2nd June 2008 - 38
years old today and still acting like a teenager! After a quiet
(ish) day we went for a bar snack in Murphy's for (another)
birthday celebration. The last few days have been so hot and
each day seems to be getting hotter. We are frequently being
told its 47 degrees but at times it feels hotter and apparently
if it reaches 50 degrees then employees can go home so the
powers that be are reluctant to admit the true temperature for
fear of a mass walk out! Don't know if this is true or not but
it seems to make sense?
3rd June 2008 - The
kids from Sunshine have all finished their exams and the results
for most of them were now out and every one had passed and some
with extremely good results so it was time for a treat for them
and the manager had planned a trip to the West Bank to play
football etc and relax and they were kind enough to invite us to
go along.
I had brought a rugby
ball out with me when we came from Wales and this was the first
opportunity to teach the kids and although as expected they
seemed to prefer football some of them showed some talent in
throwing and catching the ball. Look very carefully at the photo
of me looking athletic (well if you ignore the beer belly).
It was a great day out
with the kids and they seemed to enjoy it and they all behaved
so well.
4th June 2008 - After
the exercise the previous day I was feeling very stiff and my
legs were aching. At 38 running around in this heat just proves
I am crazy! I could not do it 20 years ago so why should I think
I can do it now?
Today was a day on the computers for the kids as while the
exams were on and they had studying to do they were not given
time on the computers and they got very excited. With music on
in the background and football on the computers everyone seemed
to enjoy themselves and the time passed too quickly. Then
heading home for the Arabic lesson it seemed like a long but
very enjoyable day.
5th June 2008 - Another
day of music and computers and the boys were again very well
behaved and they seemed to enjoy themselves. After a few very
hot days we enjoyed the cooler evening with a walk through the
Souk and some shopping.
6th June 2008 - Another
trip to the Souk in the evening to arrange to get some dresses
made (for Jo, not for me!!). Including the cost of the material
and making the dress they still worked out at less than £10 each
so as long as they turn out ok they seem to be a bargain - we
will find out on Monday.
7th June 2008 - Another
very very hot day and also a very very lazy one and it was nice
not to have to cook in the evening as we were invited for a meal
with the manager of Sunshine. As always the food was excellent
and it was midnight before we knew it.
8th June 2008 - Sunday
and another Arabic lesson but neither of us had got around to
doing our homework so we were trying to rush through it as time
approached 4pm and our teacher arrived. Luckily we just about
managed to get it completed. I was very glad when the teacher
suggested we did some revision instead of proceeding onto
something new and I amazing myself by actually remembering some
of it. Given another decade or two and I might be able to have a
conversation in Arabic.
9th June
2008 - Our neighbours are growing up so fast!!!! It only seems a
few weeks ago that they hatched and now they are almost the same
size as the adults!
11th June 2008 - With the sun shining and no
sign of rain we went with 25 kids and some members of staff for
a day by the pool at the Sofitel in Karnak. The kids were on
their best behaviour and we had a fantastic time and the only
negative comment about the day could be the sun-burn I am
suffering with today.
12th June 2008 - Last
day of the working week for us and back into Sunshine. With
sunburnt shoulders and a sore head I was glad tomorrow would be
a day off but the boys were very well behaved and the time went
quickly.
As sunburn was obviously not enough I gave myself a "proper"
burn while cooking. I cannot believe how painful it is to burn
the tips of all four fingers on my right hand! For hours I had
to hold a bottle of ice cold water as every time I let go my
fingers would start burning again! Now that the fingers have
blistered the pain is not too bad and now just a little tender.
13th June 2008 - Friday
the 13th and with my burns from the last two days I was
expecting a third but luckily I survived!
14th June 2008 -
Football and Egypt v Malawi on the TV so the manager of Sunshine
brought eleven of the oldest boys to our flat to watch the game.
Something went wrong with the coverage so we missed the middle
of the game but managed to see the start and end and
unfortunately the goal in the final minutes which meant Egypt
lost! The gap in the TV coverage was filled with food and lots
of it! I have seen the boys eat before so was well prepared with
crisps and hotdogs and although I have seen it many times I will
never understand where they put all the food!
15th June 2008 - Lunch
at the Movenpick and then a trip out to see a villa with a
friend of ours. The word villa should really be substituted by
the word shell as the building still has to have more than the
basic framework. This obviously allows the buyer to finish the
property to their specifications but there would be alot of work
to be done. It brought to mind a birthday card my sister gave me
years ago when I was working as Financial Consultant based in an
Estate Agency with a picture of a building and a speak bubble
along the lines of "The Estate Agent described it as a des-res
in need of improvement but I would just call it a complete
s***hole".
Back home in time for an Arabic lesson and again I had not
done enough homework so struggled but I intend that to be the
last time so its back to doing a little each day from now on.
16th June 2008 - Back
to Sunshine and on a very hot day it was not the time to be
walking around Luxor trying to get printers fixed especially as
after walking across town I found the computer shop shut but I
cant blame them for closing as it was so hot out no-one (except
me) was shopping.
17th June 2008 - A
phone call in the morning from the owner of the computer shop to
apologise for being shut and when I went there everything was
sorted quickly and efficiently. It makes a change to find
somewhere with customer service and standards so high. I even
bought an external hard drive from him a few weeks before and
did not have enough money so said I would go to the bank but he
insisted on me taking the goods and paying for them the next
time I was passing the shop. I don't think Currys or Dixons
would be so trustworthy? If anyone finds themselves in Luxor and
has need for any computer supplies, repairs etc then I can
highly recommend Luxor Digital Centre just off Medina Street
(very close to Omar's Market).
18th June 2008 -
Finally almost a week of stress is over ! On the previous Friday
night / Saturday morning we had the shocking news from our
landlord that the flat he had promised was available for friends
of ours from 17th June to 19th August he had rented out to
somebody else. He did not even have the guts to come and tell us
this was the case and just waited until Jo was outside the
property and told her asking her to pass the message on to me as
he obviously did not want to speak to me. On Saturday we
desperately began to look for alternative accommodation which at
short notice is not always easy to arrange especially in Luxor.
Luckily for us an Egyptian friend was able to help and finally
now it has been confirmed that the flat is available for the
girls during their stay in Egypt and a special bonus is that the
very generous landlord does not want rent for the period but for
the girls to give a donation to Sunshine instead so although it
has been a stressful week it all seems to have sorted itself out
in the end.
Needless to say the relationship between us and our landlord
is not good especially as I told him exactly what I thought
about the situation.
19th June 2008 -
7:30am at Luxor train station to pick up Kim and Kerry who were
on the sleeper train from Cairo. Why we turned up at this time
we have no idea as the train being on time was only a remote
possibility. Luckily Mohammed our ever loyal taxi driver was
happy to wait and even bought us teas while we waited. We were
encouraged to hear that the train was pulling into Luxor only to
be disappointed again when the next text said it was Qena not
Luxor and we had another hour to wait. Without a word of
complaint from our driver he took us for a coffee and then we
returned to the station at 10am when the train finally arrived.
After showing the girls to their new flat we went home and just
after settling down to relax we had a text message from a number
we did not recognise to say that they would text us again when
boarding the flight to Luxor. This started off just bewildering
us until we realised that it was from Steve and he was arriving
today and not next week as expected. Bewilderment soon turned
into panic and we had to not only get the flat prepared for his
visit but also book the trips we had agreed we would take him
on. A few hectic hours and we were almost ready. Jo continued
with cleaning the flat (after all that is woman's work) and I
went to Sunshine and allowed the boys a few hours on the
computers.
Steve arrived on the 9:05pm flight which was on
time and we visited Pizza Hut before having an early(ish) night.
20th June 2008 - Up
early for a 6:45am departure on a day cruise to Dendera. In all
the times I have been to Egypt I have never been to Dendera so I was
looking forward to this trip and we could all enjoy cruising
down the Nile as well. The temperature was rising as we left
Luxor and it was soon very very hot.
The cruise to Dendera
was relaxing and enjoyable but I was eager to get to the Temple
and it did not disappoint. I would have much preferred to have
gone around the temple myself but as we were part of an
organised tour I allowed the guide to show us about and we had
a little while at the end to wander the temple ourselves.
Luckily the guide was one of the better ones I have experienced
and most of what he said seemed to be accurate and relevant. The
only advantage of visiting the temple with a group was the
lunatic who spent most of the time looking for spaceships and
light-bulbs among the hieroglyphs! There really are some strange
people out there and I am not talking about Wierd Steve and
myself. Jo had decided to not visit the temple with us as she
had been before and instead had the cruise boat to herself to
relax and enjoy the sunshine but she got a little bit carried
away listening to Pink Floyd and was not aware of a waiter
standing next to her as she tapped her foot wildly to the beat!
After the visit to the
temple we returned to the cruise boat, had lunch and 'set
sail' back to Luxor. By this time the heat of the day was tiring
and sitting in the direct sunshine was only for the true
lunatics so while Steve and Jo took to the shade I tried in vain
to get a sun-tan.
The day was relaxing
and peaceful but I must admit by the end of it I was eager to
get off the boat and into air-conditioning. After cooling off we
took Steve for a meal at the ever popular Sindbads.
21st June 2008 -
Another early start and this time to the West Bank of Luxor to
visit the historical sights. Along with myself and Steve there
was Kim and Kerry and Bridget and her father who like Steve was
visiting Luxor for only a few days. After being picked up at 6am
we headed for the Valley Of the Kings (after a brief stop at the
Colossi Of Memnon) as although most of us had visited before we
could not let Bridgets father visit Luxor and not see the famous
places.
Three
tombs in the Valley and we headed for the Valley of the Nobles
and to one of my favourite tombs - Ramose. Whilst in the tomb we
headed down into the crypt which we were told was closed but as
usual for a few pounds they were happy to show us. The lighting
was non-existant and the footing was dangerous but we survived
and when we got the bottom Bridget did not take me up on my dare
to shout "snake" and see what the reaction was!
After the tombs of
Ramose, Userhat and Khaemhat we headed for Medinet Habu but the
June heat and the early mornings was tiring so we stopped off
for food and drink before visiting the Temple.
Finally Medinet Habu
and I think Steve was of the opinion we had kept the best until
last as he really seemed to enjoy this visit.
After lots of
sightseeing and early starts as well as travelling from UK etc I
think someone was feeling a little tired ! And this was only
just after lunch-time.
Not letting Steve rest
for a moment we dragged him out to see the children at Sunshine
Following on from
Sunshine we visited the once splendid Luxor Wena Hotel - I was
amazed that in the condition it is in that it is still in use
but also fascinated as to what with some investment it could
become again. I would like to think that someone with deep
pockets might look at it one day.
Approaching sunset we
decided to watch it from the Roof of Snack Time and with some
refreshing drinks and Steve smoking a shisha pipe we watched the
sun come down and watched the world come by. While we were
watching a few van loads of young men with sticks arrived and I
guess they were celebrating a wedding or some such happy
occasion but I could not get over that they looked so much like
a "rioting mob" and they were arriving to cause trouble.
On the way home we
called into some shops and I thought we had seen all the rubbish
that Luxor has for sale but the piece below certainly was one of
the most awful holiday memories anyone could ever buy !
For our evening meal
we took Steve to A Taste of India which is a new restaurant in
St Joseph Street and the food was excellent and the prices were
reasonable and the only disappointment was the lack of Poppadoms
and Nan Bread.
22nd June 2008 -
Steve's flying visit to Luxor was over and as he headed for the
airport we had a nice relaxing day and a chance to catch up on
some sleep.
23rd June 2008 - Back
to work at Sunshine and for a change we both went to Ahmed Esmet
Street as we had some gifts to give the girls. A company called
Jelly Egg had generously donated twelve pairs of children's
Crocs as well as accessories so the girls were very excited when
we arrived and started handing out the shoes.
23rd June 2008 - After
the disagreement with our landlord we had decided to move as was
awkward with him living in the same building so we had been
looking around for alternative accommodation and we managed to
find a place to move to so after Sunshine we went to pick up the
keys. Below is a photo from our new balcony and it certainly is
an improvement over the last one.
24th June 2008 - An
early start to go the West Bank with the children from Sunshine
only to find the football pitch and surrounding areas
underwater. With over forty children looking forward to the trip
a short panic followed trying to find an alternative play area
for them but eventually we found a play area which was safe for
them to play in as well as suitable facilities such as toilets
and water etc. Again I forgot I am 38 and pretended to be 12
again and ran around playing football in the heat and sun.
25th June 2008 - West
Bank again and we decided to start later than the others and
miss another trip to the Valley of the Kings. Even with my
interest in Egyptology there is only just so many times you can
go to the same tombs. We started at 10am for a trip to the
Valley of the Queens and then the Monastery of St Tawdros before
heading back to the East Bank to go to Sunshine.
One of the daily joys of
living in Luxor is he sunsets !
26th June 2006 -
Another early start to meet Kim and Kerry at 5:30am by Pizza Hut
ready to get to Karnak for 6am. Not quite awake and still a
little sleepy I walked from our old flat (we were still moving)
to Pizza Hut and it was nice to see whole families sleeping on
beds and benches on the pavements and to see Luxor just waking
up. We got to Karnak before 6am so had to wait for the ticket to
open and it was a joy to visit the temple when it was empty and
it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves as even with a
few other people in the place it is so big that we did not see
them.
After the temple
complex itself we headed for the Open Air Museum and the
highlight for me was the White Chapel.
29th June 2008 - Why can
you never find sunglasses when you need them? Well I came up with
an alternative!
30th June 2008 - For
weeks the boys at Sunshine have been asking for Jo to give them
a hand washing demonstration with the equipment that was kindly
donated so today we went in early as we needed to get to the
airport by 4:30pm to pick up Grahaem. The sessions went well
with the boys paying attention and enjoying using the equipment
and even singing the song "Wash, Wash, Wash your Hands" to the
tune of "Row, row , row the boat".
The boys are growing
up fast and are more concerned about their appearance day by day
- a new pair of sunglasses and it was no problem getting them to
pose for photos.
New flat and still
geckos but slowly Jo is admitting they are cute as long as they
are outside so I think progress has been made.
We picked Grahaem up
at the airport and hat a quiet night as we had a lot planned
over the next week - we had told him it would be a cheap holiday
but we never said anything about it being relaxing.
