Smooth

We had a smooth return to the UK.  Our various journeys to and from airports were without hitches and our 9 cases/bags arrived safe and sound. In reply to a friend's question we said that we had a smooth journey home meaning without difficulties, but he thought that we had an uninterrupted flight. This got me thinking about other smooth things in the UK - apart from me of course.
Our train to Devon was incredibly smooth and the connections were straightforward, the Tiverton link road was flat as a pancake, the coffee creamy, and my new shirt suave.  There are obviously some striking differences between sleepy, smooth Somerset and chaotic Cairo, one of which is road safety particularly as a pedestrian. Most of the time you have to walk in the road because there are either no pavements, they are in a dangerous state of repair, certainly not smooth, or blocked with rubbish, cars and building materials.  New building sites have no safety barriers and the buildings are often built right up to the edge of the road.  This causes additional problems for pedestrians who have to negotiate piles of sand, bricks and scaffolding: planks of wood tied together.  Here is a picture of the site of our old language school which was demolished to make way for a building four times as big (building regulations are not being enforced since the troubles).  A few days ago I was walking along the road when I heard a very load bang, looking around I saw that a scaffolding plank had just fallen from the 12 storey building - after this incident road safety then meant looking right, left, down (for holes and obstructions) and up!

Electricity

Where did April go?  The days and weeks before we leave Egypt seem to be flying by and most of them seem to spent in darkness as the power cuts continue. A power cut at home is bearable - a time to switch off the TV and computer and read or play my guitar, but a power-cut during an English lesson causes a great deal of disruption.  Despite the power cuts new air-conditioner units are still being fitted, often bigger and more powerful.  This is a view from our lounge window where you can see our A/C (very rarely used because it makes the dry desert atmosphere even dryer) and opposite the new large A/C units being fitted to our neighbours apartments.  They are too large to even fit into the original space designed for them.
Whilst we're on the subject of electricity I bet we have more light switches in our main room (a lounge/diner) than you!  We have 24. There are 5 switches for lights, 3 for balcony lights, 1 for a ceiling fan, and 1 for the light outside our front door.  I'm not sure what the other 14 were designed for.  We find that best way to ensure that you switch on the correct switch in a cluster is to turn them all on! P

Dust and Sand

Each morning is greeted with a bout of sneezing as the nasal passages acclimatise to the dust and sand that the overnight wind has brought into the already heavily polluted city.  The steam from a hot shower also helps to increase the humidity just for a few minutes. What doesn't seem to suffer are our poinsettias which were bought from our local florist at Christmas.  After decorating our apartment for a few weeks they began to sag so they were put on the balcony to get some 'fresh' air.  As we approach Easter they are flourishing with new leaves still appearing.  Their watering time is also a washing time when their original colour can be enjoyed for a brief time before they get covered in another layer of sand.

Just another Sunday lunchtime view ...

It was just another sleepy Sunday afternoon (or actually Friday).  The roof of Pizza Hut here in Giza has this breath taking iconic view.  There were 7 of us sitting, munching enjoying the close proximity of ancient history.  It felt like a special moment in time away from the crowds, the hawkers trying to sell us plastic souvenirs, away from tour guides anxious to keep us in tow and give us a long protracted history of Cairo and the pharaohs.  It was good to sit and absorb, appreciate this view away from the continued political turbulence and turmoil of Egypt, Just a quiet moment - well inbetween the frantic pizza munching!  Jane

Normal life

The busy Christmas and New Year periods have finally ended - the Coptic Christmas was 7th January with epiphany ending 12 days later. We then had the new constitution referendum which lasted 2 days. There were the usual protests and disruption that are becoming the norm and which we were able to follow on the TV and internet It was interesting to follow how the referendum was being reported locally and how it was then copied by the BBC: 'Voting has resumed in Egypt in a two-day referendum on a new constitution... With security tight Tuesday's voting was reported to be broadly peaceful. However, nine people died in clashes.' The BBC later removed the phrase 'broadly peaceful'. Unfortunately the 'peaceful' Tuesday was then followed with 5 times as many deaths on the second day of the referendum.
When circumstances dictate we continue to amuse ourselves with a jigsaw puzzle and a BBC podcast, the sizes seem to be increasing with the size of the protests. We recently finished a 1,000 piece puzzle and we've just started a 3,000 piece puzzle, let's hope the next one will only have 500 pieces.

Birthdays

Over the last few years we have experienced our birthdays in many different places and situations.  After arriving in Cairo about 2 years ago we have finally managed to go to the Cairo Opera House.  We knew that the Cairo Symphony Orchestra played every Saturday evening but we didn't know what they were playing!  So Jane's birthday treat was a meal in a restaurant on the banks of the River Nile followed by a concert.  We thoroughly enjoyed the concert - it was a shame that the Opera House was only 10% full.  Listening to Ravel, especially the Menuet, made one forget about all the difficulties of living in Cairo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9qxygpFTos
Pete's birthday treat was going to the British Community Association clubhouse where he enjoyed Cumberland sausage, chips and baked beans (and Coleman's mustard) and then Everton vs Liverpool on satellite TV. Jane enjoyed the meal but decided to read instead of watching the game, which was an exciting 3-3 draw.
Because our birthdays are so close together (Jane is 12 days older than Pete) we also had a fish 'n' chip lunch with a few friends.

Curfew Jigsaws

We have found that the good old jigsaw is a great way to amuse oneself during the curfews and also a useful way to unwind after teaching.  It also means that we can listen to a BBC radio programme instead of the wall to wall news or third rate sitcoms and films on the local TV channels. There are rumours that the final Friday curfew will be lifted soon so once again we will be able to freely travel around.  But we will continue puzzling because we brought back some jigsaws from the UK and we have also borrowed some.  So far we've finished four 1,000 piece puzzles and a couple of 500 piece ones; and we have three more 1,000 piece puzzles (one without a box or picture) to complete as we warm up for the one with 3,000 pieces.  We've only had one disappoint so far which was a middle piece missing from a puzzle we bought at a charity shop in the UK - perhaps we could get a job making their puzzles before they sell them.  It has also highlighted our different personalities: Jane likes to randomly pick up a piece and see if she can fit it somewhere whereas Peter likes to sort the pieces into colours or shapes and then fit them!