Possibly the thing I love most about travelling is the food. You can't beat the fresh fruit you get in Africa, and local meals are a really nice change from whatever I'm used to cooking in Canada. But yesterday I discovered something that really made my food week.
A french-fry pita.
That's right - take a pita, add some tahini, some tomato and cucumber with coriander, and throw in a handful of crispy, golden, nicely-salted french fries. This is an incredible idea. I think we should start a franchise in Canada. Of course in Egypt it costs only about 35 cents Canadian. Charging more in Canada may be a bit of a drawback to sales. But honestly. How can you beat a sandwich made of french fries?
"I think I'm going to cry from food happiness," I said to S.
"I think I'm going to cry too, but for other reasons," he replied.
I don't care. It was delicious. I had another one today. And while I promised S. I wouldn't have another one at dinner, I don't know if that's a promise I'll be able to keep. It will be our last meal here, after all. What could be more Egyptian than felafel and a french fry sandwich?
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Meth for newsies
Just as daily tracking polls are a news junkie's crack during an election, I have found my methamphetamine: Twitter Topics.
Refresh! Hit refresh! Two new posts! REFRESH!
I will be stepping away from the internet cafe shortly, but wondering all day how things are going in O-town.
Refresh! Hit refresh! Two new posts! REFRESH!
I will be stepping away from the internet cafe shortly, but wondering all day how things are going in O-town.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Americans on the Obama visit
The other night we hung out with our Cairo friend and her ex-pat circle, all of them American. They were confused about the Obama visit - why Canada first? What's the big deal?
The three Canadians exploded into a chorus of "this is tradition!" "we're 20% of your trade!" and "you're 80% of our trade!". The well-travelled, well-educated, and lovely Americans mostly had no idea. "What do we buy from you?" one of them asked.
Oil. Natural resources. Wood. Potash. The Big Three Carmakers ship vehicles back and forth between Detroit and Windsor so much it's hard to tell whether they're US- or Canadian-made. They were so gracious about listening to us, I told them this is what Americans get for hanging out with Canadians - the bilateral trade lecture.
Bets on how many mentions the visit will get on CNN? I'm thinking under 10.
The three Canadians exploded into a chorus of "this is tradition!" "we're 20% of your trade!" and "you're 80% of our trade!". The well-travelled, well-educated, and lovely Americans mostly had no idea. "What do we buy from you?" one of them asked.
Oil. Natural resources. Wood. Potash. The Big Three Carmakers ship vehicles back and forth between Detroit and Windsor so much it's hard to tell whether they're US- or Canadian-made. They were so gracious about listening to us, I told them this is what Americans get for hanging out with Canadians - the bilateral trade lecture.
Bets on how many mentions the visit will get on CNN? I'm thinking under 10.
Obamawa
I *really* wish I were back in Ottawa right now. Just did a quick check on Twitter and of course everyone I'm following is full of newsy detail and downright excitement over the Obama visit. I don't care if the only thing I would have seen is his head as he exits the Beast to go into the foyer. It would have been great.
Alas. Twitter tells me there is an Obama string on the site called Obamawa. I don't quite understand the ins and outs of twitter (yet! I'm learning!), so I don't know how you get to whatever discussion is happening there, but if you know, then you can now head over and enjoy.
I would love to be blogging more about Egypt but I feel like photo blogging would be the way to go, and we just won't have the chance to upload pics until we get home. Suffice it to say Cairo is still smoggy, smoky and full of continuously blaring horns. I think I'm just starting to get the hang of this place, or at least the 10-block radius around our hotel, but we'll be leaving soon. If you see me walking in the street in Ottawa, it's just because that's how they roll here.
Alas. Twitter tells me there is an Obama string on the site called Obamawa. I don't quite understand the ins and outs of twitter (yet! I'm learning!), so I don't know how you get to whatever discussion is happening there, but if you know, then you can now head over and enjoy.
I would love to be blogging more about Egypt but I feel like photo blogging would be the way to go, and we just won't have the chance to upload pics until we get home. Suffice it to say Cairo is still smoggy, smoky and full of continuously blaring horns. I think I'm just starting to get the hang of this place, or at least the 10-block radius around our hotel, but we'll be leaving soon. If you see me walking in the street in Ottawa, it's just because that's how they roll here.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Smoke gets in your eyes
The odyssey continues...we made it from Cairo to Luxor, then to Aswan and Abu Simbel, back through Cairo and onto Alexandria last week. We went from the far south of the country to the far north in about 17 hours of train riding, which ended up being too much for both of us. S caught the flu and I am in the midst of an allergic reaction - we think - due to either the Japanese tourists smoking all night next to us on the train, or simply to the dust. We covered a lot of territory though so it could also just be plain old fatigue getting to us.
Abu Simbel was the highlight for me, with a massive temple that has 20m high statues at its entrance. You can imagine what an impressive place it was when it was first built, sitting at a wide part of the Nile to welcome anyone arriving by ship. The great thing about this country is the almost unfettered access to all the sites...the bad thing being that the unfettered access means we've seen people smoking in the middle of an outdoor temple and touching all the walls of hieroglyphics in the tombs. It's shocking how littered with garbage they are, how poorly-labelled, and how horribly unprotected these ancient pieces are. It's frustrating when you think that photos aren't allowed (presumably to prevent flash photography, but practically to encourage souvenir buying) but meanwhile sweaty Europeans grope 3,000 year-old walls every day. Our guide book says within a generation some of the walls will be completely deteriorated.
Alexandria's Citadel was another great site to visit - standing on the site of a former lighthouse that keeled over after 1700 years, it was built in the 11th century using some of the lighthouse's original stone. It was much cleaner than some of the other sites, although there was graffiti carved onto the walls. It sits right on the Mediterranean so you could also imagine Roman ships approaching it in stormy weather.
We're back in Cairo now and still recovering a bit. We tried to walk to Islamic Cairo today but the lack of English-language signs totally defeated us. We'll attempt it again tomorrow, this time with a driver.
Abu Simbel was the highlight for me, with a massive temple that has 20m high statues at its entrance. You can imagine what an impressive place it was when it was first built, sitting at a wide part of the Nile to welcome anyone arriving by ship. The great thing about this country is the almost unfettered access to all the sites...the bad thing being that the unfettered access means we've seen people smoking in the middle of an outdoor temple and touching all the walls of hieroglyphics in the tombs. It's shocking how littered with garbage they are, how poorly-labelled, and how horribly unprotected these ancient pieces are. It's frustrating when you think that photos aren't allowed (presumably to prevent flash photography, but practically to encourage souvenir buying) but meanwhile sweaty Europeans grope 3,000 year-old walls every day. Our guide book says within a generation some of the walls will be completely deteriorated.
Alexandria's Citadel was another great site to visit - standing on the site of a former lighthouse that keeled over after 1700 years, it was built in the 11th century using some of the lighthouse's original stone. It was much cleaner than some of the other sites, although there was graffiti carved onto the walls. It sits right on the Mediterranean so you could also imagine Roman ships approaching it in stormy weather.
We're back in Cairo now and still recovering a bit. We tried to walk to Islamic Cairo today but the lack of English-language signs totally defeated us. We'll attempt it again tomorrow, this time with a driver.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
How many camels?
Walking down the street in Egypt is a lot different from back home. First, there's all the people. Then there's the traffic that doesn't ever seem to stop, making it necessary to step in front of five lanes of speeding cars to cross the street. And sometimes there's the men, making comments when I walk by. Next to my husband.
One of my good friends has been in Cairo for almost two years now, and used to blog a lot about her culture shock, so I sort of knew what to expect. But it's still a little surprising. The first few comments/whistles/noises came from one side of me while S was walking along on the other side. I had assumed I would be fairly safe from harassment while in the company of a man and wearing a wedding ring, but apparently not. S even missed the first few times it happened (though he swears he believed me, I'm pretty sure he thought I was exaggerating). Then he started to hear it too. He even saw a guard at the Cairo museum take my ticket and watch me walk away, while S, who was clearly accompanying me, waited for him to turn back around and take his ticket.
Today made it all a bit more laughable though - walking through a market, every other vendor would yell "Lucky guy! Nice eyes! How many camels?" It became pretty clear that this is a line they break out for every couple, along with "What country? Canada? Canada Dry!" Our Cairo-based friend says they know Westerners have stereotypes so they play up to them - trading livestock for women has never been a part of Egyptian culture.
S is still on the deck to guest-blog, and promises to work on his post on Thursday. Fingers crossed.
One of my good friends has been in Cairo for almost two years now, and used to blog a lot about her culture shock, so I sort of knew what to expect. But it's still a little surprising. The first few comments/whistles/noises came from one side of me while S was walking along on the other side. I had assumed I would be fairly safe from harassment while in the company of a man and wearing a wedding ring, but apparently not. S even missed the first few times it happened (though he swears he believed me, I'm pretty sure he thought I was exaggerating). Then he started to hear it too. He even saw a guard at the Cairo museum take my ticket and watch me walk away, while S, who was clearly accompanying me, waited for him to turn back around and take his ticket.
Today made it all a bit more laughable though - walking through a market, every other vendor would yell "Lucky guy! Nice eyes! How many camels?" It became pretty clear that this is a line they break out for every couple, along with "What country? Canada? Canada Dry!" Our Cairo-based friend says they know Westerners have stereotypes so they play up to them - trading livestock for women has never been a part of Egyptian culture.
S is still on the deck to guest-blog, and promises to work on his post on Thursday. Fingers crossed.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Honk honk
I'm here! Successfully met up with S at the airport, after dodging offers from "helpful" people (need a driver? need a hotel?). The first thing I noticed about Cairo, which I'd been warned about a lot, is the noise. Drivers here honk their horns constantly, like they're just letting all the other drivers know that they're there. There are lines painted on the road to denote lanes, but that's just a technicality. Cars randomly float around the road and are totally comfortable squeezing between two actual lanes while pedestrians walk through the middle of five-lane roads to get where they're going.
The city itself is a strange mix of loads and loads of sketchy-looking apartment buildings, complete with shantytowns on the rooftops, and beautiful universities, international schools, mosques and museums. Cigarette smoke is everywhere, and this morning I smelled charcoal cooking again. It smelled like Rwanda too me, just like the diesel trucks at the Cairo airport. There are SO many people on the sidewalks, all the time. Most of the women wear hijabs, and some wear niqabs, which cover the upper body and leave only a thin opening for the eyes. But all the women are stylishly-dressed, and most have great shoes. S said he noticed the same thing in Kandahar, where most women still wear burqas but accessorize with high heels.
It does make for a noisy city, especially at night. With all the people on the streets and the honking, even in our 12th-floor hotel room we had a hard time sleeping. The call to prayer woke us up before 6am this morning, but I had been so excited about hearing it that I didn't mind.
So far Cairo has been a real trip for the senses. It's great for a stimulation junkie like me, who is often reading the paper, watching tv and online chatting at the same time. But I can see how it would be tiring on days where you've got a headache, or are having a bad time, or just needing some quiet. We have only explored a tiny section of the city but have yet to find any calm or tranquility.
To fully appreciate Egypt, you also need to know what it's like trying to book anything in advance. So S will join us as a guest blogger in the near future to tell us about his trip to pick me up at the airport.
The city itself is a strange mix of loads and loads of sketchy-looking apartment buildings, complete with shantytowns on the rooftops, and beautiful universities, international schools, mosques and museums. Cigarette smoke is everywhere, and this morning I smelled charcoal cooking again. It smelled like Rwanda too me, just like the diesel trucks at the Cairo airport. There are SO many people on the sidewalks, all the time. Most of the women wear hijabs, and some wear niqabs, which cover the upper body and leave only a thin opening for the eyes. But all the women are stylishly-dressed, and most have great shoes. S said he noticed the same thing in Kandahar, where most women still wear burqas but accessorize with high heels.
It does make for a noisy city, especially at night. With all the people on the streets and the honking, even in our 12th-floor hotel room we had a hard time sleeping. The call to prayer woke us up before 6am this morning, but I had been so excited about hearing it that I didn't mind.
So far Cairo has been a real trip for the senses. It's great for a stimulation junkie like me, who is often reading the paper, watching tv and online chatting at the same time. But I can see how it would be tiring on days where you've got a headache, or are having a bad time, or just needing some quiet. We have only explored a tiny section of the city but have yet to find any calm or tranquility.
To fully appreciate Egypt, you also need to know what it's like trying to book anything in advance. So S will join us as a guest blogger in the near future to tell us about his trip to pick me up at the airport.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
WAHOO!
So judging by these projections, I may find someone to hire me by the second quarter of 2010. Q4 at the latest. That would be lovely.
A lot of us are banking on Mark Carney (see the red line) being right. Those of us who are journalists wanting good jobs, anyway. And we're clinging to hope that there will be a hiring spree since so many experienced people have been laid off/bought out recently.
Not as much blood on the floor as the auto industry, but most of us spent $40,000 on university degrees.
A lot of us are banking on Mark Carney (see the red line) being right. Those of us who are journalists wanting good jobs, anyway. And we're clinging to hope that there will be a hiring spree since so many experienced people have been laid off/bought out recently.
Not as much blood on the floor as the auto industry, but most of us spent $40,000 on university degrees.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Can I fit a cat in there?
I leave very soon for Egypt. The big thing it means is that I'll be seeing my husband soon! He is finished his reporting tour in Afghanistan, and will soon be replaced by another reporter from Ottawa. It will have been eight weeks since we last saw each other.
I was always a little worried about the end, because we've heard it can be hard to get back to reporting in Canada when you've seen what's happening in other parts of the world. We have so much and can get worked up over such tiny things that some reporters find it frustrating and annoying to have to write about seemingly unimportant topics. I think it'll be okay though. S was there for more deaths, and got out to the city to see a slice of normal life. But I don't think anything was jarring enough to make the transition home too hard.
For now I'm packing and making sure I take care of all my errands - laundry, tidying the apartment so we don't get back to a mess, exchanging money, etc. (Egypt will be interesting because some hotels take euros, some take US$ and for everything else we'll do best with Egyptian pounds. So I'll have a whole mix on me). I put off packing for as long as I thought I could sanely do it because le chat goes a little crazy when she sees suitcases. She seems to be okay so far though.
I also cleaned out my purse today and found six pens in it. I think I need to clean it out more often.
I was always a little worried about the end, because we've heard it can be hard to get back to reporting in Canada when you've seen what's happening in other parts of the world. We have so much and can get worked up over such tiny things that some reporters find it frustrating and annoying to have to write about seemingly unimportant topics. I think it'll be okay though. S was there for more deaths, and got out to the city to see a slice of normal life. But I don't think anything was jarring enough to make the transition home too hard.
For now I'm packing and making sure I take care of all my errands - laundry, tidying the apartment so we don't get back to a mess, exchanging money, etc. (Egypt will be interesting because some hotels take euros, some take US$ and for everything else we'll do best with Egyptian pounds. So I'll have a whole mix on me). I put off packing for as long as I thought I could sanely do it because le chat goes a little crazy when she sees suitcases. She seems to be okay so far though.
I also cleaned out my purse today and found six pens in it. I think I need to clean it out more often.
Day One
Blech, I was very sick for a week. Life wasn't good. I could barely drag my fingers across the keyboard, not for weakness, but because I felt so blah about writing. This week is so much better though - Friday was my first day feeling almost healthy again, and then Saturday I literally danced around my apartment. Yesterday and today I've got that drive to write again - just like usual, like it's all brand new and exciting. That's a good thing because today was busy.
Yesterday was particularly good for me, partly because I only had one story to work on. It just reminded me of how it was when I first started reporting. I haven't been in the industry that long but it struck me that maybe that's how it always was on general assignment, but that the recent cutbacks have made it harder to have that luxury. I could be wrong though - maybe it was just because I was new at things that my editors limited me to one story a day.
On a related note, more(er) bad news for the industry. The Globe cuts were previously announced, and actually they had twice as many people take a voluntary buy-out as they had expected, so it wasn't quite the bloodbath they expected. But it's still bad. More details to come, I'm sure.
Yesterday was particularly good for me, partly because I only had one story to work on. It just reminded me of how it was when I first started reporting. I haven't been in the industry that long but it struck me that maybe that's how it always was on general assignment, but that the recent cutbacks have made it harder to have that luxury. I could be wrong though - maybe it was just because I was new at things that my editors limited me to one story a day.
On a related note, more(er) bad news for the industry. The Globe cuts were previously announced, and actually they had twice as many people take a voluntary buy-out as they had expected, so it wasn't quite the bloodbath they expected. But it's still bad. More details to come, I'm sure.
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