Some things we've been doing

The weather today is beautiful - I went out onto the balcony and it felt like a perfect June day in England: it is warm and sunny, and made me think of strawberries.

My 20-year old self would have reacted as follows:

"Oooo, sunshine & warm breeze....park....sunbathing...lazing around....sun-tan...."

Sadly my 30-year old self reacted thus:

"Oooo, sunshine & warm breeze....good drying day....must get some washing done...."

Sigh.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, life continues much as normal. Patrick's parents were here for a couple of weeks and had a marvellous time. People were so welcoming, and the general lack of tourists meant that it was easy to see all the sights.

We visited Tahrir Square on International Women's Day (8 March) where the party spirit was incredible:

On the left is the centre of the square/roundabout where the camps are set up. The red building is the Egyptian Museum, and the burnt out building behind and to the left of it is the National Democratic Party's headquarters. (That is, Mubarak's party which previously held 97% of seats in parliament. This building was one of the first casualties of the revolution.)

Patrick's Dad was happy to embrace the revolutionary spirit, with his new scarf and hat band:

I am also amassing quite a collection of revolutionary memorabilia:

* * * * *

Last week we spent a lovely afternoon at Alexandria Horse Owner's Club with a friend, Mustafa.

Mustafa rescued us once when our train was cancelled on the way back to Alexandria towards the end of the revolution, due to strikes/protests. We ended up in a town somewhere in the Delta, with no clue how to continue our journey. Mustafa helped us to find a taxi, then a bus, then another taxi to get back to Alexandria. We nearly died when the first taxi, going the wrong way up a slip road, tried to overtake a horse and cart (also going the wrong way) in order to do a ridiculous U-turn onto a dual carriageway. The cart also turned at just the wrong moment, and it was only the fact that the horse reared up that stopped a collision. That moment will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. As will the sight of a herd of sheep under the flyover in the centre of town. It was a special day.

Anyway, Mustafa was incredibly nice and helpful, and then invited us to go horseriding as well. Our riding in no way did justice to the beautiful Arabian horses we got to ride!

* * * * *

Elsewhere in Alexandria, events to promote tourism continue. We went to a concert at the Qaitbey Fort organised by a new youth group, "Pride of the Mediterranean."  The event featured singers, dancers, clowns, performance poetry.

Here's Patrick with Shokry, one of the organisers, who I know from Greek classes:

* * * * *

A while ago I posted a poll on whether we should get a horse or bird phone. The bird won, much to my disappointment. I was Team Horse all the way. But the bird has redeemed itself by the fact that its eyes flash red when the phone rings - something that not only meets, but indeed exceeds my yellow bird phone expectations. 

He is right at home with all the fake flowers and doillies in our flat.

Now I am just trying to persuade Patrick to let me have this parrot telephone table that I spotted in Cairo:

What do you think?

Update on Puss

Puss the Princess Cat (see alert issued here) is well and truly back, and has moved in with us.

She appeared on our doorstep a couple of weeks ago, and stayed for a few days.

Then one day I went downstairs and found a tiny kitten huddling on the doorstep of a flat on the floor below, where Puss's 'main' owner used to live. Said owner fled the country at the start of the revolution and is yet to return.

(On a side note, he is American, and the US State Department is still warning against unessential travel to Egypt, which is bizarre. The UK Consul General, however, says "our analysis is that you are as safe in Alexandria as you would be in any other Western European city, such as London or Paris." On the one hand, strange advice from the Americans which bears no relation to what it's actually like here; on the other hand, we get to keep Puss for the time being, which is nice.)

Anyway...the kitten. I brought him back up to our flat. He immediately ran up to Puss and suckled furiously. She washed him a lot. She seemed quite genuinely concerned about him, despite having been in our flat for 3 days, without any indication that she had a kitten elsewhere.

Kitten stayed for a couple of days then disappeared again. Eventually Patrick found out the full story: Puss had her kittens in a flat a couple of floors up from us, and they have all been found good homes. (The one I found downstairs had managed to escape one day.) When the kittens were about 6 weeks old, Puss decided she'd had enough of motherhood, and miaowed to get out. That's when she reappeared at our door.

She is now pretty much a permanent fixture.

As much as I love cats, I really didn't want to adopt one while we're here. I'm already sad about saying goodbye to her at the end of August. In the meantime, however, I'm loving the constant miaowing, scratching at furniture, demanding food, wanting to play at 3 in the morning, sharpening of claws on my leg, and suddenly purring loudly in my ear while I'm asleep...

It's a good thing she's cute!