There may be trouble ahead....

....but whilst there is the Muezzin with his melliflous pray chants, the helpful Egyptians with their impeccable courtesy and sunshine smiles, beautiful sundrenched dawns and balmy evening breeze, it's hard not to feel radiant somehow. BUT, the Urggghhhhh moment is never far and will pounce with featherlight warning, if any at all!!!  Living in Cairo is a game of three halves...can't say that? Try living here on a maiden voyage to North Africa.

The Good aspects are sublime. Help is never too far away. Since moving into our overpriced apartment (so, we keep getting told), we have had no hot water, then no working shower as the hose was badly faulty and so killed off any shower pressure, blocked sink and bedroom air con dying in the middle of the night!!! All this in the space of a week. Every day, the trails and tribulations have felt like purgatory. But, help came in the form of school site staff, landlord's boy, caring neighbours  and jovial taxi drivers..who, although pretty clueless about their 'local' streets, got us home. Many 'scenic' routes have been taken on ten minute journeys...

The Bad...well, not much is designed to work well! One soon learns the language of 'maybe this'll work, maybe not'. For someone Swiss minded, this has been more than teeth grittingly infuriating. Not the most tolerant or patient of women, silent screaming has become the norm!

The Ugly...not the best country for an Aesthete. Pavements are high and rarely continuous, there is 'selected' rubbish strewn nearly everywhere, roads lack tarmac and there are frequent sand pits to walk through!! High rise buildings are pocked with air con vents, numerous building sites  look abandoned and then there is the omnipresent hooting of car horns.

Flat hunting amongst all this proved exhausting. Wonderful school representative did her best and soon worked out we did not want to live with a symphony of air cons at full blast! To be able to open a bedroom window without the howl of these machines seemed impossible. Our flat allowance, meant to be the highest in the city for a school, seemed to get us at best a near hovel. Places where Miss Havisham would have run away from... screaming! Even that Dickensian old buzzard would have insisted on better. Hence our arrival at our pad of choice and price. Light and airy, modern air cons, white tiled floors and modern furniture, not withstanding the romaneque bedroom fixture and fittings!! Oh, an extra high mattress for this Princess. Yes, it's nearly 'perverse'! When it's all working, it feels blissful, but one learns not to count on such things here in the Big C. Oh, there is a lift, which works three out of 5 tries. We are on the 5th floor with a view of a mosque, a distant Wadi (rubble looking desert!)  and quite a lot of trees in one direction. Look carefully and there is Beauty....

Our esteemed Landlord is an Egyptair pilot. A Captain no less. Good looking in a film starry way with all the charm of Omar Sharif. Jury was out as to his dependability, but he has proved himself to be a gentleman and philosopher. Well meaning and fond of lights and gadgets! The place has at least fifteen different light circuits..yes, runway fetish indeed. He has lived in Morroco and Zaire, son of a diplomat, married to a French Algerian. His English is good, his French impeccable. He thinks deeply, talks easily and is aware of  his countries shortcomings and corruption but remains a son of Egypt. Faith and loyalty are strong traits amongst people here.

Work is a dream compared to Latrine High. Beautiful well mannered children who have an innate repect for each other and other cultures. Not all are perfect but many are perfect enough to make going to work a pleasure and a joy.  I shall not forget my first set of spontaneous cuddles from  year 4 last week. I think that smile I felt is still there.


We have been here for most of the holy month of Ramadan, when the faithful fast from sunrise to sunset. Life staggers on in the heat and nothing much seems to happen anytime soon. After Iftar when the fast is  broken, commercial life ambles on til 1am! But don't count on it being reliable! Yes, remember where I am!...

Tomorrow, our long held shipment in Alexandria is due to arrive..Inshallah....Inshallah...