Tough frolics
While not all is perfect for animators, foreigners commissioned by hotels to create fun, they still cherish the wild life and the summer heat. Reem Nafie relays a day in the life of an animator
"One, two, three, four, put your left foot up, put your left foot down, up, down, up, down, shake it all around." The well-known phrase could be heard as one approached to the pool of a five- star hotel in Sharm El-Sheikh. Paula, a 26-year- old Russian, jumped up and down to the faded music of "let's get loud", shifting from her left foot to her right.
Paula is only one of seven "animation team" members working in this hotel. The animation team is in charge of engaging and entertaining vacationers. The phenomenon of foreigners -- especially Russians and Italians -- working in Sharm El-Sheikh in this particular job has increased in the past few years.
Animation teams exist in most five-star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh. Usually the team includes seven to 10 members who divide themselves into two groups. The first group is responsible for "fun and leisure" on the beach, while the other is responsible for "water games and aerobics" at the poolside.
Many animators told Al Ahram Weekly that they had originally come to Egypt with a student visa. After their first visit to Sharm El- Sheikh, they decided to search for a job and stay there.
"It's not that I decided not to study anymore, it's just that education can wait for a few years," Paula explained. "Sharm is a new experience for us and we want to spend some time here and when we're ready we'll leave."
For some Sharm El-Sheikh holiday-makers, the animation teams don't leave much of an impression.
"They are just a bunch of foreigners that don't have anything better to do," said Mohamed Said, father of two, during his five-day Sharm El-Sheikh vacation. "I don't understand why anyone would leave their hometown to work as an animator in Egypt."
What visitors to Sharm El-Sheikh don't understand is that animation is a "lifestyle" not just a "job". According to Paula, if you work on an animation team, you wake up everyday at 8am, have breakfast and jog on the beach, "just for your own physical fitness and because you want to be in shape to feel good about yourself". Following the jog on the beach, the animators complete a 15- minute workout which usually focusses on the abdominal and thigh muscles.
"We are all usually done at around midday and then every one of us starts thinking of ways to develop the games we play with the hotel guests," explained Frederic, a 30-year-old Russian who belongs to the beach group. For example, Frederic's first game was beach volleyball, "it was the only thing I knew when I first came here," he explained. He then went on to improvise more and more ideas, thinking of BINGO, beach races and treasure hunts.
Although a few of the hotel guests enjoy the pool games and occasionally participate in the aerobics sessions and water polo games, others refuse to participate and prefer to sit and watch (and occasionally make fun of everyone else). These particular hotel guests feel that animators generate "noise".
"If I'm here on vacation, I would like to have some peace and quiet, not to be disturbed every morning by a bunch of hyper people," said Mona Hamdy, a housewife on vacation with her husband and kids.
Of course animators know that some people disapprove of their jobs, "and that is what hurts us the most", said Bino, an Italian team member. "We try really hard to please people and it takes us a lot of effort to do what we do, so I feel it's very insulting to see these people make fun of us like that."
But people sneering and smirking behind their backs are the least of their worries. Not only is animation a tough job that requires a lot of physical activity but women working on several animation teams have complained about the harassment they are subjected to. Carla, a 35- year-old Russian, had come to Egypt to work as an animator because she was in desperate need of money.
"When I first came to Sharm, I was hired by a hotel as a morning animator, but I only got $200 a month, so that wasn't enough for me to save up," Carla told the Weekly. Although, the animators' accommodation and food is covered by the hotel, $200 is still not sufficient when you deduct clothing, transportation and leisure expenses. Therefore, many animators resort to night jobs, such as go-go-style dancers in clubs or pubs that host weekly parties.
"A few of my friends told me that if I needed an easy way to make money, I should participate in these parties. The club owners actually do pay well. I try to do around three parties a month and I make around $1,000, which I save up," Carla said.
Participating in such parties is what starts all the problems. "When club owners or guests know that we need money, they start to harass us and think that we are available," Carla explained while Paula nodded in agreement. Not only does their need of money make them "vulnerable" to such harassment.
From dusk till dawn these club parties show exactly how erotically bizarre pleasure and service can be in Sharm El-Sheikh. Foam was the buzzword at the party the Weekly attended to get a glimpse of animators in action. With the power of enormous fans, foam-filled sacks atop metal poles turned the whole place bubbly and the animators got to work spicing up the night. They jumped into a pool filled with soapy bubbles and danced with partygoers. Then they washed up, put on their go-go gear and danced on the neon-lit stage till dawn. Although the animators appeared to be enjoying themselves, their job isn't as simple as having fun for the sake of fun.
"These kinds of parties are hectic. It's very difficult for us to stay up that late and then wake up the next morning and perform our daily jobs," said Anita, an animator and dancer.
If animation is such a tough job then why do animators leave their countries to come all the way to Sharm just to work it day and night?
"It's because we are passionate about what we do. Many of us just love the sun, the beach and enjoy the life in general. Even though we have to put up with occasional, (and sometimes frequent) inconveniences, we love being together," said Bino, while the entire animation group agreed.
"In the winter, when the season is low, sometimes we don't get paid and there is no one out on the pool who is interested to even look at us. But this doesn't demoralise us, we go on, we sit and talk together and we play games with each other. We consider it a preparation period for the high season," Bino added. "Every year, I say I'm going to leave and I end up staying for another year, I just can't make the decision. I just love it here."
