Today I had a meeting at my normal hotel – the Cairo Hyatt. I walked in and it looked like Ramadan. The bar was there but it was empty. It turns out that the franchisee of that hotel is Saudi and when he was in Cairo last month returned from the Mosque all fired up and inspired to be a good Muslim. To show his faith, he took every single alcoholic beverage and had employees help him throw all those bottles in the Nile. The total damage was in the millions. Then he went to the Hard Rock Café next door and demanded that they throw away all their alcohol but the HRC refused since they are not owned by this guy. Hyatt had given him until June 1 to restock the bar and serve alcohol again or he will be in default of the franchise agreement. No one is sure what will happen but I’ll find out on June 1 as it’s tomorrow and someone I know is staying there. In the meantime, I’m sure the HRC is enjoying a booming bar business.
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Egypt life - no foreigners can drive in Egypt unless they are missing some brain cells. Road signs barely exist and when they do, they are in Arabic. Driving guidelines are in place but it's an odd free for all. If you get in an accident, it's your fault because you are the foreigner. When we go out for work, our local co-worker has to come and pick us up from the hotel. Same as LA. You might only need to go 10 miles but allow one hour for the drive (including time to find the non- existant parking space.) You pay the street workers to watch your car (hence not destroy it) and you pay them again to help you leave when you are boxed in and traffic is coming fast. Then to get anywhere you have to cross the street with non-stop traffic and play Frogger as you do so. Always a challenge! My hotel is not a big tourist hotel. It's mainly for business with a lot of Arabs & Egyptians and a few European men. I've seen a few Japanese, some British ladies and me. The hotel i...
Sheraton Cairo, 21st floor. Only a short distance from the usual hotel but a whole new experience. I am in the middle of all of the noise of the commuter traffic and a never-ending parade of cars and horns. I like the noise of Cairo so I'm okay with it but relaxing it is not. If the sky was clear I would be able to see the pyramids but the smog is obstructing the other side of the river so no view today. Day 15 of the trip. This is my first downtime day and now that I had a chance to sleep in, eat a slow breakfast (cucumbers & cheese) I am ready for a nap and it's only noon. Things that make me happy today are in-room coffee and a real steam iron instead of the dorky press iron that never works. My fruit basket is edible so lunch is an easy deal today. I have plenty of bottled water and all I need is boost of energy or maybe more caffeine !
I'm in Cairo now. I traveled in by myself and had the hotel arrange for pick-up. Cairo airport is always a hurdle and it changes each time. I was sure that the when the pick-up notice read "meet outside customs" that meant after I was stamped in. I was rushing to get to the Visa window and bypassed all the guys with signs. I'm inline for customs and a man is asking me if I'm Karen Reek. As the only non-middle easterner I was once again an easy find. The thing that threw me off was I was all prepared with my 5 egyptian pounds to tip the cab driver but was totally unprepared on how to tip the greeter so he didn't get a tip. Bummer for him. I feel bad. Since I never got my hotel points from the Hyatt Cairo (I did but through Hyatt after I complained) I'm at the Sheraton Cairo. It kind of sucks but since I'm doing a protest stay, I have to live with my actions. The room is about the same but the club lounge has such slim picking for food I sense another ...
Yes, it's true. The Saudi's don't want the women looking at monkey butts. The other story this man told me was that when he first moved there from Egypt, he was showing Mickey Mouse on the television monitor in his restaurant. The religious police came in and told him to stop the video and never show it again because Mickey was kissing Minnie and Donald kissed Daisy. Since he didn't want to get arrested and have the business shut down, Mickey & Co. had to go. Even cartoons can't kiss in public.
Checking in but nothing to write about. Work has kept me busy and I seem to have less downtime in Bahrain than in Kuwait. We're trying to cram in more work here because we're bringing in people from other countries to meet with us. Since I can't go to Saudi Arabia, the Saudi guys are here. Last night they told me about the zoo in Riyadh. It turns out that when the zoo is open, women are only allowed to go one day a week. The rest of the week, only men. Families cannot go together. It is either men or women but never mixed except for small children. On women's day at the zoo, all the monkeys have to wear pampers. Go figure.