So here is my promised post about all the exciting trips I've done the past few weekends. 3 weeks (or maybe 4) I went to Ain Sokhna, a beach on the Red Sea, with AUC. I remembered my trip to Luxor and the awful sunburn I received so I meticulously slathered myself in sunscreen, taking care to remember odd places like ears and behind the neck. Naturally this sort of attention necessitated that the sun remained impotent, shining only a few rays upon the otherwise chilly day. The extremely salty water combined with the slippery moss-covered rocks ended up being a bizarre sensory experience. Since the trip was paid for by the university, I assume that is why we ended up in the weird, cold, pebbley (read: no sand) beach. Instead what we received was a sea-urchin packed cold water experience. Luckily there were TONS of dolphins. I probably saw over 20! The first sighting resulted in an almost instantaneous group-think reaction in which everyone started free-styling over to the dolphins, myself included. By the time we got there we could no longer see them and were confusedly paddling around, searching for them. One of the other students had somehow managed to find a floatie and was in the back of the group. He calls out, "Does anyone see them?" Only to have everyone start screaming because the dolphins had started jumping not 5 feet behind him. He quickly tries to turn around to see himself surrounded by dolphins! That experience was pretty much amazing and worth the hours I spent slurping down salt-water and stepping on sea urchins. We migrated to the pool the resort offered to play a variety of water-games including the typical water polo, volleyball, etc. but we also played an interesting Egyptian game. Everyone had to stand in the center of the pool (the fish) while the 4-5 fisherman swam around the outside of the group. They were holding a beach ball and had to peg whoever they wanted to "catch." Essentially it was dodgeball in the water but in a much more in-group/out-group sort of way. By my clever manuevering (also known as going under water frequently and hiding behind larger men) I made it to the last 3 people! At that point, however, the angry fish who had already lost were eagerly watching the game, pointing out my trick and informing the fisherman. I was quickly pegged by three balls at once. At least I beat the rest of them :P
The next weekend I went to Hurghada for my scuba diving certification! We spent two full days diving with two dives a day, steadily progressing to the final depth of 18 meters (something like 30 feet). It turns out scuba diving is incredibly exhausting. While fully equipped in my scuba gear I had to walk like an elderly grandfather with osteoporosis, hunched over and grabbing onto nearby objects or people for balance. Our oxygen tanks were so heavy that the slightest movement would send me toppling over. Luckily I was surrounded by quick-acting men who sort of followed me around waiting for me to fall over. I imagine this is what toddlers feel like. While under the water it was pretty much fantastic. I loved it. Unfortunately I had a lot of difficulty clearing the pressure from my ears and had to descend individually with the instructor every time. While under water at the depths we were diving our bodies experience two atmospheres of pressure! Needless to say my ears were in a lot of pain yet I was able to finally make it to the bottom. Something about congestion or allergies made it hard for my ears to equalize (like when your ears pop in planes). Regardless of my pain I was completely amazed by the marine life we saw! I have never been a huge fish person but I absolutely adored diving. We were able to see a 10 foot Moray Eel fully extended swimming through the reef! I was told this is an extremely uncommon sight because the Eels typically stay coiled within the reef, leaving only their head or part of their tail exposed. We also saw lion fish, tube fish, clown fish, these interesting purple crescent shaped fish I couldn't name, a huge napoleon fish that was battering a rock, and a blue spotted eel. I had such an amazing time and our stay on the boat was fantastic. They served us meals and after every dive we were greeted with smiles and pieces of fresh melon or guava. I really really enjoyed diving and I'm really happy I'm going to be fully certified FOR LIFE! PADI Certification is an international lifetime license that I can use anywhere! Next stop: Great Barrier Reef. For real.
Last weekend was the 6th of October 3-day weekend and I went on the Arabic Language Institute trip to El Sahel beach on the Mediterranean coastline. El Sahel, besides being one of the prettiest beaches in Egypt, is also extremely close to Alamein - the site of one of the major battles during WWII. The trip was extremely low-key and allowed us almost complete free time to experience the crystal clear water and soft white sand. I honestly have never seen a prettier beach in my life. While swimming I could look, from above the water, to see my whole body and any marine life swimming under me. I spent most of the trip lounging in the sand, swimming, or doing homework in the sun. I had left my non-face sunscreen at home so I purchased a new SPF 45 at the store during one of our rest stop breaks. I think this sunscreen lied about being waterproof and even though I reapplied about 6 or 7 times I ended up burning my whole back quite terribly. Since I was doing homework/working the whole time, it also took quite a while to realize I was so burned. On the trip back home, sitting in the chairs turned out to be less than enjoyable. I also really enjoyed our trip to the Commonwealth cemetery. It was really interesting to read the history about the great battle that was there in Egypt but also to see how the architect chose to arrange the variety of nationalities at the cemetery. The trip was exactly what I needed: a relaxing break from the stressful week prior.
I am sure you have noticed that I am only talking about my weekends. That is intentional. My weekly routine is extremely consistent: I wake up at 5 AM or earlier every day to get ready/make breakfast/pack my lunch/and do last minute studying before boarding the 7 AM bus for my 8:45 class. I have class until 3 PM at which point I either stay on campus to work out or study. I end up arriving at my home at around 8 or 9 PM most nights and then I make dinner and start my homework. My days/nights are extremely uneventful because I spend so much time either at school or do school-related work. Luckily exercising has been a really nice break and I have started running during my lunch breaks while studying Arabic as a nice stress-reliever. Cooking also always makes everything better. Class has been really hard but I just had a test this past Thursday in Printed Media (where we read Arabic newspapers) that went really well! I have seen a large improvement in my Arabic skills and just the other day I was able to have a conversation with my bowab (doorman) in Arabic! He doesn't speak any English so our conversations are normally limited to just greetings and pleasantries. This time, however, we were able to talk about our family and class and it was pretty exciting. I really love Egypt and having the ability to practice the words I learn in class every day is inexplicable.
The next weekend I went to Hurghada for my scuba diving certification! We spent two full days diving with two dives a day, steadily progressing to the final depth of 18 meters (something like 30 feet). It turns out scuba diving is incredibly exhausting. While fully equipped in my scuba gear I had to walk like an elderly grandfather with osteoporosis, hunched over and grabbing onto nearby objects or people for balance. Our oxygen tanks were so heavy that the slightest movement would send me toppling over. Luckily I was surrounded by quick-acting men who sort of followed me around waiting for me to fall over. I imagine this is what toddlers feel like. While under the water it was pretty much fantastic. I loved it. Unfortunately I had a lot of difficulty clearing the pressure from my ears and had to descend individually with the instructor every time. While under water at the depths we were diving our bodies experience two atmospheres of pressure! Needless to say my ears were in a lot of pain yet I was able to finally make it to the bottom. Something about congestion or allergies made it hard for my ears to equalize (like when your ears pop in planes). Regardless of my pain I was completely amazed by the marine life we saw! I have never been a huge fish person but I absolutely adored diving. We were able to see a 10 foot Moray Eel fully extended swimming through the reef! I was told this is an extremely uncommon sight because the Eels typically stay coiled within the reef, leaving only their head or part of their tail exposed. We also saw lion fish, tube fish, clown fish, these interesting purple crescent shaped fish I couldn't name, a huge napoleon fish that was battering a rock, and a blue spotted eel. I had such an amazing time and our stay on the boat was fantastic. They served us meals and after every dive we were greeted with smiles and pieces of fresh melon or guava. I really really enjoyed diving and I'm really happy I'm going to be fully certified FOR LIFE! PADI Certification is an international lifetime license that I can use anywhere! Next stop: Great Barrier Reef. For real.
Last weekend was the 6th of October 3-day weekend and I went on the Arabic Language Institute trip to El Sahel beach on the Mediterranean coastline. El Sahel, besides being one of the prettiest beaches in Egypt, is also extremely close to Alamein - the site of one of the major battles during WWII. The trip was extremely low-key and allowed us almost complete free time to experience the crystal clear water and soft white sand. I honestly have never seen a prettier beach in my life. While swimming I could look, from above the water, to see my whole body and any marine life swimming under me. I spent most of the trip lounging in the sand, swimming, or doing homework in the sun. I had left my non-face sunscreen at home so I purchased a new SPF 45 at the store during one of our rest stop breaks. I think this sunscreen lied about being waterproof and even though I reapplied about 6 or 7 times I ended up burning my whole back quite terribly. Since I was doing homework/working the whole time, it also took quite a while to realize I was so burned. On the trip back home, sitting in the chairs turned out to be less than enjoyable. I also really enjoyed our trip to the Commonwealth cemetery. It was really interesting to read the history about the great battle that was there in Egypt but also to see how the architect chose to arrange the variety of nationalities at the cemetery. The trip was exactly what I needed: a relaxing break from the stressful week prior.
I am sure you have noticed that I am only talking about my weekends. That is intentional. My weekly routine is extremely consistent: I wake up at 5 AM or earlier every day to get ready/make breakfast/pack my lunch/and do last minute studying before boarding the 7 AM bus for my 8:45 class. I have class until 3 PM at which point I either stay on campus to work out or study. I end up arriving at my home at around 8 or 9 PM most nights and then I make dinner and start my homework. My days/nights are extremely uneventful because I spend so much time either at school or do school-related work. Luckily exercising has been a really nice break and I have started running during my lunch breaks while studying Arabic as a nice stress-reliever. Cooking also always makes everything better. Class has been really hard but I just had a test this past Thursday in Printed Media (where we read Arabic newspapers) that went really well! I have seen a large improvement in my Arabic skills and just the other day I was able to have a conversation with my bowab (doorman) in Arabic! He doesn't speak any English so our conversations are normally limited to just greetings and pleasantries. This time, however, we were able to talk about our family and class and it was pretty exciting. I really love Egypt and having the ability to practice the words I learn in class every day is inexplicable.
