Settling into Cairo
Cairo now and this is where the real fellowship fun begins! Today I commenced work at the EES office located in the British Council at Agouza with Fieldwork and Engagement Manager, Essam Nagy (pictured above). Essam is a former Inspector at Karnak and archaeologist with many connections. He’s across all the current archaeological missions working in Egypt and, without a doubt, also has at least one good friend tucked away on each of these missions too! Speaking of which, Dr Angus Graham, Director of the EES Theban harbours and waterscapes project (pictured below left) came by the office today to borrow some fieldwork equipment and have a good old chin-wag before his team starts work tomorrow. Essam and I will be heading down to Luxor to visit Angus’s project in the coming weeks - photos of which will certainly be posted here.
Apart from starting work, I’ve also found time to secure a place to live for the next 3 months. Thanks to some dear friends, this has been a most enjoyable experience without any of the hassles I was expecting. I’m living in a very plush apartment - with more living rooms and sofas than you can count on one hand - about 5 minutes walking distance from the British Council. It also has Nile views (well, if you dare open the shutters and pass your head through all the electrical cables hanging from the apartment above!) and other frequent quirks (such as light switches that never turn off and doors that you are told to keep permanently locked)! I’ve been offered a maid to cook and clean up after me (it’s a little bit tempting, but let’s see how long I can resist) and the boab (doorman) downstairs is also very friendly and keen to run small errands, as well as collect the garbage. To be honest, I’m a bit afraid of getting used to this lifestyle. There’s certainly no way I’d ever be able to sustain it back in Sydney, not to mention the fact it will probably make me even less domesticated than what I already am!
I’ve also been overwhelmed by the generosity of my landlady and her family. After I inspected the apartment yesterday morning, she invited me to tea at the Four Seasons in Giza. Shortly after, I found myself visiting one of her shops (where I happened to have met the fifth most important woman in Kuwait - yes, that’s exactly how she was introduced to me!) before being invited to a special feast at her mother’s delightful villa in Maadi. As you will see above, fish was on the menu - and lots of it! I also tried a very sweet wine made in an Egyptian monastery, which was nothing quite like the drops from Bordeaux I’ve been sampling in recent weeks.
