Hot Eye

My manager at work decided to have a team building activity by going to ElAin ElSokhna to spend a day. On Thursday, they decided to have it an overnight thing. I'm not really into those people I currently work with, and am definetely not into travelling with them and their families. This job is everything I ain't, and these people are everything I'm not. Somehow I agreed to join, since this was a work-related team building activity, but told them I'd be arriving late on Saturday since I have stuff to do in the morning.

Saturday morning, only had 3 hours of sleep, went to that Canada Day celebration on Friday night (Canadians are sure nice people), and for some reason stayed up till 5am, and had to wake up at 8am to go renew my passport before its too crowded. I take with me all the documents that could possibly be required for the passport; National ID, Military certificate, birth certificate, university certificate, old passport, and head to the passports office to realize that I only have two photos when they need 4. Fortunately, they have the office open until 8 at night to ease on the poor citizens of Egypt. So I go to Phillipe to make more photos of the picture they have in negative of me since 1997. The photos will be ready at 5pm for me to pick up and then I can make use of the late working hours of the passport office.

I go home, not having enough time to sleep, but just sit there idle drinking my cup of tea with cream and checking the newspapers, and then head off for that setup meeting arranged through a friend of my sister. My sister's friend is a nice lady who's been wanting to set me up for a while. So last week when I met her with my sister, we agreed to meet one of her candidates on Saturday morning. Well, the meeting went fine, spent an hour and a half or so with the girl, and my sister's friend and her little kids. Finally, I politely escape to go buy a new spare tire.

I've been driving without one since last December, since it was stolen. That sucker, broke the car window, and only stole the spare tire, nothing else. So I finally buy a new tire, and abide by my friend's saying; "farrat febnak wala tefarrat festebnak" (spare your child, but don't spare your tire). I don't like children anyways.

In the afternoon, I pick up the photos and go to the passport office again. About 25 people sitting there waiting. Doesn't look so bad. The officer takes the application from me and asks me to wait. I sit there waiting forever, then start to chat with this Sudanese looking lady, then her husband joins and we start joking while their little kid is jumping on their laps. I start to feel the exhaustion from the lack of sleep, the heat and the lack of ventilation in the waiting area and try to get a power nap while sitting, but can't. The guy three seats down is complaining to everyone about how they wouldn't take his copy of the Military certificate requiring him to get it officially stamped and how he had to run to two different places to do it. Then he endlessly complains about the slacker employee who's keeping all those people waiting.

I start a conversation with the guy sitting between us --a "normal worker" as his ID indicated. He then asks me if its allowed to smoke here, and I anxiously look for a "no smoking" sign, to fortunately find one and point him to it, telling him that he can smoke outside and that smoking is bad for his health! He concurs and asks me to fill the little slip for him as he can't write. Then this hip guy comes in, his boxer is showing and his pants are hanging half way down his butt, sits down for few minutes then stands up. Very restless guy. I mock him with my normal worker neighbor, "we've been sitting for an hour now, and it hasn't been a few minutes for him yet and he's already up." Then the hip guy pulls out a cigarette and I quickly call at him pointing to the "no smoking" sign, and my neighor tells him that he can smoke outside if he wants. I look to my neighbor and tell him, "poor you, he can't hold himself for a few minutes, and you've been sitting here for over an hour without a smoke, hehe".

Two hours later, the only employee in the office finally calls my name. I jump off my seat to hand him my papers. He looks at my photos and asks if these are recent photos. I tell him, sure, I've just gained some weight, and then think to myself, "did I really get that old that he can notice?! its only been 8 years!"

Can finally head to Ain AlSokhna now. Its almost sunset, I'm wondering why am I going. I'll be there at 9 and will leave at noon tomorrow. Oh well, they've already reserved a room for me, plus if I get one hour on the beach, that'll be good enough for me. I listen to Jebril's recitation of the Quran for the whole way there. God tells Moses to go to the Pharaoh of Egypt for he has indeed transgressed, but to speak to him mildly; maybe he'll take warning or fear (Taha:43,44). Why didn't He ask Moses to curse him, or to take bombs with him and bomb the hell out of the Pyramids?!

I arrive at the hotel in Sokhna, and my sister's friend calls me, so I tell her that there was no connection with the girl in the morning, so I can't meet her again. I didn't tell her though how I didn't like the way she spoke of the workers at her father's company, which she's running and using her management skills and experience (or lack of) in trying to make those workers productive.

AlAin AlSokhna is a good retreat from Cairo. I love the beach, love playing in the sand, and AlSokhna provides that with a wonderful sea just an hour away from Cairo. I arrived just at dinner time, my team mates are all sitting on separate tables with their families, so I take a table alone in the middle of the restaurant avoiding the company of any of them, finish dinner, and head to my room. My manager calls me to join them in the cafe, but I refuse and tell him I'm too tired and am already in bed. I hang up with him, jump off bed, put on my shorts, take my portable music player and head to the beach, light a cigarette, listen to the music, watch the sea and the stars (remind myself to get a book about astronomy to figure out which star is which), and enjoy. Boy, are we missing alot by living in this ugly city, Cairo.

An hour later, the batteries are dead, so I head to my room really wanting to jump in that swimming pool, but am too tired for it, so I order room service instead. Eat (again), and sleep till the morning.

My manager told me they'd leave at noon and won't do any group activities, so I skipped breakfast and headed to the beach in the morning. Took along my music, a book, and a cigarette pack. Enjoyed a nice swim, but not for long, as I didn't find an object to swim too, then sat on the beach for a few hours enjoying my music and three cigarettes lit from each other. Not sure why I cried when reading that chapter about "opression of thought" in Egypt!

After my second swim, I take a final dip in the pool, and decide to head home after listening to this song:

Isn't anyone tryin to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home
It's a damp cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Wont you take me by the hand
Take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I... I'm with you
I'm with you

I'm looking for a place
I'm searching for a face
Is anybody here I know
'Cause nothing's going right
And everythings a mess
And no one likes to be alone

Oh why is everything so confusing
Maybe I'm just out of my mind
Yea yea yea

I really enjoy my own company, but I've had enough of me for the day. I'm ready to head back now. I go to my car to find one of the tires flat! I've certainly bought that new spare tire on time. I replace it and drive on, to be stopped by a police officer on the road who tickets me for over speeding, and hands me the ticket saying in English "Have a nice day". I jokingly tell him that its not nice anymore, and he says he's used to saying that in English to the foreigners. I thank him and move on.

So I'm finally back, enjoyed the beach this morning, am ready to pick up my passport this afternoon, and some how I've lost 2Kg since last week.