Hi,
Traffic is bad again, worse than usual, so I have a chance to post a new blog entry.
Two days ago we had some rain. I didn't see it raining, but the streets were all wet, potholes filled with muddy water and the terrible condition some of the roads are in is now even worse. Oh, and people have told me it rained, a lot. So I guess it's safe to say it has rained. My driver told me that it might actually have been hail as well. Could be, I'm not sure about that.
When it rains in Cairo, the streets are flooded because the sewer system and the water drains can't cope with it. All year they fill up with dust, clogged entries as a result. And with the bad shape the roads are in, people drive very 'carefully'. Careful in the sense of avoiding puddles, not slowing down of course. I think that this is because of corrosion to their cars. The cars are not treated with special coating against water and moist. Because it hardly rains in Cairo.
When it rains in Cairo, the rain is heavy with dust. So the rain is actually mud falling from the sky. No kidding. And this is where the frustration of my driver starts. He has to constantly clean the car,
because there's mud on it all the time because of the rain. He cleans it, it rains, he cleans it, it rains, he cleans it, he drives through a puddle, he cleans it.
I don't like the rain because traffic gets worse so my trips to and from the office take longer than the usual 60 minutes or so. And I don't like it because it very hard to navigate to anywhere because I don't have rubber boots nor a canoe and the puddles are really deep. Monsters might live in them.
Iwan
Showing posts with label drivers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drivers. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, July 12, 2010
No, I'm really not cheating on my wife. Really. Honestly.
Coming weekend I'll be going back to Holland again. This time it won't be with my regular flight, KL554, but with an Air France flight, stop over in Paris and than on my way to Schiphol, Amsterdam airport. Arrival will be about the same time, so I'm leaving early. Why am I blogging about this? Because the other day I got an interesting question from my driver:
"Do you always visit Madam Iwan when you go back to Hullanda", which doesn't require a translation. The obvious answer was of course "Yes, of course!", but the question itself was interesting because it should be clear to anyone that when you've been away from your family for about 2 weeks, you'll be visiting them. But as it seems it wasn't that obvious to my driver, which was proven by his follow up question: "Do you have another wife?", which kind of flaborgasted me. Was my driver asking me whether or not I have a lady-friend on the side? It seemed he did. My answer should've been "No, of course not", but I stuck with "No". There had to be a reason for this question.
We continued our drive and he explained that he had another wife, that he visits every now and then. The wife I met months ago was the mother of his children, a son and 2 daughters. His other wife, of which I just learned about, he has no children with. The point was more or less, that he visits her when he's tired of his other wife and wants to have a good time. He was actually very candid about the whole matter and didn't seem to have any weird understanding about it. So I just accepted that my driver was cheating on his wife and told me about it. As if it was the most natural thing to do.
I on the other hand thought that it was not really something you talk about. I consider myself rather liberal and open minded to new stuff and other habits, that's one of the main reasons why I enjoy living and working abroad, but I also feel that you should treat everybody with a decent amount of respect. And when you're cheating on your wife, you shouldn't just blurt it out as if it is normal. You keep the fact that you're disrespectful against your wife and your children's mother to yourself.
Anyway, I'm not cheating on my wife so I could be honest the whole drive.
Now apparently it is quite common in Egypt to have more than one wife. Actually it is by law allowed... and if I understood correctly, only when you're Muslim. This because the Koran says that under circumstances you are allowed to have up to 3 additional wives next to your first wife. But only if you meet the criteria and your first wife approves. So it wasn't that weird a question my driver asked me. It was actually quite a normal question. He knows I don't see my wife most of the time, so if I have more than one wife, I would probably alternate between the two during my visits. Still at the time the question was odd.
One thing I've come to realize in Egypt is that state and religion are very much interwoven. Something that was confirmed by my colleagues during a discussion we had on the topic. And in fact this goes as far as that based on your religion, certain laws apply and others don't. For example, the Orthodox Christian church in Egypt doesn't allow married couples to divorce, where as Muslims are allowed to divorce. In case you're an Orthodox Christian by law you're not allowed to divorce, but if you convert to for example to Muslim, you are allowed to divorce.
In an earlier post I already stated that the Egyptians are actually very liberal and tolerant when it comes to religion. 15% of the population is Christian and many of the Christian holidays are celebrated and considered public holidays. Something many western countries might take as an example of how to live together. But having which laws apply to you depend on your religion is a bit too, well, unorthodox. But this goes as far as that the holy scripture of your religion is prevalent over governmental law.
Without judging I can say that I find this highly interesting. Moreover because I grew up in an environment where since centuries church and state are separated and state dictates law, church takes care of moral issues. I worked in Pakistan, which is a really predominantly Muslim country, which shows in many aspects of everyday life. And I lived and worked in the US, which although they claim that church and religion are separated as well, really isn't. The Christian lobby is extremely strong and in many cases laws are passed because of the religious believes of the legislators. Europe's got it pretty much nailed down in many cases. And Turkey has been transformed by Ata Turk by force, but slowly it seems that church is gaining power within governmental matters again.
But all things aside, here in Egypt it seems to be working. From what I've been told and what I experience, the fundamental pillars of most religions are respected. Things like respect your fellow human, treat people nicely, don't hurt yourself or your fellow man etc. Are very much embedded in this society.
I'm really not a proponent of inter-operability of state and church. I think they should be separated but also, they should be alligned. Religious believes should not result in unlawful behaviors or actions and definitely laws should not consider what religion prescribes. But again, most religions have fundamental pillars that make a lot of sense when applied as the foundation of law.
Here in Egypt it all seems to work. But than again, what do I know? I only have one wife and it never crossed my mind to get a second one.
Iwan
PS: One of the reasons to have additional wives is to help them out. As religion prohibits men and women that are not related nor married spend a lot of time together without any chaperon, you'll need to marry the woman when you want to structurally help her. It is sort of social security for women.
(Disclaimer: I am not an expert when it comes to law or religion. And most definitely I am not an expert when it comes to Egypt law or the Islam. I am merely a witness of everyday life in Cairo, who's interested in how people live their life in Cairo.)
"Do you always visit Madam Iwan when you go back to Hullanda", which doesn't require a translation. The obvious answer was of course "Yes, of course!", but the question itself was interesting because it should be clear to anyone that when you've been away from your family for about 2 weeks, you'll be visiting them. But as it seems it wasn't that obvious to my driver, which was proven by his follow up question: "Do you have another wife?", which kind of flaborgasted me. Was my driver asking me whether or not I have a lady-friend on the side? It seemed he did. My answer should've been "No, of course not", but I stuck with "No". There had to be a reason for this question.
We continued our drive and he explained that he had another wife, that he visits every now and then. The wife I met months ago was the mother of his children, a son and 2 daughters. His other wife, of which I just learned about, he has no children with. The point was more or less, that he visits her when he's tired of his other wife and wants to have a good time. He was actually very candid about the whole matter and didn't seem to have any weird understanding about it. So I just accepted that my driver was cheating on his wife and told me about it. As if it was the most natural thing to do.
I on the other hand thought that it was not really something you talk about. I consider myself rather liberal and open minded to new stuff and other habits, that's one of the main reasons why I enjoy living and working abroad, but I also feel that you should treat everybody with a decent amount of respect. And when you're cheating on your wife, you shouldn't just blurt it out as if it is normal. You keep the fact that you're disrespectful against your wife and your children's mother to yourself.
Anyway, I'm not cheating on my wife so I could be honest the whole drive.
Now apparently it is quite common in Egypt to have more than one wife. Actually it is by law allowed... and if I understood correctly, only when you're Muslim. This because the Koran says that under circumstances you are allowed to have up to 3 additional wives next to your first wife. But only if you meet the criteria and your first wife approves. So it wasn't that weird a question my driver asked me. It was actually quite a normal question. He knows I don't see my wife most of the time, so if I have more than one wife, I would probably alternate between the two during my visits. Still at the time the question was odd.
One thing I've come to realize in Egypt is that state and religion are very much interwoven. Something that was confirmed by my colleagues during a discussion we had on the topic. And in fact this goes as far as that based on your religion, certain laws apply and others don't. For example, the Orthodox Christian church in Egypt doesn't allow married couples to divorce, where as Muslims are allowed to divorce. In case you're an Orthodox Christian by law you're not allowed to divorce, but if you convert to for example to Muslim, you are allowed to divorce.
In an earlier post I already stated that the Egyptians are actually very liberal and tolerant when it comes to religion. 15% of the population is Christian and many of the Christian holidays are celebrated and considered public holidays. Something many western countries might take as an example of how to live together. But having which laws apply to you depend on your religion is a bit too, well, unorthodox. But this goes as far as that the holy scripture of your religion is prevalent over governmental law.
Without judging I can say that I find this highly interesting. Moreover because I grew up in an environment where since centuries church and state are separated and state dictates law, church takes care of moral issues. I worked in Pakistan, which is a really predominantly Muslim country, which shows in many aspects of everyday life. And I lived and worked in the US, which although they claim that church and religion are separated as well, really isn't. The Christian lobby is extremely strong and in many cases laws are passed because of the religious believes of the legislators. Europe's got it pretty much nailed down in many cases. And Turkey has been transformed by Ata Turk by force, but slowly it seems that church is gaining power within governmental matters again.
But all things aside, here in Egypt it seems to be working. From what I've been told and what I experience, the fundamental pillars of most religions are respected. Things like respect your fellow human, treat people nicely, don't hurt yourself or your fellow man etc. Are very much embedded in this society.
I'm really not a proponent of inter-operability of state and church. I think they should be separated but also, they should be alligned. Religious believes should not result in unlawful behaviors or actions and definitely laws should not consider what religion prescribes. But again, most religions have fundamental pillars that make a lot of sense when applied as the foundation of law.
Here in Egypt it all seems to work. But than again, what do I know? I only have one wife and it never crossed my mind to get a second one.
Iwan
PS: One of the reasons to have additional wives is to help them out. As religion prohibits men and women that are not related nor married spend a lot of time together without any chaperon, you'll need to marry the woman when you want to structurally help her. It is sort of social security for women.
(Disclaimer: I am not an expert when it comes to law or religion. And most definitely I am not an expert when it comes to Egypt law or the Islam. I am merely a witness of everyday life in Cairo, who's interested in how people live their life in Cairo.)
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Ritualistic feasting on food, the Egyptian way
As in many cultures I've come across in the past so many years, food and eating is also a playing a major part in Egyptian life. It is a way of expressing how much you love somebody, it's a way of showing how well you're doing. It's a way of showing others that you're really doing everything you can to make them feel more than welcome. And then there's the whole deal about having breakfast, lunch and diner.
But let me start at the beginning. I think it doesn't come as a surprise when I state that Egypt is predominantly a Muslim country. Although there's a vast amount of Christians up to the point that a number of Christian holidays are public holidays, Islam rules. The majority of Muslims I've come to see and meet in Egypt is very serious about their religion. Many morals and ethics are derived from, or rather inspired by the Koran I take it. When you walk around in Cairo you will hardly see boys and girls holding hands. Well you won't see them because they either don't or because they vandalized the streetlights and enjoy a little bit of privacy the result darkness grants them. This in fact happens in front of my apartment building. True story.
But you won't see any public touchy-feely amongst boys and girls or even amongst adults. It is plainly not done to show any form of affection in the physical way Westerners do. No pecks on cheeks or that kind of action. At least not between men and women. Same-sex touchy-feely is very common. I've experience some not so secret handshakes where I had to withdraw my hand with great force in order to be sure I would be able to use it the rest of the day because a colleague would hold it securely, preferably for the length of the conversation. But that's not the point of this post. The point is that you don't show you love your son in law by hugging him and pecks on the cheeks, that's just not done between son-in-law and mother-in-law. Instead, being the mother-in-law, you prepare excessive amounts of food and as son-in-law you eat it all and admit that you love the food. And no, it is not considered respectful to be honest and tell her that you really not all that into egg plant, or vegetables in general.
So what about strangers that are to become acquaintances, the kind of people you invite for diner. There's two types of these kind of strangers. Those that you really like and really want to become acquaintance with and those you don't really like, but invite none the less because that's required by whatever unpleasant rule. That second group is easy, you prepare food in such a way that it is as luxurious as possible, just to show off. It's show-off food. It's like throwing a BBQ and give the neighbor the best piece of meat just to show him you can afford it. Which is stupid because you're giving the best piece of meat to somebody you'd rather not give it to. Maybe not inviting him for diner? Well it's all about pride and in my world pride typically results in bad stuff like wars and killings and spillings of good stuff and all that. One should be proud but not act out of pride. But that's besides the point of this post as well.
So that leaves the first kind of diner guests. Those you like and you would like to feel very welcome. You prepare the food the best way you can, hoping that you're preparing the guest's favorite dishes the best possible way. And the food should be in abundance, because you want this guest to stay around for as long as possible. The guest will feel obliged to finish all and that may take a while and once all food is eaten he'll feel too stuffed to move and will stay yet many bits longer. It's like setting a trap for this guest but with only good intentions. And you top it off with a sisha, the waterpipe, to make your guest forget that he had an incredible amount of food stuffed into his stomach. Without the right tobacco, the guest may never join for diner again. This is very risky.
Just my view on all of this: I kinda like the Dutch way, where diner is prepared for all at the diner table, but just enough for them. It sends a very clear message to uninvited guests that they should've called ahead so you could tell them not to drop by around diner time. Or you could've prepared a bit more potatoes and make the slices of meat a bit thinner. For those that are welcome at the diner table, there's just enough. And in case you don't like the food, there's never that much that pretending you like it becomes one of the most horrible acts of terror in your life. You can leave a little of the disgusting food on your plate out of politeness, to show the host that he or she had overdone the meal. That they went really out of their way to make you feel welcome. Remember, there was food for you to eat (or not) which means you were welcome in the first place... this is all nice and well, but what if the food is really good. What if it's not egg plants a-go-go but something really tasty? Than you're screwed in Holland, because there won't be enough for second rounds, so you remember what it was called for next time, or even better you ask the host or his wife a copy of the recipe. They will feel very flattered.
What this is all leading to? Well, sometime during my first month in Cairo, I was invited by my driver and his family to have diner at their place. And I have to admit that most of the prepared was very, and I mean very, tasty. Quite different from what I knew about Egyptian food, which at that time meant Shoarma. Some of the dishes were really not that good and since I believe that you show some respect to people by not lying and staying with the truth, I expressed my dislike of these dishes in all honesty, but respectfully refrained from any harshness.
The interesting bit was when I had enough, my stomach was full. Which doesn't take that much because I don't eat much, except when it comes to home fried French fries from Albert Hein. I can eat a whole kilo of them with fricandellen to match all soaked in Curry and Mayonaise with a good amount of onions and Peanut sauce. Anyway, one fried chicken wing (a large chicken) and some soup, some rice and other stuff and I was done. Or so I thought. Turned out I wasn't since there was still food on the table. And a lot of food it was.
Since my mum had taught me to be polite at all times, I did my best to eat some more, and my efforts were not left unnoticed. I was allowed to stay alive and not eat all the food. And the food was truly very good.
Every now and than I get some of the food in a pan from my driver, typically with lentil soup or koshari, which is a pasta dish that is very good, and the spicy sauce that comes with it, is excellent. I typcally need 2 days to finish it all, but that is probably because I don't eat all that much. Unless it is of course patat from Albert Hein, home fried of course.
Anyways, as long as I don't have to eat Egyptian amounts, I can really enjoy the food here. It's definitely not as spicy as the curries you get in Pakistan or India. Or as overly junkish as in the States. But it's good in general. Very enjoyable. I can really recommend koshari, it's really good.
Iwan
But let me start at the beginning. I think it doesn't come as a surprise when I state that Egypt is predominantly a Muslim country. Although there's a vast amount of Christians up to the point that a number of Christian holidays are public holidays, Islam rules. The majority of Muslims I've come to see and meet in Egypt is very serious about their religion. Many morals and ethics are derived from, or rather inspired by the Koran I take it. When you walk around in Cairo you will hardly see boys and girls holding hands. Well you won't see them because they either don't or because they vandalized the streetlights and enjoy a little bit of privacy the result darkness grants them. This in fact happens in front of my apartment building. True story.
But you won't see any public touchy-feely amongst boys and girls or even amongst adults. It is plainly not done to show any form of affection in the physical way Westerners do. No pecks on cheeks or that kind of action. At least not between men and women. Same-sex touchy-feely is very common. I've experience some not so secret handshakes where I had to withdraw my hand with great force in order to be sure I would be able to use it the rest of the day because a colleague would hold it securely, preferably for the length of the conversation. But that's not the point of this post. The point is that you don't show you love your son in law by hugging him and pecks on the cheeks, that's just not done between son-in-law and mother-in-law. Instead, being the mother-in-law, you prepare excessive amounts of food and as son-in-law you eat it all and admit that you love the food. And no, it is not considered respectful to be honest and tell her that you really not all that into egg plant, or vegetables in general.
So what about strangers that are to become acquaintances, the kind of people you invite for diner. There's two types of these kind of strangers. Those that you really like and really want to become acquaintance with and those you don't really like, but invite none the less because that's required by whatever unpleasant rule. That second group is easy, you prepare food in such a way that it is as luxurious as possible, just to show off. It's show-off food. It's like throwing a BBQ and give the neighbor the best piece of meat just to show him you can afford it. Which is stupid because you're giving the best piece of meat to somebody you'd rather not give it to. Maybe not inviting him for diner? Well it's all about pride and in my world pride typically results in bad stuff like wars and killings and spillings of good stuff and all that. One should be proud but not act out of pride. But that's besides the point of this post as well.
So that leaves the first kind of diner guests. Those you like and you would like to feel very welcome. You prepare the food the best way you can, hoping that you're preparing the guest's favorite dishes the best possible way. And the food should be in abundance, because you want this guest to stay around for as long as possible. The guest will feel obliged to finish all and that may take a while and once all food is eaten he'll feel too stuffed to move and will stay yet many bits longer. It's like setting a trap for this guest but with only good intentions. And you top it off with a sisha, the waterpipe, to make your guest forget that he had an incredible amount of food stuffed into his stomach. Without the right tobacco, the guest may never join for diner again. This is very risky.
Just my view on all of this: I kinda like the Dutch way, where diner is prepared for all at the diner table, but just enough for them. It sends a very clear message to uninvited guests that they should've called ahead so you could tell them not to drop by around diner time. Or you could've prepared a bit more potatoes and make the slices of meat a bit thinner. For those that are welcome at the diner table, there's just enough. And in case you don't like the food, there's never that much that pretending you like it becomes one of the most horrible acts of terror in your life. You can leave a little of the disgusting food on your plate out of politeness, to show the host that he or she had overdone the meal. That they went really out of their way to make you feel welcome. Remember, there was food for you to eat (or not) which means you were welcome in the first place... this is all nice and well, but what if the food is really good. What if it's not egg plants a-go-go but something really tasty? Than you're screwed in Holland, because there won't be enough for second rounds, so you remember what it was called for next time, or even better you ask the host or his wife a copy of the recipe. They will feel very flattered.
What this is all leading to? Well, sometime during my first month in Cairo, I was invited by my driver and his family to have diner at their place. And I have to admit that most of the prepared was very, and I mean very, tasty. Quite different from what I knew about Egyptian food, which at that time meant Shoarma. Some of the dishes were really not that good and since I believe that you show some respect to people by not lying and staying with the truth, I expressed my dislike of these dishes in all honesty, but respectfully refrained from any harshness.
The interesting bit was when I had enough, my stomach was full. Which doesn't take that much because I don't eat much, except when it comes to home fried French fries from Albert Hein. I can eat a whole kilo of them with fricandellen to match all soaked in Curry and Mayonaise with a good amount of onions and Peanut sauce. Anyway, one fried chicken wing (a large chicken) and some soup, some rice and other stuff and I was done. Or so I thought. Turned out I wasn't since there was still food on the table. And a lot of food it was.
Since my mum had taught me to be polite at all times, I did my best to eat some more, and my efforts were not left unnoticed. I was allowed to stay alive and not eat all the food. And the food was truly very good.
Every now and than I get some of the food in a pan from my driver, typically with lentil soup or koshari, which is a pasta dish that is very good, and the spicy sauce that comes with it, is excellent. I typcally need 2 days to finish it all, but that is probably because I don't eat all that much. Unless it is of course patat from Albert Hein, home fried of course.
Anyways, as long as I don't have to eat Egyptian amounts, I can really enjoy the food here. It's definitely not as spicy as the curries you get in Pakistan or India. Or as overly junkish as in the States. But it's good in general. Very enjoyable. I can really recommend koshari, it's really good.
Iwan
Monday, May 31, 2010
When traveling in Egypt, don't forget proof of who you are...
Hi,
It has been a while and I'll try to catch up this week on the blogs. Quite a bit is to be blogged about.
So I went to Sharm el-Sheikh last weekend, it was the second time this month. First I went with my family to Sharm, about which I will blog in another post. Last weekend I went with what turned out to be 'buddies' of mine as we went scuba diving.
Last Wednesday I went to Maadi Divers in Maadi, Cairo. They're on road 218, which is walking distance from my apartment, but only because Maadi is a rather small area in Cairo and pretty much everything here is walking distance. Keep that in mind if you ever plan to live in Cairo. I went there because I had to try on a BCD and a wetsuit for my scuba trip that weekend. And because they needed a photocopy of my passport. And I thought that was it, so on our trip the following day I didn't bring my passport... Oops, there're all kinds of roadblocks on the way from Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh. My buddies had their passports and ID's ready for the showing, but I had only my driver's license on me.
Sure that has a photo of me on it and a recent one at that, but it doesn't show that I have a valid visa for Egypt. And that is kind of important as well.
So we were stopped quite often between Cairo and Sharm and more than once all passports were requested by the policeman at the roadblock. But for some reason they never questioned the fact that they didn't see a passport for me. Although we were very honest about the fact that I'm Dutch. Guess the Dutch are welcome everywhere or something. Or maybe I was just lucky.
Anyway, after a two nights at the boat on our way back at the very first roadblock they gave us a hard time and all passports were requested and checked. My driver's license was handed over as well. But again, for some reason they didn't get around to check and wonder about that pink little piece of plastic that didn't mean nothing as all text on it is in Dutch. So we got to go on our way back to Cairo.
The interesting thing here is that you can fly into Sharm el-Sheikh and stay there without a visa, but you're not allowed to go to Cairo without a visa, so if you want to leave the Sharm-area, they are very keen on people without a visa and without an Egyptian residents ID. Still I got away with it.
On top of that we got stopped for a speeding violation... guess what. The police officer ran out of tickets and we were told to move along. Guess we got some good karma this weekend.
Anyway, the lesson I learned and would like to convey to you, is that when you move around in Egypt, you should always have your passport with you so you know who you are and have proof of it, but you also have that ever so important visa to show.
Enjoy your stay in Egypt when you get around to visit this interesting country.
Iwan
It has been a while and I'll try to catch up this week on the blogs. Quite a bit is to be blogged about.
So I went to Sharm el-Sheikh last weekend, it was the second time this month. First I went with my family to Sharm, about which I will blog in another post. Last weekend I went with what turned out to be 'buddies' of mine as we went scuba diving.
Last Wednesday I went to Maadi Divers in Maadi, Cairo. They're on road 218, which is walking distance from my apartment, but only because Maadi is a rather small area in Cairo and pretty much everything here is walking distance. Keep that in mind if you ever plan to live in Cairo. I went there because I had to try on a BCD and a wetsuit for my scuba trip that weekend. And because they needed a photocopy of my passport. And I thought that was it, so on our trip the following day I didn't bring my passport... Oops, there're all kinds of roadblocks on the way from Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh. My buddies had their passports and ID's ready for the showing, but I had only my driver's license on me.
Sure that has a photo of me on it and a recent one at that, but it doesn't show that I have a valid visa for Egypt. And that is kind of important as well.
So we were stopped quite often between Cairo and Sharm and more than once all passports were requested by the policeman at the roadblock. But for some reason they never questioned the fact that they didn't see a passport for me. Although we were very honest about the fact that I'm Dutch. Guess the Dutch are welcome everywhere or something. Or maybe I was just lucky.
Anyway, after a two nights at the boat on our way back at the very first roadblock they gave us a hard time and all passports were requested and checked. My driver's license was handed over as well. But again, for some reason they didn't get around to check and wonder about that pink little piece of plastic that didn't mean nothing as all text on it is in Dutch. So we got to go on our way back to Cairo.
The interesting thing here is that you can fly into Sharm el-Sheikh and stay there without a visa, but you're not allowed to go to Cairo without a visa, so if you want to leave the Sharm-area, they are very keen on people without a visa and without an Egyptian residents ID. Still I got away with it.
On top of that we got stopped for a speeding violation... guess what. The police officer ran out of tickets and we were told to move along. Guess we got some good karma this weekend.
Anyway, the lesson I learned and would like to convey to you, is that when you move around in Egypt, you should always have your passport with you so you know who you are and have proof of it, but you also have that ever so important visa to show.
Enjoy your stay in Egypt when you get around to visit this interesting country.
Iwan
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Be prepared to pay for luxury, where luxury is almost for free
Hi,
This is another post about me living in Cairo, one of the biggest cities, population-wise, in the world.
I've been living in Cairo for about three and a half months now of which the first two were spend in a hotel, the Grand Hyatt Cairo. The last six weeks I've been living in my apartment in Maadi, the area where many expats and diplomats live.
Although my apartment is fully furnished, this basically means that the bare minimum was there. The apartment sported two couches, a dining table for six, beds in all the bedrooms and furniture for the terrace. There's a washing combination (washer/dryer) and a dishwasher as well. And of course a stove. Oh plenty of closets.
This is the bare minimum. I had to buy my own microwave and alarm clock. I also bought a new TV as the one in the apartment was an old CRT, and I definitely wanted a flat screen TV. I went for an LG, although I am not too happy about the LG plasma I have in Holland. This is where today's post comes in
When you want the better brands as you know them from Europe or the US, you're paying dearly. I remember from my time in the US that my colleagues would tell me that if you couldn't really afford a car you would buy an American brand. Otherwise it would be one of the Japanese, like Honda or Toyota. If you'd really made it, it would be European, with BMW and Mercedes at the top. This was in 2000.
Here it's the same, although the low-end is Chinese, the mid-end is Korean and the high end is Japanese/European. This when it comes to electronics. There are a lot of different Chinese brands and most of them don't even make an effort to pretend that they're providing quality products. It's all cheap, even the design. It is not my nature to go for the cheap, I go for the top range, have done so all my life. But the difference in prices between LG or Samsung (which is mid-range) and Sony or Philips is considerable
I needed for my terrace some furniture. Although the apartment comes with its own furniture, it's not really relaxing. I'd seen this really awesome lounge bed in the form of a shell from Benoa Living, Dutch design. Really nice and expensive. But you can get a replica here in Cairo, for the same amount but in Egyptian Pounds, so only a fraction of the price, also nice, but bad quality. Since I needed something relaxing on my terrace I kept on looking for something affordable and finally turned to Fatboy, also Dutch. They have a beanbag rugadized for outdoor use and they have a distributor in Cairo. The problem with genuine products here in Cairo, is that you have to consider huge duties raised by customs. Which is also the case for the Fatboy, shipping, handling and customs are raising the price with 80%.
I've come to the conclusion that you should really stick with the local products and there are now also designer products appearing. But keep a close eye on quality, as it is sometimes really mediocre. Keep especially an eye out for moving parts, the constructs are in many cases of MacGyver quality.
And then there's the other kind of luxury here in Cairo. There's hardly anything you can do that you can not have anybody else do as well, for really little money. For example, laundry and ironing of a shirt is 9 Egyptian Pounds, at least that's what I pay. Which is less than 2 US$ and around €1.10.
Basically everything that can be done through manual labor, you can have it done for cheap according to western standards. And in most cases the quality of work delivered is acceptable to very good. It more or less depends on your relation with the person doing the work. They like you, they take very much proud in their work and they'll make sure you'll be happy with their efforts. Otherwise it's just money for them and they'll rush it.
There are several forums on the web that have price-comparison charts and overviews with pricing guidelines for these kind of little jobs. Actually my apartment came with an information book with all kinds of info regarding living in Cairo and includes a section about help in and around the house. Very handy indeed.
Until next post about my life among pharaos.
Iwan
This is another post about me living in Cairo, one of the biggest cities, population-wise, in the world.
I've been living in Cairo for about three and a half months now of which the first two were spend in a hotel, the Grand Hyatt Cairo. The last six weeks I've been living in my apartment in Maadi, the area where many expats and diplomats live.
Although my apartment is fully furnished, this basically means that the bare minimum was there. The apartment sported two couches, a dining table for six, beds in all the bedrooms and furniture for the terrace. There's a washing combination (washer/dryer) and a dishwasher as well. And of course a stove. Oh plenty of closets.
This is the bare minimum. I had to buy my own microwave and alarm clock. I also bought a new TV as the one in the apartment was an old CRT, and I definitely wanted a flat screen TV. I went for an LG, although I am not too happy about the LG plasma I have in Holland. This is where today's post comes in
When you want the better brands as you know them from Europe or the US, you're paying dearly. I remember from my time in the US that my colleagues would tell me that if you couldn't really afford a car you would buy an American brand. Otherwise it would be one of the Japanese, like Honda or Toyota. If you'd really made it, it would be European, with BMW and Mercedes at the top. This was in 2000.
Here it's the same, although the low-end is Chinese, the mid-end is Korean and the high end is Japanese/European. This when it comes to electronics. There are a lot of different Chinese brands and most of them don't even make an effort to pretend that they're providing quality products. It's all cheap, even the design. It is not my nature to go for the cheap, I go for the top range, have done so all my life. But the difference in prices between LG or Samsung (which is mid-range) and Sony or Philips is considerable
I needed for my terrace some furniture. Although the apartment comes with its own furniture, it's not really relaxing. I'd seen this really awesome lounge bed in the form of a shell from Benoa Living, Dutch design. Really nice and expensive. But you can get a replica here in Cairo, for the same amount but in Egyptian Pounds, so only a fraction of the price, also nice, but bad quality. Since I needed something relaxing on my terrace I kept on looking for something affordable and finally turned to Fatboy, also Dutch. They have a beanbag rugadized for outdoor use and they have a distributor in Cairo. The problem with genuine products here in Cairo, is that you have to consider huge duties raised by customs. Which is also the case for the Fatboy, shipping, handling and customs are raising the price with 80%.
I've come to the conclusion that you should really stick with the local products and there are now also designer products appearing. But keep a close eye on quality, as it is sometimes really mediocre. Keep especially an eye out for moving parts, the constructs are in many cases of MacGyver quality.
And then there's the other kind of luxury here in Cairo. There's hardly anything you can do that you can not have anybody else do as well, for really little money. For example, laundry and ironing of a shirt is 9 Egyptian Pounds, at least that's what I pay. Which is less than 2 US$ and around €1.10.
Basically everything that can be done through manual labor, you can have it done for cheap according to western standards. And in most cases the quality of work delivered is acceptable to very good. It more or less depends on your relation with the person doing the work. They like you, they take very much proud in their work and they'll make sure you'll be happy with their efforts. Otherwise it's just money for them and they'll rush it.
There are several forums on the web that have price-comparison charts and overviews with pricing guidelines for these kind of little jobs. Actually my apartment came with an information book with all kinds of info regarding living in Cairo and includes a section about help in and around the house. Very handy indeed.
Until next post about my life among pharaos.
Iwan
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