Another beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:15:00 +0000

This blog is not dead yet because I am very alive! Updates coming soon.

happy new year

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:40:00 +0000

This blog is not yet antique shown to my grandchildren referring to the long break. It has not earned this honorable status yet. For those who wonder – yes, I am still in Cairo and not planning to leave. Rather the opposite. Seems like day by day there are more reasons to stay. For example recently I was witnessing a remarkable improvement. It did not even take two years to get a work permit and bank account. Now I can use a plastic card to withdraw money from ATM. I don’t have to keep the small savings under the mattress anymore like our ancestors. Thank you.

After Ramadan

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:45:00 +0000

Muslim fasting month Ramadan is over. I was almost relieved until I noticed what it brought with itself. Restaurants and cafes are full of people again, streets during sunset are crowded. It is like everyone woke up from a long dream. It is weird to see Muslim friends eating at daytime again.
A vacation is highly appreciated at this moment and that’s why I am spending next week sunbathing by the Red Sea with beloved ones. Oh what would I do right now without 360 sunny days a year.
Other highlights of last two months: giving food to poor people and considered being a Muslim, buying plane tickets home for Christmas, working my ass off, not putting on weight because of Ramadan.

normal life

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:24:00 +0000

Life is normal. Almost as normal as normal is. I have an interesting job, I have a home, close friends, money to buy food, nice weekends by the sea.

I am also in a challenging process at the moment – getting the work permit. I have been working on it for the last couple of months and I do not think it will be done soon considering current progress. But one thing is sure – when I am done you can read about it and especially people who like to google “work permit in Egypt” (“tööluba egiptuses”) because they are in a similar situation.

And I am happy that I find myself cooking more often then before when instant noodles were the national food.

This picture is from April when Mannu came to visit. We were on a picnic and suddenly it started raining which hardly ever happens by the Red Sea.

One year in Egypt.

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 09:20:00 +0000

Couple of days ago I celebrated my first anniversary here – one year exactly when I landed in Cairo. Back then I didn’t know anything about Islam or what is waiting for me here.

It has been an amazing year. I have met many great people, had lots of fun, found myself in challenging and also unpleasant situations very often, learned a lot, changed jobs, lived so far in 4 apartments, changed a bit and still stayed the same.

Life-changing experience they say. It truly is.

Today I found myself thinking, oh what a good and cool day, its only +38 C outside.

Some of my new extra cool coworkers.

How to lose weight?

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:59:00 +0000

Just two extra points added to your monthly “How to spend a lot of money for clothes, cosmetics and still stay fat and ugly” literature:

99) Eat only what you prepare yourself. Then you know exactly what is in your sandwich. In that case you can also prevent an angry waiter spitting in your Caesar salad because your date yelled at him for being slow.

100) Go for grocery shopping when you are full to prevent buying random carbohydrates. If it is not possible and luckily you happen to be easily influential then before picking up your sweets and cheese pass by the meat section. When you are lucky you will find some small cute skinned rabbits their eyes still on. For some cases featherless pigeons can also lose your appetite.

Back in Cairo - part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 18:19:00 +0000

The balcony is dirty again, its +41 C degrees outside (around the same inside), the hot wind is blowing like a hairdryer. But I don’t really mind because now we have legal internet at home. No more running to cafes with wifi and “praying” for some connectivity.

Estonia was comfortable like always. After minor culture shocks in traffic it felt as good as before.

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 10:23:00 +0000

The longest period I have been without proper internet connection. And I am still alive :)
The reasons are travelling, new job and trainings.

Inspiration from the balcony

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Wed, 16 May 2007 17:17:00 +0000

I discovered that being unemployed and doing nothing than chilling at home, going to cafés with friends, going to job interviews, taking Arabic classes and chatting virtually hasn’t given me a mental push to come up with something writable.

Until today when I finally decided to clean one of our balconies. But it’s not a simple balcony – it’s a Cairo balcony. Cairo balconies are huge and have a considerable bigger amount of dust on it because of the sand storms, dust and pollution. One of the key factors in balcony-cleaning is that you need to do it regularly. We have been living in this apartment for almost 3 months now and you can only guess how many times we have cleaned it before (the answer for not so bright people is – 0).

It’s amazing how balconies are built. The ground is with a small angle so the water you poor on the ground for cleaning all eventually runs out from a small hardly noticeable pipe. Very high tech. I suspect cleaning ladies were the ones who told construction men to do it that way.

Oh, almost forgot to mention. I got a new job now starting on 1^st of June. I am very excited indeed. And what do you do when you have two weeks of vacation before you start a job where you can’t have vacations for first 6 months?

You go home!

I am landing to Estonia on Monday 21^st and taking off on 30^th to be here on time. I am not as well prepared as last time when I had a To-Do list 4 months in advance but I am sure I will enjoy it (the flight was booked yesterday).

See you all.

Meanwhile

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Wed, 09 May 2007 09:55:00 +0000

Many things are happening lately but I try not to have one of these “I had a sandwich for breakfast” type of blogs with lot of personal updates.

The heat has reached Cairo and its just May. You know its summer when the cold shower is a relief and not a pain. Of course in case you have one of these flats that doesn’t have air conditioning like ours.

I want to thank all my friends and family who have made it here during my stay. Especially to my parents who just left back home. Everybody who comes here is suddenly part of a roller coaster with many cultural shocks; they experience ugliness and beauty, chaotic traffic and ultimate chilling, chaos and balance. I hope you all have had a great time and for the ones who haven’t made it here yet but are thinking about it – you are more than welcome and I am always looking forward seeing you all.

A pair of shopping genes needed

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 14:50:00 +0000

I lack of something very necessary – shopping genes. I thought I have them while visiting India where I turned to a shopaholic for one week. But nothing is left of it. Currently I desperately need a pair of shoes. Not because I don’t have anything to my new outfit. But because the current and only ones have a hole in the heel.

It’s almost my last day here in the office. And next week I am traveling to Sinai for some chilling and diving. We’ll see what happens next.

Write a title here

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:06:00 +0000

Today is one of these “I hate Egypt” days. They are a big minority of my stay here but still manage to spice up my life. Now I need to pour my anger out fast before I loose it and melt under the kindness of people.

It all started yesterday when it was one of these springy sandstorm days and unfortunately also one of these days I left freshly washed laundry hang outside and my bedroom window open. After I reached home I only had a chance to realize that the laundry is dusty and needs to be re-washed, some of the pieces were missing and my room was nicely yellow too. “I hate Egypt” continued while I was having a shower today morning. Namely our building has these smart showers which stop providing you with hot water when somebody else in the building uses it. The little Evil on my left shoulder pushes me to find out how to turn off the hot water in the rest of the building while our apartment is having showers. This idea is definitely worth to develop further.
After being illegal for two months because my application for new visa has been rejected two times since February and the rest of the time I was waiting for their response I finally managed to renew my residence today. For ONE f…ng MONTH.

But still. I am looking for a new job and planning to stay for a while.

Greasy finger-prints

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:08:00 +0000

I was sick last week, then got better, went traveling on the long Easter weekend and now got little sick again. And the pills are too big to swallow. Although some years ago I saw on TV how drug smugglers in Asia swallow 5 times bigger pills for transportation and then shit them in a destination. They are dead if even one capsule breaks in the stomach. I wonder if people there think twice before taking the drug if they know where it’s been.

By the way, Egypt still hasn’t renewed my visa, but apparently it wasn’t a problem on the weekend in the various check points in Sinai. The most vivid moment of the checkpoints this weekend is the smell of the passport and greasy finger-prints on the sheets after being checked by one eating police officer.

birdshit

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:13:00 +0000

When I was small and accidentally hurt myself (for example fell while riding a bike so that my knees and hands were bleeding) I ran home. Most probably I was crying with a loud voice in the same time. After reached the comfort zone preferably with some grown-ups (mother, grandmother etc) I was provided with ultimate care and medicine to make me feel better. I was told “Don’t worry; it will be gone for your wedding.” I think I felt better because the wedding is far and the wound will be cured by that time. Nice brainwash. It has impact in two directions: makes little girls think and long for their wedding already and hole in the knee seems tiny compared to The Day.

There are more sayings that should make you feel better in other occasions. For example when you get targeted by a flying bird’s digested meal you should feel lucky because you are the chosen one.

Tomorrow I have an important meeting and the meeting point is next to the Zoo under the trees loved by exotic birds. In case I get chosen I will let you know.

Time of Sandstorms

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:29:00 +0000

A Khamaseen is a cyclonic type wind which is common in Egypt towards the end of March and April. The results of the Khamaseen are hot weather and sandstorms. The hot wind covers everything with dust and it is hard to breathe. In every day life: it is deadly dangerous to hang your clothes to dry outside, leave the windows open or take nice walks (which you anyway don’t do very often).

Now I know why I had a headache and weird feeling in my nose and throat after I tested the distance from office to new home by walking last week (25 minutes). I imagined for a second how all this dust will be stuck in me and I get black smoker’s lungs competing with the “life-changing experience.”

Life under a palm tree

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 15:47:00 +0000

I am not living under a palm tree in case you wonder. We found a really nice flat in a nice area with reasonable price. But of course you can’t have everything, otherwise you start getting suspicious. So I am proud to announce that we don’t have hot water. It wasn’t part of my New Years Resolution to have a refreshing cold shower every morning but I guess I need to include that to the list now.

For Estonians abroad

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 10:48:00 +0000

I am not depressed or anything but I like being in contact not only with my family and friends in Estonia but also with some small random every day issues that are happening there.

One of my favorite quickies is weather forecast webpage with webcam from different places in the country (http://www.ilm.ee/tallinn). This is how the main square of the capital looks on Sunday early afternoon.

There is also a yellow website www.delfi.ee which is perfect to be updated with latest news and gossip. The headlines give a perfect overview and mostly you don’t feel temptation to click to find out more. Except today when I saw a headline about a plane crash in Estonia. There is regular plane traffic from one smaller city to one tiny island. The plane is for 8 passengers, this time it had 2 passengers and one pilot. Apparently the pilot lost track of the landing area because of fog and the plane crashed in a nearby forest. None of the 3 people got hurt but they can’t fix the poor plane. A lucky incident indeed.

Apartment hunt is fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:02:00 +0000

…and challenging.

Our apartment hunt began couple of weeks ago when we decided to move out from our current place because the area is spooky and the place is annoyingly creepy.

Like common for naïve foreigners, what is the first thing on your mind when you think about getting information. Of course – internet! Sarah even found a website with nice and affordable offers. After we saw those offers were uploaded 1-2 years ago we still didn’t loose hope. An email (no response of course) and a phone call later we were told that what we are looking for doesn’t exist in Cairo. As common for not so naïve foreigners we of course knew they were bullshitting. And so we decided to change the approach.

What makes you the most powerful person in Egypt? It’s not about who you are but who you know.

To succeed you need to take Good Luck (for Muslims known as Allah) and an Egyptian male (communication purposes) with you, go in the area you would like to live and approach boebs (the “doorkeepers”) if they know any apartments or brokers who know apartments for rent. Suddenly apartments appear and you are exposed to high variety of different places in different conditions. As our goal was to improve our living standard we were quite picky. We were shown several places which weren’t good and one really nice and affordable one. Unfortunately the religious owner didn’t want to rent it for females because females are the reason why men have naughty thoughts sometimes. And it’s unacceptable if females have visitors from the opposite sex.

Current situation is that after 3 evenings of continuous hunt we still don’t have a place and we need to move out today.

Untypical entry

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:30:00 +0000

I respect people who can write about their lives without feeling weird that friends, parents, coworkers and other random people who read blogs have open access to their thoughts. Bloggers world is a paradise for your boss, mother, narcissists, ex-boy(girl)friend, stalker etc.

Here are some random updates to you, dear Reader.

Today is Shrove Tuesday in Estonia. It had a different meaning long time ago but today it means again a reason to get drunk, eat a special soup and muffins, go sledging, and then after go to hospital because of what drunk people, snow and ice, high speed and sledging causes.

My brother had birthday yesterday. He is 25 now. Happy birthday again!

Two days ago I attended Global Village for International Presidents Meeting (AIESEC related) and met dear friends from Estonia and other countries who came here for the conference and who I haven’t seen for ages.

Currently I share an apartment with one male cat and 4 people: Turkish and Nigerian guys, French and German-Egyptian girls. This situation will probably change soon.

24^th of Feb is Estonian Independence Day and we are very proud of it! This is again a reason for Estonians to have a drink with friends.

I don’t know where I am in 4 months but I know where I want to be in 5 years.

10 minutes ago I had the sweetest grapefruit ever. It was bought from a veiled girl on the street who was flirting with my male companion commenting the size of the fruit.

Second try

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:41:00 +0000

I still don’t speak the … (a swearword) language. I have been lazy too, haven’t had any Arabic classes for two months now. We are trying to start from tomorrow again. Already scheduled the class and surprise – when I called the teacher he recognized me. Not that hopeless yet.

I got motivated to take classes again when last week Rauno from Estonia came to Egypt for diving and gave his motivational speech. And also today when I had to explain some things to our new office manager in Arabic since she doesn’t understand English. My vocabulary isn’t very strong when it comes to office supplies and scanning machine but I hope she got the point.

Scuba Diving in Red Sea and Failure

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 13:58:00 +0000

Based on my observations I don’t loose temper very often. There are very specific situations when I mentally crack and I just can’t take it anymore. Then I go very mad, start to spit fire and easily can hurt people physically and mentally.

Another occasion when I felt I need the help of a psychiatrist took place last week. I was doing my diving course in Hurghada. I don’t feel very comfortable with water, deep water, dark water, looking into water etc. I have some certain respect towards this liquid. The overcome-my-fear process finally started with my first attempts to snorkel around 6 months ago. I managed with huge amount of adrenaline in blood, water in lungs and heartbeats on its maximum. The world looks different down there and the curiosity grew. Soon scuba diving seemed the next logical step.

And there I was, six days ago, after 3 dives in two days, shivering on the boat and my mind 120% against going under water for the last dive.

I have another chance this week. We’ll see how it goes. But I guess I don’t have an option then to pass the course.

The weights go on the belt, the belt goes on the waist. The weights are necessary to take you under water. Ps. the more fat tissues you have the more weights you need to go down.

If you want to learn a new language...

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:44:00 +0000

I am not even sure how to comment this photo. Just pay attention to the script above the registration number. How much trust do you have towards this institution?
By the way, "horreya" means freedom if I am not mistaking.

Things are not right here

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 13:39:00 +0000

You don’t need to be a scientist to notice that things are not right in Egypt. Sooner or later something will happen to the country which is on the edge of a breakdown. The majority of people are aggressive, lazy and irresponsible, the responsible minority doesn’t have enough power to make changes that could influence all 80 million inhabitants. The education system doesn’t cater the country’s needs at all. Women are heavily harassed by horny men physically and mentally. Religion doesn’t allow people to express themselves sexually until marriage which frustrates them more than they can imagine. Public intimacy between opposite sex is totally taboo which makes men to look tenderness from other men.

These are frustrations not only of a white non-married foreigner woman but this is how brighter Egyptians feel too. I was part of a discussion group when someone came to a conclusion that Egypt needs to start from the scratch to build up the country. Until someone said:"But we are the scratch."

It can’t continue like this, something needs to change. If I would be an Egyptian I would feel terrified and eager to change the situation. But (un)fortunately I don’t have the ownership. Yet.

How a Pyramid looks from inside

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:50:00 +0000

This is the last post mentioning Pyramids. I promise.
PS. the lamps and the figure are not 4000 years old

The Pyramids

noreply@blogger.com (Liisi) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 07:29:00 +0000

I have been living in Cairo over 6 months now. And last Friday was the first time I visited THE tourist destination of Cairo – Pyramids. A culture shock indeed.

If you think you just need to pay for the ticket and then enjoy the old mysterious “exhibition” then you are as mistaken as a white chick with a tiny top on the streets of Cairo. You need to pay for every move and get harassed until you almost start to hate the place.

Here is a short survival guide if you plan to visit the Pyramids as “normal” (what is normal?) way as possible.

1. Go with an Egyptian. A bonus is if you are a female and going with an Egyptian guy you can easily pretend that you two are married. It’s worth it. The ticket for a stupid foreigner is 50 pounds and for a foreigner who is married to a local – 2 pounds. So what if they ask for some kind of proof or paper, just say you forgot it and they will forgive you.

2. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t give your ticket to anyone. Even if they say they work for the government and they just want to show you the shortest way. Its bulls..t.

3. Have some change in your pocket because the ticket on the entrance is not the only thing you have to pay for. You need money to get into the Pyramid, to leave your camera outside and I wouldn’t be surprised if you have to pay to get out of the Pyramid. Try to make difference between two different situations: when a person is trying to help you and get some money for return or only trying to get some money for something you can easily figure out yourself if you have brains. And sometimes 2 pounds can have miraculous consequences in Egypt.

4. Don’t buy anything. Unless you feel like you want to give them this satisfaction of cheating you.

Oh. Almost forgot. Try to feel the history and get a photo of yourself lying in the sarcophagus.