Cairo Courier

*** Saturday, 01Apr06 ***
Spring broke just three days before my departure for Cairo. The temperature was in the seventies, I was riding my bicycle, it was wonderful to be outside. But I had to go to a much warmer place that would get a lot warmer a lot faster than my home. A job but no Spring. An interesting place but no home. I survived Winter but will not get to enjoy the reward -- Spring in New England.

I cleaned the linens in the A.M. and as I was putting them back on the bed I saw the tag for the first time. They were made in Turkmenistan. What a surprise! I had worked there several years ago.

Ken drove me to the Airport at 1 P.M. It was a flawless trip -- unlike another time when Ken drove me to the airport and ended up with a drill bit in his tire.

The experience at he ticket counter was uneventful, as was getting through security but to my amazement, I met Roustam who was on my plane to Frankfurt where he connected to a flight to Moscow where he would spend a week auditing a client.

I first met Roustam in -- of all places -- Turkmenistan. He was employed by the program that had brought me there. Later he was able to come to the States when his wife won the Green Card Lottery. Like so many immigrants, he worked seven days a week and went to school. He will soon be an American citizen and a CPA. Americans could learn a lot from him.

We had fun talking for hours. Some prick even complained to the cabin attendant so she asked me to be quieter and I was but we kept talking.

In Cairo I was to meet Paul who I first met in Turkmenistan (the third Turkmenistan connection) and Than who replaced me in Kosovo. What a small world international finance consulting is!

*** Sunday, 02Apr06 ***
I had been sent unusually complete arrival procedures and they went flawlessly. A man met me with a sign that had my name on it (misspelled) and I had a guide through Customs and Immigrations which was very nice. I was delivered to the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel just after 4 P.M. I bought a can of shaving cream and a tube of toothpaste in the hotel and it only cost me $14.

In my room I found an electronic safe that I can set the code for. But there must be a central code to unlock it. My hotel room in Suriname had a key version and I after leaving I found myself lighter by $400. I don't trust hotel room safes so now I keep my empty water bottles in it -- so the help doesn't throw them away.

I met Paul and we went to a nearby Lebanese restaurant with Les, Barry and Bob. Paul and Barry turned out to be cigar smoking golf freaks. I've never played golf in my life. I wish I could say it was an evening of good conversation.

*** Monday, 03Apr06 ***
I walked to the main office with Les Sweeting, a tax guy, but it turned out that Terry normally goes to the MoF office. Still, I was able to fill out some paperwork and then was driven to the Ministry office where I strained myself to stay awake. The jetlag was strong but I had to resist it.

Went back to the hotel with Paul and he told me of an inexpensive restaurant on the third floor lobby. We found Pane Vino and stopped to have a beer on the outdoor patio. The sun was setting and the breeze was very mild so one beer led to another and another and Paul told me how he and Ernesto Betancourt hired Ed to do his first overseas assignment (in Jamaica). Ed was there for five years.

Eventually we were joined by Barry and Bob. We ordered a meal (I got an excellent meat Lasagna). Eventually I went to my room and bed where I had a good nights sleep.
Got on the Internet and the printer pretty easily but had trouble getting my emal to work. Something about me being overseas. We will have to see how to solve or get around the problem.

I wanted to use some of the newer methods of communicating with friends and family but I realized that I didn't have Gizmo or Skype (Internet phone software) on my Apple PowerBook computer so I downloaded Gizmo but couldn't get it to work. Oh, well. Skype seemed to be better -- at least it didn't give me an alternating litany of errors -- but I didn't have anyone to talk to. I will have to schedule with friends and family.

*** Tuesday, 04Apr06 ***
Finally got web access to my email. Not the best but something since Apple Mail doesn't seem to do the job correctly for unknown reasons, perhaps related to port numbers.
I read alot about the existing payment system. Quite interesting.

Terry asked me to meet the man who is the Minister's Advisor as well as the head of a major ministry unit. He is responsible for the TSA and wider issues. It was very interesting. He wants a lot. It will be a challenge to deliver it.

Tonight Bob showed me where the nearby laundry is so I went with him to have my suit dry cleaned. It will cost me 15 Egyptian pounds, a little less than three US dollars. Since I was out, I decided to walk around for a few blocks so I accidentally went down the street the US Embassy is on and then over to the Corniche el Nil (a walkway along the Nile) and then back away from the actual Corniche (crossing to the Corniche was incredibly intimidating). As I got past my hotel, a young man walked toward me and said, "Do you want anything?" I thought it a broad question in both senses.

I turned the corner to make my trip into a closed loop and as I came on a small park with 15 or so people in it, another young man asked me where I was from and when I didn't answer, he asked me why I wouldn't talk to him. He was a classic tout.

Well, I was in Cairo, jetlag was fading, I was becoming more observant. Things were looking up and I was enjoying being here. The job is challenging and I really want to do it well. This is going to be an interesting experience.