Back from the dead
Trip Start
May 09, 2005
1
28
53
Trip End
Aug 01, 2005
Dahab,
Egypt
Sunday, June 19, 2005
I could go on for quite some time as to the mishaps of the store but here's the lowdown: wood shelving that is meant to be floor to ceiling kind of hangs mysteriously in the air a few inches above the ground; holes are haphazardly drilled into the wall to hang a rod for hanging shirts on only to discover they have no screws with which to hang the rods so then scrap wood is found to fill the holes so that nails can instead be used to do the hanging; why use a hammer that is lying in front of you when you can use random pieces of wood to bang nails into the wall; the wall to wall wooden closet rod for which shirts are to be hung is bending horribly in the middle...okay, I won't even horrify my mom and dad (who owns a construction company) as to how they fixed that one
Anwar drinking tea
. But one thing is for sure, the Egyptians are quite inventive in fixing their mishaps. But it only leaves me to think they wouldn't have mishaps in the first place if they planned a bit before they started doing these things. So back to the evil sangria. Mandy, Anwar and I drank a pitcher of sangria together whilst sitting outside of the shop. We then headed over to Tota to finish off another bottle of RHUM and coke and ran into some interesting guys. They were two Polish guys who were serving as UN Peacekeeping troops in Syria. Hmmm...I guess I haven't been following the UN stuff as of late and really had no idea there were troops in Syria. Yes, I know of the political mess that is on the ground in Syria and the "skirmishes" that have happened in the past amongst neighboring states, but I had no idea there was a UN presence there at the moment. Anyways, there were quite pissed on some Polish vodka they'd brought from home and we had to help them find their camp they were staying at. So I did my good deed for the day.
Anyways, I woke up the next morning expecting a slight hangover and instead had a severe stomach flu. Anwar insisted I go to the hospital but I think it's quite silly how they go to the hospital here for every little thing.
Anwar enjoying a beer in Tota
This just isn't in the American way of thinking because 1) the financial repercussions of going to the ER are quite scary and 2) the time it takes to be seen is abhorrent. So the last thing on my mind is going to the hospital...especially here where stray cats are allowed to roam the rooms. So I just stayed home to sweat it out. Luckily my fever broke in the middle of the night and today I feel like a new woman. Lesson learned: no more Egyptian alcohol, or at least stick to the very mild beer they have here.My victory meal of escaping death was some lovely rosemary rotissiere chicken. Anwar opted for cow head meat. After, we made our way over to the shop to check things out and Mandy and Ahmed were in the midst of an argument, so I popped back out and am hiding out here in the internet cafe. In about 45 minutes we're going to the 'cinema' to watch the big football game that is on today: Egypt vs. Ivory Coast. According to Anwar it's a huge game as Ivory Coast is a very "dangerous" team to play. I'll take his word for it.
That's about it. It's a really nice day in Dahab today with very little tourists about. I'm not sure of my plans for the upcoming week but you'll hear all about it regardless of whether or not I do anything productive.
Dahab water
Just trying to enjoy what I know are my last few weeks here. Also, I've put in a bunch of photos this blog--be sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the picture window as there is a space there for a photo explanation. I had forgotten about this feature and failed to use it in the past. That way, maybe the photos will make more sense.----POST NOTE----
I've returned from the football match. As happens in all of my travels, I happened to be the sole woman in a group of about 100+ men. The good thing is that front row seats were given up for me in order to enjoy the game. Sadly for Egypt, they lost 2-0. It was fun watching grown men squeal like little girls every time the Egyptians became remotely close to scoring a goal. I don't have any photos but do have video. Was anyone able to open the only other video I have put up here?! If you aren't able to open it, I'm not going to bother posting it as it takes up a lot of memory. Also, "Fuego" opened quite nicely this evening and sales have been made. So now I have something to do each day: sit outside of the shop and watch the world go by in Dahab.
