Hurghada - First Trip to Spinneys (Supermarket)

Outside of Senzo Mall - Open c. 10am-1am

Spinneys Supermarket in the Senzo Mall

 

I’d arrived and although the flat had toilet roll, cleaning stuff etc, I had very little in the way of food and bottled water. So, my first challenge was to go to the shopping mall (Senzo Mall). Fortunately, Sara, who’d sold me the flat, offered me a lift, so I was spared the trauma of getting a taxi.

To my relief, I was pretty much able to wander round and browse at my leisure without anyone hassling me. I went into the supermarket first to get my bearings as to what they had, then looked round the mall, had something to eat, and then back to the supermarket (Spinneys).

The first thing that astonished me in the supermarket was the stall at the entrance selling nuts of all varieties. I hadn’t really got nuts down as being an Egyptian speciality. For some reason, I was also surprised to see a hot take-away counter at the front with options that included a fine selection of chicken (and French fries). There were no prices up, so I didn’t know how much it cost, but it was quite tempting.

There was quite a bit of chicken in the freezer section as well (mostly breaded and not on the bone), along with minced beef.

Throughout the supermarket, everything – all packaging – was written in English as well as Arabic, so it was less of a trauma than it might have been (getting rid of my bad luck before I went was a good thing!).

There were some items I just did not recognise – although I’d heard of ghee, I’d never seen it before and it was in the supermarket by the truckload. I think I might also have seen a lot of halaweh, which, now I’ve looked it up, turns out to be for hair removal, so I now wonder if I remembered this incorrectly. There was another item that I could not identify, but I didn’t spend so long over it as I was just on a mission to find my immediate essentials.

The vegetables were disappointing and mostly of poor quality. I bought some Egyptian bananas and there were (manky-looking) oranges for sale specifically for juicing, so it looks as if I should get into that. I bought myself some carrot and orange juice (in a bottle) to see me through before I start being too bold. I felt I shouldn’t buy orange juice as this would obviously be the equivalent of declaring myself to be a tourist.

I looked hard for semi-skimmed milk in the fresh milk section, but it seems it's not available in Egypt. Consequently, I bought one bottle (yes, bottle) of skimmed and one bottle of full-fat milk, so that I could combine them as a compromise.

The choice of cereals was not so great, especially if you don’t like them chocolate-flavored. There were no Weetabix, Rice Crispies, Shreddies, Cinnamon Grahams, Honey-Nut or equivalents.  Corn flakes, cheerios, bran flakes, and some muesli were displayed. I remember being astonished at the amount of muesli in the Swiss supermarkets when I first arrived there.

I ended up buying Kellogg’s Bran Flakes with Fruits, but could have got the Egyptian equivalent. I will try both and see – it’s not one of the cereals I usually have.

However, a bewildering collection of oat cereals (ie, porridge) filled shelf after shelf – these took up much more room than the cereals and I had no idea so many different types existed. If I want to be like the locals, I should obviously have porridge for breakfast. It seems a bit odd when the weather is so hot, but I remember now that porridge was featured in my Learn Egyptian Arabic book.

I then got completely sidetracked by the “insect killer” lamps – various sizes for different sizes of rooms/apartments and several brands. I didn’t buy one as this trip was just a mission to get my immediate essentials while I thought through my priorities. However, having been bitten three times tonight, it is quickly increasing in priority on my must-buy list. My main use for it will be for my balcony so that I can sit out at sunset and beyond, which I can’t do unless I have something to keep the mosquitos away. At night, I have a mosquito net over my bed that I can use.

I had a quick look at the juicers and thought I would probably start with a cheap one and see how often I really use it. The bottled orange juice was around 1.50 GBP whereas in the supermarket the oranges for juicing were something like 7p a kilo (probably cheaper in the market), which might explain why juicing is so popular here. I haven’t yet bought the juicer, though!

To my delight, I noticed that chocolate was available and Twix was even on special offer.

The pasta was packed in surprisingly small portions, barely enough for three meals, I would say, but rice came in many different sized packs (from tiny to huge) and origins (Egyptian, Asian, Indian). The Egyptian rice was even on special offer, but I wasn’t too sure if it was long-grain (which is what I needed) or short-grain (for desserts, which I don’t need). I chose the more expensive Asian rice in the end, mainly because the Egyptian rice was not so clearly labelled and I was a bit confused as to what I would be buying. I think it’s best to start gently rather than being too adventurous straight away.

I’d bought red kidney beans and minced beef so that I could conjure up a chilli con carne at some point, but they didn’t seem to have chopped tomatoes. The unchopped ones were available only in a huge can, which was more than I wanted; the only other alternative was a can of tomato puree/sauce. In the end, I settled for the latter and will just have to see how it goes.

Water was an essential, of course. Again, there were several brands to choose from and I ended up with Nestle. It was difficult to know how much I would go through and I’m not really very sure how long water keeps in a plastic bottle either. Anyway, I got 3 litres for my immediate needs at a total cost of 50p (5 EGP). There is a small market in my building which has water, but at an inflated price, of course.

Paying for everything was also easy – fortunately, the till didn’t give the numbers in Arabic, so I knew how much to pay. When I’d got my dongle in the mall earlier, my receipt came in Arabic and I had to borrow a pen to write on it so that I would remember later what it was for. I laughed inwardly as I imagined handing this invoice in to Willem for approval (since I’m still working, my internet should be paid for by the company for my first two months – but I will have to submit invoices, as usual). Willem, if you’re reading, you have this invoice to look forward to!

At the supermarket, a man packed my bags for me as part of the service – unlike in Western Europe, where nowadays we are encouraged to avoid using bags, here everything went into the yellow Spinney’s plastic bags with great generosity. I remember when it was like that in the UK.

Sara had informed me that after I’d paid, I needed to take my trolley to the taxi rank, get in a taxi, say where I wanted to go, and then just pay the money at the end, rather than haggle before getting in. She said haggling beforehand immediately gives it away that you are a tourist.

This was the first time I’d ever heard that and I was a bit sceptical. And petrified. The idea of just getting in a taxi and placing blind faith in the taxi driver getting me there without any further acknowledgement, and just assuming that he would not turn nasty on me or ask for an exorbitant fare once I'd arrived at the destination, was not what I believed was safe behaviour.

I decided I needed to look confident (but I probably didn’t!), so when the taxi driver came up to me, who I am sure was skipping the queue, I said “Ahlan” (hello) in my best attempt at Arabic. He nodded his head and said “Taxi?”. I know the word for “yes” in Arabic, but by this point I was already overwhelmed and came out with “Yes” in English instead. I then got in and gave my address. I watched carefully where he was going and it seemed to be the right direction. We arrived without a hitch and to my complete and utter astonishment, when he stopped the car, he didn’t even ask me for the fare, but patiently waited for me to hand him whatever I was expecting to pay. I’d obviously pulled it off!

I then started to look like a complete tourist as I pulled out the notes from my purse one by one and inspected them to make sure I wasn’t giving 100 Egyptian Pounds when I needed 10 Egyptian Pounds. I paid him 30 EGP, which is what it had said in my flat’s introductory booklet that it should cost to get to the shopping mall, although Sara had advised they may ask for 50 EGP as it was hard for them to get a fare back from Sahl Hasheesh. I held my breath as I handed the money over and waited for him to start arguing with me, but he didn’t say a word. I felt a bit guilty as I thought he didn’t look very happy when he looked at the money, but I guess if he was seriously cheesed off, he would have argued. It felt completely incredible that this should have worked.

And so ended my first major achievement!