tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130Fri, 30 Aug 2024 03:50:32 +0000Egyptliving abroadCairoExpatfoodReligionEgyptian cultureMuslimTrafficDemocracyDemonstrationSafetycutlural differencesinProtest MarchAirportLawRamadanTahrirWeatherdriversArmyCriminalsMubarakSharm el-SheikhHealthcareHomicidal ManiacRainShoppingUSAelectionstravelAmsterdamArabicBlazing sunChristianDivingIslamIslamofobiaKLMLuxorMummyPharaoRelaxingScubaSharmTaxisThe Netherlandsdo and don'thostilityAir FranceAirboatAlexandriaAlligatorArchitectureBostonDisneyDivorceEgyp AirEgyptian MuseumFeluccaFineFloridaGizaGreat LibraryHospitalKarnakMalalaMarsa AlamMonsterOasisOrlandoPakistanPharaohPoliceQuad SafariSchipholScrew UpSerial KillerSky TeamSphinxStar AllianceTurkeyTurkishUS NavyUS$ 80blnUSS ConstitutionValley of the KingsWalthamWarshipWild FloridaWorkWyndham Grand OrlandoYMCAcorporate culturediarrheafood poisoninghelping handshumpback whalesmaidspool party.toilet papervisawhalesMy blog covering the time I'm living and working in Egypt, my realizations, thoughts, experiences etc of this time. Egypt is very different from any of the other places I have lived and worked so far.http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)Blogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-3370788511513485022Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:45:00 +00002012-10-17T20:45:25.248+02:00Cairocutlural differencesEgyptEgyptian cultureExpatHomicidal ManiacIslamIslamofobialiving abroadMalalaPakistanReligionSharm el-SheikhThe NetherlandsLately I've been asked by friends in both Egypt and the Netherlands what I think about what's happening in the Islamic world. And I am commenting a lot on the same topic when I see postings on the Internet about excesses in the Islamic world. First of all, all these different people are all the same and I probably are one of them. What I mean is that they are all generalizing 'other people'. I http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/10/they-are-all-same-all-these-different.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Arc-E-Tect)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-3289740013735951404Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:04:00 +00002012-10-16T22:04:43.020+02:00AmsterdamExpatliving abroadRelaxingThe Netherlands This is the third and last installment of my trilogy about this year's vacation. By now, if you've read the other two posts, you have a pretty good idea about how we spend our vacation in the USA this year. In case you haven't read those posts but would like to, here're links to those posts:Part 1 and Part 2 We spend some good quality time with each other this summer and it was great. We had http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/10/two-weeks-into-3-and-how-that-seems.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Arc-E-Tect)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-282750355097210171Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:05:00 +00002012-09-27T20:05:28.462+02:00ArabicCairoCriminalscutlural differencesEgyptEgyptian cultureExpatHomicidal ManiacIslamIslamofobialiving abroadMuslimReligionUSA ...That you should violently kill everybody who says something about the Prophet you don't like hearing. Okay, if you don't know what I'm referring to; it's nice to see you crawled from under your rock. Let me give you a little rundown. Recently some people from the US made this really low quality movie about the prophet Mohamed. Portraying him as a killer, rapist, child mollester and every http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/09/pretty-sure-koran-doesn-say.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Arc-E-Tect)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-5695665477472921206Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:50:00 +00002012-09-26T19:50:45.546+02:00AirportBostonfoodhumpback whalesliving abroadpool party.travelUS NavyUSAUSS ConstitutionWalthamWarshipwhalesYMCA Here's the rest of the story of our trip to the US. As you know this is intended to be a trilogy and we only spend 2 weeks in the US. Let me first tell you that I love the States, I often refer to the US as the "Promised Land". I've never been to the US and did not like it, I always loved it. But then again, I have always been fortunate enough not having to worry about money. The States are http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/09/two-weeks-into-3-and-how-that-seems_26.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Arc-E-Tect)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-6059305889719815701Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:34:00 +00002012-09-10T23:34:02.012+02:00AirboatAlligatorCairocutlural differencesDisneyEgyptExpatFloridaKLMliving abroadOrlandoRaintravelUSAWeatherWild FloridaWyndham Grand Orlando Hi, Yes I know, I say this every time, but it has been a while since I created a post. This post will be divided over 3 parts, you're reading part 1 of these 3. Recently I took my annual vacation. My sons had their summer vacation and of course that means that as a family we had to spend time. Late last year we bought a little place at the beach in Turkey and my wife and kids spend some time http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/09/two-weeks-into-3-and-how-that-seems.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Arc-E-Tect)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-7609495797540205084Thu, 21 Jun 2012 06:04:00 +00002012-06-21T08:05:22.010+02:00CairoDemocracyDemonstrationEgyptEgyptian cultureelectionsExpatinliving abroadMubarakProtest MarchSafetyTahrir Hi, According to many of my friends and colleagues here in Egypt, it is a critical day today as today there will be the official results of the elections announced. And they tell me, actually some warn me, that there is a very high chance for significant disturbances. That there will be new demonstrations on Tahrir square today, protest marches and even violence in the streets. Some have givenhttp://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/06/start-of-challenging-journey.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Arc-E-Tect)0Al Maadi, Cairo Governorate, Egypt29.9626961 31.276942329.9351831 31.237460300000002 29.990209099999998 31.3164243tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-2166719255565859214Tue, 19 Jun 2012 18:34:00 +00002012-06-19T20:36:42.385+02:00Cairocutlural differencesDemocracyEgyptEgyptian cultureelectionsExpatinliving abroadMubarak Hi, Traffic is pretty bad today, so I have some time to create another blog post. Last weekend we had the second round of the presidential elections. Only two candidates left out of the 13 or so that were in the 1st round. Basically what they did was that they created a short-list, numbers 1 and 2 of the first round and now the Egyptian people could vote on either one of them. There's a lot http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/06/yes-new-president-almost.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Arc-E-Tect)0Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt30.0444196 31.235711629.989439100000002 31.1567476 30.0994001 31.314675599999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-6207900209248563655Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:50:00 +00002012-06-05T21:18:57.876+02:00Cairocutlural differencesEgyptEgyptian cultureExpatliving abroadReligion Hi, What still strikes me as out of this world is how culture, tradition, religion and the western world come together here in Egypt. Just now I was passing the Starbucks in Maadi and while waiting for traffic, a lady in a BURKA, completely covered, walks out of the Starbucks zipping her Cafe Latte, Cappuccino or whatever she ordered. Elegantly lifting her face covering veil. Egypt is fairly http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-strikes-me-still.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Arc-E-Tect)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-4239943146799761034Thu, 17 May 2012 19:21:00 +00002012-06-05T21:19:16.689+02:00ArabicCairoEgyptExpatliving abroadTurkeyTurkish Hi, As usual, it has been a while since I last posted a blog. And yes, as usual I will try to post more regularly. About 2 weeks ago my family and I were on vacation in Turkey. We bought our own little villa there last winter and this was the first time for us to see it. Until then all we knew about it was from photo's and my in-laws. It turned out to be even nicer in real life than on photo'shttp://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/05/in-my-own-comfortzone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Arc-E-Tect)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-6475597006284324219Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:13:00 +00002012-03-30T02:35:53.141+02:00ArmyCairoDemocracyEgyptelectionsExpatGizainliving abroadHi, A bit later than initially promised, here's some more on the whole voting thing here in Egypt. Disclaimer: since they didn't want to have my vote, I didn't bother to vote at all. So most of it today is what I got from talking to Egyptian friends and colleagues. The voting here in Cairo (and Giza) took 6 days, all in all. It started in Cairo, 2 days of voting. Then 2 weeks later there would http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/01/may-i-have-more-votes-please.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-5757436760157570372Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:35:00 +00002012-03-30T02:36:15.846+02:00ArmyCairoDemocracyEgyptExpatinliving abroadHi there, happy New Year, You might have been wondering where my blogposts went and why nothing about the elections in Egypt. Well the answer is not that simple. Let me explain; As you might know by now, Egypt is a big country, most of it is inhabitable desert. The majority of the population lives along the Nile and around the Red Sea, for obvious reasons. That population by the way consists of http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2012/01/may-i-have-your-votes-please.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-5260477198438099829Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:52:00 +00002011-11-17T21:42:29.420+02:00Cairocutlural differencesdo and don'tEgyptEgyptian cultureExpatfoodHealthcareliving abroadHi, So today I pick up the gauntlet, can I create a sensible blogpost while my driver takes me to the office on Thursday morning. You should know that Thursday, traffic is not that bad, relatively speaking. Yesterday a former colleague of mine passed away, for privacy reasons I call him Alex. Alex was an older man, but as I learned yesterday, not that old yet. In his fifties. Alex was suffering http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-much-is-there-to-tell-while-going.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-7417127532414222788Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:33:00 +00002011-11-16T21:17:21.138+02:00Blazing sunCairoEgyptExpatinRainWeather...isn't traffic. Hi, You've guessed it already, I found some time to blog again. Lucky me and you dear reader. Today I realized that the good thing about Cairo actually is something that it really sucks at. THE WEATHER "The weather?", you say. Yes, the weather. Let me explain. Although the sun pretty much always shines, it actually almost never shines the right way. From November untill http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-really-sucks-in-cairo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-2194412165916472121Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:39:00 +00002011-11-15T23:05:19.582+02:00CairodriversEgyptliving abroadMonsterRainWeatherHi, Traffic is bad again, worse than usual, so I have a chance to post a new blog entry. Two days ago we had some rain. I didn't see it raining, but the streets were all wet, potholes filled with muddy water and the terrible condition some of the roads are in is now even worse. Oh, and people have told me it rained, a lot. So I guess it's safe to say it has rained. My driver told me that it http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-dont-like-rain-in-cairo-because-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-6264154073970784875Mon, 14 Nov 2011 07:14:00 +00002011-11-14T20:29:37.865+02:00ArmyCairoDemocracyDemonstrationEgyptEgyptian cultureExpatfoodhostilityinliving abroadMubarakMuslimProtest March... for some people. Hi, Regular followers of my adventures in Egypt have suffered considerably lately as I haven't blogged for quite a while. I have my reasons, but that's for another post some time soon, I think. November, as it seems, will be election month. I believe it's for the parliament here in Egypt. More importantly it is for many the first time ever that the outcome is really not http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-will-be-very-disappointing-month.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-1688384658925867431Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:02:00 +00002011-06-24T17:02:47.297+02:00ArchitectureCairoChristiancorporate culturecutlural differencesdo and don'tEgyptEgyptian cultureExpathostilityinliving abroadScrew UpWorkThis is about my biggest screw-up as an employee of an Egyptian Corporation in Cairo, I invite you to comment. Disclaimer: everything you read in this blogpost is based on what I was told and explained by one of my Egyptian colleagues with whom I have had many discussion with mutual respect about Egyptian culture, traditions. Islam and religious influences on everyday life. I value his views andhttp://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-biggest-screw-up-in-egyptian.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)3Mady El Khabiry El Sharkaia, Maadi, Cairo, Egypt29.953668310850233 31.26345311212537629.946088310850232 31.251917612125375 29.961248310850234 31.274988612125377tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-6513409746607370914Mon, 16 May 2011 20:40:00 +00002011-05-16T22:40:34.042+02:00ArmyCairoDemocracyDemonstrationEgyptExpatLawMubarakPoliceUS$ 80blnHi, Just the other day I was contemplating on what I would do if I had US$ 80,000,000,000 and I have to admit I wasn't able to even spend half of it. I'm just not that much up to date on what people that have that kind of cash spend it on. Now former president of Egypt Mubarak supposedly has or should I say had that kind of money. And since Egypt is very much a cash economy, I envision him http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-about-having-big-vault-with-us.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-4715541980593127433Wed, 11 May 2011 06:34:00 +00002011-05-11T08:34:32.894+02:00Air FranceAirportAmsterdamCairoEgyp AirEgyptExpatKLMliving abroadSchipholSky TeamStar AlliancetravelWell, this is kind of odd since "getting in and out" implies quickness. Okay rewinding my thoughts a bit. This post is supposed to be about flying between Amsterdam and Cairo. My flights are always booked Amsterdam - Cairo - Amsterdam, it's something that has to do with the first ticket I bought. But I stay relatively long in Cairo compared to my stays in Holland. I stay 11 days in Cairo to everyhttp://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/05/getting-in-and-out.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-8166428011185982669Tue, 03 May 2011 06:35:00 +00002011-05-05T00:41:38.121+02:00CairodiarrheaEgyptExpatFinefoodfood poisoningHealthcareliving abroadtoilet paperOkay, first of all, you shouldn't want to have food poisoning at all, not even in Egypt, but if you are ever going to suffer from food poisoning, it's best to suffer from it in Egypt. And I'm talking from experience... I think. Last week I got hit by "Nuerburg's disease", I got the racing shitters. When there's something I really don't like in sickness it's the unconventional way your food tendshttp://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-you-want-to-suffer-from-food.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-1312920132381183303Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:41:00 +00002011-04-27T18:41:42.063+02:00CairoEgyptHealthcareHospitalliving abroadSafetyIt's been a while since I posted a blog, but that doesn't mean there was nothing to tell, I was just to swamped with a lot of other things. As you might know I'm from the Netherlands, a tiny and overcrowded country in Europe. Our system is one of "the strongest shoulders should carry the most weight" which in itself is a nice system but it has its drawbacks. I think that our healthcare system http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/04/when-you-cant-take-healthcare-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-3816464091530696691Sat, 19 Feb 2011 21:51:00 +00002011-02-21T08:14:39.328+02:00CairoDemocracyDemonstrationEgyptExpatLawliving abroadPharaohProtest MarchTahrir[Update: corrected the misspelling of pharao into pharaoh] (disclaimer: read this post at your own leisure and don't forget to go to Wikipedia or buy a book or go to school to gain the proper details of what I'm about to convey) I guess the title of this post is not the most politically correct, but than again what is these days? Anyhow, to start of; Democracy really is just a word. It more orhttp://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/02/democracy-is-just-word-why-egypt-should.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-6183962797539259076Fri, 18 Feb 2011 21:35:00 +00002011-02-18T23:35:15.973+02:00CairoDemonstrationEgyptExpatliving abroadProtest MarchRamadanSafetyTahrirTrafficHi, Since last Tuesday I'm back in Cairo after being gone for about 17 days. A lot has happened ever since, and I'm not talking about Mubarak leaving and all. No, with the resignation of Mubarak and therefore the collective feeling of the Egyptians at least here in Cairo that a new era has started, the buzz in Cairo has gone. In case you follow me on Twitter (ThreeAxis) you know what I am http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/02/one-week-after-mubaraks-resignation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-4537777646650212334Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:28:00 +00002011-01-31T14:28:17.836+02:00AirportCairoCriminalsDemonstrationEgyptExpatliving abroadProtest MarchTahrirBefore anything else, but I really got upset after I heard that some lunatics had wrecked havoc in the National Museum in Cairo. I don't want to be judgmental or anything. But anybody that destroys ancient artifacts of literally thousands of years old, of another era, is not to be considered to have a working brain. Hi, I'm still in Holland, (un)fortunately. Well actually I am quite happy http://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-to-do-in-cairo-when-city-is-not.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-8063131733736236657Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:19:00 +00002011-01-28T22:45:04.856+02:00CairoDemonstrationEgyptExpatliving abroadProtest MarchTahrirTrafficAll, just wanted to let you know that Cairo is at least for me still relatively safe. I actually literally need to watch TV in order to know that it's a mess in some locations.Cairo is a rather big city and the uproar is pretty much concentrated at locations that I hardly ever visit and now actually won't go. Please know that on TV they only show the bad stuff, the molestations and all, it's nothttp://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-to-do-in-cairo-when-city-is-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5701499992532409130.post-8836542206906410932Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:05:00 +00002010-12-15T23:05:56.769+02:00AirportCairoCriminalsEgyptExpatHomicidal ManiacLawliving abroadPharaoSafetySerial KillerTaxisTrafficOkay, let me just start with that the names have been changed to protect the innocent. But than again, I can change the names but chances are that I'll be incriminating the innocent, or that the names are not changed at all. And let me also confirm that everything I post in my blogs has either happened for real or I've been really told that something happened. None of what you read in these postshttp://amongpharaos.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-i-found-out-my-driver-is-not-serial.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anonymous)2