Hurghada - Third Trip to Spinneys

Spinneys, Hurghada

I shouldn’t really have much to say on my third trip to the supermarket, but I am still learning at this stage.

I arrived at the Senzo shopping mall feeling fairly pleased with myself. So far, I’d negotiated two successful taxi rides in one day, I'd come out unharmed from a trip to the perfume shop, and I'd resolved my notarisation and courier tasks. This called for my first café latte in celebration. The relief coursed through my body as I drank.

And then off I went shopping. I didn’t have so much money with me this time – mostly because I’d already spent more than I intended with the lawyer (since I asked him to courier my documents as well) and had stopped twice for drinks (and the coffee was my third). After the fiasco with the taxi going home last time, I decided it was good not to be carrying too much money with me, but I would need to watch how much I was spending and leave myself with enough for the taxi.

I finally bought my “Insect Killer”, but I deliberated for ages over whether I should get the cheaper or the more expensive model. The cheaper model said it wasn’t for outdoor use (and I primarily wanted it for my balcony) and the more expensive one said it was for commercial use. Neither was exactly what I wanted. I opted for the more expensive one in the end.

I’ve since put it to use and it is fairly scary. I switched it on and sparks flew! I turned it off, my heart beating fast and panic in my veins!

I decided to put some more distance between it and the source of electricity and brought out the extension cable I’d just bought. This time, it didn’t spark when I turned it on, although the electric bars flickered for a few moments as if deciding whether or not to explode.

I watched it from the safety of my flat and finally plucked up the courage to sit outside. Gradually, I relaxed as I sat there but every now and then the killer gave out this loud sparking sound. I moved my chair further away from it. Eventually, I realised that the sparking sounds weren’t signifying that the machine was malfunctioning, but that each spark signified that insects were being roasted by the electric shock. Ugh.

On top of this, after all that deliberation and stress, I’m not even sure it works. I still got bitten twice on my ankles (but not my arms). I brought out the plug-in mosquito killer to add to my arsenal, but got bitten again on my foot. Finally, I put some insect spray on my ankles (but I was hoping to avoid having to spray myself with smelly stuff each evening) and still got bitten on my feet.

Later, I tried to get some advice from the internet and one site was claiming that these sparky insect killers were a waste of money because they killed only the harmless insects. However, I’m sure I’ve read on the expat sites that these insect killers really do the job. I will need to go back and double-check. My only bit of comfort is that miraculously my bare arms didn’t get bitten, so maybe something was working and maybe my feet were so smelly that they completely overrode the attraction of the killing machine?

I also bought an iron – again, it was a choice between cheaper or more expensive. For the iron, I went for the cheaper option. Although the iron works fine, it turned out that its cable reaches only a couple of metres, so I have to huddle right up to the wall in order to do my ironing.

A bright pink washing up bowl also joined my home as a result of the shopping trip, and I thought of Hye-Youn, who I am sure would like the colour. It fits fairly snugly in my sink and looks quite funky, but is thereby a bit difficult to empty out.

When I got to the till, I made the mistake of saying “Ahlan” (“hello”). As a result, the guy on the checkout teased me by starting to speak in Arabic. I understood that he said “how are you?” but I couldn’t remember what the response should be. I had an idea, but I wasn’t sure, and by the time I’d thought about it, he’d already gone on to say something else that I couldn’t grasp. I laughed and explained I couldn’t understand, so he offered to teach me something. I struggled to think of a phrase, so he suggested “How about ‘I love you’?” and we all laughed (me, him, and the guy packing the bags). In the end, I asked him how to say “I live here” as I thought that could be a useful phrase for me. Interestingly, he pointed out that the word for “live” was the same as the word for “bread”, which has a certain logic to it, since you need bread (ie, food) to live.

He showed me the amount to pay on the till, and I scraped the money together, hoping that the panic wasn’t showing on my face that maybe I didn’t have enough.

And then I had to face the battle of the taxi home.

I was determined not to have the same problem as last time, but when I went to the door and looked at the taxis outside, they were all unnumbered. Aaargh.

I walked to the other exit, went to the door, and I couldn’t see any taxis. Help!

I went back to the first entrance, but again only unnumbered taxis were there. I wondered if I should just call a taxi and sit and wait. I would rather be spontaneous, but if this was how it had to be, then so be it.

I tried once more at the other exit, where a security guy was standing. I wondered if it would look suspicious if I left all my shopping by the door and walked outside to see if I could see any taxis. I decided to risk it. I stepped down towards the road and could see three or four numbered taxis there. Maybe I’d just always gone out the wrong exit for taxis? I grabbed my trolley and rushed out to the taxis before any unnumbered ones appeared.

I'd obviously had beginner’s luck the first time. Either that or all my confidence has gone and I look like a quivering wreck when I go up to the taxi drivers! So, like last time, this time too, the taxi driver asked me how much I wanted to pay. It had been a long day and I didn’t have the energy to negotiate, so after he scorned my offer of 30 EGP saying it was unfair when he had been waiting with no fares all day, I opted for 50 EGP just so that I could get home.

So, I’m not quite there yet with this taxi malarkey, but I do feel that I am at least learning from my past mistakes.