In Greece

The last 10 days I have spend back in Europe. I was in Athens to facilitate an international conference (WeGrow).
It’s the first time since I have come to Egypt that I went back to Europe and it stroke me how much I have changed, how many things have become very normal to me and how much I have forgotten.

3 Stories:

I believe I have so far always seen Greece as one of those southern countries that are quite disorganized, cities are dirty, public transportation is in bad condition, things are cheap and traffic is frightening.
I came here and I was amazed of how clean everything is, how modern the subway is, how very neatly the traffic is following the rules, how fresh the air is and how expansive the food. I did not see that in comparison to Cairo. I just saw the streets. They are clean. There is nothing on the ground. The garbage is in the garbage cans. I don’t think “it’s clean compared to Cairo”. I think “Wow! It’s clean!” and I have a hard time imagining how anything would be cleaner than that. And so I assumed that well, Athens is just a much nicer place than I imagined. But then the other Europeans here in my team don’t quite share that opinion. They find it dirty and disorganized. And I wonder: Have I forgotten really how clean streets look like? Or has my standard of “normal” shifted? Or have I developed a new sense of appreciation?


I walked out onto the streets with a red light and nearly got hit. It did not occur to me that there could be a street light. And even if: I would think the car can see me stepping onto the street and would have somehow reacted and not just kept on going. 20 years I spend in a country that has street lights! And I forgot that it’s not normal to step in in front of a slower looking car!


We were having a pretty perfect facilitators premeeting. We really did. We have modern transportation the office, we can all use the wireless internet there, we have comfy chairs to sit in, we are in the centre of Athens, there are lots of stores and restaurants around us, we get to see the site 2 days before the conference and we get even food reimbursed (and we have food!). I have not found anything to complain about. Yet, in these 4 days I think I heard as many complaints as I haven’t heard in a long time. My European friends are finding many things not quite meeting their standards. Apart from feeling slightly annoyed about that, I actually carry a smile inside myself. I know I was just like that. I like to complain, I still do. But I wanted to change that. I wanted to work on that and these few days have just proven to me that I did manage to do so. At least a little bit. :-)

Siwa

Siwa is a small oasis in the middle of the Sahara close to the Libyan border. It’s a 12 hours ride away from Cairo and therefore often too far away and in the wrong direction for the common stream of tourists. During Eid, the holydays in the end of Ramadan, Egyptians prefer to go somewhere to the beach and therefore, our little international group of internationals working in Cairo was among the few only tourists in Siwa on that long weekend.



Of all places I have seen in Egypt so far, Siwa by far felt the most Egyptian. It lies far off from everything, surrounded by beautifully eroded rocks and thousands of dark green palm threes which grow the sweetest dates of whole Egypt and behind it all starts the impressive great sand see.







The village of Siwa is build of small clay houses and the streets are alive with people, donkeys, horses and bikes, but barely any cars. From everywhere in the town you can see the ruins of the old city which dates back to the times of pharaohs. It is impressive as it was all build of clay and has been washed away and broken off over time, by now it looks like a hill with a ghost city on top. You can clearly extinguish the outer walls but on the insight all that’s left are countless pieces of clay walls that stand there, peacefully reaching up into the sky.





Siwa was the home of an Oracle that had quite an influence during the times of Alexander the Great, hence the reason for Siwas importance at the time and the number of ancient ruins all around the oasis today.





Our group, we came there on an overnight bus took one day on donkeys and bikes to go around and discover the village and all the different ruins. At night, we went to a restaurant where everyone would sit on carpets and pillows on the floor eat couscous and have dates straight from the threes. It was paradise: Laying on the pillows, under palm trees and the starry sky and smoking sheesha.

The next day we made our way for the great sand sea. We got 2 jeeps and drove out into the desert, which is more adventurous then one would think and it goes up and down, quite similar to a roller coaster. The Bedouin guides we had with us set up the camps and we stayed out in the desert for 2 nights. We slept on carpets on the sand, under the stars, we had Bedouins cooking excellent food for us, we spend a lot of time playing in the sand like kids, and although you wouldn’t expect it, a lot of time swimming in lakes and springs.







This is the funny thing about Siwa and the desert around it. Everywhere you can find fresh water springs in which you can swim and when driving through the desert you come across many lakes.







Overall, Siwa was amazing and I would advise anyone who is in Egypt or who will come to Egypt to pay this cute little far off oasis a visit. It’s truly worth it. And I realized one thing: The desert is one of the most beautiful wonders we have on earth.