PlumbingToil and Mattress Trouble...

...not a city to be free of any trouble! However, miracles do happen. Our shipping got delivered to the apartment on time after numerous facile charges had to be paid to get it cleared at Customs etc etc etc! I am now considering which organs to sell to avoid having to remortgage my home back in Blighty!  Most of it was in tact but some much loved crockery did not make it including a dear gift from my Faerie Queen of a tea set bought at Bebingtons in Rome. That did make me sigh with sadness. Considering the journey made, all items proved resilient. The last four days have been spent leisurely unpacking, rediscovering items not seen for a while and many of which brought back memories in that Proust like fashion of incandescent nostalgia. The most remarkable was a 1950's coffee set purchased at the age of 19. The art deco-esque black and white design, still stylish today without the retro glare, was a Czech design and until I unpacked it to admire it again, I had never noticed that the motif for the design was called Nefertiti. Maybe being here is destiny...

After a day of unpacking, an Angel girl invited us to dinner at the Intercontinental hotel downtown. We were delighted to 'go out' properly. The venue was indeed five Star sumptuos without being gaudy. We made our way to the terrace to have predinner drinks and looked out over the Nile and the subtly lit metropolis. Cairo by night is oddly romantic as the ugly cannot be seen! The meal was good but the service was not! The interminable waiting between courses was only eased by the pleasure of chat amongst new friends. It is always fascinating to observe those with the gift for conversation as many lack it. Fatema with all your wit and charm; Lynne with your wickipedic knowlege of living here and Helen with your gentle manner, thank you all for some sanity amdist the malestrom of moving and mayhem!!

The following day was to be Eid, the Islamic Christmas after the holy month of Ramadan. We got home in a taxi driven by a Formula 1 wannabe. Within half an hour, husband cries out from the kitchen..'there's a flood'..the hot water pipe had simply broken!! I was in a short nightie and unable to find any sort of  stop tap to turn it all off. Trying to call our elusive Bowab (caretaker type) proved futile as I ended up speaking to another man who was as fluent in English as I was in Arabic. By this stage,  hysterical panic had set in. I threw on a T shirt over the nightie and knocked like a woman possessed on neighbours' doors. There was no answer in one but fortune of fortunes, the other answered. A timid girl called her mother to the door who quickly whipped on her Niquab (head scarf) and came into the apartment. She looked as puzzled to see husband directing the water from the pipe into buckets. Moments later,  her own husband in near pyjamas rush in and help and turn the offending tap off! Noises of sympathy were made and it was impressed on us that nothing could be done that night as it was Eid the following day and a holiday after that. They took pains to make it clear that should we need anything in the next few days, to call them.  Once again, we were heartened by their willingness to help.

The following day, the lady's brother knocks on our door offering more sympathy and immediate help. By this point, I had contacted our trusty plumber who said he would come the following day. As I had learned, I was not holding my breath. But, although two hours late and it being Eid day, he came and dear Mahmoud fixed the problem for near enough ten pounds. Our aviator Captain landlord rang later to be told all had been fixed.  I am sue, he considers me a sure jinx in this life ...and I'm not about to make it easier for him..This Princess has had enough of the 'perverse' mattress! Climbing on and absailing off has not been helped  by the fact that the dastard thing is too heavy to lift to change sheets and tuck corners in! It will go, even if one has to order and pay for a reasonable creation oneself! Looking forward to that particular conversation with our Captain! It's time for the 'matelas' wars!

Highlight of the week has to be the lovely dinner soiree with the 'Barries', a dear couple who choose their social company with care. They had cleaned up their grubby abode to an unrecognisable level after agreeing to rent it from a bombastic Pirate character!! It was lovely to share our new arrival stories and take cold comfort in the fact that we had won the trials of the week prize..again!!!

And so it continues...our neighbours are true Samaritans and in times of trouble, the Egyptians have not failed us in their magnanimity. Imagine having delicious  Eid biscuits brought round by the young daughter of the family after you had troubled them from their Chritmas Eve celebrations with the words, 'We would like to share our celebrations with you. Please accept..'  And we did....with great humility.