El Andalous - Back to Dream

El Andalous - View of Fountain from my Balcony

Annoyingly, my flight to Hurghada had halved in price by the time I flew back (I guess due to the allegedly bombed plane from Sharm El Sheikh having put people off going to the Red Sea), so my attempt to be organized and grab a cheap flight by booking early back in May had backfired. Nevertheless, it was a smooth journey. The plane was half-full and the passengers laughed when the pilot announced that it was 26 degrees and a cloudless sky in Hurghada. Even on the plane, I still couldn’t quite believe it.

We landed in the new terminal, which I’m not so well acquainted with, so the arrival didn’t really feel like a homecoming. Maybe the culture is still too different, or my skills in the language still too weak, for me to feel that it is home.

I arrived early but Esmat was already there to meet me off the plane and I reflected on how much easier it was now that I knew people and I had established myself. The sun was shining, the air was warm. The sense of homecoming began and happiness filled my soul.

We stopped off at Senzo Mall so that I could do some shopping and get a KFC. The man who packs my bags at the till in Spinneys recognized me; the person serving me in the KFC remembered what I used to order (“no coleslaw but extra chips?”). I was astonished. The Egyptians have such good memories. I went into Vodafone but they couldn’t answer all my questions because their system was down. Ah yes, I was back in Egypt.

We arrived back at El Andalous and before I had time to pick up my luggage, Ajay and his girlfriend were there, eagerly asking me how things were and updating me as Esmat brought my bags into the complex. They departed off to dinner, I think, I greeted the staff and followed the person taking my luggage to the door of my flat. Fortunately, I still had my key, after 8 months.

The flat was clean! It was wonderful. I sat down on my sofa and suddenly felt completely at home, like I’d never left. It was a strange sensation. I’d left Zurich really quite sad to be leaving Switzerland and questioning why I was going to Egypt, but now I was here, it felt like home. I’ve never had that sensation before, of having two utterly different places feel like home and being in both on the same day.

I feasted on my KFC and sat and watched two films on the television. It’s been ages since I’ve had the luxury of being able just to veg out. I sat there feeling fully content and wondering why that very morning work, and continuing to work, had seemed like such a good idea.

The next day, I woke up to bright sunshine and a pleasant heat and I had my breakfast on my balcony. It was like nothing had changed (if you ignore the fact that the cleaners had shifted my furniture to different places and found different locations for things in my kitchen). I had the weirdest sensation that Zurich had just been a dream, or was Egypt the dream? I can’t really marry up the two worlds as both belonging to my life. Now, I couldn’t believe that Zurich existed and was cold with grey skies. The fountain was gushing beside me, the gardens looked beautiful, it was wonderfully warm and the young boys who work as gardeners greeted me as they walked past.

I don’t know if I’ve just been lucky, but I was astonished at the number of people I bumped into or socialized with on the first few days. I hadn’t realized how many people I knew. The day I arrived I bumped into Steve in the corridor – it was his last day before returning to the UK. Safi appeared the next morning (I’ll maybe leave that story for another day) to take me back to the Vodafone shop. When I went for my swim in the afternoon, I met two people I know (one from Germany, one from Russia). The next day I went to see the horse jumping competition that was being hosted in Sahl Hasheesh and bumped into Amanda and John. Then in the evening I met up with Nicole (we went out for a meal) and the next day I chatted to Ksenia on the beach in the afternoon and then later Kathryn and Stephen. I was well and truly back. That otherworldly sense of timelessness took hold. I had returned to dreamland.