Corinne returns to Egypt 2005. Page 1

My transition and sex change in 2004 was very dimly viewed by my company and I just about managed to cling on to my job without getting fired. I was, however, stripped of my responsability for the Middle East because it was considered an utter impossibility that I could continue to work there. However, a year later, after my successful performance in Europe, and after a lot of persuasion on my part, it was agreed that I be allowed to take over responsability once again for Egypt as a test.

Here, then, is an account of my experience. Could this be the first time a transsexual businesswoman goes to do business in the Middle East ?

Back to Egypt... but this time as a REAL girl !!!

Tuesday 29 march 2005 and 7 months after my sex change... I awoke at 03.30, laughing about something in my dream, then managed to crawl out of my nice warm bed at 04.00. What a dreadful time to have to get up eh ?

I left home at 05.40, drove to Geneva airport and flew to Zurich on Swiss Airlines, then on to Cairo, getting some dirty looks from one or two women for some reason. Despite this being an intercontinental flight there wasn't so much as a newspaper. No nibbles, no chocolate either... A bit naff really. Swiss is really going downhill.

I arrived at 14.30 and queued for 30 minutes for immigration. I couldn't help laughing because there was an important looking official who, instead of taking a place in one of the numerous empty cubicles and reducing the queue, just stood there and beckoned passengers forward, taking their passports and handing them to the colleague in the cubicle... all of which was an utterly pointless exercise !

Once outside on the pavement I found my phone wouldn't connect to an operator, and Esmail, my taxi driver, was nowhere to be seen and I couldn't call him. I had to run the usual gauntlet of "Taxi ? Taxi ?" then waited outside in 27° for Esmael. After 45 minutes and being chatted up by all and sundry I prepaid an official airport taxi and was just getting in when he arrived. Typical and a bit stupid considering he'd had 3 weeks' advance notice. I told him to come tomorrow morning.

A posh hotel for the Miss

The taxi took me to the Mariott Cairo in Zamalek, central Cairo The Mariott, besides being exceedingly expensive, is a unique hotel complex set amid fabulous gardens, whose centre point is the extravagant Al Gezira Palace. When the Suez Canal was inagurated, the palace housed visiting European crowned heads, including Empress Eugénie, consort to Napoleon 111. Its five restaurants serve outstanding cuisine and its enchanting garden café makes visitors forget that they are in a city of several million inhabitants. Impressive stuff eh ? That's what the brochure says anyway. Personally I've never heard of Empress Eugénie but I hope she got newspapers and chocolate on HER flight over. Never mind the European crowned heads, this hotel was now going to house the Miss with the Most.

My room, to my dismay, unlike that of the Empress, was full of mosquitoes. First stop : the swimming pool in my pink and black bikini, attracting no attention whatsoever ! By this time it was a little cool and the flies seemed to have targetted me, ignoring everyone else (a bit like cigarette smoke and footballs on the beach). I nonetheless had a dip then went and sat in the jacuzzi (40 lovely degrees), and tried the sauna but feared for my make up. At least it was my first female sauna... even if I was the only occupant !

I returned to my room after getting warm smiles from all the health club personnel, and got stopped on my way back to my room by a guest aged around 25 who wanted me to give him my room number. I replied that my mother had taught me never to give my phone number or room number to strange men. In my room I had to call room service to zap the mosquitoes. The guy seemed to have fallen in love and got very chatty and I had to shoo him out.

I freshened up and sauntered around the different restaurants getting big smiles from the personnel. The salesgirl in the souvenir shop told me I was very beautiful ! A Kuwaiti asked me to have dinner with him but I said my boss was waiting for me. I ate in the Japanese restaurant of the hotel. The food was average but the service very special indeed and I got chatted up by the waiters and even the waitress. This is a real laugh.

I then went to my room and did my dilation (the regimen is now down from 2x2 hours per day to 2x1 hours which not only makes life a little easier, but it makes the maths easier too) and slept deeply.

The big day and my first meeting in Pyramids Heights in Giza

Wednesday 30 march. Well, this is it ! The biggest ever test of my transition ! Was I going to be taken seriously, or become the next victim of a fatwa ? I arose at 07.00 feeling refreshed, dressed in my beige blouse, very posh business suit, white necklace... And looked quite fetching. I went to breakfast and didn't get any odd looks at all. Just interested ones. I feel like a film star. At 08.15 I went out and found Esmael the taxi driver. He remarked with a grin "everybody looking you, say very beautiful". I told him "I am now a lady - I went to hospital in Thailand in september". I have been hiring Esmael for a few years now and he has seen my transition at first hand, ferrying me in male mode to daytime meetings and then in female mode the rest of the time. He is a very pleasant father of two, very religious, hard working and open-minded. Today I had organised a number of meetings around Cairo, 6th October City and Giza. I should mention at this juncture that I had phoned or e-mailed all the people I wished to visit in Cairo, explaining that my name was Corinne and that I was the new regional manager for Egypt, replacing "Richard" who had left the company. I wasn't going to explain anything else unless someone recognised me... which I sincerely hoped no-one would because the idea of a transsexual would be likely to go down like a lead balloon over here.

Such charming clients !!!

My first meeting was at [censored], in Pyramids Heights on the Alexandria Road in Giza. Unfortunately there was a howling wind which totally messed up my hair. Drat ! The lady with whom I had an appointment said she'd sent me an e-mail to cancel and I replied that I'd been skiing over the easter holiday and hadn't seen it. I had, but had chosen to ignore it in the interests of conserving an important meeting ! I also had a meeting with one of the product managers. Both of them seemed to take me at face value and the latter wasn't at all bothered by my leaning over his shoulder to demonstrate something on his computer. So far so good. Next was a gentleman who was the managing director of a an international company and I think both the gentleman and the company had better remain nameless in the interests of discretion ! Well, let's call him Abdul shall we ? This was going to be interesting as I knew Abdul from before when I was a guy and on the phone he had asked me to tell him what had happened to Richard. He was utterly delighted to meet me, totally dazzled, and chatted away happily (Richard had never been treated so nicely). He told me my eyes were gorgeous and very expressive of a happy personality. He confessed to having been very impressed by my lovely voice and laughter on the phone when I'd called him the first time. Gosh... how can I tell him I've had a sex change now ? I think he'd have a fit. He asked if he could take me out tonight for dinner so I agreed. It could be fun and he's a pleasant person and it would be Corinne's first business dinner apart from one in Sweden in november. But what if he comes on too strongly ? I have no experience in how to deal with that sort of situation. He gave me a kiss on both cheeks (another first for me in my professional life !) and promised to pick me up later at my hotel. I went off to the next company to see... well we'll call this one Ahmed. This chap had always greeted Richard with little enthusiasm, always wearing a very bored expression on his face. This time his eyes lit up like a christmas tree when he saw me ! I felt as if I were one of the world's most beautiful women ! What a laugh. He was on the phone so I explained in sign language that I would just pay a quick visit to the ladies' and be right back. I noticed an inexplicable expression of alarm on his face but he was engrossed in an important conversation so I assumed it had something to do with that. I closed his door and went to the ladies' for a pee. Disaster ! There wasn't a single piece of loo paper in there ! Now I understood why he had looked alarmed ! In the smaller Egyptian companies they are afraid of personnel pilfering the loo paper so they don't supply any. I had to wipe myself dry with my hand, then wash it, only to discover there was no towel either ! Never mind, I dried my hands on the back of my shirt ! When I went back to knock on his door it was whisked open instantaneously and I found him proferring a box of tissues ! This was obviously the stock kept at hand for important visitors so I felt very honoured. He was very charming and asked me out for sushi on monday night ! At this rate the Miss with the Most risks being overbooked ! I got kissed by him too. Next on the list was another very small Egyptian company where the guy was very pleasant too. Unfortunately I couldn't meet the boss at [ censured ], because he'd left an hour earlier with back pain so I saw the marketing manager instead. A very serious gentleman, he was rather reserved at first but soon warmed to my charm and the meeting was very successful. Then it was time to return to the hotel and a dilation. I called the market research director at the office to tell him the good news about my first day and to propose I be appointed regional manager Middle East with immediate effect ! Then I had a shower, redid my make up and dressed in my grey low cut t-shirt, grey trousers and black boots. I was tempted to wear a pretty white dress but it would have meant wearing my wedges and I would have towered over Abdul who would have needed a megaphone to talk to me. I phoned my daughter in France and awaited Abdul's phone call.

A business dinner with a local twist

Abdul called at 19.50 to say he'd be there in 10 minutes so I went down and waited for him at the entrance, very aware of the effects my cleavage was having on people. As soon as I got in his car his eyes lit up and he said "This is my lucky day... such a beautiful young lady" and I knew this wasn't going to be a typical business dinner. Perhaps the low-cut t-shirt wasn't such a good idea after all... He told me we were going on a tour, which didn't exactly make me very enthusiastic as I'd had quite enough driving that day and would have preferred to go straight to a restaurant. We ended up in an Egyptian lovers lane on a hill top overlooking Cairo. Abdul informed me with a boyish wink that he had a nice bottle of wine in the car. I replied warily that I only drank wine with a meal. He then surprised me by asking if I liked kissing ! I was amused but disappointed at the lack of respect he was showing me by treating me as if I were an easy lay, as well as by his supreme self-confidence. I told him I didn't like kissing which of course left him perplexed. Next came a series of questions concerning my sexual desires and I groaned inwardly at his total lack of subtlety. I decided my only escape route was to tell him I preferred women. He was utterly flabbergasted, apparently having never heard of such a thing. I gently refined my remark to exclude men altogether and then hinted I was getting hungry. Eventually we went back down the hill and I could feel him calculating the possible benefits of the evening versus the cost involved. Abdul parked his car and we walked along the Nile to the supposedly excellent floating Chinese restaurant in which we were supposed to be eating. Great consternation : it had disappeared ! A bystander informed my gallant consort that it had sunk a couple of days previously !

The inappropriately chosen t-shirt

We ended up in a cheap, but decidedly uncheerful, Egyptian-Lebanese restaurant notable for its gloomy decor, poor service and dirty cutlery. After a lengthy discours by Abdul, during which I could only reflect on how tempus was fugitting, I chose the sausages for want of anything more interesting, followed by the mixed grill (which, yes, you've guessed it dear reader... contained yet more sausages). The sausages (the first ones , that is), which were supposed to be the entrée, arrived at the same time as the main course (the other sausages)... which, to cut a long story short, resulted in a surfeit of sausages. Overcoming my resolution to play the demure, passive female companion, gallantly protected by my man, I sent the mixed grill back. This caused the waiter almost to choke with surprise and indignation - a mere woman behaving in such a manner ! My escort was also somewhat taken aback but grinned gleefully so apparently he wasn't offended. The Lebanese sausages were, contrary to expectations, surprisingly good, as was the bottle of Omar Khayam Egyptian wine. The mixed grill reappeared looking a little the worse for wear after its encounter with the microwave, accompanied by congealed chips desperately trying not to sag over the edge of the plate. Everything, as I'd suspected, was stone cold, the waiter having merely, and very professionally, just put it to one side. Abdul sent the waiter off with a flea in his ear to heat it up again then proceeded to gulp down his similarly congealed spaghetti. At midnight I gently suggested that it might be time to leave since I had to work the next day, and, feeling guilty at not having played the part so obviously expected of me, I put my arm in his as we walked back to the car. He suggested we go for a walk which I declined. In the car, he suddenly lunged for my tits which I thought was a little presumptious especially as this was supposed to be a business dinner but perhaps it's an Egyptian custom ? He wanted to come to my room but I gave him a nice friendly peck on the cheek and said no. This whole affair was a little disturbing to me as my mother had never taught me how to deal with amourous advances by valued business contacts. I couldn't be too firm in my refusal as I needed to see him again next year !

This really is business with pleasure !

Thursday 30 march. I dressed in my suit and dark blue t-shirt which showed some cleavage but not too much. The strong wind and dust immediately wrecked my hair again. The [ censured ] importer was first and I was dismayed to find 4 product managers as well as the MD waiting for me. The meeting went well however and I felt totally confident, which I never did as a guy. On to the next company where all went well again. Then 3 more companies after that and my luck still held, with no indication that I'd been read by anyone: no nudges, whispers, sideways glances, titters or glares. It's really encouraging. I did my dilation in the hotel then went to eat sushi at the Sheraton, wearing my saucy see-through pullover, but it was just as bad as at the Mariott. I received an sms from Ahmed saying I would make him the happiest man in Cairo if I could meet him for a drink in the bar of the Mariott. Then he phoned and I told him I wasn't actually at the Mariott and also had to go to bed early. I showered, packed and got to bed at 23.00.

Off to the Red Sea. Coo... we seem to be flying higher than I expected !

Friday 1 april. I managed to get up at 04.30, feeling relatively energetic and left for the airport at 06.00. It only took 20 minutes at this time of the morning. Sharm el Sheikh was 23° when we arrived at 09.00 and, unfortunately, very windy. I caught the hotel bus to the Mariott Beach Resort, checked in then went to breakfast. One of the waiters recognized me from 2 years ago ! I checked my e-mails then went to the pool and had a swim then, in flagrant violation of the "NO TOPLESS SUNBATHING" sign, I took off my bikini top to sunbathe... and was zapped within 30 seconds by the swimming pool attendant! My tits are clearly more viable than last time when I had been very disappointed that no-one had bothered to tell me off ! I pretended not to understand what he was saying and the poor man seemed very embarassed, looking down at the ground. An English girl nearby grinned and said "I think he wants you to put your bikini top back on !" Really chuffed, I moved to the beach. There were lots of Russian tourists this time. I must admit, I look fairly mind-blowing in my pink and black bikini and had one of the best female bodies on the beach. I was careful not to stay too long in the sun and went to dilate at lunchtime, then slept a bit. In the evening I wandered along the lovely path which winds through the subtropical gardens of the different hotels: a maze of outside restaurants, swimming pools and palm trees. Unfortunately I got hassled continuously: "Ma'am, where are you from ? First time in Egypt ? You are very beautiful... Are those contact lens or are your eyes really that colour ? Are you married ? Do you want a nice Egyptian husband ? I am very strong !" I went to eat at the buffet outside and watched a belly dancing show. I was selected by the bellydancer to dance with her, despite my reluctance to go up on the stage. The Italian girl organiser asked me if I were a model because of my body and I confessed I was transsexual. That fazed her totally. I took a bus to the desert discotheque which was in an enormous open air arena in the mountains. Unfortunately the music was hopeless (3rd. rate MTV hits). It was full of very plain, tarty Russian girls who all looked the same and who kept nudging each other and looking at me. Someone asked if I were a boy or a girl so I replied "A girl, and there's no need to be insulting", to which he said "Sorry, it's just that you look in-between". Not very nice. I left at 01.30 and had to take a taxi. The young punk driver wanted me to sit in front and I refused. He got stroppy because I wouldn't let him touch me and it wasn't a pleasant ride at all. When I got out he looked up my skirt, which was extremely short (the patched denim one which I'd bought in Bangkok) and it must have blown his mind as my white string showed my pussy and one of my labia minora was squeezed through the wide netting ! He demanded to have a proper look but I did a disappearing act and heard him shout "You shouldn't dress like that if you're not prepared to go with a man !"