35

I've just returned from Cyprus.

It's a wonderful place to visit. North Cyprus is currently Turkish occupied, and more difficult to travel to, but well worth the visit.

The south is still under Greek rule and has different feel. It is also a bit more expensive (part of the EU now) and has just developed differently over the past 30+ years than the other half of the island.

If you can stand to see the heartbreak and tension a split land can have on the people of a small island, there are plenty of resort laden beautiful coastlines to visit all over the island. And, if mountains are your thing, the coastline rapidly gives way to mountainous regions. Despite being so small you can cross the island in any direction in less than 3 hours, the tallest peaks reach in the neighborhood of 1600 meters above sea level. Bountiful hiking, beautiful wineries and vineyards, and incredible towns etched into steep and rugged hillsides (with narrow lanes and beautiful architectural buildings) abound.

And with both the Turkish and Greek influences, as well as any neighboring regions, there is plenty of food of every type and for every palate.

I spent a week, and given that it's one hours flight from Cairo, I believe I may return if the opportunity arises. I was not able to SCUBA dive on this trip, and if I get my open water (advanced) I think I'm going for the shipwreck on the east coast.

There's not much more to say. Just finished one week off for Spring Break, and now work 11 straight weeks with one "three day weekend" only. (There's actually a one day weekend in there, so it's going to be a grind - especially after a year full of breaks.)

And, I've updated my picassa web albums, for those of you thiat enjoy the visual nature of the posts. There are mini photo stories available as always via the Picassa slideshow features.

Until next time,

Scott

32

March 17

I have had many different brushes with cultural differences, but last week I had a very interesting thing happen to me.

Many of us were going out for a celebration. A teacher from my school was fortunate enough to have visitors coming and wanted to give them a fun experience in Egypt.

So, we loaded up supplies - lots of food and beverages for a Nile boat cruise - and hopped in a cab, planning to make one stop along the way for additional items.

Providing the food yourself is the only way to go on this type of adventure, both for the economy of the voyage and the safety in knowing the food will be appropriate, tasty, and safe.

Then, as can only happen in Egypt, our original cab broke down while we were loading up more groceries for the night. So, without a moments hesitation, and despite our driver's assurances he would get the car started, we grabbed a new cab, transferred our things, and hopped in.

10 minutes later, we arrived and unloaded everything we had brought along. Everything, that is, except a bag I had along with me for the day. Inside was an iPod, my camera, and some other various odds and ends.

Needless to say, I was devastated. I went on with the night, hoping that one of two things would happen.

The one I was not hoping for - the cabby was immoral (actually very rare here), very poor and in need (common here) or of a certain belief that found goods were gifts from God, and money isn't really owned by any of us.

What I was hoping for, and what happened, miracoulously, became a reality less than 24 hours later. My phone rang.

Deep inside my bag I had an electric company receipt from my flat. The cabby found it, and drove all the way back in to my apartment from his house. He lived in Helwan - a area of town where many cab drivers live, and one that certainly is not very wealthy. In his run down 30 year old cab, he traced his way to my neighborhood, to my building, and found someone who knew my number.

I was away from my apartment, and I could make out only 1 of every 10 words I was hearing in Arabic on my cell phone, but I instantly knew what was happening. I quickly grabbed a cab and got home to find my bowab, the cabby from the night before, and one other man I recognized but could not place. In their hands was my bag from the night before.

I did a very terse check, actually just glancing in as a reflex action. I was certain that either everything was there, or everything there was all I could expect to get back.

Without skipping a beat, I handed each of the two men that I felt must have been responsible for returning the bag a reward. They seemed happy, and I hopped back in my cab to return to might original plan for the night.

In the end, I was left feeling happy and amazed with the kindness and generosity of the men, especially when the value of the goods in the bag sold, even if sold second hand, could easily have garnered them more than a months expected pay on a cabbie's salary in Cairo.

29.2

Hey all,

After slowly posting for months, I will hit #2 in 2 days.

Last night, I agreed to meet with a few friends after work for supper.

I did so. Then, it started hailing, despite the fact that I had other plans for my evening.

Yes, hail in Cairo. Last night, there didn't seem to be too many words to describe it here...snow never happens, rain rarely does, and - from what I hear in the last 24 hours from friends - yesterday was pretty strange. Cairo got 3-5 inches of rain and "ice falling from the sky."

So, I left my after school group at 6. The plan was to meet some friends to go downtown for a good time - dinner, culture, drinks, and evening out.

b/c of the hail, I met my friends at 6:10 at the metro station.

We bought our tickets, and walked in to the metro. Instantly, I was nervous about some of the actions of the employees there. There was a massive amount of water standing around, and instantly I recognized this as unusual.

Keep in mind, this is a desert.

But, there were a lot of guys with bladed push-brooms pushing the water out of the way. So, the poor guys were just pushing all the excess rain water to the lowest point around...the metro tracks.

Again, this is a desert, and there are no drainage ditches. I found myself thinking: "This can't be good."

As we were about to get off the metro and go grab a cab, it started to move.

At the next stop, we again sat motionless, waiting for the doors to close and the Metro to move. Neither ever happened. The most incredible explosion sent people running everywhere. I think a transformer blew, not surprisingly as there are always exposed wires sticking out of everything here. With a little rain, you get what you get. But it was still crazy, and people were racing out of the metro - overrunning the turnstiles along the way.

We went out to grab a taxi to get the rest of the way downtown, and were lucky to get one quickly.

1 1/2 hours after leaving, we arrived downtown and found it to be a difficult place.

Many restaurants were closed due to leaking.

Wild night.