Well it seems the boys are finally settled. This morning, for the first time since getting here, Kieran turned to me at nursery and said ‘goodbye mummy’ and then ran off to play. A far cry from earlier occasions, when he’s clutched my leg saying ‘don’t leave me!’ and crying loudly enough to disturb even the hard bitten Masai security guards (they have been giving me some funny looks as I run off to the car without so much as looking back).
Rohan has been rather less trouble – I think anywhere with toys, snacks, and adoring adults is good enough for him. He’s recently started trying to make friends, going up to random strangers saying ‘Jambo (Swahili for ‘hello’)! Ana Rohan (Arabic for ‘I’m Rohan’). I think both boys have decided that if the people they see don’t speak English, then they must respond to Arabic! They accompanied me on an expedition to find someone to mend my only pair of shoes (the cobbler was finally found, as promised, ‘under the tree by the side of the highway’) and had a great time chatting with the other men there (not sure what they were doing under the tree). I decided that their language education couldn’t start early enough so they can now say ‘assante’ (thank you) and ‘kwaheri’ (goodbye) in addition to ‘hello’.
Both boys have come a long way since we moved here. Rohan has finally started talking, in whole sentences rather than the occasional word, and Kieran has started to swim! Admittedly with arm bands, but he’s moving along quite rapidly – he can now stay underwater for about 8 seconds. The good thing about Tanzania is that everyone, no matter how young, swims so the boys are being shamed into catching up.
My own existence is a bit more mundane – I seem to spend a fair bit of every day just visiting the shops (4 visits over the last 1.5 day). Part of this is because there are no one-stop hypermarkets here, and you have to go to different places just to get everything you need. The other part is the difference between having a bawwab to lug your shopping up several flights of stairs, and having to do it yourself. I no longer buy a month’s worth of UHT milk, safe in the knowledge that it will mysteriously get from the car to the correct kitchen cabinet without any further effort on my part. (Does anyone realise how boring it is to put away groceries? Not loving that…)
One thing I am loving is driving myself. It’s been about 10 days since I got my driving license, and I’ve got a little hired car (a Toyota Rav4, which seems to be the standard expat mummy car) and it’s great fun to just zip around the peninsula without having to go through the palaver of requesting a driver in advance. Also, when the boys are fractious, we can all jump in the car and go off to the waterfront to have fresh fruit smoothies (and do yet more shopping). Next on the agenda is to explore as much of the surrounding area around Dar as possible, in terms of beaches, islands and safaris – hopefully by the time I next post something, the boys will have seen some wild animals.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Move to Tanzania. Part 3- Settling In
Okay, so just under two weeks after arriving here what has happened and what are the first impressions? There is so much to get through I really don’t know where to start! As with most times I arrive in a new country, the first impression seems to be the weather- very British of me I know!
Unlike Cairo, the weather here has changed from day to day. People here tell me that this is because we’re just on the cusp of a change in season- from dry to the first rainy season. When we landed a week back, it was sunny, albeit slightly less harshly so than Cairo. Although the temperature was lower than Cairo at its worse- about low to mid thirties- it felt a good deal hotter. In part this was due to the significantly higher humidity, in part due to the slightly more basic air conditioning, meaning that we’re more exposed to temperatures here than before. Whatever the reason, for the first few days we all sweated like crazy and worked our way through gallons of water- it would have been more had we not used the swimming pool outside religiously every afternoon to cool off!
As regards humidity, the last few days have been a case of out of the frying pan into the fire- or out of the steam room into the monsoon! I was advised by a well meaning colleague that the rainy season was here. Seeing torrential rainfall outside (not quite as heavy as India last June but still quite a shock to the system after Cairo) I think I’d managed to figure that one out for myself! So, to summarise- it started off hot and humid and is now hot and torrentially wet! Soma is in paradise!
The first few days were all about getting up and running. I had forgotten just how disorienting a change of country is- the first day you really are starting from nothing. Upon waking up the first morning we had no way of telling the time (Soma’s watch broken and all mobiles handed in at Cairo), no way of calling anyone (the internal hotel phones are internal anyway since the billing system is broken) and no way of getting anywhere! From this unpromising point we really needed to get food (we are self catering here), get the boys into nursery, get ourselves mobile and start the search for a house.
Things got a bit easier once we got in touch with the world. We walked a few minutes down the road and got a mobile phone card- we could call people finally! This enabled us to procure a company car and driver- hurrah! Things got easier from then on. With a temporary arrangement for use of a driver, we achieved our first goals- food and nursery. Driving to Little Scholars was easy- leaving the kids considerably less so. Rohan was fairly easy- he saw the toys and scuttled off happily. Kieran, being more aware of his impending abandonment stuck to my leg like glue. I ended up taking the tearful little guy into his classroom and staying there for the first few minutes, only leaving when he was well and truly engrossed in something!
With the boys out of the way we went house hunting and, unbelievably, found a place on the first morning. I’m not going into too much detail for risk of tempting fate- needless to say we like it a lot and will describe it more when we move in!
The final big achievement was, at the end of last week, getting our Tanzanian driving licences. This sounds impressive but required minimal work on our part. Fortunately, being British, we’re at a huge advantage. We drive on the same side of the road (ie properly!) so are almost there from a Tanzanian perspective. After handing over a copy of our UK licences, two photos and about $4 each, we were in proud possession of our licences that same day- a bureaucratic triumph made all the sweeter by our two lovely Rav4 cars fresh from the car hire store! In four days we’d got the kids in nursery, found a house and got us some wheels. A great start!
Driving here is not too bad actually- I know driving in Africa sounds really exotic and cool but actually it’s a bit like Essex- rules of the road exist but nobody pays much attention to them. The locals bemoan the crazy driving that goes on, but frankly it all seems a bit tame after Cairo. Certainly people do some strange things here and the rules of the road are interpreted a bit flexibly (more like guidance notes than real rules) but in my few days of driving (both on the Peninsula and driving to and from work in Dar city centre) I’ve not been subject to crazy bolts out of the blue as frequently happened in Cairo. People cut in front of you just like in Cairo but here they indicate first! Traffic can be slow and, when you get congestion, obeying silly things like traffic lights is just going to result in getting home hours after everyone else. The secret here is to stay calm, keep moving forward, whatever colour the lights, be careful not to hit anyone/ thing (and if, like my boss you do, make sure it isn’t a police motorcyclist you send careering into the gutter- they get very upset and angry with you) and to make sure you stay awake- nothing too tough in that! Now that the rains are here, however, I’m very grateful for the cars we have. In Cairo we had a large Pajero, mainly in an effort to protect us from the suicidal taxi drivers who plough into the side of you. Here we need 4 by 4 cars to get anywhere off a main road! The main roads are okay, even in rain but the minor ones, such as that which leads to our hotel entrance, have craters which have now become minor lakes- getting over and through them is fun in a Rav4, less so in the Fiat we owned in the UK!
A week in, I think we’re getting settled. The boys like the place; I like drinking good wine and driving (not together of course!). Soma is starting to make some friends here- the people in our block are a very friendly bunch and a myriad of nationalities. It will be a while before this starts to feel like home- certainly not while we’re in a serviced apartment rather than our own place- but when I look back at where we were a week back I think we’ve done okay!
Unlike Cairo, the weather here has changed from day to day. People here tell me that this is because we’re just on the cusp of a change in season- from dry to the first rainy season. When we landed a week back, it was sunny, albeit slightly less harshly so than Cairo. Although the temperature was lower than Cairo at its worse- about low to mid thirties- it felt a good deal hotter. In part this was due to the significantly higher humidity, in part due to the slightly more basic air conditioning, meaning that we’re more exposed to temperatures here than before. Whatever the reason, for the first few days we all sweated like crazy and worked our way through gallons of water- it would have been more had we not used the swimming pool outside religiously every afternoon to cool off!
As regards humidity, the last few days have been a case of out of the frying pan into the fire- or out of the steam room into the monsoon! I was advised by a well meaning colleague that the rainy season was here. Seeing torrential rainfall outside (not quite as heavy as India last June but still quite a shock to the system after Cairo) I think I’d managed to figure that one out for myself! So, to summarise- it started off hot and humid and is now hot and torrentially wet! Soma is in paradise!
The first few days were all about getting up and running. I had forgotten just how disorienting a change of country is- the first day you really are starting from nothing. Upon waking up the first morning we had no way of telling the time (Soma’s watch broken and all mobiles handed in at Cairo), no way of calling anyone (the internal hotel phones are internal anyway since the billing system is broken) and no way of getting anywhere! From this unpromising point we really needed to get food (we are self catering here), get the boys into nursery, get ourselves mobile and start the search for a house.
Things got a bit easier once we got in touch with the world. We walked a few minutes down the road and got a mobile phone card- we could call people finally! This enabled us to procure a company car and driver- hurrah! Things got easier from then on. With a temporary arrangement for use of a driver, we achieved our first goals- food and nursery. Driving to Little Scholars was easy- leaving the kids considerably less so. Rohan was fairly easy- he saw the toys and scuttled off happily. Kieran, being more aware of his impending abandonment stuck to my leg like glue. I ended up taking the tearful little guy into his classroom and staying there for the first few minutes, only leaving when he was well and truly engrossed in something!
With the boys out of the way we went house hunting and, unbelievably, found a place on the first morning. I’m not going into too much detail for risk of tempting fate- needless to say we like it a lot and will describe it more when we move in!
The final big achievement was, at the end of last week, getting our Tanzanian driving licences. This sounds impressive but required minimal work on our part. Fortunately, being British, we’re at a huge advantage. We drive on the same side of the road (ie properly!) so are almost there from a Tanzanian perspective. After handing over a copy of our UK licences, two photos and about $4 each, we were in proud possession of our licences that same day- a bureaucratic triumph made all the sweeter by our two lovely Rav4 cars fresh from the car hire store! In four days we’d got the kids in nursery, found a house and got us some wheels. A great start!
Driving here is not too bad actually- I know driving in Africa sounds really exotic and cool but actually it’s a bit like Essex- rules of the road exist but nobody pays much attention to them. The locals bemoan the crazy driving that goes on, but frankly it all seems a bit tame after Cairo. Certainly people do some strange things here and the rules of the road are interpreted a bit flexibly (more like guidance notes than real rules) but in my few days of driving (both on the Peninsula and driving to and from work in Dar city centre) I’ve not been subject to crazy bolts out of the blue as frequently happened in Cairo. People cut in front of you just like in Cairo but here they indicate first! Traffic can be slow and, when you get congestion, obeying silly things like traffic lights is just going to result in getting home hours after everyone else. The secret here is to stay calm, keep moving forward, whatever colour the lights, be careful not to hit anyone/ thing (and if, like my boss you do, make sure it isn’t a police motorcyclist you send careering into the gutter- they get very upset and angry with you) and to make sure you stay awake- nothing too tough in that! Now that the rains are here, however, I’m very grateful for the cars we have. In Cairo we had a large Pajero, mainly in an effort to protect us from the suicidal taxi drivers who plough into the side of you. Here we need 4 by 4 cars to get anywhere off a main road! The main roads are okay, even in rain but the minor ones, such as that which leads to our hotel entrance, have craters which have now become minor lakes- getting over and through them is fun in a Rav4, less so in the Fiat we owned in the UK!
A week in, I think we’re getting settled. The boys like the place; I like drinking good wine and driving (not together of course!). Soma is starting to make some friends here- the people in our block are a very friendly bunch and a myriad of nationalities. It will be a while before this starts to feel like home- certainly not while we’re in a serviced apartment rather than our own place- but when I look back at where we were a week back I think we’ve done okay!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Move to Tanzania. Part 2- The Journey There.
The worst part of any journey, for me, is getting through Cairo airport. Whether it is the shiny but overcrowded “Old Terminal” or the decrepit, rundown “New Terminal” (another Egyptian oddity I know), arriving at the airport is always my least favourite part of any flight.
Having said our goodbyes to Mohammed and headed into the departure area with the most overloaded trolley in existence, the check- in was pretty trouble free. No stroppy policemen, pestering porters or clueless check in staff. The last of these was mostly due to the fact that, thanks to some major price cuts by Emirate Airlines, we were travelling Business Class the whole way- once you’ve turned left on a plane for the first time, you never go back! I was twenty six when I first went business. Our two boys have beaten that by decades the lucky so and so’s!
After an uneventful hour or so patrolling the terminal- mostly the foodhall and the play area- we boarded the plane. If you are travelling Business just once in your life then make it Emirates- you are treated like royalty. We all took our seats (so large that each seat was a play area in its own for the kids) and awaited take off. Kieran and I said a last goodbye to Cairo as the plane powered up on the runway and then we were off. The three and a half hour flight to Dubai was quite uneventful. Kieran was completely absorbed in the various videos practically the whole flight. When we started our descent, the man in the window seat next to me kindly allowed Kieran to look out of his window. We saw sea, clouds and, off in the distance, the Iranian coastline all of which Kieran took in avidly before he had to be belted in for landing.
Rohan was well behaved too. For the first hour he had slept soundly, and would have done so for longer had his mother not spilled a glass of wine over him at lunch! Even after that rude awakening, Rohan was no trouble. He looked around, watched videos and, in the end was congratulated by some Australian passengers for his good behaviour!
Dubai is simply another world- we felt as if we’d emerged from the darkest recesses of some jungle! The first thing we found upon arrival were these long lost virtues of customer service and common sense. Immediately upon disembarking we were able to take a complimentary buggy for Rohan. The visa queue was brief and painless and bagges came quickly. Before we knew it we were in a car, headed to our apartment at the Golden Sands Hotel.
After check- in, we needed to sort out the kids’ (and our) dinner. This being Dubai, a large supermarket was just over the road, so off we headed. What should have been a quick jaunt took much longer, due largely to two adults, freshly off the plane from Egypt standing and gazing in awe at the sheer mass of choice. Wines, branded goods from home and, most amazingly of all, a pork section! No longer did you have to source this illicit meat from a local “dealer”- you could buy it in a shop! Needless to say, four of us got into bed that night, tired but well fed and happy.
The next day was a busy one. We were due to meet up with an old friend from Cairo. Marianne had spent the tail end of 2006 in Maadi with her husband Doug and her two kids- same age as ours happily enough. When their time in Maadi came to an end, they were so taken with expat life Doug took up a new post with his company in Abu Dhabi. In fact, working for Doug was one of the options presented to me when the Egypt assignment was drawing to a close.
Full of optimism we headed out onto the roadside to hail a taxi. After ten minutes in sweltering heat, discretion duly overcame valour and we returned to the hotel to order a cab instead. A half hour drive past landmarks such as the Burj Tower (7 star hotel) and another building which apparently going to be the tallest in the world, saw us arriving at the entrance to the Emirate Shopping Mall- a place highly recommended by several friends.
Marianne was not due for at least another hour so we got down to our shopping. Half an hour (and a projector, a Nintendo and several games) later, we stopped for lunch next to an immense indoor ski slope. It was at this point, Kieran decided that Dubai was his favourite place on earth- this was not just a small artificial slope but an entire indoor, climate adjusted world of snow. Sadly our planning for a journey to Tanzania via Dubai inexplicably omitted ski suits so we were not able to go- next time will be different, our eldest was assured.
After lunch, we made our way to the soft play area where we met Marianne. She seemed fine and all was perfect. The boys played, the ladies chatted and I headed off to buy more Nintendo games. After a long day of shopping and playing, we got back into our taxi and headed to the hotel for dinner and bed- the toughest part of our journey lay ahead.
It would be fair to say that, despite the best efforts of Emirates, the second part of the journey was a good deal more frazzled than the first. Things got off to a bad start when our Emirates pickup called in late. I contacted the airline to confirm that we would not miss our flight and was told I should have booked him earlier. After much exploding on my part (they had suggested the pickup time in the first place after all) profuse apologies were offered. The driver turned up forty minutes late blaming traffic “traffic bad- what to do?” was the lame excuse “leave home earlier” the fairly curt response. After a pleasant ride through suspiciously uncongested roads, we arrived at the airport in good time. We trundled our bags into what was a snobs’ paradise (ie heaven for me)- the business class terminal. Not only did our tickets mean a separate queue but a completely separate, posh part of the building- these guys know how to do luxury too! We spent a happy half hour in the lounge working our way through the buffet (bacon, eggs and champagne anyone?) before boarding the flight to Dar es salaam.
This flight was, at five and a half hours, a good deal longer than the first, and Rohan had slept in the airport as well. It was no surprise therefore that this time was a bit tougher than the last. Both boys behaved quite well though and, in mid afternoon sun, we landed at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es salaam. Unlike Dubai (and just like Cairo) there were no buggies on hand to place Rohan in. Dubai was a welcome aberration in our slightly more flustered and sweaty “emerging markets” existence, we reminded ourselves. At this point (and in retrospect entirely understandably given the length of the flight), Kieran decided not just to blot his copybook of good behaviour but to well and truly dye it black. He was impossible in the passport queue, staging a lie- down protest in front of the official (who, had it have been me would have deported him!!) and then played havoc with the luggage belt. After retrieving all our bags, we headed outside into the hot humidity of Tanzania. The first face we saw was that of Joyce, a Songas administrator. She brought the car up to us- Rohan nearly brought his Tanzanian existence to an abrupt end by running so suddenly in front of a car that even Soma’s reflexes did not catch him! After all the bags were packed, Soma and I got into the back of Joyce’s car, a kid on each lap. We left the airport headed towards our temporary apartment on the Msasani Peninsula, both boys gazing avidly out the window at their new homeland. Rohan practised his Swahili by repeating “Jambo” over and over. Kieran practised his diplomacy by loudly asking why everyone outside was black. Soma and I were absolutely dog tired but glad that at least the journey had come to a close.
Having said our goodbyes to Mohammed and headed into the departure area with the most overloaded trolley in existence, the check- in was pretty trouble free. No stroppy policemen, pestering porters or clueless check in staff. The last of these was mostly due to the fact that, thanks to some major price cuts by Emirate Airlines, we were travelling Business Class the whole way- once you’ve turned left on a plane for the first time, you never go back! I was twenty six when I first went business. Our two boys have beaten that by decades the lucky so and so’s!
After an uneventful hour or so patrolling the terminal- mostly the foodhall and the play area- we boarded the plane. If you are travelling Business just once in your life then make it Emirates- you are treated like royalty. We all took our seats (so large that each seat was a play area in its own for the kids) and awaited take off. Kieran and I said a last goodbye to Cairo as the plane powered up on the runway and then we were off. The three and a half hour flight to Dubai was quite uneventful. Kieran was completely absorbed in the various videos practically the whole flight. When we started our descent, the man in the window seat next to me kindly allowed Kieran to look out of his window. We saw sea, clouds and, off in the distance, the Iranian coastline all of which Kieran took in avidly before he had to be belted in for landing.
Rohan was well behaved too. For the first hour he had slept soundly, and would have done so for longer had his mother not spilled a glass of wine over him at lunch! Even after that rude awakening, Rohan was no trouble. He looked around, watched videos and, in the end was congratulated by some Australian passengers for his good behaviour!
Dubai is simply another world- we felt as if we’d emerged from the darkest recesses of some jungle! The first thing we found upon arrival were these long lost virtues of customer service and common sense. Immediately upon disembarking we were able to take a complimentary buggy for Rohan. The visa queue was brief and painless and bagges came quickly. Before we knew it we were in a car, headed to our apartment at the Golden Sands Hotel.
After check- in, we needed to sort out the kids’ (and our) dinner. This being Dubai, a large supermarket was just over the road, so off we headed. What should have been a quick jaunt took much longer, due largely to two adults, freshly off the plane from Egypt standing and gazing in awe at the sheer mass of choice. Wines, branded goods from home and, most amazingly of all, a pork section! No longer did you have to source this illicit meat from a local “dealer”- you could buy it in a shop! Needless to say, four of us got into bed that night, tired but well fed and happy.
The next day was a busy one. We were due to meet up with an old friend from Cairo. Marianne had spent the tail end of 2006 in Maadi with her husband Doug and her two kids- same age as ours happily enough. When their time in Maadi came to an end, they were so taken with expat life Doug took up a new post with his company in Abu Dhabi. In fact, working for Doug was one of the options presented to me when the Egypt assignment was drawing to a close.
Full of optimism we headed out onto the roadside to hail a taxi. After ten minutes in sweltering heat, discretion duly overcame valour and we returned to the hotel to order a cab instead. A half hour drive past landmarks such as the Burj Tower (7 star hotel) and another building which apparently going to be the tallest in the world, saw us arriving at the entrance to the Emirate Shopping Mall- a place highly recommended by several friends.
Marianne was not due for at least another hour so we got down to our shopping. Half an hour (and a projector, a Nintendo and several games) later, we stopped for lunch next to an immense indoor ski slope. It was at this point, Kieran decided that Dubai was his favourite place on earth- this was not just a small artificial slope but an entire indoor, climate adjusted world of snow. Sadly our planning for a journey to Tanzania via Dubai inexplicably omitted ski suits so we were not able to go- next time will be different, our eldest was assured.
After lunch, we made our way to the soft play area where we met Marianne. She seemed fine and all was perfect. The boys played, the ladies chatted and I headed off to buy more Nintendo games. After a long day of shopping and playing, we got back into our taxi and headed to the hotel for dinner and bed- the toughest part of our journey lay ahead.
It would be fair to say that, despite the best efforts of Emirates, the second part of the journey was a good deal more frazzled than the first. Things got off to a bad start when our Emirates pickup called in late. I contacted the airline to confirm that we would not miss our flight and was told I should have booked him earlier. After much exploding on my part (they had suggested the pickup time in the first place after all) profuse apologies were offered. The driver turned up forty minutes late blaming traffic “traffic bad- what to do?” was the lame excuse “leave home earlier” the fairly curt response. After a pleasant ride through suspiciously uncongested roads, we arrived at the airport in good time. We trundled our bags into what was a snobs’ paradise (ie heaven for me)- the business class terminal. Not only did our tickets mean a separate queue but a completely separate, posh part of the building- these guys know how to do luxury too! We spent a happy half hour in the lounge working our way through the buffet (bacon, eggs and champagne anyone?) before boarding the flight to Dar es salaam.
This flight was, at five and a half hours, a good deal longer than the first, and Rohan had slept in the airport as well. It was no surprise therefore that this time was a bit tougher than the last. Both boys behaved quite well though and, in mid afternoon sun, we landed at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es salaam. Unlike Dubai (and just like Cairo) there were no buggies on hand to place Rohan in. Dubai was a welcome aberration in our slightly more flustered and sweaty “emerging markets” existence, we reminded ourselves. At this point (and in retrospect entirely understandably given the length of the flight), Kieran decided not just to blot his copybook of good behaviour but to well and truly dye it black. He was impossible in the passport queue, staging a lie- down protest in front of the official (who, had it have been me would have deported him!!) and then played havoc with the luggage belt. After retrieving all our bags, we headed outside into the hot humidity of Tanzania. The first face we saw was that of Joyce, a Songas administrator. She brought the car up to us- Rohan nearly brought his Tanzanian existence to an abrupt end by running so suddenly in front of a car that even Soma’s reflexes did not catch him! After all the bags were packed, Soma and I got into the back of Joyce’s car, a kid on each lap. We left the airport headed towards our temporary apartment on the Msasani Peninsula, both boys gazing avidly out the window at their new homeland. Rohan practised his Swahili by repeating “Jambo” over and over. Kieran practised his diplomacy by loudly asking why everyone outside was black. Soma and I were absolutely dog tired but glad that at least the journey had come to a close.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
The Move to Tanzania. Part 1- Leaving Cairo
As predicted, the last posting was indeed the final one made from Cairo. As I sit here in our temporary apartment here in Dar es salaam, I realise there is a lot to recall in the last week or so. To make sense of things, I’ll split this posting into three bits; the final preparations before we left Cairo, the journey here and the mad few days that have passed since we arrived here on Monday 5th November. Here goes for part 1- “The Leaving”.
My final day at work was an odd affair. Annoyingly enough, after a month of complete inactivity a fairly urgent issue came up in the final couple of days. With one foot out of the door, I was really only able to provide advice to my colleagues on how to handle it. A couple of calls and emails were needed before I handed over my laptop for good though. After a short lunch with my colleagues (aptly ordered in from the same hotel we stayed in upon our immediate arrival in Cairo) I made one final tour of the office, saying goodbye to as many of the people as I could find. I was a bit sad to say goodbye but have been on the verge of leaving for far too long to feel anything other than relief at finally getting out. With considerably less emotion than I had expected, I got into the car and headed home to see how the removal men were doing.
Using removal firms is an odd thing. Right up until a couple of days before departure, your house is untouched- you begin to question whether you have actually done everything you need to do since things simply don’t look as if you’re about to move countries. All of a sudden, though, about twenty men descend on your house, falling upon it like locusts. In just one day, our apartment was utterly denuded of its furniture and all our accumulated junk. By the evening, all our possessions save a few that were actually coming on the plane with us) were sitting in a pile of boxes outside the front entrance to the building, awaiting the removal truck which, true to Egyptian style, had vanished. Save for a few items belonging to the landlord and about five suitcases and their contents (coming with us on the flight), the house was stripped bare.
After half an hour waiting outside, Kieran and I decided that the absent van was the problem of the removal men- not ours- so headed up to bed. Thankfully one double bed and one single mattress belonged to the landlord so we at least had something to sleep on!
Friday morning began as normal with a trip to Café Greco. We stayed, said farewell to the staff there and headed home for lunch- difficult to cook without any pots so we ordered in and ate on the terrace. That afternoon and evening saw a steady stream of friends come over to say a final goodbye. Carol and Paul, Daniel, Viv and Ian (both of whom split the remaining contents of our wine and spirits reserves and, finally Tim. The toughest goodbye, however, was that of Iman- the boys’ nanny. She has been a part of the boys’ lives (whether as nursery teacher or as nanny) throughout our time here so has known Kieran since he was a year old and Rohan practically since birth. The boys did not grasp the gravity of this particular goodbye but Iman may as well have been handing over her own children. Promises to come and visit or to fly her out to see us would have been impossible to fulfil so there was little that could be said to console her. She left our house very tearful- hopefully her new job caring for Viv’s baby will take her mind off things.
Anyway, we had one final bizarre dispute with the landlord over when the apartment should be handed over. We’d agreed 6pm that evening; he then sent his wife at 7pm but she didn’t want to get out of her car so just took all keys except one and drove off without seeing or signing anything. Hee then called to reschedule for around midnight, or possibly midday the following day (approximately 15 minutes before our plane left!). Soma told him very firmly that he could either come round immediately or would have to come before 9am the next morning, after which time we’d leave the remaining key with the bawaab and head to the airport. He promised to come at 8.30 on the dot the next morning. One final, typically Egyptian vignette that sums up beautifully some of the bizarre frustrations of living there! We retired to bed, ready for the big day.
The next morning, we were up, bathed, dressed and breakfasted early. We all spent a final few minutes saying goodbye to our terrace- the coolest one we’ll ever have I think! The landlord phoned to say he was sending his driver to take our keys- I knew 8.30am was going to be too early for him! We did a final check, signed off the handover form and left the keys (and a pristine flat) in the hands of our landlord’s driver. At just after 9am, we got into the car and, after a swift detour at Viv’s house, headed to Cairo airport.
After an easy run to the airport, we loaded up the trolley, bid a final and grateful farewell to our driver Mohammed (both of us quite sad to see the back of each other but not as hysterically upsetting as Iman thankfully) and disappeared into the departure area of Cairo airport- the same terminal into which three of us had arrived back in 2005. The leaving was over, the three day trip to Tanzania via Dubai- two adults and two excited, nervous and generally rowdy toddlers- was about to start.
My final day at work was an odd affair. Annoyingly enough, after a month of complete inactivity a fairly urgent issue came up in the final couple of days. With one foot out of the door, I was really only able to provide advice to my colleagues on how to handle it. A couple of calls and emails were needed before I handed over my laptop for good though. After a short lunch with my colleagues (aptly ordered in from the same hotel we stayed in upon our immediate arrival in Cairo) I made one final tour of the office, saying goodbye to as many of the people as I could find. I was a bit sad to say goodbye but have been on the verge of leaving for far too long to feel anything other than relief at finally getting out. With considerably less emotion than I had expected, I got into the car and headed home to see how the removal men were doing.
Using removal firms is an odd thing. Right up until a couple of days before departure, your house is untouched- you begin to question whether you have actually done everything you need to do since things simply don’t look as if you’re about to move countries. All of a sudden, though, about twenty men descend on your house, falling upon it like locusts. In just one day, our apartment was utterly denuded of its furniture and all our accumulated junk. By the evening, all our possessions save a few that were actually coming on the plane with us) were sitting in a pile of boxes outside the front entrance to the building, awaiting the removal truck which, true to Egyptian style, had vanished. Save for a few items belonging to the landlord and about five suitcases and their contents (coming with us on the flight), the house was stripped bare.
After half an hour waiting outside, Kieran and I decided that the absent van was the problem of the removal men- not ours- so headed up to bed. Thankfully one double bed and one single mattress belonged to the landlord so we at least had something to sleep on!
Friday morning began as normal with a trip to Café Greco. We stayed, said farewell to the staff there and headed home for lunch- difficult to cook without any pots so we ordered in and ate on the terrace. That afternoon and evening saw a steady stream of friends come over to say a final goodbye. Carol and Paul, Daniel, Viv and Ian (both of whom split the remaining contents of our wine and spirits reserves and, finally Tim. The toughest goodbye, however, was that of Iman- the boys’ nanny. She has been a part of the boys’ lives (whether as nursery teacher or as nanny) throughout our time here so has known Kieran since he was a year old and Rohan practically since birth. The boys did not grasp the gravity of this particular goodbye but Iman may as well have been handing over her own children. Promises to come and visit or to fly her out to see us would have been impossible to fulfil so there was little that could be said to console her. She left our house very tearful- hopefully her new job caring for Viv’s baby will take her mind off things.
Anyway, we had one final bizarre dispute with the landlord over when the apartment should be handed over. We’d agreed 6pm that evening; he then sent his wife at 7pm but she didn’t want to get out of her car so just took all keys except one and drove off without seeing or signing anything. Hee then called to reschedule for around midnight, or possibly midday the following day (approximately 15 minutes before our plane left!). Soma told him very firmly that he could either come round immediately or would have to come before 9am the next morning, after which time we’d leave the remaining key with the bawaab and head to the airport. He promised to come at 8.30 on the dot the next morning. One final, typically Egyptian vignette that sums up beautifully some of the bizarre frustrations of living there! We retired to bed, ready for the big day.
The next morning, we were up, bathed, dressed and breakfasted early. We all spent a final few minutes saying goodbye to our terrace- the coolest one we’ll ever have I think! The landlord phoned to say he was sending his driver to take our keys- I knew 8.30am was going to be too early for him! We did a final check, signed off the handover form and left the keys (and a pristine flat) in the hands of our landlord’s driver. At just after 9am, we got into the car and, after a swift detour at Viv’s house, headed to Cairo airport.
After an easy run to the airport, we loaded up the trolley, bid a final and grateful farewell to our driver Mohammed (both of us quite sad to see the back of each other but not as hysterically upsetting as Iman thankfully) and disappeared into the departure area of Cairo airport- the same terminal into which three of us had arrived back in 2005. The leaving was over, the three day trip to Tanzania via Dubai- two adults and two excited, nervous and generally rowdy toddlers- was about to start.
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