4 a.m. I fly into Cairo, hop in a taxi and 30 mins. later I’m letting myself into my apt. – “Home at last, cup of choc and I’m off to bed!” says I to myself……..well, uh…nooo! What is that smell? I drop my bags and follow my nose……”WTF?!”
Before my astonished eyes – my parquet floor down the entire length of the corridor is a topsy-turvey, higgledy-piggledy mess, 2 – 3 inches off the floor. Being used to Irish winters, my first thought was “Burst Pipes!” Wait, no, can’t be – this is Egypt, no pipes under my floor…..look upwards, no water on the ceiling. I get to the bathroom door and see the floor is covered in mud. How? From where? What the????
First photo below is the hall and corridor before the toilet eruption – parquet was unusable again so we had to tile it. In the second photo, the “bibet” is the small, square, shiny metal object in front of the shower. That is where the “eruption” happened. Unbelieveable that such a small opening could spew up enough dirt and water to cover the entire floor and the adjoining corridor!
It took me a few minutes to understand that the bibet (hole in the bathroom floor where the water goes down) had somehow erupted, spewing water everywhere. Forget going to bed! I get out the hose, mop and bucket and automatically started cleaning.
At 6am I find the caretaker, call the plumber and so begins a saga that lasts until mid-day as the investigation proceeds – the end of the story? It wasn’t my fault apparently, nothing at all to do with me, apart from destroying my floor. Old pipes outside the building…never mind, I doubt I can explain it properly.
Is the problem fixed? Will it happen again? Who knows? You see – this is Egypt and even the bibets are in revolt! Thank God it wasn’t the toilet!!!! Don’t laugh – that can erupt also!
Moral of the story? Don’t sit on the toilet too long in Egypt….remember Mel Gibson and (was it Danny Glover?) in what was the name of that movie? Lethal Weapon?
I found out a few things today. What was the worst part of the day? Was it the mess? the shock? the expense of replacing the entire floor? No, it was the hours of frustration trying to communicate with 4 Egyptian men. They were all experts, of course. Trying to communicate that whatever about the problem inside my apt. there was no way I was paying for whatever it was that caused the problem outside – actually it was worse than that.
I could see what and where the problem was, but they were so busy trying to ensure I took ownership of the entire problem they refused to really listen and try to see the cause of the problem. After all they were men, weren’t they? This was their domain and what the hell would a woman know anything about it? So that was the first thing I discovered – the frustrated communication was what got to me the most. BUT, if I were not imbued with self-doubt and certainly, giving off a vibe of uncertainty, which they naturally and automatically interpreted – would my communications with them have been easier? I’m sure it would.
What else did I find out? I discovered that something had shifted in my consciousness. In the midst of the arguments about fixing the situation and who was responsible, I realised I was actually extremely upset, a bit shocked, extremely tired, and about to burst into tears. I did shed a few before I could stop them. I always wonder why I can’t look as good as Demi Moore in “Ghost” – I look nothing like that when the tears are streaming down my face!
Wiping away the sweat (35 degrees here today) and the tears, I suddenly stopped short. I don’t know where it came from – but across my mind rushed the thoughts “What the hell is wrong with you? Look at the state of you over some water, timber and bit of work! Who cares? What other troubles have you? If that is the worst you have to worry about – then you are one luck B*****”.
As if suddenly struck by lightening, I felt so lucky! I thought of my family – all fine TG! What else is important? Who cares about the rest of it? I am thankful, really, I am for that erupted bibet for bringing me that appreciation.
Comparing myself to others in order to make myself feel good never worked for me. You know like when your parents told you how lucky you were to have that dinner that you didn’t want to eat, while others were starving? My inward response was usually “well, you send it to them! I don’t want it!”
It’s the same thing, in a way, but worlds apart in the feeling of it. For anyone who can understand what I mean by that. I’ve been teaching my grand-daughter to practice waiting when something crappy happens, if you can, and look for the “silver lining” but this is probably the first time I’ve been aware of a wonderful positive feeling of SATISFACTION right in the middle of a crappy situation. I guess practice makes perfect.
I have a lot to be satisfied with and that is where my focus should be, not on one silly event which will be sorted in a couple of days!
Two other things…
- I have to admit being vibrationally responsible for this mishap – I created this – and I am not going to back to dig out exactly where it started. It’s enough for me to know it.
- It could have been worse – I could have been sitting on the toilet or in the shower when it happened LOL!
No, I am quite sure I haven’t turned into PollyAnna YET …. but I am thankful for the feeling of her today! It’s now 8pm and I’m having that cuppa choc and getting to bed! YEAH!