So, Sara is on the couch surfing site which is basically a network for travelers and to stay with people all over the world for a short period of time. We will use this service much when we start traveling, I feel. So far, we've had two surfers:
Mary: we love Mary. As I write this she is picking at the birthday cake she made for Sara and I. She's a Canadian whose been traveling for a few months. She's in Egypt waiting for a new passport, and then she will be off to India for six months. She's actually a fashion designer. I happen to love all of her clothes too. Her website has some great stuff on it, you should check it out.
Mary was here for a few days a couple weekends ago, but then left for Dahab on the Sinai. She had some great things to say about it. She's back now, which is great because when she stays here she has a habit of randomly making things like apple crisp and chocolate cake. So, we basically never want her to leave.
--a digression:
Dahab sounds pretty sweet. Everyone I find interesting here loves it. It has just come to my attention that Sara's family is sending her home for Christmas. Although this is an extremely loving and kind gesture, it means I will be alone for Christmas. This bummed me out a bit until I decided that I will be going to Dahab for Christmas alone and hiking and snorkeling and the like. Now I'm quite excited. Of course, it would be better if Sara could come too, but I'm looking forward to traveling alone too.
Ok, so there was Mary and
Tommy: Tommy is from Northern Ireland. Thus, Tommy likes to drink. A lot. I know, stereotypes are harmful, but sometimes they do work out. We liked Tommy because you can sit there for hours talking to him about the politics and his childhood in N. Irealand, and his stories are never boring. I learned the origins of the Shankill Butchers. Not the most uplifting drunk talk, but interesting still. We drank with Tommy his first night in town, but sadly could not keep up the rest of the weekend. Some of you may find it odd that after one night of drinking, I can't have another drink for at least a week, mostly longer. Maybe that wouldn't be true if the beer here didn't suck.
So, last Saturday Tommy, Sara and I went to the pyramids. We only got there about a half an hour before they were going to close, so we ended up paying half price and only saw the first 3 out of nine, but the biggest and most impressive ones nonetheless. The sphinx certainly lived up to it's reputation. As did the pyramids themselves. They're pretty much what you'd expect, but they're amazing. If you can handle the camel vendors and their constant advertisement, the pyramids stand to be a truly worthwhile visit.
I'm happy to say I've finally made it to the pyramids, after only two months of living here. After the actual seeing of the pyramids, we went to eat and Tommy inadvertently ordered camel meat, and thus the title of this blog was born.
After the pyramids was pretty much school, school, exam week, stressful school, and then our birthdays!! Well, before that was halloween, which was fun. I woke up not knowing what to wear, so I picked up every article of clothing with color and put them on, then painted my face with stars and a sun and went as some kind of rainbow combustion. Only later, after I had played games and danced with ninety 7 year olds, I realized I actually looked like a 16 year old raver. All I needed was a pacifier and some ecstasy. The kids were cute, they mostly dressed up as superheros and princesses.
We celebrated our birthdays one night early, on Thursday. We had a party at our friend's Sarah and Imy's house. They all dressed up like us and we ordered pizza and got really drunk, danced to Michael Jackson and Prince, and made some new Egyptian friends. Some pictures:
top left: the Sara's and our hot boss, Mohamed.top right: all of the fake Sara and Abby's
left: our first Egyptian cell phone!!
It was a fun night. I got pretty drunk, which I hadn't done for a while.
The next night, my actual birthday, was awesome. Nursing a hangover, we went out for lunch , lounged around for a few hours and then went to a concert. Our friend Lacey's husband, Mohamed, is part of the group called Palestinian Rappers. It was a great show. We met up with a
friend, Michael, who brought along his friend who was studying at the American University of Cairo. So, I get to talking to this kid, Scott, who was actually studying abroad from Georgetown. As soon as we started talking about DC, he says "What I miss is the Brickskeller." I then replied "Uh, I worked there for a long time." We talked about DC and beer, it was a little taste of home. Both Scott and Michael are great people and I'm glad I met them. The show was really good, also, the whole crowd sang happy birthday to Sara and I.You guys should check out the Palestinian Rappers myspace if you want to learn more about it. Most of the songs are in Arabic, but its still good stuff, I thought.
After the concert, we went to the to a diner which was much needed and then hung out at home telling really disgusting jokes, which lifted my spirits. I had finally found people with a similar sickening sense of humor as I.
So, yesterday was Sara's birthday, which we spend laying around, making chocolate on chocolate cake, making dinner and eating all of it. We really had great birthdays. I miss all of you at home though and hope next year I can celebrate with more familiar faces (with the exception of Sara).
Today, I had the strongest urge to daydream all day, so I changed my lesson plan so the kids did a half an hour of writing, giving me time to daydream. I am an awful teacher.
I leave you with some random pictures from the last few weeks:
Mohamed and friends
The Red Sea, Hurgada
the name of our school...and a shitty beer
