My prior post mentioned that I was in charge of housing. There were about 35 long term American staff on site, mostly married couples, several with children, and a few singles as well. Most were there for 1-3 years so there was a fair amount of turnover. We rented houses and apartments for the expats, close to the office if possible, so they could walk to work.
We scoured the immediate area for appropriately-sized units, find 2 or 3 possibles and show them to the new arrivals. We then negotiated the rental terms on the dwelling of choice, and determined what was needed to 'Westernize' the living area.
Alexandria's climate is similar to San Diego, very livable, but occasionally quite hot, and in the winter months, sometimes quite chilly. Central heating was unheard of so we installed wall-mounted heat/cool units. We also installed washers, dryers and refrigerators, and sometimes plumbing and lighting fixtures. Although the rentals were furnished (by Egyptian standards), additional furniture was often needed, especially beds and chairs.
We chauffeured the newcomers around town to purchase bedding, towels, cookware, silverware, all the stuff needed for everyday living. We chauffeured them around again, this time to various suks to purchase food. There were no supermarkets, just suks (souk, suq), most of them the size of a large closet. One suk for dry goods, one for meat, one for fresh produce, etc.
When I arrived in the City, I selected a 4th floor walk up, across the parking lot from the office. It was summer, pleasant weather, so installing the heat/cool unit wasn't a high priority. I'd lived there a couple weeks before the crew got around to the installation. They started at 11 AM, bashing a hole in the wall, and were half finished when I went home for lunch at noon.
As I approached the front door, I noticed water running down the hallway, obviously coming from my apartment. What the hell? I entered the apartment, water all over the floor, a steady stream flowing out of the bathroom. Looking into the bathroom, I saw one of the guys dumping a wicker basket of concrete debris into the toilet. The toilet was merrily overflowing but he kept flushing it over and over anyway, dumping in more debris between flushes. Unbelievable!
I grabbed Hossam, my housing crew chief, and read him the riot act. Hossam was bright, well educated, spoke excellent English, but was apparently oblivious to the proper care and feeding of flush toilets. I gave him a short course in basic plumbing, told him to clean up the mess and come back the next day to finish the job. Sans flush.
The scene of the crime was actually a half bath. Luckily, there was also a full bath, so I avoided using the half bath, not wanting another flood. I suspect the other building occupants had plumbing issues after the incident, especially those on the first floor.
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