Working Through the Long Week of Holidays

It has been almost nine months since I arrived in Cairo. This is probably the longest single period of time I have been away from Singapore since the first time I flew out from Singapore to Taipei in Feb 98. This outpost period will be just over ten months by the time I return to Singapore for my first relief break in late Jan 09. I yearn for the day to come soon to rejoin with my family back home.

Time is passing fast in Cairo and work never ends. Tomorrow is the Eve of the Hari Raya Haji (Eid Al Adha or Greater Bairam) and the start of a week long holidays. While my office is closed, I will be going to work like any other day. Without the day-to-day disruptions and slew of fires to fight, I should be able to work on some of the less urgent more certainly more important long-term issues. Otherwise, I really do not know what to do over the long holidays alone other than to stay at home and rot in front of the TV or the PC.

I am easing out of my culture shock well and I felt I am in better control nowadays. There are many challenges at work and sometimes I still get the sense of being overwhelmed by demands from all directions. Fortunately, lady luck has followed me to the overcrowded and polluted Cairo and I am getting lots of help and support from everyone that I worked with. On the whole, I can say that I have passed the crawling stage and now beginning to walk briskly. Hopefully, I can start running soon before I end my posting in 2011 with a final 100m sprint.