Finally, the day to move my suitcases to the new villa arrived.
At noon, the real estate agent showed up promptly, as previously agreed. The zatouna (meaning small olive, Egyptian slang for something small and ridiculous) apartment where I have lived during the last 3 months was particularly cold and damp last night, and I had woken up with a slight sore throat.
But I had already packed, and spent a lot of time doing laundry (sheets and towels) and cleaning up, during the nightly noise hour, so that when the apartment real estate agent (as opposed to the villa one) shows up tomorrow at 10am, everything will be spick and span and ready to go — meaning I get my nice hefty dollar deposit back, no problemo.
So I hauled my valises into the car, and we drove to the other end of El Gouna.
What a difference!
No noise, no cars, no vans, no buses, no tourists walking around talking loudly, no workmen banging away doing demo work in nearby flats, no nothing.
Just blue sky, blue water (the villa is on the water), and birds.
I checked that everything inside the villa was in order, including the TV. It was, and this time tomorrow, well more around 7pm, I shall be kicking back watching Real Madrid beat Gremio in the world cup final.
Heaven.
I also double checked the bus situation.
It’s a cinch. The bus stop is a five-minute walk away, but no buses go by the house. The first bus leaves Downtown Gouna at 9am and arrives where the villa is at 9:15. There is a siesta hour between 3 and 5 PM. Then service resumes till midnight. Cost of a monthly ticket is 145 LE, or around 6 dollars.
6 dollars.
To get to the tennis club, all my wife would have to do is transfer to the Marina line at the Downtown bus station , and that bus will drop her off right in front of the tennis club. Easy peasy, no problemo, and no need for bicycles or cars or tuc tucs. However. the villa real estate agent gave me the private number of a tuc tuc driver whom my wife and I can call whenever I need immediate transportation.
I can’t wait to move in tomorrow. Because it faces South, the nice warm sun bathes the terrace and the house itself with a warmth that makes my creaky old knees want to cry after spending so many nights sleeping on a stone floor in a damp cold flat in Abu Tig.
I look forward to basking in the sun with my beloved wife and just enjoying life…. as it should be.
Unfortunately, I have to wait till Saturday Dec 29 before she arrives, but the days will go by fast, now that I am about to leave Abu Tig mania, and decompress to the max in what I have been looking for all my life, a nice villa by the sea in a quiet, out-of-the-way place.
Leaving Amerika 