Another beginning

2008-05-15T22:15:00.000+03:00

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

happy new year

2008-01-18T22:40:00.000+02:00

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

2007-10-15T21:45:00.000+02:00

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

2007-08-14T21:24:00.000+03:00

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.

2007-07-01T12:20:00.001+03:00

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?

2007-06-24T14:59:00.000+03:00

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

2007-06-11T21:19:00.000+03:00

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.

2007-06-05T13:23:00.000+03:00

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

2007-05-16T20:17:00.000+03:00

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

2007-05-09T12:55:00.000+03:00

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

2007-04-26T16:50:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-18T12:06:00.000+02:00

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

2007-04-11T14:08:00.000+02:00

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

2007-03-27T14:13:00.000+02:00

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

2007-03-20T14:29:00.000+02:00

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

2007-03-12T17:47:00.000+02:00

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

2007-03-04T12:48:00.000+02:00

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!

2007-02-28T16:02:00.000+02:00

…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

2007-02-20T15:30:00.000+02:00

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

2007-02-11T17:41:00.000+02:00

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

2007-02-01T15:58:00.000+02:00

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...

2007-01-25T15:44:00.000+02:00

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

2007-01-17T15:39:00.000+02:00

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

2007-01-15T12:50:00.001+02:00

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

The Pyramids

2007-01-10T09:29:00.000+02:00

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.

Back in Cairo

2007-01-03T14:42:00.000+02:00

A week in Estonia was indeed intense, full of meetings, parties and more meetings like expected. I had the most amazing time with my family, friends and sauna. It is so true that you value things much more when you have been away. I was walking around like a tourist, taking hundreds of pictures, breathing air and looking at people and surroundings. It is its own way a beautiful country with interesting people.
And one week with almost no culture shock except of experiencing “high” servicing culture which is so bad that you feel like you are a smelly homeless trying to get into a 5star hotel.
Driving. I had to practice the highest level of stabile and safe driving style because I had the honor to drive my mother. Her senses are extremely sensitive when it comes to safe distance with the next car and breaking distance. I don’t know if my Egyptian friends would be proud of me or not while seeing me those days.
Language. I adapted very fast to my surprise. I wasn’t fighting for almost anything, I managed not to say almost any Arabic word/expression. At the beginning there were some difficulties with speaking Estonian but it also changed fast.
Behavior. I noticed one moment taking pictures of the forest because obviously we don’t have it in Egypt. And previously people who I considered to be almost naked didn’t catch my attention.
Thank you all who had time to meet. Its was truly an inspiring week.

A white dress

2006-12-20T16:44:00.000+02:00

I go to Arabic class with Tom approximately twice every week. What is good that we not only learn the language here but also a lot about the culture. Whenever we have some questions, concerns about Egypt, our teacher Amir is happy to explain his point of view. He is one of the most deeply devoted Muslims I have constant contact and conversations with so these moments are always very enlightening.

He is very surprised when I and Tom get excited about loud protests that take place on the street during our Arabic class. The protests here are normal incidents but for us it’s harder to concentrate on the class when a group of highly energetic people are actively repeating some demand on the street and the riot police are trying to get them in one corner and arrest the activists. Those demonstrations here are a nice background for the classes. By the way based on my previous Estonian experience protest there is a group of old people standing in front of the parliament house with some stands and posters requiring higher pension.

Another incident worth to mention took place yesterday in our last class this year. We were wishing Happy Holidays and other nice stuff when he came up with a warmest and most kind wish ever. “I wish you were married by that time next year,” he said.

Wow! What a shock! Nobody has ever wished me something like this. Simply marriage is something I don’t relate myself to on this period of time. The teacher was very surprised about my unexpected reaction because most Egyptian girls by the age of 23 are dreaming about getting married soon or are already married. He was still suspicious if I am a healthy normal person after I explained him that calming and settling down is not something I am looking forward to now. I believe there will always be a huge barrier between us called Cultural Difference and neither of us is willing to give it up.

Going home for Christmas

2006-12-18T15:43:00.000+02:00

Probably the most intense and confusing 8 days. I am preparing for a culture shock and hereby would like to share very superficially my mental and physical state with fellow Estonians who might have contact with me during these days. Just for you to understand me better. Believe me, I am doing my best not to piss you off.

Traffic. My driving style is more aggressive then before. Only stronger and braver ones in Cairo survive and I have adapted some of these characteristics. Also you might find my street-crossing style suicidal. So please while sitting in my car please fasten your seatbelt; while crossing the street with me please hold me back.

Language. I have adapted some random Arabic slang and swearwords and I am not afraid to use them. I might be loud, protective, verbally attack people and fight for my rights. I don’t mean harm by any means.

Behavior. Coming from a country where miniskirt, blond hair, public pornography (making out on the street for example) are almost taboo I will for sure stare mentioned people and situations and maybe comment on them. I do my best not to have “But in Egypt we…” in every other sentence. I also try to change my stare-of-death look to a friendly smile as much as I can.

Can’t wait to go home!

Survivor

2006-12-12T12:12:00.000+02:00

I had a memorable weekend.
Two of the main reasons among others:

1. I survived breathing under water

Egypt is partly surrounded by Red Sea. Red Sea is the paradise for divers. Every Egyptian dives. I am living in Egypt which makes me almost an Egyptian. Logical conclusion is to learn diving. So I went to check out what is under the water that attracts thousands of people around the world to spend money on this expensive hobby. It was amazing and I think I got addicted because I will take the course in near future and learn more about it.

2. I survived a car accident

On the way back from Sharm to Cairo. Saturday early morning 1.30 a.m. Speed around 100 km/h. A sharp curve in the desert. Our car is for some reason not on the right line anymore and we are facing another car that is coming to our direction on full speed. To avoid the crash and sure death the steering wheel is rapidly pulled right by the person sitting next to driver. Loud noise of breaks, our car flips and lands on its wheels again. The longest seconds of my life. Luckily no one of us got hurt. 6 a.m. after hours at site and in the police station we are sleeping in the hotel still in a bit of shock and evaluating what happened. The scary facts speak for themselves: Our car landed on soft sand, the other side of the road is cliff and rocks; my side of the car is more crashed, luckily I laid down couple of minutes before the accident, otherwise…

belly and dancing

2006-12-07T17:27:00.000+02:00

Finally I managed to get my Egyptian visa! I have only been illegal for couple of weeks. It seems that Egypt is not yet done with me either because it wants me to learn bellydancing.

Recently I went to my first class. Before Egypt I didn’t have any passion towards this magical dance but now it’s becoming my obsession. I truly admire people who can dance and seems like everybody can dance here! Even these Egyptian women in class meant for beginners who claimed that it’s too difficult. But it’s not fair because they get the move with milk from their mothers unlike some random Estonian who best case gets a vague imagination of `kaerajaan` (one of Estonian national dances which is the opposite of being sexy).

The class itself was really cool. I felt like I am part of a secret sect. Dark curtains keeping away horny looks from outside, veiled women uncovering their hair, sweat and passion in the air while everybody are trying to move their body the most sexy way.

I will go again for sure!

Confession Time

2006-12-03T16:06:00.000+02:00

I need to confess something. I need to say it out before I hear it from you too.

Yes. I have put on weight. You can see it from my face, hips and other areas where it attacks first. It’s all because of different eating habits, irregular lunches, late night snacks, fast food, limited physical exercise etc.

I wouldn’t really pay much attention to it myself because I can still fit in my pants but on last weeks there have been some comments around. For example my dear Nigerian friend says that my ass is becoming bigger and it’s all round now. And according to Nigerian standards its nothing but positive. I have also received couple of comments about my cheeks and how well-fed I am now.

I wish I wouldn’t have been brought up with a skinny image of an ideal woman and meanwhile try to keep feeling good about what I am.

A common myth

2006-11-26T15:20:00.000+02:00

Estonia is a relatively cold country. By cold I mean in winter it sometimes might reach minus 30C. For Egyptians it is of course unimaginable and I seem like a person from another planet for them because the coldest that can get in Cairo is +5 at night in January.

The temperature here is currently around 24 during the day and maybe 15 at night. The biggest mistake a person from the North can do here is to complain about the cold weather. If you forget this for a second and still decide to do it all people in hearing range will turn their highly surprised faces to you and the following statement sounds something like this “But hey! You come from a cold country. You shouldn’t feel fold!”

I am really sorry to disappoint you but I actually am able to feel cold. It doesn’t mean that if most of the year I am used to bad ski-weather I am less sensitive towards low temperature.

Geräuschkulisse

2006-11-19T11:06:00.000+02:00

Egypt is very different and weird. I have to get used to so many things that I could never even imagine. I am still working on adapting; I enjoy some of the changes in me more than others. But the fact is that Egypt will never get used to me. I am still a tourist, from random country, Eastern European, white woman, whatever.

For example I am constantly surrounded with Arabic blabla. I now can imagine how it feels to be handicapped and have one or more senses less than “normal” people in order to live a full quality life. I feel that I am excluded from so many things from important notices to random discussions.

The positive side is that it has pushed me constantly being out of the comfort zone to improve my Arabic, taking classes, trying to understand what is happening.

I love it and I am having the time of my life!

On the picture: My hometown Cairo in pollution cloud from distance around 6am

I don´t want to leave

2006-11-12T19:26:00.000+02:00

Egypt is giving weird signs like it doesn’t want to have me here anymore. First it’s getting cold at night. I need to wear a jacket and I even sleep with a blanket now. Secondly my visa got rejected. I got a stamp in my passport that says I need to leave Egypt before 18^th of November 2006. And the reason they said is that they just didn’t understand what I am doing here. I have been tought that if you don’t know you don’t assume but ask. But they didn’t ask me and when I naively went to pick up my passport yesterday from the main house of bureaucracy this is what was waiting for me there. A nice stamp in my passport – Leave!

Of course everything concerning my stay is legal and they have no right to send me away.

And definitely I am not done with Egypt yet! I will fight till the End! Wish me luck and good connections.

I can´t believe...

2006-11-02T13:21:00.000+02:00

I can’t believe I missed my first rain in Egypt! Yesterday while going to work I noticed the streets were wet. Bu tit was too late and I didn’t have the chance to feel the acid rain on my face.

Last week was also the long-waited Eid. It’s a holiday after Ramadan, everybody gets three days off and its time to celebrate. People went literally crazy. Especially a certain group of Egyptian men, horny as ever. There are many postings on different blogs and news articles about this certain happening. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6106500.stm

It’s up to non participants of this “event” to evaluate the information and only imagine what happened.

I didn’t have the honor to see it myself but when we had late breakfast and walk on the same street that day I noticed people were much more open and rude as normally. Tradition is that you get some deep looks and comments lets say from 60% of men but that day the percentage was nearly 95% and people paid attention in a really loud and rude way.

Probably it was the high feeling of escape from holy Ramadan.

Just different Muslims understand Islam differently.

The Story of The Rat

2006-10-23T14:49:00.000+02:00

Tough conditions on the streets of Cairo have made poor rats to look for quality food from households. One of the representatives of this species entered our apartment in the early morning of 22^nd of October while we were celebrating the first hours of my bday. My Indian flat mate had the honor to meet this creature while It (we never had a chance to find out if it was He or She) was entering our kitchen from the window. It’s a common problem in India, he said, and described the size of the Rat (It was huge!). It’s a pleasure to live with guys who are eager to destroy unpleasant things and so we prepared for the battle with a bucket and a mop. Unfortunately It had disappeared in the kitchen and we kindly hoped It had found its way out again.

Just in case I carefully closed my bedroom door when I went to sleep.

Next morning sharp tooth bites on the soap in the bathroom were signs It is still around. The Rat-haters promised to buy poison later this day.

One of the smart moves was to close the bathroom door before we left the house because when we returned from the continuous celebrations of this day (Thank you for the Surprise Party and the gifts!) we found out our bathroom had been the cage for this animal for one day. It had felt as home there, It tasted different soaps, some of them It liked more, some less, did some s—t on the floor, tried to chew through the door, left the tale and foot prints on the dusty area. There was also a cute small round hole in the net meant for flies on the window, exactly Its size.

I feel the Rat was smart to chew the hole and use it to exit our comfort zone and left for good. Just in case we placed some delicious Egyptian bread moisturized with drops of killer poison on places It might consider entering again.

Take care, dear Rat. Hope to never feel your presence again.

my Brother

2006-10-19T14:50:00.000+02:00

I just found out my brother Margus is in a movie!
The movie is an Estonian documentary about selling and he was selling books from door to door in US two summers with Southwestern[www.kuukulgur.ee/myymisekunst]
There is always something interesting and unpredictable happening with you! I think you should write a book about your life starting with early childhood. As far as I remember you have always something interesting going on. Like lately giving psychology sessions to young girls, doing parachute jumps, diving lessons, buying a car, going to university again, crazy trips to Vigala Sass etc etc.

----------------------------------------------

I hate forgetting things. But it happens often that at some point I realize I have forgotten a really important date and I discover it hopelessly late. And then feel embarrassed and don’t know what to do. I don’t want to cause the same feeling to my close friends. I care about them. So there is just a small reminder about 22^nd of October and something that happened in 1983.

one in a million

2006-10-15T15:42:00.001+02:00

Before I moved to Cairo I had no idea how it is to live in a city of 20 million people. By now I can already imagine how it feels like.

For example I thought that no way I will meet people on the street who I know since the probability it to happen is much-much lower than in my home town Tallinn (around half a million inhabitants). But it has happened here considerable times already.

It’s actually even possible to meet randomly people who you don’t know, but kind of remember, also the second and third time.

And it feels good when in a huge city where you feel like a random ant, your work is recognized in local newspaper.

How much is enough?

2006-10-04T12:31:00.000+02:00

I believe it’s possible to get used to almost everything.

For example Ramadan. I am not fasting but I am used to people who fast around me to be a bit grumpier, emotional and I prefer calling them after Iftar when they have had their first meal and are happy. Also in the beginning I felt weird eating in the office when all our staff is fasting. But not anymore. Today I ate a whole package of Estonian chocolate candies (“Tallinn”) and I am constantly drinking water without any sign of guilt. Yesterday I was also enjoying “kiluleib”. I don’t know any Estonian who is living abroad and doesn’t miss this salty raw fish with black bread and a slice of egg. Thank you, Kristjan.

I am also kind of used to annoying attention on the street but was a bit shocked when I heard a story that happened to one of our fellow trainees here http://activeculture.nomadlife.org/2006/10/those-who-are-last-to-be-defeated.html

After three months in Egypt I haven’t experienced anybody grabbing me luckily yet. But it has made me think – why?

Is it just blind luck, faith or am I simply not harassable? I know the last word probably doesn’t exist but I think you get what I mean.
When I am alone I usually walk on the street with the coldest face I can ever produce, I normally don’t look to peoples eyes, they are like empty places to me, I dress quite conservative, I don’t react on comments or pay any kind of attention to anybody. When I am with a group of people I must admit I sometimes like to make fun of the attention. For example when I see a policeman starting to say something or do the normal sound when he wants attention (something like “pssssssttt”) I just try to be first and surprise him with something similar. Or just show the middle finger. I am rude I know. But this constant horniness of certain class of Egyptian men is just funny.

I have a dream to make a research and test those guys. I want to take a group of most horny and aggressive Egyptian men and close them in an area when all women are most gorgeous and preferably wearing as less clothes as possible. It would be extremely interesting to see how they react. The other dream I have is one day when I have a magical power to change every Egyptian woman’s mindset to make her go out on the street with mini skirt and a tight top. Will the guys go crazy or will they get used to it soon and stop paying attention to women who have some area of bare skin?

Ramadan time

2006-09-27T11:02:00.000+02:00

This year Ramadan in Egypt started on 24^th of September. I was very excited because it’s the most special period in year for Muslims. But I must admit that so far because of my cultural and religious background I haven’t really enjoyed or maybe truly experienced Ramadan.
Ramadan is a one month long holiday when people don’t eat-drink during the day (from sunrise to sunset) in order to feel how poor people feel. The point is that poor people very often have only one meal a day and Muslims try to experience it themselves. The meaning is noble but happens that most of the people are a bit extreme during the period. As soon as the sun sets they start eating and they literally do it till sunrise. And they normally gain weight. How can this make you feel as a poor person?
90% of Egyptian population is Muslims and when they all are fasting there are many tired and thirsty people around. Working hours are shorter, traffic jams are from 3 to 5pm when everybody are going home and around 2am when they get their late or early snack before next day of fasting. But streets are just empty when they are having their Iftar (“breakfast”) around 6pm.
On daytime people also should be very kind and generous, they are not allowed to have naughty thoughts, no enjoyable action with your wife/husband is allowed. But when you are not eating or drinking anything your organism gets energy from the body which is full of toxins. People complain headache, dizziness, tiredness which comes from burning toxins.
I tried fasting on the first day or Ramadan to feel how people physically feel. For sure I am not ready to reach the mental level yet. It wasn’t too bad, I survived. And I think for a moment I saw Egypt through Egyptian eyes that day. Everybody move in slow motion and all you can think about is a zip of water.

I am truly amazad to see the will power of Egyptians and how persistant they are with fasting. Respect to people who fast and do it for the right reason.

Ticket to Estonia

2006-09-21T16:57:00.000+03:00

People often ask me if I miss Estonia. Sure I do! But I wouldn’t change my current experience to anything else and I really like it here. I have made some amazing friends who I know already now will miss very much. And I feel that I even like the environment. Pollution and attention don’t annoy me so much anymore. Even the noise when people are building a house next to our house in the middle of the night. No problem! Or the smell of cat excrements in our corridor.

Yesterday I received confirmation for plane tickets to Estonia. And back. One week during Christmas in my safe environment, with family and friends. I discovered myself already writing down things I want to do there. Like quality meetings with as many dear people as possible, going to some special places, spending time with my family, eating a lot, skiing, skating, walking in Old Town at night, feeling the snow, drink hot wine, going to sauna, body pump and many other things.

Waiting is good.

White is not the color

2006-09-19T14:03:00.000+03:00

White is definitely not the color you should wear in Cairo. Today I was smart enough to wear my white jacket while coming to work. To get from taxi to pedestrian road you have to pass cars that are parked extremely tightly. I heard that you need to be careful and watch out doing it because some people like to do their Number Two there. Anyway luckily this wasn’t the case today. There was a really nice tree about my height with thick green leaves. I couldn’t pass without touching it with my shoulder and an eye blink later I was covered with black dust that was hidden in this mysterious tree.

Yesterday while preparing for one interview about my traineeship I realized that I mostly share about depressing and weird stories. They just seem more interesting. But the cause of most pleasant moments here are people. I mean mostly really good friends not random people on the street.

For example last week one evening I was not feeling so well. Maybe because I haven´t had enough sleep for three months almost. 5 hours per 24 is not enough in long perspective. So I went to sleep just after work 7pm and woke up the next morning 8am. The "news" spread and next day I received several phone calls about how I feel. I feel like being more caring too. Not this individualistic cold European.

I like Cairo

2006-09-14T18:20:00.000+03:00

I like Cairo with all these contrasts!

In the middle of the Nile there is a small island Zamalek. Its home for 1, 5 million people. The same as population of Estonia. And since the Nile has always been the source of life in Egypt, fishing is also popular in Cairo. Isn’t it heartbreaking to see this cute family catching fish for their meal? Maybe it’s the only meal in their day. And check this amount of trash that’s lying around everywhere.

A view from Al Azhar Park to Cairo. You can’t imagine how powerful the feeling is when it’s dark and the last call for prayer starts. Like the whole city is talking to you.

The following picture I just consider a bit dodgy. Freaky faces. Maybe the creator of those creatures considers white people to look like this.

Henna night

2006-09-11T18:22:00.000+03:00

I don’t like tourist attractions but one evening chilling in Khan Khalili market with some good friends henna seemed attempting enough to have it done on me. Henna is usually done on henna night for brides female relatives-friends, it’s one of the nights before the wedding. But for tourists everything is allowed here! I picked out one figure and the woman draw it on my hand, 10 min for drying and it looked great! I looked almost Egyptian with dark hair and henna.

But sometimes trying new things the consequences might not be as you expect. First surprise was on the next morning. A tip – drying takes a bit more time than 10 minutes. Henna was not only on my hand but also on my pillow, other hand and neck. Thank god (or Allah) I didn’t touch any other visible place with it. Now, almost 10 days later I still have some shapes of the old nice figure on my hand but what is weird that the color is black not brown.

I’d like it to fade soon but as there was also some henna on my nails I have black stripes on my left hand nails for next two months. It looks like dirt.

Sorry for those depressing stories. In case you wonder I am doing fine here.

Henna on its peak period

Skype me, baby

2006-09-07T18:13:00.000+03:00

In order to take the maximum of life and relationships we constantly need to communicate to share feelings and stories that happen to us and discuss different relevant and irrelevant topics. I remember when I didn’t have a cell phone, landline, msn. Basically I didn’t have a life. Maybe also because I was 12 years old.
Main communication channels in

Estonia

are physical meetings, sometimes calling and chatting in msn or skype. If there is no need then we choose not to communicate at all and be on our own.
But in

Egypt

it’s different. Here people communicate a lot! And the favorite way is calling via land line. They can talk hours and hours by phone. Also popular are physical meetings, faxes and text messages. Not a single day has passed when I haven’t met some friends, received a phone call or developed my thumb muscles.

The new rising star in horizon is skype. At least 28 Egyptians (male) in last 5 days have found my contacts somewhere and want to be my friends. Ok. Admit it! Who added my skype account address to website called "White women looking for Egyptian men?" Call me whoever but I don’t really feel like accepting them. Even the idea of missing the opportunity of lifetime to find my Egyptian prince doesn’t attempt me much.

total makeover

2006-09-03T17:57:00.000+03:00

Changing hair color is not only having different color on your hair. It has much bigger influence. You will have a totally new life.

Or maybe not.

Still trying to figure out the difference.

Burning flame

2006-08-31T15:43:00.000+03:00

I enter the room excited and scared in the same time. I smell heat, sweat, curious looks, burned hair and hairspray. You can still change your mind, I say to myself. But no. I can do it. I will do it! And I did it. Almost 48 hours already with dark hair. Slowly getting used to the image I see in the mirror. And I feel good.
Going to hairdressers is a painful procedure here. Since the hairdressers are used to black, healthy hair, they also treat my fragile blond fur like this. I sometimes feel like being in kindergarten when the goal of the parent is to comb the hair as quickly and efficient as possible. I believe everybody who have bleached their hair share my opinion that there is nothing worse than combing the hair when they are wet and eager to break.
But amazing what the hairdressers can do here. Just the process is sometimes scary. For example for doing curls they use iron that is heated in flame till it’s burning hot.
By the way, the hairdressers are mostly men.

Peace

2006-08-28T16:33:00.000+03:00

“Children” in Egypt stay home and live with their parents till quite high age. You can’t even call the person a child when he is 34 years old, living with his parents and enjoying the luxury. He doesn’t need to pay rent, buy food, and do his laundry. So why should he move out? But where will he take his girlfriend, you might wonder. Simple, he doesn’t bring her anywhere. Because they are patient and will wait till wedding night.

Till some extent you don’t really need to take responsibility unless you want to. Many people here have a clever way to get away from responsibility. For example when something bad happens or they can’t deliver their promise they just ask somebody else to tell you that. Preferably somebody neutral who hasn’t got anything to do with it. Cute.

Yesterday I again had a chance to surprise. Thank you Egypt for that. Namely I heard that in our previous apartment I have broke the elevator. And the door guy remembered very clearly that he told me about it. In Arabic of course. Funny that I don’t remember breaking the elevator or even talking to the guy. They sometimes have a very wild imagination. I hope he finds peace in him.

I found my peace in Basata last weekend.

Traveling. But not as a tourist.

2006-08-24T15:23:00.001+03:00

I don’t like touristy things. When you see white people around you that means that locals are prepared for a stupid tourist and without an eye blink ask ridiculous prices. This is the reason why I enjoyed my last weekend so much. We (Mongy from Egypt, Dominica from Germany and Lieke from Holland) went to oasis called Fayoum in Western Egypt. We stayed in a small village, woke up really early to see the sunrise in desert, climbed mountains, ate in a local fish restaurant, took a boat on the lake, visited potters and potteries, got invited to a lunch with villagers, went to Valley of the Whales to see fossils of the whales. Idea going to Sharm El Sheikh doesn’t seem attempting at all.

Men vs Women

2006-08-21T11:09:00.000+03:00

For sure this is a topic that requires a long separate chapter. Just like Muslim religion in Egypt. There are so many contrasts, double standards, things that I don’t understand and am not competent to analyze yet.

Men vs women from my point of view:

Women usually need to cover their hair, neck, sometimes even hands, wear loose clothes to hide their figure. In the same time there are women dressed as Europeans, women who cover hair but have very tight and sexy clothes, girls whose eyes are only visible etc.

Men wear jeans and T-shirt, sometimes a long dress called calabeya, business men wear suits.

There are many taboos around sex because it’s not practiced as much as in western culture. Sex before marriage is forbidden for both because of the religion. For sure there are many exceptions, especially in higher social class (rich people who have traveled and are open-minded).

Virginity of the daughter is compared to the honor of the family. When it’s lost before marriage the family is in deep s..t. There are cases when they restore the virginity by doing some stitches. A rumor says that one can loose its virginity by using tampons.

In rural areas there still exists female genital mutilation meaning removal of part, or all, of the female genitalia. As far as I know nothing is removed from men.

Men also have more freedom on the street. First I thought that only blond foreign women get attention, and then I changed my mind that all foreign women have this “privilege”. But now I know that it’s even worse for local women because they understand what is said to them. The comments are sometimes so vulgar that girls cry one week at home to get over it. Not rare is even touching, harassing, slapping on the street. My experience shows that the most active ones among harassers are policemen, guards and others who wear a uniform.

Luckily I don’t understand the comments and have only one harassment case on my account.

Sleepy Egyptians

2006-08-17T17:21:00.000+03:00

I don’t want to say they are lazy. Of course deep in their hearts they want to be as effective and reliable as possible but still very often it happens that deadlines are forgotten, phones switched off, meetings missed or cancelled. Of course coming late is very common. And it’s not very rare that people even sleep in their office, head on the desk.
But what can you do. If you get frustrated every time you are let down you will die in heart attack early thirties and loose way too many brain cells for thinking about it.
It’s the culture. The culture doesn’t support punctuality like it doesn’t support healthy food that helps you to be fit; there are only fast food places around. The environment doesn’t support doing sports, the sport clubs are really expensive. People don’t go to sleep in normal hours; instead they spend time with their friends outside on the street, bridge or sheesha place till early morning. Sleepy or sleeping Egyptian is common sight even on the street. Egypt is chill-out 24/7.
The good thing is that the shops (and hairdresser, dry cleaning, shoe shop, etc...) are open till midnight or even longer because nobody is sleeping that time.

Egyptian way of getting married

2006-08-15T12:02:00.000+03:00

Definitely Egyptian way of getting married is different that I am used to. So far I have been to two marriages in Estonia and to one engagement party and a wedding in

Egypt

.
Here are some differences and similarities from my point of view.

Estonia (EST): The bride and the groom are the most important people in the wedding; they get constant attention, shouts for kissing each other (on the mouth)
Egypt (EG): They are just nicely dressed couple who is dancing in the middle of the crowd, sometimes sitting on the stage where they have special small table, only holding hands. In most of the cases wedding night is the first night they get to now each other in a new undiscovered way (no sex before marriage)

EST: A lot of crazy dancing, alcohol, singles (but not necessarily) finding each other, speeches, funny games
EG: Most of the people are sitting and watching younger ones dancing; dancing is very modest; mostly no alcohol; no speeches, no games; no Chair (“Pulmaisa”)

EST: duration of a wedding is 16 hours to 3 days
EG: 4-6 hours maximum starting 10 pm – 3 am

Eating is always important. The difference is that in EG you start eating 12 – 1 am after dancing is done but in Estonia you eat the whole night – before, after and during dancing/live performance.
EG has great belly dancers but EST has not.

This is an appeal for all of you people planning to get married. Please celebrate it well. You never know if or when you have another chance to party in your own wedding. And dear groom, please take care of your bride and don’t go for a sheesha next evening but instead stay with her.

This couple just got engaged. One more year to marriage.

Some wedding guests.

Cold as dead fish

2006-08-10T12:18:00.000+03:00

Why walking on the streets of Estonia you hardly meet any happy smiling people and everybody looks like they are coming from the funeral? I believe each Estonian has received this question once in a while from foreigners visiting the country.
In my last years when I have consciously practiced the art of being happy and showing it to others (because everybody knows that happiness is an attitude that you can learn) I have been trying to fight against this pessimistic attitude and just walk around with a smile. Of course it’s hard since you have never done this before and I am still considered to be an angry citizen. But at least I am trying.
Here in Egypt, walking on the streets of Cairo, all my effort has become useless. I have built this protective shell around me to avoid long eye contact and smiling. I am not so comfortable with this constant attention a white blond person can get. You always need to be demanding and fight for your rights with a loud voice and angry face because for locals you are a rich tourist they can ask ten times higher price from. And many people here only understand the language of yelling.
For example yesterday I tried to be nice to a guy who sells freshly squeezed juices just next to our home. We even had a small discussion with the help of my enormous Arabic vocabulary but still he had to charge me more.
Thanks. I quit.
This is for sure one thing I miss about home. Worse case there you are just considered to be stupid while smiling not a prostitute like here.

New home and legally in the country

2006-08-08T10:57:00.000+03:00

Last week we moved out from our commune house to a new flat which is quite near to our old place, still in Down Town. The reason is that most of the trainees are here for summer traineeships and leaving soon. I and two guys from India and

Mexico

are staying for a year and we rented a place for our own. It’s not common at all for males and females to stay together but the owner made us an exception since we are foreigners. Our new place is really nice, clean, with white walls and washing machine from this century. I have my own bedroom with a huge bed.

My room for the rest of eleven months.

Last week I also got my visa. The process itself wasn’t as painful as I expected as I was prepared for the worse. I heard that some months ago girls from Romania didn’t get their visa because they were considered to be prostitutes.
I just need to fill in some documents, go downstairs two times to make photocopies of my passport, look for scissors to cut my picture smaller, go to 4 different counters. I was promised to get the visa in 10 days because they didn’t know if Estonia exists or not. Inshallah. Eleven days later after 2 hours of waiting I finally got my passport with a visa for 3 months.

What impressed me again is that all data there is in huge smart notebooks. What a knowledge management!

Smaller updates: last weekend I saw dolphins in Red Sea swimming 50 metres from us; I still havent been to Pyramids; drinking tab water every day

Flashback

2006-08-01T11:38:00.000+03:00

One year ago I had no idea where I might be now and I don’t know where I am one year from now.

But that what makes life interesting.

Like meeting Geet from India last week. She was supposed to come to Estonia for one year and our team was going to give her transition. Thanks to bureaucracy she never made it there. But she made it to Egypt. Meeting her couple of months later in another place and time makes you wonder.

Me and Geet

Like I had no idea what kind of development and friendships this organization can offer me.

Miss you girls. We will meet sooner than we can imagine now.
Kristi, good luck in New Zealand!
Kaisa, take the max from Austria!
Mairi, change the WENA world in Rotterdam!
Kreta, succeed in Denmark!

Our MC team a year ago in our office.

These small "European" things

2006-07-30T13:21:00.000+03:00

It’s obvious that living in Cairo sometimes might be stressful. The constant attention, noise, pollution, dirt, loud arguing etc.

I have found some ways how survive all this by doing things that remind me “civilization” and for a short period bring me back to my comfort zone.

For example:

Meeting Estonians in Cairo. Already met two families who are very different from each other but it was good to speak Estonian and discuss weird things about Egyptians.

Weekend trips by Red Sea. Total freedom to wear short pants and reveal shoulder on the street.

Meeting other trainees. Trainee community here is just great! Too bad that most of them are on summer traineeships and leaving in August.

Marriott. A nice hotel in Zamalek where you can go and have an expensive juice cocktail and steer at other white people. This weekend I also had a chance to play tennis there.

Nightlife in Cairo. It’s just crazy here. You don’t see such people during the day on the street that you see in clubs. People drinking alcohol, wearing sexy clothes, dancing on the bar and tables, flirting.

ps. Who ever happen to find my white bedsheet, red towel and black T-shirt on the streets of Cairo, please contact me. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough clips to fasten my laundry in the balcony after washing them. A nice suprise after I came home in the evening.

Just before leaving home after a nice and happy laundry day. View from my balcony to Tahrir Square and laundry.

Ras Shitan

2006-07-26T12:49:00.000+03:00

Last weekend took me to Ras Shitan (The Devil's Head), it’s a beautiful place about 16 kilometers north of Nuweiba on the Red Sea. There are lot of Bedouin places where you can chill out but hardly any visitors because of past bombings and current situation. The place itself is amazingly beautiful. You can really feel how close you are to nature while sleeping on the beach, feeling the cool breeze at night, baking yourself in fire hot sun and constantly becoming one with salty sea.

Life has a different meaning there.

Saudi Arabia in the horizon.

My work here

2006-07-24T19:09:00.000+03:00

Quite many people have asked me what exactly my work is about. I try to do it in a best way by not saying too much or too less. We all have heard how some people got fired because they dont realize how public a blog can be and news might spread faster than gossip in smokers corner.

The company is called Active PR and Marketing Communications (www.activepr.net). We are in association with Bates PanGulf PR (http://www.batespangulf.ae) the Burson-Marsteller (http://www.bm.com) affiliate in Egypt. So far everything I published should be legal.

Since the company here in Egypt is quite small I as Assistant Project Manager get a glimpse and have a chance to be part of most of the activities we do. For example some weeks ago we organized the launch of Motorola´s new D&G golden phone for 150 VIPs with Elissa (Lebanese singer and every Arab man´s dream), golden models, nice gala dinner etc. Currently we are working on the launch of another multinational company which includes organizing several media and CSR events.

The working culture and work itself is very interesting and challenging due to different culture and my non-existing PR background. But this is why I came here.

We are also looking for new staff. If you are interested contact me liisi(at)activepr.net for more information.

small tips for everyday life

2006-07-20T11:03:00.000+03:00

If you want to rent a flat in Zamalek, center of Cairo, small island in the middle of Nile, then dont hesitate to use the following contact information. From abroad dial +2 and then the number.

Or if you prefer to pimp up a car then there is one next to my workplace...

OR if your dream has always been to appear in Kroonika type of magazine (yellow weekly star-celebrity-scandalous people-fabulous events magazine) then come to work for us.
http://www.ahlan.ae/gallery.php?mag=english&ptid=3946

Conference in Marsa Matruh

2006-07-18T14:29:00.000+03:00

Last weekend I had a chance to take part of national conference of AIESEC in Egypt.
Some small differences (from my perspective) and observations:

Agenda was constantly 3 hours behind but people were quite ok with that
Very good funny innocent roll-calls
No official chair
Conference site in a resort with swimming pool by Mediterrenian sea
Sugarcube culture – after Closing plenary complete silence, everybody writing a lot of sugarcubes and most of the delegates read them just after taking the envelope

Similarities:

Key Performance Indicators and Critical Success Factors
Not very hard parties (specific for Estonia in my mind, if somebody wants to argue, feel free)

Sharing experiences in Trainee track on the beach. 15 different individuals from 15 different countries.

Egyptian taxidrivers

2006-07-17T13:08:00.000+03:00

The only thing that has frustrated me the most since arrival is Egyptian Taxidriver.

A typical Egyptian Taxidriver (sorry for generalization):
- owns a black-white car that barely moves
- seems like he knows where he is going but in reality really enjoys taking you around the city
- even if he knows where to go he not might take you there using the shortest way
- he thinks that the longer he drives the more money you give him.
- when he doensn´t know where to go he asks random old people on the street who also never know
- stares more you than the road
- when he doesn´t like the place where you want to go he just leaves without saying a word before you can sit in the car

Everything else comes from the crazy traffic. You might think that being a foreigner and a female will help you to cross streets a bit easier but there are no favours in Cairo´s traffic. There is only one rule – there are no rules. And usually the bravest one wins.
I have done my most dangerous street-crossings here with high adrenaline.
Sometimes I like to comfort myself with knowledge that ambulance comes faster when a foreigner is hurt. Other cases it might take up to 1,5 hours.

The good thing is that you never have to wait for a taxi more than 30 seconds. Taking a taxi takes less time than crossing the street.

Very quiet image of corniche (street by the river) with some rare examples of my favourite cars

Small vegetable garden between the Nile (whos water is said to be poisoned) and crazy traffic in Down Town.

My good routine

2006-07-13T14:54:00.000+03:00

For a long time I thought that routine is something that people should be afraid of. But actually there is also this good routine that makes you feel safe when you know where you live (not exact address though), what you are going to eat for breakfast, you have your home keys, know what to tell to taxi driver, have people´s phonenumbers.

So has my routine been last few days:

7.55 alarm

7.56-8.15 wait to have a shower. Somehow I always want to go in the same time as one of my 12 flatmates. Good that we have two showers and I can read a book while sitting next to bathroom door

8.16-8.45 shower, getting ready

8.45-9.02 going to work. For that I take a taxi (5 pounds). After taxiride I go to a supermarket next to my workplace, buy some breakfast (yoghurt), say hello to a beggar who I see every morning and reach office. Sometimes I have to wait to get in because only 3 of us have a key. The record has so far been 1,5 hours. People dont like to be punctual here.

On the picture: my two coworkers waiting with me to get in the office and start working.

9.03-18.30 working. We dont have official lunchbreak and you dont feel very hungry with this heat so you just smoothly skip it and eat some snacks.

18.30-... Taking a taxi or walking home. Absolutely every evening here has been different. Some examples are going home and chatting with flatmates and other aiesecers, going out, eating, trying to learn arabic, boatride on Nile, building up social network outside aiesec, getting to know the city etc.

There are still some things that need clarification and preferrably also a routine: lunch, dinner, laundry washing, shopping. Working on it currently.

By the way, I havent been to the Pyramids yet.

This weekend is going to be AIESEC in Egypt national conference and first time for me to participate as a party delegate. Something new every day.

On the pic: Felluca ride on Nile with trainees and aiesecers.

Weekend in Dahab

2006-07-09T12:15:00.000+03:00

Dahab was great! Good that there werent so many tourists because of low season and explosions some months ago.

This weekend was a step closer to get over one of my greatest challenges. I am not so comfortable with deep water and swimming while seeing the bottom. It always makes me excited and nervous.

But now I had a chance to try snorkeling. I just cant describe the feeling when I put my head into water, trying to breathe through mouth and seeing 20 meters of empry water under me plus coral rief and fishes.

Sad that soon I will probably get used to all this and not take as something special.

Also practicing my Arabic day by day. So far the vocabulary consists of ~10 different expressions. The one that I´m most proud of is in English "in front of the garden of animals". This is the place where I work.

Some pictures from last weekend:

Before leaving to Dahab. Last bottle of one Estonian drink.

After snorkeling

Saturday evening

Where do I live?

2006-07-06T11:24:00.001+03:00

After one week my arrival I finally moved in to my new home for two months.

I have never experienced community life and now I have a chance because 12 trainees are living in a huge 6 bedroom two-storage appartment. There are people from India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mexico, Belgium, Germany, Turkey etc. In the evening number of people usually trippels since many aiesecrs and friends from trainees come to chill out.

Up: My sexy bedroom before cleaning (sharing it with Sarah, a girl from Germany)

House is just 2 min from the main square – Tahrir and to work it takes 10 minutes by taxi. So really perfect place to stay. From my window there´s a beautiful sight to Nile.

I am also starting to get a small routine which I enjoy. Finally know where I live (not the exact address though), how to get to work and I even have a key to my place. Some basic arabic words are also helpful in every-day life.

Some days ago when I stayed at work a little longer and the sun was set (then its not so hot anymore) I decided to walk home. Wanted to know if I can manage it. I just got lost three times, got thousand looks and hundreds of comments (the most interesting was ”Egyptian men are friendly!”) and after one hour I was home.

Coming weekend we are renting a small bus and going to Dahab, a chillout-beach-diving-beduin place in Sinai. Hope to reach work on Sunday at time.

Working on Sundays

2006-07-02T10:09:00.000+03:00

This is only one small thing I have to get used to because the weekend here is Friday and Saturday.

The first week has been hectic. Everyhting began when I arrived to Cairos Airport Monday 26th of June 3am early morning. Hosting Local Committee has a tradition to play tricks on the new trainee. So I was introduced to two AIESECers who came to pick me up and one American trainee who was unfortunately been there 6 hours since nobody came to pick him up earlier. The American was very pissed off and he showed his attitude in the car. Nothing much really happened but AIESECers also got angry, stopped the car, beated up the American and we left him. I didnt really know how to react. It seemed very weird to see how passionate they are and how easily they get angry.

Of course it was a set-up but kind of set the mood and created some prejudice.

The first week has been great! Some challenges though but this is the reason why I cam here - to experience something totally different, broaden my comfort zone, meet new people, get professional experience etc.

Another new beginning

2006-06-26T15:45:00.000+03:00

I lost my enthusiasm trying to find wireless internet in Prague Airport after asking two different smart looking women and getting just `õlakehitus` as an answer. Is it my ability not to ask right people or is it something else. Weird that not finding wifi forced me to stretch my comfort zone first time since the beginning of the trip.

It has been ten days now when I found out where I am spending next year of my life. And I am heading that direction right now. Ten last days of packing, shopping baggy pants and no-see-through blouses, getting advices, getting lost, feeling sad and happy, goodbyes, new friends, some tears at the airport and a lot of excitement.

Some questions pending in my head right now: will I get the visa? Is there somebody to pick me up in Cairo? Where will I be living? Who are my co-workers and how my work will be? Should I still change my haircolour? How does Cairo and Egypt look like? What trick are they going to play on me at the airport?