Guava jam

It is a guava season now in Egypt. I love this fruit in fresh a lot. I also like to stock up some guava jam cans. It goes great with breakfast toasts. The Egyptian guava is yellow when ripe with a pronounced fragrance which makes a wonderful aromatic jam.


Ingredients:
Guava
Sugar

Many recipes call for water. I do not add water. With water it will take longer time to cook and as the result the jam will come out like a pure. Meanwhile I like to feel pieces of fruit in the jam.

For each 10-12 guava fruits I add 2 cups of sugar 200 ml each (400 ml total).

Cut guavas into quarters and scrape out the seeds (I do not peel fruits). Put the guava insides with seeds into a pot and bring to a boil (on a low heat.) Then reduce heat to minimum and boil for about 30 minutes. Remove from stove and set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Pour the mixture through a metal sifter (into a pan) to separate out the seeds. Use a spoon to force the mixture through the sifter.

Meanwhile, slice seedless quarters of guava into smaller segments. Transfer them to a heavy pan (the same that will be set on stove) and add sugar (for each 10-12 guava fruits 2 cups of sugar), shake the pot, cover it and leave for 30 minutes. Then, shake it again and leave for another 30 minutes. Repeat this procedure for 4-5 times. This will allow juices to develop. Hence, there will be no need for water. Sometimes I leave fruit-sugar mix over night and start cooking only next morning.

Add mixture obtained after sifting seeded pieces to the heavy pan where you kept guava-sugar mix. Set the pan on stove; bring to boil (on a low heat). Reduce heat and keep boiling, shaking the pan every now and then (stirring would mash the pieces of fruit) until a little drop onto a wet saucer begins to thicken. It takes to me about 5 hours to reach this stage on a low heat. Jam should simmer at a very slow boil. If it is too high, the jam will burn.

Move pot from stove and set aside to cool. Transfer jam into jars and refrigerate. Jam will stiffen as it cools. Make sure they have good tight lids. This jam can keep for months.

A fish restaurant in Alexandria

My husband and I love fish and eat it as often as possible. In Alexandria, we have found two quite good fish restaurants. One of them is Zephyrion - the one that is located in Abu Quir. So, if you choose to go down there get ready for a long drive.

The interiors of the restaurant are simple – all painted in white, high Italian windows allow plenty of light insides. White linen table clothes and curtains with dark blue strip emphasize the marine motive as well as the cleanness of the place. White walls carry naïve paintings predominantly with traditional for Egypt Pharaoh’s motives.

The menu is also very basic. It is just fish, shrimps and wine or beer. But the choice of fish is quite reasonable. The customers select fish and shrimps for themselves and then the restaurant would cook them.

At the time of our visit there were around 6 types of fish to choose from. We ordered two types of grilled fish (one was fillet and another complete fish) and grilled shrimps plus some soft drinks. Salads, tahina, tzatziki (a yoghurt and garlic paste) , pickles, fried eggplant were brought as well. All food was deliciously fresh. It came to something around 140 Egyptian pounds for two of us.


This picture was taken in a parking lot in front of the restaurant.


Spacious hall of the restaurant.

And here are the paintings.

Armadillo' shoe

It seems that soon we might walk in something like this
They are so-called 'armadillo' shoes from Alexander McQueen's S/S 2010 show.

I wonder whether these shoes will be ever found elegant. I remember when the first shoes on a platform came into existence they seemed very ugly. Then, gradually all people got used to them and many found them even stylish. But the shoes on the picture above are something!

By the way armadillo is an animal with a shell.

Butterflied turkey

Cooking turkey is something that I don't venture frequently and my cooking skills in this area are quite shaky. So, I was searching for some new recipe ideas and stumbled upon the description of how to butterfly the turkey. The difficult part here is to remove the backbone and crack the breastbones so the bird will lie flat keeping the bird intact. Flattening helps reduce the amount of time it takes to cook the bird. It also makes the whole process a little easier to manage.
The video that I found shows in details the technique of butterflying. One look is worth a thousand words.

Crows in Alexandria?!

For the past week I have been hearing crow cawing. The fact that crows were also present here was a revelation to me. Ever since we moved to Egypt three months ago and settled down in our apartment, I hadn’t seen or heard a crow. Back home in my native northern town, crows were inseparable part of landscape. They were particularly active in autumn when rains and winds wash down most of leaves. They were also very much visible during mild periods of winter. But to see a crow in Africa – that was something  I’ve done some research and I found that the origin of crows is Asia and they spread out into North America, Africa, Europe, and Australia. They can live on all temperate continents (except South America).

Internet addiction

I’ve noticed that more and more time spent staring at computer screen reading blogs, journals, communities.. . I immerse myself in virtual realities because they are very entertaining. Less time is left for books, tv, fitness (although I do not regret about TV). A growing need in written self expression and, consequently, blogging is yet another time consuming activity. Looks familiar?

Marriage between a foreign woman and an Egyptian man

Many bloggers have tried to explain Egyptian type marriages. People write from their experiences or the experiences of their friends. Some information is useful some misleading. Here is what I have found about the marriages between a foreign woman and an Egyptian man.

There are two types of marriage in Egypt – not all foreign women realize this.
1. Orfi (orfy)
2. Legal marriage

Orfi marriage is a kind of union in which the state is not involved. The partners write their own marriage contract, get two people to sign it as witnesses and the document is not registered at a government office. To give an impression of legality, a groom might have an attorney to sign marriage contract. He can take his wife-to-be to a lawyer’s office. However, the truth is that this attorney has no license to approve marriages. Hence, the marriage is still not recognized by the Egyptian authorities. Generally those who resort to orfi marriages have reasons to keep their relationships secret. It is because either families disapprove or the man is already married and he does not want his first wife to find out that he has taken another. Orfi unions have become widespread among university students because they provide a legitimate means to have sex in a society where there are strict taboos about premarital relations. But it is viewed shameful by Egyptians and invariably the women suffer in such marriages. It gives them no marital rights. The bottom line, it is not a marriage.

Note, sometimes you can find that orfi is called a common law marriage. Misleading! There is no law in this marriage.

The second type –the only legal marriage in Egypt - is a civil ceremony performed at the local marriage court. Legal marriage might be accompanied by a religious ceremony. The ceremony should be arranged separately, but it is the civil ceremony that establishes the legality of the marriage.

Prior to registration of marriage, a foreign woman needs to obtain documents signed by her country consulate in Egypt proving that she is not legally married in her home country plus (again, approved by the consulate) her parents’ permission to get married. However, this permission is required only for people below certain age. Older women do need such permission. I’m not sure whether this requirement exists for all countries or for some only but in my marriage I had to get it. Of course, foreign passport should be also presented along with the above.

On another side, the groom also needs similar documents. Specifically, he needs an official paper with information about his family and his marital status – whether he is never married, divorces or married. This is required because majority of countries do not recognize multiple marriages and this marriage cannot occur then. He also needs his national ID, paper about his relationship with legal system (any crime committed).

When all the documents collected by both sides, you go to your consulate and the consulate issues a permission to marry. Only after that you go to the Egyptian marriage court at Lazoughly Square in Cairo (in fact, it was a very small office – I was disappointed :) ). In the court, you sign marriage agreement in the presence of two witnesses if they are men. Or you can bring with you one man and two women. Yes, one man = two women.

The marriage contract will not be given right away. You need to give them some time to prepare this contract. It will be in Arabic. On receiving the contract, you should stamp it in the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs and then stamp it in your home country consulate. Then, you marriage will be legal in Egypt and in your home country.

After that you can apply for residency and citizenship. It will take two years to obtain the citizenship but it worth obtaining because it gives a permission to work anywhere in Egypt.

By the way, some people wrote on their blogs that to be really legal marriage paper (contract) should have pictures of both bride and groom. I do not believe that this statement is correct. Neither foreign-Egyptian nor Egyptian-Egyptian marriage contract contains any picture.

The Islamic ceremony as the part of legal marriage is explained by a fellow blogger at:
You even can find there a video of the ceremony itself.

Taxis in Alexandria

I’ve found that in Alexandria, Egypt there are two types of taxi. First, the one you can see everywhere – yellow taxis. They are usually old Russian made Lada cars that is some version of Fiat. There are plenty of these yellow taxis at any time of the day. At least I have such impression. They do not have AC, windows are always open and it can be quite exhausting to travel in them in the hot period of the year. The price of a ride does not exceed 4-5 Egyptian pounds regardless of your destination during day time within the city. Trip to Carrefour from downtown of Alex can come to 10 Egyptian pounds that is also a good price. However, the catch is – all these prices will be charged if you travel with someone local who will take care of negotiations with the driver. Once the driver sees a foreigner, price will go up to LE 20.

The second type is a silver taxi. They are Toyota cars, air-conditioned, clean. However, I have not seen many of them. There has not been any single case when I could get this taxi. It would be great if anyone can shed some light on this type of taxi. Anyway, I’ll keep searching….

Property tax in Egypt

I always tend to panic when I hear something like: “you have to submit this by…”

Just recently I came across some news regarding new tax regulations in Egypt according to which all property owners including foreigners must submit a Declaration of property to a local tax authority. The due is 31st of January, 2009. So, I tried to search the net to find out the details of tax system in Egypt. I am posting here the results of my search.

Egypt plans to introduce new residential and commercial property taxes in January next year (that is, Jan 2010). But the tax stands to have a negative impact on international investors as it may put them off buying property in the country...

Up until now, property tax in Egypt has been extremely favourable. There is no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax and no stamp duty. But now, the Egyptian Government is trying out various methods in their bid to reform the economy and they see overhauling the taxation system in the country as one way in which to do this.

Tarek Farag, Head of Egypt's Real Estate Tax Authority, said that Egypt properties valued at 1 million Egyptian pounds (£109,000) will be taxed a small tax of just under one per cent, while homes valued at £45,000 or less will be exempt from the tax altogether.

But of course the number of international investors buying properties worth under the low £45,000 threshold will be minimal, so it is likely that this new tax will affect the majority of them.

Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said that individuals and corporations should submit real estate assets by the end of the year for valuation.

Valuations will take into account location, quality of construction, provision of basic services and proximity to public parks, health and education facilities.

If property owners feel that their homes have been valued incorrectly and they feel the taxes levied against them are unfair, then they can apply to appeal against the taxes within sixty days of the valuation and their home will be revalued within 30 days.

Properties will be re-evaluated every five years.

Taxes on industrial real estate would be deducted from the overall income tax paid by the owners.

Retrieved from: http://www.era-egypt.com/pages/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsID=2330

We were driving today along the Alexandria Corniche. Water now has a beautiful shade of dark emerald. And waves with white foam… Beautiful!

Not bad for a 62 year old.

Here are the pictures. Not bad for a 62 year old.

Maintain allure

I usually go back to my home country and meet old friends once a year. And these visits allow me to see changes on the faces of my friends: lines, wrinkles, skin, hair … just name it. I undergo the same changes but I see myself in a mirror everyday and cannot notice my own changes so clearly. Well, it’s painful but what can we do? We can, for example, keep ourselves fit, well groomed, and positive.

I also like to look for examples of women who manage not only to stay healthy and look healthy but they maintain their allure despite of age. Just few days ago I came across a new name for me - Diane von Furstenberg (a European woman's clothes designer) who was born in December of 1946. That is, she is 62 now. According to her inner circle she has not done any cosmetic interferences. I am posting here a couple of her pictures.

About I've been there

My husband and I just moved to Egypt. As I learn a new country and new life I’ll write here about my experiences. I will share some photos and knowledge about this country and the city I live, anything interesting that comes my way and I believe might be of interest to others.