Adventures in Aswan

Another plane, another airport, another city...

2009-06-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

After less than two weeks sleeping in my own bed I'm on the road again. I will start by saying that I love the Vancouver airport, if only for the FREE wireless. Seriously everywhere else they want you to pay an arm and a leg. Okay so maybe not everywhere but I've been enough airports in the last few months that I feel okay stereotyping.

Anyway, my time at home has been great, culture shock minimal to non-existent, and I won't even start with the food. I've also been extremely busy...coldplay concert, day at the spa, the cabin, a marathon relay, coffee, lunch, you get the picture.

So now I'm sitting in the Vancouver airport waiting for my flight to Kelowna and then on to Vernon where I'll be in my cousins wedding. Actually when I checked in...after the computer asked me if I had any hunting bounty to check in...I was told my flight had been canceled because there was no crew to fly the plane and that they had booked me on a flight for Tuesday. Not exactly what I was looking for but they got it sorted out and put me on a flight that will actually get me there earlier than I had thought. After the wedding is a week in the bush hiking the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, a trip down to the US of A to visit friends and then home again.

London Limbo

2009-06-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Coming through British customs last Sunday the customs officer asked all the normal questions, why are you here, where are you staying, where have you come from, where do you live... All fairly simple questions except that lately I'm not sure how to answer that last one. I've been living in Egypt, I'm currently staying with friends in London, a week from now I'll be living with my parents in Winnipeg, and two months from now I could be anywhere. At the moment, limbo is the only word that describes my current situation. If you google it you get two options...

limbo [l'ɪmboʊ]

If you say that someone or something is in limbo, you mean that they are in a situation where they seem to be caught between two stages and it is unclear what will happen next.

The limbo is a West Indian dance in which you have to pass under a low bar while leaning backwards. The bar is moved nearer to the floor each time you go under it

...you can decide for yourself which one I'm talking about. The past few days have been great. Who wouldn't want to spend the day taking a run in the park, visiting a gallery or two, eating great food, and drinking coffee. I do feel however like

I'm in some in between world. No longer in Egypt but not yet home. The realizations that I'm somewhere new comes at funny times and have included...

1. I probably can't respond to the flight attendant speaking to me in German with Arabic

2. You know you're in Germany when you sit down to have a coffee before your 6:30 am flight and at the table next to you people are having a beer

3. Before beginning the drive from the Stansted airport to central London the bus driver reminded us to buckle our seatbelts

4. 30 minutes into that same bus ride I realized we wer

e driving on the left side of the road

5. Went grocery shopping and instead of digging through a pile of tomatoes to find the fresh ones I had to first choose between the 10 kinds of tomatoes available

6. I walked down the street, camera in hand, and no one said 'Welcome to London'

7. Went to a pub and didn't walk out smelling like a package of cigarettes

8. People wait for you to step off the tube and then file

on without pushing

9. Side walks are meant for walking on

10. A very nice reminder came over the speakers in the tube station reminding everyone that in the hot weather it is important to carry water with you...it didn't even reach 20 C yesterday

I've also made a new friend, his name is Caleb. He's very cute, blond hair, blue eyes. He's a great listener and I hear he likes walks in the park too...

...he's also 9 months old

That's all. Today I was a proper tourist and visited the Tower of London. Tomorrow Reesa and I are going out for lunch and to a show. Almost home.

A post with no name...

2009-05-26T14:08:00.001-07:00

I've been in Cairo for the past week and a half, today I finished packing up my flat in Aswan and tomorrow will be my last day at the office. The process of going home has felt long already, the goodbyes started last week, and I've got two weeks to go before I hear a welcome that doesn't include the word Egypt. This post has no name because even as I write this I can't tell you exactly how I feel about going home without it becoming a confused rambling collection of the thoughts and emotions that run through my head everyday like someone put my ipod on shuffle.

I did find this today though. Someone gave it to me more than 10 years ago when the life of a 13 year old felt complicated. Turns out 24 isn't that much different, the lessons just appear differently.

After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul

And you learn that love doesn't mean security

And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts

And presents aren't promises

And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open

With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child

And you learn to build all your roads on today, because tomorrows ground is too uncertain and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight

After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much

So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone else to bring you flowers

And you learn that you really can endure

That you really are strong

And you really do have worth

And you learn and learn

With every goodbye you learn

Two weeks to go. See you soon.

Symbols of Egypt

2009-05-19T04:38:00.000-07:00

As a foreigner stopping over or passing through a country such as Egypt, a place so different from what might be considered 'home', it can be easy to give in to the temptation to make judgements, justified or otherwise, of the life we find ourselves surrounded by. Nine months does not by any means make one an expert, in reality I have barely scratched the surface, however every now and then you happen upon a symbol that explains things better than words could.

That being said my friend Emily lives in downtown Cairo across from a massive rundown and abandoned house. Sitting on the balcony having a drink before dinner we decided it needed to be explored. All it took was 10 LE and a smile and we were in.

It turns out it was built in 1899 for Prince Saiid Halim Pasha, whose father would have ruled Egypt had his nephew not upstaged him. With the British occupation Prince Halim's assets were confiscated and the palace was turned into a boys preparatory school in 1939 and was considered the chosen place of education for the sons of the Egyptian elite. "With the extinction of titles and Egypt's old bourgeoisie, the palace became the unlucky ward of the ministry of education. Thereafter, the deterioration came in steady increments fueled by ignorance and greed. A dispensary here, an office for the ruling party there, plus the indiscriminate building of brick walls on the balustrades and the pilfering of the priceless pink marble and other rare historical rarities. The rest is shameless history."

Wandering through the house you can imagine how grand it must have been in the beginning when it was well cared for, although the cartoon drawings on the walls might not quite fit the architect's intended style. Inefficiency, neglect, chaos, nepotism, wealth and a losing battle with time and the desert dust, all in the life of a building in Cairo. We also thought it'd make a great spot for party.

There was supposed to be pictures with this post but I'm in Egypt...enough said so if you want to see what I'm talking about check it out here.

A small diversion

2009-04-27T02:29:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA for over a week, but for good reason...I spent the last week in Jordan! With the office closed for Easter (a week later on this side of the world) and a few days of holidays left, I set off for Amman just over a week ago. I spent the first 5 days with my mom's cousin's family who live in Amman. It was great to be with family again, even if just for a few days. The family meals and conversation around the table cause a few moments of feeling homesick but that was short lived and I had a great time.

Friday we went to Jonathan's baseball game in the afternoon and had homemade pizza for dinner. Saturday I went out on my own to explore a bit of Amman. I visited the ruins of the citadel and had a look at the roman theatre in town. I didn't pay to go in since you could see most of it from the outside and after Turkey I've seen my fair share of roman theatres. Sunday we all went down to the Jordan river which is now more like a creek which means I was close enough to Israel for my phone to send me a message saying 'Welcome to Israel" and went on out line the various roaming charges I might incur. Next we headed over to the dead sea where Matt and the boys and I had a little float and gave our selves our own dead sea spa treatment.

Then it was back to Amman where a few of Matt and Robyn's friends came over had we had some amazing lamb for Easter dinner.

Monday I had booked myself onto a tour of a few sites north of Amman. We stopped first at a place called Umm Qais with views of the sea of galilee and the golan heights. Next was an old crusader castle called Ajlun, complete with guards dressed up in period clothing. Finally we stopped at Jerash, again Roman ruins...on a side note I knew from history classes how big the Roman Empire was but when you get over here and at half the sites you've got a Hadrian's gate and a Roman theatre it really is amazing how much territory they controlled.

On Tuesday, since it was spring break, we all took the 3 1/2 hour drive down to the desert at Wadi Rum. We stopped at a few points of interest and then spent the night sleeping under the stars. Oh, and we had smores at the campfire while one of the bedouins played music. The next morning I parted ways with everyone and set off to Petra. While I went there on my own I ended up meeting and joining up with other travelers and it was a great two days.

While I was fortunate enough to fly from Cairo to Amman, I made the trip back over land which took 18 hours from getting on the bus in Petra at 7 am and getting off at 1 am at Ramses station in Cairo. But I made it, and our bus managed to stay on the road coming through the Sinai peninsula which was a bit of a miracle in and of itself. I do have a bit of a bruise on my forehead from banging it on the window when the bus took a sharp turn to get out of the way of oncoming traffic.

That's all for now, I'll be on my way back to Aswan this evening and back to the office tomorrow for the start of what's looking like a busy last month in Egypt.

Lights Out???

2009-04-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

Okay so I know I get no sympathy from all of you back home where winter just won't leave and people are spending their weekends sandbagging but here in Aswan we just skipped spring and went right into summer. It's been about 40 C everyday for the past week and a half, and although someone tried to tell me it's going to cool off a bit, I don't believe them. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to wear so much clothing whenever I leave my flat but this is Egypt so...

The one good thing about the timing of the current heat wave was that we had visitors from the MEDA office in Waterloo over the weekend a week a go, and their hotel had a great pool! So after after spending much of Thursday afternoon in an overcrowded, hot car making client visits we spent a good part of the day on Friday sitting by the pool. We also went on the obligatory felucca ride at sunset, although this is getting more difficult to time correctly since the wind almost dies completely if you're out too late, and ended up having to get towed part of the way back. The next day we walked through the market and then and got henna tattoos, something I haven't done since I got here.

Now another week has passed and it is still hot out so they really didn't know what they were talking about when they told me it would cool off a little. I did spend my weekend...Thursday and Friday...in Cairo which is always 5-10 degrees cooler which was nice. With only a couple months left before leaving for home the job search is on, but if all else fails it seems I could make a half decent living as an English tutor. I've been helping out the two sons of the guy at the spice shop and this evening I spent some time with my boss's daughter. They go to an English school so all the textbooks are in English but it seems that the teachers are teaching a lot of things in Arabic which doesn't really help. In general the education system here is lacking and anyone who can has their kids going to tutors at least a few nights out of the week for help with any or all of the classes they're taking.

Outside my flat the construction continues. I got back from Cairo to find they have now dug a trench down the middle of the street and are putting in new pipes...actually they're bigger than what I would call a pipe since it's the sewer they're working on, and it doesn't look like they'll be finishing any time soon. On top of that there's a chance I'll have my electricity cut off soon. I got an electricity bill and a notice from one of the security guys this afternoon. It's in Arabic, obviously, so I took it with me to Dr. Mamdouh's house tonight. The bill looks a little steep even though it should be for the past two months...I wasn't here at all in February...and the notice basically says because I haven't paid they will be cutting off the power. It doesn't really make any sense...lots of things don't here...because I've been back since the beginning of March and no one has come to read the meter, but hopefully I don't end up in the dark tomorrow! On the other hand, at the rate somethings tend to happen here I might have plenty of time before we reach that point, but you never know.

I'll end by wishing everyone back home a Happy Easter...we're a week behind over here so there's no sign of a holiday yet. While I'm sure I'll be missing out on some great food, a recent trip to one of the upscale grocery stores in Cairo...where you can find lots of imported goodness...means I'll be cooking with a little more variety over the next week. The store wasn't that big, but after months of buying whatever is available in the stores in Aswan, I felt a bit like a kid in a candy shop, overwhelmed by the possibilities and excited by the smallest of things like soy sauce and Campbell's mushroom soup!

Random happenings from the last week...

2009-03-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

So nothing terribly exciting has happened in the past week, but since some of you out there get impatient when I wait to long between posts here are some random happenings from the past week...

1. A construction update....still happening. They are fixing something with the sewer, which apparently meant they had to rip up the entire street...Rachel suggested maybe the forgot where they had to dig. Because it has to do with the sewer things don't smell to great at street level so I'm thankful to be 8 floors up. The ridiculous work hours have become sporadic but it seems some of them work best at 3am.

2. In my next life I will be a computer software technician. With the launch of the computer contest with a new version of the game, Aswan has become the test site and I've spent the past week fielding questions about error messages and anything else that someone thinks isn't working properly. "Why?", is a question I'd like never to hear from older than 5 years old, more than once in a day.

3. Even Egypt can be a small world. Out for dinner in Cairo after returning from Turkey I met, or I guess re-met, Eric, who runs a tour company in Egypt and arranged my felucca trip with my parents. He brought a group through Aswan last weekend so I had drinks with them on Thursday night, and then went across to the west bank for dinner with them on Friday. Yay, for a social life in Aswan!

4. Hot and sunny is normally all I have to say about the weather, but last week in the space of two minutes the weather went from calm clear skies to gale force winds and dusty. Dust storms are normal around this time of the year but normally they arrive gradually. I think I've finally gotten rid of most of the dust.

5. I had to sweep up a dead bird yesterday...a baby one. While I was in Turkey some little birds made a nest in the hole above the door to my balcony. I've tried to avoid going out there too much since I wouldn't want to be responsible for the parents abandoning their nest, but after all the dust I went out to sweep yesterday. I couldn't tell what it was at first but then I noticed it had a beak and tiny wings. I'm thinking it fell from the nest because it didn't even have feathers yet so it's not like it was trying to fly. There are still babies in the next though because the parents keep flying back and forth with stuff in their mouths, so I'm steering clear of the area for a little while longer so I don't cause any more death.

6. I've started running in the mornings. Since I did invest in new running shoes before I left, I figured I should put them to use. I've had great intentions for a while now but last week I finally acted on them. I also uncovered a plot by some of my colleagues to have me bring a little more of Egypt home with me than I intended...the kind that might result in needing clothes of a slightly bigger size. You can't go to someone's house here without eating, and while I'm comfortable enough by now to refuse seconds and thirds, the words "oil" and "fried" are good descriptors of many foods here. And I just feel better in general afterwards, even if I have to get up a bit earlier.

That's all for now...tune in to next week's update for exciting stories including walks along the nile, and all you needed to know about sewer repairs in the middle east

Not the wake up call I was looking for

2009-03-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

It's been three weeks since I left Josh in Istanbul and flew back to Egypt, and I'm slowly settling back into some routine. As much as I enjoyed Turkey, it has been nice to spend time with friends, speak a language people can understand, and be surrounded by something familiar.

Work has brought some changes in the past couple weeks. We've started an Egypt wide contest for the computer game (www.baalty.org) that was developed to teach business skills to the kids in Aswan. There has also been a new group of kids that has entered the program and my work has shifted to helping them articulate their experiences with work, the thought being that if we can do some initial documentation of their experiences, once they have completed the program it will be easier to look back and see how far they've come.

It has also been nice to be welcomed back by my colleagues at work, who seem to have all missed me. I've been out a few times with Lamia and her friends on Thursdays nights as well which has helped me feel more a part of people's lives. Even the man who I buy bread from maybe two times a month asked where I had been...and then have me at least 1/3 more bread for a pound than usual...so either I've been over paying or it was a welcome back gift.

Last weekend I went back to Cairo for a few days to visit friends. Most people would think it counter intuitive to want to 'get away' from the peace and quiet of Aswan to spend a few days in the chaos of a city of 20 million, but me it provides some mental sanity. Three days of good conversation, a lot of laughs, a panel discussion on the psychosocial needs of refugees, and way too much food was just what I needed. Oh, and I also went with a bunch of my friends to a church in Maadi that too me right back to the time I spent in Kenya a couple years ago. There was the typical call for every visitor to stand up and say where they were from and of course the music and dancing. All 8 of us somehow managed to avoid the introductions but definitely got our groove on from the back row.

I got back to Aswan after a 4:45 am flight out of Cairo and had planned on getting a few hours of sleep before heading into work. This plan however was not shared by the public works department in Aswan and woke up feeling like the ground was shaking. Apparently this is what they had in mind...

Needless to say I was not impressed. While many things in Egypt seem to take forever and require much negotiation and encouragement, these workers must be very motivated. At 11:30 last night they were still hard at work. Hopefully they keep it up and are finished soon.

Just a few photos...

2009-03-11T01:36:00.000-07:00

hiking the rose valley near Goreme...yes that's snow

one of the million orange and pomegranate juice stands

the old Roman harbour in Antalya

Hadrian's Gate, one of the entrances to the old city in Antalya

the beach at Olympos

a quick stop with murray and sonja on the mediterranean coast

sunset in Kas...could've been romantic but oh wait...I'm with my brother

paragliding!

Josh was pretty excited...and then he threw up after landing...

what used to be the market street in Hierapolis

Josh crawling into small spaces...it happened often

at the top of the travertines in Pamukkale

in Sirince with Carly...the lady wanted us to pay for these...

the Roman public bathroom in Ephesus

the library at Ephesus

Galatasaray football (soccer) match in Istanbul

turkish delight in the Egyptian spice market

fishermen on the Galata bridge in Istanbul

the Blue Mosque

Night buses, home cooked meals and snow!

2009-03-06T00:24:00.000-08:00

This is the home stretch everyone so brace yourselves for a long one. Our last week in Turkey included the best bus ride of the trip, underground cities, fairy chimneys, a language exchange, and the closest I've come to perogies and chewbereka (sp?) in many, many months.

Starting at the beginning, you would’ve thought that it was -40 outside the way they had the heat turned up for most of the night on our bus to Goreme. I think the temperature in the bus might have gotten up to 30 degrees, and I had the window seat, right beside the heater that was blasting hot air. At one point I had my socks and shoes off and, if it had been appropriate, would’ve been in a tank top. Instead I hugged the cold 1L bottle of water Josh bought at one of our stops while I tried to fall asleep. Early the next morning around 6 am I woke up to a blinding light and was a little confused…turned out it was just the glare of the sun off the snow…that’s right, snow, something I hadn’t seen since last spring when it was all melting away back home. At our hostel, we were reunited with Sonja and Murray who had arrived a day earlier because they didn’t stop in Antalya for the night. After a breakfast of French toast, a welcome change from Turkish breakfast, we set off to hike one of the valleys near by.

I should probably explain where we were a bit. The region is called Cappadocia, “land of beautiful” horses, which is a nickname that I don’t understand because we really didn’t see to many horses. The reason people travel there is the strange rock formations, fairy chimneys that have been formed by wind and water erosion of layers of volcanic rock. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Back in the day people used to live in them and now when you walk through the valleys you can crawl and climb through the tunnels and caves they built. Josh and Murray had to explore each one including squeezing ourselves underneath the locked door of a former church to take a look inside.

The next day we took our first and only organized tour of the entire trip because there was no way we could’ve gotten around to all the places in one day on our own. We made a number of stops for views of different valleys, but the best parts were the underground city and the Ihlara Valley. There are something like 36 of these cities in the area and they date back 4000 years to Hittite times and were used when the people came under the attack of invaders. The one we visited had 8 floors and passageways so small I felt like I was crawling…not good for the six foot something French guy we were with. Our hike through the Ihlara Valley was the next stop. You can hike the entire 14km of path that winds along the stream through the valley but we only did 3 or 4 before having lunch. The last place we visited was a monastery that used to be a caravan stop on the silk route from China. We had a little while climb through the different floors of the kitchen and living areas as well as a church, which made Josh happy, although not as excited as the Korean guys were when a flock of sheep came by…you’d think they’d never seen them before in your life…then again maybe they haven’t??? For dinner we found a restaurant that served the famous pottery stews we had been hearing about. They fill a terracotta pot that looks like a vase for flours and then seal the top of with bread and cook it in an oven, sometimes for 2 hours. To break it open you hit it with the end of your knife at the base of the neck of the jar and it’s supposed to break off so you can pour out the food inside. Josh and I weren’t as successful as Sonja and Murray and our lids ended up in pieces…or maybe we just had defective jars.

On day three in Goreme, we rented a moped again since the public transportation is too infrequent during the winter to get places without waiting a long time in between stops. We spent the afternoon driving around, stopping at lookout stops, valleys, and anything else that looked interesting and then headed back, hoping to beat the dark cloud coming our way. We did pretty well until the last 10 minutes when it started to rain and we wished our helmets had had visors so we wouldn’t be stung in the face by the rain. We finished off our stay in Cappadocia with a horse back ride through the Rose Valley the next afternoon before taking a night bus to Istanbul.

Josh could probably give a much more enthusiastic description of our last bus ride but I’ll do my best to communicate how good it really was. First, Josh was most impressed that the guy’s pinstriped vest and dress pants matched up perfectly and he was efficient to say the very least. We got the standard glass of water to start, which was followed by coffee or tea. However, instead of the Styrofoam cup we were used to getting they actually wanted us to reuse our water cups…points there for being somewhat environmentally friendly. Then came the ever important cake. Also the best one we’d had on the trip it had hazelnut filling…hazelnut chocolate is my favorite, bueno chocolate bars are the best…and Josh thought about trying to charm his way into seconds but chickened out. Oh, and I didn’t nearly break a sweat trying to get to sleep which was an added bonus.

After 3 weeks we had come full circle, and were back in the same dorm room in Istanbul for two more days. Feeling the end of the trip around the corner we were both ready to relax a little and didn’t try to pack too many things in. We had planned on taking the public ferry on a day trip up the Bosphorus River, which would’ve taken almost as far as the Black sea, but the weather never cooperated. The second day we might have been able to do it, but since there would be no turning back if the weather got bad we decided against it. Our first night we were stopped at the reception on the way down to our rooms and were asked where we were from. I thought it was a strange question since you have to give that information when you book the room, but they guy was looking for native English speakers to help out a friend of his who runs language classes. We hadn’t made big plans for the evening, and we were going to get paid so we, along with an American guy staying at the hostel, jumped in a car around 6pm, not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into. It turned out to be a language exchange thing for a business association in the city and we basically spent an hour each with two different groups, having them introduce themselves and what they do and then just having them ask us questions to practice their English. It was a bit strange and somewhat entertaining and we got a free dinner out of the deal as well as the $40 they paid us the next day. On our last night in Istanbul we went back to the place we had dinner the day we arrived in Istanbul at the beginning of the trip. Having made some money the day before we had our most expensive meal of the trip. We started with these meatballs rolled and fried in dough that tasted like the chewbereka my grandma makes. The for the main course Josh had beef stroganoff…my last meal at home before I left for Egypt, and I had Turkish Ravioli which tasted almost like my mom’s perogies. Finish that off with some apple pie and we were both very full but very happy. Oh, and there was live music… a guy on his guitar playing some kind of Turkish blues music.

The next morning it all came to an end at 6am when Josh caught the shuttle to the airport. I left 5 hours later and was back in Cairo and out for dinner by 6pm. A week later it’s all starting to feel like a little like a dream. I’ve always wanted to go and Turkey definitely did not disappoint. If anyone is ever looking for someone to join them, I’m in! For now I’m back to adventures in Aswan for three more months where winter has come to an abrupt end with 35 degrees today…bring on summer!

Goodbye to the Sea

2009-02-26T03:38:00.000-08:00

Of course the day after it rained all evening...we never did get to see the eternal flames...we woke up to sun and clear blue sky...of course...and left Olympos on the first bus. We spent our last two days on the Mediterranean in Antalya and began our adventures along the Antalya public bus system. After double checking our destination with the bus driver we hopped on and hoped for the best. We quickly discovered that bus stations don't have signs and you can actually make your own stop if you shout at the bus driver loud enough. Never the less we stuck it out long enough that we figured we were close, got of the bus and pulled out the guidebook to figure out where we were. Now looking as obviously tourist as one can get people started asking where we want to go. This was helpful as we were staying in the old Roman part of the city that is full of narrow cobblestone streets and alleyways that seem more like a maze than anything else, and a short time later we were checked into our nicest room yet. Josh was quite excited that the shower actually had a curtain...none of them had had one up until this point. The afternoon was spent wandering the streets, eating the best chicken kebab wrap yet, and wandering down to the harbour where we ran into one of the guys who helped us with directions earlier in the day. He of course worked on one of the excursion boats and we ended up on an hour long cruise of the bay of Antalya. After a little more exploring Josh had had enough walking around so I left him in the room and went back to the harbour to watch the sunset.

The next morning began with public transportation adventure round two. After taking the long way around to what looked to be a dolmus (minibus) stop we again checked our destination with the bus driver, who gave us a confused look, and hoped on after a nod from the lady in the first row, hoping to end up in a park with a waterfall. We had no idea which direction we should be going and after 30 minutes of detours into random neighborhoods we were starting to wonder if we were just getting taken on a scenic tour of the city. But 10 minutes later we saw the tell tale souvenir stalls and knew we had arrived...as well as proving that I have managed to learn at least a few words in Turkish. They weren't the most spectacular falls I've ever seen, but provided a good 20 minutes of fun before we began our trip back to town and the final round of bus adventures. There were about 4 possible buses we knew would drop us off back where we started, but when an older man poked his head our of a bus number we didn't want and said it would take us to the same place we had no reason not to believe him. He turned out to be the next bus driver on shift but as we drove farther and began passing things we had seen on our bus ride from Olympos the day before we decided he had forgotten about the tourists in the back of the bus and decided to abandon ship...or in the case the bus. We weren't quite sure where we were except that we could see the sea and quickly realized that we were at the beach on the other side of town and could see the harbour in the distance. Not wanting to come all the way to Turkey and not set foot in the Mediterranean we proceeded to take off our socks and shoes and walk in the water...the very cold water...until I decided my feet were cold enough.

Back at our hostel Josh and I parted ways again since I wanted to go to the Turkish bath and Josh wanted nothing to do with it. I walked out 1 1/2 hours later the cleanest I'd been in, well, at least since I arrived in Turkey. Short showers in warm, lukewarm, sometimes, cold, maybe hot for 5 minute showers just don't compare to 90 minutes hot, soapy, exfoliating, massaging bliss. I emerged to discover that Josh's last 90 minutes had not been so blissful, as instead of buying bus tickets and maybe a few other things, the bank machine had eaten his debit card. After we went together to buy the fated bus tickets we split up again...he wasn't really into sitting in a cafe...but his luck ran out again when he thought he'd try to take out money with his credit card and the machine immediately turned off. So the last week has been on me. Our two options were to cancel his cards and he could fix it when he got home, or wait until monday when the banks would be open to retrieve his cards. We opted for option #1 and by 8:30 pm were on the night bus to Cappadocia...which I will save until next time.

More Turkish hospitality...

2009-02-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

I forgot something in the last post...hard to believe I know, that thing was like a short story...so you get two in one day.

All throughout our trip the locals have been welcoming and helpful but the guy on our bus from Fethiye to Kas gets points for the most persistent. If you remember from a few posts back, Josh's evaluation of the bus companies we take is solely based on whether or not they give out cakes. Our bus ride to Kas was only supposed to be a couple hours which usually means you may get some water, if you're lucky some tea. When the guy...I'm not sure what to call him, the bigger buses all have one or two guys whose job is to give out drinks and get your bags out from under the bus when you get to your stop...came by with his little cart Josh got some coke and I got some juice. Then he said tea or coffee? He said it like it was a question but when we said no he poured the hot water anyway. Two drinks wasn't too bad but a few minutes later he was back with bottled water. He proceeded to hold it up with a questioning look on his face but again when we said no we got a cup of water anyway. His generosity had convinced Josh that either we were also getting cakes, or he was having fun filling the tourists up with drinks when there was no bathroom on the bus. The trip ended with no cakes so either he was having a little fun...he did have a silly grin on his face everytime he poured a drink we hadn't really wanted...or we must have looked really thirsty and just didn't realize it.

Sun, Sea and Sky

2009-02-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

There's something about being near water that makes me smile. Case in point, as we came over a hill and around a corner on our bus ride from Fethiye to Kas four days ago and were surrounded on three sides by bright blue sea I was instantly filled with joy and could not get the smile of my face.

I should go back though, since some very exciting fun happened in Fethiye. Actually first I should say our good weather luck kind of ran out when we left Selcuk and it rained the whole day while we traveled to Fethiye which wasn't so bad since we spent most of the day on the bus. It did make the 20 minute walk to dinner from our hostel not so fun...my so called waterproof jacket isn't so waterproof, more like somewhat resistant. The next day was looking like it might be the best valentines day ever but we woke up to rain and clouds which put a bit of a damper on things...literally. It did start clearing up around 11am so we decided to make an attempt at paragliding, yup that's right, running off a cliff and hoping the parachute stops you from crashing into the trees below. After about 30 minutes on a winding road along the sea (no guard rails) then onto a dirt road that became a rocky path we were at the jump site. Our pilot told us to take a look around and 5 minutes later came to tell us that it was too windy to land so we wouldn't be taking off...probably a good idea...and back down we went. All was not lost though, on the way back to town we got dropped of in a place called Kayakoyu. It was largely abandoned after WWI and the Turkish war of independence when Greece and Turkey swapped their Christian and Muslim populations. Problem was there were a lot more Ottoman Christians that Greek Muslims and so lots of Turkish towns were never resettled. Two churches are still intact but the rest of the hundreds of homes and buildings that used to make up the town have started to crumble. We spent a good hour or two wandering in and out of buildings, scared up a few goats and came across some cows and exited at a ticket booth...the one where we entered was closed...which we walked by as nonchalantly as possible, not wanting to make them think we thought we should have paid. When we got back to the hostel we had company, a couple from New Zealand, Sonja and Murray, and we watched a crazy lightning storm before going to bed and hoping the weather would clear by morning...and it did! By 1pm we were up in the sky about 1500m, a little cold, but having an amazing time. Our run off a cliff was more like walking down a hill but it was pretty amazing all the same. To get down our pilots...we went tandem...suggested we try some tricks. This consisted of a crazy spin move where you're basically horizontal and then huge swooping circles to pull out of it. It felt like my stomach was in my throat...the contents of Josh's ended up on the beach when he landed...but a few seconds later we were on the beach. We went back to Fethiye planning on catching a bus to Kas that night but missed the last bus while we were having lunch so we trekked up to the ruins in town instead, thus concluding the best day after valentines day ever.

Back now to the bus ride to Kas. That day the sun was out, not a cloud in the sky and our hostel had a view of the harbour and a Greek island in the distance. A much smaller town that Fethiye there were lots of little shops to look through and we had lunch along the harbour. There seemed to be a gang of town dogs that ran around town and a few had found sunny spots in the outdoor cafe to take a nap. Josh has taken to naming all the dogs we meet. In return they seem to expect a sampling of our meal but they've so far been unsuccessful. The next day we rented scooters along with Sonja and Murray who showed up later the day before we took a trip to a couple sights a few towns over. First was a place called Ucagiz where we took a boat trip to see the ruins of a crusader castle in Simena, and then floated over the sucken city that used to be on Kekova island. Two earthquakes collapsed the town a few meters under the sea but you can still see the ruins on a calm day for about a kilometer and a half along the coast. After our little boat trip we hoped back on and went to a town called Demre and saw the ruins of Myra and the church of St. Nicholas who yes you guessed it, became the legend that is Santa Claus. Our last stop was a small beach where the gulet ships that take people on 4 day cruises in the summer were all up on shore, in various stages of repair and refurbishing and then we were off, 45 km back to Kas through the hills. It was probably the coldest 45 minutes I've experienced in a year as the sun went down and the wind became less than warm, but we were welcomed back to our hostel with a dinner of barbequed fish, soup and salad. Josh and I set out on our own yesterday without the scooter. We took a dolmus (public minibus) out to the ruins of Xanthos and then Patara, both ancient Lycian towns. We had both places all to ourselves which was kind of nice. What we didn't realize was that Patara is a little more than a few kilometers off the main road and there isn't much public transportation back and forth. A farmer picked us up on the way down and took us as far as the turn off to his house...he also gave us two cucumbers and an orange, gotta love Turkish hospitality...and then we walked probably about an hour down to the ruins and the beach, 18km of white sand. Josh didn't quite appreciate the walking, especially as on they way back we weren't sure if we'd have to walk the whole way. In the end we walked up past where we had be dropped off before but then were able to catch what I think was the local school bus up to the main road. It was full of kids who took great joy from saying hello and what's your name over and over again.

Now we're in Olympus staying in a 'treehouse'. Basically a little wood cabin on short stilts. There are some that look a little more like treehouses but they aren't heated so they're a no go in the winter months. This morning we walked down to the beach and through the ruins of the ancient town. We didn't quite get to see all of them because the waves are a little too high today and it would require getting more than a little wet to get to the otherside of the creek that runs from the beach up through town. We had planned on hiking up to Chimera to see the famous eternal flames but it started raining just before we started out so we're now waiting to see if the weather will clear...which is why I've had time for this long winded post. Hopefully those of you who actually made it this far think it was worth it.

From the Mediterranean...

2009-02-13T10:43:00.000-08:00

After a week in Turkey I thought I'd fill everyone in on our travels so far. First, I think I had a permanent grin on for the first three days. I did keep wanting to speak to people in Arabic but that doesn't work so well here. There are a few words here and there that are the same but it's mostly a completely different language. Oh, and while people thinking you're married to your brother might not be the greatest thing in most circumstances, it does wonders for warding off the Turkish men. The only downside is the stories of really awful pick-up lines but I'll trade that for hassle free travels any day...especially after six months in Egypt. People are kind of surprised to find a brother and sister traveling together. Most of them think they'd kill their sibling if they tried traveling together. Josh and I have been good so far. Probably helps he's easy going...I think one of his highlights is the chocolate cakes and tea we get on our bus rides...easy to please

In Istanbul we did a lot of walking, and saw the main sights...Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, and the pedestrian areas around Taksim Square. We also saw our first pro-football (soccer) game when we met up with a bunch of architecture students from the UK staying at our hostel. The game wasn't the greatest I've seen since it apparently didn't have too much meaning, but just going to the game is an experience in itself...you'd never find fans like these back home.

Next was a VERY early morning wake up to catch the ferry across the Marmara Sea and then a bus to Canakkale where we stayed one night to see the ruins of Troy. The ruins aren't that amazing but you go just to say you were there. It's also where we met two Aussie girls were trying to catch the same bus as us down to Selcuk...near Ephesus...one of them is from a town called Oakbank which was quite the coincidence. For those of you that don't know I grew up and went to school in a town called Oakbank. We were in Selcuk for three days and saw, in order, Ephesus, Merymana (the place they say the virgin mary died), Sirince (an old greek town known for their fruit wines), and Pamukkale. In Sirince we wandered into a jewelry shop only to find out that the jeweler there made all the jewelry worn in the movie Troy. I'm now the owner of a pair of earings worn by whoever it was that played the part of Helen...all you sceptics out there can keep quiet, there were newspaper clippings and everything.

Now we're in a seaside town called Fethiye and hoping for good weather so we can do some hiking the next few days. That's all for now...I'm not sorry to say I don't miss anywhere or anyone right now... life is great

Temporary change of location...

2009-02-07T06:58:00.000-08:00

So for the next 3 weeks or so this blog will actually be the adventures of Stephanie and Josh in Turkey. We've spent the last couple days wandering the streets of Istanbul, which I love, and are hopefully catching a ferry south tomorrow morning, but not before ending of our first stop at a football match with our new friends from London. I'm not going to promise much in the way of updates because well, I'm on holidays...if you want you can check out Josh's blog at joshdyck.blogspot.com...

More photos

2009-01-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

Mom and I on top of a small "mountain" in the sinai desert

My camel...he never spit once...camels do fart a lot though

Sunset over the Nile in Luxor

Tea in a Bedouin village

Riding camels...obviously

Dad killing me at cards

Mom and I in front of .... can you guess?

Our Bedouin guide making bread for breakfast

Mom and I in front of our candle lit campsite

Weekend getaway

2009-01-26T08:38:00.000-08:00

Okay so the getaway wasn't so much mine as it was my friends' who came to stay with me while they visited Aswan. Catherine, who I went to Siwa with, is leaving Egypt next Saturday, and her friend Joel is on a break from university here, so they came to visit. They arrived on the train on Saturday morning and while they toured around the islands and west bank in Aswan I spent a few hours at work. I should probably preface the rest of this post by saying that I also woke up Saturday morning and was unable to see across the Nile because of the thick dust that had settled over the city. They had a great time and I went to my very dusty office. By the end of the day my voice was on the verge of disappearing but I was otherwise having a great time. I met them afterwork at a restaurant for some tea and cake with four Canadians they ran into while checking the opening times of the museum and then we got a taxi back into town for dinner.

I took the next day off and the three of us hoped in a microbus for the 4 hour ride to Abu Simbel (only 40km from the Sudanese border) which is on the shores of Lake Nasser. It is the largest man made lake in the world, 310 miles long, and was created when they built the high dam in Aswan. It pretty much flooded all of the land previously inhabited by the Nubians as well as covering up numerous historical sites. The temples of Hathor and Ramses II were two of 14 structures that were taken apart and rebuilt on the shores of the lake by UNESCO. The whole production in Abu Simbel cost only $40 million dollars...only. They're really well preserved because they were covered by sand for thousands of years. You aren't allowed to take pictures inside but you can get an idea of the size of them from the outside.

After a long 4 hour ride back we bought food in the market to cook dinner and spent the evening at my flat. They left this morning and I was back to work. I still can barely talk and I feel like I've coughed up a lung today but the dust has gone and my homemade chicken noodle soup should help clear things up. I'm also thinking that if this is the only sickness I've had here I'm doing pretty well. Many people end up with stomach bugs and we all know what that can lead to so a sore throat isn't too bad as long as I don't cough up a lung...which feels like a real possibility right now.

I'm back!

2009-01-16T05:18:00.000-08:00

The last month has been a busy one but I'm back to blogging (sorry to those of you who have been checking only to find my now month old post) and at work after two weeks off while my parents were visiting from Canada.

I'll start with work and end with the fun stuff...not that work isn't also fun! Now in my fifth month in Egypt I can say I'm feeling more connected to life and my work here. Relationship building in a new place always takes time but I feel like I'm slowly creating a place for myself at work and in my friendships both at work and otherwise. The week after the feast holiday we took the kids on a small field trip to one of the islands in the Nile that has a botanical garden. You'd think that living beside a river would mean that people would be fairly comfortable in a boat, but I realized that assumption was misguided as there were many nervous kids and adults whenever the boat was rocked by waves from some of the larger boats on the water.

The photo documentation of the kids stories has taken a bit longer than I thought to get up and running, but what has started to come in has been really great and has helped

me to get to know the kids better and see the impact of the project over the past number of years. It also looks like I'll be testing out my teaching abilities as some of the staff and older kids want me to start holding English lessons. Schools in Egypt to teach English, but as in Canada with French, most people don't use it enough to actually learn and retain the ability to speak it well. I think I'll be learning a thing or two about English grammar along the way too!

Now for the past two weeks that I spent with my parents. They arrived late on New Years Eve and actually took the same flight from Cairo to Aswan as the director and accountant of EACID so they were well looked after for the last leg of their journey. After getting back to my flat I got to open my Christmas presents...they actually had a whole suitcase just for me! Even though I live in Aswan, we didn't actually spend much time here and by the second day we were packed up and off until the day my parents left for Canada.

We started with a felucca trip down the Nile which didn't actually get very far because the winds meant we had to track back and forth across the river all day, only actually making it 10km downstream. Despite the short distance we had a great time, ate well, and slept on the boat on a beach on the bank of the river.

The next morning we were picked up and taken to Luxor, stopping in to see the temple at Edfu along the way. We only spent one night in Luxor and spent the next day touring the we

st bank with Mohamed who is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the hist

ory there. He also invited us to eat with his family later in the afternoon and we spent the rest of our day with them and I now have an adoptive family in Luxor where I'm welcome to visit anytime. Next on our itinerary after taking the night train to Cairo was the pyramids at Giza. While some of the significance was lost since my lonely planet book was our only guide, they really are amazing to look at. Before that day I had only seen them from afar when they looked like little minatures of the real thing.

The next day we took an early morning flight to Sharm el Sheik where we were met by our guide for the next 3 days. We drove to Dahab where we ate and collected supplies befo

re driving on the desert road to meet our camels who would be our transporta

tion for the next two days. We met them in the middle of no where and after we packed up...and they snacked on the card board boxes that had been carrying our water...we were off into the wilderness of the Sinai desert.

We stopped in a bedouin village and Naiomese tombs before setting up camp for the night. Sleeping under the moon and stars was amazing, if not a little cold, and after 7 hours on the camels the next day I was ready to rest muscles I haven't used in awhile. We

left our camels and camelier in the desert and drove to Saint Catherines for a quick meal and then an early bedtime. After only four hours of sleep we were awake and dressed for our hike up Mount Sinai with about a thousand othe

rs to watch the sunrise. We were told that is is "scientifically the best sunrise in the world"...which we decided afterwards might be a slight exageration, but the novelty of seeing the sunrise from the top of Mount Sinai was worth it and was made even better by the fact that we were taken up the back way and were able to hike most of the way up and down all on our own.

After coming down off the mountain we changed into clean clothes, had a good breakfast and then went to visit St. Catherine's monastery, said to be the oldest operating monastery in the world and the place that preserved the Christian faith through numerous attacks and persecution. My dad was determined to actually talk to one of the monks there to ask if he could "borrow" his prayer beads as a gift for someone back home, but we had to settle on some from the monastery gift shop as the monks time was dominated by a greek couple who appeared to be there for the day. Our trip then came full circle as we drove back to Dahab. We had decided the day we arrived that an extra day there instead of in Cairo might be a good idea and it was well worth the $10 each to change our flights and relax in Dahab the next day. Reading and relaxing on the beach and watching the sunrise over Saudi Arabia then next day was well worth it as we braced ourselves for returning to the chaos of Cairo. We spent the next two and a half days in Cairo visiting the old Coptic Christian center of the city which contains churches and synagogues from the 3rd and 4th centuries, braving the bazar at the Khan al Khalili, and exploring the churches at Manshiet Nasr, or Garbage City, as it is sometimes more commonly known. We also had dinner with Reem and Rachel who work for the project and live in Cairo. My parents last night in Egypt was spent on the train back to Aswan where I took them to see the office, meet my coworkers and watch the sunset over the Nile. We had a great dinner and then walked back through the bazar (much more calm that the one in Cairo) so my parents could pick up a few last things to bring back. After repacking a few things we were off to the airport and they started their 24 hour journey back to Winnipeg. Just like that I'm back on my own, and back to work. It's been great to reconnect with people here. Even the guys at the grocery store and vegetable stand have asked where I've been.

That pretty much sums up the last month or so. Christmas came and went fairly uneventfully since people here don't celebrate until January 7th, but I did get to skype with my family while they opened presents on Christmas morning and talk to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins while they were together to celebrate Christmas. A year ago I never thought I'd be blogging from Egypt and the next months most likely take me place I can't yet imagine so stay tuned! ....I promise to be more regular with my updates!

The holiday season

2008-12-14T05:22:00.000-08:00

Another few weeks have passed so I figure it’s time for another update on goings on here in Egypt. Since my last post I’ve had a visit from my grandparents, made a little progress on my work here, and had a week holiday as most of the country celebrates the Eid el-Adha, the holiday on the Muslim calendar that is equal in significance to Christmas.

To start, I got to spend part of an evening with my grandparents while they made a brief stop in Aswan as part of a two-week tour of Egypt and Israel. While it was a short visit it was great to see people from home, as well as receive a hand delivered care package. While I appreciate any mail sent my way, this tops them all as amongst a few special requests I put in myself, my mom sent along a gingerbread house kit for me to put together. For anyone who is aware of this longstanding tradition in my family you’ll know how happy I was. I spend the better part of an evening putting this masterpiece together. It doesn’t really fit my current context, living in the desert, but it’s a little piece of home.

On the work side of things I’ve been able to work with a translator over the past few weeks and will continue to do so for the rest of my stay. My Arabic continues to improve (I think), but I obviously have a long way to go. She has been really great, not only for bringing more clarity to communication between myself and my coworkers, but also great enthusiasm and friendship. Since she has started it feels like there is a growing mutual understanding of the work we’re trying to do which should help things move along more smoothly in the next few weeks as well try and complete some of the stories we’re developing with the kids.

Leaving the best for last, I spent much of last week in a desert oasis in the far Northwest of the country. I traveled to Siwa, a small town on the edge of the Great Sand Sea, aka the Sahara Desert. An amazingly peaceful place on the edge of the desert I met up with friends, made new ones, and had a great time along the way. We spent a day in the desert, rented bikes to explore the oasis, and ate great food…way too much of it I might add.

me in the desert

Emily on top of the Shali ruins

Brianna and I in a very cold spring

Even the donkeys get to relax in Siwa

I'm now back at work in Aswan where it is much warmer than the desert. I know I get no sympathy from those of you back in Canada, but my body has started to acclimatize and winter isn't so hot here, especially at night. The next few weeks will be busy with work which will keep me busy as I count down the days until my parents arrive on the 31st!

Another learning experience

2008-11-27T10:08:00.000-08:00

Working at EACID I’ve been able to learn a lot about working directly with those receiving the benefits of international development assistance. Last week I was able to see another side of the development system when two representatives from CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) came to visit the project. Richard and Reem were up from Cairo and we spent most of the morning on Saturday with Dr. Mamdouh, EACID’s director, and the CIDA reps. After that they heard from the kids who had put together a puppet show about the project and got a demonstration of the computer game that has been developed to teach kids business ethics before we all got into a taxi to visit some of the business that are receiving loans from EACID and who have children working there who participate in PPIC Work programming.

The evening had a more relaxed feel to it, we took a felucca ride at sunset which, even thought it was my third time, never disappoints. The difference this time was that the water level has dropped considerably and we had a small problem getting upstream at different points. One time we had to back the boat up and taking a running start but we made it with a little extra work from the motor.

The next morning’s meeting was more forward looking at the plans once the current project ends in June. I was also able to share the work I’ve started here with the photo documentation with a presentation from some of the kids and then an explanation of some of the steps were trying to take now. The visit ended on a very positive note and was quite successful. After all of the preparation I think it was a relief for some to hear the positive response. The principles of the project were really well received and continue to push into areas that many organizations don’t believe are possible to do with any level of success.

It is looking like I'll be around to see some of our activities through a little longer than expected. Project activities will be wrapping up in June and the details are coming together for me to stay on a little longer than the original plan of finishing up my work at the end of January.

A weekend in Cairo

2008-11-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

Two weekends ago I took a little trip to Cairo for a change of scenery and to see friends. It still blows my mind that I went to Cairo for the weekend, and talk about it like it is nothing out of the ordinary. While I went for the weekend, it is by no means close by. It took a little over 13 hours on the train, which probably sounds long and uncomfortable, but the sleeper trains that travel over night are quite comfortable and you can get a half decent sleep while saving a lot by not flying. Dinner and breakfast are included in the ticket and the beds were comfy. All in all, a good experience.

I arrived in Cairo, known as a chaotic, dirty, polluted and crowded, and found almost none of these things. The haze I remembered was still hanging over the city, and is a little worse at this time of year when the fields nearby are being burned, but the city had a feeling of relative calm and quiet. This is the beauty of a Friday morning in Egypt before noon time prayers after which the city really comes back to life. As well, the trip on the metro after leaving the train station and the short walk to Rachel's flat was familiar, lessening the feeling of chaos I often felt in my first few weeks here. After making a tentative plan for the day Rachel and I met Reem (another colleague who lives in Cairo) for breakfast. Reem took us to a little diner where we had an 'american' breakfast...bacon and eggs with hashbrowns and toast, and free refills on the coffee. Our next stop was al-Ahzar park for a potluck picnic for Carolyn, Akino, and Rike, friends who by tomorrow morning will all have left Egypt for the foreseeable future. Round two of the goodbye gatherings happened on the rooftop terrace of a downtown hotel, after which I fell right to sleep (the sleep on the train was good, but not that good).

Saturday we mixed a little work into the weekend and went to Doweika, where a week or so of training for new staff was wrapping up, but by Sunday I was back to exploring more of the city. Carolyn, Rachel and I visited the home of two of the n

ew staff in Doweika who later took us through their neighborhood to an amazing amphitheatre church carv

ed in to the mountain. The community in the area is about 80% Coptic Christian and it is also home to a group called the

zabaleen, the community of people known to be some of the world's best recyclers, making it their daily work to collect the garbage of the city of 20 million, bringing it back to their home where it is sorted and recycled. While they do provide an important service to the city, they are often sorting decomposing materials in or just outside of their homes and they also have to live with the smell on a daily basis. Once we finished there I left Rachel and Carolyn and took the metro to Coptic Cairo to visit 3rd and 4th century churches in old cairo. It was the most hassle free tourism I had experienced so far I Egypt where you take a set of stairs down below street level and wander narrow passage ways finding small churches around corners and in small doors in the wall.

The last stop of the day before getting to the train station for my ride back was the grocery store, supplemented by Rachel’s fridge, for things that I haven’t been able to find in Aswan. Those of you who I traveled with in South Africa will understand why peanut butter has been a highlight of the week.

A better picture

2008-11-09T01:20:00.000-08:00

So my last few posts have been less than visually stimulating, mostly because my the internet connections I've been using haven't been strong enough to upload pictures...even at McDonalds (it's the only remotely western establishment here, it opened last spring...and offers free wireless and delivery). Hopefully this gives everyone a better picture, literally, of life in Aswan.

A shop in the market selling a variety of things

including spices, dates, pumice, etc...

One of the many horse and buggy combos around

town, used for tourists and weddings

A man smoking sheesha from a water pipe...extremely

bad for your health but a permanent part of cafe life

The produce stand where I buy

my fruits and vegetables

Natasha, Reem, and I on a sunset felucca ride...normally

I'd be smiling with my teeth but I've got a mouth full of cookie

Playing the Menno Game

2008-11-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

For the most part, as I go about my day here in Aswan I don't expect to have many conversations in English, never mind meet people who know my grandparents or who went to high school with my parents and their siblings. But, as I'm learning to anticipate here in Egypt, you have to expect the unexpected and the unexpected happened last Friday when the MEDA tour group came to town. The fact that it was a MEDA tour group kind of takes away from what would otherwise have been a chance encounter but it was somewhat ironic anyway. And, as always happens when you discover you're in the company of another Mennonite from the same city, you have to find out whether you know any of the same people or if you might even be related. I found no relatives but the rest played out as it usually does. One of the couples knew my grandparents, and the tour leader went to school with my Uncle Herb and knew both my parents. It's a small world after all!

The MEDA tour is an opportunity for MEDA supporters and friends to experience another country while visiting MEDA supported projects around the world. The group that arrived last Friday morning to visit the EACID office and meet some of the children involved in programing were a combination of first time and repeat visitors to Egypt. The children presented some of what they have been learning and the key components of the program, followed by a Q&A time for tour members to have their questions answered by both the kids and staff. At that point all but two of the group headed off to get some sleep. The couple who had been on the tour last year stayed for another hour or so to share some photography skills with the kids who have really taken to using the cameras that were donated with funds brought along with them during the previous tour. The kids had a blast, including Mohamed who had the chance to use Delmar's professional quality camera. Hopefully they will be just as excited when we start trying to help them document their stories through pictures in the coming weeks.

Starting to feel like home

2008-10-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

Any time you move to a new place you have to expect to feel out of place, out of sorts, and that everything is unfamiliar. Put that together with moving to a foreign country and you add a whole other dimension to the feeling of being an outsider that doesn’t quite belong. One of these things is not like the other? So you wait and watch for the small moments when something feels normal or familiar that tell you that maybe you can feel at home in your new surroundings. Yesterday evening as I unlocked the door and entered my flat and wondered where the smile on my face had come from I realized that I had just experienced one of those moments.

The rest of the story requires a little background. On my second day here I stepped into one of the many spice stores in the market looking for the basics…it’s amazing how little you can make when you have no salt, pepper, sugar. The man working there spoke English and gave me his business card in case I needed anything, but having my guard up in a strange place I tossed the card into the bottom of my bag and hadn’t thought of it since. That was until I decided that I wanted to make chicken noodle soup from scratch and needed some dried parsley. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at the shops near my building I ventured a little farther to first store I had been in since half the problem was that I didn’t know the word for parsley in Arabic. While the man I had originally met wasn’t there, another man, who also spoke English, and French for that matter, was and said that while he didn’t have any he could get it for me if I could come back later in the evening. So, a few hours later I ventured out to the market once again. This time they were both there although not with the dried parsley I was looking for. Apparently dried parsley can’t be bought here, but he did have some fresh parsley, which is not at all hard to find, he said would dry out in about 3 days. That was besides the point though as the first man I had met started asking me questions about the correspondence course he was taking and was studying for there in the shop. The next 45 minutes involved him pulling up a stool for me to sit on, asking someone to bring me some tea, then asking me explaining the price elasticity of demand lesson he was working on and other related topics I learned 4 years ago in Intro Microeconomics. As I got up to leave having reached the end of the handout he was working on he asked if the next lesson could be tomorrow…to which I gave the typical Egyptian response, God willing.

The feeling that I was no longer stranger here was already setting in when, as I had almost reached my street I heard a familiar voice and looked up to see one of the loan officers from the office, only adding to feeling that I might actually belong here.

Getting down to business

2008-10-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

My work at EACID in Aswan is now fully underway with the end of Ramadan and the Eid holidays. The past week was a flurry of activity as all of PICC Work’s staff were in Aswan for a variety of meetings and a training from Street Kids International. My week was mostly spent with a film maker/editor named Ahmed Hassouna, filming various aspects of the project along with stories from the kids and staff about the project. It was a good opportunity both to further ground myself in the different parts of the project and the work that has already been done, as well as to get to know the people and places that are now my home. The videos that will eventually be finished in a few months are to highlight the impact of the safety and hazard mitigation training, the use of a business simulation computer game, and the individual stories of a couple of the kids who have been part of the project from the beginning. I got to visit three different businesses, a home bakery, a carpentry shop, and a laundry facility. In two of the cases I had already met the kids and so got to get to know them a little better. The visits also allowed me to visit parts of the city that I would otherwise never frequent since aren’t in walking distance and my central location means I don’t have to walk far to get what I need. That is one disadvantage to my central location, that it feels a bit like a commercial bubble that isolates me from the experience of the majority of people living here. This may be a feeling I’ve created, but I feel this way regardless.

Sunday things will return to normal and it will be just me and the EACID Aswan staff. They are all really great and I’ll be putting my Arabic to good use, the little that I have so far that is. I’m really excited to get started on the photo documentation work I’m here for, as well as all the other things in between that come up with the kind of work I’m doing. It means that every day is different and there is little time to get comfortable in any routine, keeping me on my toes!

Some time under the sun

2008-10-02T12:40:00.001-07:00

I've now been in Egypt for a full month and October will bring about a few changes to the normal routine...although the last month hasn't quite been what I'd call routine. Ramadan has ended with yesterday and today being holidays for everyone, so the streets are full and everyone is out. Things have been a little slow in starting up since Ramadan slowed everything down, but this allowed me to join Rachel, together with her mom and aunt who were visiting for a couple weeks, for a little sightseeing. I met them on the Red Sea coast in Hurgada which involved a 3.5 hour train ride to Luxor and then a 6 hour bus ride to Hurgada. We stayed at a small hotel on the water and spent the first day lounging on the beach and getting massages, and then the second day we spent the day on a boat visiting different reefs for some great snorkeling.

After three nights there we went on to Luxor which is located on the Nile between Cairo and Aswan and spent a day and a half exploring some temples in the city and then the west bank of the river where the valley of the kings was built. We arrived at our hotel around 2pm and then went out to take some pictures of the Luxor temple. You are able to get in to see it right up close but we didn't feel like paying and you can get pretty close from the outer fence anyway. This was followed by an amazing meal at a place called the Oasis Cafe, which was very relaxing and had excellent food if not a slightly overly friendly waiter. The next day

we were up early to attempt to beat the heat...a lost cause if you ask me...to visit the West Bank. Our guide for the day was Mohammed who has his masters in egyptology and he was excellent. Our first stop was the valley of the kings where the pharaohs were buried. They keep eleven tombs per year on a rotation and a ticket in lets you see three of them. We also paid a little extra to see the tomb of Tutankamon because they actually had his mummy on display in his tomb. So after seeing those four tombs we moved on to see

Hatshepsut's Temple, significant because she was the only female to rule Egypt, although she did so dressed as a man. The last stop was the tombs of the workers who built all the tombs in the valley. When they started building tombs they moved ten families permanently to the west bank and they were never allowed back to the other side so that they couldn't give away the secrets they knew about the tombs. On their one day off during the week (a week then was 10 days) they would work on their own tombs which are amazing since obviously you'd take much more care with your own tomb than that of another, even if it was for a pharaoh.

That evening we took the longest train ride you could imagine back to Aswan. What was only supposed to take 3.5 hours took about 7...3 of which were for the last 10km of the trip. That then brings us to yesterday when, after sleeping in since we only went to bed at 3am, we went out for lunch, rested in the afternoon for a bit and then took Rachel's mom and aunt to the Nubian museum while we had some juice at a hotel close by. Then today we went to see the Philae Temple which is on an island between the two dams south of town. The actually moved it while the dam was under construction to a higher island as the one it was originally on is now almost completely submerged. So now, we've dropped Jan and Betty at the airport and are back at the flat and will be getting ready for a workshop that will start in a few days. Rachel will be staying with me until the 7th and I'll be glad to have the company. After a nice holiday hopefully I remember how to work!

A bird's eye view

2008-09-21T12:19:00.001-07:00

So directly in front of me when I look out from my balcony is an ugly hotel but if you look to the left or the right you see the Nile or the city...the Nile to the left, city to the right. So I try to look to one side or the other because the view is much more pleasant.

Home Sweet Home

2008-09-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Now this blog can officially be called Adventures in Aswan because I moved in Thursday night! It was a bit of an adventure getting here, our plane had technical difficulties so we got to sit in a hot airplane for almost an hour past our departure time. After we finally got in the air things went smoothly, but it is a little strange arriving in a new city in the middle of the night…I didn’t leave the airport until a little after 1 am. The director of EACID met me at the airport and took me to my new flat. It feels really big for one person so it’s good that I’ll have visitors now and then. It’s right downtown and when standing on my balcony the is in front and to the right, and on the left is the Nile! I’m also only a couple streets over from the main market street and about a 15 minute walk to the office.

Yesterday was fairly uneventful. I tried to sleep in but my window faces east and needless to say I’m going to need to figure out a better way of blocking out the sun than the tissue paper like covers the windows have right now. I spent most of today cleaning, not that the place was dirty but it hasn’t been lived in in the last little while and since the is pretty much in the dessert things can get a little dusty. So after sweeping and moping the whole place I decided I need a few essentials so I took a walk around the block and came back with a case of bottled water and toilet paper. Very exciting I know, but I go through water like crazy here. My next task was the kitchen which I figured I should wipe down before starting to keep food in. one I had finished that I needed some food so I went looking for that next. It’s a little more difficult than walking into a grocery store…no one stop shopping here. And I think I’m the only non-Egyptian buying things other than souvenirs so I’ve been getting some funny looks.

Today i was able to sleep in a little...till 9:30 as opposed to 6...so I guess I just needed to get used to a new place. Had a shower and was please to find out that the water heater works, and I've got great water pressure. I then went out to find some more food, things like sugar, pepper, salt, etc...it's amazing how much there is to buy when you're starting from nothing. I also found a good fruit stand and bought mangos, pomegranate, and apples.
Right now I’m thankful for less traffic, air conditioning in my bedroom, living by the water, and the Arabic lessons I took in Cairo…they’re already coming in handy. I feel some how that I belong here a little more now that I can communicate without needing someone else to speak English. I actually understand Egyptians better than the foreigners around here who are mostly European.

And finally for those of you who are interested some pictures of my new abode...

As promised...pictures from the last week

2008-09-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

ALEXANDRIA

Caroyln, Rike, Max and Akino on the train to Alexandria

Akino and Rike sitting along the Corniche

me in front of the pool in front of the library....it took

everything in me not to want to jump right in!

the sun starting to set over the harbour

with Fort Qaitbey in the background

KHAN AL-KHALILI (Islamic Cairo)

The moon over al-Ahzar Mosque from the steps

of the underground pedestrian walkway

vehicles speeding down packed alleyways faster

than my camera shutter can capture the light

Bab Zuweyla, the last remaining southern

gate into the medieval city of Al-Qahira

from the roof of the al-Muayyad Mosque

the non-tourist Khan market...much less hassle, but people kept telling us we were wanted the bazaar and were going in the wrong direction. Kind of sad that they don't think foreigners would be interested in a market that doesn't cater to tourists

Breathing Deep

2008-09-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

Week two in Cairo has come and gone and I feel much more comfortable in my surroundings. Still no real routine to speak of except for my daily arabic lessons. Julie and Jennifer, two MEDA staff were around for four days having discussions about new potential projects in the country. We had dinner with them one night and had a couple meetings. One of those was meeting the accountant and his family at their home. It was a great evening with some of the most hospitable people I've met here. Egyptians are in general very hospitable and this was another experience of that. He also works with MCC in Egypt and so I may have a chance to connect with them while I'm here which could come in handy when I'm looking for traveling companions as there will be no shortage of things to see here.

The highlight of the week was a day trip to Alexandria with Carolyn (Rachel's roommate and therefore mine for the time being) and a few of her coworkers. It's a three hour train ride north to the sea. We got there at 11 am and booked a return trip for just before 9 pm and then set off to explore the city. As a place that has been held by many different civilizations including the romans, and being just across the water from Greece, it has a much more European feel. There was still lots of traffic, but less than Cairo, and most of all no smog! There were a few clouds in the sky, but otherwise it was clear, and hot enough to get a little extra sun on my face. We grabbed a coffee at a square near the water and then sat along the corniche (the street along the water no matter which city you're in). We also got to see the great library (from the outside) that they have there, as well as some catacombs and Fort Quaitbey. The catacombs were discovered when a donkey fell through the ground of an archeological dig and were at one time the resting place of 300 mummies. In use since roman times you can see from the carvings on the walls which period different areas were from, Christian, Roman and Egyptian. We sat along the water to watch the sun set and then ordered fresh fish at a restaurant before catching our train back to Cairo. All in all a relaxing day withr room to breathe, sea breezes, and good company.

Saturday was a down day, and then Sunday I met with Richard (my sometimes in-country manager) to discuss some logistics, both regarding my move to Aswan and getting started on my work here. Yesterday and today have involved a couple more meetings, a my new phone up and finishing up my Arabic lessons. I can now successfully get around in taxis on my own, buy food, the essentials. Sunday night Rachel and I also visited the Khan al-Khalili market. It consists of both a tourist and regular market and is in the old, Islamic part of Cairo with lots off ancient architecture, mosques that make it feel like a maze of narrow streets.

That's all for now. The next time you find something new here I'll be in my new home since yesterday we finally secured a flat for me to live in in Aswan! (a flat is an apartment for those of you who might be confused) Yesterday I went and got a flight so it's now official and I'll be on my way there Thursday evening. That will be when the heat really begins....clean air to breathe, 42 degrees and sunny, here I come!

Stay posted for pictures...we're leaving the cafe before they finished uploading so I'm going to try from home tonight.

Through the haze

2008-09-10T00:41:00.000-07:00

So, I don't like hearing myself on camera but I'm trying to get over it in the interests of keeping you all entertained.

Why am I here?

2008-09-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

I’ve realized that while some of you are caught up on what I’m doing in Egypt, others aren’t quite sure, and perhaps my first post should have been a bit of an introduction to why I’m here.

So I guess to start, I graduated this past spring with a degree in international development studies and in business administration. After applying for a few different positions, I was offered an internship by MEDA (Mennonite economic development associates) for 5 ½ months here in Egypt. MEDA doesn’t have an office here but works with PTE (Partners in technology exchange) and EACID (Egyptian Association for Community Initiatives and Development) on a project called Protecting and Promoting the Interests of Children work Work (PPIC-Work). There have been and are other partners in the project, but these are the ones I will mostly be working with. I will be based in Aswan, working with EACID to document the stories of some of the children who have been part of the project in that city through pictures, text, and perhaps video. There are links on the side to the websites of the organizations I mentioned if you want to read more. That’s my basic understanding of my role here over the next 5 months. The plan right now is to be here until the end of January. My work will most likely cross over into other parts of the project such as ‘learning through work’, which is Rachel’s primary task, as well as networking, which is done by Reem.

There you go, better late than never I guess. Feel free to ask any questions you have…although I can’t promise I’ll be able to answer them just yet.

2008-09-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

While many of you are enjoying the last few hours of your weekend, mine has been over for a day now. Here in Egypt, and in the Middle East in general, the weekend starts on Friday instead of Saturday, so Sunday is like Monday and today we were back to work, and my Arabic lessons.

But the point of this entry was to recap the weekend. Friday evening we went to a place called Al Ahzar Park. It’s a kind of oasis in the middle of Cairo with fountains, grass, and palm trees. Along with my roommates and some friends we had a picnic dinner in the park, along with many other family scattered across the park enjoying their Iftar (the meal to break the fast) meal. Then on Saturday Rachel and I played the role of tourists and visited the Citadel of Salah al-Din, home to a few mosques, one of which we visited (see picture).

That had not been the end of our plans for the day but we received news while at the Citadel of a rockslide in the neighborhood where the project I am working on operates in Cairo. It is one of the poorer areas of the city, homes are not well built and the neighborhood is built on, below and around some large cliffs, one of which broke off Saturday morning crushing many homes and taking many lives. Go to http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80205 for a good article from the United Nations. Rachel and I met some other colleagues and went there to see if there was anything we could do but since the rocks were massive (some up to 70 tonnes) and they had not been able to get an heavy machinery in there was nothing we could do. Rachel and I went back today for a workshop with the children she is working with. With the main road into the community blocked to traffic it is much quieter than my first visit. The closing of the road also means that business in the community has also slowed which will be an added burden.

To end off the weekend, Carolyn, Rika and I took a walk through the city to a couple places both Rika and I had not yet visited and then came home to make dinner. With Ramadan may shops are decorated and people string up lights like we might do at Christmas. Once the sun sets the streets become quiet, and you can watch people eat Iftar on street corners, in cafes and on balconies all over the city.

The last thing I’ll say is that while walking down side walks it is not uncommon to feel water droplets on your head. One should not be fooled into thinking it might rain…this is Egypt and the sun is always shining….it is only the air conditioner dripping on your head.

Some First Impressions

2008-09-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

Now that I’ve been in Cairo for almost one week…don’t be confused by the title of the blog, I won’t be in Aswan until mid-month…I thought it was a good time to give some thoughts and reflections of my temporary new home.

First of all, and to get it out of the way, Egypt is hot…anyone surprised? Oh, and it’s humid. I know some of you are thinking “but Egypt is mostly a desert??”, however the Nile is a big river, big enough to have islands. So yes, it’s humid. Also, and this may be surprising, no one talks about the weather. Hot and sunny is kind of predictable. Oh, and Aswan is hotter.

The second thing that is affecting life here right now is that it is Ramadan, which for those of you who don’t know, is the month of fasting for Muslims who fast between sun up and sun down each day for 30 days. In general this means that business hours start a little later and end a little earlier, and pretty much everything is close between 5:30/6 and 9pm. Around 6:30, probably a little before, the call to prayer happens and everyone eats. It feels a little like Christmas, people put up strings of lights, everyone eats with their family, people serve meals for others in the neighborhood. On our way to a picnic lunch in Al Ahzar park yesterday there were tables set up on sidewalks and along the streets. It is really the only time that the city is ever quiet.

For my first couple days in Cairo I was with Rachel. The first day we went to the neighborhood where the project is operating in Cairo, called Dowiekha (you don’t pronounce the k), and to a meeting with a potential partner in some research. We also went to a massive building called Mogamma to my visa extended for the year, and Rachel’s renewed as she has now been here for a year. Otherwise, I’ve been reading up on the project and taking Arabic lessons, which have been going very well. I go two and a half hours per day, five days a week.

That was my first week, the weekend (friday and Saturday) has been very relaxing and a lot of fun, but this is getting long so you’ll have to wait until next time.