Thanksgiving

Last weekend we had a big Thanksgiving party hosted by a friend in downtown Cairo. Actually I wasn#t expecting too many people but then we were 60 guests. Wow and there was still enough food and booze for everybody.

The next day I went over to the Conrad Hotel and visited their Christmas Market. Well, kinda disappointing. Looks yourself. But at least the Austrian guys sold mull wine.

Later that day I went over to a friends place and we spent the day drinking Gin Tonic, walking around Mohandseen (part of Cairo) and enjoying the view from his place.

Yesterday after work I went to the BCA again in Maadi for the quiz night. We took a different route this time to avoid some nasty trafffic, when I was able to see the pyramids again from a new angle.

On the weekend I will fly to Dubai for the Rugby Dubai 7s and some relaxation. 

Maadi House - Friday night

So the next day I was busy in the eve with an invitation to the Maadi House Club, something like a US Embassy Club. At least security getting in was like airport. Inside it was awesome. All the beers you need, even the one I usually get in the Irish pub in Kaiserslautern. So nice drinking a Guinness again.

There was a rockband this night in contrast to the jazz stuff the evening before.

Weekend - Cairo Jazz Club

So last Thursday I ended up with the folkd from Internations.org in the Cairo Jazz Club. Nice evening, nice people, great music. We were around 60, taking half the venue. Got pretty late.

Boring everday life

Hi,

nothing special happening here in Egypt. Just the normal stuff, you know. During my workweek from Sunday till Thursday nothing exciting is happening (besides work related stuff, but don't worry I won't bugger you with that). Thursday evening has somehow turned into a all-you-can-drink party evening at the local watering hole a few minutes away. The weekend is dedicated for other stuff, usually at least once going to Cairo city and meet some other guys and girls. This weekend we went out to the Intercontinental hotel and filled up in the Thai restaurant "Birdcage". Was quite nice, good food and so. Nice company.

Pictures from Company Iftar

I promised pictures from the Iftar celebration we had with the company some days ago.

What's up?

Hi, just to keep you guys posted on what is happening in Egypt recently. Last weekend I was at the beach again. This time I stayed for the night at the hotel to enjoy two complete days there. I even went diving and enjoyed it. I will finish my licence as soon as I can. It is kinda difficult to do this though if you can only come there every now and then. But I will defiantly will finish.

This weekend I was out in Cairo for a pub crawl with some other expats. Great to see some new places and learn something new about Cairo again.

That's the view from the "Pour Vouz"-Rooftop bar in Zamalek. Next weekend I ll try to go to the Conrad Hotel on the other side of the Nile for some entertainment.

On Saturday, rude awakening when I heard that attacked the Italian Consulate with a 400kg car bomb. State of Sinai (IS-related) claims responsibility. Italian consulate is one block from the bars.

More information here (also one video)

So long, see you soon!

How to manage all the different visas and stamps in your passport

Not sure if it's only happening to me or if our border control guys are just incompetent, but they usually take minutes going through my passport to find the correct stamp and visa. Then they just push the new stamp somewhere else and let you pass.

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In order to speed this procedure up, I started to "bookmark" the most recent stamp. For example right now I this bookmark on my Egyptian arrival stamp from some weeks ago. When I leave again, it can be found again quickly and I can proceed much faster. I also put a smaller bookmark to my current residence visa, as the other two are expired and keep confusing the genius border control officers.

What do I use for bookmarking? Just a simple paperclip. Do not write or stick anything adhesive in your passport! This can void your passport (depending on country of issuing and border post).