Nada aux Jeux Équestres Mondiaux: les aventures d'une Soudanaise en Normandie - 1

“Technology: No Place for Wimps!”

I will try my best to blog daily from Normandy but I thought of starting with my preparations from Cairo; they should be interesting as my trip day approaches. All my blogs will be in English, and since I am heading to France and even though I am more of an Anglophile than a Francophile and my spoken French words include “Sacre Bleu - Vous êtes fou – Oh la la” and only other basics, I asked a dear French friend to choose a French title for my blog anecdotes.

So, I regularly travel to attend and cover equestrian events and I usually carry around 40 to 80 kilos of excess weight in magazines with me, but the 15-day Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy is not just ANY international event and preparations to attend and cover THIS event is in a whole new league of weight!

For starters, HORSE TIMES will be present in Normandy with a great and very meticulous team to enhance coverage of the Games and also focus on social media awareness in real time and on the ground. Including my royal self, the team consists of four to five other members. I will be the first to land in Normandy this week and I am preparing how to pack the magazine’s equipment (magazines, laptop, cameras, tripods, cards, Dictaphones, mics, etc. etc.) and on top, a female wardrobe!

Surprisingly, albeit we women are not renowned to pack lightly, I have managed very well and the wardrobe is set! How many shoes am I taking with me? You don’t want to know.

Tech stuff is still pending as I am facing a minor problem and even though I am not tech-savvy, I seem to always figure out the technical glitches of any equipment.

After seeking out the consultation of tech-experts-and-buffs, my problem has slightly changed but I need it to be FULLY changed. The “experts” keep coming up with more problems for me instead of solutions so I have decided to take matters into my own account. I have mixed feelings about my ability and skill to figure out matters, it is a blessing but somehow a curse because I end up doing other things besides my original tasks. Having said so, so far I am succeeding; I simply need time and patience. The time I don’t possess as I travel within days, the patience....well – we here at the magazine always try to deliver our best!

For now, technology is my occupational hazard but as Arthur Clarke said, “For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert". I shall not falter.

More updates soon!

--Ends--