Even though it is my fourth Cairo winter, I and the rest of Cairo’s population, forget just how bone numbing cold it gets on the banks of the Nile, let alone on the water, where I first lived on a houseboat – four degrees colder.
I was feeling a little more than smug at Christmas when a blanket of fog covered Heathrow and I was flying to the beach and 33 degrees, and colleagues and friends flying west had to wait all day, and well into the night, before landing in the depth of an English winter.
Last summer a friend of a friend contacted me and asked for advice about moving to Cairo. “Cold, I said. “Bring a scarf and gloves, you’ll need them.
Her name is Carolyn Scott and she sent me a SMS this week saying that she had bought her thermal underwear back after Christmas. Garments she retains for skiing usually.
When I first embarked for Cairo I asked my employers for one piece of advice about what to bring. “Mosquito net, they said. And they were right. I may have survived the cold on the houseboat and the thieving landlord, but I would never have survived those swampy lovin’ sporn of Satan.
So I tucked myself up in my bed, the only warm spot in the apartment, and I messaged friends and colleagues and asked: “What should people not forget to bring to Cairo?
“That is easy, said Tony who is a tour guide. “A sense of humor. In fact four people gave the same response and two said anger management techniques.
Cairo is an international city, doesn’t it have everything?
Well it doesn’t always have tampons according to some. You have to keep your eyes open and then bulk buy. So number two on our list is a year’s supply of feminine hygiene products.
Marmite (for the English), ear plugs and blu-tac. You may wonder what is the point of such a list, but a former teacher in Cairo, Sarah Sawtell, was told to bring pens, rulers, erasers and pencils because it was difficult to buy such things in Cairo!
Possibly this will be useful for all office managers that facilitate new arrivals.
Pork sausages (for the English again), a quality cork screw and pants. You cannot buy acceptable pants, male or female – acceptable, that is, to your partner or comfort.
Toys: rugby and riding boots, cricket bat and there is no Ann Summers (for the English). Americans should bring a softball mitt and everyone should stock up on New World wine at duty free before landing.
Light bulbs don’t last long here, but that would just be silly. Though a quality screw driver wouldn’t be, according to one Scottish woman. “Useful for all sorts, repairs and fending off dodgy men, her text read.
Though Cairo is regarded by many expatriates as the safest place anyone has ever lived, it doesn’t mean the urban grouper, flasher or fondler isn’t around at the next Maadi corner.
The SMSs keep arriving: Money clip, savlon – antiseptic cream (The message reads, “such things are unheard of here – OK, Lyn would know, she’s heard it all), and a new pair of lungs. Pollution levels in Downtown Cairo are 100 times greater than those recommended as safe by the World Health Organisation.
Quality towels and sheets. Now that is true. Like raw materials all over the developing world, Egyptian cotton is exported to Europe where they pay the highest price. But Egypt imports its cotton from Pakistan.
A good pair of walking shoes, your favourite jeans and Calpol (baby medicine of some description I believe). There is probably an entirely different list if you are bringing babies. You can’t leave them at home, sorry.
Travel insurance. I heard during the week about tourists dieing in hotels and others being pregnant, all without travel insurance. If you think your embassy will bail you out, well that is just another urban myth. So, don’t leave home without it.
This column was inspired by a CNN report, which was inspired in turn by a story from Vietnam by Tim O’Brien, titled “The Things They Carry. The CNN report asked the same question of a US Marine platoon in Baghdad. But it wasn’t that interesting actually. This list is much more fun.
Thongs (for the Australians), a quality potato peeler, mini-size national flags to trade for souvenirs, one thousand LE1 notes for taxis, woolly socks, DVDs and finally a hat. Because it’s not this cold for ever you know!
