Hurghada - El Kawser (Part 2)

Typical Shop in Egypt (Sheraton St) - Courtesy of Holger

Drat! I accidentally deleted the photo I was going to put here of El Kawser. Anyway, if you read yesterday’s blog, you’ll know that I finally found the two furniture shops. So, I entered the interiors one.

A young female shopping assistant shadowed me as I went round, but generally she was helpful rather than invasive. The store didn’t have any study tables appropriate for my needs and none of the lights inspired me either, but the assistant said that they had another shop selling lighting just a bit further on from Metro. I felt exceedingly pleased with myself because I now knew where Metro was (hey, I’m almost a local!), so I listened carefully to her directions.

As instructed, I walked all the way back to Metro and beyond. Sure enough, I needed to go only a little bit further than I’d gone before to find the shop. If only I’d known! It turned out that I’d been there previously with Safi when I was searching for a sofabed.

In the shop, I got quite excited when I noticed that they sold the fake plant that Nicole had in her flat, along with lots of others. I will definitely buy some of these as it’s hard to grow plants indoors here. It’s maybe too hot and dry inside for the plants and not enough light, since, opposite to Europe, in Egypt you need to keep your home dark and cool. Consequently, you draw your curtains if you’re out during the day; the last thing you want is for the sun to stream indoors. However, before getting the plants, I wanted to go home and picture where they may or may not fit in.

None of the lights really took my fancy, although there were a couple of possibilities if I couldn’t find anything else. Again, I needed to go away and have a think.

Nevertheless, despite not buying anything at all, I somehow felt I had achieved something as well as having made progress with getting my bearings. All that, and I hadn’t even spent much money!

There was a coffee place next to Metro, so I went in there for a drink and phoned for Esmat to pick me up. I still wasn’t really too sure about where I was – I hadn’t spotted any road signs, if they even exist here – so I asked the guy in the coffee shop how I should describe Metro and whether it was in Village Road. He looked at me as if I was a bit mad and said I could just get a taxi outside if I needed one, but I said I wanted to stick with my own driver. Then he informed me that this was El Kawser.

This confused me, as I was under the impression that El Kawser was a district, but now I wondered whether El Kawser was the name of the long road; and if this big street wasn’t Village Road, then maybe the road with the two new furniture shops is Village Road (I think it is!)? One day I will understand all this, but as a relative newcomer, it’s quite befuddling! Egyptians tend not to go by addresses for directions, but by landmarks – so you will say that the furniture shop is opposite the Toyota store in El Kawser; you want to be picked up by the café opposite the Metro in Sheraton Road, etc.

Anyway, I returned home feeling very pleased with myself. Of course, my lack of spend was just deferred, but it did feel like a cheap day out with lots of achievement.

In the evening, I had a call from Cheers (yes, my mobile was switched on! I am learning!), the shop that sells alcohol, to ask whether I wanted to order anything. There’s usually a minimum charge, but I’ve noticed that they phone me whenever they are delivering to Sahl Hasheesh. This gives me the opportunity to order without having to purchase the minimum and, of course, makes their delivery time more worthwhile. Anyway, I was delighted, because somehow I’d run out of wine (had I really drunk that much?) so I asked for another box of white wine and another box of rose.

I thought it was strange when they asked me which wine I wanted, since previously they did the 3L boxes for only one type of wine, so there shouldn’t have been a choice. However, I hadn’t been on their website for a while and assumed that maybe they’d added some further options. Consequently, I just said I would stick with what I had before, which was the Sheherazad (sp?). After all, I didn’t want to linger on the phone for longer than I had to, and I wasn’t going to start discussing what options there may be, thus potentially spoiling my day by getting myself into a series of embarrassing misunderstandings. Anyway, I ended the call feeling very pleased. Now with my wine ordered as well, it was turning out to be a perfect day!

I sat there, expecting delivery of my two 3L wine boxes to put in my fridge, when there was a knock on the door. To my complete shock, the guy came in and deposited one box of 12 bottles of white wine and a box of 12 bottles of rose wine. This was four times more wine than I was expecting (and four times the cost, of course!)!

I couldn’t really complain as they had brought what I’d asked for and it’s not as if the wine will go off (that amount will last me a year, I would think!), so I took it. However, I only just had enough cash on me. So, having started off being so pleased with myself for spending so little money, by the end of the day, I was broke!

Nevertheless, to be honest, once I was sitting in the front of the TV with a glass of wine, I could no longer care less!

Hurghada - El Kawser (Part 1)

Metro Supermarket at El Kawser

It was a sunny but windy day. I could have used it to focus on my writing, but decided instead that it was a good day to explore Hurghada a bit further; it’s been a long time since I last had a trip to town. I’d been invited round to Nicole’s for dinner the other day, along with Kathryn, and I’d used the opportunity to ask them where I should go if I wanted to walk around town. They suggested I go to Esplanada Mall, because then I would be close to Village Road and El Kawser. So, this is what I did.

I ordered a taxi from Esmat. He had a booking from another two people in El Andalous to go to the same place, so he said I could share the taxi with them. It turned out to be a young couple (Ajay and Sunita – apologies if they are reading and I’ve misspelled and/or got the names wrong!). To my delight Ajay is planning on coming over here to live in August, so that will be another permanent resident in El Andalous. Slowly, slowly, we are building up!

When we arrived at Esplanada Mall, I realised that I’d been there before with Holger, so initially I was disappointed to be somewhere familiar. I didn’t need to see Mamsha / Touristic Promenade again, so I tried to recall what Kathryn had said regarding directions and decided that the road just opposite the mall must be Village Road (and now I’m not so sure!). I think this was the street that I kept on wanting to go up when I was with Holger at night and Holger kept on saying he thought it was too dangerous.

Anyway, it was daylight now, so I finally fulfilled my desire to walk up there. Whether or not it was Village Road is a bit immaterial, because it still led me to where I wanted to be. I saw the gleaming Orbit building (the company that built and now manage El Andalous), which Kathryn had mentioned, so I knew I was on the right track.

Then I turned the corner and saw the Egyptian hospital. Again, further confirmation that I was in the correct place! I had no idea it was so close to the Touristic Promenade. I briefly thought I should go in and say hello to my consultant and show him my perfect foot, but it was but a passing fantasy.

I was really looking for a study desk / dining table and maybe a standard lamp; Nicole had said that two good furniture shops (one bathroom, one interiors) had just opened near the Egyptian hospital, so that’s also why I was pleased to see the hospital.

By the way, there are lots of hospitals in Hurghada and this one is called the Egyptian hospital; it’s not my name for it, nor is it the Egyptian hospital as opposed to the German hospital, for instance, which is what I first thought when people kept on asking me which hospital I’d been to. There’s a Nile Hospital as well, for instance, and a whole load of others, too. Hurghada is full of hospitals!

Anyway, satisfied that I had arrived in the correct area, I carried on up the road and came across Metro, a supermarket chain in Hurghada / Egypt, so I went in to see what it was like and whether it differed much from Spinneys. I’d heard a lot about it, so I was curious.

I think prices were comparable; they had larger milk cartons and water containers than in Spinneys, plus some more exotic items such as pesto, half-coffeinated coffee, oyster sauce, etc. I really felt I should use the opportunity to buy something, but I’d only recently stocked up at Spinneys and I still couldn’t decide what to cook for Ann and Brigitte (whom I owed a dinner invitation). As usual, in my indecision, I ended up not buying anything at all.

I continued up the road and came across a kitchenware store. Like most Egyptian shops, it was a collection of random items on a theme shoved into one small space (well, it wasn’t really so small, by Egyptian standards). I did wonder if I could get some picture hooks there, but I only found hooks that you stick onto a wall and they weren’t heavy-duty enough for my requirements.

Next to it was a light shop, so I went in, but they didn’t have anything that grabbed my attention. In neither place was I hassled at all, so it was a pleasant experience.

The road itself was typical for Egypt, well, Hurghada. Two lots of two-lane traffic with a pedestrian bit running in the middle between the two roads. There were pavements either side, but they would occasionally suddenly stop and you’d be left having to walk out into the road, and at times they would just change into sand, so I ended up using the middle section. That way, I was already half-way there whichever side took my fancy. Also, it’s not really that you have shop after shop; you have a couple of shops, followed by some empty buildings, followed by a couple of shops, etc. Shopping isn’t particularly easy here!

After the kitchenware shop, I decided to turn round since I hadn’t yet found the furniture shops that Nicole had mentioned and quite a lot of empty buildings lay ahead. After negotiating the traffic, I managed to get onto the road by the Egyptian hospital. I now think that this is Village Road, but I’m not too sure. Lo and behold, just by the hospital, there were two large furniture shops, one for interiors and one for bathrooms. Success!

Rather than make this blog too long, I’ll continue this adventure in the next blog!

El Andalous - Internet Options

El Andalous Beach with New Sunscreens

The first thing I did when I arrived here was to go to Senzo Mall to get a dongle. I can’t live without an internet connection (although – hello Alastair – I have many friends who knew me before the internet even existed; hardly seems possible now!). Here, a dongle costs only 125 LE and then you pay each month according to how much usage you need per month. When I was working here from my flat, I used up 15 GB or more a month; now I can just about make do with 7 or 8 GB a month if the only TV I watch via the internet are my weekly soaps (approx. 5 hours low definition per week).

Anyway, I started off with a Vodafone dongle. It generally worked OK – sometimes the connection meandered a bit or would go off altogether and I’d run round my flat and balcony like a headless chicken, raising my computer up and down as I went, shouting “work, work, work!” until I could find somewhere where it would connect properly. I probably looked a bit mad. This (the dodgy connection, not my madness!) is what made teleconferences difficult when I was working.

More recently, I’ve swapped over to Etisalat. They have a really funky modem, about the size of a mobile phone. It costs 400 LE, but it enables you to have a wireless connection. Therefore you can connect several devices all at once. Moreover, because the modem is so small, you can just take it with you wherever you go and it will work anywhere in Egypt (or even just down at the beach). Pretty cool, huh?

The disadvantage is that the internet package is a bit bizarre (this is Egypt). My current monthly package is for 8 GB, costs 90 LE (so 10 LE cheaper than Vodafone for 7 GB) at the time of writing, but you have to use 4 GB between 2am and 2pm. This is a bit of a nuisance because my heavy usage, and my TV enjoyment in particular, is in the evening. An advantage of Etisalat over Vodafone, though, is that you can renew your monthly premium via a cash machine, which saves me a trip (and taxi fare) to Senzo Mall.

I’ve been adapting to the Bizarre Package (actually, its official name is Mongez Double Bundle – that’s marketeers for you) and have occasionally watched Coronation Street as the repeat on the following morning to balance out my consumption better. However, psychologically, it’s making me want to use the internet in the morning every single moment until 2pm. This is fine for doing my shares, but it disrupts my usual time for learning Egyptian Arabic; I find myself surfing and avoiding my studies just for the sake of using up my allowance. I know this is ridiculous, but I can’t seem to stop myself.

The connection is OK – a bit like Vodafone, sometimes it is fast and at other times I have to move the modem around the flat a bit (but at least I don’t have to move my laptop with it) to get the best connection. I tried using my tablet on the beach, but the screen is reflective and I found it impossible to read anything on the screen due to the glare. Such are the problems when you’re lying in the sun!

There is a third option looming on the horizon, which is to get another, rather large modem, which takes a dongle but then allows you wireless access and the range extends as far as the beach. I believe there’s also some other gizmo that increases its reach even further, but I need to learn more about that first. With this, I could get my 8 GB usage at any time for 100 LE per month, which would be psychologically a lot less stressful and worth an extra 10 LE! Admittedly, and as I commented to Kathryn, on the grander scale of things, it is completely ridiculous to describe my Bizarre Package as a source of “stress”. Everything is relative, I guess. A couple of people here are trying out this alternative with the large modem, so I’m waiting to see how they get on!

Sahl Hasheesh - First Trip to Abu Hasheesh

Marine Life at Abu Hasheesh

There’s a small island 1.5km off Sahl Hasheesh, called Abu Hasheesh. Abu means Father, which is a bit ironic since the island is tiny; you’d expect the Father to be bigger than any of its offspring! Sahl, by the way, means Easy; I don’t believe that there’s a Mother Hasheesh (I would be most upset if Mother Hasheesh were easy, ha ha).

Anyway, one afternoon I was on the beach, as usual, when Ann said that she and Brigitte had booked a boat to take them to Abu Hasheesh for snorkelling and she asked whether I would like to join them. Since I haven’t yet done a snorkelling trip and, consequently, haven’t experienced some of the amazing sights that are just waiting for me, I gratefully accepted.

We had a bit of a problem getting there, because the Pyramisa hotel, where the boat was booked, is very protective of their grounds, so we were initially turned away when we arrived. In retrospect, I wish I’d tried out some of my Arabic as I know the words for “reserve” and “boat”. However, the boat guy came over and saved us before I’d managed to get a sentence together in my head. To my surprise, we had to leave our flip-flops at the booking place before getting on board the boat.

I’d decided to wear jeans as I thought the the boat ride could be chilly; as it turned out, the motorboat had rubber sides, so you had to get in via the water and my jeans were a hindrance rather than a help. Anyway, I took my jeans off before striding into the water to get in, so it wasn’t a huge trauma.

It was a short journey over to the island. Some of you may have heard me debating whether I could perhaps swim over to the island from Sahl Hasheesh, since 1.5km is quite manageable. However, now that I’ve been there, I can see that it won’t be possible (even ignoring any boat traffic or the difficulty of finding the shortest route or any currents that may sweep me aside), because there are cliffs of coral all along the shore and it would be impossible to get onto the island (unless there’s an entrance point somewhere else).

Anyway, I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but the boat suddenly stopped and, after putting some magic stuff in our snorkel masks that prevented them from misting up, the driver told us to jump in. I think I'd imagined we'd have a ladder of some kind, or we would go to the island itself and then just swim out from there. I was a bit dubious about jumping in as I was worried that I'd plunge so low that I would touch the coral. I slid myself over the rubber side in the hope that I would not dip too far down. Once in, Ann turned to me and said that she wasn’t too sure how we would get back onto the boat. Oh oh, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I decided to go with Ann’s philosophy, which was that the boatperson had the responsibility of getting us back on somehow.

The coral was amazing, like a weird landscape in another world, falling down in a huge cliff. I started off snorkelling in the shallower bit, but got a bit scared of scraping against it; especially since I encountered problems with my snorkel letting in water through my mouth. I kept on having to tread water in an emergency to adjust it. I even began to wonder whether my snorkel had a leak. It must have taken at least ten minutes before I finally got it to work properly, but after that it was fine!

In any case, my move from the shallower area to the coral cliff was a good decision as most of the fish swam by the edge; sometimes whole shoals of them and often many different types of fish all at once.

Initially, I was alarmed by all the little white jellyfish floating about all around me. After a while I relaxed as it became clear that I couldn't feel their stings. Nevertheless, when possible, I avoided them, but they had a tendency to appear out of nowhere.

A local boat came past and snorkelling was unpleasant for a few minutes afterwards, which led me to wonder what it must be like for the fish; they must surely be even more sensitive. The resort isn’t so well known at the moment, but they will have to think at some stage about how to regulate traffic to the island and perhaps see if they can make a ruling that only electric-powered boats (do they exist?) can go to the area. 

Sahl Hasheesh is supposed to be developing as a sustainable resort, so I hope they succeed and keep the corals free of pollution and plastics. They currently allow only electric-powered vehicles to drive along by the waterfront, so they've done their bit there. Ann said the coral has increased substantially around Sahl Hasheesh over the last few years, so obviously all is well just now, but they will need to be mindful of the future.

I need to buy myself a book so that I can identify the fish as I’m unable to report back what I saw. The guy in the boat followed us round as we snorkelled and then blew a whistle when our time was up. Brigitte somehow managed to leap back onto the boat in no time, but Ann and I were both a bit incompetent (sorry, Ann, if you’re reading!) and needed to be yanked on board. I have absolutely no idea how Brigitte managed it. For me, it looked like a completely impossible challenge.

The water had been starting to feel a little cold towards the end and then, on the journey back, in the wind, we got colder again. I’d brought my jeans and a jumper in preparation, but my planning had been complete rubbish as my swimming costume was too wet for me to put any clothes on over it and the journey too short to allow me to dry out. Live and learn! I huddled my towel round me. Unfortunately, as we all manically grasped for our towels, my sunglasses (which really I could have left behind, so I'm not joking when I say my planning was a complete shambles) somehow managed to get thrown overboard and are now living somewhere at the bottom of the Red Sea. And I'm normally so picky about pollution!

We arrived, picked up our flip-flops, and collapsed happily onto the beach afterwards. All in all, it was a brilliant experience, and I continue to feel so very lucky to be living here.

El Andalous - Swimming

Watch Your Step! Baby Ray on El Andalous Beach

I thought I’d write this blog while I’m all enthusiastic.

It doesn’t feel like February here with the sun every day; the temperature is pretty much ideal (but not so warm in the shade and chilly outside in the evenings; in this respect, the weather is better later on!). Yesterday, somehow, was particularly good. The sun shone, the temperature was pleasant (I would guess maybe 26 degrees in the sun?), and we had hardly any wind.

The sea lapped gently onto the beach and it was all very peaceful. In the distance, over at one of the other beaches, I saw what seemed like a sudden flurry of waves, one after the other. It looked really strange on the quiet sea, but I knew that it was a whole shoal of fish, jumping in and out of the water in unison. I love it when I see that. I always think the fish must be really happy if they are jumping about, but that’s probably completely wrong!

Anne was there and told me that there was some good coral out by the boat moored in the middle of the bay, so I did a longer swim and diverted myself towards the boat (and almost got tangled up in the mooring rope). I’m not sure I got the right spot, actually, but at least it was a bit different from my normal route. I wear goggles when I swim now, partly so that I can look at the fish and the coral, partly because I don't like it if the sea splashes up into my eyes, and partly so that I can see better as I’m swimming back to shore.

I’ve actually emailed Sahl Hasheesh to suggest they organise some swimming challenges (eg, 1.4km, 2.6km, 26km, as they have in Zurich). I thought they could do this once every week and would be something for the tourists to try out for a bit of fun (and me, of course).

The water temperature just now isn’t so bad, and this is supposed to be the coldest time of year. It’s a little cold when you first plunge right in, but by the time you finish, you can appreciate how warm the water actually is.

You have to be a bit careful when you come out – not only because of rocks etc, but also due to the sea life. The corals are quite close to shore, so you need to swim far enough in that you don’t stand on them (for your sake and theirs!); and then you need to beware of the fish. One day, I spotted something blue on the sand in front of me as I was wading to shore and then realised it was a baby ray (pictured - the picture looks better larger!). It was there again yesterday, further down the shore.

This time, as I was paddling back through the water to my sunbed, I spotted this amazing stripy fish with many fins waving about all over the place hovering just by me. Again, I almost missed it, because it blended in so well with the sand and seaweed. I got back to my chair and explained excitedly to Anne about what I’d seen and she explained that it was a Lion Fish – very poisonous! Jeff then said he’d been stung by one once (not in Egypt) and had to go to hospital.

Unknown to me, I’d actually seen its fins before, waving up out of the water at sunset (Lion Fish tend to be nocturnal, apparently), and had wondered what it was that lurked below. It’s freaked me out a bit; they won’t attack unless you threaten them, but it underlines the importance of looking where you’re going, as it would have been easy to just brush by it.

Wayne then shouted over to us that he’d seen an octopus further along the shore (by the rocky bit where I don’t swim), so the group of us walked over to have a look at that. Vanessa exited the water shortly after and said she’d just had the best snorkelling ever as she’d had a large ray just near her.We'd also seen it racing away from the octopus.

This is what is so nice about being here – you may do the same thing each day, but every day it’s different! Yesterday, however, was pretty exceptional. Usually, I may see one interesting thing if I’m lucky, but yesterday all the marine life seemed to have come out to enjoy the sun!

El Andalous - Power Cuts

Front (Back?) of Entrance Piazza

One thing that you don’t automatically think to buy on first arrival (or even after four months!) is stuff to see you through in the event of a power cut. Recently, we’ve had two. Since these are quite a novelty for me, they bring a little excitement and remind me of my school days in the 1970s when we’d sit round candles at home.

We have scheduled cuts to electricity and water for regular maintenance – this seems to be about once every month. These are during the day, you are warned in advance, and really it’s not much problem.

Recently, though, we’ve had two “spontaneous” power cuts. The first one was maybe two weeks ago and the whole of Hurghada was affected. It was at night and I was working on my book. Since my laptop gave out sufficient light, I wasn’t really too bothered at first and just kept on working. However, after an hour, my battery ran out and only then did I realise that I should have been using the screen to hunt round my flat for alternative lighting.

I remembered my tablet and wondered if that still had some spare battery. After groping about, I managed to find it and work out where the “on” switch was. Fortunately, it was indeed working. My first thought was my incense burners for which I’d bought a couple of tea lights when I had my rodent problem. However, one was completely used up and I knew the other one wouldn’t last that long. Eventually, I remembered that I still had some Christmas candles (thank you, Hye-Youn!) and since I’m quite well organised these days, I knew exactly where they were and where my matches were (left behind from the previous tenant/owner, so thank you to them as well!). Using my tablet as a torch, I managed to find them.

Although that was problem solved, I sat there wondering what to do. I was just thinking that I should just go to bed when the lights went back on. Phew.

Maybe a week later, we had another one, at roughly the same time of night. Again, I was working away on my book when it happened. This time, Anne popped round and asked me if I was OK since I was on my own, so I reassured her that I was fine. By this time, I’d got out the candles already and, with my laptop still working, I was pretty comfortable. She informed me that this time it was just our block and she let me know her flat number if I wanted to come up.

Again, my laptop battery eventually went. I now realised that my candles wouldn’t last forever, so I hit upon the idea of going out to one of the local cafes for a coffee. I tried to go to Anne’s flat to fetch her, but the corridors were dark with very limited emergency lighting, and I couldn’t read the door numbers. I wandered up and down to see if I could work it out at all, but it was impossible.

I then decided to call on Safi, but again, I wasn’t sure of her flat – I just remembered it was by the stairs. I knocked twice on the door and then a guy opened. I apologised for getting the wrong flat and it turned out he was British, so we chatted for a few minutes. At this point, I was too shy to try knocking on another door in the hope that I would get it right (although it’s a good way of getting to know people!), as I guessed it might scare people. I considered going to Kathryn’s, but her end of the corridor was pitch black and I was too spooked to try walking into nothingness.

So, I went out on my own and did wonder if I would bump into anyone. On the way out, I asked the security guard when the lighting would be fixed and he said not until tomorrow, which at least set my expectations appropriately. Anyway, I ended up having a nice walk round the Entrance Piazza with its night-time lighting; it was looking very good now that it’s just finished its maintenance. I tried two cafes, but since it was now approaching 10pm, they were both closing.

I returned to my flat, lit the candles again (I’d positioned them so that they would be easy to light when I first got in), and again, wondered what to do. I then remembered that my previous tenants had also left a few LED lights, so I carried my candle around while trying to root around in my cupboard to find them. Eventually I retrieved them and they were pretty effective.

Again, I’d just decided to go to bed, maybe read a bit if I could, when the lights came back on.

This time, I learned that I’m lucky enough to have one of the emergency lights just outside my flat, so actually I can get quite a bit of light just by opening my door. I’ve put my first candle quite near there, so that in future I can open the door, see where the candle is and light it without a problem. My first LED light is also there; I have one in my bedroom as well and one by the candles in my lounge area, so I hope that next time I will be sorted! Nevertheless, the purchase of some additional candles is probably called for!

El Andalous - Learning Egyptian Arabic (Up to Chapter 9)

El Andalous, as Seen From El Andalous Beach

I’m almost settled enough now to have a routine, although things can be very flexible. I get up somewhere between 7-9am, have breakfast on my balcony, check my share news at around 9am (7am in the UK). After this, it gets a bit flexible, although whatever happens, my whole day is spent outside. Recently, my shares have been quite exciting (I was expecting a lot of good news but nothing ever happens quite as planned), so I’ve been riveted to my screen for most of the mornings, reading the bulletin boards and staring as the share price fluctuates wildly (again, while sitting on my balcony). However, if I can contain myself, I should really be spending 90 minutes of the morning learning Egyptian Arabic. In the afternoons, I go to the beach for a swim, but nowadays I’m quite fussy so if there is a hint of a cloud, I don’t bother and postpone my Egyptian Arabic learning for then. And then in the evening I cook, watch TV, and work on my writing (“Time Tells” at the moment).

So, I thought I’d tell you how I’m getting on with the Egyptian Arabic. I’m relieved to hear many people say that it’s a difficult language to learn. I used to be relatively good at languages – it was what I originally went to university to study – but I now feel a bit of a dunce, because I just can’t seem to get some of the words to stick in my head, no matter how many times I repeat them to myself.

When I look back to my school days, I felt I learnt languages fairly effortlessly. However, if I really think about it, it took a good two years or more to study for an O Level (yes, I did O Levels, not GCSEs or whatever you have today!) and I’ve only been learning Arabic for a few months (I’ve now reached Chapter 9), so maybe my expectations of myself are too high. After all, even an O Level is still only a fairly basic grasp of any language. I really want to be able to read a book and watch Arabic TV effortlessly straight away!

I’ve noticed that the words stick in a lot better if I listen to the recorded dialogues in my book umpteen times (rather than through reading and rote learning). Sometimes, I can retrieve the words only by recalling the sentence in which I learnt it (I can “hear” the actor speaking), but it surprises me that it has actually sunk in.

I went to reception the other day to ask if they had any spare paper that I could use for my printer, but the guy there didn’t understand the word “paper”. I suddenly recalled that I had learned the word for “paper plates” in one of the dialogues in my book and from that I was able to extrapolate the word for “paper”. Not only that, but I said the word for “paper” and the guy at reception understood me! It was quite empowering and motivating.

I’ve also taken to watching a bit of Arabic TV in the evenings. I got sucked in one night when I understood the sentence “I am your father”. It was the crux to the whole film, as far as I could gather, so then I was rooted to the TV trying to work out what the rest of the film was all about (but since I have a vocabulary of about 400 words, I was doomed to fail).

It’s quite fun trying to spot words I recognise, though. Most of the time I suddenly hear something I recognise, but it might take me another ten minutes to remember what it actually means. It’s a slow process! Advertisements are the best, because at least you get several attempts, but if you don’t know any of the vocabulary in the first place, it’s a bit redundant.

I’ve tried writing down words that I hear on the TV phonetically and then searching for them on the internet, but it hasn’t been very successful. Recently, I’ve tried writing it down in Arabic script. Although this hasn’t been successful either, it’s been a good way of seeing whether I’m getting the hang of the spelling and identifying the letters.

Anyway, I haven’t even finished my book yet, so maybe I need to wait until I have a better starting vocabulary (and knowledge of the whole Arabic alphabet might be a help!). When I’m watching films in English on the television, I also see if I can make out any of the words in the Arabic script in the subtitles; I need to focus on one word only as it goes far too fast for me to decipher more than that and I don’t even know the whole alphabet yet.

Another thing that makes it difficult is that I am learning the Egyptian Arabic dialect (for obvious reasons), so I’m finding myself with the same problem I had with Swiss German. It’s a spoken dialect, so when I’m watching TV, I don’t even know if the language is Egyptian Arabic and then the subtitles are likely not dialect and so may be different words from the ones I have learned. I try not to think about it too much or I will feel completely defeated.

It is a bizarre language, and I’ve already mentioned several things before that I’ve found strange. A key element to Arabic is that rather than sticking things on the end of words, like you do in many European languages, Arabic tends to like to stick extra vowels right slap bang in the middle of a word and/or to reverse some of the letters about for good measure.

Take plurals, for example. In English, you usually just stick an “s” on the end. My book says that for Arabic it’s easier to learn the plurals for each individual word, but in my current chapter it’s just given 9 different plural patterns. One of these is to change the letter after the first consonant into an “i” and reverse the last two letters. Thus “badla” (suit) becomes “bidal” (suits). Another pattern is to insert “aa” after the second consonant and an “i” before the last consonant. Thus “matHaf” (museum) becomes “mataaHif” (museums). It’s enough to drive you nuts!

Another example of sticking extra vowels in the middle is with comparatives. In English, you usually just stick “er” on the end (sooner, later, smaller). In Egyptian Arabic, you put an “a” in the front and another “a” between the second and third “root” (ie, non-vowel) letter. Thus “kibiir” (big) becomes “akbar” (bigger) and also looks like a completely different word in the process. Waahh!

I’ve finally started to learn verbs. To my immense relief, the verb is the same for the present and future (they don’t have infinitives, so just use the male singular form wherever an infinitive is needed) and you just preface all present verbs with bi- and all future verbs with Ha-

Another thing that makes learning the language difficult is that until you can read Egyptian script, you need to use the phonetic script, but it’s not always obvious. For example, “gh” represents phonetically a rolled “r”, so I have a tendency to start off learning words written with a “gh” by pronouncing them in my head with a g or k sound and then get totally confused when I listen to the recording.

Generally, the recordings sound like gobbledygook for the first five or six times. It probably takes me fifteen times of listening before I can identify each word that they are speaking. I’m not joking when I say it’s a slow process! Learning the Arabic script is enjoyable, but sometimes there are up to four ways in which a letter is written, depending on whether it’s on its own, at the beginning of a word, in the middle of a word, or at the end of a word. At this point, it gets a bit daunting! However, they don’t have capital letters, so that’s something.

Anyway, this is probably all a bit dull if you’re not so interested in languages; I’ve always found them fascinating, so the whole process for me is, on the whole, enjoyable, despite the frustrations!