Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 09, 2010
Summer is here...
Summer is definitely here and has been hot hot hot. An average day tops out at about 115F with some days over 129F!!! Thankfully the sea is near and we have quite a bit of wind to help make being outside bearable. Since I last wrote I have gotten a promotion at work and am now one of the Managers at the dive center I am working at, it's more stress but I'm really enjoying it! I still manage to go diving a few times a week and mostly for fun with my friends!
Cam and I celebrated our birthdays together and took 3 days off from work. I can't believe I'm 32!!! We spent the time relaxing and even went on a boat trip to the furthest south divesite in Dahab called Gabr el Bint. I haven't seen a turtle since I arrived and I finally saw 2! I've got some video to try to upload so you can see.
We have bought a new boat at the center, our 4th, and had to have it transferred from Alexandria all the way to Dahab. Once it arrived we had it at the center before we could put it in the water. In Egyptian tradition we sacrificed a sheep. I didn't have any part in it and didn't watch but it's tradition when you buy big things, like a house, car or boat they sacrifice an animal which is suppose to keep people from being envious of you and to also keep evil away from it. They killed the sheep behind the dive center and put bloody hand prints all over the boat. I know it sounds weird...
I have managed to make some really good girlfriends while I've been here and we get together at least once a week to hang out, if we manage to get the same days off we even have been doing some exploratory dives as well. Cameron is in Sharm right now on a boys weekend diving trip. He and 4 other guys went down to Sharm a few nights ago. They have done a day diving on the SS Thistlegorm, the massive wreck in Sharm and did a few reef dives today and saw hammerhead sharks!!!
I'm hoping to try to get a mini-holiday sometime soon to somewhere close. Maybe Alexandria, Jerusalem or maybe to the Dead Sea. There's always the option of a diving holiday as well! :)
Hope everyone is well.xxx
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
I'm International
Cameron and I went to France at the end of February. His parents have a flat in Chamonix and we had a snowboarding holiday. Cameron's cousin and his girlfriend met us there and then his parents and brother came for the last few days.
We flew from Sharm to Geneva, Switzerland and then rented a car for an hour drive to Chamonix. So we drove through to France and arrived to this small town surrounded by massive mountians including Mt. Blanc which was the biggest mountian in Europe until just recently when they named a taller one in Eastern Europe. Their flat is about a 15 minute walk to the center of town and was really nice and cozy with a view of Mt. Blanc out the back door. Kenny (Cam's cousin) & Sophie are snowboarders already so on the first day I let them go off on their own and just hung around in town. It was quite daunting considering I haven't even attempted french since I went to Quebec in 8th grade! There is a really cute little town with loads of ski shops and brasseries and oh my the cheese! So many nice little places you could walk into that smelled pretty bad but had massive tables with all sorts of cheeses and meats. Also, I didn't really have proper shoes for the snow but took these little moccasin boots I have that have a smooth flat leather sole. The trail to walk to town was running along a little river but was covered in ice and surprisingly I only fell once but it was such hard work I finally buckled and bought a pair of shoes. Life was so much easier after that!
On the second day Cam and I went off on our own to a small place called Le Planard, it was right close to town and seemed to be where all the little kids were learning to ski. There was a little fenced in area with kids about 3-5yrs old wearing helmets and skiing in a straight line following each other while the parents stood outside the fence and cheered them on. You would see some of them crying and telling their parents they didn't want to do it (at least that's what I think they were saying since they were speaking in french) and it was pretty funny. It got less funny when the older ones (7-9yr olds) were screaming past me down the slopes later on.
We spent a few hours on what I called the bunny slope, the first time I said this Cam almost peed his pants and said NEVER call it that in front of anyone else, it's called a GREEN run. I was feeling alright and decided to take the chair lift up and try a blue run. I was scared and fell ALOT but it was really fun. On the smaller slopes instead of chair lifts they have these tows called poma tows... and I HATE them. I'm on one in the picture in the previous post but the poma tows from the first day were super easy... the snow was really soft and I managed my first one without falling, a feat in itself. You basically stand in line till it's your turn, you have your front foot in the board and the back foot is out. There is a pole with a little circle on the end and you put it between your legs and it tows you up except that you have to be able to remain standing. Some of them can have quite a jerk when you first get going and then esp. with a snowboard you have to make sure you don't catch the edge of your board in the snow or else you fall on your face and possibly get dragged it you dont let go... Not only is it frustrating but very embarrassing as well. The next day we all went together to a mountian called Le Tour. Chamonix is the ski resort but there are about 5-6 different mountains you can ski on and so each day we would drive to whichever one we wanted to ski on that day. Anyway, on this day it was snowing like crazy and the visibility was quite bad so everyone stayed with me on the slopes lower on the mountain. Unfortunately for me the only way to get up the slope was a poma tow except these were faster and the snow was much harder. Last time we were in Scotland we met up with Kenny and Sophie and were talking about me trying to snowboard and Sophie was telling me that I'll be crying and probably quit a few times within the first few days because it's so frustrating. Well, I thought I was going to get away without a temper tantrum for the whole time but trying to get up that mountain that morning (oh yeah, did I mention I was getting sick?) was impossible. I fell once then got back on a made it halfway up until I caught an edge and fell... Once I got back down again I fell 5 times in a row straight away as soon as the freaking things jerked me up and so I walked halfway up and sat on the mountain and cried... wondering, can't they come up with a better way? The most frustrating part was that I could actually get down, I couldn't really turn but I could board down the mountain, I just couldn't get up it! Ughhh... luckily for me Cam and Kenny decided to go off pisted (off the main slope where the snow if fresh and powder) and makes jumps and stuff so we stayed there the rest of the day hanging out and just walking up and boarding down. Sophie and I even made a small jump that I managed to go off a few times! It's just such a nice view with clean air. We made salami and brie sandwiches on fresh baguettes for lunch everyday and it was awesome. On my last day we went to Les Houches and we had to take a cable car to the top of the mountain, which I was pretty scared about because it's just a little box with 20 people crammed in about 100 ft off the ground. We made it to the top and it was a beautiful day. The runs are all interwoven together and it's quite difficult at first to try to figure out where to go and which lift to take etc... that day was great and after a few hours Cam and I split up and decided we would meet at one of the cafes on the mountain. After a little while longer I was tired (did I mention by now every muscle in my body was in agony? Including the muscles on the front of my neck and my fingers even hurt from pushing myself up everytime I fell) so I decided to go to the cafe to hang out. Once I met up with everyone else they decided to snowboard down the mountain and I thought it was best to take the gondola down... on my own. Yikes! I think my fear of heights gets worse every year, anyway, we met at the bottom of the mountain at a bar and had some Vin Chaud (hot wine). After that I returned my rented board and am definitely wanting to try it again sometime.
We went into town a few nights for dinner and got house wine and cheese fondue... So good but sooo much cheese. Wandered around to a few pubs in the cold and ice and had a great time.
Cameron's parents and brother showed up the same day Kenny and Sophie left and they took us out for a great dinner and we had ( I forget what it was called) but they brought you a hot stone and beef, turkey and duck which you cooked yourself on the stone and it was delicious.
It was so strange the morning I left Chamonix, I was driving by massive snow covered mountains on icy roads and that evening I was driving by jagged dry mountains in the middle of the desert... I had a great time in France but I was ready to get back to the sun and the sea and my home.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Winter in the Desert

This is me and Matt my dmt and Gareth, two of the Army boys, diving in front of our dive center. You can see the mountains of Saudi Arabia in the background. The bit of land to the left is the continuation of the seafront that runs in front of our shop. Im on the right hand side.
xoxoxo
Since New Years, life has been a bit slower. Most of the tourist left here by the middle of January and wont be returning until March. At work we have contacts with the re-settlement offices for the British Army and have gotten quite a few of them out here since the beginning of the year. I have had quite a few as students but its mostly nice to have a bunch of people around.
Oh I forgot, we had rain!!! It lightly rained for about one night and we paid the consequences for weeks. Almost everyone (except ours) had leaks in their houses, the roads were closed due to flooding and around Egypt houses were collapsing and people were even dying! Right next to our dive center there is a bridge along the boardwalk and that is one of the lowest places here so after about 3 hours after the rain stopped, the water came pouring down from the mountains like a river. It brings everything with it and basically runs into the sea in front of our dive center. The sea was brown for 2 weeks with about 4 ft visibility. The airport was even closed due to a collapsed roof!
Other than the rain we have had a very mild winter which scares me to think of how hot it will be this summer! Since it has been slow most everyone is meeting at the pub frequently to chat or watch sports and we have had quite a few birthdays or going away parties lately, not to mention all the snorkel tests being administered to the Army boys...
As for today, I am meeting a friend for lunch on the seafront and then will go out to dinner with Cameron for Valentine's Day. I've got a pretty good life just now...
Monday, December 28, 2009
We've been living in Egypt now for almost 2 months. Two days after arriving I started work and have been working non-stop since then, which is great. Dahab remains unspoiled and pretty much the same since we were here 2 years ago. It so crazy being back at the same job, Poseidon Divers, and we have actually moved into the same flat we lived in the last time we were here (Cam is working at the same center he worked at before also)! There are alot of the same people which makes it feel as if we never left! The diving is better than I remember and am loving every dive. I have gotten to teach alot of different courses including about 10 or so specialty courses so I will definately not get bored here!Shortly after arriving we took a trip to Nuweiba which is a Bedouin Village about an hour north of here with my co-workers. The dive center organized the whole thing and we left at 7pm and came back at 7 am the next morning! We stayed at a Bedouin camp and when we arrived it was already dark but we were right on sea and the sky was incredible! I can't remember seeing so many stars before! We had food and a few drinks around a fire and then went to sleep for a short time and before I knew it we were back in the mini bus heading to the center for a full days work!!!
Cameron has taken up windsurfing and is loving it. Wind and Kite surfing here is pretty popular as we apparently have over 300 days with F4-5 Winds...
I had a camel safari at work which means I take people diving but to a place where no cars can go so we have to take camels. We took to to Ras Abu Galum an area about an hours walk from the furthest north road in Dahab. The camels carry all our equipment with us sitting on them as well! My camel was the leader and as soon as he stood up he started walking way ahead of everyone else, he knew where he was going! It was actually kind of relaxing but I was sooooo sore the next day and think I will walk next time I have to do one.
We recently helped celebrate the holiday called Eid al-Adha, Festival of Sacrifice. It comes from when Abraham was going to sacrifice his son for God but then was allowed by God to sacrifice a ram instead. Its about spending time with friends and family and thanksgiving for having food. Each family sacrifices an animal and gives 1/3 to his family, 1/3 to his friends and neighbors and 1/3 to the poor. Cameron's boss slaughtered a sheep(or maybe it was a goat) and we had a nice BBQ on the beach. During this time there were cows and other animals tied up around town. I even saw someone walking a cow along the boardwalk and I was just hopeing that I could get past before they killed it. We had nice food and I tried the meat and it was ok.
So Christmas came and went and we had some elaborate plans for lots of eating and drinking and Xmas dinner with about 20 people at a friends house. At about noon on Christmas Day I started getting a bad stomach and continued to be sick for 4 days... I also woke up on the 26th with bronchitits, so its been fun. I not only missed Xmas but have missed four days of work as well. I will be going back tomorrow, lets just hope I can equalize my ears!
Hope everyone has a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! x
Sunday, December 06, 2009
EGYPT!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
New Adventures...
After spending 3 days in WV we headed to Solomons just in time for the wedding preparations! Christophers wedding was on the 10th of October and we had an awesome time. After the wedding we proceeded to move the party down to the Tiki Bar and had an awesome night with family and friends. So awesome that we had to stay in bed all day on Sun! I got to see alot of my friends and do some relaxing as well. We arrived in Edinburgh last week and spent 4 days up north with Cameron's parents, both his brothers as well has one of their girlfriends and her 3 boys. We arrived back to Edinburgh and have been preparing for our next home! I have spent most the day packing and trying to stay under the weight limit and we are ready to go, but first we are stopping in Manchester to visit Kat and Anna, our friends from Honduras and I can't wait to see those girls. Finally on Sunday we are flying back to Egypt! I really will try to keep up with my blog while I'm there and I'm sure being back there will provide plenty of interesting stories... Happy Halloween! xxx
Friday, October 16, 2009
Sunday, September 06, 2009
21 days left
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
More Birthdays
Friday, June 19, 2009
Birthdays
Friday, May 29, 2009
Photos
Another Visitor
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
After I had settled into being back in Malta, I stupidly volunteered to work on a Sunday (we are closed Sundays in the winter) I contracted some type of Rotovirus... no really I think it was some gastro thing or other... either way, I didn't return to work until the next Monday. I am blaming getting sick on the diver I had on Sunday, something was going around his hotel, and I will never volunteer to work on my day off again! I guess it was good as I lost the 5lbs I had put on while I was home. After 4 days of visiting the bathroom every 2 hours I finally went to the doctor almost in tears asking when I was going to get better... he said it could last up to a week. It started on a Monday and by Saturday morning I was finally starting to feel better. That was brutal but thankfully Cameron didn't get it which was good since I needed him to take care of me. After a few days back at work I started diving again and managed to regain my strength and am now 100%.
At the end of the week I returned to work our friends from the
We were both sad when they left, we had such a great time while they were here but we are already trying to make plans to meet up with them and Anna for New Years again this year.
With Kathryn and Leigh gone we have been trying to catch up on our sleep and taking a break from the wine... Work is really starting to pick up and the weather has really been nice lately. This week we are looking at a high of 70F this week! I have divers everyday starting tomorrow through next week so I'm hoping for a bit of a tan soon!!! I love the sun!
Happy Spring everyone!
Monday, May 04, 2009
First pictures then words...
We are standing on top of the Azure window.
All of us in Egypt... just kidding:) Yummy sheesha
Me swimming out of a cave in Gozo
Cam and I
Cam Kat and I looking out over Malta from Mdina
Walking through Mdina





