Siwa, Selection, and Close Calls
So I'm back in Cairo now after what was an amazing trip to Siwa.
It all began at the bus station in Cairo. Taco and Dey called and I had my interview for the Lebanon MC position just standing there in the middle of buses leaving for Alex, Sinai and Marsa Matrouh. Definitely a moment I will be remembering. It went relatively well, although I definitely could have done better. I had been getting a little stressed out about the call, and it finally came, so all was well.
Spent a day in Marsa Matrouh on the north coast, which has some amazing beaches. It was completely deserted (apparently the season doesn't start until mid-June). But it was hot and the sand was nice and the water was beautiful.
Then we hopped on a microbus to Siwa. Three hours of nothingness. Just flat desert, with some random army camps and cell towers in between. The road was pretty bumpy and I drank too much water before we left, so I proceeded to mark my territory across the Western Desert of Egypt. It's all mine now. All of it.
Got to Siwa, and it's definitely a different experience from anything I've had in Egypt before. Most of Egypt doesn't really look all that third-worldish, there is alot of infrastructure and such. Definitely not the case. Donkey cart taxis are the norm. And Land Rovers.
We spent the night and a camp outside of town, which had a hot spring. It was pretty amazing. The sulfur definitely did a job on the cuts I got from the coral in Dahab, but you definitely understand why hot springs are a popular place for health spas.
As soon as we got back to town on Sunday I made a beeline for the only internet cafe in town (cafe = 3 computers on a dial-up connection. the barbarity of it all!) so I could check on how selection went. I'm officially the new Vice President of External Relations and Incoming Exchange for AIESEC Lebanon!! So excited. Nisrin Jaara, who I was with in Siwa got the MCP position too, which is awesome. Now I have to get all my shots in before she becomes my "boss." :-)
During the next day we rented bikes and went around Siwa. The old "fortress" of Siwa was pretty neat to climb around, and we went to the Temple of the Oracle, where Alexander the Great was proclaimed to be the son of Amun, and therefore the king of Egypt.
The last and most amazing part of the trip was the safari. We left around 3:30 and we drove around the dunes of the Great Sand Sea. It was CRAZY. Our driver was too, but he was having fun with it. We went down almost vertical slopes of the dunes in our SUV, basically saying "oh shit" all along the way. We went sandboarding on a huge dune, which was crazy. Really I went sledding on a snowboard in the sand, because I was too chicken to try it standing up. No balance whatsoever. Plus the fact that Zeead went just before me and basically knocked himself out and couldn't remember going down the dune. Luckily he was ok, but sore.
We made camp just before sunset. Felt like Luke Skywalker. Badass. After the sun went down we sand boarded some more along with a group of American students that were camped there too. The sand was so fine it was definitely one of the most comfortable places to lay down, it just conforms to your body. And it gets EVERYWHERE! My camera is now on the fritz because of the sand, but I should be able to get it cleaned when I get back to Beirut. The rest of the night we drank beer, had some amazing food and just watched the stars. You can see them all out there. There weren't even any airliners to spoil it, just a few satellites to watch going across the sky.
That was Siwa. The hours were spent getting back to Cairo. On the bus ride we heard about the Dahab bombings, and Nisrin and Dody started calling everyone to make sure they were ok. I'm glad I didn't decide to go to Dahab this weekend instead of last week. I went to breakfast just about every day in Al Capone restaurant, one of the ones that was bombed and I went into the supermarket that was bombed probably about a half dozen times while I was there. Was there just four days ago. After having such a great trip, it basically took the wind out of the sails.
But for now we're celebrating mine and Nisrin's selection tonight, and back to Beirut tomorrow to start doing work again.
It all began at the bus station in Cairo. Taco and Dey called and I had my interview for the Lebanon MC position just standing there in the middle of buses leaving for Alex, Sinai and Marsa Matrouh. Definitely a moment I will be remembering. It went relatively well, although I definitely could have done better. I had been getting a little stressed out about the call, and it finally came, so all was well.
Spent a day in Marsa Matrouh on the north coast, which has some amazing beaches. It was completely deserted (apparently the season doesn't start until mid-June). But it was hot and the sand was nice and the water was beautiful.
Then we hopped on a microbus to Siwa. Three hours of nothingness. Just flat desert, with some random army camps and cell towers in between. The road was pretty bumpy and I drank too much water before we left, so I proceeded to mark my territory across the Western Desert of Egypt. It's all mine now. All of it.
Got to Siwa, and it's definitely a different experience from anything I've had in Egypt before. Most of Egypt doesn't really look all that third-worldish, there is alot of infrastructure and such. Definitely not the case. Donkey cart taxis are the norm. And Land Rovers.
We spent the night and a camp outside of town, which had a hot spring. It was pretty amazing. The sulfur definitely did a job on the cuts I got from the coral in Dahab, but you definitely understand why hot springs are a popular place for health spas.
As soon as we got back to town on Sunday I made a beeline for the only internet cafe in town (cafe = 3 computers on a dial-up connection. the barbarity of it all!) so I could check on how selection went. I'm officially the new Vice President of External Relations and Incoming Exchange for AIESEC Lebanon!! So excited. Nisrin Jaara, who I was with in Siwa got the MCP position too, which is awesome. Now I have to get all my shots in before she becomes my "boss." :-)
During the next day we rented bikes and went around Siwa. The old "fortress" of Siwa was pretty neat to climb around, and we went to the Temple of the Oracle, where Alexander the Great was proclaimed to be the son of Amun, and therefore the king of Egypt.
The last and most amazing part of the trip was the safari. We left around 3:30 and we drove around the dunes of the Great Sand Sea. It was CRAZY. Our driver was too, but he was having fun with it. We went down almost vertical slopes of the dunes in our SUV, basically saying "oh shit" all along the way. We went sandboarding on a huge dune, which was crazy. Really I went sledding on a snowboard in the sand, because I was too chicken to try it standing up. No balance whatsoever. Plus the fact that Zeead went just before me and basically knocked himself out and couldn't remember going down the dune. Luckily he was ok, but sore.
We made camp just before sunset. Felt like Luke Skywalker. Badass. After the sun went down we sand boarded some more along with a group of American students that were camped there too. The sand was so fine it was definitely one of the most comfortable places to lay down, it just conforms to your body. And it gets EVERYWHERE! My camera is now on the fritz because of the sand, but I should be able to get it cleaned when I get back to Beirut. The rest of the night we drank beer, had some amazing food and just watched the stars. You can see them all out there. There weren't even any airliners to spoil it, just a few satellites to watch going across the sky.
That was Siwa. The hours were spent getting back to Cairo. On the bus ride we heard about the Dahab bombings, and Nisrin and Dody started calling everyone to make sure they were ok. I'm glad I didn't decide to go to Dahab this weekend instead of last week. I went to breakfast just about every day in Al Capone restaurant, one of the ones that was bombed and I went into the supermarket that was bombed probably about a half dozen times while I was there. Was there just four days ago. After having such a great trip, it basically took the wind out of the sails.
But for now we're celebrating mine and Nisrin's selection tonight, and back to Beirut tomorrow to start doing work again.
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