One day, it rained. It rained short, heavy bursts during the night and throughout the day. It was mildy amusing after 5 months of hot dry weather, especially after we had laughed at NZ's appalling winter weather, but the amusement quickly faded when we got home and found our internet wasn't working. We called the technicians, and it turns out the rain had shorted the wired connection on the roof, which in turn shorted our network card and sound card. To fix the problem, we had to change our operating system to Windows, that at least got our internet working but [View Full Entry]

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After returning from Alexandria, we went back to Cairo to give Erin more time to recover. Although the wound seems to be healed on the outside, there is still healing to be done on the inside, and he must be careful not to get a hernia. The temperature in Cairo has cooled somewhat (30-35 instead of 35 upwards), but it is still very warm and necessitates the use of fans and air-con. We arrived back in Cairo on the first day of the Eid il Futr (festival of breaking the fast), meaning Ramadan is over. So what did we do for [View Full Entry]

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To ensure Erin took it easy, we got sent to Alexandria for 5 days, timed so that we would make it back before the "Little Feast" at the end of Ramadan. With its beaches and plentiful sea breezes, Alexandria is a popular summer holiday destination for Cairenes but we were told that since summer has come to an end, it shouldn't be too busy. Now compared to Cairo, it wasn't busy at all, but it was far busier than we have ever seen it, in the past having visited during early spring. Like Cairo, it seems at times like there are [View Full Entry]

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Just as I published the last blog, Erin came down with a severe tummy ache. Unfortunately we ignored it for 2 days before seeing a doctor, since tummy aches are common, and it turned out to be appendicitis. We went to the Harmel Clinic in Sadat and the doctor said we would have to go to Menouf Hospital straight away for the operation. Then they refused payment, as they know we are working for the church. We asked how to get to the hospital, as Menouf is one hour's drive away. Take a taxi, was the reply, and someone even went [View Full Entry]

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Ramadan has begun, the month of daylight fasting and nighttime feasting. Many of the shops and private apartments have Ramadan lanterns and flashing strings of lights. As non-Muslims, we are not expected to fast, but politeness dictates avoiding eating, drinking or smoking in public. We watched a Dubai news bulletin saying the Government there was stepping in to curb deliberate food price hikes during the month. Erin wasn't impressed by the drummer that comes around at 2.30am to wake people to eat before morning prayers. Our days are pretty much routine. We used to stop at the falafel [View Full Entry]

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Erin's birthday was on July 18, so we decided to go out for lunch. We had been past a pizza restaurant earlier in the week so returned to try our luck. After confirming that they did serve pizza, we got seated upstairs. And that's when it all went wrong. It seemed they didn't actually serve pizza at that time of day, and then they missed most of our subsequent order. And what we did get in the end looked nothing like what it did in the menu. None of this is a big deal, except that I was trying to make [View Full Entry]

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The steel for the fence got delivered the evening of the day we arrived. We wanted to be present to show them where to put everything, but didn't get a phone call until quarter to midnight - normal to Egyptians but too late for us. Unfortunately all the steel and the precious welder got dumped in the sand in front of the building site. We had to ask the clinic to arrange labourers to move it all inside at our own cost. There are 3 or more Egyptians permanently on site, working for the contractor. I asked them if they really [View Full Entry]

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This is one of the satellite cities of Cairo, and lies halfway along the Alexandria-Cairo Desert Highway. It really is a desert highway, running through the easternmost part of the Sahara the Egyptians call the Western Desert, just outside the lush Delta region. Either side of the road is sand, apart from the modern shopping complexes like Carrefour and Dandy Mega-Mall and the produce orchards further towards Sadat City. The project we are working on is being built at the northern edge of the city. Sadat City is much nicer to be in than Cairo, as the buildings are more spread [View Full Entry]

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This time we ventured up the other side of Al Azhar St, namely from Bab Zuweila up Darb el Ahmar. We took the metro to Ataba, then walked along past the Islamic Art Museum to Bab Zuweila, one of the old city gates. This is a very old residential neighbourhood that developed outside the city walls in medieval times. It was a Sunday, so very quiet with most of the shops closed. The first monument we were interested in was the Mosque of Qijmas al-Ishaqi, completed in 1481. The caretaker was sweeping the entrance mat in preparation for midday prayers and [View Full Entry]

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Friday lunchtime we took a trip to Al Azhar Park. The streets of Cairo were almost empty of cars and we took a quick ride in a white taxi for 9LE. The Park lies on a hill between the ring road and Islamic Cairo, and was opened in 2006. Preparation for the Park involved the excavation of 800 years of rubbish as this area was a rubbish dump outside Cairo's city walls. In fact, this is the reason why Al Azhar Street rises upwards as you reach the Northern Cemetery. As the area was excavated, the old city wall was exposed [View Full Entry]

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