Egypt - The Journey

I know, I promised to write more regularly, but internet access is not that easy to come by.  First, the journey.  It was actually relatively painless.  Bart to the airport is in San Francisco is amazingly painless, as was security.  (I didn't even have to take off my hearing aids!) The Lufthansa folks made me check my luggage though - after all that trouble to fit everything in the 22 inch roll-around, it turned out to be too heavy for them.  I knew I should have kept it under my feet in the waiting room!  Oh, well, it is Lufthansa - I'm fairly confident it will arrive!

 The flight was 11 hours and something to Frankfurt. I didn't sleep much, of course, but at least they kept us reasonably fed and watered, including unlimited free wine and liquor.  (I haven't seen that for a while!)  Changing planes in Frankfurt was a bit chaotic - it isn't that everything wasn't well marked, its that it was miles and miles and miles between the landing gate and the departure gate, with only an hour to do it in.  I did make it. though (with enough time to change a $100 US into Egyptian pounds (for those of you keeping track, it is about 6.7 to the US $) and stop at the duty free, for the 4 hour trip - also on Lufthansa - to Cairo. So, between the 9 hour time difference and the 16 hour flight..... you do the math.

I have to tell you that my first thought as we were landing was:Palm Springs is not the desert, this is the desert.   There was nothing but sand as far as the eye could see.  Even the buildings looked like they had been sculpted out of sand,  There was no colour anywhere.

Actually, I was beyond tired when I finaly landed in Cairo.  As some of you know, I was a bit anxious about the trip, not so much about the physical situation but more about just where I was going and how I was going to get there and what I was going to do.  Ted, my friend in Cairo, assured me that he would have a "facilitator" and a car and driver at the airport, but, well, it is not exactly like landing in Europe - anywhere in Europe, really - where, if push came to shove you could manage without a car or driver, and didn't need a facilitator at all!

Needless to say, I was thrilled to see that blessed sign with my name on it (among the hundreds of others), held high by Ahmed, the aforementioned facilitator.  He steered me to the bank counter where one picks up the Egyptian visitor's visa, while he held my spot in the customs and immigration line.  He whipped me through it all, picked up my luggage (yes it arrived, quickly and without incident), out of the airport, and into the hands of the driver in mere minutes!

It took a lot longer than that to get to Ted's place! The traffic was unbelievable.  Admittedly, there were no cows in the road, as there had been in India, but there was everything but, from tuk-tuks, to donkey carts piled high with burlap bags or straw, to lorries to cars, a lot of them.  I am not so sure all of them had brakes, but I can personally testify that they all had horns!  And for sure they only considered the lane markings as suggestions, not mandatory!

Since the driver and I couldn't communicate (my only word of the language - they call it Egyptian, not Arabic - is "thank you" - I had a lot ot time to look at my surroundings.  Some observations.  I saw no women drivers at all, or, as best I could see in the dark, no women passengers.  (Ted explained later that the women do drive in Egypt, but generally not at night).  It was very dark on the streets - it seemed like the streets were lit with 60 watt bulbs, and most of the apartment buildings were almost completely dark.  (Nothing makes you realize how profliga we in North America are with light is travelling.) There were huge lineups - I mean blocks long - of trucks at filling stations (again, I found out from Ted later that there is a shortage of diesel here!)

Eventually, we did arrive at Ted's lovely apartment in Maadi, a district in - as best as I could figure out, in Southern Cairo.  He was waiting with open arms, and a glass of bourbon, neat, just the way I like it, and we sat out on the balcony, enjoying the balmy air and the smell of the jakaranda (and the beaugainville, but, of course, I get plenty of that at home in Palm Springs). It was too hazy to see the Pyramids, which are apparantly usually visible; that will have to wait for another day, although the call to Muslim prayer - quite beautiful, really, came through loud and clear. I did ultimately crash, of course - even I can't last on 4 hours of sleep in, with the time change, 2 days, and managed to sleep through Ted's shower, dressing, making a pot of coffee, and leaving for work the next morning.

I couldn't begin to explain what Ted does here in Egypt, but I do now that the building where his apartment is is where, on a lower floor, his office is, and my the time he got back up to the apartment at about 10:30 A.M., I was showered and dressed and coffeed up.  (You know you're in the Middle East when you reach into the cubbord for a mug and come out with one that has a painting of Hezbollah's Nassar Allah something on it!)

After leaving the apartment, we stopped downstairs so that I could see Ted's office (I am always curious about those things, aren't you?)....                                                                                                                                                                        

                         

....and then went off on what Ted called "a windshield tour" of Cairo.

(looks like a normal street, until you notice how the Volkswagen is parked...)

                                                 

In addition to the leafy green streets of Maadi, above, we also saw the Citadel, the Al Ahazar University, started in 1050. and purportedly the longest continuously running university in the world, the cities of the dead lining the road, and more (all of which will be explored when I get back to Cairo for the last week of the trip).

I was feeling pretty chipper, but Ted had fearlessly predicted that I would crash by 2:30 P.M., and he was right.  We picked up Trish, a colleague of Ted's who will play a larger role in this narrative, had lunch at Julia's (best described as an American style diner, not memorable but for the mutes on the street whose job it is to find people parking spaces), and when Ted and Trish went back to work, I went home and crashed.

And a good sleep it was too!  Later Trish, Ted's daughter Clair (who is also working in Egypt) and her friend brought Egyptian takeout for dinner.  Ted got to use the antique wine opener he had bought on our outing...

....and I experienced my first Egyptian power outage...

(That's Kate above, and Trish below, all lit by the kerosene lantern)

Apparently power outages are a frequent thing now - and it isn't even summer yet when the airconditioning is on everywhere.  They are no longer generating enough electricity!  Nonetheless, the power came on after a few hours, and a good time was had by all!

The next day, Friday, I was off to Aswan and Abu Simbel, and the cruise of the Nile, but my very expenxively bought 2 hours on the Internet is almost up, so the next installment will have to wait until tomorrow!

Goodbye Palm Springs, hello different desert!

So, my last US posting for a while....

After I last wrote, we had our by now traditional St. Pattie's day "do" at the clubhouse.  Corned beef and cabbage were cooked and consumed, beer was drunk (although, Lord knows not nearly as much as in our younger days) and, as usual, a good time was had by all. 

I really like the fact that I can actually drink at these parties and stagger back up the hill to get home!!  Aside from everything else I miss about David (and way down on the bottom of the list) is the fact there is no more sharing of designated driving duties!

On Sunday, continuing with the fond farewells, I met Geoff.....

...and friend Tom from Vancouver (is there anyone left in Vancouver - everyone from there seems to be here!)

...for brunch at Tropical.    You will probably remember that this is among my favourite watering holes.  As it turns out, they do a pretty mean brunch as well.    And by the way, Geoff commented on how "subdued" I was, and we finally ended up attributing my lowered voice to my new hearing aids - I can now actually hear myself!  I'm not so sure - after all, I was loud long before I went deaf - but it is a good narrative!

More eating out through the whole week (and one wonders that I am getting fatter and fatter!).  Another dinner with Michael, this time at the other extreme from the fine dining experience of last week; we went to the Outback, the Australian steak chain.  Michael was appalled when he found out that I have never been, and had to rectify the situation before I left.  I am actually rather fond of some of the mid-level chains (like Earl's and Milestones and The Cactus Club in Canada, for example, and Red Robin and The Red Lobster in the US), and I liked this one too.  We sat at the bar (the place was packed, even on a Monday night - what recession? - smoozed with the bartender, ate and drank copiously (at least one of us did - see previous entry re designated drivers), laughed a lot, and wre content.

Later in the week, I twigged on the fact that I had not seen friend Ken for the whole season - he stopped going to the gym where we met, and both of us seem to have been busy busy busy.  He volunteers at the Palm Springs Art Museum, so we decided to meet at Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant, nearby.  Yes, that is twice in two weeks that I have broken my rule about not eating ethnic food outside of Vancouver, but, well, we all know that rules are made to be broken.  I was not terribly sorry.  Certainly the food was neither as interesting or as fresh as it would have been in Richmond, but it was better than I expected, and the company was great!  Ken and I got caught up, and I hopefully convinced him that he should spend some time in Vancouver this summer, when the heat gets too unbearable in Palm Springs.

Bridge lessons continued this week ....

(that's Jamie, our teacher.  He's good, and has obviously helped us a lot, even in these brief four lessons.  We have gotten master points every time we've play duplicate since we started the lessons1).....

...and a final good-bye dinner with Art and Wally at Billy Reed's on Friday night.

Couldn't resist taking pictures of two of the numerous desserts on offer.  Being a diner type place, and in America, the portions were huge, but the food is delicious, and the homeless man outside the restaurant appreciated the three pieces of chicken that were leftover (they served four!), not to mention the potatoes, veggies, and part of the desert!  (Yes, I succumbed!)

Saturday was friend Bob's birthday, and neighbor's Arlene and Deb hosted an intimate  barbeque and movie night.

.....there's Arlene, hiding behind her glass...

...and the birthday boy....

...and Deb, the gourmet cook

and Bob, changed, to go out and prove his ongoing youth by dancing at the clubs!

The reason for the hillarity was the movie we watched.  I was called In and Out, with Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck and Debbie Reynolds, along with many others.  I had never heard of it; it came out in 1997, and was about a high school English teaacher somewhere in fly-over country who, on the eve of his wedding (after a 3 year engagement) was "outted" as gay.  It was an incredibly funny, feel good story, with a great disco soundtrack (hence Deb's dancing).  If you have never seen it, or if it has been awhile, rent it and watch it!  At least we said goodbye for the season laughing!                                                                                

And, on Sunday morning March 24,  Michael took me to the lovely Palm Springs airport for the short flight to San Francisco, for the start of my next journey!  The flight was as it should be, uneventful, and Hank picked me up from the airport (what did we do before cell phones, not to mention cell phone waiting areas at airports), where we had the first "event" of the trip.  Those of you who are familiar with the Bay Area and Half Moon Bay have driven over the infamous stretch of road called "The Devil's Slide" known for its rock slides and consequent road closures.  Well, California may be broke, but the Bay Area seems to be awash in money.  They have just built a tunnel so that the Devil's Slide can be closed.  That is happening this week, so Hank wanted to have one last drive over that road.  We were not that far, so from the San Francisco Airport we headed for Half Moon Bay, for a stroll through that still hippie-dippie town and lunch....

and a drive back over Devil's Slide!  No piece of history goes unmarked by friend (and historian) Hank1

After a pre-prandial nap, we were ready to eat again, this time at Troya, a Turkish restaurant on Polk Street, suggested by friend Karen, who joined us for dinner.

I must say I was not terribly impressed, but Karen is fond of all things Turkish, and one indulges one's friends!  Lord knows I wasn't hungry, so nibbling at my food was not a terrible sacrifice, and, on the bright side, the beer was good!

Monday was spent doing those last minute things that require doing before a long trip - printing out boarding passes, calling credit card companies so they know you are travelling and don't cancel the cards because of miscellaneous charges from Cairo, paying upcoming bills, etc, livened up by a wonderful - what else? - meal at Town Hall in San Francisco, to say goodbye to Peter.

 

 Now that is a restaurant I can highly recommend, a gret "mixologist" for the mixed drinks that are now everywhere in San Francisco, and a great menu - interesting choices, but not so trendy that you need a translator for the menu, and extremely edible1

The whole purpose for eating downtown was to see the new light installation on "the other bridge", i.e., not the Golden Gate.  The whole Bay Bridge has been turned into a constantly changing light show for the next two years, at a cost of $8,000,000 (I told you the place is awash with money).  

It was quite spectacular - the pictures from my little camera, don't of course, do it justice.  (the last picture shows the lit ferry about to pass under the bridge).

A lovely end to a brief stay in San Francisco.  And now, I am off to the airport again, this time heading for Cairo, and the long planned for trip.  I am feeling a bit anxious, not, as you might expect, because of the political situation, but because I don't really have a grasp of what I will be doing.  (That's the down side of having someone else take are of all the arrangements!).  However, Hank's friend Ted is picking me up from the airport with car, driver, and "facilitator" (never had that kind of treatment before!), and I am sure that once I am there, everything will fall into place!

So, stay tuned, for Cairo, the Nile Cruise, camels, and much much more...