Day 100 - Canada Dry, Never Die

I have returned home to spring weather...brrrr. It is a strange feeling not to have sweat running down some part of my body due to the heat...

I am extremely tired at the moment and totally looking forward to sleeping. Ok this shall continue when I am not passing out...

Day 98-100 - The Last Days

My lack of blogging my last days in Cairo is so not cool...malesh. I shall catch you up on what I was up to or at least try to remember best what I did...

Natalie moved on to the greatest house boat ever! A boat full of winners. This was on Sunday...I think.

Definitely had a house warming/Caryn going away party on Monday. Good times, even with the 5 or so stray cats hanging around. Naa anorkor and I went to Khan el Khalili to get last gifts for people and to give Naa anorkor the experience of a true Egyptian meal. She told me not to tell her if she was eating camel or not....which she definitely did eat and thought it was very good. Then if my memory serves me correctly I went to The Curtain, the best roof top lounge/bar ever.

Tueday was a day for packing and last minute running around. We made another trip to the Khan again. Had some drink, oh man, I don't remember the name of it, at my friends shop. Then we began the adventure of finding/getting everything we needed. We were machines, walking fast through the market streets. We got everything just in time to head back home to get ready for our flights home. Naa anorkor was leaving earlier than me so I said my goodbyes to her, then went to the houseboat to say goodbye to all my friends there. My last meal in Cairo was Koshari or a version of it. My friend, has a driver friend, so I did not have to take a taxi to the airport.

This was probably the hardest goodbye I have had in all my travels. The moment I stepped in the doors the tears started to flow and they did not really stop until I got on the plane. I probably looked like the most ridiculous person but I did not care. So it was a sad departure but I got on the plane and found that I had a seat in business class...so random but awesome. I like to think it was my going away present from Cairo. The rest of my flights were pretty good, except from the time I landed in Amsterdam to the time I landed in Toronto I was freezing. I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Soloist and an hour of X-Men: Wolverine. I didn't sleep. In Toronto I waited over an hour for my luggage. I made it to my gate with just enough time to call home and then I boarded on my last flight home. Mom, Dad, Cherilyn and Uncle Bruce were there waiting for me at the gate in Calgary. It was nice to see their faces. No tears surprisingly from Mom...well done :)

It was strange to be back home and to feel natural cold weather that was not being produced by an air conditioner.

Day 95 - 97 - Nuweiba

I got back this morning at 7am from Nuweiba in the eastern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

I left Thursday on the night bus. It took around 9 hours to get there. I attempted to sleep the whole way but delta buses are not the most comfortable places to be. A short person sat beside me so I had more room than I would have had if a tall person sat beside me.

I arrived and Naa anorkor met me at the gate, along with 4 other friends who were on the same bus. I got to our hut, which was like 6 meters from the water. I had a wonderful nap on the mattress in our hut till noon. We got up and walked 3 camps over to Little Rock where Naa anorkor and her friend ate and hung out the whole week they were there. It is run by a very nice Sudanese man. The food was delicious. Best shower ever!

Susan and I decided to swim across the bay. All was fine and dandy until we had to swim into shore and there was reef half of the way so we ended up swimming closer to the middle of the bay just to get out of the water. It was fun even though I was having panic attacks about what was going to touch me or what I was going to touch in the water.

We made friends with some Egyptian guys...they are architects and told me a foreigner woman painting in Cairo could make big bucks...We had a nice fish meal with them and they actually ended up giving us a ride home. So it was a 6 hour trip not 9. Awesomeness.

Possibly more to come...

Day 94 - Another Day Gone By...

Today consisted of sleeping, being woken up by Ammanuel and then sitting in on the Youth LEAD staff meeting all afternoon. Quite entertaining...

I went to the Khan again today and spent more money...but my purchases are awesome! I ate a real Egyptian meal...which I only just found out was camel meat! Walahi! Haha...While I was eating it I thought to myself this is definitely not beef but you know me, I couldn't think about what I could be eating or I would not have eaten it. Me and my picky self :)

SOOO many cockroaches in the kitchen!!!!!!!! Eww. Eww. Eww.

Day 92-93 - Sittin in a cool flat drinkin some Nescafe

I have become accustomed to Nescafe now...I may almost miss the familiar taste once I come home...

Yesterday was a day of running around, getting keys cut, printing a picture and trying to track down my luggage.

I now know where my luggage is but still can not go get it because the key that was supposedly hidden outside the door is not there and the winner I am, I did not get the number of the girl who has by bags from Naa anorkor when I finally got a hold of her. So continues the adventure of getting my bags.

In hopefully a half hour I will be going to Khan el Khalili if is can get my butt in gear and then I am going out for dinner with Diana. Should be good times....

Day 91 - Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary my dear and lovely parents. I hope your day is wonderful.

Today I am supposed to go to Luxor, but the friend I was going with has been unreachable for the last day so I have no clue what is going on. This is a problem, but I think I have found a solution so enshaalah I will be going to Luxor tonight...

I am sitting on the deck of the house boat waiting to leave for a meeting with a teacher from school. I will probably be late now that I have internet here:) Malesh...Egyptian time will work for me today.

No rats last night thank goodness...

EDIT: So now I am at Kathy's house, (the director of StARS). I will be crashing here till I leave which is good because now I will have a central place to leave my things and to come home to instead of wandering from place to place...

I spent the afternoon downtown with Faten and then with a friend at a coffee shop. I came back to the boat later in the evening and just chilled on the deck with Natalie and her friend Mark (he is from Ontario).

Now to figure out what to fill my time with until I go to the Red Sea...

Day 90 - My First Houseboat Experience....

Well my first day as a kind of homeless person has been pretty good. I slept quite well last night except for the occasional attempt of fatty the cat trying to sleep with me. I slept through some night time excitement. Natalie woke up to the cat running around and then heard a squeal...definitely not a cat but a rat of all things...it got away...ewww! I am glad I was sleeping.

We went to a cafe in hopes to use free internet but it was not working so we just ate some food. We have no key to the houseboat so we had to fill our time until around 8pm to get back. I met up with some friends. It has been a day of wandering around. I am now in Doki at a friends apartment stealing internet from the restaurant next door, just chilling...

Day 89 - The Move

I am officially not a resident at 20 Sharia Nubar. We moved out this afternoon. It is kind of sad because I will not be living with the same people, same area or same building. But on the other hand our building manager is not a very nice person so it is good to get out of the building and away from the issues brought up by him. My luggage is still in the same building with a friend because I do not want to have to lug it around everywhere I go. So yes, we made it out alive with everything except for our damage deposit...possibly...oh how we love our building manager.

Now I am sitting on the deck of a friend's boat house, crashing here for the night. Woohoo for boat houses. Being on the Nile is so nice. The weather is nice and cool. And the fact that I am on a boat house on the Nile is pretty stellar if you ask me. The constant music entertainment of the felluca's passing by...much nicer than the sound of traffic. I could live on a houseboat...

I do not know what I will be doing tomorrow or on Sunday during the day. In the evening I am heading to Luxor for a few days with Naa anorkor. I am so excited.

Day 88 - Ripped Off

Well yesterday was a normal day so nothing to report.

Today I packed. Went to the Khan el Khalili and bought spices and tea. Quite exciting. We probably got ripped off but that is the trend here. It would be a strange day when there was no being taken advantage of.

Day 87 - 2nd Last Day

Well today is my 2nd last day here in the apartment. We got evicted a month ago so now is the time to get out of this building. Cairo adventure continues.

I did not do anything worth talking about today. I did start packing though....

Day 83-86 - Alexandria

Due to the absence of posts I am sure you know that I made it to Alexandria...

We couldn't get a seat on the train so we had to settle for a micro-bus which was just fine. The trip was around 2 1/2 hours. I slept basically the whole way there so it went by pretty fast.
There was a family across from us so I had some fun attempts at trying to communicate with the little girls. The one girl Hagar was a little sweetheart. So cute. Sunday consisted of catching up on sleep and walking around the area.
Monday was the big day for sightseeing. We started out with the Stanley Bridge, then to the Library of Alexandria, then the Citadel (not as exciting as the Citadel here in Cairo but it was still cool). Then we wandered around the fish market. Fish as so gross...then to this women's market called Zenna market. There were paths like maybe 3 feet wide with stores on either side selling women's merchandise, like hair stuff, clothes etc. Then we went to the Moursi Abou Abess Mosque. There were separate male and female entrances. The women's side was quite a bit smaller than the men's so there was not much to see or take pictures of. We had some good fish for supper that I think may or may not have given me a rash, I don't know. It is gone now so I am not too worried about it. Later on we went swimming in the mediterranean. It wasn't too bad. The tide was coming in so the water was kind of dirty but I got my swim in the sea and some sand so I was happy except I forgot my Burt's Bee's lip stuff was in my pocket and I lost it to the sea...sadness. It was a long, full day.
Tuesday we got some breakfast and had coffee then found a micro-bus to Cairo. I slept half of the way back.

It was a good trip, not my favorite out of all the places I have seen but I am definitely happy I got to see Alexandria. It is a nice clean place compared to Cairo....much like everywhere else :)

Day 83 - Happy Birthday to Me!

Well my birthday so far has consisted of staying up very late, getting pizza hut and cake from the bakery at 4 in the morning with friends. Only in Cairo can you go to a bakery at 4 am and get cake. It was awesome and the cake was delicious. A great way to start out my birthday.

Thanx for all of the birthday wishes!!

Right now I am in the process of working out how to get to Alexandria....enshaallah it works out.

Day 81-82 - I missed posting yesterday....

I missed my first day of blogging yesterday :( I guess having fun trumped the importance of my blog last night.

Thursday was the last hurra at St. Andrew's. There was a prom held for the older students in the evening. It turned out to be an awesome time, with lots of fun and dancing. The students had a great time. This was the first time anything like this had ever been held at StARS and it was a major success. The girls were all dressed up and looking beautiful and the guys suits on and looked so sharp. It was a good way to end the term.

Today I went to Coptic Cairo with Diana and some of her students. It was interesting. Coptic Cairo is where there are like 5 churches all in the same area. It was interesting. I saw the Hanging Church which is quite famous. It was a hot but good morning. Afterwards we went for some lunch. We had Egyptian food, which was good. This evening I went on a fellucca ride with teachers and volunteers at St. Andrew's. It was a lot of fun. I love being out on the water. One of the teachers brought his family and oh my goodness his kids were absolutely adorable. There was food, song, dance and good conversation. It was also a great way to spend one last day with the teachers.

It is so strange to think that I am finished at St. Andrew's....

Day 80 - Celebrations

Today was the closing ceremonies at St. Andrew's. It was a fun, long day. We painted all the grade one's faces for their performances. It was so cute. The girls danced to Doctor Jones by Aqua and the whole class danced to a Sudanese song. It was awesome. All of the classes did something, mostly dances and the older kids rapped. They were good. Every student got a certificate. There was lots of people, and families there. It was great to meet some of the parents of my students. It was a day full of running after kids, talking with students, parents, teachers, song and dance. It was a great day to end the school year.

I am sad that I will most likely not see any of my students again. I do have my older students emails so I can still have contact with them which is nice. It is going to be so strange not to go to the center everyday now. I can hardly believe that it have almost been 3 months already. Time goes by so fast, especially when you are having a good time. For figuring out my practicum 2 months before I had to leave it worked out perfectly. Cairo was where I was meant to be...

Day 79 - 80 - Back in the groove of things....sort of....

Monday Evening- After we got back I unpacked, did laundry and uploaded the 700 pictures I took in Jordan to my camera. We planned to meet the people we met on the bus back to Cairo at a local bar to talk and hang out before they all left Cairo. It was fun to see them again. There was a girl from Austria, a mother and son from Slovakia, an American and then us. It was cool to chat with them and make more friends. I was so tired by the end of the night though...

Tuesday (Today) - The 3rd last day of my time with my students at St. Andrew's. We went to a center that has a playground and arts and crafts. 4 grades came so it was crazy and overwhelming but the students had a great time, which is all that mattered. I was exhausted once we got back to the center but I got a 2nd wind when I came home so still have not napped. Malesh. I am sad me time with the students is coming to an end so quickly. It will be hard to adjust to not seeing them again. Thursday will be a sad day but I know I will enjoy every minute of my time at the center till then...

Day 75 - 79 - Jordan in 4 Days

THURSDAY - We left on the bus (we being me, Naa anorkor, Akil and Collin) at 10pm and got to Taba, which is still in Egypt around 5:30 am. From here we walked across the Egyptian border, we had to go through the Israeli border (so now I have a stamp from Israel so hopefully that does not hinder my future travels). We waited here for about 45 minutes because Collin had a stamp from Morocco so they had to question him and such but he got through thankfully. So now we were in Eilat, Israel. We had to get a taxi to the Jordan border, which we definitely over paid for but we had no other way to get there. We walked through the Jordan border and got a taxi to take us to Aqaba. We got to Aqaba around 10 am so the whole border crossing process took us about 5 hours.

Aqaba is a nice city. Jordan is much cleaner than Cairo. We ate some lunch once we got settled. Some cops helped us get a cheap taxi and told us where to go eat. Akil has dreads so the people were absolutely fascinated with him. Asking for pictures or to touch his hair and staring hardcore. Not only were there 4 foreigners among the locals but 2 of african people with different hair. The food was great at the place the police recommended for us. Their pita bread is better than the Egyptian bread. We looked for a good deal on a hotel room at 8 different hotels. Collin and I walked from place to place pretending we were brother and sister so they would have no problems letting us all stay in the same room. We finally found a good deal at a place called Amira, with a 3 bed room for 25 denar. Collin slept on the floor with blankets. It worked out wonderfully. Once we got settled in our room we headed to the beach which was a bit disappointing. Women have to wear all clothes in. Like women were wearing their full head scarves and everything and the water was not very clean. So we ended up napping in chairs on the beach for a while in the shade. We left the beach and came and napped in our hotel room till 5:30. Then we headed out to Wadi Rum-a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southwest Jordan. We went there to watch the sunset and my goodness it was gorgeous. Definitely a good choice on our part to go out there. It was beautiful. We got back to Aqaba around 9. I was feeling quite sick so I had to go and lay down. I think I did not eat enough, drink enough and got too much sun. So I missed an evening there but malesh. We had to be up at 6:30 and gone to catch the bus at 7 to Petra.

FRIDAY - We all slept through the alarms so it was a rush to get to the station but Jordanians are like Egyptians and never leave on time so that worked good for us. The trip took about 3 hours. A hot and uncomfortable ride but we made it there.

We searched for a hotel in Wadi Musa. It took going to 4 hotels to find the best deal. 4 beds for 24 denars. Pretty good deal. We got to Petra, which was a 5 minute taxi ride, around 1pm. We bought a 2 day pass because we knew we would not see all of Petra in just on half day. We walked through Petra taking many pictures and climbing things till we got to the monastery around 5:30 or so. We were so tired once we got to the top but it was worth it. The monastery was huge and beautiful. So this was where our adventure started....we chatted with the Bedouin who were up there. They have a shop there. They invited us to eat with them and have tea. We watched one of the Bedouin free climb up the Monastery. It was crazy how fast he got up there. We went up to the look out point and watched the sunset. This is where the talk of staying up on the mountain came about. I was actually not feeling well again but there was no way I was passing up the opportunity to stay up on a mountain in Petra with local Bedouin people. So all 4 of us chilled up at the top of this peak, chatting with the Bedouin's, I slept off and on. They made food, which I didn't really eat. Earlier in the eveing they gave me some sage tea, which apparently makes you throw up, which I discovered about 2 hours later. So besides being sick it was incredible. The sky was the best thing ever. Almost better than my memories of the South African sky. We could see millions of stars, the milky way. I was shown the star the Bedouin use to direction at night. It was called Sarle or something like that. I wish I could remember the name exactly. But it was incredible. They called where we stayed the million star hotel. The Bedouin people are great and live a very interesting life. I would love to live with them for a month or something like that to experience that. So incredible. I bought a necklace down at their shop, it is beautiful.
SATURDAY - We woke up for sunrise but we half slept through it and it was too bright to watch anyways. We started down the mountain around 8:30 or so. We went quite fast because we really wanted to get back to the hotel before check out to shower. At the Treasury there was this one Bedouin man and I was so intrigued by him. I could have sat and stared at him for hours. I would have loved to take pictures of him. I did get one picture with him :) We got back to the hotel with 45 minutes to spare so we could shower and get ready to catch the bus to Amman.

Amman is the capital and 2 hours away from Petra. It was another hot trip in a bus but worth it. We got there and haggled with taxi drivers till be got the best deal. We went downtown to see a roman theater which was closed when we got there. From there we went out to the Dead Sea. ABSOLUTELY incredible. We were in water maybe knee deep and we floated. We drove past Jesus' baptismal site but did not go there. But ya the Dead Sea was incredible. So beautiful. What I thought was a rock in the water was actually salt! Crazy. We tasted it and it felt like burning on the tongue it was so salty. But yes. The Dead Sea absolutely amazing.

We caught a bus from Amman to Aqaba. A 6 hour trip. I slept most of the way off and on. The buses are so uncomfortable.

MONDAY - We arrived in Aqaba around 4 am. We went back to the hotel we stayed in the night before and asked if we could sleep in the lobby until 6. The man just let us in and went back to sleeping. We left around 6:30 to catch a cab to the border. We had no problems crossing any of the borders which was great. We were in Egypt by 9, where we bargained with a mini-bus driver to give us a better price than the big bus price. We got a deal and took that instead. We met some cool people from Slovakia, Austria and the States. We made plans to go out this evening with them. It should be good times. We left Taba, the Egyptian border at 11:00 and got to Cairo around 5 or 6. It was a hot drive but expected. So ya that was my weekend in a few words...I am sure I missed something and of course there are many stories I could tell but that is just too much to type :) A lot jammed in to 4-5 days.

Jordan was more expensive than expected but definitely still worth the trip, for sure!

Day 75 - Off to Jordan

Today was the last day of classes at St. Andrew's. Sad. But it was a great day so that made up for it.

Yet another adventure is in my future. I am leaving with 3 other friends to go to Jordan for the weekend. It is going to be a quick and probably tiring trip but I am so excited. You will read all about it when I get back.

Now I must pack or I will not be ready to go...

Day 74 - Photos From Sinai

Day 74 - Coming to an end...

I found out that this was the last week of classes for the students at St. Andrew's. It was a bit of a shock to learn this. I was not expecting the term to be done yet. So next week there are some trips for the students and celebrations and prom. It should be a great week. I am sad that the term will be over after next week because I will not see the students anymore. This is a sad, sad thought. I am just happy I still have time with them even if it is less than what I thought I had...

I made my last trip to the Mogamma today to pick up my passport. Brand new stickers saying I can be in the country till December and that I am allowed to re-enter Egypt when I come back from Jordan this weekend. Ya that's right, I am going to Jordan for the weekend. It is going to be an adventure and a half, for sure. I am excited.

Day 73 - El Mogamma

I now have a valid visa but still do not have my passport. I have to go back to the Mogamma to get it. The place closed before they could process my re-entry visa. I need a re-entry visa because I am planning on going to Jordan this weekend. Now I have to go back again tomorrow to get all the information needed. Hopefully it will be the last time I have to go there. It is a zoo of people.

I also went a picture walk this evening. I got off at one of the metro stops and just walked around taking pictures. It was fun. I hope I got some good ones.

Naa anorkor and I got asked today if we were married and how long had we been married. It was stupid. I just said why are you asking us this, there is no point. The guy left after that. So ridiculous.

Day 72 - The Wind Stole My T-Shirt

I forgot to mention that last night I met a guy from New Zealand who played for the Maori All Blacks which is a great rugby team. It was awesome.

Today I went to the Mogamma to get my visa's figured out so that I can go to Jordan this weekend and be able to get back in to Egypt. It turns out the visa I had was expired so I had to pay to re-new it. It was so confusing. Naa anorkor was with me as well as a friend from the center. If Albino had not been there I am not sure what we would have done. It was confusing so Arabic is a must there. I have to go back tomorrow to actually get my visa put in my passport because they closed half way through the processing of my visa. We took Albino for lunch to thank him for coming and helping us at the Mogamma. It was good. I had some Egyptian food, foul and falafel.

For about a week now we have been having problems with our water. We go half the day without it so it is very annoying when you need to shower, do dishes, anything, and there is no water. I did get a shower in today. The water stopped just as I finished rinsing conditioner out of my hair.

I woke up from my nap today and there was water on the floor up to the bedroom doors. I have not clue where it came from but it took me forever to clean up. Nothing like having water issues then to have to wade through it on the floor. ...

THE WIND STOLE MY CMUTT T-SHIRT! I am so sad. It is my first thing to lose off the clothes line. Bah. I can't afford to lose any clothes and I liked that shirt a lot :( Malesh. It was only a t-shirt. I will get over it sooner or later. At least is wasn't my jeans. That would have been even worse.

Day 69-71 - Dahab....one the the best places ever.

Friday: We went to a restaurant called Yalla for some lunch. It was a great place. Right on the water and the servers were very nice. We sat there for over 2 hours just relaxing. It was so nice and the view was absolutely gorgeous. We walked around and went into shops for a while. We decided we wanted to go quading. We had to be ready to go at 5. It turned out that there were 3 other people going who just happened to be Canadian, from Edmonton and Calgary. One of then was actually Michelle Gerwing's (I went to school with her) roommate. Small small world. So yes we went quading in the desert mountains and along the sea. It was incredible and so much fun. We had only planned on going 2 hours, but then ended up being out for almost 4 hours. A very long time but worth it. Our guide Mohamed was great. We were absolutely covered from head to toe in dust once we were done. We returned at 9pm, giving us 2 hours before we had to leave for Mt.Sinai. We got in the micro-bus with our French friends at 11pm. It was a 2 hour drive to St. Catherine's so we slept most of the way there....

Saturday: We arrived at St. Catherine's at 12:30 or so and started climbing at 2:15 am. We had a group of 9 of us. Our guide, Faosi turned out to be the best guide we could have ever had. It turns out that my friend Naa anorkor is super afraid of heights so going along the path with the drop off made her super nervous. Our guide helped her the whole way up the mountain. We made it up to the steps at 4:30, taking breaks along the way at the little shops they had. There was one every 15-25 minutes. We climbed the 750 steps in about a half hour or less and made it to the top before sunrise. It was amazing...it was hard to think that Moses once climbed the same mountain we just did to recieve the 10 Commandments from God. The amount of people at the top kind of took away from the moment of being on top of Mt.Sinai but it was still amazing. The sunrise was incredible. The colors were so beautiful with the mountainous view and when the sun actually began to rise it was so amazing. It came up so fast. We started our decent at 6:30 or so. It took a while because it was steps all the way down so that made Naa anorkor very nervous but we made it. Just in time for the opening of the Monestary. By this time we were on quite tired so I do not think I appreciated the Monestary as much as I could have. We headed back home at 10am. I slept so deeply in the micro-bus on the way home, which if you have ever been in one is quite difficult. They are cramped and very uncomfortable. We had to be out of our hotel room an hour after we got back so we showered and packed, then left our stuff at the front desk so we didn't have to carry it around. We went to a new place to eat but they tried to rip us off so we went back to Yalla. I got Egyptian salads and some fish. It was really good. The Canadians ended up joining us half way through. At 5pm we left for the Blue Hole to go snorkeling. I went out in the water with Sam and Elza (our new friends) and snorkeled. It was incredible. There were not very many big fish but we did see a lot of schools of small fish. I saw a nemo fish and dori fish, and some cool other ones. I only paniced a few times. But the depth of the water was incredible. The reef on one side and the dark depths of the sea on the other side. After around 2 hours we left for Dahab to get ready to go back to Cairo. We shopped for about an hour...It was nice to walk in the cool of the night. Our bus left at 10pm so we had to be at the bus station at 9:30pm. We caught a taxi with our new friends and we were on our way home. It was an incredible weekend and I did not want to leave the beach...

Sunday: We arrived in Cairo at 7:30am after a not so good sleep on the bus. I came home and slept for about 5 hours. So nice. It was a friends birthday today so we went out for supper at the Greek Club here. It was nice. Good greek salad. It was a relaxing day.

Day 68-69 - Dahab

It took us 2 hours to find the place to buy our bus tickets. Once we finally found it we only had an hour before we had to get back to the bus station. It was a bit of a rush but we made it.

I am in Dahab now, which is on the Red Sea. My friend, Naa Anorkor and I left on the bus at 8pm last night. The trip was 9 1/2 hours, on a cold air conditioned bus. Besides the fact that I was cold the whole way, the drive went by quickly. Sleeping helped pass the time. Once we arrived good and sleepy, we were immediately bombarded with "taxi miss, do you want a taxi". There were some English/French/Arabic speaking people who also got off the bus so we decided it would be best to ask them where they were staying. We tagged along with them, which was good. The taxi driver would have ripped us off if we had not been with them. The taxi by the way was a truck and we sat in the back. We are staying at a place called Alaska camp and hotel. It is nice. One of the owners is I think Austrailian so it is good that we can talk to her and ask questions of how we can go and do things. We are only paying $10 a night for the both of us and it is like 1 minute walk from the sea. We slept all morning and then went and got some lunch. The view was so gorgeous, we could have sat there for hours. It was crazy to think that across the sea is Saudi Arabia. This afternoon we are planning to go snorkling at Blue Hole (look it up) with our new found friends and this evening we are going to climb Mt.Sinai. The day is just getting better and better.

I think one of the best things about being here besides the beautiful surroundings, is being able to wear shorts and a tank top. It feels sooooo good. I love it!

Day 67 - My cat is driving me nuts

Sitting at my desk, balcony doors open letting the breeze and noise in, borrowing someone's wireless internet....what gets better than this? Many things are better than this yes, but the breeze is glorious.

The internet just stopped working yesterday and me and my roommate, Ammanuel (that's for you Uncle Al) don't know who to call about it. Malesh. At least I can borrow internet from some kind person who doesn't feel the need to put a password on their wireless :)

I bought flip flops today for $2. I hope they are a better cheap purchase than my tank tops. They seem like nice enough ones.

I slept for 3 hours this afternoon. It is shocking when you wake up, look at the clock and realize it is 3 hours later than when you first laid down to sleep.

Day 66 - Level 5

Well I am now finished teaching for Diana. Class went very well yesterday and I knew like half the class so that was nice. I think that helped with my nerves. I just hope they actually understood what I attempted to teach them. Class today started off a bit rocky. The class almost convinced me I had spelt psychiatrist wrong but I was pretty positive I was correct and turns out I was right :)

Day 65 - New Job

So I have a new job for 2 days...well one now because I finished the one class today. I think it went fine. I knew a lot of the students because they were in Diana's English class that I attended before. It was nice to see familiar faces. Tomorrow I teach a new class, one that I probably know no one in. That is fine. I took the metro home with students today. It was nice not have to walk by myself.

Day 64 - It's July

Today was enjoyable. There was a very nice breeze so it did not feel so super hot out. I didn't go outside till this evening so it did not matter too much. I was working on lesson plans and writing up a test this afternoon. With distractions of course.

This evening a friend and I went for some dessert. It had fruit, mango juice, cream and custard on the bottom. Very interesting and decent tasting. After this we went and played pool for a while. I lost all 6 of the games we played. I kept getting worse the more games we played. Quite brutal, haha. Except my friend told me I am better than some of his friends. I thought that was funny. It was a nice evening.

I am starting to enjoy having a nap in the afternoon and staying up later in the cool evening. So much nicer. I am becoming Egyptian, haha. But if I don't have a nap it is hard for me to survive past midnight....like right now :)

Day 63 - Bagels

I just experienced a living in the desert shower. It was not too fun. I really wanted to wash my hair but alas there was only a trickle of water. I managed to clean myself but that was pretty difficult. When you don't shower here you feel so gross and sticky and dirty. I am just happy there was enough water to get myself clean. Oh and to top the no water thing, I had no towel because it was hanging out on the line so I had to use a wash cloth to dry myself. Malesh, it did the job.

I made bagels today, well I helped make bagels today, and they were delicious. They took all afternoon to make though. Diana did most of the stuff but I helped. It was fun and worth it when we ate them fresh with cream cheese :) I had a good time with them last night and today.

I am teaching 2 of Diana's classes this next week for her because she is going to the Red Sea with the orphanage she works at. This will be interesting but I think it will be fine. I also have to write up a test for my students. Tomorrow will be a day of lesson plans that is for sure. I haven't done anything yet this weekend...

Oh ya and for all you American's out there...Happy 4th of July. I think I heard fireworks a little while ago...I am sure it was American's in the area firing them off.

Day 62 - Holedays

So I celebrated Canada Day with Diana, Josh, Maggie and 2 Egyptian friends today at a restaurant in Heliopolis called Holedays (Holidays). It was really more of just a get together with friends but was originally to be our C-Day celebration. We had sheesh ta wook, which is chicken and some Egyptian salads. It was really good. We had a good time.

Josh and his friend left after we ate and Diana, Maggie and Radwa and I did a little shopping then came back to Diana's. I am spending the night here.

Day 61 - Teacher Caryn

Today I was given an attendance sheet with 'Teacher Caryn Wheeler' written on the top. It was strange but fun to see what I am called everyday by the students in writing. I had a meeting with Kathy, the director today, to talk about my time at StARS so far. I had to write a mid-term report, which I think is actually late. Malesh. It was a good meeting. It was great to talk to her about how much I am enjoying myself here and how much I love StARS. I also got some of my questions about the actual running of the organization answered so that was nice. Now I just have to write everything up that we talked about.

Day 60 - Happy Canada Day!

I met my first neighbor. She just happens to be volunteering at St. Andrew's. She is very nice, very easy to talk with and I like hearing her perspective on the kids at St. Andrew's. She had never walked home from the center so we got some fresh mango juice to go and walked home. It was nice. The mango juice was delicious. They have shops here, that only sell fresh juice. They have quite a few choices. Sugar cane juice is so good. So sweet but tasty. I wish they had places like this back home...

My butt got grabbed for the first time on my way home today. I was kinda delayed in my reaction because it was so smooth. He walked past and gave my right butt cheek a quick squeeze. Once I realized what happened I turned around and yelled "Eh da" meaning "What is this?" and shook my fist at him. Of course he was like sorry sorry. Ya right you are sorry you disrespectful person....so yes 2 months in Egypt and only once have I had my butt grabbed. Thank goodness.

Canada Day in Cairo has been just a normal day. I went to the center, came home and napped. And I am going for supper at the best place in Cairo to get Egyptian food according to my roommate. So really I am doing nothing Canadian like, but Diana and I are going to get together and 'celebrate' on Friday. It should be a good time.

Day 60 - Don't Close The Bathroom Door...

So about a month ago I came home to find that the glass had been broken out of the bathroom door. Natalie got locked out so she had to break the glass in order to get in. Since that time the door handle was a bit messed up but it still did its job. About a week and a half ago people started getting locked in. It was actually quite funny. We always got them out but still....I never close the door anymore especially when I am alone. I don't want to be stuck in the bathroom for who knows how long.

Today was hot. I left at 8:20 to go to work and the moment I stepped outside the heat hit me. I knew it was going to be a scorcher.

I had class with my grade 1's all morning. It was nice to be back with them for all 3 classes. The kids are so cute and they love playing at break, sometimes the girls fight over me which is bad but oh well. Some of the students are just not learning very well and are usually in trouble. It makes me think about how much their situation has really negatively affected them and who knows what will happen after they leave St. Andrew's. Some of the kids have been in the Flower Class (Gr.1) for 2 years and this is their last chance to pass. If they don't they will have to find another school to go to, which is unfortunate because St. Andrew's is such a great place with great programs for the students. This is life though....

Day 59 - Just another normal day in Cairo

I was with the grade 1's all morning today. There is a group of volunteers who are doing special classes/projects, like art, music and karate, etc with the students so my class was taken over by them. That is ok. I miss my little students. Besides being super tired it was a good morning. I was chatting with some of the new volunteers after class and it turns out one of the girls is living in the same building as I am. First person I have met from the building besides a young boy....

I talked with another one of the teachers today. He is from Darfur. Pretty incredible/sad story. His nationality/identity was taken away by the Sudanese government. So all of his family and tribe are not recognized as being Sudanese. This makes life incredibly difficult. I cannot imagine having my identification saying I am from Canada taken away from me. That is just insane. Yet another tragic and frustrating story.

I happened to see some friends at the center, and they were going to get some Sudanese food for lunch so I joined them. It was pretty decent. There was a soup which reminded me of the stews we have very often in South Africa. Bones, fat and all in it. I definitely didn't even try to eat it. I just can't stomach that. Eww.

I came home and washed my bedroom floor. It was pretty filthy. Then I napped for 3 hours. It was hot but lovely. I don't like using my a/c too often so I just deal with the heat.

My roommate and two other friends and I ordered some pasta from a really good pasta place for supper. It was only 10LE($2) and I got enough to feed 2 people. It barely even looked like I ate any of it. Leftovers....

My nap has made me not so tired so we shall see when I go to bed...

Day 58 - The Citadel

Today I went to the Citadel. I slept in so I left at 1:00 and I was sure I would be dying in the afternoon heat, but it was actually really nice to be outside in the sun.

A little history lesson for you: The Citadel was home to Egypt's rulers for almost 700 years. It is one of the most popular tourist places in Cairo. It was originally founded in 1176 by the Muslim commander Salah ad-Din. It has mosques, museums and battlements that show a diverse heritage. The Citadel is divided into 3 sections. The Southern Enclosure is the main tourist area (so where I was today). It has the Mosque of an-Nasr Mohammed, and the 19th century Mosque of Mohammed Ali. This mosque was the best thing to see. It was so incredible inside. There were so many hanging lights and the ceiling had amazing designs. So gorgeous.

I went to the Military Museum and the Police Museum. The military museum was interesting enough and the building was very nice.

I had to buy a water there because I drank all of what I brought...7LE. On the street it is 1.5LE. Gotta love tourist places.

So yes there was a lot to see at the Citadel. I spent about 4 hours there, wandering and taking many pictures. It was nice. I got the student price, which was only 25LE instead of 50LE. I was stoked on that. The first pictures here are of inside the Mohammed Ali Mosque. The best place. So absolutely gorgeous.

Day 57 - Fair and Bazaar

Today I was at the center from 2-9:30. It was a long day but really good. The center had a World Refugee Day Fair and Bazaar. There was music, dance, arts and crafts as well as foods from different countries. I am pretty sure all of the proceeds go to St. Andrew's or the individual people selling things. It is a good fundraiser for the center and an enjoyable time for everyone else. I had Eritrean for supper it was really good. I sat at a table and sold t-shirts all day. There were also 2 other volunteers helping me. It was pretty slow. I bought some nice things from the people selling jewelry and such. I got to see some of the students and other refugee's do traditional dance. It was very entertaining. At the end of the night I got henna done. Pretty sweet. The woman doing it are very talented and make beautiful designs.

Day 56 - Attack of the Clothes Pin

I dropped a clothes pin today and it hit the car below. I guess it is better than the last time I dropped one. That time it almost hit a person walking by.

The wind tried to steal my sheets today... I hung my laundry and laid down for a nap. I woke up looked outside and there were my sheets all bunched up at the end of the clothes line. As I was taking the fitted sheet off it almost blew away. Terribly windy this evening. I am just happy I got them when I did or else I would have nothing to sleep on.

I still have mosquito bits on my feet from when I was Anafora and they are itching like crazy today. Part of my tooth feel out as well...well I am sure it was a filling or something but now it feels very strange.

Sad to think that Michael Jackson is dead....

Day 55 - Some photos for you

The director of the adult education program is leaving so today after my classes there was a Miss Abigail Futball Tournament. I sat and watched the kids play for almost 2 hours. It was fun. One of the girls in my class, Ariyan sat with me the whole time. It was cute. I started fading around 2 so I came home and had a nap. It was so hot last night and we are watching one of my roommate's friends cats and it would not stop scratching and hitting my door I didn't have the greatest sleep. I had many thoughts of throwing it outside...
Futball fans and some of my students (L-R:Mataz, Lemiek, Shams and Chalawet, In the back: Coach Adef and Malwual)



































The Khan el Khalili (Mosque of al-Azhar - I think...)

Day 54 - The Khan

The center was good as always this morning. I talked with another one of the teachers, very interesting. He is from Darfur area.

I decided to go to Khan el Khalili today. A huge market, a lot of which is for tourists. I wandered around a bit. I went in to a mosque, don't know the name, I will have to look it up. It was very interesting. I got to go on the roof and had a beautiful view of the whole city.
I shopped, many of the shop keepers would call after me because I probably walked by their place a million times. It is very easy to lose your directions here. Everything looks the same so you really have to pay attention if you want to get back to a certain place. Even though it was hot, it was a good time. It got too busy once the sun went down.

Day 53 - Concert at the Citadel, WHAT?

As of today I no longer have to attempt to teach Science. Fiona found a teacher for them which is great. He will do a much better job than I would. I am still teaching the students history though. I am enjoying teaching them and it is cool to get to know the older students seeing as I can actually have a conversation with them.

I bought a kilo of grapes today at the market and they were only a $1. I love it.

So I live on the 3rd floor of my building and my room has a balcony off of it. I quite enjoy going out there to people watch. Most of the time I will look over and the creepy man from the building across the street is standing at his window staring directly at me...happens quite often.

I walked to the Wekalat al Balah fabric market again today. When I got to Tahrir Square it was surrounded with security guards/police. There was one standing on the street like every 3 meters. It was so weird. I found the market no problem. For being a fabric market there is not the greatest selection of cotton fabric unfortunately. I did find a few other fabrics that were nice. I wandered around the place for probably an hour. The shop owners probably thought I was lost because I walked past them so many times. Basically all of the places are run by men, which should not be surprising and there is nothing wrong with it. I just find it slightly amusing that all these men are selling fabrics. It was nice walking home in the cooler evening weather. When I was at Tahrir they were not letting people down the street I wanted to walk down so I had to walk over another street. I found out when I got home that Mubarak was in the area, therefore security was intense.

My roommate left for America today. She will be gone for 3 weeks. I shall miss her.

I went to a concert to night with some friends, Ammanuel and Akil. It was totally at the Citadel. It was so beautiful, the mosques all lite up and the view of the city. I definitely was kicking myself hard for not bringing my camera, malesh. The band was different but good. Very fitting for the atmosphere of the evening. I can't for the life of me remember the bands name right now. It was pretty cool and so awesome that it was at the Citadel.

Day 52 - Hot Day

It was really hot today. Normal temperature is between 38 and 42 degrees. I can't imagine July and August being hotter than this. I am happy I leave when the intense heat comes in August.

It ended up that I still have to teach Science, so I had two classes today that I had to just wing because I was not prepared to teach them. It went fine, I just feel bad that the students aren't exactly learning their Science at the moment. Hopefully next week there will be a teacher for them.
Clowns, which were people just dressed up silly with a red nose so they weren't creepy, came and did a show for the younger classes. It was cute and I think the kids really enjoyed it.

I found out today that the teacher I help in the grade 1 class is from West Sudan. She has been in Cairo since the 90's so was not there for any of the recent Darfur conflicts but her family is. It is so interesting/sad to hear real stories about that conflict because I have learned quite about of it from news and talking about it in my classes at university.

Day 49-51 - Anafora

I went to Anafora, a Christian retreat center, this weekend with Josh and Diana. It was a wonderfully relaxing time in a beautiful place.

We took the bus there which only cost a dollar for an hour and a half trip. We got off the bus in front of Anafora, which just happened to be on the side of the highway, very interesting. We found our rooms once we arrived. Very nice, 2 rooms with beds, mosquito netting included and a bathroom.There were dead cochroaches around the rooms but we never saw any live ones thank goodness. We got to the center just in time for lunch. The meals were good, and all of it was Egyptian foods so it was nice to try more Egyptian foods. Anafora is a beautiful place. Very interesting buildings. There is a pool but the water was not clean which was dissapointing. We napped away the heat every afternoon after lunch. Supper was at 7 so if we weren't napping we were reading. We drank lots of hot chocolate made from cocoa powder, milk powder and sugar. Quite delicious. After supper both Friday and Saturday, we went up on the roof of our building, read while the sun was setting. I saw my first Egypt sunset, so beautiful. There was a church service at 9 every night. The chapel was different and nice inside. I didn't understand what was being said but it was an interesting experience. On Friday we played taboo, we wanted to play Monopoly but half the game was missing. Saturday evening we chatted in our room by candle light. There is electricity there but only lights in the bathroom and it sometimes went out. It was a great weekend out of the city, very relaxing. AND I finally saw a night sky full of stars. So incredibly wonderful. We left Sunday morning. We had to cross 6 lanes of highway so we could be on the right side of the road to catch a micro bus. They just stop if you wave them down, so strange. The micro bus was way faster than the bus we took on Thursday. It was a decent ride home. I made it home around 11:30. It was another weekend of basically nothing, but nothing is good and I got see another place in Egypt which was beautiful. I would definitely go back, that is for sure.

I went to a coffee shop and finished the book I read all weekend. The Pelican Brief by John Grisham. I recommend him. Great book.