa, Sinai have been way more respectful of women.

Also published on desicritics.org

Sounds that you find pleasant

While on the long drive to Maadi this evening, I was tuned in to 104.2 Nile FM.

Safi was jockeying the "Big Drive Home" He asked listeners to sms him about which sounds they found the most pleasant.

This set me thinking back to which sounds I find comforting and welcoming. This was a pleasant activity to distract me from not just the traffic, but also the pain of losing my grandma earlier this month.

My partial list is below:
1. Waves lapping on the sea/lake shore.
2.Excited yips and yelps from a dog happy to see you again.
3. The contented purring of a cat which runs like a low motor.
4. Chirping of birds.
5. Sounds of silence in the desert/Sinai plateau.
6. Roar of a waterfall, sound of a fountain.
7. The pitter patter or throbbing of rain (if and only if, I am dry and cosy indoors)
8. Beep of an oven timer indicating that the cake/roast is done.
9. Voices of the people I love.
10. An unreserved laugh or an uncontrolled giggle.

These never fail to bring a smile to my face. I'd love to hear your list to. Do comment.

More Luggage

A short while ago, I wrote on Basics of Traveling - Luggage.

Cairo Typo reminded me on a point that I hadn't mentioned in my post, which is the weight of your luggage. Always check the weight of your luggage in store, because new flying regulations severely limit the weight you are allowed in your carry on baggage. And the heavier your luggage, the less you will be able to put into it.

In this post, I'd like to consider the options of Designer Luggage. Most famous designers have their own luggage lines too. We ourselves did not go extremely high end, but we did pick up a set of matching Giordano suitcases. Unfortunately in less than 6 months, the baggage handlers between Egypt and Morocco managed to break the handle of the suitcase. We do not know if it was a non-sturdy handle or the baggage handling process was bad. Getting the handle replaced in Egypt was close to impossible.

On our trip to India, we did get a new handle put in, but it couldn't match the shape and size of the original. This is one of the problems of being frequent travelers with minimal roots.

Talking about India, another tip is that with the recent attacks, airports in the country have stepped up their security and for some reason known only to them, require you to completely remove your laptop from all packaging when sending it through the hand baggage scanner. I normally put my laptop bag inside another strolley so I can include some basic toiletries and a change of clothes (we have tons of personal stories about luggage gone missing and never arriving, so everything expensive, important or which cannot be replaced is always carried in our hand baggage) I'm not sure about other countries yet, but if you are flying out of any airport in India, do keep your laptop in an easily accessible pocket, so it can be scanned separately.

Coming back to designer luggage, Hartman Luggage and Vera Bradley Luggage are very interesting brands to consider. I particularly like the Victorinox range of luggage, which I find very smart in its finish.


But what I really need now, given the weather in Egypt is a walker like my grandma used to use. The cold is killing my back and sagging sofa springs aren't helping the matter any :(

Back to Egypt, Back to Reality! - Costa Coffee

After a not so great holiday (dh's gastric problems resurfaced, but at least we got it diagnosed this time - because we were in India - identified as "erosive gastric duodenitis" - now he's on 21 days of high dosage medication and 4 months of low medication but strict diet) we returned to Egypt a day ago.

After spending a day in getting the house liveable and a lot of pending paperwork in order, headed over to Hyper One to refurbish my larder.

Also had confirmed a brunch/coffee meeting with my friends in 6th October at Costa Coffee in the same mall.

Meeting with them was great fun as usual. We googooed at the babies, congratulated the mom-to-be and had a great destressing chit-chat session.

Since it was past noon and I was hungry, I ordered a new item on their menu - "Philly Steak" Sandwich. I was expecting this : but what came to the table was a sandwich with pickles, tomato slices and luncheon meat. There was nothing Philadelphian or any steak in the sandwich!

I thought they must have got my order wrong and tried to explain to the waiter that what I wanted was a Steak sandwich and he insisted that I had received the right order. I then requested one of my friends on the other end of the table, who is fluently bilingual to explain to him in better Arabic than my pidgin version to translate. She had arrived a while before me and said that she had ordered the "Philly Steak" and had the same luncheon slice sandwich delivered and the same conversation, ending in the same result - the waiter insisting that the right order had been served.

Possible Explanations
1. Costa Coffee the UK based chain whose tagline is "Italian About Coffee" has completely messed up the recipe for the American Sandwich.
2. The Egyptian branch of Costa Coffee has messed up the recipe.
3. Today's delivery to the 6th of October, Hyper City branch was messed up at the production/labeling end.
4. The waiter/sandwich toaster made a mistake with my friends sandwich and to validate his story, he gave me the same "mistaken" sandwich.

What do you think?

If you have tried this sandwich at any of the other Costa locations, what were you served?

New Campus - AUC, Future University Egypt - AUC Book Sale

Since we had already driven all the way to New Cairo and the AUC Press bi-annual sale was supposed to start today, we decided to take a look at the bookstore on the new campus.

We just got to see a bit of the campus when we drove in at the Visitors Gate (no1) . The buildings do look beautiful and they have tried to replicate the architecture of the original campus in some ways, but even the briefest look showed us that the campus wasn't ready to be functioning full time.



The bookstore at the new campus that was opened at the end of August, had more space and seemed well laid out. They are offering a flat 20% off on all books, but the bargain books (upto60% off) are only available at the downtown campus. The sale will continue until the 5th of December. The downtown bookstore remains my favorite of their 3 locations and we returned here to buy our book fix :) today.

New Campus Bookstore 2797 5927
Downtown Bookstore 2797 5887
Zamalek Bookstore 2739 7045

While on our way to AUC's new campus, we also passed by the Future University of Egypt. I'm not sure about the University itself, bu their building did stand out on the road, kind of like a modern structure pushing its way out of the Roman Colosseum. Take a look.

Managing Overseas Houseguests

Wrote this article for the Oasis Magazine this month. Hadn't got round to scanning and posting it.

Managing Overseas Houseguests

Having moved to Egypt, the one thing most expats have in common other than being hassled for baksheesh, is houseguests. Egypt is a country most people have had secret dreams of visiting from the time they first studied or read about it. Having someone living in this exotic country gives them the added incentive to visit. Having you here, gives your houseguests a chance to spend time with their loved ones (you and your family) besides saving on accommodation costs and having a companion guide accompany them on sightseeing trips, who can speak to them in a familiar language or accent.

We have had about 50 houseguests over the last one year and all of them have been welcome ones and we have been on good terms even after they left. It may seem like an impossible feat, but it is quite possible for you to achieve the same whether you have a deluge of visitors or a couple of them every year. There are a couple of tips that can help you achieve this state of zen. The most essential tip is to screen your guests before they even arrive.

Tip 1: Do not issue invitations to people you do not want visiting, the acquaintances who make you want to our lock your house and check into a hotel for the duration of their visit, the ones who will drive your spouse to drink, incite your children to rebel or your household staff to walk out. Your staff has that option, your family members don’t, so make sure that your family is also comfortable having these people over as houseguests.

If trouble making acquaintances want to visit, then respond with a polite no and feel free to embellish with excuses that you won’t be around or someone else is visiting during that time. Your long term family harmony is more important than the guilt you may feel, over saying “no”

Tip 2: Once you have invited someone to come over, check for any dietary requirements or restrictions. This gives you a chance to be prepared ahead of time and source hard to locate items, plan your menus, identify appropriate restaurants and have a well stocked larder so that there is no panic at the last moment.

Tip 3: If your guests plan to visit anything outside of Cairo, then clarify this as soon as they book their tickets to Egypt. Hotel, train, cruise and domestic flight bookings need to be made in advance and often you can get better deals if you book ahead of time. Often these bookings are cheaper if made within Egypt than outside. Knowing this, the choice is up to you on whether you want to volunteer to make these bookings on their behalf. If you do make these bookings, have it clear upfront as to who will make the payment to whom and how, to avoid any nasty repercussions later.

Tip 4: Most polite houseguests (we have tried to eliminate the other kind with Tip 1) will ask you what you would like them to bring for you and your family. Have a list ready for such occasions, with hard to locate items/ingredients in Egypt or items which are frightfully expensive here when compared with back home. Most visitors also travel light, so the heavy electric comforter you did not bring back to Egypt on your last trip home because you did not want to pay excess baggage, may easily fit into your sisters baggage when she visits. If someone is coming from India, I normally ask for Indian cooking spices, spice mixes, medicines(favored brands) or local movies that aren’t available in Egypt. If someone is coming from the US, then I check with them if it will fit within their baggage weight limits then buy books online from Amazon and have it shipped to their location to bring along.

Tip 5: Every visitor (above 21) is allowed to buy 3 bottles of alcohol from the Duty Free shop in Egypt on the day that they arrive. If you would like to stock your bar, then request to use their limit. A small note will be made on their passport, but it is only to prevent them re-using their limit, it won’t cause any other problems.

Who pays for what is a cultural thing. Take a call on this based on your own relationships.

Tip 6: Once they arrive, don’t hesitate to set some ground rules. These could be any of your house rules that are really important to you - ranging from restricted TV viewing hours for the children to bedtimes. Decide before hand which house rules are ok to be suspended when you have house guests and which ones cannot be compromised.

For eg: I am not an sunrise worshipper, so for my early bird guests, I let them know the night before where all the breakfast items are and how the gas and microwave operate and let them fix themselves their morning meal. This way I don’t resent their being around and having to realign my schedule and they don’t feel like they are over-imposing.

Tip 7: Always familiarize your guests with the kitchen even if you have round-the-clock house help, so they can help themselves to a snack or fix themselves a cup of coffee at odd hours without feeling too bad about it.

Tip 8: The main reason why most visitors come to Egypt other than to see you, is to see the sights. If you have just one or 2 sets of a visitors a year and you are really close to them, you may consider visiting some of the sights with them and doing a fair bit of guiding. But, if the thought of another viewing of the pyramids or the citadel is just too painful to contemplate then you have 2 options depending on your guests.

The first option is to fix them up with a guide or sight seeing service that you have used before or has been personally recommended to you. There are a lot of fly-by-night operators out there, so make sure you use someone reliable.

The second option is to fix them up with a cab company or your own driver who will take them and bring them back from the sights. If you give them your own driver then have a plan for who will take the family around on their daily routes.

Tip 9: Prepping your guests: Most of my guests have been the do-it-yourself kind of travelers. So I hand over the most appropriate guide book for each location, draw up a rough map telling them which sights are not to be missed at the location and give them any other require information. I also give them insights, like the Egyptian museum not allowing cameras and photography inside the museum, but there is a safe counter outside where they can leave their cameras if stopped.

Guests will find information like the cleanest washrooms, best places to stop for a bite and how much to tip, invaluable, especially if they are sightseeing without a guide.

Remind your guests to constantly sip on water to combat the dry heat of Cairo and give them at least one bottle of chilled water when leaving the house. These little personal touches will make your guests feel really welcome and at ease.

Tip 10: Souvenirs: Every visitor would like to take some kind of souvenir back with them. It is up to you whether you send them shopping on their own into the khan / City stars section of the khan or go with them.

I like to shop with my visitors to make sure that they aren’t completely ripped off. I have my regular shops in the khan where the vendors start at lower rates than they would with complete strangers. Then I let my friends do the choosing and bargaining while I sip on a shai or karkadee that almost all shopkeepers offer on each visit.

It is important to let your guests do the choosing and bargaining so they end up buying what they want and pay what they are willing to pay and not something you like and what you think it is worth.

It is important to know that money can break many relationships, so be upfront about this. Who pays for what, is very culture and relationship dependant, so there is no hard and fast rule. Work out what works best for you and your family and be clear about it.

In low context cultures, it is common for house guests to treat the family they are staying with to dinner and drinks at a restaurant on most evenings. In high context cultures it may be expected for the host to do a lot of the cooking at home, especially in Egypt where home style cooking may not be available outside the house.

Your guests may like to try the local cuisine or they may like to cook for you one evening. Keep yourself flexible to adapt to these things and accept a few last minute changes, rather than making a plan a month in advance and trying to stick to it as far as possible. This will keep you in a more relaxed mood.

I also like to let my guests set their own pace for sightseeing. I give them a brief idea on what are the main highlights to be seen in Egypt and let them plan their own time in Egypt. This relieves me of the pressure of planning and they do not feel the pressure of following my time table. Instead they can enjoy spending the most time doing what they like best.

Also remember, everyone needs space and time to themselves. While accepting this of your guests, also accept this of your family. Do not expect your spouse and children to spend all their time at home making polite conversation with your visiting aunt and uncle. Let them enjoy their evenings too, doing things they normally do.

The key is to keep things as normal as possible for you and your family and be prepared for some flexibility in your routine. This will ensure that your house guests have an enjoyable stay in Egypt and you and your family retain your sanity and good humor.

Karishma Pais (Kim) is an expat trailing wife in Cairo. She has a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Behavior. She consults on HR projects, delivers intercultural training at the CSA, counsels new and experienced expats, writes for several magazines – online and offline, she runs whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com among other activities. Her Social Commentary and blog about life in Egypt can be read at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

Please say a prayer/make dua for my friends in Bombay/Mumbai

A wave of terror was unleashed this night in Bombay.

Before we moved to Egypt, we were based in Bombay/Mumbai for 2 years. We have a lot of friends and family in the city.

The terror attacks were concentrated around the business district of South Bombay where a lot of our friends were working late, living or eating out after office hours.

4 hours of terror: grenades, machine guns, explosions have left over 80 dead (last count, sure to go up) and many more, wounded.

We have not yet been able to get in touch with a lot of our friends. Please pray for the safety of our friends and the people in Mumbai (residents and visitors) - innocents who were caught in the crossfire for no fault of theirs but for the fact that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Thank you.

Visit to the Vet

Bacardi was a good doll for most of the visit. She meowed her head off in the car as usual, but I did not let her out of her new carry bag. Just put my hand in and kept petting her. Did not take her out of the bag @ vets (waiting room) either, till we reached her consultation room inside.

Then I kept the bag on the vets table and opened it and she had to be coaxed out, but she sat down quietly on the table once she was out. No catch-me-if-u-can race around the office!

Then I hugged her while she sat quietly. No manic racing around the room, no scratching and clawing. Just let me stand and hug her while she sat in "bastet" position on the table. She then proceeded to let the vet peacefully take a look at her eyes, nose, ears and mouth. Which were all ok.

Then was time for her 2 annual shots. Anti feline rabies and the one for other cat diseases. The doctor turned around to get the injections out of the fridge. Bacardi immediately turned her head into the crook of my elbow as though she did not want to see the injection coming. Even the doctor was laughing at how cute she looked while she filled the syringe. The first one, the doctor gave her at the neck, giving her this shot was not a problem at all (such a huge change) but after the shot, the doctor ruffled her neck fur to soothe her, but this had the complete opp effect as madam doesn’t like anyone reaching at her neck.

So she started protesting. I held her and calmed her down and told the doc to give the second injection elsewhere. So she gave it to her in the rump, which she also was ok with.

Then told the doc I had started her on revolution a couple of months ago, which to me seemed to be good in controlling the fleas and ear mites but I wasn't sure about its efficacy as a worm medicine. I had carried the medicine details, but the doc already knew about this medicine. She also confirmed my fears that it wasn't effective for the worms (she told me this, before I mentioned my same fear)

So now had to give the brat her worm medicine tablet which is as large as a aspirin. I knew this was gonna be tough, so instead of hugging her, I now caught a tight hold on the 2 front legs close to her body and the vet tried to put the tablet in her mouth. It came out as promptly as it went in and then madam slobbered like crazy to get the taste out of her mouth.


The doc said don’t worry, we will make her have it. So in it went, in attempt no 2. The vet held her mouth closed and massaged the throat so she would swallow the tablet. For the first minute she refused to swallow, and managed to scratch me royally, then finally she swallowed, so the vet let go.

One reverse contraction by madam and out it was again and this time she slobbered more than before.

Now the vet was really determined to make it go in. She took some cheese out of the fridge, wrapped the tablet in the soft cheese and repeated attempt no 2. Madam spat it out from the side of her mouth.

For the fourth attempt, we rewrapped it in fresh cheese and this time covered all angles and held the mouth shut for 3 minutes, till we felt it go down the throat to a bit lower. Only then did we give her more cheese so she would focus on swallowing rather than regurgitating and this time it stayed down!

Dread the time when I have to give her the second dose in 14 days at home and this time I will have to do it alone! Will have to powder it and mix it with the tinned mackerel treats if I hope to have any of it go down.

Then there is a gland above the butt which secretes some stuff, which if not cleaned regularly could give rise to infection. I have never heard of this before, but the last time we cleaned it at the vets a year ago, a lot of icky stuff came out. This time there wasn't even 10% of the last time, so the vet said it was a good sign.

Once this was finished, I let her go, she promptly jumped down and ran to her bag and went inside and sat tight. She was very happy when I zipped her in. This is a good sign that she is starting to see the bag as a safe place, it will make it easier for us to get her in there if we need to transport her anywhere. (We just carried her around in our arms for the first year and our backs received a couple of scratches whenever something startled her, she also managed to break 2 thin chains around my neck on seperate occasions)

So this is the highlight of my month!

A relatively stress and fight and race free visit to the vet. and an all clear bill of health to my brat. :)


Note : My vet is really good and kind and gentle with the cat. She never rushes me, listens to everything I have to say and makes informed decisions. She is well read and up-to-date which is much more than I can say of many of the Doctors in Egypt that we have visited for ourselves.

She normally schedules surgeries on Saturday's. She spayed my cat a year ago and it was one of the smallest incisions that I have seen done for spaying here in Egypt.

Her contact information is here.

Villa Grey Cultural Center

Villa Grey
24, Abdallah al Kateb Street
Between Midan Fini and El Nil Street
Dokki 12311

+2 02 3338 2184

Villa Grey is the latest location on the Cairo scene to host photography/painting exhibitions and screen interesting off beat movies that do not normally make it to the regular cinema halls.

This center was opened under the auspices of Grey worldwide and Gerard Avdessian, their Managing Director in Egypt.

Gerard studied theater in the Soviet Union and has directed, produced and written plays in Lebanon for several years, a parallel with his almost 40 years in the advertising business. He came to Cairo in April 2007 to head up Villa Grey and to realize, as he puts it, the “dream child” of Grey’s director in Lebanon, Philip Skaff, the “madman” behind the beloved community arts project.

“The idea behind this is to create a social link between the agency and the city of Cairo, the people of Cairo. It is non-profit because I don’t think it is our calling to make any money out of this. Once we cover our expenses, whether from sponsors or from sales of art, all the rest is cashed by the artist himself. We don’t charge a commission, la’a. We’re not an art gallery. We just have this non-profit movement within the agency and in the garden, and we open our doors to talented people, whether young or old.”

This talent will come from the visual arts — including painting, graphic design, sculpture and installation, photography and fashion, performing arts, music concerts, poetry, script readings, film screenings — and whatever else shows up on the marble steps to inspire Monsieur Avedissian and his team.

(Italicised extract from Egypt Today, December 2007)

We had the chance to visit the Villa a couple of weeks ago and check out "Oum el Dounia" - a photo exhibit by Dr. El-Sayed M. El-Sayed. Dr Sayed retired in 2005 and took the opportunity to develop his talent for photography. This is his first solo exhibition and the theme is Old Cairo and Egypt, its architectural heritage and its people.

We had gone for the Wednesday night movie screening that the Villa Grey holds, hoping to watch the Oscar winning German movie "The Lives of Others"

Unfortunately, the copy of the movie that they received that day, did not have English subtitles, so they could not screen it. They ended up showing Travolta's Hairspray so we left. (We had already watched the movie)

The viewing room is quite cosy and comfortable, so I'll definitely go back when they next show a movie that I want to watch.

To receive the schedule of Villa Grey movies and other events in Cairo, do send a blank mail to whazzupcairo-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or whazzupcairo-subscribe@googlegroups.com

The Villa Grey building itself is worth a trip. Its a traditional old style Egyptian bungalow with lots of Mashrabiya work, beautifully inlaid doors, ornate ceiling and lovely flooring. Reminded me of the Eicher Consulting office in Bangalore for the use of an old building as an office space. This is one of the best kept old bungalows with access to the public that I have seen in Cairo.

Basics of Traveling - luggage

When traveling to any place, there are 2 things to consider.
1. What are you going to pack, given the number of days you are traveling for?
2. What luggage to carry it in?

What you carry is of course dependent on the number of days you are traveling for, the kind of climate at your location, the kind of events you will be attending.
Carry your toiletries and first aid kit with medicines that you commonly use for things like colds and headaches (your particular brand of medication may not be available in other countries)
These things have to be put into your checked in baggage with the new rules and regulations. Don't put them in your hand luggage, you may be forced to dispose of them at the security check point.

Personally, I prefer to travel with a matching luggage set or with a "different" color/print on it. I definitely make sure I (tightly) tie up some brightly colored ribbons on my travel luggage to easily identify my bags when they come in on the baggage carousel.


If you are traveling for business, then you will definitely need to take along a laptop bag and a suit bag. Suit bags are more convenient if you do not want to wear your blazer/suit when traveling.

If you buy a soft case garment bag, then this can fit inside your main suitcase. I prefer this, since with the single hand luggage restriction, I prefer to utilise that for my laptop bag.

As my hand luggage, I like to carry a bag that fits my laptop, important papers and a fresh set of clothes. I have had too many incidents of luggage not arriving with me at my destination and when I have training or presentations in the morning, I don't want to attend them in crumpled clothes of the previous day, nor do I want to go shopping at the last moment and make do with ill fitting clothes.

I also like this to be on wheels, so I'm not lugging the weight on my shoulder through huge airports.
I prefer a slightly sportier one, that can also double as a backpack when I'm traveling on holiday.

I like to carry my laptop so I can transfer pictures and work on them when the details are still fresh in my mind. Also in case of a work emergency, I have all my data accessible.
When sightseeing, the laptop can be locked inside the suitcase and the backpack is used to carry the guidebooks, cameras, cap, sunglasses, water and a light snack.

As a woman, we are also allowed to carry a purse when flying. Make sure you remove your cosmetics from this bag before flying and transfer them to your check in luggage. The purse will have a wallet, passport, a pen (for filling out forms), keys, cell phone, camera and any precious items that you cannot afford to lose if the checked in baggage is lost.

These are some basic pointers to consider when packing for your next trip.

Ramadan Kareem - Ramadan begun in Egypt

With the appropriate sighting of the moon, yesterday (September 1st) was the first day of Ramadan in Egypt.

This begins the Holy month of fasting for Muslims over the world.

What specifically does it mean to expats in Egypt?

Treat everyone with utmost respect. Lack of nicotine and caffeine to bodies used to consuming them every 5 minutes can lead to extreme crankiness.

What work normally takes a day to be done, will take longer. (yes, than usual)

Offices are working shorter hours.
Expect major traffic jams around 3pm when people start heading home.
Expect near zero traffic at sunset during Iftaar time.

Ramadan is a time to share with the less fortunate. Expect more people lining up for Baksheesh and remember your house help have to be given half their annual bonus at Eid time.

Expect to be invited for at least one iftaar party where you will be treated to a large variety of foods. If you are unlucky enough to not have any Egyptian friends to invite you, make sure you attend at least one iftaar buffet in town this season to be treated to delicacies that aren't prepared during the rest of the year. The buffet at the Marriott is a good option.

Definitely wander around the Khan late at night and soak in the atmosphere, maybe even waiting until Sohour. Try to attend a Sufi Performance at the Wikalat al Ghuri.

There are plenty of special cultural events being hosted in the city, try and attend as many as you can and take full advantage of the shortened work days.

Ramadan in Egypt is a unique experience, enjoy it as much as you can. Who knows where you will be next year :)

Daylight Saving Time to end

Egypt’s daylight saving time for 2008 will end at midnight between August 28 and August 29, when the country will wind the clock back by one hour.

http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/egypt-daylight-saving-time-2008.html

What's been happening?

To answer the questions from my loyal readers who have been wondering where I had disappeared....

I had a house full of guests. 8 house guests for 2 weeks and 4 house guests for 4 weeks. Making it an average of 8 Indians in the house for a month with most meals being eaten at home.

So do you know what it takes to feed 8 Indians for a month?
35 cartons (35*12 bottles) of 1.5 litre water bottles
35 kilos of vegetables
25 kilos of wheat flour
16 kilos of rice
15 liters of milk
10 kilos of fruit
8 liters of oil
8 kilos of lentils (dhal)
3 kilos of tea
2 kilos of salt

and thereabouts. I have never bought so many groceries in my life!!!

So now you know what kept me busy for the last month :)

Earthquake this morning?

Did anyone feel the earthquake this morning in Egypt?

Husband woke me up about 6:30am. the shaking bed had woken him up. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming it all, so he woke me up.

The bed was indeed shaking more than the slight vibrations we feel each time the local train passes by (every 15 minutes) and then he pointed to the suspended light fixture which was oscillating (but not too wildly)

I realised there were some vibrations, but didn't think it was serious enough to panic. So I rolled over and went back to sleep (anyone who knows me, knows I am not a 6:30am person unless I have stayed up until then) I think he was a bit miffed but I had my reasons.

We are on the top floor in our building and I would think staying in, is safer than trying to run out. Logic being it may be easier to survive falling down (a couple of storeys) than having heavy stuff fall on top of you (if you even manage to reach street level in the crowded streets of Mohandaseen)

Woke up later (a couple of hours later) to hear that there had been an underwater earthquake in Greece

The reports say the earthquake struck at 11:34GMT which would logically be 2:00am in Egypt right now (because of DST), but we felt it at 6:30am.

Now that I am wide awake, I was just wondering if the buildings in Egypt are earthquake proof. and what can I do to be prepared in future.

Seriously considering putting all our important papers into one small suitcase and having it handy in case of an emergency. So if the need arises, I can rush out with the suitcase, my laptop and the cat.

Any other ideas?

Another One of those Horrible Days

Picked up 2 more relatives from the airport yesterday to add to the 4 that were already at home and went for a nice round of sightseeing. Thorughly exhausted we reached home at 10pm to find that the lift wasn't working!

Let me clarify: Our building has 2 lifts. Lift No1 was for general purpose and use and lift number 2 was only for the house owners above floor no 5. It needed (yes past tense) a key to be operated and could only be summoned to the floors by a button located inside the flat.

Lift No 1 after constant sputterings and false starts, completely gave way in December. Yes, December 2007! It has still not been repaired. Seemingly not all the flat owners were willing to pay the required extra sum for the repair of lift number 1.

By February, the key mechanism of Lift Number 2 was disabled so anyone could press any number inside the lift, but the lift could still only be summoned to the floor by pressing the button inside the apartment.

Since I live on the top floor with only the terrace above me, I constantly have workmen who have accessed the terrace ringing my bell (10 times in quick succession, like they OWN my FLAT and ME!!) to get me to press this summoning button for them. Nobody rings the bell of the woman opposite me (2 flats per floor only) as she is a known harridan. It is very frustrating to be summoned to the front door from all corners of the house in the middle of a nap, cooking, eating, sleeping, typing, consulting, writing, phone conversations, guests in the hall by the persistent and insistent and adamant ringing of my front door bell by all and sundry!

I have put up with that for almost 4 months now on a daily basis!

The final straw was when after all the walking about of the day yesterday, we came home with my husbands parents who had also walked around with us the whole day to find the lift was not working and the lift repairman had not appeared for over an hour and refused to answer his cell after originally agreeing to come.

All 8 of us made the painful trek to the 13th floor with some of the smaller bits of luggage and souvenirs purchased during the day.

We had an additional floor to climb since I have shifted to the upstairs annexe right now. Once I climbed the extra floor inside our apartment, I was confronted with a kitchen cabinet filled with my landlady's glass & ceramic crockery (that she had left to be used by us, but I was using my own stuff and had stored it upstairs) that had fallen off the wall and crashed to the counter below. Smashing up all the glass and ceramic ware in the process and strewing minute splinters all over the room.

I had kept some of the extra pickles and masalas that had arrived from India on the countertop below the cabinet. So those were crushed and added to a sticky mess!

That took a nice couple of hours to clean and mop multiple times with little bits of wet kitchen roll - to ensure no little splinters remained to hurt any human or our cat - who still refuses to use shib-shibs!

Just one of those days when nothing goes right. Anyway that put paid to an early morning start today for more sightseeing, but will be headed out in a while.

This is the first time I have seen/heard of a kitchen cabinet coming right off the wall and crashing below! (No extra weight had been added inside that cabinet) Only in Egypt!

Shopping at Zahraan

After the disastrous effort at Omar Effendi I popped into Zahraan (Syria Street, Mohandaseen & near Road 9 in Maadi are just 2 of the many locations) to pick up the things I did not locate at Omar Effendi.

Zahraan is a walk in store. You can browse on your own or ask any of the strategically positioned salespeople (they employ women too) for help. If you choose to browse on your own and your hands start getting full, a salesperson will offer you a basket and also the service of carrying your items collected until then to the cash register to wait for you there.

Zahraan carries a ton of stuff for the kitchen, dining, bathroom and some other home accessories.

Pick up the stuff you want, carry it to the cash register. Bill gets made. Gift wrapping at the same counter if you desire. Pay your money and the sales guy will even carry your items to the car if you have heavy or many packages.

So convenient!