Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Dahab and Mount Sinai
I just got back from our very first weekend trip: Dahab and Mount Sinai. We left for our adventure on Wednesday afternoon, and travelled by bus for 10 whole hours in order to get to the beautiful beach town of Dahab, located on the Sinai Penninsula. Once we arrived around 12:30am, we walked into the Bishbishi, the hostel that we were going to spend the next two nights in. Having never stayed in a hostel before, I had set my expectations pretty low for our living conditions, but once we walked into the Bishbishi I was very impressed. There were 3 of us to a bedroom, and each room had its own toilet and shower. The rooms surrounded a large, outdoor area filled with tourists napping/reading on floor cushions all throughout the day.Since it was so late, we quickly moved into our rooms and planned to meet for breakfast at 10:30am the next morning.
For Thursday’s breakfast we went to Shams. Shams is one of many identical cafes along the boardwalk. All of these cafes have floor cushions for seating, delicious thick chocolate milkshakes, stray kittens that will steal your food if your not looking, and a gorgeous view of the Red Sea. After breakfast we broke off into smaller groups, and I went with about eight others to rent some snorkel gear. Once we purchased our gear, we ventured out into the Red Sea. From Dahab, we were able to see Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea, which was pretty cool.Compared to snorkeling that I have done in Hawaii, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, Dahab is by far the best. The water was extremely clear, and the variety of fish was amazing. As my immediate family knows, usually I am not a huge snorkeling fan, but I really enjoyed my time snorkeling in Dahab. We snorkeled for a good hour and a half before coming in. After relaxing with a CocaCola, I returned my gear and looked around the shops with a few girls. For dinner, the entire MESP group went to Funny Mummy, another restaurant on the boardwalk. In Dahab, the restaurants value relaxing over fast service, so we were there for 2 ½ hours! It was a really fun dinner. We played Banana Grams and Squabble, and it was Sarah Beth’s birthday. The waiters all sang to her and started a dance party, which was pretty entertaining.
On Friday we went to the Blue Hole for more snorkeling. In order to get there, we all piled into 4 beat-up jeeps that drove recklessly down rocky paths. All we could see was desert, mountains, the sea, and a random camel here and there. The snorkeling was not as good as Thursday’s, but it did have very beautiful coral. We spent the majority of the day there. Six of the boys decided to sport their Euro trunks that they bought the previous day, which was funny and disturbing at the same time.
After dinner on Friday night we hopped on another bus at 11:30pm for Mount Sinai. After a 2 hour bus ride on which everyone fell asleep, we pulled into the dark parking lot filled with hundreds of tourists with shining flashlights. Our goal was to start hiking Mount Sinai at 2:30am and reach the top by sunrise at 5:30am. The hike was not easy, especially because we were in the dark! We reached the top just in time to see the sun rise over the mountaintops. It was beautiful to see, but I was so exhausted from hiking through the night that I was having a hard time staying awake. The hike down went much faster, except when we would get cut off by camels going up and down the path. Once we got to the bottom we visited the monastery for half an hour, and then got back on the bus to Agouza. I think I slept the entire bus ride back!
I really enjoyed the weekend, especially our days in Dahab. I kept wishing that Mom, Dad, and Dave were there to experience the awesome snorkeling with me! Now I need to prepare for another busy week of school, Dobka, and guest speakers!
I will add pictures ASAP!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The Blog Begins!
Hello! FINALLY, I have set up a blog for my semester abroad in the Middle East! I have been in Cairo since Wednesday, August 25th.My first week here was orientation week, which was full of extremely busy days! We learned some "survival Arabic" to help us get around, visited a mosque, went on a scavenger hunt throughout Agouza (the neighborhood we live in), figured out how to take taxis and use the metro system, and took a Felucca ride down the Nile!
One cool thing about being in the Middle East this fall is that I get to experience Ramadan. Ramadan is a month-long holiday celebrated by Muslims. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from food/drink during the day and then break fast with a feast once the sun goes down. In order to be sensitive to the culture, we have been trying not to eat or drink in public during the day. This has been a bit of an obstacle when we are out and about in the 100-degree weather and need to stay hydrated! Also, a lot of the food shops are closed during the day since they won’t be getting very much business. The streets are pretty quiet during the day, since everyone is exhausted and thinking about food.
For the next two months before our travel component I will be living in Agouza, which is a Muslim neighborhood just across the Nile River from downtown Cairo.
I live in a 3rd floor flat with four other girls (Emily, Brianna, Samantha, and Crystal). Our flat has been nicknamed “the Paisley Palace” by previous MESPers because of the paisley pink furniture in the living room. The flat is a lot larger than I expected. We have a living room, dining room, full kitchen, three bedrooms, and two bathrooms.
About a 3 minute walk from the flat is the MESP villa, which is where we take our classes and eat meals. In Egypt, the weekend consists of Friday and Saturday since Friday is the holy day rather than Sunday. So I have classes Sunday through Thursday, but on Tuesdays we go to a service project instead of class. For my service project, I am teaching English as a second language to Sudanese refugees with three other MESP students. So far I have only had 3 days of class, which consisted of Arabic and then introductory lectures on Egypt/the Middle East from Dr. Holt, our program director.
My first weekend here was a lot of fun! On Friday morning I went with eight other students to visit the pyramids in Giza! Then in the evening, the majority of us went to see Eftikasaat in concert. Eftikasaat is a jazzy Arabic band, well known for its violinist and drummer. I spent the majority of Saturday sleeping. We are all exhausted and still adjusting to the time change! (Cairo is 7 hours ahead of Chicago). One of my roommates slept in until 4:30pm!
Tonight (Sunday, September 5) we were introduced to our “Egyptian friends,” made for us by the interns. MESP put together a little party for us at the villa and paired each of us up with an Egyptian and gave us their contact information. My assigned friend’s name is Christine, and I really liked her. She actually lived in New York for 4 years because her dad's job.
Well, from now on I will try to post more often so I don’t have to cover so much information in one post!
Maa Salaama! (Goodbye!)
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