No eckthcutheth!

I'd better begin with an apology to anyone reading this who struggles along with a lisp! Most of us have some sort of peculiarity, whether it's the way we look, act or speak. So please believe me when I assure you that there is never any personal malice intended towards anyone whom I come across and mention on here, or anyone who may stumble across and subsequently read this Blog.

Ok, now that that is out of the way; what do you think of the signwriter who did this:

I would have suggested a course of thpeatth therapy instead! I came across the sign as we were making our way across the newly excavated part of the Sphinx Avenue.

It's supposed to now be opening sometime in March, I think they'd better get their fingers out if that's going to be the case! Although they have shifted a lot of muck recently, they've only uncovered a few more small remnants of plinths! Those stone masons down in Aswan are going to be on piecework, I should think, if they intend to get enough Sphinxes ready for people to see.

The Egyptian language mustn't have an 'x' sound, as I hear Egyptians pronouncing the word as 'Sphinkes'. Just a lingual anomaly, I suppose.

We met with the Luxor Senator Dr Abdulmawgoud Dardery the other night, at the offices of the Supreme Council of Luxor. He seemed to be a charming fellow, very good English (which I suppose you'd expect from a professor of English!) and obviously concerned for the welfare of ex-pats, even though we have no votes! He was elected by, and to represent, the Egyptian population of Luxor but fair play to him; he realises that we are also living here (for the time being at least) and that we have no-one else to speak for, or look out for, us.
Visa and work permit irregularities were discussed, along with the problems associated with Orfi marriages and unsatisfactory financial arrangements between foreign 'wives' and Egyptian 'husbands'. Also touched upon were certain problems with bank tellers and luggage handlers at Luxor Airport.
Dr Abdulmawgoud was very concerned with the practice of giving baksheesh to government employees (we would more likely know these as backhanders), which under previous Egyptian governments was the ONLY way to get a satisfactory outcome to any dealings with authority. He stressed the importance of stopping this bribery, as being among the most crucial initial steps in changing the corrupt mindset which still inhabits every branch of government.   
The ineffectiveness of the police was also of great concern to him. Yes we still have police, but he explained that they are unwilling to go into the streets and intervene where we would expect them to, simply because previously they were above the law, and could 'get away with' mistreating anyone whom they thought may be acting suspiciously or whatever. Now, they had to operate within the confines of the law, and didn't know how to, and were also frightened to confront people who might now be tempted to answer (or fight) back!

All in all, it was an interesting meeting, and I was pleased we went. I don't think that anything really concrete was achieved, however Dr Abdulmawgoud offered to meet with us again on his next visit to Luxor, and report on any progress with our concerns.