Zurich - My New Home

Christmas in Basel

Arriving in Zurich this time felt a bit like a new chapter in my life because this time I was going straight to my new home instead of making my way to temporary accommodation. I had two suitcases, but one suitcase was full of bedding – a winter duvet, a summer duvet (which I don’t use even in the winter in Egypt), sheets, covers, etc. It was good to clear some space in my Egypt flat! The smaller suitcase was for clothes, although I’d already left quite a lot behind in Zurich last time I was there.

I enjoyed the fact that the flat is just a 5 mins bus ride from the airport, so once I’ve arrived in Zurich, I’m pretty much already home. There is a price to pay for this, of course, and that’s the noise of the planes going overhead. They are quite loud and I was astonished to see how close they look as they fly past, but fortunately it doesn’t bother me too much. I can imagine some people would find it a nightmare, though.

I had understood that plane noise was likely to be a problem in this area (probably in part why my rent is cheap for Zurich); what I hadn’t realized is that the trains also went past just behind my garden area. It’s a bit frustrating that I have to walk 9 minutes to the station when I could really just hop over the wall if only there were a platform there!

Anyway, somehow, for me, this noise is less disruptive than the church bells, which drove me mad when I first ever arrived in Switzerland and woke every hour as the bells chimed from various churches all at the same time. I got used to that within about three months so I expect soon I won’t even notice the noise from the planes and trains.

I’m still waiting for my good luck in relation to going back to work in Zurich to run out, but for now I still can’t believe how fortunate I am. Steph has been thinking about setting up business helping expats sort out their furniture when they move country and so she was keen to use my flat as a practice run. She kindly let me use all her furniture that she had in storage (she no longer needed it now that she’d moved in with her husband) – it would save me from buying it and would save her the storage costs.

So, while I was in Egypt, she transferred all the furniture, got it all constructed again, and sorted my flat out for me. Consequently, I was able just to move straight into my new flat without too many problems and without having to buy everything. The flat already had cutlery, cleaning stuff, wine racks, sheets, towels, etc.

Strangely, although I’d seen the furniture in Steph’s own flat previously, it didn’t seem too odd to have it in my flat. What freaked me out more was that both Steph and Lena (who was keeping my keys for me) knew more about my flat than I did! It was almost like the flat wasn’t really mine after all. I hasten to add that this doesn’t take away from my huge gratitude to both of them for their help (Lena with seeing the flat handover and being the guardian of my keys, and Steph for giving, moving, and arranging the furniture); it’s just a remark on the weirdness of it!

One annoying thing about Switzerland is that when you move, you also have to remove all the light fittings. I don’t mean removing the lampshades and the bulbs, I mean also removing the rose that holds the bulbs. All you have when you move in are wires sticking out of a hole in the ceiling, or maybe it’s even all been tied up into the ceiling and blocked off. Usually the bathroom and kitchen will have some lights, but that’s it. Consequently, every person when they move in or out has to get an electrician in to do this work. It’s a waste of resources, but I guess electricians in Switzerland must be laughing with this steady stream of easy money.

I tried hard to book someone to do this for me, but it took me ages to find an electrician who had some free time. In the end, I had to wait for five days. That’s being done today (by the time this blog appears), so that’s a little adventure coming my way, no doubt.

Also, there were some plumbing issues that needed to be sorted – my shower only has hot water if you turn the tap to the far left, but then there’s virtually no pressure at all. My tap was dripping in my bathroom, my basin was blocked, and one of my radiators won’t turn off. So, I have the plumber also coming today.

It’s not exactly how I like to spend my spare time, but it has to be done and my quality of life will improve massively if they do the jobs requested of them. And I’m lucky that I haven’t had to spend more time on sorting my flat out, since most of it was done for me!

El Andalous - My Purchases

My  Self-Made Necklaces!

Well, I’m off to Switzerland again, so just a quick blog this week. To make it easy for myself, I thought I’d give a quick report back on my purchases and whether they were worth it.

1. New EasyBreathe Snorkeling Mask. If you want to get attention on the beach, this is the way to do it! Every time I’ve taken this with me, I’ve been accosted by strangers asking me about it, and sometimes also by people I know. It took me a while to place my trust in it. It fits over your face, so you have to be confident that you’re not going to drown with water coming in the mask. It doesn’t. And even if it does, it tends to trickle down the side of your face and run out by your chin, so you don’t drown. You can breathe through your nose or your mouth and is easier than standard snorkeling gear. I don’t particularly notice the wider range of sight, although most people comment on that; I’m more aware that you still can’t see to your side because of the curvature of the mask. After about an hour, my jaw aches because it’s a bit tight; I did try loosening it and it was better, but if I loosen it any more, water starts to come in. A normal snorkel hurts my head after a while and sometimes my jaw aches from gripping onto the mouthpiece, so it’s about even there.
2. Solar Panel, 40W. This was supposed to provide enough energy to charge my laptop but it doesn’t really work. Admittedly, I think it’s supposed to be for up to 19V and my work laptop needs 20V; my personal laptop is 19V but it didn’t come with the connector for that (presumably because I bought it in Egypt and is probably a slightly deviant design). I use it to charge up my powerpack (which can then charge my work laptop), but it takes quite a while for it to charge up via the sun. It’s not helped by the fact that my balcony is in the shade all afternoon and in the morning I have to shift it around every half an hour for it to be in the sun. The sun seems to move really fast in Egypt! In reality, I’m only using it to charge my tablet, my work phone, and my kindle. I’m not sure it was worth the money. Having said that, maybe I’ll change my mind now that electricity prices have gone up by almost 50% in Egypt!
3. Power Bank. This works well, subject to above proviso. To be fair, it's designed to be charged via mains electricity, so it's not its fault that I can't get it charged quickly enough via solar power!
4. Solar Lantern. This worked just fine during my power cut. It has a USB socket where you can also charge devices and it took me a while to realize that it will power devices over charging the light, so I need to be careful not to charge a device so much that I have no light left. Also, it’s not strong enough to charge my tablet or my iphone. It works well for my Suunto Ambit watch, though.
5. Solar Light. I have this in the bathroom and it is great! It never seems to use up any energy and provides a good light for the bathroom during my power cuts. It’s magnetic and sits nicely on my towel rack.
6. Swimming costumes. One turned out to have not very much material on the sides and I feel a bit naked in it; otherwise I really like the pattern on it. It’s OK for Switzerland but I feel it might be too revealing for Egypt. Another one I haven’t worn very much because I’m scared by the fact that its size is “small” (help! Will it really fit me?) as that was the only size left, but actually I really like it – the material is a bit weird and quite thick for a swimming costume, but it’s fine. The final one was just great.
7. Craft Materials. I’d got it into my head that I’d like to make necklaces out of shells here in Sahl Hasheesh, so that I could always have a part of Sahl Hasheesh with me wherever I went. I bought some rings (can’t remember their official name) to hook the shells on to a neck chain and also bought some neck chains (one in a charity shop and three cheap silver ones from Argos). It turned out to be more difficult than I imagined. At the end of the day, I’m not really cut out to do arts and crafts as I don’t have the patience or the dexterity. I’d read on the internet that you can make a hole in a shell with a needle, but I either couldn’t do it or the shell would break. Similarly, I didn’t have the patience to tease apart the ring to fix it on to the chain and then close it up. The rings were so small and my fingers so clumsy, it just wasn’t going to happen. Or I didn’t have the patience to persevere. In the end I used glue. It wasn’t easy. The rings would slide about on the chain, the chain would stick to the cardboard surface I was working on. The shells wouldn’t stick. I got there in the end and I think the necklaces are beautiful. However, one of them is a bit crooked, and when I wore one of them, the glue started to melt over my neck. It’s not a great look. I am hoping maybe a few more days’ fixing time might solve the latter issue.
8. Cereals. It seems that I can’t buy UK cereals any more because Egypt does not have the money to import them, so I brought 5 boxes back with me. I will be repeating this exercise because I love my morning bowl of breakfast cereal and it’s been heavenly being able to have something I enjoy first thing. It makes getting up all worthwhile!

El Andalous - Swimming

Cleaner Fish Entering Mouth of Porcupine Fish

Surprisingly, when I got back to El Andalous this time, I found that I’d lost my confidence in swimming. I’m really not sure what happened. When I went to Zurich, I didn’t have as much time for swimming as I thought – I think it was perhaps partly a function of my studio being quite a long way from work meaning that if I went swimming near work, it would be quite a long time until I reached home, which was quite a disincentive.

Moreover, I was hugely disappointed because when I did go swimming, I found I could no longer do 1km front crawl; I was struggling again to do 50m. I don’t know if it’s a psychological thing of coming to the end of a length and thinking that’s it, or if it’s something to do with the difference between swimming in salty, buoyant water and swimming in a chlorinated, essentially freshwater pool. Or maybe I swam faster in a public pool because of the pressure of people behind me and that just wore me out. I’m used to having the whole sea virtually to myself!

What was more disconcerting was that when I got back to Egypt, I had no particular desire to swim. It was strange. I’d also sprained my thumb, so I couldn’t do front crawl as it put too much pressure on the sprain. Breast stroke was fine, but it was hard for me to muster the enthusiasm to get in the water. Moreover, breast stroke, which I generally think I could do forever if it were possible, seemed quite a struggle. I even felt a bit nervous about swimming a long distance. Really, I don’t know how this happened. My confidence had just plummeted. Maybe I had got a bit out of shape and I was in a downhill spiral. Or perhaps I was just tired and needed a rest?

I forced myself to continue swimming, though, and now I’m back to wanting my regular swim every day. My thumb has more-or-less healed so I can do front crawl, but I’ve yet to return to doing the distances I was doing before; I’ve been keeping mainly to breast stroke, but a breast stroke at a pretty good pace and at a longer distance than before. Admittedly, I’m fantasizing as I swim about leading a fish safari and stopping at the various bits of coral and explaining what all the fish are. Maybe even selling a few books!

I’ve been snorkeling a few times, when I’ve had enough time (when I swim, I’m dipping my head in the water with just my goggles on and no snorkel). I was even out of condition with my cycling and the first time I went over to the Tropitel to snorkel, I found the bike ride there a real struggle. This too was very disheartening, but when I next went out on my bike and tried to change gear, I realized that the bike seemed to have stuck between gears, so I think that was a large part of the problem. Although I did pass my cycling proficiency test when I was at school, I could really do with a few lessons so that I know when I’m doing something wrong! I still feel a bit clueless on a bicycle.

I had the privilege of seeing a cleaner fish cleaning a porcupine fish – the porcupine fish opened its mouth, the cleaner fish swam in and then exited via the gills of the porcupine fish, then went in again via its gills, and then scooted over its back. It’s amazing how much trust there is – the porcupine fish could have closed its mouth and gobbled up the cleaner fish, but it just stayed there motionless with its mouth open while the cleaner fish worked.

Over near the Baron hotel they are building a stage to host the Arabic version of Ninja Warriors – apparently, it’s going to stay there in the hope that maybe the international finals can take place in Sahl Hasheesh. That would be pretty cool. You might see me swimming past in the background with my bright yellow swimming cap!

At the Baron I saw a sixstriped soapfish for the first time and there seem to be quite a few baby crown coris. But generally, at least in El Andalous beach, it seems to be the season for mullet. Well, that’s what I think they are, as I’m not too sure. There’s a huge shoal of them just drifting about at the moment. They aren’t very interesting fish individually (just silver and fish-shaped, if that makes any sense), but it’s pretty impressive when you see a hundred at a time!

El Andalous - The Weather

My Sheltered Balcony

There’s not usually much to say about the weather here – it’s constantly sunny and warm. However, despite this constancy, it’s surprising how sometimes you go outside and the day just seems especially nice. I’m not sure what it is and I’ve noticed that others will say it on the same day, so I don’t think it’s anything to do with my mood on a given day.

Saturday just gone was one of those days – it was sunny, the air was somehow fresh and warm, there was a slight breeze and it was just, well, perfect.

However, since I’ve been back, the weather has actually been a bit temperamental.

Extraordinarily, at the end of October, we must have had about two days of non-stop rain. On the first night, thunder cracked right overhead, and dramatic sheet lightning lit up the bay accompanied by many simultaneous streaks of lightning. Egypt isn’t really equipped for this weather, so a number of people died. Hurghada was flooded, and a total of 150 million cubic metres of rain fell over the Red Sea in those two days. In Sahl Hasheesh, the rain mostly washed down (naturally) into the sea. A friend in El Andalous had to scoop 180+ litres of water off her balcony. Fortunately, I’m tucked away in a corner and got only a few drops. My sofas didn’t even get wet.

I’ve experienced proper rain here before, but never for two days non-stop. Each time it rains, you can see most of the Egyptians running around, bringing in things from outside, and laughing away. It’s a bit like snow for the Brits, I guess – a novelty which makes life interesting and fun for a while (until the reality hits). There was a power cut, of course – I was just waiting for it to happen – but fortunately it was only for a few hours, so it could have been a lot worse. My two newly-purchased solar lights were put to use but it did dawn on me that if I was thinking I could just use the sun to charge them up again, this didn’t work if we had rain! It was something that never even entered my mind.

After two days, things resumed to normal. The sky was blue and the sun shone. However, for the next two weeks we had quite a lot of wind and in the afternoons, cloud would come and cover the sky for some periods (maybe an hour or two only, though). I almost didn’t go to the beach one day because it was cloudy, but sometimes it’s deceptive and it looks cloudy from my balcony, but when you’re on the beach, it’s actually fine.

But now, it’s back to normal. This is really the best time of year here, because the water is still warm from the summer and the temperatures are a bit cooler. Having said that, it still took me some time to adjust back to the heat and I’ve been having air conditioning on every now and then, particularly at night in order to get to sleep.

However, I can see from my dwindling water and diet coke consumption that it’s no longer so hot and slowly but surely, I’m starting to lie in the sun again rather than just the shade. The UK is supposed to be looking forward to its coldest winter in 100 years this year, so I'm happy to be here instead.

Sahl Hasheesh - An Eventful Life

Brunch - After I'd Eaten a few Chips and Smeared Grease on the Camera Lens!

For the third time, I returned back to Sahl Hasheesh only to find it was a weekend where an international horse jumping competition was taking place. I don’t know how I do it! I seem to return whenever one of these events is happening. Each competition has been increasingly more important, which suggests that the organizers must be doing something right. This time, it was the qualifying championships for the world cup. They’d managed to get parasols in for those sitting round the sides, so at least there was some shade this time. I still sat in the VIP tent, though, as a matter of principle.

I was also fortunate that, for the middle three weeks of October, the resort management company held a free Saturday Brunch for holders of a Sahl Hasheesh resident’s card. Saturday brunch is the equivalent to a European Sunday brunch as it’s the second day of the weekend. It seems ironic that in the wealthy countries you have to pay for brunch but in struggling Egypt, it’s offered for free.

So, who says there is no such thing as a free brunch? It was a good offering – mini beef burgers, pizzas, spring rolls, chicken wraps; French fries, samosas, sausage rolls of some kind and a few cheesy items that I didn’t touch; for dessert there was fruit salad. You helped yourself to as much as you wanted from the tables, which were laid out on a grassy area towards the back of the beach. Drinks were also included and comprised a choice of water, mango juice, or mandarin juice. It wasn’t the healthiest of meals, but still great! 

The invitation also offered us a day’s free use of Il Gusto beach – you usually have to pay a fee to use their facilities. They have some banana-shaped loungers in the sea (I couldn't heave myself on due to my sprained thumb), comfortable loungers, free towels, and showers. Plus a bar (this wasn't free!).

In addition to this, I was invited to several “sundowners” – Nicole invited me round for early evening drinks with Tom and Kath; Tom and Kath then reciprocated. In the end, there wasn’t a spare slot free for me to reciprocate. I booked in with Safi to catch up with her a few times and we chatted over a coffee in the setting sun. Then there was an evening or three where Ksenia, Nicole and I met up for “business” drinks to discuss negotiations over how to improve the management of El Andalous, leading up in part to a long, three-hour meeting between the owners and the management at El Andalous. Another few evenings were spent writing up the minutes for this meeting, as well as for an hour's meeting that we'd had with the resort (Sahl Hasheesh) management company.

For once, I do know where all my time has gone, but I’m feeling pretty exhausted now as it’s been a real whirlwind of activity. It’s not exactly the relaxing life of just lying on the beach every day that I’d imagined. However, I am still making time for the beach; otherwise there’s no point in being here. I’ve managed to read quite a few (easy) novels, which has felt a bit like drinking when you hadn’t realized that you were thirsty. However, it took 10 days until I had enough of a chunk of time available to go snorkeling down at the Tropitel!

I am hoping that life will get a little quieter soon – it’s great to be active, but sometimes a little down time is also good!

El Andalous - Back to Imperfection

The Path from the Beach to El Andalous

Maybe it was just that I didn’t have time to think about it, but I think this is the first time I’ve come back to Egypt without any apprehensions.

I’d upgraded again to a business flight since it wasn’t so much extra, only this time the plane was leaving 20 minutes earlier than previously so the business lounge wasn’t open even by the time I boarded. No wonder the upgrade didn’t cost much! And then, horror of horrors, instead of champagne as my welcoming drink, I was offered WATER. Maybe they could tell that I was a little hungover (thanks to celebrating Teresa’s new qualification as a professional cocktail mixer the night before)?

I sulked for a while about being given water but perked up when I got my food and forced down a glass of champagne just out of principle, despite the queasy stomach.

Finally back at my flat, only my balcony had been repaired; all the work I wanted done in the bathroom and bedroom was still waiting to be started. This time, it was my dishwasher that refused to work, so it was a traditional homecoming. Still, things could be worse.

Again, it felt like I arrived and had to hit the ground running. Various work was supposed to have been completed in the complex while I was away (eg, signs should have been put up about the beach and pool rules), people were complaining about rat infestations, children were running riot and throwing mattresses over the roof and down to the garden area. Or so people said. As a committee member, I got drawn in to helping to sort all this out with the management.

The reports of rat infestations were worrying since I’d lived through that once before and didn’t really want to go through it again. I’m still a bit jumpy even now if I hear an unidentified noise. Moreover, in my absence, one of my cupboards had suddenly collected hundreds of rodent droppings. I spent ages trying to clean it out and the smell wasn’t exactly conducive to getting down and scrubbing. I comforted myself that they were old droppings and no rodents were left in my flat, but I immediately turned on my sonar rat repellent just to make sure.

I’m still plagued by ants. I really don’t know where they come from. I had a sealed bag of rice, newly bought. I put it in my cupboard. When I took it out, there were a few ants on it, which I brushed off (metaphor for “heartlessly killed”). I cut open the bag of rice, went to pour the rice into an airtight container and as I poured, ants just appeared in the rice. It was like a magic trick where you can’t fathom out how what you’re seeing can happen. I can only think that I had some ants in my cupboard and there was a tiny hole in the new bag of rice that they squeezed through and then they hid themselves in the rice.

So, that was another afternoon spent scrubbing and dousing with crawling insect killer and then a dousing of vinegar for good measure. I have yet to see if this has worked in getting rid of them. They only seem to be in that one cupboard, my kitchen top, and my bin. They haven’t been round my bin since I finally resorted to the chemical killer, so I’m pinning my hopes on that. I feel cruel, but it’s horrifying seeing them crawling all over your food!

Then I had a leak from my air conditioning. Fortunately, we have a 24-hour plumber living on the premises, so he came straight away at 9pm and three others came to watch him (typical Egyptian way!). They removed the grid which is where the rats used to come into my flat, so I told them not to damage the netting in any way or the rats would come in afterwards. They seemed to find this amusing until they slid the grid off and tons of rat droppings spilled onto my kitchen floor. That was another afternoon of tidying up. They went everywhere.

And, of course, I still get the occasional cockroach.

So, if you think I lead the perfect life – well, my view is that the perfect life is not possible. Life is interesting because it throws up these challenges at all times. I still enjoy it, though, and my next blog will deal with cheerier things!

Zurich - Finishing Touches

A Busy Zurich Sky

At least part of the reason for forgetting my blog last week was because I was busy having to tie up lots of loose ends.

I did finally sign (and hopefully seal) the contract on my flat. What a relief! It felt like a close-run thing, though. The letting company phoned me when I was in the middle of a meeting at work, so I ignored the call and phoned them back when I was free. To my horror, the woman on the other end told me that the flat had already gone to someone else!

She then changed her mind and said that they would phone me back later. After half an hour of not being able to concentrate very well at work (I’d cancelled all my other flat applications! What was I going to do!), they called and explained that they just wanted the additional statement that I wasn’t being prosecuted for debt ; the previous call had been an automatic response because they’d been inundated with people calling about the flat. They said they’d take the advertisement off the website as from the next day. Phew.

Still, it panicked me into going physically to the authorities in order to get the statement (it turned out that the one I’d ordered online several days before had got delayed because they forgot to add the “care of” part of the address when they mailed it out) and then delivering it in person that afternoon.

I then had to sign my life away. They wouldn’t countersign the rental contract until the deposit had been paid in the bank. Then, and this is very Swiss, I had the additional cost of ordering nameplates for my mailbox, for the outside bell, and for beside my flat door in the building. In most flats in Switzerland, rental agents insist that everyone in the building has the same nameplate design, so everyone has to purchase these items through the same supplier. That was another 50 CHF slipping through my fingers.

Now I’ve got the flat, I’m coming round to the idea that this flat was actually the best option. I took the opportunity to have a quick look at the area. In addition to about 5 Chinese restaurants (?), I was delighted to see that there’s a swimming pool really nearby – it houses both an indoor pool (25m) and an outdoor pool (50m) in the summer. What’s not so good is that I bought myself a year’s swimming pass, but since I’m now living just outside of Zurich city, the pass isn’t valid for this pool. Drat! That’s another Swiss complication.

I also tried to change my postal redirection service now that I had my own address. This was another thing that I thought should be simple (just redirect my mail to my new address instead of the c/o address, please), but it wasn’t. They can’t just change the address. The contract has to be cancelled, which requires special permission. Then I have to pay for a new contract. The woman at the post office was exceptionally pleasant (which made me happy to be moving to the area – since it’s not Zurich city, maybe it’s not so impersonal either) and bent over backwards to help me. She said she’d do it all even if I wasn’t in the country, so I’m just hoping for the best there.

I also had to have a quick visit to the doctor’s as I’d fallen down (one minute I was walking along, the next moment, I was flat on the ground – no idea what happened!) while trying to locate one of the flats I was looking for. I still couldn’t use my thumb a week afterwards, so everyone was advising me to get it seen to. Fortunately, it turned out that I had no broken bones but was told it would take another three weeks for the pain to go. She was speaking in Swiss German, so I didn’t catch everything she was telling me (each time I asked for High German, she’d just say the last word in High German and then revert back to Swiss German).

Anyway, I don’t think I’ll ever fathom the Swiss insurance system. I was a bit nonplussed when the doctor wanted precise details (what day, where exactly, how did you fall, etc) until she explained that we both had to tell the insurer the same thing. I couldn’t remember the day or the name of the street. My doctor seemed to think this would come off my work’s insurance even if my employer was just a contracting company.

I can never quite work this out – in Switzerland your employer is legally obliged to pay for some of your health insurance and then you are obliged to pay for the rest. I’m never sure what is covered by whom. It’s difficult when you go on holiday and you are asked about your insurance, too, as I really don’t know which one to give or which one they should call in which circumstances (I think maybe all accidents are covered by work and illness is covered by you?). You have to have the obligatory personal health insurance since you are required to provide your insurance details to the authorities when you move (or they won’t let you be a resident) and the authorities now automatically inform your insurer of your change of address.

As for moving out this time, fortunately the rental of my studio included cleaning fees, but it still took me longer to move out than I’d calculated. I think it’s because I decided to keep as much as possible in Switzerland, so I was traipsing the long journey from my flat to the office while trying to make it look as if I was taking up as little room as possible in the office. It’s all behind Peter’s chair; I did apologise to him in advance and reassured him it would be gone by the end of November!

The new-found space in my suitcase was then occupied by five boxes of various cereals. It seems that Kellogg’s are no longer exporting to Egypt (possibly due to Egypt’s lack of foreign currency to pay debts) and I really don’t like Temy’s (the Egyptian brand). I had to keep it light because the handle of the wheels on my suitcase had broken en route to Switzerland; it has four wheels, so I can still push it, but currently it has to be with my left hand because of my sore thumb.

My flight back to Egypt was at the ungodly hour of 6.20am for departure, so I searched for a cheap hotel near the airport to help me have a few more hours sleep. I’m not sure it really worked as I was restless most of the night, but at least psychologically I felt I’d done all I could.

And all that, in part, is why I forgot last week’s blog!