The Hospital

---

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 were permanently on site. Yes, they live there, eat there, sleep there, do their washing there... I asked if they left the site to pray and they said only on Fridays and that should they go out, at least one person would remain on site, so not to worry about our gear. We had assumed they were Muslims, but later discovered all three of them are Christians from Upper Egypt. They said they don't take any days off, preferring to save them for a longer trip back home. We took a cab to Area 1 Market to get some bits and pieces, quite a fun exercise as nobody around here speaks English and we didn't know the vocab for what we wanted. Unlike other cities in Egypt, Sadat City's shops are mostly in pedestrian malls in the various Areas and not visible from the road. This gives the impression to first-time visitors (like us) that there aren't any shops, or people. The advantage is that the footpaths and roads aren't clogged up with overspill from shops and you can find what you're looking for in a compact area. Our little Area 8 Market has a shisha cafe, 4 dairies, an appliance store, a pharmacy, photo studio, chicken and fish restaurants, falafel shop, fruit shops and a shoe shop. Everybody we have dealt with here has been really really nice and they don't stare like they do in Cairo. I don't understand why people stare in Cairo, it has had tourists for thousands of years. Maybe it's to do with the smaller city, more manners thing. On Friday, we decided to go for a walk around our Area. We ended up getting lost, as we had confused another mosque with “our” mosque. Luckily we had the written address in our pocket, and hailed a taxi to avoid further walking in the hot afternoon sun. Of course, we were only around the corner.

On our first day on the job, we set out to build two steel workbenches. It was a simple job that would have gone really well if I hadn't “Alasdair-ed” the measurements when we cut the table top. The Egyptians jumped in to help every time we had to do anything, which we thought was really nice of them as it seemed to be their day off, then they explained that it had been arranged that one of them was meant to act as our assistant. The following day when we resumed building the fence sections, we realised it was a blessing in disguise that I had gotten the measurements wrong, as otherwise the complete section would not have fitted on one table top. We ran into various problems as we tried to work (multibox blowing up, dropsaw going blunt, gas bottle leaking) and then I burnt my fingers on some hot steel, so we decided to call it a day. While showering at home we noticed the trickle of water, then our water stopped altogether. When it didn't return by the evening, we decided to call the flat agent, in case our water had been cut off. In Egypt, bills are paid by someone knocking on your door demanding cash. We had been advised to pay for any oustanding utilities bills from the previous tenant and wondered if the bill collector had come by when we were out. We found out that a good part of the city was without water, and that it would come back soon “inshallah”. I think it came back on about 8pm, and we had gotten home at 3pm, so we were thankful for that. Not sure if such a thing occurs regularly. Another problem we ran into was when the CO2 bottle ran out as a result of the leaking regulator. We had gotten the original bottle in Cairo but were hoping to get another one locally. Everyone kept telling us it wasn't possible and the Egyptian engineer who has taken over the project speaks little English but had forbidden anyone from the Diocese to get involved in helping us. So one of our Egyptian helpers went around town all day looking for somewhere to supply the gas, he eventually found a supplier, and it was easy enough once we found a taxi that would take us (5 foot gas bottle in boot), but we still had problems with the leaking regulator and a lack of vocab to explain the problem to anyone. Ended up buying a whole new assembly, then had problems with the fittings not matching etc etc.. in the end we went home and said we'd revisit it when we return next week. Despite the frustrations, we are building relationships with the Egyptians and that's what's important.

We made our first friend this week. A young girl called Salma roasts corn cobs on an open fire down the street that leads to the shops and she ran over to talk to us. She also sells prickly pears which are in season right now. She was very excited to talk to foreigners and every time we walk past she runs over to say hello.

---

Photos

Sadat
The new hospital, photo taken in early June 2009

Sadat
Polished granite floors

Sadat
Street scene, Area One Market

Sadat
This was taken on my birthday when we came up for a successful flat-hunting expedition. Shawqi, the driver.

Sadat
Erin and Shawqi

Mel
Lunch time

Comments

[kiri]

Good on you two
You can appreciate why it takes so long for jobs to get finished in places like this. I'm pleased that you aren't stressing because there isn't any point. Great to see that you guys are having such a fantastic time. The other night there was a segment on 60 minutes or something similiar about wrestling in NZ which I taped for you. Will have to remember to put the tape somewhere safe now, for how long???? How long will you be working on this job? Take care, enjoy the heat, bloody freezing here but we're now on to the third most glorious winter's day in a row so can't complain