Egypt

Well, here I am in sunny Egypt, its like Seaton Carew with Sun. Oh and slightly fewer scally's.

A bit of background, I'm here on a secondment from work, Oil and Gas Industry, onshore and offshore facilities to be managed.
I arrived on the 4th of August and I knew there was no getting out for a little respite until my visa came through. And THAT is where the fun starts.
Egypt is like England in the 70's without the rain of course (but the cars look smilar) only in certain ways of course. What I mean is that Egypt is highly beaurocratic, getting a visa means going through several layers of bs before I even got to have my HIV test, yes that is one of the hurdles to be cleared.... Here in Africa, with the highest rate of AIDS in the world, a civilised westerner, well ok me in this case, on a short term (two years) secondment with full international medical insurance, has to have an HIV test, before they give me a visa. Quite surreal, I am in greater danger here than anywhere else, well of course I could be personal situations apart, there is no chance of getting laid unless you know your way around the muslim world far better than a Johnny come lately like me.
Apparently it is possible, I have been informed, but you have to make promises you won't keep to the lady in question (sounds like some girls from my teenage years; I might write a post about that if there is enought positive feedback on the subject). This obviously leads to much upset later and to be honest I wouldn't know if it is worth it.
You can take the age old method of procuring a sex life, but lets be honest, its not worth it really. You are liable to end up with some poor kid who has been dragged here from some somalian hell hole and forced into the oldest trade to stay alive.

Anyway back to the visa, now I have had the HIV test I am not allowed to leave the country until the work permit and residency visa come through. I have to say that I am one of the lucky ones, my company are dealing with all of this for me and I just have to turn up at certain governemnt buildings to prove who I am, have some blood taken, and several other reasons of which I am unclear; show your passport, show your face, then bugger off back to work !!!

So hopefully I will get all of my paperwork sorted out soon and I will be able to come and go as I please. The reason for me wanting to get out of the country is not complicated, a beautiful eleven year old son, who is still at home in Teesside (his Mothers home, that is but I will be writing a post about some of that later), not for long, just enough time to maintain some level of fatherly responsibilty. Getting a driving licence for here is just as much of a problem, but I am sure you are bored with that already

Cairo itself is a strange mix. I think they gave up on building regs in certain areas when they stopped building those big pointy things a couple of thousand years ago. In some areas you have beautiful green suburbs, obviously with ruddy great potholes in the road, beggars, dead dogs, and no pavements worth a sod, but you know, most of the buildings look like they probably won't fall down in the first decent draught. Then you go to several other places and it looks like they are built out of the sand that surrounds the place. Ah yes, of course with an AC unit badly attached to the side.

The people are however, amazingly friendly, despite some stories I had heard prior to coming here, I have yet to see a really obnoxious Egyptian, well apart from the touts and tour guides at the pyramids. A warm smile and a cheery hello immediately receives a big smile and a warm welcome. Many Egyptians have very little, but if they are eating a meal as you pass and you give a cheery greeting, you are guaranteed to be offered a little of what they have, declining turns out to be the hardest part, they are so willing to share with you. Now don't get me wrong there are places where the beggars have nothing and all they want from you is a couple of Piastres or Pounds. But when you consider the exchange rate is greater than ten to one, giving them an Egyptian pound as you pass is like giving them ten pence, or about 14 (Euro) cents, it won't do your pocket any harm, and it will actually feed some of them for the day, unlike giving a quid to a drunken Jock begging on the tube, he might get a cheap can of lager for that I guess.


On the other side of the Egyptian coin, there is actually great wealth here, and it can be quite ostentacious, there are lots of very nice flash cars floating around, and sitting in the Grand Cafe on the side of the Nile, or the Garden Patio in the Marriot Hotel, you can see it in the clothes and jewellery being displayed, because the Egyptians do like to display their wealth. Another way they do this is by ordering huge amounts of food, then leaving half of it, "because I can afford it" is what they are saying in a most wasteful way. Its brought to the attention of how wasteful in seconds of leaving these places, as a small child in rags asks you for some money.
Apparently in the Islamic faith you are supossed help the needy, as a person with a conscience but no religion, I can't help but give the kids some small notes, but a lot of these well to do locals seem to have forgotten the teachings of their own faith.
I hope to get some photo's posted as a guided tour later.
To be continued....