Hi All,
One reason that it takes me such a long time to post is because I have to take photos from the photo-taking device to the computer before I upload them. Wahied currently has great photos that I want to post on his mobile, but doesn't have his memory card to transfer them to the computer. As soon we get them over, I will have stories and pictures from my recent Orthodox baptism (which was a hoot) and last night's tea at the Vietnamese Embassy with the Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt and the Vietnamese Minster of Culture. I won't give away the fun surprise, but I challenge anyone to keep a straight face when they see the photo of that event.
Despite little photographic evidence to prove it, Wahied and I have been keeping extremely busy. Over the past few days few major purchases have been made, though we've spent a great deal of time and energy doing research into all of the subtleties of car ownership, country club membership and home furnishings. The real difficulty comes from the fact that Wahied is Egyptian and I am not, and different options are available (at different prices) for foreigners and for Egyptians. The same question asked by different people yields extremely disparate results.
This morning was the third morning in a row that a truly remarkable thing has happened: I've woken up cold. Snuggled under my blankets, this is a wonderful thing, but it is quite unusual. I am in Cairo. In June. All plans for purchasing an air-conditioner (which we certainly haven't needed) have been abandoned.
Last night, after our meeting with the Ambassador, Wahied took the Vietnamese diplomats out to dinner. They objected strongly to any restaurant where they could sample "traditional" food (like any normal tourist restaurant) and demanded either Vietnamese or Thai. After much sniggering among those of us who speak Arabic we suggested Chinese food. This was my first truly magical cultural experience.
The restaurant, Wang Fu, was painted red with red lanterns hanging all over the front. The stairs up to it, the outdoor entrance, and the inside floors were covered in parquet-themed peeling linoleum. We were ushered inside by an extremely Egyptian-looking Egyptian boy who was wearing a traditional high collared Chinese silk shirt with dragons embroidered on it. The entire wait staff (all glaringly Egyptian) were in identical outfits. They spoke neither Chinese nor English.
The only major upset was their lack of alcoholic beverages. The Vietnamese very worriedly told Wahied that it was a physical impossibility to eat food and not drink beer. Wahied ordered a round of Birell (a not-very-nice wheat-based soda) and convinced them that it was, in fact, Egyptian beer. The food we were served doesn't remotely resemble anything I've ever eaten before. Highlights included something I could only describe as "black pepper and egg soup" (it looked like egg drop soup but tasted only, and overwhelmingly, of black pepper) and "the beef" (which, despite appearing to be beef and vegetables in brown sauce, was actually just a gelatinous combination of salt and MSG). It was an adventure.
I'll end this post with a shameless plug for HSBC. I went to the bank today to pick up my bank card and they had everything for me. They helped me set up my Egyptian online banking and walked me through how to quickly, easily and for-free transfer money between my HSBC accounts in different countries. We discussed my imminent car purchase and the bank will help work everything out for me when the time comes. Fantastic! I am really impressed with the way they've been treating me.
Thats all for now!
Lisy (in Egypt)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Exciting things are happening....in my bathroom
Hi All,
I had intended to update this daily, but as you may have gathered from my apartment pictures, things are still getting settled in the Helmy-Shahat household. Over the last couple of days our home has had some extremely notable (and positive additions).
After 14 days of constant searching, that twice would have led to fights between a very exasperated Lisy and some very sassy salespeople had Wahied not intervened, we found white bathmats. The euphoria I experienced upon finding them led me to become greedy and I purchased every single white bathmat that exists in this city of 25 million people. We now own five. (For those of you who are underwhelmed, please refer to my previous pictures and the picture below for the before and after shots of my hideous pink bathroom.)
Next, as you might have noticed in my 'after' shot in the pink bathroom picture, we have a washing machine. The box it came in confirmed what we had been told: that this washing machine is "Number 1 in Egypt". We actually purchased it last Tuesday, but it took them a week to deliver it, then we had to wait 2 days for someone to come to install it, and then, when it still didn't work because the power source it had been hooked up to wasn't good enough, waited another day for a new cable. But it works now--it works fantastically! And it is currently just finishing its second load of laundry.
The washer does a fantastic job of washing but it is not a dryer. It produces very clean, slightly damp clothes that I then take out to the second balcony (the one with the ugly view) to hang on little tiny strings with cheap clothespins, 7 stories above the courtyard below, desperately hoping that I don't drop my trousers on an unsuspecting sheik's head and that strong a strong breeze will not leave me underpants-less. So far, so good.
My last great improvement is my new Nokia E51. For those of you who know me well, this is perhaps the most drastic change for me. I am notorious for basic, inexpensive, technology. Sure it's nice that my phone has a great camera and excellent sound/video playing ability and speakers, but I really got the phone because I need a phone that enables me to communicate, and this one does that really well. It has notoriously amazing internet capabilities. The browser is fast. It has bluetooth, wi-fi, and super-fast normal internet. It has e-mail, adobe reader, a 2mb memory card, and internet phone. But best of all---it's really, really easy to use, not-flashy looking (though it is very very slim), and has a 5 day battery life. I feel like a really well-connected career woman. Now, all I have to do is set up mobile internet service with Vodafone Egypt.
Those are the only photograph-worthy improvements of the moment. Other, less photogenic improvements, such as "order" "relative cleanliness" and "groceries" are making their way into our lives, but those need little explanation.
I will update more soon, hopefully with stories and pictures of the world outside of our apartment. In the meantime, all of you be well, and to those of you finishing school and/or starting your summers---enjoy! and keep me posted about what you all are up to.
I had intended to update this daily, but as you may have gathered from my apartment pictures, things are still getting settled in the Helmy-Shahat household. Over the last couple of days our home has had some extremely notable (and positive additions).
After 14 days of constant searching, that twice would have led to fights between a very exasperated Lisy and some very sassy salespeople had Wahied not intervened, we found white bathmats. The euphoria I experienced upon finding them led me to become greedy and I purchased every single white bathmat that exists in this city of 25 million people. We now own five. (For those of you who are underwhelmed, please refer to my previous pictures and the picture below for the before and after shots of my hideous pink bathroom.)
Next, as you might have noticed in my 'after' shot in the pink bathroom picture, we have a washing machine. The box it came in confirmed what we had been told: that this washing machine is "Number 1 in Egypt". We actually purchased it last Tuesday, but it took them a week to deliver it, then we had to wait 2 days for someone to come to install it, and then, when it still didn't work because the power source it had been hooked up to wasn't good enough, waited another day for a new cable. But it works now--it works fantastically! And it is currently just finishing its second load of laundry.
The washer does a fantastic job of washing but it is not a dryer. It produces very clean, slightly damp clothes that I then take out to the second balcony (the one with the ugly view) to hang on little tiny strings with cheap clothespins, 7 stories above the courtyard below, desperately hoping that I don't drop my trousers on an unsuspecting sheik's head and that strong a strong breeze will not leave me underpants-less. So far, so good.
My last great improvement is my new Nokia E51. For those of you who know me well, this is perhaps the most drastic change for me. I am notorious for basic, inexpensive, technology. Sure it's nice that my phone has a great camera and excellent sound/video playing ability and speakers, but I really got the phone because I need a phone that enables me to communicate, and this one does that really well. It has notoriously amazing internet capabilities. The browser is fast. It has bluetooth, wi-fi, and super-fast normal internet. It has e-mail, adobe reader, a 2mb memory card, and internet phone. But best of all---it's really, really easy to use, not-flashy looking (though it is very very slim), and has a 5 day battery life. I feel like a really well-connected career woman. Now, all I have to do is set up mobile internet service with Vodafone Egypt.
Those are the only photograph-worthy improvements of the moment. Other, less photogenic improvements, such as "order" "relative cleanliness" and "groceries" are making their way into our lives, but those need little explanation.
I will update more soon, hopefully with stories and pictures of the world outside of our apartment. In the meantime, all of you be well, and to those of you finishing school and/or starting your summers---enjoy! and keep me posted about what you all are up to.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Photos of My Apartment
Hi All,
After promising many of you that I would send pictures of my new apartment (and keep you all updated on my life in Egypt) I have finally gotten internet installed (about an hour ago) and have created this blog for you to all keep track of me.
Here are some photos of my (still largely unfurnished) apartment.
These are photos of my living room taken from either end. (left) facing my windows, which have a spectacular view. (right) view from the windows in. The white door on the left is the door to the apartment, the hallway to the front leads to the guest bathroom, and the hallway to the right leads to the rest of the apartment.
(left) guest bathroom, off of the reception room
(right) view of the main hall. The room at the end of the hall is the master bedroom, the room to the right is the 'third bedroom', 1st room on the left is the kitchen, 2nd is the bathroom and 3rd is
the second bedroom
These are pictures of the 'third bedroom'. It may become the dining room or an office. It is unlike the other bedrooms in that it has alabaster floors and a, um, magnificent chandelier.
This is my kitchen. It has a huge pantry/balcony thing through the door to the back right and granite counter tops. Please note the colour of the refrigerator which also matches the stove.
The one truly unforgivable choice the owner of the apartment made was this bathroom. The colour offends me immensely. We added the white toilet seat, white towels and a white shower curtain to tone down the pink but it is still a notably pink bathroom.
This is the not-so nice view from the balcony off of the second bedroom. It has laundry strings off of it, though and does get nice breezes.
The next two photos are views of the second bedroom. (the photos without the bed in them)
Two views of the master bedroom. This bedroom is HUGE, though the pictures don't convey it. It is extremely cool and can be downright windy when the window and door are open.
The rest of the pictures are the views from the balcony and the windows. The brown-ish looking trees up close are mango trees, which have mangoes that are about to be ripe!
There is a close up of the mango tree closest to us. If you look at the top, just left of center you can see a green mango on it.
That's about it, really. I will take pictures outside of the apartment soon and send photos of the neighborhood, the neighbors, and things in Cairo. In the meantime, enjoy and let me know what you think!
Lots of love,
Lisy (in Egypt!)
After promising many of you that I would send pictures of my new apartment (and keep you all updated on my life in Egypt) I have finally gotten internet installed (about an hour ago) and have created this blog for you to all keep track of me.
Here are some photos of my (still largely unfurnished) apartment.
These are photos of my living room taken from either end. (left) facing my windows, which have a spectacular view. (right) view from the windows in. The white door on the left is the door to the apartment, the hallway to the front leads to the guest bathroom, and the hallway to the right leads to the rest of the apartment.
(left) guest bathroom, off of the reception room(right) view of the main hall. The room at the end of the hall is the master bedroom, the room to the right is the 'third bedroom', 1st room on the left is the kitchen, 2nd is the bathroom and 3rd is
the second bedroomThese are pictures of the 'third bedroom'. It may become the dining room or an office. It is unlike the other bedrooms in that it has alabaster floors and a, um, magnificent chandelier.
This is my kitchen. It has a huge pantry/balcony thing through the door to the back right and granite counter tops. Please note the colour of the refrigerator which also matches the stove.
The one truly unforgivable choice the owner of the apartment made was this bathroom. The colour offends me immensely. We added the white toilet seat, white towels and a white shower curtain to tone down the pink but it is still a notably pink bathroom.
This is the not-so nice view from the balcony off of the second bedroom. It has laundry strings off of it, though and does get nice breezes.
The next two photos are views of the second bedroom. (the photos without the bed in them)
Two views of the master bedroom. This bedroom is HUGE, though the pictures don't convey it. It is extremely cool and can be downright windy when the window and door are open.
The rest of the pictures are the views from the balcony and the windows. The brown-ish looking trees up close are mango trees, which have mangoes that are about to be ripe!
There is a close up of the mango tree closest to us. If you look at the top, just left of center you can see a green mango on it.
That's about it, really. I will take pictures outside of the apartment soon and send photos of the neighborhood, the neighbors, and things in Cairo. In the meantime, enjoy and let me know what you think!
Lots of love,
Lisy (in Egypt!)
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