if i look back, i am lost
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let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
Color Me Curious
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KIROKAZE
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EXPECTATIONS
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romaâ
RMH
Noah Kahan
Cookie Run:Kingdom Official!
Cosmic Funnies
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Monterey Bay Aquarium
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The Saigon Nails Story
The Saigon Nails Story
I can count the number of times I have had my nails done on one hand. That was before moving to Saigon and the lure of the nail salon called my hands in for a visit⊠not just once this month, but twice! So to paint a picture, I am a beginner at this kind of thing. So it is Saturday morning and fresh from cleaning my apartment, Jade and I decide to hang a right at the nail salon on the way toâŠ
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Getting Cupped in Cambodia
Getting cupped in Cambodia was not exactly on our list of things to do, but exploring places sometimes leads to strange but interesting paths...
So it has been a few Egyptian moons since I posted last but Jade and I are still living in Cairo and doing well. Not just wellâŠreally well. In fact, yesterday she told me that this year in Egypt has been her favourite year ever. Words to make a mom smile when deciding to alter the ânormalâ course for a high school Canadian teen. Since my last post (November?!!) we spent Christmas in Cambodia. ForâŠ
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Life From the Back of An Egyptian Taxi
Life From the Back of An Egyptian Taxi
You know that saying? My life just flashed before my eyes? It must have originated somewhere in Cairo from the backseat of a taxi. Each time you enter the unknown charted territory, otherwise known as a Cairo taxi, a travel advisory should be issued. Enter at your own risk. Be forewarned. First of all, you have to negotiate. Meter, meter and meter. However, taxi driver wants money, money andâŠ
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My First Egyptian Hair Cut
My First Egyptian Hair Cut
So it was time. I entered with some trepidation and a bit of hope. My hair was pretty bad. It really couldnât get worse. I looked around at the organized chaos and wondered if I should walk away. Another look in the mirror and I knew I couldnât. I sit down in a sea of a beautifully made up women, decked to the nines from head to toe. I glance at my flared jeans and red t-shirt and wonder what IâŠ
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It was confirmed yesterday that I am the worldâs worst history student.
I am living in Egypt and despite a very talented tour guide, I struggle to retain historical facts. So as we ventured outside Cairo to visit more pyramids in the Saqqarah and Dahshur areas, I was probably more enamoured with the green fields, the date palm trees, the camels, the goats, the sheep and the donkey carts of everyday life in Egypt. Do I have pictures of those? Of course not. But someday⊠I will manage to get a few.
In the meantime, we saw a lot, we learned a lot and well⊠I retained a little. Jade braved the âbent down steep incline into a pyramidâ while I waited outside. I did venture into one pyramid that involved âless folding overâ and was rewarded by my first sighting of hieroglyphics. The pyramids are far from the hustle and bustle of Cairo, set quietly and elegantly in the desert.
Egypt is so much more than its pyramids but it is its pyramids that make it unique and extra special. Overall, a fascinating country with a history that amazes and confuses me daily!
A Day Trip From Cairo It was confirmed yesterday that I am the world's worst history student. I am living in Egypt and despite a very talented tour guide, I struggle to retain historical facts.
1.The people make this country. Everywhere we turned, there was someone willing to help us find our way or give us a seat on the bus. Sri Lankans are some of the friendliest and kindest people I have met travelling.
2.The food is delicious. Despite being forewarned that the food would be ultra spicy, Jade and I managed, quite easily, to eat our share of curry dishes, Â quite happily.
3.The tea hills are spectacularly beautiful. I thought I had seen âgreen hill beautyâ in Colombia, Vietnam and Indonesia but tea hill country in Sri Lanka is breathtaking too. Keeping our eyes focused for the women working in the tea plantations kept us amused for hours. Although we did find a few, we never managed to take a photo that rivaled any of the postcards we saw.
4.The tea was special. Maybe it comes from drinking tea in the place where it was picked or maybe it was just that good but Jade, a non-tea drinker, has now been converted to a tea lover. Cozy is the word that comes to mind as I reflect on our hours drinking tea out of real tea cups as the monsoon poured around us.
5.Taking the train in Sri Lanka is really a one of a kind experience! We took the train from Ella to Colombo and yes, it was a mere 4 hours late by the time we finally arrived but who was really complaining? The views from the deck (the part that was open between the cars) were beyond words. We stood for hours watching Sri Lankan life fly by. I would go back to Sri Lanka for that experience alone.
(As we were only there for a week, we had a limited sampling of all the beauty Sri Lanka has to offer. Highlights for us were Ella and its Little Adamâs Peak, the train trip from Ella to Kandy, visiting a working tea plantation outside Ella, and The Dhambulla caves outside Kandy. Needless to say Jadeâs first experience in Asia was very positive and Sri Lanka just reinforced why I love this area of the world so much.)
5 Reasons Why Sri Lanka Is AÂ Favourite 1.The people make this country. Everywhere we turned, there was someone willing to help us find our way or give us a seat on the bus.
New Cairo: Shades of Brown
New Cairo: Shades of Brown
I live in New Cairo and yes, it is new. But sometimes it is hard to get my head wrapped around that. When we think ânewâ, we imagine shiny and clean. These arenât the 2 words that pop to mind when I look at my neighborhood. Shades of brown, dust, dirt, garbage and touches of colour scattered amongst is what I see as I walk daily to school and to my shops for much needed water, bananas and breadâŠ
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Adjusting to Cairo?
I have lived in 8 countries. I have worked overseas before. This time, however, âadjustingâ is taking longer. Why? Other times I was less (or not!) reliant on computers, the Internet, or anything else electronic! This time I am. And it is a game changer. As I have limited to no wifi at home, my life revolves around my phone and/or my school computer. Both have their good days and their not soâŠ
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Adhan: The Call To Prayer In My Neighborhood
Adhan: The Call To Prayer In My Neighborhood
Last night when I was skyping my husband in Canada, the call to prayer began. I took my computer to the bedroom window and opened it so he could share in my experience of listening to it. A beautiful magical sound was emanating from the mosque beside our flat (pictured above). Although I was unable to understand the words, I imagine someday being able to comprehend a few of them. As I write thisâŠ
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How To Survive The Pyramids And Stay Sane
How To Survive The Pyramids And Stay Sane
Strange title eh? My dad, a world traveller, hated Cairo because of the pyramids. Why? The pyramids come with an army of touts and for those who donât know what a tout is, they are people whose living depends on tourism but their approach can vary. Some touts will listen to you and others simply wonât. The touts at the pyramids have a reputation for being some of the most persistent in the world.âŠ
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Cairo: Walking Home
Jade and I just walked home from our school. It is about a 2 minute walk from our house. It doesnât get much closer. For a teen, she can roll out of bed, get her uniform on and dash to school in no time. When school starts that is⊠the countdown is on⊠Aug. 31. She snapped this picture as we walked in the dark. We love the dark here. Dark means cooler and cooler means less than the 40+âŠ
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Cairo: A Felucca On The Nile
Cairo: A Felucca On The Nile
So as the heat wave continues, we ventured out to the Nile for some respite. I am not sure a breeze was actually felt, but seeing the water cooled us downâŠslightly. It is hard to get your head wrapped around the âThis is the Nile River!â fact as water is water but the surroundings made it known that we were indeed in Egypt. Looking out to the shore, it was easy to decipher that this was no riverâŠ
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We have landed! After so much time thinking about and preparing to leave for Cairo, it seems surreal to actually be here.
Air Egypt was very good to us. No one looked twice at our massive carry-on luggage and one poor flight attendant even survived lifting it above his head to get it into the overhead bin. Jade and I together had massively failed to do the same!
I cursed at myself a few times as I tried to manage the luggage cart leaving the airport.. 5 huge bags leaning off to the side as I maneuvred the cart through sand, dirt, potholes, cars honking to get me moving faster which of course, made me falter and begin to drop said bags onto the ground.
Sweaty and tired, Jade and I managed to find our way onto the school van, pleasantly pleased with ourselves to have finished stage 1 of moving. As we glanced at the terrain from the airport to our new home in New Cairo, we both thought of Morocco. Hot (like heat wave hot, like âI forgot to turn the oven off on the hottest day in Canadaâ hot), sandy, slightly windy, dusty and yes, dirty at times, was what it looked like from the vanâs windows. All this was immediately confirmed in minutes when we arrived at our flat.
Glancing up at the building, I reminisced of places lived in the world. Other than my home in South Africa, I havenât lived in such a grand looking building. Elaborately designed and coloured to melt into its surroundings, homes seem to be one colour in our neighborhoodâŠa light brown that makes home and earth look like one.
Trudging up the stairs to the second level was a work out. Second level being a misnomer as it feels much more like 5th level. If I decide to âcheap it outâ and not join a gym, I think I could leave my flat and return to it various times through out the day and call it âevenâ.
As Jade and I entered, we were slightly blown away. Appearances wise, the flat appears decadent, spacious and cool. Air con will do that! Marble floors, huge oversized furniture, deluxe heavy curtains reminiscent of castles in Europe make our flat far from any hardship posting I might have encountered in my past!
Our landlord seems âhands onâ in a good way. Available when you need him and with the added bonus, of being able to speak English. Immediately Jade and I collapsed onto our beds in a sweaty heap. Nothing elegant about how we felt or looked by this point.
After a few hours of sleep, we ventured out to do some shopping in a loopy kind of comatose state. Struggling with the currency (never my strong point), we found some basic items (plastic containers for our food to set parameters for any future insects who desire to eat their way through our home, adapters that didnât work, and plastic cups because one can never have too many plastic cups!) Satisfied, I ate my first Egyptian veggie burger with some other teachers and enjoyed our first dancing water fountain that came complete with Michael Jackson tunes.
So far our suburb doesnât come with camels, too much noise or too much chaos. In fact, it seems safe, quieter than expected and very manageable. The mosque is next door but because our building resembles a castle with fortress walls, we can only vaguely hear the call to prayer. The dogs are much louder but then again, dogs in the countries that I travel to, always are!
Contemplating going outside to take a picture of our building, I realize that I have to go through 3 sets of locked doors and the âwhich key is it?â as well as the numerous stairsâŠuhmmmâŠwe will see.
Ciao from Cairo! I know Italian seems strange but it is short and I know how to spell it as opposed to my Arabic which consists of 1 word at the moment! Yes⊠it is on my To Do list :)
Arrived in Cairo: First Impressions We have landed! After so much time thinking about and preparing to leave for Cairo, it seems surreal to actually be here.
Yes! Time To Move From Canada To Cairo
Yes! It Is Time To Move From Canada To Cairo :)
The world of travel is unbelievable. Monday, I am living in the familiar. My world in Canada. By Friday, I will be living in the unfamiliar. My new world in Cairo. Hard for me to comprehend beginning the week in one country and ending it in another. You step on a plane and a mere 12 hours later, you exit to a different life. So as we get ready to make the move, I want to thank you all forâŠ
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Seeing someone else experience travel overseas for the first time!
Nothing could have made me happier :) than to hear my in-laws (in their 70s) fell in love with their first trip outside of North America.
Hesitant to travel for some time, they bit the travel bullet and hit the jackpot with an outstanding trip to Scotland. A tour full of like-minded travellers and a guide who was priceless made the perfect trip for Eunice and Blake.
I am so proud of them for âgoing for itâ and discovering that travel can be fun, rewarding and informative.
And of course, I hold my breath hoping that another trip is in the plans. Yes, I know. I am travel obsessed. I canât help myself.
When I"m Not Travelling, The Next Best Thing Is... Seeing someone else experience travel overseas for the first time! Nothing could have made me happier :) than to hear my in-laws (in their 70s) fell in love with their first trip outside of North America.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Beneath My Feet Fresh new Converse sneakers get a test run in Canada before they move to Cairo next week. Today they experience Lake Ontario and soon, in their near future, the Nile River. I wonder which body of water they will enjoy most?
Uhmm... I Have A Few Bags To Check
Uhmm...I Have A Few Bags To Check
Today is official unpack and repack day since the whole packing thing is not going so well. I am wondering if Egypt Air would notice if I showed up with a few extra inches and a few extra pounds here and there. I wish there was a way to distract Mr.or Mrs. Egypt Air so they didnât notice. Any ideas on how to get away with the above? If so, please let me know pronto. :)
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