The Wayfaring Wordhack

I have not been faithful about keeping this space up to date.  Too much going on and not good enough Internet coverage to make it worth the struggle.  In a nutshell, as you know, the year fell apart from its predicted end with the conflict between our neighbors to the south. 

I did go home to France with the kids, where I proceeded to get some gardening done between the rare bouts of combined wellness and dryness (it literally rained for weeks on end, and the viruses came thick and fast and circulated mercilessly between the four of us).  Going back home was not in vain; I now happily have six new asparagus plants, which will be just about ready to harvest when we leave Lebanon for good.  If we leave when planned. More on that in a minute. 

I also pruned almost all of my red raspberries; transplanted--with the kids' help--my golden raspberries; tip layered multiple shoots of my tayberries; transplanted thornless blackberries; and--again with the kids' help--got one of our strawberry beds thinned out, weeded, and covered in landscape fabric (not a favorite technique of mine, but let's face it, when you have a lot of land and don't live on a place year-round--and even when you do--you spend a LOT of time weeding if you don't use some serious suppression tools).  I planted some garlic cloves in the chicken run and also stuck a few hazelnut cuttings in the ground to see if any take.  Wild ones do when we use them as support posts in the garden, so there is no reason I shouldn't get some nice starts from this named cultivar.

My husband joined us on Dec 16th, and we spent Christmas with his mom and brother at our place (where we possibly got them sick; they are sick now, but was it our fault?).  I got a horrible ear infection and couldn't go down with J and the kids to see J's dad.  I have no more pain, but after three weeks and two courses of antibiotics, I still have mucus in my sinuses and a constant whine in my right ear. Thankfully I had no pain while flying back to Lebanon.

So, yes, we are back in Lebanon, despite there being no improvement in the situation, instead arguably a worsening.  But it is not frightening on a personal level. There is danger in the air, but we are not the target or near the areas/people that are.  And so we will remain here en famille until something changes.

In thinking about what I want out of 2024, I reflect on what did not go exactly as planned in 2023, namely fully participate in my painting course this fall.  I would like to just move on and paint my own stuff, but I feel I missed out on some fundamental concepts despite completing the exercises at a later date.   I can certainly be excused for my lack of focus.  While I have access to the course until next fall, I think I might be better served to retake the course now, on my own.  It won't be the same as doing it with all my fellow students, but I am still part of the community as I shared before.

My main objective is to "sit and seek" through January in terms of what I want of the year, especially on a spiritual level, but in terms of art, I am sure enough that I will re-take the painting class, then commit to one painting a week.  I also want to work on the illustration front and must think of beneficial objectives to move me forward there, too.

I would like to write, but at the moment, I am not at all in that headspace.  

My head is in a sort of limbo thanks to J's boss, who does not like anyone being here with their families.  J just applied for his 4th year, which would begin 29 Dec 2024, and we have heard a rumor that two requests for the 4th year were denied. There just happen to be two colleagues here with their families, J and one other.  We should have already found out if we were staying or not, but Not-Nice Boss decided to circumvent the normal chain of information, go behind everyone's back, and send his verdict straight to Paris.  It is a mess to explain, but suffice it to say, Not-Nice Boss didn't want to risk justifying his decisions (one person asked him to do so, and he was highly offended that he should have any kind of accountability to those beneath him. He Spoke. So Be It.  Great boss material, yeah?)

So, until we are certain of our stay, I don't know how to go about settling in to this (possibly) last year.  We had thought to visit the States (first time in over 9 years) at the beginning of summer, but if we move back to France this winter, that won't happen.

Enough rambling.  I hope your 2024 is off to a great start.  Despite the meh tone of this post, mine is fine; and it is nice to be back in our community of friends.

 I am too busy to post.

Instead, have a list:

- Back from Turkey* with a sick husband, followed by 
- sick kids;
- an offer on another flat and an opportunity to buy almost-new furnishings, which led to
- questioning Garden Flat and doing all kinds of math and mental  gymnastics and bargaining over possible new flat;
- a phone call from a lackey** saying our bill for a Christmas party would 15% higher than agreed upon over a week before, which led to
- a mad scramble to find a new venue;
- a Christmas party;
- continuing fatigue from dealing with sick kids;
- things advancing on the Garden Flat (HIP HIP HOORAY!);
- running all over Beirut and its environs in search of what furniture/appliance we can't buy from our acquaintances who are leaving the country;
- a bit of art because I really want to do art

There's more in there--because isn't there always more?--but that is the main gist of it.

Hope you have all been less busy and mentally drained.

__________________

* I still haven't uploaded our photos from our trip
**  Instead of the owner, whom I had finalized things with, calling me himself, he made an employee do it and then proceeded to whisper in his employee's ear.  Quel lâche.  ARGH.

Appreciate the power pun as I talk to you about the electricity problem in Lebanon.

My usual disclaimer:  As I have said before, I am not an investigative reporter; I am just repeating conversations, information gleaned through exposés, and sharing my lived experience.

So, anyone who pays the least bit of attention to the news has probably heard of Lebanon's current crisis--"current" still meaning this goes back a couple of years; it just keeps going and keeps going.

Corruption* is a rampant issue in this country known to be one of the most corrupt on the planet.  In fact, one individual in a report I watched said that the port of Lebanon is probably the most corrupt place on earth.** Exaggeration?  I dunno, but it is the over-riding reason we did not ship any belongings here when we never scrupled to send them to Mayotte or Egypt, for example.*** 

And corruption is at the root of why Lebanon continues to have problems with electricity.  As I am typing this, we are in our "second" cut of the day.  The first is from 1:30ish a.m. to 5:30ish a.m.  The second starts a few minutes before 8 a.m. and used to end at 10 a.m.  Then it started ending at 10:30; now it is closer to 10:40, but you never know.  It stays on (except when it doesn't) until 12:00 p.m. 11:45 a.m. (this seems to be the norm since two weeks ago) and then is off again until 2:45 p.m. -3:00 p.m.  Recently, we had a couple of continuous cuts from 7:55 until 3:45.  Hello, sketchy food storage as the fridge and freezer struggle to deal with the constant cuts in power.

What does corruption have to do with all of this?  Why can't it be explained away by a poor country not having the means to upgrade and maintain its power system?  Well, the country may be poor, but it has been made so by the people in charge who are so far from poor themselves that it is obscene.  And they have found a way to get even richer.  Why would government officials make sure state-owned electrical plants are operational when they themselves have large shares in the fuel that powers the alternative, "privately-owned" generators, generators that kick on and start clicking up the bills when Lebanon Electricity "no longer has any juice"?  These officials not only control when the much-cheaper state power comes on, they control fuel import and prices. 

Let's say it together, class:  Conflict of interest. 

Knowing how to grease their own wheels, they turn a blind eye to the supposedly illegal private generator operators.  These operators, dressed to the nines, owning Rolexs(?) and Jaguars (a watch can be a convincing knock-off, but a car is harder to fake), assured the investigative reporter that they are doing an honorable service, just "helping out the public" with their "completely safe" piggyback installation. (Now picture electrical wires running willy-nilly, criss-crossing one another low enough for a clumsy person or anyone with a mind for mischief to yank free/cut.)  I am sure that the guys following them around like lackeys were just family wanting to be on camera and not the mafia goons they looked like.

Because none of these public servants has any vested interest in serving the public, the electrical woes look set to continue for some time.

Ok, so that is when we have elec and where the elec comes from. Now let's talk about how much because not only do you have a limited time access to power, you also have a limited number of amperes according to where you live and how much you dish out.  We have 10 amps.  This means I can run the fridge, the water pump (to have good water pressure), and the washing machine at the same time, but if I turn on the dryer, Lights Out.  A space heater sends every fuse to flipping if you have more than the fridge and the router turned on at the same time (You can have a few lights).  When the elec goes off, you have to ask yourself, "Are we trying to run too much, or is this a general cut?"  We either go the landing of the flat below us to see if the light is on because G keeps it burning all time. (No "common area lighting" in the stairs, so you have to go up the five flights with your flashlight --no windows--and say a silent thanks to G as you pass her landing and the light it provides).  If we have blown a fuse, you have to unplug something, go to the ground floor, and flip the breaker for your flat.  We have grown fairly used to what we can and can't run, so this hardly happens to us any more.  

And now you know about the power issues I may have alluded to once or thrice.

________________
* The New York Times has an article, which you can listen to entitled "How Corruption Ruined Lebanon."  I had free access to the audio on my phone but it isn't working on my laptop.  According to Wikipedia's Perceptions Corruption Index, Lebanon ranks 154 out of 180 countries.

**  Reuters has an article about the corruption at the port which is much worth reading for an overview.  One paragraph states: "...17 out of Lebanon's 21 shipping line companies have links to politicians via their board members, managers or shareholders."

Port anecdote (second-hand) about one of J's colleagues--let's call him Pierre--who chose to ship his belongings:  Pierre moved over with his family, so he shipped his furniture, appliances, and personal effects via ship then rented an unfurnished flat.  His shipment arrived but was blocked at port.  Hotels bills adding up quickly, Pierre moved his family to a furnished flat, thinking to pay perhaps one month's rent while waiting for his affairs to be cleared. However, no amount of phone calls could unblock the situation, and Pierre continued to pay on his unfurnished AND furnished flats.  Finally he went to the port in person and asked, "How much?" Notice it was no longer a question of "What?"  A financial contribution on his part was indeed needed.  I can't remember the exact amount and don't want to misquote anything, but I know it had at least a thousand digit in it. :(  Bribe paid, his cargo was mysteriously and fortuitously unblocked within the day.  

The port is the place to be employed.  Nepotism and string pulling happen all the time to secure someone a position there because the opportunity for personal gain is enormous.

*** In fact, a company we have shipped with twice refused to even give us a quote, hemming, hawing and failing to get back to us on numerous occasions.  We thought it was because we were going to ship so little, but it turns they just don't like doing business with the Beirut port because of all the Things That Go Wrong and the dissatisfied customers who think it is their fault rather than customs here.  That info was obtained off the record, not by us but by the colleague who relayed Pierre's story.

As the mother of three small children, I often find myself wondering where my days and time go. Unsurprisingly, I have a definite answer to where all my energy goes.

These past two months have been crazy busy, though, what with dealing with the whole family being sick with one thing after another. We are coasting along with mild coughs and some eye discharge for the boys. As lon as its doesn't et any worse, l can cope. Ok, from that sentence, uess what key is screwing up on my kelybolarld now.l LWelll, besides the llinsane lllllllll that just inserts itself where elvesl.l...olr clever ...ollr ever it lwanlltls. Does charming things with my auto-correct, let me tell you. And makes it very hard to type. Sigh.

All this because there are no ground wires here in Egypt, at least not in the flats we've had. So every time there is a surge, my keyboard flips out. :( My laptop will also be glad to be back in France.)

And speaking of France...

We learned that despite setting aside vacation days into a special account for the past four years so he could insure having some time to settle the family on our return to France, J's employer insists he come straight to work. This is the craziness that they subject him to in order to not have his pay docked: remain at work until the end of his shift on 31 July, fly out on 31 July so that he can land IN FRANCE no later than 11:59 p.m., and report to work at 8 a.m. on 1 August. The answer to his request to have one day off from his vacation time (not a freebie) was, "Absolutely not."

Fine, we thought, and proceeded to plan out an alternative. J decided to take more vacation time before his termination date to accompany the family back to France, settle us in, fly back to Cairo on the 29th, sign some papers on the 30th, and fly back the 31st in order to be at work on August 1. We even asked the current owners of the house we are buying to move the hand-off date from 2 Aug to July 22. They agreed.

Then we had to look like idiots and ask them to move the date up even more when one of J's colleagues told him to be careful about the dates he was taking off. Apparently, he has to be in Egypt for the two weeks prior to his termination date. So nice of his boss to tell him.

The family we are buying from is super nice and understanding, so we'll leave Egypt 4 July, move into our new place 8 July, and J will spend a few days with us before flying back to Cairo. When he returns to France, he'll head straight to work and will work until the company releases him for time off.

For those who don't know or remember, he is with the riot police in France and is regularly sent on deployment for 3 weeks at a time. This means that we could potentially go for 5 weeks without seeing him. This is going to be a trying time for the kids. First an international move--for the boys from the only country they've ever known, but one could argue that Sprout doesn't remember much of living in France--and then not seeing their father for such an extended period of time.

BUT! We will be back in France. We will have a gorgeous home in a lovely, clean! rural setting. We'll have awesome adventures getting to know a new place. It will be peaceful; we will be in our element.  So good things on the horizon despite the bumps.

I'm to that stage of change where I'm getting antsy, with physical pangs, yearning for this transition to either get more squarely under way or to pass altogether. We should get the boxes from the moving company within a couple of weeks; that will help. As will a more solid move into hotter temps so I can put away all mid-season clothing and bedding.

In other news, I was also been busy painting a lot to raise money for Egyptian charities. I'll try to remember to take some photos and do a Sunday snippet...

Someone stole our car last night.

J realized it this afternoon when he went out to get groceries.  A witness said it happened around 2 a.m.

Our car is old and not one that would typically be stolen. There are two likely possibilities:

1. It was stolen for parts,

2. It was stolen for "ransom."

Regarding possibility #2:  A Korean gentleman in our neighborhood had his car stolen some months back. He was contacted and asked for 12000 LE for the return of his car. He told the police; they pretty much shrugged and said he should pay it, so he did.

If we are in the same boat, J says he won't be paying. When he made the police report, he was disgusted by the lack of concern, etc. and feels that we can't expect much help from the police at the station where he went. Tomorrow, he'll try to get help from people associasted with the embassy.

Good thoughts/vibes/prayers are requested.

Sometimes things suck.  At least we have a lot to be grateful for, like the fact that no one was hurt. :-<

ETA: A conversation with frigg made me realize that I forgot to share something else: we can't buy another car to replace ours. We are only allowed to buy one during our stay in Egypt. If anything ever happens to your car (breaks down, is totalled, etc), you can't buy another. I'm too tired to look up the exact law, but I think this only applies to cars with diplomatic plates. So, if we don't get ours back, we'll have to finish the remainder of our stay carless.
 

Both J and I have been infected with some kind of malware that is wreaking havoc with our ability to surf the net. We've spent countless hours these past couple of days trying to get rid of it, to no avail.

I've been trying to respond to some LJ entries without any luck, and I was only able to log in tonight by doing some weird round-about things.

I'll be back(ish) whenever we get this fixed.

Why do people have to invent this malicious stuff!!!!???? #@$%&^!

ETA: There have been at least two more attacks since I posted this entry this morning. :-<  Will be staying home.

A car bomb went off this morning outside the Cairo Security Directorate, about 5.5 miles from our house, as the crow flies.  I heard the explosion, even with my earplugs in. At least 2 dead and 40 wounded. :(  We had an appointment with our doctor at the clinic* where we'll be giving birth; I think today is not the day to do it.

______________
* a few miles away from the police HQ that was bombed.

...who cannot control their sp*mming impulses, my journal is going to be locked and friends-only for an indeterminate period of time. Sorry to those who do not have LJ accounts.

...at least I hope I am.

I am very much dreading the "etat des lieux" tomorrow, the handing over of the keys, the verification of the inventory and the state in which we have left the apartment.

I always leave a place spotless. Spotless. I am not a tidy person, but when I leave a home, you could eat off the floors, the walls, out of the dishwasher*...  We have replaced what we have broken and have not damaged anything irreplaceable.

However, the lady who is coming to do the état des lieux has not been...friendly whenever we've spoken on the phone.

When we had to replace the broken induction stovetop and called to find out the procedure for insurance purposes, she was downright witchy, practically accusing us of trying to rip off the rental agency when all we were trying to do was follow the proper channels.

Then, the other day, in setting up the appointment for the "check out," she told me we were going to have to pay a plumber to do the annual maintenance for the heating. We lived here from March to 1 Oct and had no need of the heating. I asked her to discuss it with J, citing we had only been here six months.  She went ballistic and said we were going to HAVE TO pay so no need to discuss anything. To which I politely insisted she talk to J about it. 

When we moved in, the realtor (different agent) said the maintenance was our responsibility, at which time J asked for a receipt showing the last upkeep done on the boiler.  We never received anything.  

Anyhow, the witchy lady never called J. He called the agency instead and repeated the need to see a receipt for the last maintenance because, hey, why should we have to pay for something we never used? And the agency kept dragging it out, claiming to be waiting on the plumber to send them the last bill. Only the thing is: They handle this apartment for the owner. It is their responsibility to have all of these documents on hand, already.

Witchy lady finally called back, leaving a message, in which she said, "Lucky for you, the last maintenance was done in Sept 2010, so you don't have to do it." (Remember the maintenance is ANNUAL, so they dropped the ball in 2011.) Lucky for us? Why lucky for us?  If we had bowed to her attempts to cow me, then we would be stuck paying something that is not our business to be paying.  Luck plays no part in it. They messed up; they have to pony up. Who wants to bet they try to fob off the expense on the next renters?

All day today, I've been tormenting myself with scenarios of her trying to find something wrong with the apartment and succeeding, thereby getting to keep all or a part of our deposit.  I'm making myself miserable. I'm borrowing trouble from tomorrow, when perhaps there will be no trouble.  I know that, but I just can't stop. Stupid mental playback of misery!

OK, enough whinging. Time to get back to cleaning so as not to give witchy woman any ground...

____
* that might seem an odd thing to say, but have you ever cleaned a dishwasher filter? Nasty,greasy things...

Dear Neighbors,

Thanks for taking my clothes out of the dryer and putting them in my basket. </sarcasm>  Next time, do you think you can let the cycle finish first so that my clothes are actually DRY? Especially since I don't exaggerate the settings needed to dry my clothes, unlike some.

Yes, yes, I know I've taken someone else's clothes out before while the machine was still running, but that was because, you know, the one pair of XS jeans was already dry and did not need to tumble about for the remaining 2 hrs of programmed time. Oh, and the child's kimono?  That was dry, too, with 90 minutes still to go. (See what I mean about exaggerating?)

My clothes?  Not dry.  

Pretty please have a little courtesy next time.*

Respectfully yours.

Me 

(* and clean the lint trap. I don't mind doing it--I actually enjoy doing it when it is my own machine and not full of strangers' hair--but I do mind that I seem to be the only one who does.)

______________________

Dear Mechanic,

For the love of my kneecaps (and those of all other customers taller than you), please move the seat back to its original position after you drive my car. It was very sweet of you to get it out of the parking space for me, but your consideration was cancelled by the extreme OW! of slamming my kneecap against the steering column when getting out of the car.

Painfully yours,

Me

P.S. Thank you for changing the brake pads and disks though...er wait, should I thank you when I had to pay that much for the service??? In any case, so happy that annoying noise is at last gone!