Masalaama Egypt, Until Next Time!

Well, the time has finally come for me to leave Egypt and move onto the next country on my list of places-I've-never-been-so-I'ma-go-there-ASAP bucket list. 

It's crazy to think that I've been here for a month and a half already. Initially, I was only planning on staying for 2-3weeks...I ended up getting stuck here since I was having too much fun! 

I actually have a ridiculously embarrassing confession to make (which I probs shouldn't be writing on the internet, but whatevs - I've got nothing to hide): my Egyptian visa expired. About 2 weeks ago. 

I never even considered the fact that I want able to stay in the country as long as I wanted to, but then someone pointed it out en route to Dahab and I was SUPER nervous that I was going to get hassled at the check points, but no one said anything. I kind of freaked out and wanted to go to the airport ASAP to get a new visa, but then learned that you had to go to some obscure town that would cost about 10 times the visa itself to taxi there and back. Also, people kept telling me that all I had to do was pay an extra fee at the airport when I leave and 'you're lucky we are so nice to you tourists - we wouldn't be able to get away with this in your country' 

True dat.

Anywho, I had a nice last supper with my Momster and Emily at the Grand Cafe overlooking the Nile in Maadi, and then hung out with my mom's roomie Sherri aka my second mom :) 

Sherri on the far left, our permanent photo-bomber in Dahab over xmas ;)

I'm actually going to miss this place so much - it honestly feels like I'm leaving home all over again to head off on my travels, solo this time. 

Cairo airport 

I've been seriously blessed during my time here, and have made so (so so) many amazing memories that I won't soon forget! I hope one day to return, insha'Allah, God willing. 

In the meantime, I'm off to spread my wings in the direction of South East Asia - Thailand, here I come!!

Weekend Part II: Egyptian Wedding

My weekend didn't stop there. After sleeping most of the day away and washing the smoke out of my hair from the rave the night (morning?) before, I started searching for something - anything - that was appropriate to wear to an Egyptian wedding. 

I think that I tried on every article of clothing in the whole apartment and then settled on the only dress that I had brought with me from Canada with some nylons and a sweater. I wasn't entirely sure what the dress code was, so I erred on the safe side and made sure that I wasn't showing too much skin. Turns out I had nothing to worry about, but I felt more comfortable being covered up as the only foreigner in the room - I didn't want to attract more attention than I already do ;) 

Plain Jane

One of the guys that I went to the rave with the night before invited me. His name is Baha'aeldin, but everyone calls him 'B'. A lot easier to pronounce ;) It was his friend's older sister who was getting married. 

We arrived at the J W Marriott hotel at around 8:45pm and I assumed that we were already late. It was a beautiful hotel and made me feel a bit underdressed (understatement of the century haha). I met a bunch of B's guy friends, who were standing around the entrance of the event room.

There were a bunch of random instruments strewn about on the ground and I assumed that they had already been used and just left lying around, but turns out the reception hadn't started yet. 

About half an hour after we arrived, people started gathering in the hall in front of the door to the hall and all of a sudden a huge crowd of people started moving slowly towards us as musicians started playing the instruments and a group of belly dancers started doing their thang. 

The bride and groom slowly made their way down the hall surrounded by their loved ones, the belly dancers and the musicians. It was amazing to see - so much energy and sound to welcome the newly-married couple. B told me later that the religious ceremony, which is called 'writing of the book' in Arabic, takes place at a mosque a day or a week in advance and not necessarily the same day as the reception like we typically do in Canada. 

After a bunch of dancing - at one point all the ladies danced around the bride and the guys around the groom (I stayed at a respectable distance since I hadn't yet been introduced) - we all made our way into the hall at the tables. 

There was a big seat at the front of the hall for the newlyweds, with high tables for their bridal party and then big square tables for the rest of the guests around a dance floor that was lit up (the 'd-floor'). 

The dj played a song that all the guys at my table sang along with - B said that it was the 108(?) names for Allah - and then the couple came in to more applause and had their first slow dance. Afterwards, everyone joined in and danced around them - they were definitely the center of attention! 

B had prepped me on our way there, telling me that it would probs be all Arabic music. I was fine with it, and actually recognized some of the songs. I almost died with happiness when they started playing Shania Twain's song 'From This Moment'. I started telling everyone that she was Canadian like me. No one seemed that impressed haha. 

One of the guy's dates pulled me up to dance at one point and I asked her what to expect from the night. 'We dance, we take a break and eat, we dance some more and then halas - it's finished - and we go home'

It was the perfect summary I the night - after about an hour of dancing, the lights came on and everyone dug into a big buffet spread at about 10:30pm. Once we all had our fill, the lights dimmed and we danced some more until about 12:30am when the party was closed down. 

Everyone was really nice. There were some times over dinner where the conversation was only in Arabic so I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but I always found a buddy who took pity in me and was willing to translate or speak English with me :)

Entrance to the room 

I met the bride in the bathroom - typical female style - and helped her with her dress since one of the crinoline ruffles had come loose. Bonding moment fo sho. 

I also went up to the front of the room for the flower toss. I kindly stepped aside for another two ladies to fight over the bouquet. As I walked back to the table, one of the guys said 'It's a good thing you didn't catch it. Those girls would have been all over you' haha I can only imagine the cat fight that would have broke out if I had caught it haha. Oof. 

Did I mention that there was no alcohol served at the wedding? Cause there was none. Zilch. Nada. A bit of a surprise for me, but I rolled with it and drank tea instead ;) 

Anywho, I have to say that I had a great time and was so honoured to be able to experience this type of cultural event. I feel blessed by my experiences in Egypt, and so grateful for the many people who want to share and explain their way of life. Loves it! 

Weekend Part I: Egyptian 'All Night Dance Party' aka Rave

Hi friends! It was a big weekend for me here, still feeling slightly exhausted from it to be honest. 

One of the highlights for me was going to a rave on the outskirts of Cairo. 

Now, I feel like the term 'rave' has a bit of a negative connotation to it, so let's call it a big-ass dance party that just happens to go all night and into the wee hours of the morning. 

Note: I didn't take any pics from the night, so here are some from the Katameya Heights Golf Club (aka Paradise) for your viewing pleasure throughout this post ;) 

It was at a big warehouse building, and we could hear the music from a couple of blocks away as we were approaching. Naturally, it took us about ten times longer to get there than expected, with a few (dozen) u-turns and lots of stoping to ask people for directions (sometimes simply driving slow beside a taxi car and yelling through the window, fun times). 

The music was awesome, mostly house music - I'm not going to lie, I don't really know the different genres of electro music, but all I know is that it wasn't too dubstep-y (which is a good thing in my opinion - too many 'drops' and I start to go a bit crazy) and the only thing that I understood from the dj's on the microphone was 'house music'.

I know, I'm such the little detective ;) 

I went with a few of the Canadian teachers who work with my mom, super awesome people. It was mostly Egyptian guys there, and we were the only foreigners in sight. We had a bit of a posse by the end of the night haha but it was all in good fun. 

By the end of the night, I was full of redbull, smelled like an ash tray and had permanent ringing in my ears, but was able to watch a beautiful sunrise just as we pulled onto Ring Road on our way home. Overall an awesome night!

Also, I'm pretty sure my little brosef is going to be a big mixture of proud and jealous ;) he is the budding dj of the fam. 

I'll be back with Part II soon soon!

Bus Ride: Dahab to Cairo, Egypt

Hi friends! 

Hope all is well in the world with you :) 

I just got back to my Mom's place in Tagamo. Although it was hard to say goodbye to Dahab, the Red Sea and the friends that I had the pleasure of making in that awesome town, it feels good to be back near Cairo! 

It's strange to say, but I missed the hustle and bustle of this place :)

Anywho, the last two times that I made the trip between Cairo and Dahab, I took one of the white minibus taxis that expats typically organize for themselves.

I assumed that this was the only real method of transport unless you owned your own car, so I asked the guys at the diving shop to organize a van for me. They looked surprised and asked me why I wasn't taking the 'big bus' - essentially the greyhound bus - instead. 

'It will cost 90 Egyptian pounds (approx. $12) instead of $100'. Sold. 

I was initially planning on taking the overnight bus last night so that if isn't waste any daytime - the countdown is officially on for my departure from Egypt, so I want to make use of all the precious time that I have left - and so that I arrived in Cairo when it was light out. Always makes things a bit easier when it's not already nighttime here when you're traveling solo. 

It wasn't meant to be, however, since I was supposed to buy my ticket in advance and clearly didn't. My bad. It's all good, though. I had dinner with some friends to bid Dahab a proper farewell ;)

I decided to try and catch the early morning bus that left Dahab at 7:30am. I managed to get up and to the bus station in Dahab city with enough time to buy some snacks for the bus (you never really know when there will be stops on the buses here - or at least I don't with my verrrry limited amount of Arabic - so it's always a good idea to be over prepared with snacks, water and toilet paper). 

'There's not enough people to have a 7:30 bus. Come back at 9'. 

I had a feeling something like that would happen. 

Second time was a charm, though. Persistence is key, my friends! 

So off I went. I sat beside this really interesting Scottish lady, who had done some pretty epic traveling herself. We shared some travel stories until Sharm el Sheik, where she got off and I was politely told that I was sitting in the wrong seat. Who knew that there were seat numbers on our bus tickets?! Anyway, I moved up front and central beside a cute older grandmother and her daughter and grandson (aka the most well-behave child of all time). 

Not so surprisingly, we were stopped at the first checkpoint and a soldier came on to inspect my passport. The driver got up and closed the curtains on my window with a grumble. We actually didn't have too much trouble after that - I got a system down where I would avoid contact with all the guys at the checkpoint and they would usually let us pass without any troubles. Great success! 

My Momster decided to send a taxi man that she knows to come get me at the Almaza bus station, since I wasn't entirely sure of the directions to her place yet - I could get to it from Ma'adi, but not from the airport direction. 

There's also another stop in downtown Cairo, but the Almaza station near the airport was actually closer for me to get to Tagamo. 

The ride itself was pretty uneventful - we stopped at a few random places along the road to pick people up and drop people off (the bus driver barely slowed down to let them off, I think it was his own personal joke to see them jump off while the bus was still moving); we made a few rest stops at random little restaurant areas; and watched to some Egyptian TV show, MyEgy, and Arabic music, the volume obviously turned full blast. 

Loves it. 

I would definitely recommend the bus if you are traveling solo or with a small group. It's way cheaper, quite comfortable, and gives you a bit more of an 'Egyptian experience', if you will ;)

Hanging Out In Dahab, Egypt

It's official: I love Dahab. 

I mean, what's not to love? The boardwalk that runs along the Red Sea is lined with vendors selling their wares, always eager to barter for the best price on the spices, clothes, perfume, jewelry and silver lamps that cover their shops walls. 

The restaurants look out onto the water, most equipped with lawn chairs that sit only about a foot away from the waters edge. 

Now that's what I'm talking about. 

You can spend your days doing activities: diving at the amazing sites that are only about a 15-20min drive away, kite boarding or wind surfing, or just biking around. 

Or you can just take it easy, eat some delicious food, smoke some shisha and meet new friends, which is what I've been doing for the past week ;) 

I can't believe it's already been a week - it's like time moves faster here, I swear. 

It must be all the good company. Gotta love the cat companions that always seem to know the perfect time to appear ;) 

But seriously, this is the first time that I have actually gone out for meals completely by myself, and haven't spent a whole meal solo. I always end up chatting with my table neighbours, exchanging diving stories - I'm not the only one who has caught the diving bug. It seems like every other person I talk to either has their dive masters or is an instructor. 

If not another customer, I end up chatting with the employees at the restaurant or cafe. I have had many interesting conversations, and love how open people are to talk about their lives and their country with me. Most of our conversations end with something along the lines of 'hopefully people will start coming back to Egypt after the elections, insha'Allah, god willing'

I really hope that things pick up again in Dahab. I have felt so safe here - everyone is so laid back that I couldn't imagine anyone having a problem here, other than the harmless hawking by the vendors here ;) 

'Miss, you dropped something - my heart' or 'Come take a look at my shop - looking is free!'

When my Mom first told me that we were coming here, I was a bit nervous since it is located in the Sinai, which was an area that was in the news quite often due to violent protests. However, I did not realize before coming that there is a big difference between northern Sinai, which is where most of the trouble has been taking place, and southern Sinai, which is where Dahab, Sharm el Sheik and Ras Mohammed are located. Turns out she wasn't totally crazy to bring us here after all ;)

The flats that I've been staying at

I now understand how people get stuck here. I was chatting with an Italian guy at a coffee shop the other morning, and he was telling me how he had come here on vacation 12 years ago and went on his first dive. He loved it so much that he switched out of political science and started commercial diving. More than 5000 dives later, he is certified to teach pretty much anything under water and held the world record for the deepest dive back in 2007 - over 250m deep. He said that he would have 3 minutes after these dives to get to a decompression tank and spend sometimes weeks inside since it would take too long to do all of the safety stops while under water. Crazy pants. 

Anyway, I am sad to be saying goodbye to Dahab, but it's time to return to Cairo and hang out with Momster and my little sister before heading out on the next leg of my trip in about a week. 

Look out Thailand, I'm comin for ya ;)