Weekly Supper Club



The view from El Aurassi

Baboo had organized an informal supper club over the last several months. It has become quite popular and I was excited to join in. I’ve been to three supper-club nights so far. The first week we went to a newly renovated upscale hotel called El Aurassi. Very elegant with a fabulous location overlooking the city.  The second week we went to Mesk Elil, which was very exotically and elegantly decorated. Both offered French and some North African cuisine and I enjoyed both venues very much.   The third week (this week), we went back to an embassy favorite, Taj Majal, for some Indian cuisine. 


Decor at Mesk Ilil

We went to these places in armored vans, which is the recommended way to get around the city. It was quite an adventure riding through these tiny winding streets with a big van that nearly touched the walls on each side of the street.  I am very happy not to be driving.





Reception Desk at the Taj Mahal

And finally, though the food has been really good so far, my favorite part of these dinners has been meeting some of Baboo’s colleagues. I am looking forward to making lots of interesting new friends.



A Day of Sightseeing

Last weekend, an officer who is here on temporary duty (TDY) hired a guide to show her around the city.  I managed to invite myself along.  Our guide spoke nearly perfect English and was very knowlegeable about the history, culture, and stories of Algeria.  Here are some of the places we visited.

Below the hill we are on is a botanical garden where the
Tarzan movies were filmed in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Martyr's Memorial (Makam Echahid) in remembrance of the unknown soldier who
fought for Algerian independence.

The Martyr's Memorial seen from our apartment.

Djemaa El-Djedid

This mosque is known as the New Mosque.  It was built in 1660.  The Turkish architecture is unusual for Algeria.  Also unusual, it was built in the form of a cross.  Local legend has it that the architect was a Christian and was executed for his trickery.

Djemaa El-Kebir




This mosque is the oldest in Algiers.  It was built in the 11th century on a site used for worship by the Phoenicians, the Romans, and the Christian crusaders.

 

We did not go into the mosques.  Here in the inner city, we just drove through enjoying the sites and our guide's stories. 

Main entry to Le Grande Poste

Le Grande Poste

Nearby the mosques is the Grande Poste, the city's main post office built in the Moorish style. This we can also see from our apartment.





The highlight of the day for me was a visit to the Basilica of Notre Dame d'Afrique.  Though built in the byzantine style, this is a western Christian church constructed by Frenchmen during the latter 19th century.  It sits high on a hill and was completely restored from 2007 to 2010.  Photography inside is prohibited.  Too bad because it is really gorgeous.  I took loads of pictures of the exterior and looking down from the hill.

Basilica of Notre Dame d'Afrique.  Photo taken 4/20 from El Djamila

Basilica entrance

A couple photos of the exterior

This is a photo of a postcard.  Too bad I couldn't
take real photos inside.

There was quite a magnificent view from the basilia's courtyard.  I tried to upload my video, but it wouldn't work. 

And though I didn't get any photos, we also saw many of the French colonial buildings, still in use today as offices and ministries. Our guide told us this style is very much the same as other French seaports such as Marseille. I have not been there (yet) but the buildings did look a lot like New Orleans with big French windows and wrought-iron balconies.

We ended our afternoon with a little shopping at La Maison de l'artisanat, a tiny shopping mall of artists' studios. Of course we bought a few things. My companion spent all of her remaining dinars here.

Gammy's First Impessions of Algeria

I arrived the first week in April to a beautiful breezy day – low 60s maybe – with a few clouds and some drizzle off and on.  A beautiful sea breeze.    I noticed immediately the palm trees as well as the scores of unfinished constructions projects - abandoned building sites.   And the smell of diesel reminiscent of my early trips to Europe.  No emission controls here!

The roads leading from the airport to the city were dotted with roadblocks.  And in the city it seemed there were armed police every couple of blocks.   Between our apartment and the embassy (a 10-minute walk), there are two police checkpoints.

The city, at least where we live, is very hilly with tiny, switch-back streets; no sidewalks.   Barely room for two small cars to pass each other.  As a result, they honk at every turn; lots of honking.  (Our kitchen window is right over the street.)

    Street side of our building.  The street is only as
wide as you see it here.

The little courtyard just inside the blue gate.
The white door leads to our stairway.

Our building is nice.  There is a small ceramic tile courtyard just inside the front gate.  Our apartment is on the third and fourth stories.  It is bright and spacious – at least the living area is.  All marble floors and counters with 3 crystal chandeliers.

The kitchen pantry

I was overwhelmed by all the boxes stacked everywhere even though Baboo had unpacked lots of stuff already, including all our consumables (an extra shipment State Dept allowed us for being assigned to a remote post).  The cupboards are stuffed, but somewhat organized in a way I would have done myself.  Good work, Baboo!

Good Morning Algiers

Our bedroom is tiny with our king bed taking up most of the floor space.  However, we have a floor to ceiling, wall to wall slider looking out over the city and the sea.  Really spectacular view.  The sun comes up directly into this window, but we have one of those cool European blackout shutters to bring down.   We have a gorgeous deck off the 4^th story.  (A photo of this at the bottom.) The people on the first floor (this is an all-American building) have their own deck filled with flowers – so I see a hobby in my future.  I like the apartment a lot and spent my first day trying to get the bathroom a bit organized so I could fit my things and take a shower.  It is quite adequate with lots of hot water (at least today), good pressure, and plenty of space to put my stuff.

Baboo took a bunch of photos of the apartment when he first got here.  If you would like to see more, send me an email.

Looking out the LR window from my desk.  The grates on the windows are for security and mostly safety since
there are no screens or decks.  The grates keep you from falling out over the cliff when you open the sliding windows.

We went for a long walk the first day.  Baboo showed me some of his favorite shopping places, including the small artisan shop where he had bought hand-made silver necklaces for our daughter and me (as well as a fun one for granddaughter and a fun carved box for son-in-law).  We bought a few things at the “supermarket” and a box full of yummies at the patisserie.   All the people in the shops were very friendly.  I suppose in time I will wander off by myself, but it did seem kind of complicated with long stairways, winding streets, and crazy traffic (though I think most places outside the US [including some places inside the US] are filled with crazy drivers).  Anyway, I felt a bit intimidated. 

I did walk up to the embassy myself on Monday.  (Baboo had taken me up there with him on Sunday morning so I knew the way.  It’s very close to our apartment.)  I was a bit nervous and decided I would probably wear a scarf whenever I am out alone.  Not all the women do – seems about 50-50.  But my hair is so light (even though I am in desperate need of a touchup!) that I just don’t want to be conspicuous.  I didn’t worry about my personal safety (except for playing chicken with the cars coming around the little bends in the streets – did I mention there are no sidewalks),  I just didn’t want anyone to think I was a saucy blond walking the streets alone and I didn’t want anyone to speak to me because I was sure I would not understand them.  I did speak with our cleaning lady on Monday.  She does not speak a word of English, so I felt pretty proud that we were able to communicate in French.

The people at the embassy were all very nice, as expected.  Baboo had made a big deal about my arrival, so everyone else did too.  It was sweet and helped ease my nerves.  One person even asked to see a picture of the kids.

For the first several days after arriving, the weather was bright and sunny with a wonderful breeze coming through.  I could even smell the sea.  The weather was very reminiscent of San Diego.  And to top it off, a big full moon rose from the sea.  Then the rain started, pouring buckets for most of the next 5 days with lots of thunder and lightning.  Since our building is on a steep hillside, I couldn’t help but think that we might slide right down to the port.  I even had to turn on the heat, which is radiator heat; each one gets turned on individually.

We have the Armed Forces Network (AFN) TV here, with the same goofy military commercials we came to know and love in Budapest.  The programming in not too bad though.  We watched most of the Masters golf tournament but gave up at midnight.  And I think Baboo is enjoying having someone to talk to in the evenings.  I try to be really cheery when he comes home from work.  So far, that’s easy.  One day I baked some beer bread.  Didn’t have any beer so I used a bottle of Sprite.  This is the first time I have used a metric oven, and it came out perfectly!  (Thanks to the previous tenants who left a C-to-F cheat sheet.)  My biggest challenge was figuring out the “universal” markings on the oven -  what’s “bake” what’s “keep warm”, and what’s “off.”

I’ve been here two weeks now and I am finished unloading all the boxes!  I tackled them one by one, going through a whole box before going on to the next.  I broke down the boxes and took them downstairs for pickup; but a neighbor had a good idea: keep them around until after the local elections on May 10 in case we are forced to evacuate quickly.   A sobering thought, but a good idea.  In the meantime, I found all sorts of stuff that I can’t believe we actually shipped here.  We shipped our bikes but we can’t use them.  Security forbids it and besides, there is no way we could compete with the cars on these hilly little streets. 

We are expecting one more shipment of all the stuff I sent when I left Virginia.  After all that, we'll be settled in for the duration of our assignment here.

The view from our patio.  Lots of room for entertaining up here.

Gammy here.  With Baboo’s permission, I am hijacking this blog to bring it up to date.  (I will continue his semi-anonymous style, if I can, by not including any real names.)

Since his last entry in September 2010, wow, has our life changed!   We did sell our house in NC.  We enjoyed one last family hoopla Thanksgiving of 2010.  Sad to leave, but it was time.  Twenty years of happy memories made there. 

And Baboo started his new career.  And perhaps his choice for this blog title was an omen because completely coincidentally he was assigned to a French-speaking post, Algeria.  Of course, for nearly a year before arriving there in October 2011, he was stuck at FSI trying to learn French.  (After being there so long, he dubbed it “The Bastille.”)








As for me, I totally loved my time in Arlington and am now convinced I am meant to live an urban lifestyle.  Maybe partly because I don’t like driving, and loathe parking hassles, I was happy to be able to walk to nearly everything I needed.  And to get into town, Metro was only two blocks away.  I loved it.  Best of all, we lived a short 12 minute drive from my new BFF, our darling granddaughter, now 4 years old. 


As an aside, I should mention that I retired from federal service in July 2008 and am now living the luxurious life of a pensioner.  I don’t mean “luxurious” in the sense of expensive lifestyle but rather with regard to having time of my own, quite a “luxury” in my book.   And it has been a joy beyond my expectations to spend so much time with my granddaughter.  I supposed I have a nurturing side of me that was much stronger than I knew because I have found spending the last year helping and taking care of our daughter (our only child) and her children (more on the plural used here later) very fulfilling and satisfying, much more than I ever would have admitted even to myself some years ago.   

So at the beginning of 2011, we found out we would be grandparents again – to twins.  It was obvious that our daughter would need some help and so I stayed with her as much as I could during the final weeks of her pregnancy and moved in with her, her husband, and my little BFF in August when a tiny little boy and girl joined our family.




Baboo and I agreed that I would be much more useful to the growing family than in far-off Algiers and so I stayed behind when he left in October.  Our plan was that I would join him shortly after the holidays; but once again, fate kind of got in the way.  Our daughter and her husband decided to buy a new house and move.  After a long, heartfelt discussion, Baboo and I again agreed to postpone my arrival so that I could help with this major project.  In the meantime, our new little baby girl had serious medical issues requiring 24-7 care.  We hired additional help and I took responsibility for our baby boy. 

Well, to get to today, everything worked out.  Baby girl is well on the mend, new house is settled in, au pair was hired to take my place; and I am now finally with Baboo in Algeria.  Let the adventures begin!