Name: Sherif Ismail
Nationality: Egyptian
Second secretary
at the Egyptian embassy
Date of Arrival: September 1 2005

Sharif Ismail has spent his lifetime travelling, first as the son of a diplomat, and now as a diplomat himself. As a child, he moved every four years, each time his father received a new assignment. "I never made any lifelong friends," he explains. "I had a new set every four years."

Even with such transiency, Ismail chose to follow in his father's footsteps and also entered the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs, where he has worked for 10 years now. At the beginning of this current appointment, he was assigned to work in Kuwait, but after one year, he was re-assigned to Bulgaria, where he will spend the remainder of his four-year term. In regards to being in this country at this historic period in time, he says: "It is an interesting time to be a diplomat here in Bulgaria with the accession to the EU".

Shy and unassuming, Ismail humbly describes his role as a diplomat. As the channel between the two countries, his primary responsibility is to promote Egyptian interests and culture here in Bulgaria as well as Bulgarian interests and culture in Egypt. He also partakes in the educational aspect of diplomacy, namely exposing people here in Bulgaria to his native culture, as evidenced by Egyptian Cultural Week, which took place in the beginning of October.

Furthermore, he strongly believes in the power of diplomacy to solve major world problems, especially given the current global political situation. He feels many of these issues could be addressed through education, tolerance and acceptance of others.

While he had some reservations about moving from a familiar, Arabic state to a wholly new and unfamiliar country, Ismail explains: "We have a saying. You enter a country through its people. I have entered this country easily". He goes on to say that he has never felt like a foreigner here. The Bulgarian people, like the Egyptians, are incredibly hospitable and eager to accommodate. In fact, he believes that in both countries, foreigners are often treated better than ordinary citizens. He quickly adjusted to life here and has made many friends.

He finds many other similarities between Bulgarians and Egyptians, in part, he believes as a result of their shared history during the Ottoman Empire. Like Bulgarians, Egyptians consider this era a part of who they are as a culture, but not a definition of who they are as a people.

Because of this, they seem to share of philosophy of life: no matter how much or how little a person has, one should make the best out of life. In point, he laughingly recounts some of his favourite holidays here. He especially enjoys name days and the martenitsa tradition, celebrated on the first of March, ushering in the new spring. He says the plethora of holidays here are proof that Bulgarians make the most out of life, that they will find any reason to celebrate.

He also draws connections between some of the Mediterrranean-influenced dishes in Bulgaria and Egyptian cuisine, admitting that he loves eating the food here. He finds that even the driving habits are similar. Actually, he says, the drivers are worse in Cairo. "If you can drive in Cairo, you can drive anywhere in the world."

In fact, aside from the language, the only real difference he could recognise between living here and living in Egypt is the weather. "There is no snow in Egypt!" And he poses a question: "If it rains and snows here during the winter, then why must it rain again during the summer?" But, thanks to the time he spent in Germany, he was able to acclimate to the winter last year. The only real danger, he warns, is walking on the yellow bricks in the centre of town during the winter. They are slippery and dangerous.
The weather here in Sofia is an advantage now, during the Islamic month of Ramadan. During this time, Muslims fast from sun-up to sundown. "The hard part is not being hungry. It is the thirst," he explains, though it is much easier here with the coolness than in the hot Cairo weather, he notes.

Because of the demands of his occupation, Ismail has only been able to visit home once this past year. "Thank God for technology." He relies heavily on all forms of it to stay in contact with his friends and family, especially e-mail, webcams, and SMS messaging. He wishes there were a direct flight from Sofia to Cairo. Such a flight would only last two-and-a-half hours. As it is now, he must change planes and the journey often takes six hours or more. There is a certain comfort level to knowing you are only a couple of hours from home, should anything occur, he explains.

In preparation for living here, he read books and articles about Bulgarian history, life and regions. He planned on travelling throughout the country and learning the language. But after his first year here, he has had little time to travel extensively through Bulgaria. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to make it to the Black Sea this summer, but vows to make the trip next year. His acquisition of the language has also suffered. "I have learnt enough to get by, but I can't have a conversation in Bulgarian." This has not limited his communications though, he says, because "if they don't speak English, they will find someone who does".

Even so, he enjoys his job tremendously. "It is important to go to bed with a smile on your face," he says. After all, he continues, that's all that really matters and both Bulgarians and Egyptians know how to enjoy life.