Sharm al Sheik: So that’s what they call them, scuba safaris. You dive as much as possible and sleep on the boat. It was absolutely one of the coolest things Ive ever done. The diving was amazing. I was able to accompany everyone on Advanced level dives (technically I don’t have the certification even though I’ve completed all the necessary dives, I just need to fork out the cash and take the test), which are SO much better and more amazing than basic dives. We dove Thistlegorm Wreck, at 28 meters, a British cargo ship sunk by Gernman bombs in 1940. We swam through the holds still containing cars, motorcycles, rubber boots, tires, ammunition…all covered in marine life and tripical fish everywhere. (Sometimes the fish freak me out in the shadows within the ship…having a bright orange fish suddenly in a shaft of light right in front of your face can make a person jump…). Seeing the motorcyles and train cars and train engines…all exactly as they fell during 1940 = Amazing. The trip was totally exhausting as well. I’m still not a very experienced diver and it just wears me out. We did four dives the first day and three the second… I could seriously go on for hours about this trip it was so awesome. The basic schedule went kind of like this: 1) wake up EARLY and immediately do morning dive 2) eat breakfast 3) sleep on deck 4) noon-time dive 5) eat lunch 6) sleep 7) afternoon dive 8) sleep 9) night dive 10) dinner 11) sleep. Yep. Good times. Haha. I seriously can’t explain just what is so exhausting about diving, but we would ALL pass out in between dives. It was beautiful! I got nervous on the second Thistlegorm Wreck dive (probably the bright fish swimming into my face, haha) and used up all my air and ran out. Yep. So, I had to share my buddy’s air for the ascent (you can’t ascend too fast for saftey reasons). He’s a jazz musician in Cairo so I had to go see him play a few nights ago, since I do owe him my life and all. Haha! He’s actually really good so nobody had to force me to do anything…I did owe him drinks. I’m obsessed now. I’m wishing I’d dived (doven, diven…?) every weekend while I was here. Sigh. In the states not only is the nearest diving not nearly as close (Sharm is about six hours form Cairo, at the tip of the Sinai penninsula) but is three hundred times more expensive in the states. Sigh. So I suppose this hobby is going to have to wait until I am rich. Which, let’s be honest, with a degree in anthropology, may be never. Haha.