V-Day

It’s V-day, or villa day; at 7am on a Saturday, I have a three-hour wait ahead of me, before the real estate agent for the rental apartment arrives.  I expect here to hand me my deposit in dollars, and that I will have to the final utilities bill in Egyptian LE.

Then, I shall grab my Che Guevara army knapsack, a plastic bag filled with some dirty laundry, and take a tuc-tuc to my new home, a villa in a quiet part of the Red Sea upscale resort town of El Gouna in Egypt.

I may not have an internet  connection for a day or two — even though I have gone by the telecom office in Abu Tig marina several times this week to remind them to switch my contract to the new place.  This being Egypt, I expect this will become a big hassle, unless I go by again today on my way to the villa to remind them for a third time.  Earlier this week, they cut off my internet connection, even though I’m already paid for 3 months in advance.

So  to my friends and family… if you don’t hear from me via email for a few days, no worries, I will get things sorted out in no time.

The obscenity that is the hate-mongering Trump presidency is starting to recede into deep personal irrelevance, despite the enormous damage it is doing to everything that matters.

I do not think there is much of a chance of the Ds obtaining a majority in Congress in 2018, and thus I expect more of the same for the foreseeable future. Until the millenials wake up and wrest control once and for all from the cynical plutocratic geezers who currently the country, there is not much hope.

If the villa works out, I plan to return in October with my tennis ninja wife, and stay for another 6 months, inshalla.

Meanwhile, there is a new touristy travel puff piece that appeared in the NY Times yesterday,  If you want to get a sense of the real Cairo, you may wish to read this. And pay attention to this story, if your travel plans include going to Hurghada,

Last night was very bad, again, in terms of the noise from the Aurora night club.  I am completely knackered, and shall probably doze off this afternoon by the pool (see the pic above) as I recover from a 3 month ordeal (basically I have not slept normally since arriving in Egypt in mid September).

I look forward to having the bags under my eyes gradually dissipate, as I fall into a more normal sleep pattern (I like to go to bed around 11pm and wake up at dawn).

I do expect noise at the villa between Xmas and New Year’s, as villa owner rent out their places for holiday revelers, but after that, for the next few months, I expect utter calm, as winter sets in, and the tourists stay away till Spring.

A hermit’s idea of heaven, that.