Now I have lived in lots of different places before, but there is something unique and special about the flat I share with Mena.
When I moved out of my parents 4 bedroom low set house at the age of 17 to join the Air Force I lived in a dormitory. When I was about 20 I moved out of the dorms and into a little 3 bedroom house that I rented with my Air Force house mate. When I went to Uni at the age of 25 I was back in the dorms again before I got a bit tired of the teenagers and decided renting a granny flat would be the best option for me. When I got my first teaching job in an Aboriginal community I lived in a few different houses and shared with a couple of different teachers. After my stint in the community it was back home to my mother. I kind of needed the break from all the moving and temporary accommodation. I had been here and there all over the place for about 12 or 13 years. I just needed to settle down and find a place to call my own.
Now I have settled down with my new husband on Mahmoudaya Road, Dr Girgis Building, Aswan.
This flat kind of fell upon us. It wasn't our first choice. We were originally offered a rooftop 'granny flat' in a friends family building, but unfortunately that fell through 3 weeks before I was due to move to Egypt. When Mena told me this bad news about the flat my jaw dropped. I was moving to Egypt in 3 weeks and I had nowhere to live. More than the panic I felt in my stomach, I felt extremely sorry for my Mena. I knew that having a good place for us to live arranged before I arrived was really important to him and the stress of looking for such a place was entirely on him alone.
What goes through your head when you are moving to a place like Egypt in 3 weeks with no place to go to....well to be very honest with you, I think I was nervous about it for about a day. Until I went to church and talked about it with my church family. I don't know how it happened, but for probably the first time in my life I just let it go. God would provide what I needed in just the right time...and he did.
When I got home from church that afternoon Mena sounded relieved. A doctor friend of his who had offered to let us rent in his building had said he would be more than happy for us to have the flat above his. The only thing was, it needed to be built. At that time it was just an empty shell, just bricks and mortar. The race was on. Work began the very next day and workers were there 7 days a week trying to complete the flat enough for us to live in. Just so that you can understand, Egyptians have their own timezone and it seems to move a lot slower than the one in Australia. We knew people who had taken 6 months to a year to renovate their flats in Aswan.
Our flat was completed to a livable state in 4 weeks. When I got to Aswan I spent 1 week in a hotel before we were able to move in. I mean there were things that weren't finished, like the kitchen and other bits and pieces. The workmanship really did reflect the rushed effort to get it completed. But, it was done and we were home. Now we are on the 4th floor of the Dr Girgis building on Mahmoudaya road. God knew what he was doing when he put us here. We have excellent neighbours and without them I would be totally lost in this country. This flat is not just a home, it offered a connection to a fantastic Egyptian family.
Step by step after that the incomplete things have been kind of completed. First things first was the kitchen. Then connecting the hot water system. Then installing the exhaust fans in the bathroom and kitchen (although connecting them to electricity is a whole other job). Air-conditioning in the lounge room, a washing line out the window in the second bedroom. A water pump installed so we can have running water all the time (I wait in anticipation as that will be any day now).
Step by step things are being completed. Slowly our flat is becoming a home. There are no pretty things like trinkets and pictures on the walls, all the furniture is second hand and by Australian standards it is small, but slowly it is becoming a home and in the process of building it we have learnt a lot about renovating a flat in Egypt and about each other.
They are humble beginnings. I can already tell that we will speak fondly of this little flat when we are old. Although I pretty sure that if I asked Mena where our home was we would both agree, it is wherever we are.
When I moved out of my parents 4 bedroom low set house at the age of 17 to join the Air Force I lived in a dormitory. When I was about 20 I moved out of the dorms and into a little 3 bedroom house that I rented with my Air Force house mate. When I went to Uni at the age of 25 I was back in the dorms again before I got a bit tired of the teenagers and decided renting a granny flat would be the best option for me. When I got my first teaching job in an Aboriginal community I lived in a few different houses and shared with a couple of different teachers. After my stint in the community it was back home to my mother. I kind of needed the break from all the moving and temporary accommodation. I had been here and there all over the place for about 12 or 13 years. I just needed to settle down and find a place to call my own.
Now I have settled down with my new husband on Mahmoudaya Road, Dr Girgis Building, Aswan.
This flat kind of fell upon us. It wasn't our first choice. We were originally offered a rooftop 'granny flat' in a friends family building, but unfortunately that fell through 3 weeks before I was due to move to Egypt. When Mena told me this bad news about the flat my jaw dropped. I was moving to Egypt in 3 weeks and I had nowhere to live. More than the panic I felt in my stomach, I felt extremely sorry for my Mena. I knew that having a good place for us to live arranged before I arrived was really important to him and the stress of looking for such a place was entirely on him alone.
What goes through your head when you are moving to a place like Egypt in 3 weeks with no place to go to....well to be very honest with you, I think I was nervous about it for about a day. Until I went to church and talked about it with my church family. I don't know how it happened, but for probably the first time in my life I just let it go. God would provide what I needed in just the right time...and he did.
When I got home from church that afternoon Mena sounded relieved. A doctor friend of his who had offered to let us rent in his building had said he would be more than happy for us to have the flat above his. The only thing was, it needed to be built. At that time it was just an empty shell, just bricks and mortar. The race was on. Work began the very next day and workers were there 7 days a week trying to complete the flat enough for us to live in. Just so that you can understand, Egyptians have their own timezone and it seems to move a lot slower than the one in Australia. We knew people who had taken 6 months to a year to renovate their flats in Aswan.
Our flat was completed to a livable state in 4 weeks. When I got to Aswan I spent 1 week in a hotel before we were able to move in. I mean there were things that weren't finished, like the kitchen and other bits and pieces. The workmanship really did reflect the rushed effort to get it completed. But, it was done and we were home. Now we are on the 4th floor of the Dr Girgis building on Mahmoudaya road. God knew what he was doing when he put us here. We have excellent neighbours and without them I would be totally lost in this country. This flat is not just a home, it offered a connection to a fantastic Egyptian family.
Step by step after that the incomplete things have been kind of completed. First things first was the kitchen. Then connecting the hot water system. Then installing the exhaust fans in the bathroom and kitchen (although connecting them to electricity is a whole other job). Air-conditioning in the lounge room, a washing line out the window in the second bedroom. A water pump installed so we can have running water all the time (I wait in anticipation as that will be any day now).
Step by step things are being completed. Slowly our flat is becoming a home. There are no pretty things like trinkets and pictures on the walls, all the furniture is second hand and by Australian standards it is small, but slowly it is becoming a home and in the process of building it we have learnt a lot about renovating a flat in Egypt and about each other.
They are humble beginnings. I can already tell that we will speak fondly of this little flat when we are old. Although I pretty sure that if I asked Mena where our home was we would both agree, it is wherever we are.
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