Couple of days ago I was in our garden wondering what’s going on.
It was TOO quiet…like the end of the world.
Next day I saw this and heard the story.
This truck fell over. The driver was under drugs. He lost the control of the vehicle.
Most of the truck drivers make too long days. They get tired and the temptation to take drugs is huge.
A 2007 study on drug addiction in Egypt by the National Centre for Social and Criminal Research showed that 600,000 to 800,000 people (or 0.8 percent of the country’s 76 million population) suffer from addiction.
Drivers in Egypt generally drive too fast, roads are not good plus there are too many very old cars soon to break down…
I tried to take a picture of that car which is totally smashed but didn’t get better than this. I doubt that any people in the car survived. 6.000 people per year die in traffic…
Do you like snakes?
I do NOT like snakes.
under the trash can in our garden.
“I called Vodafone and asked them if there was a way to bar a certain number. They said that wasn’t possible, but they gave me the number of a police division that specializes in telecommunications. I had never heard of them but didn’t bother to call them. What would they do anyway?”
This is a normal attitude in Egypt, where trust of the government and police is at an all time low. The law requires anyone buying a SIM card to register with an ID card, and they do. The caller knows his number is showing up on the other end and that his full name and address are with his network provider, but that doesn’t deter him. In any case, even if the police can stop one person from calling a particular number, it’s impossible to stop the numerous callers that call every day.
She says “I kept my phone turned off for extended periods. After a few days, he got bored and stopped. But I have another cell phone where a problem was more persistent. Someone called day and night non stop. If I answered he’d call me a whore and say he ‘wanted to fuck me’. If my son or husband answered he’d swear and insult and keep on calling. The calls and messages were waking me up at night. I got so frustrated I had to throw the SIM card away and get a new number.”
0 thoughts on “accidents and snakes…”
The phone harassment is ridiculous … I thought we got rid of that with caller id.
Sielläkö ei ole ollenkaan autokoulua!? Kyllä meillä vaan, olen itsekin ajanut kortin täällä. Monet sen kyllä ostaakin tuntematta yhtäkään liikennemerkkiä..tosin viime aikoina otteita on kiristetty autokoulujen osalta, samoin kuin sakkojenkin.
Ja mitä noihin tyttöihin tulee, niin ne tekevät juuri samoin kuin miehetkin, ovat kaukana naiiveista uhreista ja osaavat kyllä ottaa hyödyn irti.
You are a brave, brave woman. I would’ve ran away screaming with my arms flailing wildly in the air. I. Do. Not. Like. Snakes. lol
Kristi, Live and Love…Out Loud
@TweetingMama
ALLU
oppaathan olivat vain lojaaleja maanmiehiaan kohtaan! 🙂
Kun ei ole suuria ongelmia pienista tulee suuria, kuten puhelinmyyjien soitot…
KEATS THE SUNSHINE GIRL
there are too many who think: I AM the king of this road…They show off and teach others how you should drive…oh, boy…
TARU
ja mina en haluaisi edes nahda kaarmeita. Mutta minkas teet kun yllatti.
Taalla harvase paiva on rekkalasti kumollaan. Ajavat liian kovaa, lasti liian suuri, huumeet, vasymys, huonot tiet, liian paljon liikennetta kapeilla teilla…
KATHRYN
thanks for your visit here!
TATTYTIARA
say that again! I wish it’s a minority of men who are like that…
CLOUDIA
snakes and snakes…
ah yes, accidents and snakes….pity
Aloha, Friend!
Comfort Spiral
How small and sad does a life have to be for a person to get off on nonsense like that?
“Happy birthday!
Stopping by from SITS.
http://BLOGitse.blogspot.com“
Thanks for the birthday wishes and for stopping by! 🙂
Kaikenlaiset käärmeet kierrän mieluiten kaukaa ja sunnuntaiaamuisin vähän pelkään vastaan ajavia rekkoja täälläkin 8 )
Some people drive like crazy, floutimg laws. Thus the numbers escalate in death.
ja suomalaiset valittaa lehtimyyjistä….
Egyptiläiset on meidän kairolaisen oppaan mukaan maailman taitavimpia autokuskeja. Me kyllä vähän ihmeteltiin, että mistä ne lommot on sitten tulleet autoihin.
>>Lynda
Several months ago a woman called me. Then her family members, one by one. Last one was a little girl. They called many times but only couple of days. Maybe it was fun for them but not for me.
The word ‘police’ is good because here they do what they want. People are really scared.
Half pigs? I’d love to have bacon – where can I find it?
>>NicoleB
It is huge and getting worse.
Especially young men without education and work are easy target to drug dealers…
>>Sirokko
Onko teilla autokouluja? Eli vaaditaanko jotain oikeata osaamista jotta kortin saa?
Taallahan ei ole. Isat/veljet jne. opettaa. Rahalla seka poydan paalta etta alta saa kortin.
Onpa tytot tyhmia. No tajuavat vasta aikuisina…
>>lepis
I agree!
>>Yaelian
Oh you’re a snake person…cool.
Phone harassment is not only harassment they do here.
That was just the start. More coming later…
>>Johki
Juu yksi mies kertoi olevansa niin vasynyt, etta han nukkuu aina kun jono pysahtyy. Todella viisasta.
Et tainnut paastaa jatkoille…? 🙂
>>allycupe
and leave the snake there? No way!
My husband was not at home so I had to kill it with a knife. First I hit it but it didn’t react. I had to cut it to kill it. Sorry but this is real life…either the snake or me…I didn’t like the idea if it crawled inside…in my bed…no thank you!
>>mythopolis
LOL! you’re funny – for me reading long stories in English take much more time than for you, right?!
3 days without sleep and driving!
I found this:
Black Beauties (also known as Black Birds or Black Bombers) are a combination of Amphetamine (Speed) and Dextroamphetamine (Active salt in Adderall). Pills are typically 20 milligrams. Effects include a mild to moderate euphoria, increased hyperactivity, increased awareness of surroundings, increased intrest in repetitive or normally boring activities, decreased apetite, and decreased ability to sleep. The added dextroamphetamine reduces comedown effects compared to amphetamine alone, but not to the extent of methamphetamine.
Black beauties were the drug of choice for truck drivers during the late 60’s and early 70’s, prior to the advent of methamphetamine. Methamphetamine became popular because drivers had the ability to sleep after the drug’s effects wore off.
oooh, I don’t want see Copperhead:
In the eastern parts of the US, the Copperhead Snake is the most commonly encountered venomous snakes. The snake, with by the way has the Latin name Agkistrodon contortrix, has dark colored bands of different width across most of its body except for the tip of its tail, which may look almost greenish or yellowish.
Men as predators – well said!
But it’s great that most of the men are really nice!!!
>>Peter
Tourist life and expat life are two different worlds!
I want people to realize that reality is more than shiny skyscrapers and pyramids.
One very important thing is to have travel insurance! Anything can happen here.
Peter, that snake is dead! You can come, I hold your hand – right? 🙂
>>Emily
Living here is totally different than to visit for a week or two.
I left a comment on your blog. Everything isn’t like it looks…
I’m happy you’re safely back at home!
We just got home (to Sicily) from our first trip to Cairo and it was an incredible experience, unlike any other trip I’ve been on. I’m curious about what it’s like to live there. From this post though it sounds…tricky.
So sorry to hear about the accident. What a tragic story.
You are not really making any good tourist propaganda here! 🙂
The snake pictures made me cancel my Egypt trip “until futher”! 🙂
Coming from my good blog friend Blogitse, this post allows me to say, “This is too long, I’ll come back later.” But, I won’t. So, regarding drug-crazed truckers: Long ago, I was hitch-hiking across America and got picked up by a trucker. He told me quite frankly, he hadn’t slept in 3 days. He had left Ohio and drove all the way to the West coast, picked up another load and was on his way back. He mentioned he was downing ‘Black Beauties’…also known by truckers as ‘West coast Turn-Arounds. I was happy to jump out the first time he stopped. Very dangerous dude.
Regarding the snake: No, can’t identify this one. Here, the Copperhead is the poisonous snake to be wary of.
Regarding (some) men as predators: They are sick. Not just the ones that blatantly harrass, there are more subtle ways they can make women uneasy…prolonged stares , just trying to be uncomfortably close, and some harrass by simply demeaning or belittling, humiliating a woman. It is one of a number of blights on humanity.
I have no idea how I would react to the snake by the garbage can, I can only assume there would be shreaking and running.
Joo teillä saa olla varuillaan, paljon kaikenmaailman pilvessä ja muissa huumeissa ajelijoita. Tai ihan vaan rättipoikki väsyneitä.
Puhelinterrori on myös yleistä Egyptissä, ei sattunut koskaan mun kohdalle onneksi. Ainakin joistain puhelimista saa tietyt valitsemansa numerot äänettömälle (näppärä keino) ja itse ainakin vuosikausia pidin puhelinta öisin äänettömällä (ihan Suomessa) kun joskus saattoi tulla tekstari sellaiseen aikaan kun oli nukkumassa enkä halunnut herätä sellaiseen. Tai joku soitti neljän aikaan yöllä voiko tulla jatkoille mun luo 😉
I don’t mind snakes as long they are not poisonous and threatening. I could even hold one.
Very unpleasant that thing with the phone harassment!
Snakes, in any form, are not nice to let close!
6000/80 milj.henkeä teillä, meillä n. 3400/35 milj. niin ettei yhtään sen paremmalta näytä täällä.
(Ei käärmeitä, kiitos.)
Täälläkin noita puheluita harrastetaan, kokeilevat onneaan.. tytöt yleensä vastailee mielellään. Ei yleensä kauempaa jatku jos ei ole kiinnostunut.
Sorry,… have to snicker at the idea of a truck with pig halves crashing here in Egypt….. hilarious 😉
Jeee…I didn’t know that drug addiction was that high here.
Scary thought :/
And snakes, I do NOT like snakes.
*shudder*
No idea what kind it is.
Harassment…. so far I’ve been lucky.
Regarding trust in police.
Well, sometimes only threatening them with police helps.
It’s at least worth a try.
This happened to me in Cairo.. The fool would call in the middle of the night.. drove me mad. In the end I gave the phone to my husband, who took it to work – he in turn gave it to the Head of Security (scary scary guy) ‘who dealt with it’.. I got my phone back and it didn’t happen again. Another friend of mine did actually have to go to Telecommunication Police and they were very effective in dealing with the problem. It is so annoying. We had a similar truck accident on the Autobahn not far from us, on Sat. The truck was filled with HALF PIGS – they had to get a crane to lift all the pigs out before they could remove the truck. I kept thinking about how THAT would have shook them up on the Ring Road.