Revolutions and Weddings

Can't believe how long it's been since I've posted... So much has happened! First of all Cameron and I got engaged in Maryland in December and married in Scotland at the end of April. I am still in Dahab at the moment but will be leaving to join Cam in Scotland in August. We are moving home! Well, my home, at least, in September. We've decided to try our hand at a bit of real world action... let's hope we can handle it!


So what's been going on recently? Well, we went to MD for Christmas and then off to a farm house in the north of England for New Years with Cam's family. That's when the wedding planning started. We found a location, with the help of Jean (Cam's mum), it's an old house in Edinburgh that was built for the lord provest in 1600 something... it has so much character, each room with it's own theme and name. There's the yellow room, the whiskey room, the italian room... We got married in a small ceremony (12 people) in the leather room and then had the reception in the Garden Room with 40 people. Planning a wedding in Scotland will always include a contingency plan when it comes to the weather but we had the most beautiful day, even hot at some points and it couldn' have been more perfect. We went to Paris for honeymoon, I know it sounds like a fairy tale and it was!


So just jumping back a bit... Egyptian Revolution. As we are in Sinai, it wasn't as hectic and crazy here but we definitely started feeling the effects straight away. All internet access was cut off, our phones wouldn't accept international calls and people were starting to get nervous as they closed off the Suez Tunnel which is where we get everything from including food and water. Petrol (gas) was running so low that they were only allowing you to get a small amount at a time to ration. We got some extra food and stocked up on water, the dive center also bought lots of extra drinking water so that we could make sure the staff had enough. People were dropping like flies as all the embassies were suggesting we leave, I tried calling a few Americans I knew in Cairo and most everyone was leaving. As there was no internet and there was no way for my mom and Cam's mum to call us I had to buy phone credit so that we could call home every few days to let them know we were ok. There were no protests here and I felt totally safe... The bedouins had set up camp at all the check points and were prepared to keep everything under control (if need be). During this time, all of our incoming customers canceled and the ones we had left so Dahab was dead. I decided to head back to Scotland for a bit, I mean, I had a wedding to plan! :) I'm so grateful that I got to do that as I ended up getting my wedding dress (which I loved) and got to be more involved in the wedding planning, which Jean and my mom (over the internet) were doing.


Since then things here have returned to normal, well almost. There are still fewer tourist, some businesses have closed and quite a few of my friends have left or are leaving due to the decreased amount of work. Other than that things have been great! Cameron and I and 6 friends went to Sharm for a weekend to do some diving and we got a really cheap deal on an all-inclusive so that was fun. I also went to Israel on a girls holiday for 6 days. We took a taxi to the border, it's only 2 hours away, and walked out of Egypt and into Israel, took a taxi to the bus station in Eliat, bus to Tel Aviv, bus to Mikhmoret Beach where we stayed in a hostel for 3 nights and had a Mediterranean beach holiday. We then bused it to Jerusalem and toured around as well as spending a day at the Dead Sea. I LOVED Israel. It is such a cool place with so many different types of people. We stayed in the old city in Jerusalem and it's split into 4 quarters. Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian. And they all had totally different feels and were just streets away from each other. We visited the temple mount, the western (wailing) wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulcure, I touched the stone where Jesus dead body was prepared... The Dead Sea was amazing... You know, it's the lowest point on earth, 400m below sea level. There's even 10% more oxygen down there! We floated and caked ourselves in mud, which was brilliant and left feeling smooth and refreshed. We also ate loads of good food and can't forget about the bagels and lox! Yum! Can't get those in Egypt! It's amazing how different the 2 countries are considering they are right next to each other. After walking through the border into Israel, it is a shining difference from Egypt. The bathrooms are so nice and clean, they don't have rubbish on the streets, there were nice planters with flowers in them and our taxi to the bus station was an air conditioned Mercedes! We had a great break.


Cameron is back in Scotland, spending time with his family while I finish up my last month of work here. I've moved out of our house and in with my friend Naomi. It's a nice flat and I'm just enjoying my last few weeks here. My final mission is to visit St. Katharine's Monestary and climb Mt. Sinai. That is the last thing I wanted to do before leaving. I've convinced a few friends to do it with me... sometime in August probably. We will climb the mountain at night and arrive at the top for sunrise.

Other than that it's business as usual... Oh yeah-and trying to plan the REST OF MY LIFE!!!!!!

I will be leaving Dahab on the 16th of Aug. going to Scotland for a month and then back to MD. We are in the process of getting Cameron's green card. Criminal records, old emails, photos, letters from friends and family stating we have a bonafide relationship as well as lots of paperwork. Not the easiest thing when you like in Egypt. Our lawyer reckons that he should have his green card by December which means he Cam can come back to the states with me on a tourist visa (max 3months) and then will have to go back to the UK for interviews and to get his green card. Pushes back our plans a bit but this was to be expected, I guess I'll be happy if he even gets it by December. So back to work, only 24 more days! and will try to get as many (free!) dives in as possible as well as enjoy my last weeks in paradise.

See you all shortly!!!