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!