another weekend over :(

I was going to get an early night tonight but since it's 9pm and 31 degrees in my bedroom I thought I'd turn on the A/C and let it cool down for a while before I went to sleep.... so right now I'm burning a Michael Jackson/Dixie Chicks CD for my driver as he loves them both....sort of strange taste in music, but since he has my life in his hands I figure I should let him listen to whatever makes him happy...

This weekend, after what felt like one of the longest weeks ever, Stephanie and I escaped to Ain Soukhna at the red sea. I'd been to the resort before, but this time there were only rooms at the Golf hotel, which is newer-but further from the beach (we had to take a golf cart there) I could only get one picture to download, for some reason- I'll try post a couple more tomorrow {note to blogger programmers- can you please do something about the photo posting- I consistently have issues with this feature- it's not just Egypt's slow internet connection, or my MB, I had the same issue in Canada, with a PC...please!!} It was nice to be away, we didn't really do anything but swim, sleep, read and eat, but as with all weekend escapes, it was over way too quickly.

Last week was tough, we found out there will be a government inspection tomorrow to see if we get our operating license, so the contractors were working 24/7 to get some stuff finished- this led to a huge amount of dust in the air, which resulted in a lot of people getting really sick..including me....I feel a little better now after a weekend away from it, but I'm still not 100%.

In other news, I may have to adjust my plans to come to BC as I have put my name forward for a task force that will be doing the recruitment for our new hotel in Makkah ( the holy city of islam- we spell it, Mecca)- I won't be allowed to actually visit the hotel because I'm not Muslim, and am not allowed in the city, but I might be needed to travel to other muslim countries to hire the staff for the hotel. I have really been looking forward to coming home, but this is a really great opportunity to meet some other HR people from the company, and to travel somewhere I've never been and hopefully it would only mean postponing my vacation by a few weeks, so I'm hoping it'll work out. I'll find out this week if I've been accepted, so I'll keep you posted.

Okay, it looks like my room is now a frosty 28 degrees, so I'm going to try to get some sleep.

Hope you're all doing well, miss you.

C

"Sorry, I can't....I have a gala...."

A few of you have been giving me a hard time about having a driver and people who do things for me all the time, and say that I'm turning into a princess.......welllllll the following is just going to add some more fuel to the fire, so enjoy.....

Last night I went to a fund-raising gala/charity ball at the British Embassy-- the guy who is in charge of my running club was organizing it, so we were all encouraged to attend. I wasn't planning to go since I don't really know the group that well (read: I haven't been running much lately! Bad, bad bad!) but he convinced me that I should come as his guest, as it would look good for "the cause" (a burn centre in a small town in Upper Egypt) to have a nice "Canadian business woman" there with him (aka, he needed some arm candy). I agreed since I've never been to an embassy party and also, because it was kind of cool to say to my co-workers "oh sorry, I can't go out on Friday, I have a gala at the embassy.."

Before I continue, you need the backstory: So, In Cairo, they have these society magazines that exist for the sole purpose of photographically documenting the social events of Cairo's upper echelon (maybe they have them in Canada too, but obviously I don't belong to the correct echelon!)- at every event there are tons of photographers- who take pictures of everything you do and then ask you to write down your name afterwards-- it's actually sort of annoying....... well, I didn't see it, but our favourite server in the restaurant we go to for lunch every day said she saw my picture in one of these magazines from the Valentine's Day party I went to when I first got here.

Anyway, yesterday I was about to head out the door for the gala and then I realized that, OMG, horror of horrors........I was wearing the same dress I wore to the V-day party!!!!!!!! ( I KNOW!!!! can you IMAGINE!!??) Obviously, I did the only thing I could under the circumstances (and what any of you would have done!) - my heart racing, I threw open the closet, frantically looking for something else to wear.... after what felt like hours, I finally spotted it, the pink and black sleeveless number with the uneven hem.. it wasn't ideal... the trim on the dress was coral, and my nail polish was more of a fuchsia, but what could I do??!! Desperate times call for desperate measures and this was clearly an emergency!! I quickly tore off the other dress, changed my earrings, necklace, shoes, and pashmina and pulled it on, my fingers fumbling with the zipper, still shaky from the adrenaline racing through my body!! Whew, crisis averted...If I'd been photographed in the same dress twice, it would have been social suicide- I wouldn't have been able to show my face for the rest of the season. ;)

Anyway, after that harrowing ordeal, we arrived at the embassy a bit early because my "date" had to give a briefing to the Young Rotarians (I know!) who would be selling raffle tickets, so I looked around the embassy garden-- the place was beautiful- it's right in the heart of cairo, but the grass and high walls make you feel like you're somewhere else entirely (England, perhaps!?). I knew I would be sitting at the ambassador's table, but somehow I actually ended up sitting right beside him and across from the president of Vodafone's Egyptian operation. They were both really nice and we had a good time talking about the "old country" (okay, we actually talked about the hotel and cell phone industries...). Despite having to dance with a series of really sweaty, old men, who all wanted to dance a little too close for comfort, I actually had a good time and I think I held my own pretty well- not bad from a girl from "some island" in Canada... ;)

According to my new countdown widget, I will be in BC in.....25 days, 3 hours and 39 minutes....can't wait to see you all then!

xoxo C

This guy again!?

When I was doing a co-op at the Westin in Whistler in 2001, this guy stayed with us for 2 months- he always acted really strangely and we had a bad feeling about him, but besides having a new woman with him every night, there was nothing concrete.. he was just creepy (and we were 21 and he tipped us well, so who were we to say anything?!). A couple of days after I left Whistler he was arrested for taking millions of dollars from a vancouver couple and was put in jail for a few years in Canada and then in France for some stuff he pulled there-- apparently he's out now and is hanging out with Naomi Campbell in Cannes and has written several books. I guess crime does pay....

Seriously Indy, Seriously!?

Since it's Thursday night, which in Egypt means the start of the weekend, Stephanie and I decided to see the new Indiana Jones movie that just opened today. Going to the movies here is an interesting experience- when you buy your tickets, you pre-book your seat, there is an intermission in the middle, and nobody turns off their cell phones- the girl beside me actually answered hers and had a 5 minute conversation! I had to try very hard not to smack her!

I would definitely recommend seeing it- it's really entertaining (I'm still singing "dun da dun da, dun da daaaaaaa" in my head) and it was a great mix of adventure, action and love, but more than once, I found myself shaking my head, thinking OMG, do they actually expect us to believe this???!!! I don't want to ruin it, but there is one storyline that is totally insane (it may or may not involve a spaceship, but you'll know it when you see it!)--- I think the entire theatre was asking each other the same thing...is this actually happening?!

Tomorrow night I am going to a fund-raising gala at the British Embassy and found out today I am sitting at the British Ambassador's table...I'll tell him you all say hi!

Okay off to bed now, have a fab Thursday!

C

I'm not an electrician but.....

Okay, first things first- I have the details! Erika and Tim had a baby boy on May 15th- Aiden Jakob Lange Fitzgerald! Isn't he adorable!!??
Although he probably doesn't realize it yet, he is also very lucky, because he has some really amazing parents! I can't wait to meet him in person!















Sooooooo, the mystery is solved! The reason my internet and phone weren't working (I kept trying to tell the guy that there must be some connection since both were not working and it's two different companies....but why would they listen to me?) was because the cable that was lying in the sun on the roof of the apartment building *surprisingly* got too hot and after months and months in the 40 degree sun, disintegrated. wow, what a shock, who would have thought that would happen!? I'm not an electrician or anything, but I would probably put the wires in a conduit or something to protect them from the elements, but I guess that would put them out of a job, wouldn't it.....so they just put a new wire in the same place. At least I'll know who to call next time it happens.

Okay, off to bed, hope you're all doing well. See you in 28 days (not that I'm counting :P )

xo C

4 months in....

Long time no post! A few days ago my internet and landline both stopped working, which was a problem as the internet was already hooked up when I moved in, so I had no clue which of the 3 big internet providers I was using. After a few calls with the landlord, I managed to figure it out and thankfully their customer service line had an English option, but even still, both of the Ahmeds I talked to tell me it will be a few more days before it is fixed (inshallah).

So, on Tuesday, I will have been here for exactly 4 months- and these landmark dates always seem to arrive with a certain amount of reflection. I am definitely glad I came as I have met some fabulous people and am learning a lot, but there are some things I miss about home. Although at first glance it seems relatively "civilized"- Egypt really is a third world country and lately I find myself thinking about things I had completely taken for granted in North America- most of them are fairly trivial, but cumulatively, they can be pretty frustrating....... I think maybe it's a good time for a new top ten list of things I never thought I would miss about Canada:

10. Police officers who aren't trying to get money from you and 99% of the time have your best interests at heart.
9. Feeling reasonably confident that when a dog approaches you on the street, it doesn't have rabies.
8. Appliances that don't give you an electrical shock when you touch them
7. Utility companies that send you a bill in the mail, instead of personally bringing the bill during the day when you are (of course) at work, causing the doorman to have to pay them and causing him to harass you for the money the second you get home
6. Using a debit card to pay for things instead of having to carry around stacks of the dirtiest cash I have EVER seen
5. RECYCLING and environmental awareness- my carbon footprint and I are going to hell for sure after all the waterbottles I'm throwing out!
4. Applicants, vendors, suppliers and co-workers who, for the most part, do not necessitate the use of air freshener after they leave the office.
3. Stores that play music at a volume that does not make you want to leave the store the second you enter
2. Shopping for clothing and not having a store employee (usually with terrible BO) follow you and stand no less than 6 inches from you the entire time, straightening the and re-folding everything you touch.
1. Using a bathroom in a mall, gas station, movie theatre or hotel and feeling confident that a) there will be toilet paper in the stall and b) that there will not be a woman who hands you a paper towel to dry your hands and expects a tip

Above are some of the funnier things- annoying more than anything, but there are some pretty major things that really do bother me and make me wonder how long I can actually live here. Some of you might be familiar with Egypt's political situation, but if not- the same president (Hosni Mubarak) has been in power for the last 26 years since the last, much-loved president, Sadat, was assassinated (by a fellow egyptian) for wanting to make peace with Israel/Palestine. During this time there has been one "election", and the only other candidate "mysteriously" ended up in jail. Of course, at times, we all question the opinions and decisions of our politicians, but at the end of the day, I think most of them have the well-being of Canadians in mind, unfortunately, this is clearly not the case with Egypt's government. While Mubarak and his gang gets richer and richer, the majority of Egypt's people are becoming increasingly and shockingly poor. It truly breaks my heart to see how some people are forced to live.

Most Egyptians are very loving and warm and would do anything for their friends and family, so I was pretty surprised when I saw the way strangers treat each other. Maybe their treatment by the government has lead to an "every man for himself" attitude in order to survive, but the whole society seems to be generally inconsiderate of each other- everything from the way people drive, to they way they shove each other in lineups..... For example, on my quiet residential street, few nights ago around 12:30am, someone was honking their car horn for about 20 minutes- clearly not caring that they'd woken up the entire street. The other strange thing is that for a population so big, I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen with physical and mental challenges- there seems to be a lot of shame and embarrassment connected with this section of society.

Anyway, that's my 4 month check-in.... I'm sure I would find things that bothered me anywhere I went, and all in all, it's been a great experience so far, but I am really looking forward to coming home for a few weeks in June. The opening of the hotel has been delayed slightly, so I might be able to stay for longer than I'd initially planned, which would be nice :)

In other news, I had a great visit with my parents- they left on Wednesday and are now at the beginning of a 10 day walking tour in Sardinia, I am looking forward to hearing about that when I'm home next month.

Congratulations are in order to Meera, Cathy, and Erika and their respective husbands as they all had babies in the last few weeks! Cathy, Graeme and Callum welcomed Sylvie; and Meera, Bobby and Rohan have a new daughter and sister, Amana and I don't know if Erika and Tim had a boy or girl, I just saw some congratulatory messages on E's FB wall, so if anyone has the deets, can you fill me in!!?? Congratulations to everyone!!! :) I can't wait to meet all the new little ones when I am home!! On a sad note, Shane said good bye to Billy this week. Those of you who remember Billy know that he was definitely not your average dog- his personality and antics made him seem almost human. He will certainly be missed.

After my last post, some of you asked how the banana bread turned out....welllll apparently baking soda was an instrumental ingredient because it didn't rise at all and was hard as a hockey puck. But I'm going to try again....maybe cookies this time.

Okay, that's all for now. I'm leaving you with a few pics of the last few weeks- mostly from a night where the whole team had dinner on a boat on the Nile- but one of the alley beside my apartment and another of my driver, Abdou. Hope you're all doing well and having fun. Over and out from catincairo :)

xoxo C

Blackberries, Crackberries and baking...

So, when I got here, they gave me a blackberry, but for some reason (ie: I live in Egypt and even simple things seem to take a ridiculously long time!!!) it only started receiving emails this week (...it has just been a GIANT cell phone for the last 4 months!) and so far I HATE it. If you're a salesperson and are on the road, I can see how it would be great to be able to stay connected with the office, but Egypt's weekend is different AND there is a 7 hr time difference to our corporate office in Toronto, so I end up getting emails at all hours of the night and on the weekend. And even if I tell myself I won't look at the email, its pretty hard to ignore the buzzing and flashing red light for long...I guess the nickname Crackberry is well deserved. hmmm that would a real shame if it *accidentally* fell in the Nile or was fed to a camel or something....

Speaking of blackberries...the edible ones are in season here now. Normally I would never pay for them since they are so easy to pick in Victoria, but since strawberry season is done now, I had to find something else to put in my smoothies...

**I am about 99% sure that a bird just flew into my apartment....when I got up to investigate, I couldn't find it anywhere....hopefully it found an open window and got out.....

My parents came back a few days ago, unfortunately, Mum was sick so they had to skip out on a couple of activities with the group and come back to Cairo early, but she's fit as a fiddle now (seriously, where do these expressions come from??!! My fingers just typed it before my brain had even registered how dumb it sounded) and they're seeing King Tut today at the museum and are heading to the red sea for a few nights tomorrow. Yesterday we went to Muhammed Ali's Mosque and the citadel (second time for me).

Most of you know how much I love to bake, and since I now have a kitchen, I went on a mission today to Carrefour, (sort of like wal-mart) to get all the stuff I need to make all my favourite things, but apparently Egypt does not have some fairly key items...I have been searching for weeks for a cookie sheet, and apparently they don't exist here....I know they eat store-bought cookies, and I'm pretty sure some people must bake them at home, but I have no idea what they make them on- the closest thing I could find was a circular pizza pan. The vanilla I usually buy in liquid form was a powder, and baking soda and chocolate chips were nowhere to be found. Despite these setbacks, I am going to try to make banana bread today...I have an easter bunny in the freezer (I learned the hard way that you CANNOT keep chocolate in the cupboard here!) that I am going to cut up in place of chips so I'll keep you posted...

Guess what? Only 38 days till I come home for a visit!

Byeeee :)

C

God help us....with recruiting...

Considering I am the product of an essentially non-religious upbringing, I found the influence of religion (both Islam and Christianity) here alarming initially......

When I was here in the summer I'd become used to the incessant use of the expression "inshallah" (god willing)...eg: If you say 'I'll see you tomorrow', the response is 'inshallah" (because who knows what will happen to the person in the next 24 hrs...or you!!). Or in the supermarket...."do you think you'll have more strawberries tomorrow?" again: "Inshallah!" (what if the fields get flooded, or the truck overturns on its way to the store?). This used to annoy me because I thought people weren't taking responsibility for their actions..... I would say to my driver: you'll be here at 9 tomorrow, right?? he'd reply, "inshallah, Miss Catherine.." and when he was late, well.....it was god's will. But I've started to realize, it's not a cop-out, it's just that in their eyes, Allah is so powerful, it would be an insult to him to assume that there was something he didn't have control over....

When I was looking for an apartment, my broker who knew I wasn't muslim, excitedly told me one day that he had a flat to show me that was very near a Christian church...."you'll be able to walk!!" he said watching eagerly for my reaction..."Great!" I said, because I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was unlikely that I'd be attending....

Last weekend on our way back from Sharm, as soon as we landed, some Arabic writing appeared on the tv screen above my head. I asked Zoomie, who speaks and reads Arabic, if it was thanking us for flying Egyptair, and she said said no, it was a prayer to thank god for the safe landing.

In North America, the subject of religion in the workplace is a huge taboo, and we would NEVER mention our beliefs at work, but here it is thoroughly embedded in everything we do. When I first got to Cairo, I got an email from our new Front office manager, whom I hadn't met yet, but in it, he casually said that he knew I had a big job ahead, but that I shouldn't worry, because god was assisting me in the recruitment (interesting, because god has yet to offer to do a single interview or reference check!!!). At the end of every morning briefing, our GM finishes with, "have a good day guys, and god bless you". And Muslims pray 5 times a day, so it's a not uncommon at all to walk into someone's office and find them praying; one of our sales managers even leads the other girls in prayer after lunch. Applicants frequently tell me that they are praying for the success of our hotel and for my good health, ( the latter seems to be working so far so maybe I'll tell them to keep it up!)

Right now you're probably thinking... um, WTF, where is she going with this.... but what prompted me to write this post now was how normal it all seems to me now- this epiphany came today when my boss shut our office door and announced that if I needed her she'd be behind her desk praying..."mafishe mushkella!" (no problem) I said, as I continued eating my fat-free yogurt and typing an email to a new hire about an upcoming orientation.

Although I still don't feel a need to participate, it's nice to see how much comfort my friends and co-workers take from their faith. Even the poorest Egyptians seem to find some solace in the fact that there is someone looking out for them.....hard to believe when they seem to have little else than their faith, but then again, maybe some of them feel rich because of it...I guess it's all a matter of perspective isn't it...

Okay, too much thinking for one night...off to bed. I miss you all and Inshalla you will all have a great day!!

Over from Cairo. xoxo C

Why do vacations have to end.....?

Welllll, here I am in cairo again after a few days in Sharm El Sheikh and to be honest, I am not very happy about it!!! We (Zoomie, Chris and I) had an amazing  mini-break (as Bridget Jones would say) and I don't think any of us were ready to come home  as we shuffled up the stairs onto Egyptair flight 128 this morning.

Thursday was a holiday- labour day- and the flight to Sharm is only about 45 minutes, so we took a late evening flight from cairo on Wednesday night, getting in at a fairly reasonable hour.  

We had a really wonderful few days- it was so nice to breathe clean air and swim in the ocean and not think or talk about work at all (we made a rule!!), and I could go on and on about how incredible the snorkeling was {better than Pacific or the Caribbean side of Mexico, Hawaii and the Dominican put together!!} but it'll probably be more interesting for you  if I post some pictures and let them speak for themselves, and I'll just give you some of the more amusing highlights in point form: 

- One of our co-workers got us a great deal at hotel belonging to a well-known international brand in the centre of town, but "something" (aka higher rated business!) happened and they called to say we'd been relocated to another resort a bit further from the town centre. The location was fine, and the beach was beautiful but the service was TERRIBLE!!!! I'm not sure if the service is the same all over sharm, due to the difficulty attracting and retaining labour in resorts (we have that issue in the rockies too) or if it was isolated to this particular hotel, but save a few staff members, most of the employees looked  and acted as though they'd rather be getting an anesthesia-free root canal than working there. One of the more memorable interactions was from the front desk agent when I phoned to find out how to check telephone messages:

FD guy: allofrondask...

Me: hello? Front desk?

FD guy: yes, frondask.

Me:Yes, hi, there is a red light blinking on my phone, I think I have a message.

FD dude (I'm going to  go out on a limb and say that his name was mohamed): what?

Me: the message light. on my phone. it's blinking. how do I check my message? 

Mohamed: What? please say slower.

Me: message. phone.

Mohamed: I'm sorry ma'am, your english is very difficult to understand..

Me: what, MY english?!

Mohamed: yes, it is very hard to understand, you do not talk clearly. 

Me: ummmmm okaayyy, so you can't help me?? 

Mohamed: no. you are too difficult to understand. {hangs up}

Mush maool! (arabic for "unbelievable!")  In retrospect, maybe I should have spoken english in an italian accent...  (see next bullet)

 

-Besides a great South African couple that we befriended (Timo and Minx) we were the only english speaking guests at the resort, the rest were Russian or Italian. The guys in our crew stood out a little in their board shorts, as the rest of the men were wearing (my new fav nickname for a speedo) "grape smugglers". Also, I know you have been worried about this since the 80's, but the "rat tail" hairstyle is still alive and well in russia!! 

- I'm sure by now you've noticed my fascination with errors on signage and menus, wellllll on this trip, we had some doozies...... Our room rate included all meals, which were served buffet style, so each item was labeled. Yesterday's lunch featured, "peans", "parley soup" and "chicken winges"and each morning for breakfast, we ate a hearty bowl of "oaths". The coffee shop at the sharm airport proudly showed its versatility by announcing on a sign, that patrons were welcome to order either from the barista or "on their table". I know, I know, I shouldn't laugh, especially since my arabic is currently at a pre-school level, but I can't help myself sometimes...

On a more serious note, the Cliffs seem to be narrowly avoiding disaster lately-- I told you about the concert Tabitha was at last week where the floor collapsed... well 2 days ago, there was a terrible bus accident on the Sinai, a bus going from Sharm to Cairo, carrying 40 tourists flipped over and sadly, 8 people were killed. I drove this road about 3 weeks ago, and my parents will be doing the same in about 5 days.  Thanks to all of you who wrote for your concern, but we are (thankfully) all just fine. But they say bad things happen in threes don't they... so Mum, Dad, Michael, Uncle David,  Auntie Sherron, Tabs, Andrew, Nathan and Stephen, let's be extra careful and look out for each other over the next while, okay??!!!

In other news..... you might be interested in the latest goss in Cairo hotel circles! The Saudi ownership of  one of the biggest hotels in town has just banned alcohol completely!! Our favourite  blog for hotel news, vacantready.com has the deets...

Okay well that's all for now, I should go and mentally prepare myself for the 5 day week ahead. 5 days!!! In a row!! Mush maool!!

Hope you're all doing well, miss you!

C