I'll have a bina colada and a ploody mary, please
Trip Start
Feb 13, 2007
1
11
15
Trip End
Mar 07, 2007
Sharm el sheikh, Egypt
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Long time no talk. Sorry, no email access while I was in sharm. Which is actually ok, because it made it a true vacation. Anyway, sharm was amaaazing! It's absolutely gorgeous there. This will be a difficult entry for me because it's so beautiful, that words just won't be enough. The water is several different shades of blue - from light to dark and everything in between. And with it being so clear, you can see straight to the bottom, which was especially nice for a California girl that's used to Pacific ocean - a body of water that's usually gorgeous shade of spilled oil. It didn't hurt that we were also staying in a beautiful 2-story, 3-bedroom villa 5 seconds from the beach.
Our days were tightly scheduleld:
Wake up
Eat breakfast
Go to the beach/swim
Eat lunch
Take a nap
Eat dinner
Go to a club/bar/restaurant
As you can see, we were extremely busy. There were five us: myself, my cousin, Diana, amira, alia, and Michael (all friends from her university). Michael's aunt owns a shop in sharm, so he had his car and knew sharm well. He took us to beaches like Terrazzina that we would never have known about. terrazzina beach may be the greatest place i've ever been to. there are couches and cushions on the sand to lay on, you can eat, drink, smoke sheesha, dance, swim... and on and on. we spent two of our days there, soaking up the sun and "swimming." and by "swimming," i mean attempting to get in the reallllly cold water. it would warm up a little by the end of the day, but it was still pretty cold. they tell me that in a month, it'll feel like a bathtub.
we explored na'ama bay on our first night, checking out all of the restaurants and places to hang out. there is a running joke/fact that egyptians tend to mix their 'p's' and 'b's.' for example, you'll often hear egyptians say: bebsi instead of pepsi, or bolice instead of police. when we went to one of the restaurants, we looked at their drink menu and it actually said 'bina colada' and 'ploody mary'!! unbelievable.
our second night, we went back to na'ama bay where all of the clubs, bars, restaurants, and shops are. we went to the camel bar & roof, which was perfect for people watching. diana's friends were so much fun and despite the language barrier, it wasn't too bad communicating. it's a good thing egyptians speak with their hands -- if there was a word i didn't understand, i could just watch their hands and i knew exactly what they meant.
on thursday, after a long day of "terrazzina-ing," we went home to take a nap so we could go out later. we ended up not leaving until 1.30 am to go to pacha, a huge club that's open air and actually has a hotel and pool inside of it! that, of course, was interesting. michael left us for a few minutes and as soon as he did, i hear: "psst. psst." apparently, this is how egyptian men get the attention of someone. i ignore it. "psst. psst." again. then: "hey! american!" is it that obvious? geesh. i turn around, why i don't know, and i see a squatty egyptian man smiling. geesh. he comes over, conversation ensues:
squatty: hi! are you from america?
me: no.
squatty: canada?
me: no.
squatty: are you american?
me: yes.
squatty: so you live in america?
me: (sigh). yes.
squatty: wicked!!
he walks away and i laugh it off, thinking it's not a big deal. when michael returns, the other girls tell him because apparently, it's sort of a big deal here. michael proceeds to drag the guy over to me and conversation ensues:
michael: say you're sorry
squatty: i didn't mean anything!
michael: say you're sorry
squatty: i really didn't mean anything!
michael: say you're sorry
squatty: (hesitantly) sorry.
me: (slowly dying of embarrassment)
we headed home (after a stop at pizza hut. yes, pizza hut in egypt) at 5.30 am... only to get up 2 hours later to go on a 7-hour boat trip. the boat trip was a little rough to begin with. it was really windy and the ride wasn't exactly smooth. within a half hour, alia decided she needed to go to the lower level. after 3 attempts of standing up and falling (to our amusement), she eventually made it down the stairs. only for us to find out she was sea sick. we all went down stairs and i sat in between alia and diana. a few minutes later, i look at diana and she has a look on her face telling me something's gone wrong. a few minutes later, she's sea sick. i'm now sitting in between two girls who are green, holding two puke-bags. things are going well. luckily, after another half hour or so, everyone was fine and the trip was considerably better.
michael and i went snorkelling, which was beautiful, but the water was unbearably cold. plus, there were a group of guys who insisted on kicking in the water as though their life depended on it, so after i was kicked in the face and michael swallowed a couple of gallons of sea water, we decided to get out.
the rest of the trip was great. we soaked up the sun and enjoyed the scenery. we even went snorkelling from the top of the boat -- the water was so clear, you could see all of the fish below. on our way back to the car to head to the hotel, we had to walk through several beaches. we were all laughing and talking when i heard someone yell, "american!" i turn and who could it be? SQUATTY! my mouth dropped as he said, "next time, i won't say sorry, i'll just say 'hi, how are you?'" the chances, folks, the chances!
later that night, after taking amira and alia to the airport, diana, michael and i headed to Panorama in na'ama bay, a cool spot on the side of the hill. i was excited because there were going to be belly dancers. i was not excited when i saw that they were men. there is something terribly wrong with a male belly dancer. when i saw him pulling up girls from the audience, i made it clear to the two of them that under no circumstances would i dance. and what happened? "psst. psst." i buried my head into diana's shoulder as they laughed and laughed. after a few minutes, he got the point and i was in the clear.
we flew home early saturday morning, much to my dismay. it was an incredibly vacation and i know that i've made new friends that i'll always keep in touch with. after the adventures we had in sharm (one too many to write about. you'll have to wait until later), how could we not be friends?
next entry soon.
jen
Comments
Much to your dismay?
Wait, how can you be disappointed with MALE dancers? But seriously, it all sounds like such a good time! It makes me realize how little of the world I've seen and experienced!
Pssst. Pssst. Can I come with you next time? :)