May 1 – Oriana and Karim’s Wedding

 I'm really fortunate to have met Oriana through work. She must be one of the kindest, sweetest people I know. We spend a lot of time together and I was surprised and very pleased to be invited to her wedding! I was excited to see what happens in Egypt at a wedding and so happy for Oriana. She kept me updated on the events leading up to the wedding. 1^st there was the ring ceremony. They both put their rings on their right hand instead of their left – which means they are officially engaged. Next there was the paper signing ceremony. At this ceremony, they were officially married in front of their family. They signed all their official documents and moved the rings from the right hand to the left hand. And finally, the wedding day which was much the same as our traditional wedding receptions after the church. There was time with the photographer and then the party started with the first dance right away – and Oriana and Karim had fireworks because the whole reception was outside. No tent required in Egypt. There’s never a fear that it’s going to rain.

I have to tell you my story leading up to the party …. I still had one more place to look before making a decision on purchasing a new computer. We had the day off because it was a holiday and we were planning on going out for a nice brunch and then Becca and I had hair and nail appointments at 2:30 to get ready for the wedding. I figured we had lots of time to check out the Smart Computer Mall before brunch. Boy was I wrong. I ended up finding a computer that I wanted to buy. But instead of telling me it was going to take 3 hours to get the computer ready to leave the store, he told me to have a seat, it will be 15 minutes. He had to install Windows, various drivers, a virus program and Microsoft Office among other things. Mike and Becca found a doughnut shop and that ended up being our “brunch”, eaten in the tiny computer shop where the nice man loading up my computer was chain smoking.  When he finally handed me the computer, and I handed him the money, we were already 90 minutes late for our hair and nail appointments.

I should have just cancelled the appointments but I wanted them to at least cut Becca’s hair. We had put it off too long. I feel bad for the people in the salon. I will go back there someday soon. They were very nice and accommodating and tried to work as quickly as possible and still managed to make our hair presentable. I was really surprised – once I stopped being so upset about being late – at how nicely everything turned out.

Oriana told me she was making her first appearance at 6:00. I was having a fit because it was 6:45 before we pulled into the parking lot. We found a table and I was relieved to find out she hadn’t made an appearance yet. It was just after 7pm when they finally came out into the garden. Phew! What a crazy day. Oh and to top it all off – I FORGOT MY CAMERA. The photos I have are from my friend’s i-phone (yay for phone cameras). And one day soon, I will have a few photos from Oriana’s photographer.

Now, back to the wedding story … at 7pm (ish) Oriana and Karim came out to the beautifully decorated outdoor patio at the Country Club in Uptown Cairo. There was a band playing traditional Egyptian music in front of them and they were surrounded by family and friends – all singing and dancing up a storm in celebration. They eventually made their way through three arches and onto the dance floor where they had their first official dance. Oriana had a beautiful photo presentation for Karim and Oriana’s mom had a special gift for her. Then the dancing really started. There were fireworks and the dance floor was lit up …. And it was FULL! Everyone was crowding and dancing around the bride and groom and this, I’m told, is exactly how it is all night long. At one point, they did manage to escape from the dance floor to come around to each table and say hi to everyone. After a while the buffet opened and we enjoyed a delicious meal. They cut the cake on the dance floor – and Oriana tossed her bouquet from the stairs. The music was really good – a mixture of everything with lots of English tunes too. Our group was ready to leave just after 10pm. It was a beautiful reception.

This is a truly wonderful group of women to work with. I love them all. 

Alexandria - April 25/26/27

Her dressing room star!

The day that Becca returned home from Paris was the same day that Brianna had her big opening night at school for 42^nd Street – April 19th. She was honoured to play Dorothy Brock and we are all so proud of her.  She had a large group of family and friends come to see and support her. I am very thankful to each of them for being there for her on that milestone in her life that I only have a photo of. There is a rumor that we’re going to be able to see a taped dress rehearsal when we come home for the summer. My fingers are crossed for that for sure.

Brianna was thrilled and surprised to see
her Great Grandma Ruth at the show. 

On April 25^th, Egypt celebrated Sinai Liberation Day. We decided to take advantage of having a long weekend and headed to Alexandria so we could put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. It was a longer drive than we hoped with construction and more speed bumps than I could count to slow us up. It was at least nice to see some vegetation along the way instead of just desert. We saw lots of grape vines, palms, banana, apple and orange trees. Our first view of Alexandria was refreshing. The sea was beautiful and the main highway for the city runs right along the coast so you can always see the water and feel the refreshing cool breeze. We found our hotel and were pleased with our room. We actually booked a 2 bedroom suite – and it was very nice.

Once we were settled, we went out for a very late lunch and Becca and Mike ordered a pasta dish that came in a bread bowl.

Becca's pasta bowl.
mmmmm delicious!!!

After our lunch it was finally time to put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. It was pretty cold – but that didn’t stop the locals from swimming. Most of the women in the water were swimming fully clothed, veil and all. We walked down the beach for a bit then took to the sidewalk. It didn’t take too long to notice that we seemed to be the only tourists in all of Alexandria. It’s not as culturally diverse as Maadi. It was nice to be able to walk and not be hounded by too many people for money (only the odd one – which was much better than some places we’ve been). We stopped to watch the sun set and Mike started talking to a guy who spoke some English. Before we knew it, he was asking to have his picture taken with Becca. On the walk back to the hotel we ran into a man who was on his way to have a beer by himself and he invited us to join him. His English was strong and he seemed very nice so we decided to take a chance and make a new friend. The bar that he wanted to take us to was closed but he spoke, in Arabic, to someone and before we knew it, we were sitting on the shore drinking beer and wine and snacking on peanuts and popcorn. It was strange but nice. We learned that Alain was born in Cairo but grew up in Germany, and owns a flat in Alexandria. After our drink, we exchanged phone numbers with a plan to possibly meet for coffee the next day and went back to our suite.

The next morning, we had a traditional Egyptian breakfast delivered to our room including falafel which I love. We decided to start our sightseeing with the closest venue – the Montazah Palace. It is set in extensive gardens and overlooks a truly beautiful stretch of coast. It was built at the beginning of the 20^th century by Khedive Abbas II, a relative of King Farouk (the last Egyptian King). The palace itself is closed to the public but we enjoyed the grounds and view of the sea.

Next, we met up with our new friend Alain for coffee and then rode a public bus (for the first time in Egypt) all the way to the library. We thought we would just get a taxi but Alain told us that taxis in Alexandria do not run on a meter. The driver would take one look at us and try to get top price (as much as 80LE) and then some. The bus was only 1 pound! And actually, the bus that stopped for us wasn’t even open for business. The driver was on his way to the terminal but saw us and took us beyond where he needed to go so we could arrive safely at the library. The outside of the library was very interesting but we were shocked to find out that it was closed that day. So, we took a photo from the outside and moved on to the Citadel a.k.a Fort Qaitbey. It looks like a castle and has a great view of Alexandria and out to sea. We toured the fort which was just a bunch of stone walls, floors and stairs with exception to the mosque in the middle (the oldest in Alexandria) which had a marble and alabaster tile floor.

After the Citadel, Alain took us to the Greek Club overlooking the harbour for another very late lunch. When lunch was finished, we took the bus back to our hotel and with the heat of the day beating down on us, we were ready to be in for the evening.  Mike and I did take a walk down to a convenience store for some beer and snacks a while later but other than that, we relaxed in our suite. We enjoyed watching a couple old Woody Allen movies on TV.

On Saturday morning, we went to the restaurant suggested by the hotel for breakfast before heading back to Maadi. Breakfast could have been better … I’ll just leave it at that. 

Our time in Alexandria was too short! There are lots of sites we didn't get time to see like the Roman Amphitheater, the Graeco-Roman museum, Pompey's Pillar and the Royal Jewellery museum not to mention the INSIDE of the Library. If there is ever a next time in Alexandria for us, we know where to start.

Becca's History Trip - April 11-19, 2013

3 am - up and ready for the airport!

I apologize for the long wait between posts. I have no idea where the time has gone. I have about 5 posts coming. I'll try to do one every night this week until I get caught up. 

Becca’s school history trip was from April 11 – April 19. This was her first school trip of this kind. (Where multiple payments were made and then you leave with a suitcase and passport and don’t return for 8 days.) She had a blast. They visited Paris, Vimy Ridge and Normandy. They saw all the Canadian sites and soil and museums and memorial walls, plaques and cemeteries. Not to mention the Eiffel Tower and Paris shopping! She took a small camera with her that she got for Christmas a couple of years ago. Note to all reading this – never buy a camera that takes double AA batteries. If it doesn’t have a rechargeable lithium battery – DON’T BUY IT. I sent her with full power batteries and an extra pack of specific camera Kodak batteries and both sets died on her before the third day. Now, she could have forgotten and left the camera on or taken a video or two and drained the battery that way – I didn’t get a detailed account – but still, if it was rechargeable, she would have her own photos to show you. She has collected some photos from friends thanks to their cell phones. She had a really great time. 

The minute she walked through the door.
(I probably should have let her catch her breath after
  dragging a suitcase up 4 flights of stairs.)

Classic Becca - she got her hair caught in the back of the hair dryer at one of the hotels. LOL

Converse shoes are protecting a lot of feet in Egypt. I bought a pair at the converse store when they had a 60% off sale earlier this year and Becca bought herself a pair while shopping in Normandy.  

Lions and Leopards and Elephants, oh my!

One word: AMAZING!

Our custom trip was planned by Ali at Sonata Travel (who has planned all our trips for us) with his partners in Kenya at Somak Safaris. Our trip was 5 nights and 6 days. Our flights were included. All our meals were included starting with dinner on the 1st day and our rooms were triple rooms. We had a driver/English-speaking guide and 4x4 safari vehicle with cooler full of water bottles the entire time. The fees for all parks and tours were included in the price. The only things not included were the drinks (any drinks including water at meals), tips and any shopping we wanted to do. We also had to purchase a tourist visa at the airport for $50 each. Our base cost was $5500. We spent aprox $800 while there on visas, drinks, tips, snacks, and shopping.

The Itinerary:

Day 1 - March 15/13   ARRIVE NAIROBI, KENYA 
Arrive at Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and proceed through immigration and baggage collection. Met by a local representative of Somak Travel who taught us to say JAMBO for hello in Swahili and transferred to your hotel. Check in and relax at the hotel. Relaxing was required because our flight was an over-nighter that was delayed by 60 minutes with a stop in Khartoum where we sat in the plane for 50 minutes. Only Becca was able to sleep most of the way.
In the afternoon pick up by Somak Travel and enjoy a city tour of Nairobi where you get a chance to see the Parliament Building and vicinity. You also get a chance to visit the colourful city market. Proceed to the Giraffe Center and feed the endangered Rothschild Giraffes. Feeding the Giraffes was for sure our highlight of the day!
Dinner tonight will be at the famous Carnivore Restaurant. This restaurant is every meat lovers dream. If you ever do go - know that it's OK to say 'no for now' to a meat - they will bring it around again and again until you surrender your table flag. You don't have to eat at top speed (like we did) to try and keep up to all the different meats being dropped onto your plate. Becca thinks it's hilarious that she at an Ox Ball - yes it's exactly what it sounds like.
Overnight at The Intercontinental Hotel Very nice hotel and super friendly people.

Day 2 - March 16/13    NAIROBI / ABERDARE NATIONAL PARK
Enjoy breakfast at the hotel. Which turned into a take out breakfast for us because we fell asleep without setting an alarm or asking for a wake-up call and slept in. We slept for 12 hours! Boy were we tired. Gilbert, our driver, taught us how to say Hakuna Matata (no worries - but we already knew that from the movie The Lion King, we just didn't realize it was actually used.). This morning drive through the lush coffee plantations in Kenya and on to the Aberdares. (170kms, 3 hour drive aprox.) Arrive in time for lunch at the Aberdares Country Club. We saw men walking down the golf course fairway with their clubs and there were baboons on the green! During lunch we watched peacocks strut on the lawn.  
After lunch transfer in the lodge's own vehicle with your overnight bag to the Ark Lodge. Rest of the afternoon spent at leisure viewing animals from the deck of the lodge. Evening at leisure. The lodge viewing areas were really big and comfy. Watching the animals by the watering hole, eating the salt off the dirt was very relaxing. We wished there were more people around - besides the three of us, we only saw two other guests. They were Japaniese but living in Nairobi for work. We learned the words KARIBU which means 'Welcome' also works for 'Your Welcome' and ASANTA SANA which means 'thank-you very much'. 
Dinner and overnight at The Ark Lodge

Day 3 - March 17/13    ABERDARE NATIONAL PARK / LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK
Breakfast at the lodge. After breakfast transfer back to the Aberdare Country Club and meet with your Somak Driver/Guide and drive to the exotic Lake Nakuru National Park (240kms, 3 hours drive aprox) We crossed the Equator TWICE because of the roads around the mountains. We also stopped at a waterfall.
Arrive in time for lunch at the lodge. The lodge is beautiful, lunch was delicious and our view of the lake and little baboons was very cool.
Afternoon enjoy an extensive game drive in the park home to Flamingos and sanctuary for the endangered black & white Rhinos. Because of the rain, the road was washed out in places so we had to take a longer route to get to the Flamingos which meant we didn't have time for the rhino sanctuary - but that was ok, we saw a white rhino and her baby cross the road in front of us! We also saw lots of other birds, lions, giraffes and zebras and lots of cape buffalo. Return back to your lodge at sunset.
Dinner and overnight at Lake Nakuru Lodge. During dinner they had a man playing guitar for tips around the restaurant. He stopped at our table and Mike asked him to play some Dylan! He actually played a verse of Blown' in the Wind. After dinner, the bar had a performance from the Friends of Lake Nakuru Choir. Mike and I sat in the front row and before we knew it, we were up dancing and singing with an African Choir! It was a very fun night.

Day 4 - March 18/13  LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK / MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE
Early breakfast at the lodge. Today depart for the world famous Masai Mara Game Reserve. (330 kms, 5 hours drive aprox) It actually took more like 6 1/2 but we had a couple stops along the way. And 6 hours in the jeep wasn't bad at all because Kenya is a beautiful country. We had lots to see out the windows. The Masai Mara is Kenya's finest and most outstanding wildlife sanctuary where gentle rolling grassland ensures animals are never out of sight. (unless it's March and there has been enough rain to make the grass grow very tall. In the summer when the wildebeests come back, they will eat the grass down and the animals will be easily in sight again) The climate is gentle, rarely too hot and well spread rainfall year round. (It rained both days we were there but after living in Egypt for 7 months and seeing rain only twice we welcomed the rain with open arms!)
Arrive in time for lunch at the camp. After lunch check in and relax in your tent. Some tent!!! WOW! Just the tent by itself was worth the drive. 
Enjoy a late afternoon game drive in the reserve. No matter how much you have thought about Africa, this is more than you expected - the big five - Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Rhino and Cape Buffalo are in abundance. But will you actually find them? - that's the challenge and biggest worry for the driver/guide. Our guide, Gilbert, would tell us to never give up hope. On our first game drive in the Masai Mara we saw a lot of giraffes and baboons, zebras, wart hogs, cape buffalo, a hyena, ostriches and elephants, impalas, topis, gazelles and more!
Dinner and overnight at Ashnil Mara Tented Camp. So comfortable! 

Day 5 March 19/13     MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE
We had an optional hot air balloon flight here but we're not fans of getting up at 4am and with the recent fiasco in Luxor we're not too trusting of hot air balloons. However, Kenya is not Egypt and the standards and service is very different. I'm sure it would have been fine. In fact we saw the balloons floating gracefully over the Savannah grasslands and it looked very peaceful. Enjoy an early morning game drive in the reserve with breakfast served at the camp. Rest of the morning spent at leisure with lunch at the camp. Our early morning game drive took us to the LIONS!!! A whole pride + two others. Gilbert thought they looked full so he followed his instincts and looked around a bit and he found us the zebra they ate for breakfast! So cool! This morning we also found the hippos. Mike and Becca saw a crocodile but I wasn't fast enough to catch it with the camera. Our afternoon was very relaxing. I spent a lot of time reading and hanging out in that big fantastic chair on our deck. Mike had a massage - after all the bumps, it felt really nice. 
Depart for a late afternoon game drive in the reserve. The trees in the distance might turn out to be a family of giraffes. Those clumps of bushes a pride of lions, and the rock that moves a rhino lumbering out of your way. With diligence and some luck, you may encounter a family of cheetahs, or a herd of elephants crossing the path in front of you. Return back to camp at sunset. We did see a black rhino and her baby but she did not want to see us. She quickly turned her back and hid behind some bushes. I didn't get her photo and Gilbert didn't feel it was a good idea to hang around. We spent a lot of time looking for a leopard, the only one of the big 5 that we hadn't seen yet. But, no luck ... Gilbert told us to not give up hope, we could see one on the way out.
Dinner and overnight at Ashnil Mara Tented Camp

Day 6  March 20/13     MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE / NAIROBI / DEPART
Breakfast at the camp. This morning depart (on our way out of the park we saw a lot of animals including a LEOPARD!) and drive to Nairobi (350 kms, 5 hours drive aprox). Upon arrival transfer to the Somak Safari Lounge where a light lunch will be served. Freshen up and relax at the lounge. What a nice gesture this was. They could have easily dropped us off at the airport but because we had a few hours they fed us lunch and let us lounge around on big comfy chairs and couches. We could have had showers if we wanted!
Depart from the lounge and transfer to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to board your flight back home. The duty free at the airport has 1 litre bottles of smirnoff vodka for $9 US!! I brought home two. Kenya duty free has the best prices I've seen yet.  

And now, the part you've all been waiting for: THE PHOTOS! I've attached a link to my facebook album so you can see all of our favourite photos instead of just a small selection : 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4587305723971.1073741825.1331881912&type=1&l=fae2aa6373

Enjoy! 

If this trip is on your wish list of vacations - MOVE IT TO THE TOP!

       

March Break Vacation Update

Hi All, we arrived safe and sound in Kenya. The plugs don't fit our devices so we can't recharge and internet access is hard to come by. We are having a wonderful time so far. We love it here. No SAND!
There is a lot of green, real dirt, happy colourful people and best of all so many animals. We crossed the equator line twice today! Our first real game drive begins in 30 minutes. We are hoping to see some rhinos and flamingos. We spent a lot of time yesterday afternoon watching a herd of cape buffalo - so cool! Tomorrow we head to the big masai mara (no time to spell check) park where we hope to see one of each of the "big 5" animals. I'll post lots of photos and I have a lot more to say .... when we return at the end of the week.

Happy St. Patti's day!

Sarah

All about Becca Boo

9 Items, The Citadel And Some Tombs

Sarah and Maureen
"Hi Vicki and Dan Quinn!"

January was a pretty regular month – nothing exciting enough to fill a whole blog post happened. So this is a re-cap of a bunch of different little things that have been going on with us since my last post.

Item # 1: Becca is playing basketball in a women’s league that was put together to give the Cairo American College High School girls team some extra practice. They play one game a week and are supposed to have one practice a week. Becca missed one game because she had two exams the next day and there have only been two practices. Nonetheless they are sitting in second spot going into the “finals”. I will take some photos at the next game and post the best ones for you to see. Mike has been coaching the team which everyone is truly grateful for. (You didn’t believe he was going to step completely away from basketball did you? Babysteps.)

Item # 2: Mike has written two articles for the Belleville Intelligencer about our travels. I’m not sure why but we can’t access the Intelligencer website from here so I can’t even attach a link for you to see. The crazy thing is – we used to be able to. Thank you so much Brenda for mailing us the first one. That was such a nice surprise! He plans to write one at the beginning of each month while we’re here. They appear under the Opinions section. If you haven’t seen them yet, perhaps YOU can find them on line.

Item # 3: Becca made it through her first semester at CISE just fine. She didn’t run screaming after her sister to take her home with her at Christmas. She studied hard for her exams and came home after writing them saying that they were easy. Second semester has started and she now has Math, Gym, Civics, English and Arabic. Report cards should come home sometime this week....inshallah... 

Item # 4: We have joined a gym for 3 months: The Samia Alouba gym and dance studio. This is the same spot where Becca takes her Hip-Hop lessons so I figured it would be nice to be able to work out while she is dancing. The gym has three branches that we can go to. Only one of them interests Mike so he goes to that one, and I’ve been to all three. One is a women’s only branch and I really like that. The third one is the one with the dance studio and they also have aerobics. It’s expensive (same or more than we would pay in Canada) – but we like it and as long as we’re going and using it, it’s worth it. Becca doesn’t need a gym membership. With dance twice a week and at the moment basketball once (or twice if there is a practice) a week, she’s plenty busy.

Item # 5: Lots of friends and family have sent us e-mails hoping that we are safe. I can assure you, we are. On the weekend of the anniversary of the revolution (Jan 25^th) we tried to go downtown to the jazz club and the driver didn’t want to take us. He said it would be safer for us to stay put. So even when we want to go near the action, we’re warned against it. We’ll stay here in our little Maadi bubble, and all is well. The school has warned us to have some US cash on hand and a supply of food and water “just in case” so we’ve done that but so far, so good. Our next planned trip to the jazz club is Feb 21^st – here’s hoping we make it.

Item # 6: We’ve booked a March Break Trip!!! We are very excited to be going on an African Safari in Kenya. Mike loves animals and I can not wait to get my camera out and click click click. Becca seems excited enough about it, but anyone who knows Becca knows that her excitement about it will come as it’s happening or when it’s over. We’ll be gone from March 15-22.

Item # 7: It couldn’t be put off any longer – Becca and I finally found a spot to get our hair cut. The salon is called Nefertari on road 233. And now that we’ve found the spot, we’ll be going back there again before we come home for the summer.  I had 13 foils put in (highlights) and a trim and Becca got a trim for a grand total of 295LE or $50. And we’re both very pleased with the results. 

Item #8: Winter is officially over. February in Egypt is like May weather in Ontario. It’s about 13 degrees in the morning and warms up to between 19 - 24 degrees in the afternoon. I have put my socks away! My winter vest is put away too. Becca never did put on uniform pants – she’s been wearing shorts to school every day. We’re still wearing long sleeves and pants most days but this past Saturday we were out and about in short sleeves and it felt glorious.

Item #9: On Saturday we took a morning trip to see the Citadel and tour the Mosque of Mohammed Ali then went to the City of the Dead where we saw the mausoleum where Mohammed Ali’s family is buried. Photos of our trip below ….