Egypt - End of First Quarter

Undeveloped Area of Sahl Hasheesh

Yes, can you believe it, I’ve now been here three months as of 10th January.

When looking back, I wonder if maybe I’d achieved less in this period than I would have liked, due to having been housebound for at least half of that time. But then, when I revisited that photograph of my arrival day, where all my belongings were strewn over the floor, and my shipped items were still en route, I realised that I had indeed made quite a bit of progress.

Of course, I’ve written a book in this time (‘25 New Year’s Resolutions – For Dogs!’), but in terms of moving in, my flat already looks quite different and I’ve barely started to organise it. Moving the furniture around, adding a new light, purchasing a sofabed, installing and populating a bookcase – all these things have inserted a bit of “me”, even if perhaps a slightly different “me” due to my location. But part of the point of moving is to learn about yourself as you interact in different circumstances. That’s how characters in novels develop as well, and all of our lives, at the end of the day, are our stories for us to develop.

I felt really reluctant to go to bed last night and then I realised it was because I didn’t want yet another day to disappear, another day of my life to be ticked off, meaning that I would have one day less to live. This wasn’t a morbid thought, it was a celebration of how enjoyable every second of life can be. I wondered whether I’d ever felt this that deeply before.

Then, I wondered whether waking up differed now from waking up before. Now, when I wake up, my first thought is whether I want to get up yet or whether I want to sleep a bit longer. Sometimes I sleep. Sometimes, I realise I’m fully awake and I see the light coming through the curtain and I’m curious to open the curtain and to find out whether that blue sky really is there. My foot is pretty much better, but I’m still a little stiff when I first get out of bed. I open the curtain and smile. That’s pretty much how I wake up now.

Before, I would wake up and feel slightly deflated at the thought of having to go to work. Most days, I wished I could have just another 30 minutes’ sleep (I should probably have been going to bed earlier!). Sometimes, I would fantasise about having the morning off. I’d deliberate in bed for a while, which was really the time I needed for my mind and body to wake up properly so that I could get out of bed. As soon as I was in the shower – one of my favourite parts of the day – I’d be back in fine form. That was how I got up then.

Of course, I would have achieved more with my flat had I been on two feet the entire time, but then I’d experienced different things instead. I’d really have hoped never to have had to learn about the hospital system here, but breaking my foot gave me an initial view and I understand much better now what it’s like for those who break a limb!

I wonder whether I would have established myself socially so well within these first three months had I not broken that foot. I may have kept to myself and never really spoken to anyone. Now, many people know me who may otherwise not have – including most of the shopkeepers in Sahl Hasheesh who even now find the foot to be a topic of conversation.

I can’t really find anything positive to say about the rodents, other than that I will have more sympathy with others in future if I hear people complaining about them. But it was an adventure, I guess, and added colour to my moving process.

It’s been an eventful three months and, I hardly dare say it, because last time I said something similar, I promptly broke my foot the very next day, but I have to say that things are now, finally, going smoothly. Well, for the last two weeks at any rate and for that I’m extremely grateful. So far, it’s the longest period I’ve had without anything major going wrong!