Cairo Jazz and Rohan's Soul

I admit there has been something of a delay in updating this blog. This has nothing to do with diminishing enthusiasm and more to do with the fact that, on the work front at least, the last couple of weeks have been incredibly boring and quiet. Frankly, I’ve been waiting for something to happen that I can write about!

On the home front all is well. Rohan in particular seems to be growing fast and appears to be finding hidden spiritual depths. His spiritual journey has started with Buddhism- the little guy seems to be following in his father’s footsteps and has taken quite an interest in my Buddha statue. Sadly, rather than pondering the meaning of the dharma, he has taken to playing “gimme five” with the outstretched hand of Buddha! Well I guess Buddha won’t mind all that much and probably prefers this more street cred alternative to “round and round the garden, like a teddy bear” that Rohan was trying before!



Just as we thought Rohan was looking eastwards, he now shows signs of following the Christian path (not a surprise given his daily visits to nursery at the local church I suppose!) We found Rohan sitting in his buggy, hands together in prayer saying “let’s be quiet for a minute and pray!”. He rounded off his imaginary service a few seconds later with “Amen” and then “well done!”

Socially, things have been good in Maadi. A new batch of arrivals are now esconced and seem quite nice- it will be sad to leave before we become good friends with them. Last Saturday we went off to the Cairo Jazz Club with our friends Daniel and Janice. The club was great. Once inside, it seemed just like the average UK club- a bit dark and dingy but alright- we had a bit of a problem getting seated as the club was convinced we hadn’t reserved. It took the doorman to introduce a bit of common sense to the waiter (now that’s something you don’t find at home) by pointing out that the club was empty so getting seated shouldn’t be a problem. Anyway, the food was alright, there were decent, cheap drinks, the typical atmospheric smoke (which is now a thing of the past in the UK I hear) and good music. However, being Cairo, something had to be a bit wrong- things are never quite spot on here. Although it did not detract from the evening one little bit, it did seem a bit odd that we did not hear a single note of jazz music- dance, hiphop a bit of world music- jazz however seemed to be totally inappropriate for the venue- genius!

Things are gathering pace on the house move front. We’ve had a few removal companies visit and have received some quotes- glad I’m not paying for this! Tonight we start the injections- Hep A and B to start with then onto the exciting stuff (Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Rabies etc). We’re also in the process of getting rid of stuff- there’s a waiting list (unsurprisingly) for the pool table, likely takers for potted plants, curtains and huge pot things we have in the living room. On a bigger scale our tax manager has just offered to buy our (as yet unbuilt) apartment in Ain Sukhna! Although a Red Sea apartment would be nice to have, I can’t help but think that once in Tanzania we’ll not be seeing too much of it. Fun job for the weekend is to triage the store room- expat life is so fun and glam isn’t it!!

Soma is off tonight to the Khan el Khalili with our neighbour Anu (also Bengali). She and her family are also leaving Cairo and she wants one last visit. The Khan is famous for its shops and the vendors normally fleece the tourists something rotten. I can’t help but imagine they will turn slightly pale after any time haggling with those two particular Bengali ladies!

Anyway, I’m still not sure when we’re going to leave yet. We have a look see visit planned for September some time but need to get sorted on key things like the leaving party! One final bash on the roof is something we’re definitely looking forward to.

Where Next? Clarity at Last!

So what has happened with us since last posting? A fair amount, to be honest. We’ve travelled a bit, earned my Granddad a fiver and managed to find a creepy crawly that Kieran isn’t scared of.

I guess the most important news relates to our immediate future and specifically where that future lies. This has now become much more solid. Late last week Soma and I headed to Amsterdam for what was ostensibly a budget review meeting but ended up being a meeting to decide where my next assignment would be and a chance to do some tourism and shopping.

Firstly, a bit about Amsterdam- what a place! We were lucky enough to be staying in the Dylan Hotel (see below for a link if you fancy a go)

http://www.slh.com/netherlands/amsterdam/hotel_amsbla.html

a small but excellent place on the Keizersgracht right in the centre of Amsterdam. It was a bit pricey, so it’s probably not somewhere you’d spend a week. However, for a couple of days of top notch accommodation I’d definitely recommend it.

As for Amsterdam itself, well maybe I’ve spent too much time in hot dusty third world capitals but this place was fantastic. Due largely to the fact that most people were either walking or on bikes as opposed to driving, the city was clean, peaceful and quiet- you could hear a pin drop! Walking around, it was so easy to imagine this place in its prime several centuries back, with small ships unloading onto small canalside warehouses. The architecture remains more or less intact. The Dutch seemed to have perfected the idea of maximising ground space by building upwards- something developed by future inhabitants of New Amsterdam it seems! Anyway, Amsterdam definitely goes alongside Geneva onto the list of retirement locations!

The budget stuff got dealt with in the blink of an eye and we then got down to the real business in hand. I had a short talk in the courtyard of the Dylan with our VP of Operations about the kind of role and package that was on offer at Songas. What I heard settled in my mind that Tanzania was the place to go. With Soma’s blessing, I confirmed that I’d accept the role and there we were- off to Tanzania as soon as Sidi Krir gets sold. Granddad officially wins his bet and is now owed a fiver! Hopefully we’ll be in Dar es Salaam by the end of the year- maybe sooner, maybe later, who knows. Although you can’t tell with these things, I’m hopeful that this will be a good three to four year assignment giving the boys a bit of stability as they start school.

Soma and I then spent a couple of hours talking to my likely new boss in which he gave us some useful pointers on Tanzania. Houses are big and good value for money, there is an area like Maadi (called the Msasani Peninsula) where most expats live, crime happens but is not too bad, they drive on the left etc etc etc. I guess we now need to get cracking on organising the move. Since the move date won’t be known until Sidi Krir gets sold, the actual move will be at very short notice. We need to sort things like removal firms, inoculations, leaving parties etc well in advance- Soma does so like a project to get on with!!

So back in Cairo how are things? Well, in a nutshell it is ridiculously hot and dry. Daytime temperatures are well into the mid forties, so nobody really does anything outside. All those lovely Maadi flowers that Soma eulogised about have long since been scorched away. Most expats have headed to Europe for the summer and any Egyptian with sense has fled for the north coast. August is a very quiet month here in Cairo- very little work is done since nobody is actually here. Good news is that at least the traffic is lighter- getting to work is just a 25 minute drive now! At home the boys are well. Kieran encountered a tiny newborn house lizard in the bathroom last night- clear coloured and no more than an inch long. Being on the seventh floor we are spared the scorpions and snakes that some of the villas get (our office in Dokki revealed itself to be the home of five snakes last year, including a four foot cobra in the filing room!). The occasional cockroach or house lizard is more or less it for us. Amazingly for someone so squeamish, Kieran looked at it curiously and pronounced it “very cute”. Perhaps there is hope for him in Africa after all!