Egyptian BBQ

Can't remember if I had said but Cameron was working when I got home and on his last day I got called for a few days of work... it was sooo good to be back in the water and had a few really good dives finding a new seahorse I hadn't seen before and some other stuff but won't bore you to death with the diving details. So after I finished we decided to head a bit out of our neighborhood for a day together. We decided to go to the lagoon which is about a 7 min taxi ride, still in Dahab but is actually where most of the nice hotels like the Hilton are and also happens to be home to windsurfer heaven. Apparently it's because this curved strip of sand bar comes around to make a crescent shape protecting them from the waves but still giving plenty of wind. Anyways, we had lunch and laid on the beach, read our books, went for a swim and just relaxed. It was really nice because it felt like we were in a totally different place. We will probably go back so Cam can try some windsurfing... as for me I am fine just laying on the beach.It feels less like Egypt and more like a beach resort. Here are a few pics...

We went to a BBQ on the beach, furry thursdays, and had a great time watching the huge orange moon rise up behind the mountains... I felt so lucky.

We also had our first BBQ at our house last night and was really nice. I made my Grandmothers potato salad and everyone loved it! We just sat in the garden until about 12:30 and had a nice chilled out night. We have begun to make some really cool friends here and hopefully will be jumping on a girls trip to the big 'Metro' grocery store in Sharm. Everyone gets VERY excited about it... I have to admit it does sound exciting. Not too much planned for the coming week for me, Cam has a course starting tomorrow but that's about it...

Hope everyone had a good 4th of July!!!

Here are a few photos from the wedding weekend in random order...

My groomsman was also the photographer during the rehearsal

Mom and I at the reception

Mimosas at the hairdressers
Ash and I
My groomsman, Frank
Kim and all the girls

Kim bought us these tops to wear the day before the wedding...

They say Team Bride, sexy little thing... which was a fun one when her grandmother who is hard of hearing wanted to know what our shirts say as we are all yelling, SEXY LITTLE THING! ha
Ashley, my goddaughter before the rehearsal and yes I did get a tad bit sunburned that day...
Rehearsal

Thanks

So my time at home was great fun... I managed to get sunburned twice, don't ask me how, had a great time seeing all my family and friends and got to go shopping! I spent 4 days on the eastern shore for Kim's wedding and had a blast. The whole wedding party stayed all weekend at a really nice hotel on the water and I fell in love with stoli raspberry and sprites! The weather was perfect and the party was even better, we danced all night long.


I wanted to say thanks to everyone for making an effort to see me while I was home especially all my friends with kids! Everyone always makes me feel special and I just wanted to say I have the best friends and family... People were giving me their cars and going out of their way to hang out even taking off work (Julie and Pam:) As always it felt that my time home was too short but before you know it I will be home again, even if it's just for a bit. Especially thanks to Clay, Kim and the Davidson's for always taking such good care of me and for giving me such an amazing weekend! I love you guys...


Been back in Dahab for a few days now, sleeping a lot and trying to trace down my bag! Aghh... so annoying. Hopefully I will get it today. It was great to see Cameron even though he's been working everyday since I've been back. Not much has seemed to change here and feels like I never left although it has def gotten hotter! Hopefully I will get some work soon to just get back into the swing of things, can't wait to get back under water.

Back in the desert

After 2 days, 4 flights and no bag, I'm finally home...
Will take a few days to get back on schedule and get used to this heat!!! Think the temp went up a few since I left (thank God for air-con) but Im glad to be back. Will finish updating on time at home soon and post pics from the wedding...

Sailing

Not much time to write as I have been super busy since the second I arrived back home but I went with my brother today for a sailboat race and it was really fun. There wasn't much wind but I still really enjoyed it and got some good pictures. Tomorrow Im heading off to the eastern shore for a wedding Im in and spending the whole weekend there and will be a great time...
Well, it's past my bedtime...

Good Friends

Liam chillin in an old rocking chair from when Christopher and I were babies...

Babies, Babies, everywhere!!!

The everything must go sale...

My mom, Jack and Angela

Lauren and I

Angela, My brother, Christopher, me, Brad, Sondra, Mike and Kristy

My short-term roomie, Bo

We had a BBQ on Saturday and I got to see most of my friends and their babies, some I hadnt even met yet. People were also bringing their nieces and my friend Jess asked if it was required to bring a baby in order to get into the party:)
We all had a great time and thanks to everyone for coming... Everyone was joking about the baby thing and of course my brother was talking about getting a baby wrestling match going but seriously next year we may need a moon bounce.

Home sweet home

Finally home... after a 36 hour trip, twas NOT fun. It has taken me the better part of 3 days to adjust. The first morning I woke up at 6am not being able to sleep and went out into the living room of my brothers house, which is where I'm staying, and watched tv. It felt like I was surrounded by jungle with green out of every window and the sound of birds chirping. I have started the mammoth task of sorting through my things for a yard sale we are having on Sat. I was informed by my mom, whom has been storing all my stuff, that we would be selling it all! Well, most of it anyways, the things that have no meaning to me at least. I didn't realize how much I had accumulated over the years... I have 1/2 of today left to go through the rest of it and am not looking forward to it! After being away for so long you realize how little you can get by with.

I was standing in line at the airport in Cairo and was looking at my stuff. Basically all the things I have had or needed in the past 6 months and it came down to one pair of flip flops a small back pack and my larger backpack with about 4 outfits in it and realized that I hadn't really needed much else. So going through all the things I had saved makes me realize even more how insignificant these things are to me now. Why did I have 3 sets of mixing bowls? Or over 10 half empty bottles of lotion and hair products? Or 5 pairs of sneakers when I've lived off of one pair of $5 flip flops for the past 6 months. I have lived around and seen people who dont even have a home, who alternate between the only 2 t-shirts they own, work 12 hour days and sleep on boards behind the huts that we pay $7 a night to sleep in...

So after tomorrow, when hopefully everything is sold, I'm sure I will feel a huge weight lifted and after my time at home which I love, I will go back to where life is simple and you make due with whatever you can get and there are no calenders and to do lists and no 5 year plans. After coming home I realize just how fortunate I am to be able to live a life without all these things to cloud your mind and just wish that everyone I love could experience how it feels to be truly free.

And as everyone is probably wondering what does this all mean? Am I ever coming home again... I'm sorry to say I do not know the answer. I have no schedules, no time tables and definitely no 5 year plan... at least for now. I have fallen head over heels in love with diving and can't imagine my life without it at this point. As long as I'm happy I won't be changing a thing.

Has it really been 6 months???

I can't believe it's time to go home again... 6 months really flies by!!! So much has changed in my life and am really excited to get home and see all the new things that took place there as well. Since all my friends decided to have babies in the last months... there will be a lot to catch up on!
I am just relaxing today getting everything together to leave tonight. I am taking a bus to Sharm el Sheik and getting a flight to Cairo and unfortunately will have to spend the night there (in the airport I mean) as I'm flying out of there at about 7:30 am. Definitely not looking forward to it! Then off to Paris, Boston and then finally Baltimore...
The past few days have been fairly hectic, I got a call on Thursday night to work for the next 3 days and needed the money so I spent the past 3 days working, sharing a group of divers from London of 12 with another divemaster and have been getting home at about 6:30pm every night along with loading and unloading 30 tanks a day, more than once... Its good for me though. Quick way to build up the muscles:) Have been coming home and passing out early including on birthday which Cam wouldn't let me forget that Im going into my 30th year and can't handle all the excitement... easy for him to say, he just turned 25! My last dive was a nice one but Im sure I will be ready to get back in the water asap.
I am sad to leave Cameron and the sea but equally excited to go home.
Can't wait to see you all if I ever make it there!!!
Why do you all live so far away??? :):):)

Happy Birthday Cameron

Today is Cam's birthday. I made him 'American' pancakes for breakfast. Everywhere else, at least in here, Asia and Europe their pancakes are a lot different than ours. Theirs are a lot thinner and more like crepes w/ a different consistency and he kind of looked at my fat, fluffy pancakes like I didn't know what I was doing but of course ended up liking them. We are planning on going to a beach BBQ at a bar called the furry cup, it's called furry Thursdays, tonight to celebrate. We are taking tomorrow off to relax and hang out for our birthdays since mine is on Sat... but haven't made any plans yet. Some diving might be in order... we'll see. Last night Cam made me a popular british dinner which was beans on toast... toast with melted cheese with baked beans (their baked beans are a little differnt than ours) poured over top... very good. Must try.

I have been crazily trying to organize my trip home, plane tickets, drs appts, and meeting up with friends and have just been informed my my mother that she has started a 'schedule ' for me while I'm home... THANKS MOM:)

It's really started getting warm here but the past few days there has been a fierce wind coming through, supposedly there is a hurricane in the Persian Gulf??? Not sure though.
Other than that not much to report...

See everyone soon!!!

house

Pics of the beach across the street from our house

Our garden

New Start

So we moved last weekend... It is like being in heaven. More like the heaven you live in everyday but to us it pretty damn exciting. We have air conditioning. We have real furniture. We have curtains, bookshelves, a real bed. We have counter tops and cabinets in the kitchen. But most exciting of all ... we have tv!!! Yes it's only a 13 incher... we do have 2 satellites and only get about 4 english channels but who's complaining??? It's been great. We also took 2 days off from work to get settled... aka watch an enormous amount of tv. I haven't had tv in a year and Cam hasnt had it in way longer than that. On our second day off we decided to take the bus to Sharm and do a little shopping and exploring. Sharm el Sheik is about 1 and 1/2 hour bus ride south from Dahab and is a much bigger city. We spent the day walking around getting sun burnt and bought a few books, ate at Mc Donalds and then TGIFridays and then proceeded to drink enough beers to convince ourselves to wait and take the 1am bus back home. All in all we had a few good days off and now it's back to reality... well our reality at least.
I am enjoying having a real kitchen and have been cooking almost every night to Cameron's surprise. He's been under the impression that he needed to teach me how to cook... now he thinks I was keeping it a secret so I wasn't expected to do any cooking. He has promised me to teach me how to make some things like chocolate cake & pancakes which I don't know how to make from scratch. Sorry mom, I know it's my fault, I wasn't interested.
So things have been going along fine here. We had a really fun group of divers just leave, they were from Slovenia, somewhere we've promised to visit... I went snorkeling/free diving (although I'm not good) today and saw a turtle. Yesterday we tried a little free diving, Cam made a personal record of 15meters/50ft and I just bobbed around on the surface and went to my cute little 4 or 5 meters. I think I need more practice at the breatholding thing.
Anyways, looking forward to going home... only a few weeks to go. Will def. be hitting the shops as I have absolutely no clothes. Well, enough to keep myself covered but will be excited to get a few new things. Cam is on his way out diving so I will catch up later.

random

We're Moving!!!

No, not to another country... at least not yet! We have found another house and are planning on moving at the end of this month. It is closer to work, is fully furnished and has air-con and tv!
I can't wait, it will be like living in a real house... After I went and looked at it I came back and told Cameron, like it was filled with $100 bills, that it had a real bed and chairs and a wardrobe and real sofas!!! Its funny the things that impress me now.
Everything out here is going great with the exception of the mild sickness that we seem to just pass between us but thankfully it only lasts for a few (rough) hours and then it's recovery time.
We have been keeping ourselves busy diving, I have been doing some freelance work with another dive shop as well so it's great for some extra money and good to meet new people as well. The weather here has actually been alright so far, as long as there is a breeze we seem to be managing fine. There has been something going on under water though... seems the wind may be stirring up some food and bringing it in because there have been some exciting sightings lately. The other day Cam was at the shop and everyone in the water started yelling shark! So he grabbed his fins and mask and jumped in! Swam a ways out from the reef, not knowing what he was looking for and out from the blue 2 3meter manta rays came flying towards him and then swooped underneath him... Also a few people saw some reef sharks at Lighthouse and a couple thresher sharks at the blue hole. Normally sharks are rarely seen in Dahab so things are getting a little interesting around here!!!
I am sorting out my flights to go home in the middle of June and am really excited about being home for a bit and seeing everyone. I can't believe it's already been 6 months. Better go do some work... See everyone soon!!!

Pics

This is Bonnie...she thinks she's a queen or something
My favorite little fishies

Come for a visit

Just wanted to throw an invitation out there to anyone interested in coming for a visit...
Havent said it before because I assumed it was a given but anyone that wants to make the trek out is welcome.
Also just thought I would tell you how much we have come to appreciate fresh water... I know I've said it before but yesterday I pulled a tick off the dog and put it in the toilet and flushed it. Then Cameron said as serious as can be 'now sarah, does that really justify a fresh water flush?' We had a good laugh at that one...

The heat has arrived

Well, sadly Cameron's brother has left and I think he's taken the nice cool breezy weather with him. Last night out house was so hot that speaking was kept to a minimum and moving was almost completely out of the question. We had all the windows and 2 fans going but was only blowing extremely hot air around. Cam and I just sat and stared at each other and thinking that we aren't going to survive this summer without air-conditioning. I think it was about 35C which is about 95F... and will be about 10-15 degrees warmer soon enough. During the day hasn't been too bad as long as you can stay out of the sun you are fine and the heat is very dry unlike home which is an advantage. Supposedly things sow down here quite a bit during the summer as no one wants to visit because of the heat and are already thinking of sneaking away to somewhere cool, probably Scotland, for a few weeks in July.
We have been pretty busy at work lately, Cameron has 4 courses in a row that he just started and I am holding down the fort and doing some guided dives during his breaks, it's so nice to have the dives sites literally at your doorstep.The water is warming up and is 23C now and I've already given up on my vest and hood. I definitely miss the warm 29C waters of good old Roatan but think it will get up to 26C here and guess that will have to been good enough.
We have also managed to acquire a dog. Our neighbor had to go back to England to sort out some business and we said we could dog sit. Later we found out he will be gone for 2-3months! So we have a Dahab dog named Bonnie. She is a really sweet and well behaved dog, most of the time, and it will be nice to have here around. She kind of looks like a collie I think, those dogs that chase the sheep, anyways that's what most of the dogs around here look like. She loves to jump fences and sit up high to look down on everything. Most of the houses in Assalah are separated by 8ft high cider block fences. Jimmy's yard has shorter fences so Bonnie can jump over and rough around with the neighborhood dogs. We decided Bonnie could just stay with is and stay in our yard which has no foreseeable way for her to get out but I think we may have underestimated her... Her first night with us was obviously very confusing for her and at about 3am I heard her barking and looked outside to find her in Jimmy's yard barking at his door. She's a very sneaky girl.
We've really started to sort our house out and I am extremely happy right now because we have fresh water in our tank. Water has proven to be a problem lately and you wouldn't believe how exciting is was when Cameron called yesterday and said the water was on and we could fill our tank... It seems silly but I feel so lucky to go home and have fresh water coming out our faucets!
I can't believe how fast the time is going it's been almost 5 months since I left home this last time and only have about 7 weeks until I'm home again. Christopher sent me some pics of the garden and it made me miss Solomons in the spring. I can't wait to have a little time there soon. Hope everyone is doing great at home. See you guys soon.

I feel a little silly

Ok, so I found out why no one was bothered with our little 'earthquakes'...
They aren't earthquakes.
Saudi Arabia is bombing somewhere close to here to make roads or something. I heard one 25m underwater yesterday and it not only scared me but def sounded like a bomb.
So that's that.

Pics

My road home, I live about 4 more blocks down

Erin & Aunt Cathy- this one's for you.

There are bead & jewelry shops on almost every corner here.

Trying to get everything out of the rain

Hail in Egypt...

My view from work

Another view from dive shop

Earthquakes in Dahab

Two days ago I went on a day dive trip to Sharm el Sheik, which is south of here, and got to dive on a fairly famous wreck called the Thistlegorm. We did 2 dives there and 1 dive in a place called Ras Mohamad. A diver from our shop was going so I went with her. The wreck was shot down in WWII by the Germans and was transporting military equipment including rubber boots, jeeps, tanks, boxes of ammunition, sections of trains and many many motorbikes. It was amazing. The boat is huge 130m/430ft long with big guns and we got to go inside and there are like rows and rows of motorbikes and old trucks and jeeps just lined up one after another. It has to be one best dives I've ever done. In the afternoon was went to Ras Mohamad and had an amazing dive there as well. There are the contents of a boat transporting bathtubs, sinks and toilets... It was so cool there were like stacks of bathtubs and a huge pile of toilets with awesome purple and pink corals growing on them. On our way home we saw a pod of maybe 30 dolphins as well, it was a great day.
While I was diving in Sharm there were 2 small earthquakes in Dahab. Cam said no one really seemed bothered and supposedly it's fairly common. Cameron's brother, Murray and his friend arrived here on Sunday and they all went diving yesterday just at Lighthouse in the morning and while they were diving I was in the office and the windows started to rattle but only lasted for a few seconds and I walked out onto the street and no one really seemed to startled so I figured it was just the wind. Later I heard someone say that it was an earthquake and when Cameron came out of the water they said they heard a loud boom but didn't know what it was. Later the boys went on another dive and we had another sm. earthquake and they also heard that one from underwater. It's kind of weird cause the people here don't really even talk about it, guess it's not news worthy.
Cameron is diving with his brother again today so I am here at the dive shop. Tonight the 4 of us are going to do a night dive at the Canyon which is a pretty popular dive site but a ways out of town. At about 20 meters the reef has a crack that starts at about 25m and if you followed it all the way out it comes out at like 54m. Anyways it just this small canyon that turns into a small cave in the shallow end and you can come out a small hole. It is supposed to be a really good night dive so I'm excited.
Not much else going on here... I will try to post pics soon.

Day in the Life

Anyone interested in what I did today?
We had no divers scheduled today so I woke up at about 8:15 when Cameron was leaving for work. We checked to see if we had fresh water. We have a water tank that we have to fill from a spicket in the yard. The fresh water is only turned on (sometimes) on Tues, Wed, and Thursdays if you are lucky and last week supposedly a pipe burst and we had no fresh water and our tank only last at most 5 days so we have been on well (sea) water for almost a week. Anyways the water of course wasn't on yet so I went to the kitchen to make some cheese and tomato toast and sat down and watched the end of the dvd we didn't finish last night. I had planned on doing some laundry and mopping (seems there is a thin film of dust and sand on everything in our house at all times and there isn't much you can do about it but mop everyday) but since we didn't get the ever so exciting fresh water I decided to get ready and head into work. I caught a taxi in since one of the bikes has a flat tire, then sat around with Cameron discussing signs for the shop and did a few small things while one of the local guys that works here got kitted up for his very first dive. He has been working here a while but has never tried diving. So we stood around teasing and watching him and took photos. Then I bought some food from a street vendor guy for $.60 who pushes this cart around yelling all sorts of things just to get attention. He's asked me before if I want a taxi ride on his cart and he yells that he has juice and drugs and things just for the reaction. Then I went to the internet place to get a book and read about 80 pages in it. I've chatted with Pfeltz on gmail, she's stuck in an Atlanta airport awaiting a flight to Bermuda. I've watched dogs wrestle, kids play soccer and cats beg for food. I called home and found out the water is on now, guess I will get clean clothes for tomorrow. I've sat and stared blankly at the sea, watched people get in and out of the water and chatted with a family that just finished diving with us. Just watched a horse and her pony (I think he's about 3 weeks old, the owner of this shop owns horses) run by and a dog was trying to chasing
them. While writing this, a couple came in to sign up for some diving tomorrow which means work for me, yipee. It's 6:15pm and is about to get dark and I think I'm about to head home for the night.
Just thought I would add to my lack of work for the day by writing this entry.
Hope everyone had a great day.

Hail in Egypt

As I was leaving the house yesterday morning, it started to rain which is really rare here especially this time of year. I think I heard it only rains about 2-3 days a year here... Anyways by the time I got to work it had turned in to a huge thunderstorm and torrential downpour which could be devastating for a place surrounded by mountains and with no drainage system. The rain continued for a few hours and actually dumped us with nickel size hail as well. We were all running around trying to cover things up, blockade doors and remove everything of value from the shop to a dry place. We have a classroom, an equipment room and an office all of which have wooden slats as ceilings and everything here got wet, luckily we got the computer out in time. The water was running like a river from the street through the dive shop and then into the sea. Watching down the boardwalk you could see loads of people running back and forth trying to get all the cushions and things from the cafes along the beach. It was the first day since I've been here that the boardwalk wasn't covered with mats, equipment and divers. As soon as the rain subsided, people went to work like little worker bees clearing out the water and soon after the divers started to pour in... I had a morning dive that was canceled so I sat around drinking hot chocolate, trying to stay out of the wind and watched the shivering divers get in and out of the sea. A few people we know were stopping by telling of their flooded apartments but we weren't really bothered since we are on the 2nd floor and it is a new construction. I wandered home late in the afternoon to find that water leaked in every window and door bringing with it piles of sand. We don't have much stuff but all the clothes, books on the floor, all the rugs and our cushions in the living room were soaking wet. I spent the next 2 hours or so doing laundry and sweeping and mopping the floors. Good Times... Thankfully it shouldn't rain for another 7 months.

Diving in the Red Sea

I have a job!!! Yippee... It's about time (at least I know that's what you all are thinking!)
So much has happened since my last post but the short version is that Cameron got a job as a manager of a dive shop and has been begging me to come and work for him:) No really, I will be working there, it's called Sea Pioneer and is right on the main strip about 10 yrds from the Lighthouse Dive Site. The owners of the dives shop also own a technical diving school right next store. I have guided a few dives and Cameron just finished an Advanced Course and left me in the shop to do some organizing. I guess you could say I am helping him out with the managing aspect as well.
Our house is finally feeling like a home. We have gotten big rugs and big pillows as a couch and have been eating at home a lot. Seems people here eat a lot of feta cheese, if you ask for a cheese sandwich it will be made with feta and both of us have become slightly addicted. The produce here is really good and have been eating a lot of vegetables and fruits. My daily lunch consists of tomato and cheese sandwiches and black olives (with the pits which I never really ate at home but they are amazing). The other day I bought a bunch of apples and as I was peeling the sticker off to eat it I noticed that it was made in the USA in Washington State. Kind of amazing that the apples I'm eating here came all the way from home (they are delicious by the way).
We had bought 2 crappy bikes to get to town on and Cameron managed to rip both pairs of handle bars off so the bikes have been out of commission for a bit but one of the boys that helps out at the dive shop took them to a welder and got both of them fixed for about $.75ea!
There are lots of dogs here but all have been really friendly so far. At about 7pm every night our neighborhood turns into a barking competition. We are surrounded by 4 mosques and at about that time they start their prayers over the loud speakers and directly following this the dogs start up and continue for about 30 min. We found out that the goats and sheep do belong to the Bedouins and are let out every morning to clean the streets and then find their way back home just before dark. I also found out that they eat them sometimes as well, but the ones they are going to eat get fed regular food(whatever that is) and stay locked up.
The weather has been off and on recently and is either chilly with crazy winds blowing(which is brutal when you get out of the water and have to strip off your wetsuit) or no wind and really hot although I know we haven't seen the worst of the heat yet. We might try to get an air conditioner if we want to be able to sleep in the summer.
Oh, our landlord got us a washing machine which is really exciting. It is this round contraption that is about a foot wide and 2 feet tall and you can wheel it around and fill it with water and then plug it in and there is a wheel thing on the inside that spins the clothes around. Pretty impressive.
Not much else is going on here... just happy to be making money and diving.
Happy late Easter. We just realized we missed it yesterday! Hope everyone is well and happy.