Newsletter #7 - 28 September, 2003
Hi there,
At the risk of sounding obsessed with money and the cost of living, this update will be based around what you can get for less than ten Australian dollars here in Egypt. (A$10 = 40LE Egyptian pounds)
a. 40LE ($10.00): One 100% pure cotton bath sheet the size of a single bed. After sorting through all the 'not-so-appealing' pastel yellow, green and blues, we've got some simple, plain, white towels.
b. 35LE ($8.75): One first class air conditioned train ticket from Cairo to Alexandria. To be honest, we're yet to have bought these tickets, but will be doing so shortly when my (Joshua's) parents arrive in Cairo. From what we've heard, the ticket buying experience will be exactly that, an experience. We're looking forward to spending ten days with my parents doing the 'tourist' things around Egypt. (And catching up on the family news including my brother's engagement!)
c. 30LE ($7.50): The cost for our flat to be cleaned by a Sudanese lady in a day. While it seems so little, we've discovered that it's better than market rates and she now comes twice a week.
d. 28LE ($7.00): One one-hour class per person of Arabic with a private tutor. We've finally sorted out some extra Arabic classes which is an answer to prayer. Two hours a week for the two of us and one tutor is only A$28. We hope to learn more grammar, increase our vocabularly and practise our speaking.
e. 25LE ($6.25): One A reserve ticket to the Opera. As you can probably imagine, this was extraordinary when we found out. However after going, the whole night was extra-ordinary. The Cairo Opera House's architectural style a mixture between Jewish, Japanese and Egyptian. There were many highlights that won't be so funny in writing, but I'll try describing them anyway.
- One of the chorus members falling over mid-song off the edge of the raised platform he was standing on.
- Very unpolitically correct children dressed up as African slaves. The initial reactions were that they were Gollywogs (the biscuit) or Oompa Loompahs from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
- During act one, since we could see into the orchestra pit, it was very amusing watching the two bass players having an argument over what appeared to be page turning responsibilities.
- Radames, the hero of the opera Aida, being presented with his sword. From the way it glistened in the light, it appeared for all money as a plastic ruler. Confirming this hunch was the lack of a point at the end of the sword, rather it had a flat end.
f. 10LE ($2.50): This is the tourist price for the Egyptian museum. A local only has to pay 2LE. Two hours in, after wandering the whole of the ground floor, it dawned on us that almost everything we saw was taken from someone's grave. The definite highlight was seeing Tutenkhamen's mask. Seeing it for real was what brought home the idea that everything we'd seen was old.
g. 2LE ($0.50): The cost of a 1.5 hour air-conditioned bus trip for Joanna to Arba wa Nuss once a week. Her work there is progressing slowly as she is still searching for someone to work with who is both committed to the work of the clinic and can act as interpreter. She has met more people who are interested in her work and willing to support her in it.
h. FREE: A 1/4 page, black and white ad in the two leading glossy magazines targetted at ex-pats living in Cairo for Tukul Crafts! Most of the work I'm doing is still about promotion and sales rather than IT related, however I hope that this will change once we've raised the profile of Tukul more. (Check out the web site www.refuge-egypt.org/tukul) and we're opening a new shop very soon which is quite exciting.
Lastly, like the Mastercard ad, some things are priceless. For us and in particular Joanna, making new friends in Andrew and Suzanne Dircks recently has been a great encouragement to us. Many meals together and shopping trips for Jo and Suzanne has been a great blessing to us.
Thanks,
Josh'n'Jo
Email me - joshua at kuswadi dot com
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