Dahab

Ahlan! Hello!

I don't know where to begin, except at the beginning, which would be that I believe the world can end now because I have been SNORKLING. And I loved it!

This weekend I took a long bus ride up to the Sinai penninsula and down the eastern Red Sea coast to a beach town called Dahab. In Bedouin land, this small town is not too built up and not terribly crowded or exclusive. A cool item of note: across the way, you can see the mountains of Saudi Arabia. The Red Sea is known for diving and snorkling, as the water is deep blue green and loaded with coral reefs. I snorkled in two different places, the second being a taxi ride (ie, any available Jeep or truck) from town, along rocky roads and high desert mountains, to a place called the Blue Hole. This diving area is deep--the coral just falls and falls, but there were plenty of fish to see around the surface, as well as loud French teenagers who were trashing about. Being in the fabulous warm water would have been treat enough, but snorkling really was the icing on the cake (my Mom's buttercream icing, of course). People recommend diving next, but that will come with a bigger budget and more time.

To get to the penninsula, I crossed UNDER the Suez Canal. I was rather thrilled, but I could not see the canal itself because cars are herded through the tunnel after the checkpoints. You will see a rather bad photo of one of the unceremonious checkpoints at the Suez Governate. The folks that took me on this weekend getaway, former AUC interns and students, were quite amused at my constant state of being enthralled by all my Egyptian 'firsts' thus far. Wonderful people that they are, they were lovely to have by my side for all of them.

With a small, small Arabic vocabulary, I can now count to 10, navigate my own cab to and from the University, have a 2 sentence conversation, order food and whatelse, mint flavored sheesha. I'm finally set with sun-tanned skin and the salty sea in my hair, hooked on the local tea (a strong brew, must be taken with sugar) and the numerous cats I have met thus far. Literally, I mean felines. There are some really beautiful cats hanging around over here--one of them, being the smallest kitten living outside of its mother, featured in one of the attached photos.

And now back to work reading of missions and the Middle East in the 1920s and 30s. My love to all and hope all goes swimmingly.

Inshallah--Jennifer