Egypt - First Day Back

More Underwater Life

I woke up and everything took on a different light. Suddenly, I didn’t think the air was laden with poisonous pores from mould festering behind my wall that would slowly kill me if I inhaled them, I was sure the wall was still pretty firm, and I no longer saw an immediate need for the wall to be propped up. The sun was shining and it was a pleasant temperature. Sleep is a wonderful thing.

I had a leisurely breakfast and decided that I couldn’t possibly show my damp wall to anyone before I unpacked, as I would look too much of a slob. But I couldn’t really unpack without putting up my Christmas tree (that I’d transported from Geraldine’s) and so everything took longer than intended.

It wasn't just my suitcase making me look a bit disorganised. I’d forgotten how much stuff – mostly books and pictures – I still had to unpack from my move. I’m a bit stuck because I need to buy furniture before I can do anything about this, but all the boxes make my flat still look a bit temporary and not so much like a home.

Anyway, I eventually finished unpacking my suitcase and went to get someone to have a look at my wall, I was pleased that they sounded suitably shocked when they saw it. A guy then came in to strip it back and to put some kind of treatment on it, I think. He also looked surprised when he saw the extent of the damage, or maybe he was just taken aback at the amount of work he would have to do.

Usually, I feel a bit guilty when they do work for me as I’m just sitting and typing and looking like a lazy, rich Westerner. This time, however, I was busy cleaning, so I felt quite virtuous. My balcony had a layer of sand in the ten days I’d been away and I also needed to scrub those gluey footprints from my floor. This, along with dusting, took me around five hours, believe it or not.

The guy doing my wall said he would be back tomorrow. I laughed inwardly to myself thinking that this usually doesn’t mean tomorrow at all, but somehow I still had confidence that he would return.

It was a bit frustrating that I’d spent three full days cleaning before I left and then needed another full day when I got back, but finally the flat is looking respectable. I decided I should buy a hoover (I was working with a brush, dustpan and brush, and then mop) and a steam cleaner to make my life easier. Nevertheless, the thought of spending any of my life savings still scares me.

As days go, this wasn’t so traumatic. 

However, in the evening I went to Spinneys, but I’ll report on that tomorrow as I’m overdue an update on the health of my foot, which I want to give just in case anyone with a broken foot happens to be reading this blog in the hope of finding out what the healing process is like post-cast (I doubt it, though!). Still, you never know...