Dahab Hotels
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Random days and random thoughts
Entry 7 of 53 | show all | print this entry |
So the mosquitoes have generally agreed to leave me alone (although I am sure it's only a temporary departure), the cockroaches have retreated (although I think they are simply colonizing in my drains as those are now backed up), and my new friend is a stomach bug. I figure I will probably go through a long list of ailments and problems...like going through hazing rituals to join a fraternity. I am hoping that the food and water will get some Egyptian elements into my bloodstream and I will soon be free of these little annoyances--or just learn to deal with them. But I do notice that each passing day is getting easier. I'm thinking my body is asking 'ok, how long are we staying here so that we can just accept this new place as home.' But the weather patterns make it difficult to fully adjust as one day can be blazing hot with no wind to offer relief (such as today) or hot with a lovely breeze to cool you down.
In any case, I made my first (and probably not my last) trip to the pharmacy. It takes a certain level of faith to accept what the man behind the counter gives you and hope that he understood your symptoms properly. Luckily, the paper inside the box is in english and it all sounded like what I needed--so I trusted that. So the morning was spent sick and I attempted to give an english lesson today, but to no avail as my body was not cooperating. Hmm...maybe I'm not cut out for this teaching stuff. Actually, it was a basic beginner so it's tough to figure out where to start and how to make sense of english grammar. I much prefer the student who has fairly decent english and who just needs to conversate and have corrections made to their grammar and perhaps some new vocabulary thrown in.
I stuck to chicken soup with veggies today and some bubbles to calm my tummy and I am feeling better. I got a lesson today in animals and food. As I mentioned, there are goats roaming my street and much of Dahab. But I was confused because they eat a lot of lamb here and yet I didn't see any sheep anywhere (although it took a few emails between me and my mom to get it right the difference between goats and sheep!) Anyways, I was curious because I know that in Muslim culture pork is not eaten and this has to do with the cleanliness factor of pigs. And yet I see goats AND sheep roaming the street rooting through the garbage bins. They chomp on paper trying to get any food that is on it. So I didn't understand how they could eat these sheep that are eating garbage. Anwar told me that the sheep for which they use meat are not here in Dahab and the meat comes from elsewhere in Egypt. These goats and sheep belong to the Bedouin people who live on the outskirts of Dahab. But whether they eat these animals I have yet to figure out.
So a note on Bedouins. I guess the easiest explanation is that the name has been applied to any people of the desert who are nomadic. Generally, the Bedouins are a marginalized population and often live in very poor conditions. It is difficult to form an opinion on their situation because here it appears to be a love/hate relationship. The Bedouins offer most of the fish that is caught daily and from what I am told, are paid quite nicely for it. The children (mostly little girls) roam the streets selling handmade bracelets to the tourists...and are quite good salesmen! But you see the Egyptian workers in the restaurants periodically "shooing" them off with a "yalla!!!" or physically picking them up and placing them outside of the restaurant. Some even get dragged rather harshly. The point is that the owners don't want the children bothering the tourists while they enjoy their meals. But I guess some of the attitude towards them is 'deserved?' Anwar and I were sitting at a table and a girl came up and told Anwar to tell me to GIVE her money. Just simply that--to give her money. Anwar knows most of the Bedouins here as he worked with them in regards to brokering fish for the restaurants. He explained that she said I should give her money because I was a Westerner. He said that all the Bedouins care about is for you to give them your money and that's it. In fact, one teenage girl called me a "bad woman" after not agreeing to buy one of her bracelets. Anyways, that said, you have to wonder what the symptoms of the problem are. Why are the Bedouins in the situation they are--I can't provide a deep analysis as I haven't done any research on the issue. But I wonder if their attitudes and the like are a result of the inundation of tourism into their homes. You don't know whether to feel sorry for them when they are shooed away like insects or get annoyed and angry with them when they demand your money.
Meshi, that is enough for today. I have been here at this internet cafe for almost 2 hours trying to figure out my damn iPod. I thought it'd be quite simple to manage and add music while on the road. Well, I was wrong. My entire music library was wiped out today and wahumdilliluh (thank God) I had let another guy copy my library to his computer and he was able to restore most of my library--although it's in utter chaos and the hours I spent organizing and adding it all was for not. I also lost all of my songs that I had purchased and downloaded from itunes - humph. Oh well, I guess there are more important things in life to worry about, eh?
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| 7. | Random days and random thoughts - Dahab, Egypt May 16, 2005 |
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