More Photos of Cairo

When the Egyptian football team beat the team from the Ivory Coast in the final Africa Cup of Nations match, Egyptians filled the streets to celebrate this national victory. I was unable to capture this night on film so I'll leave it to your imagination. Here are more daytime photos of Cairo.

Chaotic Cairo

We began our tour of Egypt in the nation's capital - a city crammed with 16 million people. The first thing I noticed was the air pollution. Within hours of my arrival, I felt like I had started to smoke cigarettes. Cairo has the world's highest levels of lead and suspended solid particles.




For me, the only outdoor relief from the smog was along the Nile.

Lost in the Desert?

No, I'm not lost in the desert. I caught something in Cairo. I have a fever and a terrible cough. I'll update the blog again when I recover. I'm heading to a French doctor this afternoon. For your amusement, I thought I'd post some random photos from my recent adventures in Egypt.

Diving in the Red Sea, near Sharm el Sheikh

I had an unforgettable diving experience in Sharm! We saw turtles, moray eels, napoleons, reef sharks...as well as spectacular soft and hard coral gardens. I hope to dive the Red Sea again.

The dive company (www.cameldive.com) was well organized. Despite the fact that the crew spoke broken English, I felt safe at all times, especially as we had to go through airport-like security to get onto the dive boat!


If you ever have the chance to do it, I'd strongly suggest a diving/snorkeling trip in the Red Sea to witness some of the most spectacular coral reef and fish in the world!

The colours, abundance and diversity of marine life make this area one of my favourite dive spots. We got to swim with schools of Bicolour parrotfish, Arabian groupers, Red Sea Banner fish, manta rays, Crocodile fish, Red tooth trigger fish, Royal angelfish... We also spotted Brain coral, Salad coral, Moasi coral, Black coral... I didn't want to resurface.

Greetings from Luxor, Egypt

A small group of HEC students are with me on a 10 day tour of Egypt. We spent a few days in Cairo and now we are in Luxor. We're heading to Sharm tonight. Whenever I meet Egyptians and tell them that I am from Canada, they almost always say "ooooh welcome CaNADa Dry". Photos and stories will be posted later this month when I'm back in France.

Chocolat Chaud chez Angelina...

Few things bring such pleasure as savoring a cup of sinfully intoxicating hot chocolate in Paris - not the stuff made from powder of dubious origin, but the dark, bitter, and thick chocolat chaud! (It's the kind of hot chocolate that you could stick a spoon in the middle and it will likely stay upright.) In fact, the hot chocolate is so good at Chez Angelina that my best friend requested that I ship four bags of the famous chocolate granules to her in Toronto.

It was easy to find a few HEC MBA students who were willing to join me on this errand. We were very happy with our mid-winter treat at this famous Viennese cafe. I must stay that I enjoyed the prestigious surroundings almost as much as the hot chocolate! Established in 1903, the main room on the ground floor was lit by a glass roof. The gilded molding from floor to ceiling and the marble tables gave the place an incredible sense of elegance. We spotted a few older French couples eating lunch as well as some tourists. Rumor has it that Chez Angelina is a favourite hangout for famous designers, including Jean-Paul Gautier and Karl Lagerfeld. I guess I'll have to go back again. Maybe I should start an export business and ship the granules to those who really want to try it?

Multilateral Financing

As part of the our Multilateral Financing class, our professor arranged a group luncheon with a senior official at the European Investment Bank to get the latest information on the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline. We also took a field trip to the World Bank. Courses like this one make me realize how lucky I am to be at the HEC School of Management.

Les Devoirs

This site will be updated less frequently so that I can dedicate more time to improving my French. I also need to finish a number of assignments and projects before the end of this month.

Above, please find photos of my classmates.

a la prochaine

European Euphoria

Perhaps my copious consumption of bubbly French drinks (Veuve Clicquot, Perrier, Orangina) has influenced my mood, but I am very happy to be a student in France. When I'm not in the library or in a class, I like to pretend that I am a native of this country. I like walking to the local patisserie/boulangerie (pastry shop/bakery) in the morning for a fresh pain au chocolat. I like looking at my favourite impressionist paintings at the Musee D'Orsay. I like attending operas at the Garnier Opera House. I like running in the French countryside. I like directing lost tourists. And most of all, I like conversing en Francais!

Spam Heaven

One thing that's kind of strange about HEC is the place seems to encourage spamming the 3000 or so grande école, masters, PhD, MBA and faculty email addresses. If, say, the HEC Action-Adventure Club wants to screen Die Hard, they will send a message to everyone a week before the screening, and then every day until the actual event. My three favourite spams from the last seven days: "whoever broke my side view mirror after the big party on Thursday, can they please come forward?"; "whoever took my blouse from the big party on Thursday, can they please come forward?"; and, here's the topper, "For sale: carton of Marlboro Lights, 40 euros."