Suba Diving in the Red Sea and getting lost in the Sinai

I went on a very spur of the moment trip to Dadab (8 hours away) about a week ago with my ex-roomate and good friend Ashley. Dahab is a smaller town on the coast of the Red Sea that attracts the hippie and back packer tourists.. not like Sharm El Sheikh. If you read my post about the Desert Trip you'll remember that it was her that actually wrote it. Again I will be posting her view on the trip since she wrote such an extensive summary for her own blog, and honestly I don't have the time or the patience to do that.


So Remember Ashley is writing this. My comments will be in italics!

Wednesday

By this point Joseph, Thomas and I decided that we wanted to go to Dahab, bue weren’t sure it was going to happen. Ideally we wanted another girl to come along for driving purposes, housing, etc. We had decided to leave Wednesday at midnight and arrive in Dahab early on Thursday morning. They told me that they would decide by Wednesday morning if we were definitely going to go. So I asked Jessy that day if she would come with us to Dahab. She had a few engagements already, but she had been wanting to go for over a month now. So she told me she would see if she could rearrange her schedule. Jessy got back to me and said she was in.


Anyways, I ordered a cappuccino because I knew it was going to be a long night. Jessy texted me around 11:30pm to tell me she was back at her place and I walked over to meet her. On my way I had some unpleasant attention from passing cars. That’s probably my least favorite thing about Egypt. Anyways, I got to Jessy’s flat and we began catching up. Since I don’t live with her anymore, we don’t get to see each other that much. I called the guys to see where they were and ask about snacks when all the sudden my phone cut out. It appeared I had run out of credit. Here in Egypt it isn’t common to have a running phone bill. It’s a pay as you go system, meaning when you run out of credit your phone is worthless. I used Jessy’s phone to get in touch with them and they told us they’d be there at 12:30pm.

They gave us a missed call and we made our way down to the car. We had planned for Joseph to start driving and we wanted to ensure that we could alternate drivers and have the passenger keep them awake. What we hadn’t really taken into account were all the security checkpoints. We weren’t sure what would happen if Thomas was driving when we went through the check point, so Joseph ended up driving the whole way. Jessy ended up falling asleep for some of the way, but having three cups of coffee kept me up the entire night. Which was good because at about 5am we needed to help keep Joseph up.

We took the road from Suez to Sharm el Sheik, so we arrived at Sharm at about sunrise. I was hoping for a nice one, but it turned out to be pretty overcast. The town was dead quiet with only a few elderly tourists awake at that hour. I know I didn’t see much of Sharm, but what I did see didn’t entice me to return. I agree, I liked Dahab so much more! We saw a Starbucks and got pretty excited about the prospect of coffee…only to realize it wasn’t open, so we went to McDonald’s.


Thursday

Then it was back on the road. We got a bit turned around trying to find the road to Dahab but eventually we found it. The problem on roads in the Sinai is that they don’t have signs…at all. A few more kilometers and we doubted that we were on the right track because there weren’t any mile markers…then we realized that we were pretty low on petrol. But luckily we caught sight of the Dahab checkpoint ahead and a petrol station. We filled up, waited for them to clear us and then finally pulled into Beloved Dahab.

We pulled up to the Pearl of South Sinai and were greeted by Mussa. He gave us our keys and we put our stuff down. Then we wandered over to the Corniche for a delicious breakfast at Jasmine’s. Originally we wanted to try a pancake place that Tara and Nurul had told me about but it was closed. I wasn’t too disappointed though because I love breakfast at Jasmine’s which is right on the Red Sea. After breakfast we went down to talk to John about a try dive for Joseph, Thomas and Jessy. I had emailed him earlier in the week to ask about the price of a try dive, but I didn’t tell him I was coming with my friends…but he wasn’t surprised to see me!

I was debating whether or not to dive with them. I mean I should have known I can’t resist diving in the Red sea, but I was thinking about setting a dive for the Blue Hole. In the end though I really wanted to be there for their first dive. We set the time for the try dive for 1:00pm at the Lighthouse and then walked to some hammocks by the sea and fell asleep for a good two hours. The only bad thing about Dahab (ok two things) are the amount of flies and the amount of random cats/dogs. As I was trying to sleep I kept being attacked by flies. I think Thomas and Joseph had similar problems and Joseph even decided to go back to the room at one point.

At about quarter till one we decided to head over to the dive center. When Joseph didn’t show up at one, Thomas tried calling him to see where he was. He didn’t answer so Thomas went back to the room to see if he was there. Meanwhile, John began getting Jessy’s and my gear together. Thomas finally came back and told us that when he got there Joseph didn’t answer the door. Then he called him and he could hear the phone going off inside, yet still no Joseph. Then Mostafa and Thomas had to practically beat the door down to get Joseph up. (The key was inside the room so they couldn’t open it). In the end they forced the door open with a knife to find a fast asleep Joseph. Thomas got him up finally and then asked him if he still wanted to dive.

So Thomas showed up back at the dive center and told us the story as well as that Joseph was on the way. In the end Joseph decided not to dive as he was really tired. Thomas got fitted for his gear and we headed off to the Lighthouse. So we got to the Lighthouse and unloaded the gear. Before the dive though John and Helen had a short briefing for the new divers. I didn’t realize until the briefing that they were going to be literally held by the tank the whole time, but I realized that it made sense. I had had weeks of training before my first real dive back at USC. After that Helen, John and I got the BC’s and tanks ready to go and then everyone suited up.

We got into the water which was about 24 C and put on our fins and masks. Then descended into the water. John worked with Jessy on a few basic skills and Helen worked with Thomas to make sure they could clear their mask and their regulators. After that we were off exploring the reef. John had told me that I would be able to go a few feet deeper than what they were going to but I had freedom to just follow them around. It’s nice being certified. I was so excited for Thomas and Jessy though. I don’t think much can compare to diving in the Red Sea. On that dive we saw a pufferfish, trumpet fish, lionfish, a crocodile fish, giant clams, and so many more kinds that I don’t even know their names. I alternated back and forth between them, but Jessy had some problems with her ears at the beginning. At one point Thomas, Helen and I found some broken and in tact pottery on the ocean floor. It was pretty cool.

After the dive, we dissembled the equipment and loaded the gear back up. Before the dive, Thomas had been nervous about being able to equilibrate his ears underwater, but fortunately he didn’t have any problems with it. It had taken Jessy awhile, but eventually she too was able to move down to deeper depths. I was really glad both of them had great first time experiences. As I looked at my watch at the end of our dive and I couldn’t help by laugh thinking I would just be catching a taxi from Mohandeseen to Masr Gedida at that time.

We decided to head back to the hotel and hop in the car. We had brought a volleyball and Thomas knew an area that had sand volleyball courts. The southern part of Dahab is a bit more resorty and has a lot of kite surfing and wind surfing. We were able to park and find a nice sand court. Thomas went to go inflate the ball…which turned out to be a bit hard. We decided to play to 21 and it was Thomas and I versus Jessy and Joseph. Luckily the guys were gracious to Jessy and I. During the first game the sky began clouding over and we began feeling a few raindrops. Not typical for Dahab.



Then it became darker and darker. At one point a lady came over to us, and we were pretty sure she was going to ask us to leave. But she kindly offered to turn the lights on for us, to which we accepted. We played a second game and then decided to call it quits. I didn’t realize quite how hard the ball had been until my forearms started turning colors a few hours later, but it was a nice change of pace to be active in Egypt. In Cairo it is NOT possible to go running in the streets here for a couple reasons. The sidewalks are not consistent, and the street isn’t safe, I only have running shorts, and the air quality here isn’t good on the lungs. That’s why I love being able to swim, run, and play sports in Dahab.

After volleyball we headed back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We wandered down the Corinche and passed by a place Thomas had eaten at earlier that year. He told us about the guy that he had befriended, and surely enough the same guy was there, and he remembered Thomas. I think Egyptians have the best memory throughout the world. It’s amazing. He told us the dinner special for the evening, and we said we’d think about it and maybe come back. We got about…10 feet past the restaurant and decided why look elsewhere. We went in and sat at a table on the roof overlooking the water.



Dinner was pretty good, but the view and the atmosphere was amazing as usual. You can’t complain when the Red Sea is gently breaking on the rocks down below you at dinner. We were all pretty tired so we decided to call it an early night and go back to the Pearl. While Joseph went for a walk and Jessy went to bed, Thomas and I decided to visit with Mostafa for a bit. They served us hot karkaday tea and we chatted with them about business, life, and Dahab.

At about 10:30pm the three of us followed Jessy to bed. We had planned on getting up for the sunrise at about six the next morning…sleep wasn’t really on the agenda this trip.


Friday

I had set my alarm for 5:50am hoping that I wouldn’t sleep too deeply. I woke up on time and got Jessy up as well. We walked outside to the hotel courtyard and met up with Thomas. The Pearl of South Sinai isn’t right on the water so we just had to cross the street, but the minute we stepped outside the sky was already a brilliant canvas of color.


We sat down near the sea to watch the rising of the sun which is typically around 6:05 or 6:10am here. The interesting thing about this sunrise was that it started off with a lot of color and then it slowly faded away. It was one of the most peculiar sunrises that I’ve witnessed. Finally the sun came up and more color returned. The day before had been really hazy and that day looked like it would be the same. The day we got there you couldn’t even see the Saudi mountains across the Red Sea, but they were at least recognizable that morning.

Thomas, Jessy and I then walked back to the hotel for a few more hours of sleep. We ended up waking up around 10ish and then gathering to go to breakfast by around 10:30am. We decided to stroll down the Corniche until something delicious caught our eyes. We finally decided to breakfast at Aladdin and we ended up staying there till about one. Then we headed back to the Pearl to go snorkeling at the Blue Hole. I have to say that diving and snorkeling at the Blue Hole is officially one of my favorite things to do…in life. Mostafa hooked us up with gear and a ride to the site at 2pm. It was a late start, but we didn’t mind.


We got our gear and then headed to the water. By that time in the afternoon the reef isn’t very crowded which is great. The only thing is you begin to lose the sun behind the mountain around 3:30pm. The air temperature wasn’t that cold but it was one of those things where when you got out of the water the wind was blowing just a bit, that it made for a freezing environment. It took all of us a few minutes to get in, but eventually we all adjusted to the water temperature. The reef was amazing, as usual. I can’t clearly remember all the different fish we saw (and of course I don’t know the names of all of them) but I do remember seeing a lot of angelfish, a lionfish at the end, trumpet fish, etc. We swam all the way down to the dive site called the Bells (which is where there is that chimney 30m drop).

At the Bells lagoon area, Thomas caught sight of a huge fish that ended up going to the bottom and sleeping! I know a bit weird, but there were actually multiple fish that we saw that appeared dead, only they were just sleeping. After about an hour we were feeling a bit cold, so we decided to swim back. As I said before it was quite a task to make my body get out of the water due to the slight breeze. We all dried off and sat down by the ocean. Then the guys at the restaurant really wanted us to buy drinks so we finally decided to order some hot chocolate and karkaday (not together). Our driver guy came back a bit before four and we loaded up in the back of his Jeep Wrangler. I don’t think many types of vehicles can handle the off roading that is required to get to the Blue Hole.

We met up for dinner and then again decided to just stroll down the Corniche.
Then we passed by a spice shop. After looking at the barrels of spices outside we decided to venture in. We continued to rack our brains until finally an idea occurred. Jessy had been perusing the Bedouin tea and was contemplating buying some. When we went to the Western Desert back in September we had tried it and it was amazing. We asked the guy how much the tea would cost, about 14 bags of it. As is the case in Egypt, the first price given isn’t usually the final price. After some sly bargaining, Thomas had his gifts. We decided to go onto dinner and pick up the bags of tea afterward since it would take time to weigh them.

We decided to eat dinner at Aladdin (where we had breakfast). As usual I couldn’t really decide what I felt like eating. We were all a bit sad that it was our last meal in Dahab and we ended up lingering a bit longer than we had intended to. In fact at the restaurant they give you free dessert (watermelon) but we decided none of us wanted it and we really needed to get going. Thomas had to run to an ATM so while we waited, Jessy and I decided to pick up some dessert anyways (ice cream!) The thing was when I went into the store I asked him how much the ice cream was in Arabic…to which he replied in Arabic but way too fast. The thing is, I get a bit flustered with numbers to be honest. I don’t hear them the first time or I get a bit confused and then I had to ask them again. So this guy ended up saying to me, “If you’re going to ask in Arabic, you should be able to understand the answer in Arabic”…ok so I was trying!

We met back up and grabbed the tea and headed back to the Pearl. At this point it was around 8pm I believe. We figured it would take about 7 hours to get back, meaning we should arrive in Cairo around 3am.

Everything started out ok. We got to the Dahab checkpoint and passed through, but Joseph then asked the guy which way we should go back to Cairo, Sharm or Taba. Every other time I had been to Dahab we had always taken the Taba road. This guy seemed to go with the majority and advised us to go through Taba. This shouldn’t have been a problem I thought, especially since I had been that way twice before. The road to Taba is really nice because you are driving along the sea most of the time. The bad thing is though, that it winds around the mountains a lot. We made it to Taba just fine and we contemplated switching drivers, but we were still nervous about the checkpoints.

The checkpoints are for security purposes, and in Egypt they are always a bit leery about foreigners traveling with Egyptians. We were stopped at each checkpoint and Joseph had to constantly explain that we were friends going on a trip to Dahab (or returning). I think it’s to make sure that he wasn’t kidnapping us. But sometimes at the checkpoints, the officers will tell Egyptians that they can’t go. Joseph told us a story about a guy who drove to Sharm and at the last checkpoint was told he was not allowed in. He had to get a bus all the way back to Cairo. My friend Hady has also relayed a similar story to me. He had ridden on the bus from Cairo and at one of the checkpoints the officer checked everyone’s IDs. He saw that Hady was a student and wanted to know why on a school day he was going to Sharm. Hady tried to explain it was for work, yet the officer told him he couldn’t go. Then he waited at the checkpoint for a few hours, only to be let on the next bus that passed through on the way to Sharm. As I’ve written before, I don’t understand why Egyptians are treated so poorly by their miltary and government. Foreigners don’t have any problems getting through these checkpoints, yet Egyptians have a hard time moving around their own country…anyways, back to the story.

As we were driving along listening to music, Joseph passed this truck that didn’t have any tail lights. We almost run over them because we couldn’t see them and they were traveling really slow. As we passed them we realized that he only had one headlight as well…NOT safe. Thomas had been trying to get in touch with a friend in Cairo, but his cell phone reception kept going in and out. That’s another thing about traveling in Egypt, once you get away from the city the cell towers aren’t reliable. A little bit later on I wasn’t really paying attention to the road since I was in the back seat and looking at the stars. We eventually came to a place where the road became a bit gravely, then dirt like. It was really rough going. I had remembered a patch of “no road” on the Taba road from my other trips but I thought it had been closer to Suez. The road didn’t seem to be improving and I was a bit nervous about our direction. Then all the sudden we came back to pavement and my fears were alleviated. That is until we went back onto gravel…followed by mounds of sand that we had to dodge.

At that point I knew I didn’t remember that part. We hadn’t seen a mile marker since Taba which didn’t surprise us that much, but when we realized the road was becoming worse we began looking for signs…which there weren’t any. Then we noticed our petrol supply was running low. The road continued to get worse and there weren’t any signs of other cars. At this point it was about 1am in the morning. I began to get a bit nervous because there had been rumors of Bedouins having skirmishes in northern Sinai. Then we remembered seeing a Bedouin guy walking on the side of the road a few kilometers back. That’s about the time Jessy and Thomas began coming up with various scenarios. And the fact that our cell phones weren’t getting the best signal made me a bit uneasy. Although even if we could have called someone we had no idea where exactly we were.

I was mostly worried about the status of our tires. In fact I actually asked Jessy to pray over the tires at one point. As I mentioned before few vehicles are able to manage in the rough off road terrain of the Sinai. We finally decided to turn back around and head back to Taba.

As we were driving back we came to a part where the car couldn’t make it through the sand, so the three of us jumped out and Joseph drove across that part. We finally made it back to the part of the road that was paved. We saw a mobile trailer and decided to see if anyone was in there. Joseph pulled up and honked his horn. After a minute this guy looked out the window at us. Joseph got out of the car and had an exchange with him in Arabic. I was too far away to hear any of it, but when he got back in the car he told us that we were about 60 km off where we should be. We had to go back to a fork in the road and turn right. We also were hoping that we would find a petrol station soon. Apparently we had somehow taken a wrong turn and had ended up driving on a road that was under construction.

Road signs seem to be in short supply in Sinai. Multiple times on our journey there and back we missed turns or weren’t sure if we were headed in the right direction. Or they were not made from that shiny reflective material. You know that catch the headlights and make it easy to read at night. Yeah they don’t have that in Sinai. We reached the fork in the road and turned right, but we still weren’t sure we were on track. Anytime we saw a sign we slowed down and even tried to read the signs on the reverse side of the road. As we were driving back to the fork we saw this weird light coming in our direction. We couldn’t figure out if it was a motorcycle or what. As we got closer we realized it was that same creepy truck with one headlight and no tail lights!

Finally we got to a checkpoint. For the first time in Egypt I was glad to see a security checkpoint! Joseph asked them if we were on the right road to Cairo and at first I thought the officer answered “La” meaning no. I heard wrong however and found out that we were on the right road and that there was a petrol station just a few km away. We all felt relieved that we weren’t going to be stranded in Sinai.

We found the petrol station and pulled up to the pump. As I looked out the window I was shocked to see tons of Bedouins lined up waiting for gas. They were all driving pick up trucks with multiple gas barrels on the back. I thought it was strange that they all decided to go together after midnight to get what seemed to be more than a week’s supply of gas. I thought it was pretty weird, so I decided to take a picture. I had completely forgotten to take my flash off, so unfortunately I only got the reflection off the glass. This young boy had been staring at me the whole time and he alerted the others to my actions. I felt a bit embarrassed and explained to the others that I found it really strange that they were all there at the station at this time. As I said this, the others informed me that they were smuggling the petrol into Palestine…so I missed the memo on not taking pictures of the petrol smuggling Bedouins.

Joseph finished getting gas and we drove out from the pump. Thomas decided to try and get another picture with my camera before we left. As he was trying to get the picture I noticed a Bedouin guy walking up to the car. I’m not really all about strange men approaching my car, so I immediately told Joseph to go. I didn’t think Thomas was able to get a picture, but in the end he got it before we sped off. We then began wondering if they were going to come after us since we had a picture of their illegal activities.

As we got going down the road, we actually saw another Bedouin truck pulled off on the side of the road. We immediately thought he had been signaled by his friends to catch us. But lucky for us, he actually turned down a side road. For the rest of the drive we were a little nervous about our direction, but it turned out to be fine. The night just kept getting crazier and crazier. After the Suez security check point we all switched so as to let Joseph take a break from driving. Jessy had planned to go to Alexandria the next day (literally now that day) at 7am so she was trying to get some sleep. So Thomas and I stayed up and drove for about 80 km. Unfortunately Joseph would have to drive after that due to another possible checkpoint.

Anyways, after about 80 km, Thomas pulled over and he switched with Joseph. Thomas and I kept up a conversation with Joseph to ensure that he didn’t fall asleep on the last part of the drive. Finally at about 4:30am they dropped Jessy and I off at her flat in Medan Triumph. Jessy literally had about two hours before she had to be up, so she went right to bed. As I was getting ready for bed, Joseph texted me to say that we had left our passports in his car. He wasn’t sure if Jessy was going to need it the next day so Thomas and him decided to walk over and give us the passports.

They missed called me when they were downstairs and I went out to meet them. As they were giving back the passports Thomas informed me of what Joseph had just revealed to him. Apparently, the guy in the trailer back in the middle of no where had told Joseph more than what he relayed to us. The man had said that we were lucky and that if we had kept going we were likely to have been shot by Bedouins. They had had a few incidents recently and that was apparently a bad area to be in, lost, at night. Joseph had decided not to tell us that at the time and I have to say I am really thankful!

As the story continued to unfold, the two days later Joseph texted me that they caught the Bedouins who had been smuggling petrol into Palestine…hopefully they don’t blame us. Then a few days after that I received an email from the American Embassy in Cairo. The subject of the email read “Northern Sinai Situation”. I think it would be beneficial to include an excerpt from the email:

Since November 10, 2008, there have been a series of violent confrontations between Egyptian security forces and Bedouin tribesmen in the northern Sinai. Government officials continue to attempt to defuse the situation, but tensions remain. In the past, such heightened tensions have resulted in sporadic attacks and other disruptions throughout the Sinai. Recent press reporting indicates that Egyptian government officials and Bedouin leaders have yet to resolve their differences.

Due to the potential for violence in the northern Sinai region, all American citizens are encouraged to follow news reporting in case of late-breaking developments that could impact travel plans. In addition, the Government of Egypt continues its restriction on travel north of the Cairo-Nekhl-Taba road to the Mediterranean coast from Al Arish to the Rafah border with the Gaza Strip.

Prior to travel in the Sinai area, all American citizens should take these simple precautionary measures:

- Inform someone (for example a family member, a friend, your supervisor) of your travel plans, to include contact information – where you are going and when you are expected to arrive and return;

- Travel in groups or as a multi-vehicle convoy;

- Travel only during daylight hours;

- Travel with a cell phone;

- Make sure your vehicle is in good working condition, with emergency tools and basic repair supplies;

- Have a small stock of emergency snacks, water, and blankets.

I’m thankful that we didn’t have anything worse happen to us other than being lost!



It was a short, but much needed relaxing trip (exept for the being lost part). It was absolutely gorgeous and suba diving and snorkling was one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had. I definately want to go back before I leave.

Mom.. Dad.. dont kill me about the Bedouin Lost part!

Taxis

I ride in taxis... a lot. Too much really.


I just thought I would write about a random observation that I find quite comical. when i first got here Egypt passed a new law that said you had to wear your seat belt in the front seat. imagine that!? So anyways everyone, especially taxi drivers, hate this new and inconvenient law. As I ride around with taxi drivers its a hilarious for me to watch them as they see a police man in the road up ahead and they fumble for their seat belt and go through a ton of trouble trying to look like they're actually wearing the seat belt without really wearing it. Its like an art form. They usually sit on the end or connect it down somehow with various mechanisms, instead of just buckling it. Its like they cannot give in... never have I seen a taxi driver just buckle his seat belt. I think it might be more funny if you actually notice it yourself, but just thought I'd share.



This morning I got into a really nice taxi on my way home from my lesson and he started talking to me (as usual). He was actually not that annoying like most taxi drivers. And when he realized I was studying arabic he started testing me on my numbers and certain words. It really did amuse me. He started from 10 and went all the way to 100 (in increments of 10) and when he got to a 100 he started switching it up and would say 150, 170, 132, like it would trip me up or something hehe. In the end I think I passed and he told me I spoke Arabic well. It was quite fun.

I actually am able to practice arabic the most in taxis. I have had a lot of interesting converstaions in them as well. For example, almost everyone of them hate Bush and like Obama, because Bush has declared war on the whole world. Or how this is their 3rd job becaue they can't make enough to support their family otherwise. Or one had 3 wives and his latest one was as old as his daughter (age 16 and he was probably 50), he was also looking for an American woman in her 40's so if anyones interested let me know :) Or they ask if I am married to an Egyptian.. if not, would I marry an Egyptian? On occasion I even get proposed to, but thats only on special days. Even though most of the time I really rather not talk to them I am able to practice my Arabic and surprisingly have been encouraged a lot by some of them to continue to learn the Arabic Language. They've said I speak arabic 'well' or sometimes they'll throw in 'beatuifully', and the other day I was even blessed for my efforts.

Taxi's.... I've learned a lot of patience from Taxis. I've been able to meet many people from different walks of life. Ive been able to practice my arabic. I've been encouraged. I've been entertained.. and annoyed. I've been able to take the time to reflect and pray while riding around in them.

But if I ever live in Cairo again I'm buying a car!

the youthgroup

When I first got here I didn’t look forward to working with the youth as much as I thought I would have. I had much rather been with my Egyptian friends hanging out trying out my Arabic. But after the first couple of weeks of getting to know these kids I have realized how much I LOVE working with them. They are some of the sweetest kids I know, and all the cultures that are able to intertwine together is amazing. We have South African, Australian, Egyptian, American, Candian, Brazilian, German, and Swiss kids that attend every week. This past month I and the other leaders have realized that most of the kids didn’t really understand what worship was all about. They would whisper, joke around, interrupt, and obviously not be giving praise to our God. We’ve been praying about the need for the kids to understand the reason of worship and to have a heart for it. Tonight Jon’s (a leader and the worship leader) guitar string broke right as the first song started. So he hopped on the piano instead. After a song or two he took the night into a different direction then what we had planned but what we needed. A night of worship. We brought pens and papers for them to write what God is to us, what attribute they were thankful for. After sometime of praying and singing together. I felt God leading me to read what I had written. That God is an amazing Artist, and that I’m so thankful that we can see and be apart of his creativity... Then some other youth read what they had written as well. God is their father, God is strong, that He loves us too much, that their thankful he has redeemed them. Opening up to their peers, the family of Christ. The youth were able to pray and sing in freedom thanking God for who he is. It was really cool to see the change of the atmosphere from the past weeks to tonight. We tried to make clear that worship is not just something we do when there is music and singing, but a daily way of living our life out for our loving God.
Knowing that these kids were able to praise the Lord in Cairo tonight with free hearts was a cool experience for me to be apart of. God is here among us, and we are honored to be in his presence. Isn’t that worth being thankful for?

He Listens

I am writing to let you share in the joy of my miracle! I wrote some of you with the prayer request about the pain in my foot from my bunion. I hobbled around my apartment for days! I was in a lot of pain and afraid that I would have to come back to the states for an operation. My roommates and small girls group prayed for me and the next day it got worse, not better! While sleeping I couldn't even have the blanket covering my foot, it was too painful. The next morning, I took a step and started crying. I literally cried out to Jesus to help me! The song "Every Step I take, I take in you Jesus" became very real to me. I went to a doctor and he said I needed treatment, medicine, and an x-ray. I started on some anti-infalmatory medicine. I took only half the medicince for 2 days and felt completely better. I have not experienced any pain at all since then, its been about 2 weeks now. I am so grateful to God for this healing! I know it could have taken a lot longer to become better and could have been a lot worse. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me. Know that God heared you!!

Needing prayer

My friend's Dad recently had a bad accident here and is in need of some major prayer.
Please pray for his recovery and also for his family! Thanks guys

A night spent in the desert under the stars

My roommate Ashley and I took a trip to the Black and White Desert this weekend and had a fantastic and refreshing time! She was writing a long narrative about it in her blog and I thought it would be interesting (and easier for me hehehe) for you to see the trip from her perspective. So this is a special appearance by my roomate Ashley and the italics are my little comments and additions. Enjoy!

After short introductions, we loaded up in the microbus and headed off to the Western Desert. We passed through Mohandeseen and out into the Giza area. I was so excited when we drove right by the pyramids! It was the closest I’ve been to them yet (Mine as well!). We left around four, so we were still on the road for iftar time. Our driver was counting down the minutes and finally he was able to pull out two water bottles. Then we offered him some dates which he happily accepted.

We passed through two checkpoints, which I was a little nervous about because I didn’t bring my passport, but it was fine. We finally arrived at Bahariya Oasis around 9 pm. Once we arrived at the hotel, “The Golden Valley Hotel” we were given a short tour of the property. The owners are a famous Bedouin tour guide and a microbiologist from Sweden who married him last year… interesting life she lives now! Then they served us a delicious meal and informed us that we would be sleeping out on the dunes that night! We finished eating and then packed into two 4×4s. Our Bedouin guides drove us down a road and then all the sudden pulled a hard right into the dunes. I can’t really describe the joy that I felt when we first hit the sand. It was amazing. We could only see what the headlights illuminated, which wasn’t much. We went over dune after dune and then finally we circled to a stop.

We all jumped out and started running up the closest dune. When we reached the top we looked over and couldn’t see a thing. The headlights from the 4×4s were pointed at the dune so the one side was perfectly illuminated while the other rested in shadow. It was probably the most breathtaking and exiting expeience ever for me! I looked out at the sky and I was amazed to see my shadow in the sky. I can’t describe it very well, and it wouldn’t turn out in pictures, but the air had so much dust and particulate matter in it that it carried the light. Our shadows could be seen in the dust in the air, which was against the backdrop of the sky. We were nervous at first because we couldn’t tell how high the dune was on the other side or if there were scorpions. We finally used our phones to light up the dark side and we didn’t find any scorpions, although we did see a mouse.

Looking up at the sky took my breath away. I have never seen so many stars. The milky way was really bright and could be clearly pointed out. It was so great to get outside of Cairo and see the sky, as well as breathe fresh air!

The guides started setting up our camp while we were exploring the dunes. They had unloaded the 4×4s and set up two walls of material to guard us against the wind. Then they built a fire and pulled mattresses around it. A few minutes later another 4×4 showed up with more Bedouins. We all gathered around the fire and they began to play music for us. One of the guys began making tea for us. He explained that over the next two nights he would make five different teas for us. I was a little nervous about drinking it at first because I thought it might keep me up, but I drank it anyways. It was super sweet and very strong. Then the main Bedouin who was the owner of the company that was giving us the tour began telling us a story in Arabic and then translating it into English. The first one was about a guy that was all into a girl. Who had eyes like gazelles and breasts like pomegranates… weird. It was a little weird. But the second one was a guy who got married and divorced three times. It was a little depressing. But the singing and music was great! They got us all up and dancing and they even taught us a few moves. It was a lot of booty shaking to say the least. Then they served another round of tea, this time mint infused which was really tasty. And eventually we headed towards our mats but Jessy and I stayed up talking till about 2 am.

Finally morning came…at 6:00am when some of my fellow campers decided to get up and watch the sunrise. I woke up and found that the sun was rising right in front of me so I just stayed in my bed and watch it come up over the sand dunes. I got up and sat on top of the sand dune and watched it, it was a very peaceful moment. It was actually quite a bland sunrise, there weren’t any colors, just a bright white orb rising over the sand. We got up again around 8 am and everyone began getting dressed. Our guides were still out cold so we actually woke them up around 9am. They began getting breakfast together and finally put before us a scrumptious spread of bread, foul (bean dish), cheese, jams, orange juice, and coffee. Then we packed up the camp and jumped into the 4×4s. When our guide went to crank our 4×4 though nothing happened. So for the next 30 minutes they were all working on our car trying to get it to start. Finally they jumped it and off we were to the Black desert, which is covered in black iron deposits.

The Black desert kinda reminded me of Mordor (ok you can laugh but you know you’ve seen that movie and you know exactly what I’m talking about). We pulled up to a very intimidating black mountain and got out of the car. Immediately Craig began bounding up the side of the mountain and climbed all the way up to the plateau. Meanwhile, Kat made sand angels, and Theresa and I climbed half way up the mountain. We snapped tons of pictures, then headed back to the 4×4s, and headed off to one of our guide’s home village. We arrived at his home town and got out to collect dates. All three of our guides were fasting (since its still Ramadan) but were actively collecting things for iftar (breaking of the fast) that evening. Theresa and Jessy helped him make some fresh apricot juice. I helped him break the apricots (different from the one we are familiar with) open, take out the seeds and put it in large water bottles. Which we used as juice later. Im so surprised we didn’t end up dying from the unclean food prep! I love these experiences because although you can only get a small taste of their life it makes me better appreciate different ways of life. I no longer think of Bedouins as a backwards people group that don’t know any better, but people that love the desert and choose a simple way of life. And I can understand why now.After the village we headed over to a natural spring and a rest area.

When we pulled up there were multiple other 4×4 tour groups already there. We walked over to the spring and sat on the edge with our feet in. Both Jessy and I really wanted to get in but had not brought swimsuits. We evaluated our options (and our clothing supply) and decided it was worth it to get in. The water was bright blue with an evident trace of sulfur. There was also a lot of iron in the water and my shirt ended up with some iron stains on it, but it was totally worth the dip.

Afterwards we went into a hut beside the spring and ate lunch. Then we had a two hour break of just resting in the hut. There was a stream that ran through the hut so we could soak our feet in the cool spring water. The reason for the long hiatus was that it was the hottest part of the day and our guides were fasting. At around 3 pm we loaded back into the 4×4s and were off. But we didn’t get far when our driver abruptly pulled over. They got out of the car and began searching through some bushes in a ditch on the side of the dunes. Then he pulled up a round green watermelon and threw it to our other guide. I then motioned for him to throw it to me, which he did and then I gave it to the girls in the car. This was repeated about 15 more times. Someone later asked us whose watermelons those were, to which we realized that we guessed they were just wild, but no one seemed too concerned with that.

We drove on and finally began getting closer to the White Desert. We stopped at “Crystal Mountain’ which was quite different than what I was expecting. For starters it wasn’t really a mountain, I was actually wondering how people even knew it was anything special other than the sign and other tourists stopped there milling around. We got out of the car and began exploring the small geological site. The whole thing was made up of crystals and various minerals. It was pretty but again I had a slightly different idea in mind. We got back in the cars and headed on.

A little bit later, we randomly took a sharp left off the road and we began racing through the dunes. Then all the sudden they starting driving down a really steep dune. I was shocked! They stopped just on the precipice and told us to get out and take pictures. Another 4×4 was coming behind us and our guide yelled “photo the car! Photo the car!” I really enjoyed this expression and so I kept repeating it. Then we got back in the cars and continued straight down the dune. We saw yet another broken down 4×4 and once again our guides jumped out to help. This was yet the third car problem of the weekend!

We encountered our last car problem a few miles later when we suddenly began hearing a hissing noise. Apparently we had a flat tire. I was a little nervous at first because I wasn’t sure we had a spare, but our Bedouin guides know their stuff and came prepared. While they changed the tire we wandered around and explored the beginnings of the White Desert. Finally they yelled “yela, yela!” which means “let’s go, let’s go!” and we jumped back in the 4×4. They were in a hurry to break fast.

The way through the White Desert was lined with bright gleaming white rocks on either side of the trail. We began racing the other car through the desert that was now spotted with large white out cropping of salt deposits. It was amazing to see it at sunset! We saw some other tourists parked and setting up for the night. It was about iftar time so our guides quickly parked, hopped out and began getting things ready for iftar. We had fresh apricot juice Which I helped make! But didn’t like that much hehe, orange juice, water, and our freshly picked watermelon. The guides were really happy to finally drink and eat something!

After iftar they began setting up camp and getting dinner ready. Iftar was just a light meal and they really were going all out for dinner. While they were cooking we sat around and played “never have I ever” and two truths and a lie. Finally dinner was served! It was amazing, complete with BBQ chicken roasted on an open fire, Egyptian rice (which is the best), fresh salad (not American salad, but fresh diced tomatoes, cucumbers, lemon juice and peppers) and then potatoes in tomato sauce. It was one of the best meals I have eaten in Egypt!

The guides saw a desert fox around one of the 4×4s and shined a flashlight on it for us. It was so cute! It had huge ears and was the color of the sand. The guides told us to put our shoes in the car during the night because the foxes might come and steal them. Once dinner was over we gathered around the fire for music and the three other types of tea.

Thereasa, Craig and I decided to stay up and eat the special Ramadan breakfast with our Bedouin guides. So Craig and I stayed up talking while Theresa got some shut eye. But we woke her up for the special breakfast at 2:00 am. I sat down for a special Ramadan breakfast in the middle of the White Desert with a blanket of stars above me and 3 Bedouin men around our table. It was all too beautiful and surreal. They offered me homemade cheese/milk. Not really sure what to make of it. Its freash milk from their cow put in a plastic bottle with salt, shaken up and left to ferment a while. It was liquidy but had curds in it… it was disgusting. I then proceeded to imitate their consumption of the watermelon we had found earlier and ate the entire thing! Outside skin and all, kinda tasted like a cucumber, not bad. And then of course they offered me that apricot juice thing I helped make and as soon as they had left to go tend the fire I happily poured it back into the bottle! It was such a great experience. And then Thereasa and Craig and I went back around the fire (everyone else went to bed earlier) and talked for a couple more hours. I saw multiple shooting stars and had a glorious night sleeping under the stars. And was awoken when the sun rose and started toasting up everyone hehe.

I woke up after sunrise and heard Rebecca and Jamie talking about her missing shoe. They looked around and saw fox tracks. Jamie was upset but resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn’t see her shoe again. Rebecca however thought they should follow the tracks Steve Irwin style and see if he dropped it. I heard them find the shoe and talk about how they could tell it got tired of carrying the shoe (which was a Chaco! those things are pretty heavy for a little fox to carry away!) and it ended up dragging it for a bit. Then it gave up all together and left it in the sand.

Once everyone got up we began getting ready for the last day in the desert. Our guides made another great breakfast and we sat in the shade of the two 4×4s and ate our last meal in the desert. Which Theresa and I fasted because we promised the Bedouins the night before if we ate their special breakfast we wouldn’t eat ours. Good experience. They told us to walk over to “the chicken and the tree” while they tore down the camp. It wasn’t hard to figure out which formation was the chicken and the tree. We all walked over there and began taking pictures. Then all the sudden four more 4×4s started driving over. We all shouted “quick, quick, take pictures, more tourists are coming” and it became a scrabble to get everyone’s individual picture and a group picture!

Then we got another group picture in front of the rabbit. We then went to the “mushroom”. But this point I was kinda tired of getting in and out of the car so I just rolled down the window, pointed and shot a picture. It wasn’t as impressive as I thought the mushroom would be. Then we said goodbye to the open desert and headed back to the highway! It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get back to the Golden Valley Hotel.

We got into Cairo around iftar time so as we were driving on the highway people were giving out dates to the cars. So we got a couple thrown into our van. Our driver dropped us off in Mohandeseen and Jessy and I quickly said goobye and jumped in a cab. We both reflected on how weird it was to be back in the city, with all the people, the noise and especially the smells. As tired as we were we couldn’t wait to go back! The Bedioun lifestyle is definitely a refreshing break from the hustle and bustle of Cairo.

One of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. Simply being in the middle of nowhere and to look around me and see the horizon all around and the stars above was breathtaking. Being able to take part in a way of life other than mine was an honor. God's earth is so unique and his creativity continues to amaze me. Why he cares about every corner of the world is beyond me, and I guess thats why he is God. He is great!

Sudanese Refugee School

Yesterday I went to the Sudanese Refugee School for the first time with Melissa. We were late because I got home from school late (traffic) and then we got lost on our way to the school so I felt really bad! We got out of our taxi and walked for about 30 minutes... not really knowing exactly where we were going. But it worked out hehe and its not the more organized school ever so it wasn't a big deal. We had 5 students in the 4th grade class, ranging from 12-18. The 12 year old is by far the smartest! It was really hard to have an age appropriate class when they are all so different.. but we tried. I've heared horror strories of how uncontrolable the kids are, and why it would be so hard to teach there. But I didn't think so at all. The kids are a bit more rowdy and vey stubborn, but nothing that would make me not want to go back. I am glad that the school is there for these children.. where else would they go?

Today I leave for the Black and White Desert! Bahraia Oasis! I am super exited. Its a trip with my school and my roomate Ashley and I are going with 6 others. We will sleep out in the desert under the stars, eat bedouin food, trek around the deserts, visit Cyrstal Mountain, and who knows what else. I am really exited! Another one of my friends was going t go with us, but decided not to after hearing the news about the foreigners getting kidnapped a couple of days ago here in Egypt. They were taken to Sudan and are being held for ransom. I doubt anything like that would happen again, but just pray for the safety of our trip! I think we all would appreciate God's protecton over us.
I'll let you know how the trip goes!

Manal's Near Death Experience on the Metro

So the other night after teaching Manal and Christine English, we caught a taxi to the metro to head down to the arabic church. It was during Iftar (breaking of the fast) and so there weren't a lot of people around. This whole thing happened in a couple of seconds so I dont know if it will make sense.. But I was stepping onto the metro car when the doors starting shuting on me. Stupid me, I thought if I tried to push them open then we wouldnt have to wait for the next metro to come. They were a lot stronger then I thought and kept closing (Its not like they have sensors like in the states..) so Manal tried to help me so I could get out. And so we both stepped back to get out and we would just catch the next metro. But the door's had closed on Manal's foot. And then the metro started moving! And she had her foot in the metro and her body out. So shes trying to hop a long on one foot to catch up, and we are like screaming not knowing what to do! She pulls her foot out, but her shibshib (sandal) was still stuck in the door and she had thrown her two bags inside the metro car. So there we are standing in shock because there are horror stories of the metro dragging people to thier death. And Manal is standing without a shoe on. We burst out laughing! It was the only thing we could do! So we waited for the next metro to come hopped on it, and hoped we would be able to get some sandals from a store nearby when we got off. But illhumdilalla a girl was waiting at the next stop with Manal's bags and shibshib. We thanked her profusely and thanked God for keeping Manal safe. Manal was shaken up pretty bad about the whole thing, so pray for her if you think of it!

Last night

Taught the girls yesterday and then went to the prayer meeting at the arab church again. On the way to the office the taxi I was in came to a complete stop. It had died... so the guy goes to the trunk and fiddles around, comes back and starts his engines by tapping and twisting wires together, pushes on the pedals fora couple of minutes, and off we go! Taxis are by far sometimes the most interesting part of the day! I was so exhausted from school and riding in the metro for a total of like 3 hours and then teaching that I think that I acutally might have dozed off during one of the prayers. Oops! But worship and praying with other people there was really good. I enjoyed it a lot. I went out to eat a late dinner in Shoubra with Azza, Manal (girls i teach english too), Henna (thier sister), Moody (works at the office), Biha, and Romany (Guys from the church). Azza and Manal really have a special place in my heart and they've already made a difference in my life. I am only hoping to do the same in thiers. I feel like I am doing something good and pleasing to God when I am with them. I don't know if that makes sense... but I cant really explain it. God is soo Great and the trust that my friends have in him encourages me daily. the only bad thing is that I feel sooo tall when Im around the girls because they are like 4' 11'' and come up right above my elbow!
We went out to eat at a little egyptian restaurant and I got some chicken (I kind of thought I was getting something else but thats okay!). I started using my fork and knife and Biha looked at me and told me to please use my hands because I was in Egypt now! So I laughed and grabbed the pita bread and dug in :)
Tomorrow Im meeting with a girl that has been sitting in on my arabic class to become a teacher to do some language exchange. I teach her english, she teaches me arabic.
Pray!
Please pray for Biha's leg.. as it was injured a couple years back, doctors are too expensive, and we're praying for healing.

Night of Church and Football

I attended a large arab church last week with some of my friends and the girls I teach english to (Azza, Manal, Christine, and Mirian). They had a guest worship leader that was amazing! Maher Fayiz, he has a little band and plays the aoud. So it beautiful arabic music praising the Lord. It was beautiful and a pleasure to worship God in arabic. My roomates and I went again last night and tonight there will be a prayer meeting I will attend, inshallah (God willing). Afterwards, We went out around downtown with some of our egyptian friends. We walked around (its the "in" thing to do!) and then found a little coffee shop because there was a football match being played. Biha', one of the guys with us, is an avid fan of zamalek (one of the teams) and it was hilarious to watch how into the game he was. There was also a young police officer watching the game as well and he seriously looked like he was about to cry the whole game unless zamalek scored, then he would jump out of his seat screaming and clapping his hands. I loved being there to experience it hehe. I wish everyone could be here to experience and get to know the Egyptian people... Im falling in love with them :)

School, Ramadan, and our new Habibti

I've finished the first week of my arabic school! Its gone by really well so far. I have 3 other girls in my class, 2 are from the states and one is from Japan. So its been interesting seeing how we all deal with the language differently. I have a great teacher, Sharif, and he really makes the class enjoyable. So far its been mostly review for me.. doing the alphabet and pronunciation and such. But Ive been trying to take advantage of the extra time to learn new vocab. I so enjoy learning Arabic. I never thought I would take such an interest in it, but my end goal is to really master this language. I don't know how long it will take me.. but one day!! 

I am sorry I havent been updating as often as I would like. We are trying to get internet in our apartment, but since its Ramadan no one really likes to get anything done. So the only time I can get online is when I have extra time here at the Wommack's house. Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting) has been interesting here so far. All the work days are cut in half. If you walk outside when the sun is setting its a ghost town (well compared to how many people are usually out and about) because everyone is sitting down waiting for the call to prayer to go off so they can break fast and party all night :) 

You will pass restaurants and everyone is just sitting thier waiting for the mosque to go off so they can dig in, its pretty amusing. We've been refraining from drinking and chewing gum in public (and of course eating) so we don't offend anyone. But today on the metro my egyptian christian friend offered me gum and i totally forgot about ramadan and started chewing.. and then i was mortified thinking eveyone would think i was a horrible stupid american, but she assured me it was ok... and no one was looking at me like I should drop dead, so I think I'll be okay. They have great little foods and deserts during Ramadan that they done serve any other time of the year so I've quite enjoyed it so far. Although some people do seem a little more crankier hehe.

So I have to run because we have to go catch a taxi home and get some sleep. But we have rescued a little kitty from the street and are determined to keep it! Her name is Habibti, which means my love in arabic. Shes so cute and tiny! We tried rescuing a different kitten earlier, but ended up having to put it to sleep because it was too diseased. So we don't want to be the reason another cat dies! Anyways I got to go. 

God Bless!! 

I am a history Teacher...?!?

First of all, I want to let you know that I am missing you all terribly! I miss my family a lot, but not enough to want to leave :)
Thought I would give you a quick update on my roomie situation. Jackie and Sarah were the two girls that I've lived with for the past month and they both left Egypt this past week. I've loved living with them and will miss them a lot. My two new roomates, Melissa and Amber, are the two girls that I will be living with for the rest of the year. They are really sweet and are definately from Texas :) They arrived last week.

So I am an American History teacher, well just for the week. So more like a substitue, but still its pretty weird and exiting. A school for mks were in need of history, science, and Bible teachers for thier middle school and high school students. So yesterday was my first day and it went great! I taught 7-10th graders and I had a lot of fun.. it was pretty laid back and I felt really comfortable. Today went fine as well. Monday I start school for arabic, so this was my first and last week there. But it was a good experience and I just confirmed to me that I really do enjoy teaching.

OOHHH And I have decided on a school which has a great program! Its called Kalimat (which means word in arabic) and I start on the 1st. Thank you for praying about the whole situation!! I feel really good about going to this school and will let you know how my first day goes. Im very exited.

the clinic

The past couple of days I’ve spent working at the clinic and office. There are two girls from the orphanage that work with Jen now and we (my two roommates and I) have been teaching them English. Its interesting to watch them learn my language because in two weeks I will switching places with them and will be studying their language. On Monday I went to the clinic for the first time… I got to see kinda how everything works. Jen really provides an amazing opportunites for care and education for the woman and children in the area. Most kids are suffering from lung problems because of the cement factories in the area.. its really sad. I honestly cannot imagine myself living my whole life like most people in the area do… they are so poor and uneducated.
A team from the states is arriving on Friday and will be painting the clinic so we sanded all the walls at the clinic trying to make it an even surface for them to paint on. Breathing in the paint dust was pretty intense, so much so that we blew colors from our noses J Today, I went to the girls library club that they have at the clinic for the first time. Most of them probably were from 8-12 year olds and could just barely say their alphabet. I helped one girl, Dina, with a puzzle that matched Arabic words with pictures. So we both ended up learning a lot! They are so anxious to get their hands on anything that they don’t normally have.
My roommates, Jon, Miriam and her friend Hani and I went to the Cairo Market, “ Khan”, it was soo much fun! We walked around super narrow and crowded alley ways with vendors attempting to lure us into their shops with their broken English “I have everting you want” and “Are you looking for a husband”phrases. It was quite entertaining. Plus we found this great Egyptian Pancake restaurant… it was delicious!

Wadi Digla

Got to go hiking in Wadi Digla with Jen Day and my two roomates and a friend of ours yesterday. It was beautiful.. in a barren desert sort of way. But it really was beautiful and nice to walk around and not have everyone stare at you constantly. I posted some pictures of our trek. Afterwards a friend of ours made us an authentic Egyptian meal which was absolutely delicious!
Today I went to the office and tomorrow I will be going to help out at the clinic. Looking forward to seeing how it all works.

One week

hey all
I have now been in Cairo for officially a whole week! I love it so far! I think I just got over jetlag as this has been the second night where I haven’t woken up at 3 o’clock in the morning! I’m exited about getting back on schedule.
So far I have really enjoyed Cairo. Last night I went out with my roommates and their Arabic tutor, his siblings, and their English students. We went out walking around a town and got kousheri (the Egyptian staple of lentils, rice, and noodles in a red sauce), which is surprisingly not that bad. Gives you a little indigestion, but most things do here J I was trying to carry on a conversation with one of the girls with my limited Arabic and her limited English. It made me realize how essential language is to a relationship and how exited I am to learn Arabic. This morning, as it is Friday and the holy day, I helped out in kid’s church which was a lot of fun. I cannot wait to get to know those kids more.. some of them have some interesting personalities!

I would love if you guys could pray about something for me. I was planning on going to a certain language center here in Cairo and planned accordingly. After visiting the center with the Wommack Family we’ve realized why its so cheap. Pretty much its an Islamic school and they use the center as an outreach. Most of the students goals that attend there are to become better muslims and to study Arabic so that they can read the Koran in the holy language. We all were very uncomfortable with the idea of going there. Another intern started there a month ago to study Arabic and has already quit because of its concentrated Islamic studies. I just don’t know if for my long term goal of learning Arabic, this language center will be the best choice. I have checked out a couple of other ones as well.. in hopes to find a good quality school with a decent price. I have found one that I think would work great, but the price is the only thing holding me back. It puts me a little under budget. If you would please pray for me to make the decision that would be right for my language study and also where God would like to place me. I am praying about it myself and have to decide in the next few days and I would love for you to join me in prayer! Thank you guys!

I am absolutely so glad that God has given me this opportunity to come here. I know that this year will be amazing. Thank you for wanting to share it with me!
II’ll let you know what happens with the language school.
Thank you all!

On the Radio

Last night while playing ‘Life’ with the Wommacks I received a phone call. It was Zack from the airplane and he asked me if I would be ready in about 15 minutes to talk on the radio about how we met! (I wrote about the story in the previous blog.) I was like “Oh sure”… and in my mind I was freaking out. Bethany was kind to remind me that this radio station was broadcasted all over the Middle East and millions of people would be listening. It didn’t call my nerves very much to say the least. I was told that I was not allowed to swear, talk about pigs, Israel, politics, or religion.. probably a little different then the warnings you receive before going on the air in the states hehe. It actually turned out alright J I didn’t say anything extremely stupid and it was a really cool experience. Glad I didn’t freak out and hang up on them!

Tomorrow I will be going to Fajr Language Center to check it out and perhaps register for class that will start in a week. After talking to Joy and Craig I am also checking out two other language centers to see which one is best, and also easiest to get too. We might be looking at them tomorrow as well. So please pray that I make the best decision concerning which place to study. Also, please pray for my jet lag… Last night I woke up at 2 in the morning and didn’t go back to sleep till perhaps 6.. and I woke up and asked my roommate what time it was and she said 3:30 in the afternoon! I had wanted to go to the clinic with them today and hadn’t realized they had even left. So please pray that I can finally get back on schedule! Thanks guys!

I'm here

Im sitting on my bed in Heliopolis, Cairo. Its 4 o’clock in the morning and I’ve been up for the past 2 hours not being able to sleep a wink. I guess the jet-lag is worse than I thought. This is my home for the next year… a weird thought, but I know the time will fly by and before you know it you will be reading that I am leaving to go back to Minneapolis. So far its extremely HOT and humid, polluted (hit #1 most polluted city in the world), and pretty dirty, and I can’t seem to remember not to flush my toilet paper down the toilet. Yet at the same time in an odd sense it kind of feels like home. I can’t explain it, but maybe the mosquito vapes plugged into the walls, the car horns constantly honking, even the different light switches brings back memories from Lebanon. Coincidently bringing a sense of familiarity into this new country. It’s almost comforting. But The stark white walls and overbearingly fancy furniture (anyone whos been to the Middle East knows what Im talking about) in this apartment is crying out for me decorate and make this place feel like home! I can’t wait to get my hands on it J
I had a great flight over here from Minneapolis and had an 8 hour layover in Amsterdam. I ended up sitting next to a very nice guy from Seattle flying to Cairo as well so we toured around Amsterdam together. I even got to spend an hour or two in the Van Gough Museum which was exiting for me. He’s a a DJ for the only English radio station here in Cairo. On the flight to Amsterdam he accidentally spilt his wine all over his pants and so after only an hour or two getting to know him he was wearing my extra pair of pants I had brought along. It was pretty amusing to both of us. So if you could listen in to the Cairo radio station on Sunday you might actually get to hear the story J After landing in Cairo I got picked up by Craig and Jon Wommack and they took my back to my apartment. After sleeping for 10 hours my two temporary roommates (really sweet girls) and I went over to their house for a delicious spaghetti dinner and then we had youth group. Except all the youth are currently out of the country for the summer and so it was a bunch of other interns and some Egyptian guys who came over and we played catch phrase (which was hard for the Egytain guys to join in), worshipped, and had an interesting talk about heroes and such. Inspired by the new amazing movie ‘Dark Knight’. We got home last night around midnight and now I can’t sleep…
Which I need desperately because I am supposed to be going to Garbage City to play with the handicapped kids this morning and I’ve only gotten 3 hours of sleep…
God is simply amazing and I cannot believe I am here.

My apartment

If you want to check out pictures of where I will be living and also get to know the family I will be working under check out thier website.
http://web.mac.com/craigwommack
The apartment I will be living in is under thier albums, Trimuph Apartment. I'm exited! 19 more days!

Pre-Journey

I am sitting on my mother's bed in Coon Rapids, Minnesota contemplating how to start this blog out. I guess I should let you know why I started this blog.. I am getting ready to leave for Cairo, Egypt in exactly a month (..hence the name Cairo Adventure). I will be living there for a year which I am thrilled and extemely nervous about. I am confident that I will learn and grow in my new environment and hopefully be able to make a difference there as well.

I will be studying Arabic, 5 days a week, 3 hours a day. I am syched. I already know some Arabic, as I grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. But I am very determined to come out of the year conifdent in my ability to converse in Arabic. I know its going to be such a challenge! It is something worth working for in my mind. I am so exited to meet the Egyptian people, become friends , and love them. This Blog is just to remind everyone, who has supported my trip in some way or would like to, that I am still alive while I am in Cairo :) And to take you along on all my adventures! I will be buying my ticket today, and will be boarding the plane in a month! Thank you all for everything and I hope God continues to bless others through you!