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.

So a funny thing happened a few minutes ago. I was walking up on the fourth floor. (trying to avoid studying arabic by finding someone to distract me. If I don’t know it now I’m sure as heck not going to know it by my final tomorrow). And I’m just wearing a spaghetti strap top because I’m in the girls section. I was actually just looking at my skin, marveling at my shoulders, which I haven’t seen a whole lot of lately, when I hear the ominous and dreaded words “Man d’ floor” (translation, man on floor).

Last week I went to an FMRS lecture on nationality in Egpyt and how it restricts womens rights as well as the rights, obviously, of refugees. It was really interesting. In attendence was a woman lawyer who has been working on changing the laws on nationality here in egypt from a feminist perspective. The laws here currently give nationality only through the father. This means, that if your mother is Egyptian, you are born in Egpyt, live your entire life in Egpyt, but your father was born in Saudi Arabia…you do not have Egyptian citizenship.

I was wrong on the number of refugees that were involved in the peaceful sit-in in front of the UNHCR buildings here in Cairo that ended violently in December. It was not 300 Sudanese refugees, but 3000. THREE THOUSAND. And 27 of them are dead due to police brutality. I have an earlier post on this event...if you wanted to read it.

After the Bussy play was another amazing play put on by St. Andrews Church that serves mainly Sudanese refugees in Cairo. It was not as well done as the Bussy play, but it was so wonderful to members of the refugee population in Cairo expressing themselves. The play portrayed the events of the sit-in that ended violently in December. It showed the Egpytian government as blind to the problem the Sudanese face, and depicted the brutality of the sit-in. It had us in tears at points.

I went to an amazing play tonight based on AUC women’s stories of life, sexuality and their bodies as women in Egpyt. It’s based off the idea of the Vagina Monologues, where women write stories about their bodies. Very personal. Very challenging to the audience in that they usually talk about things that are kept quiet and really make you THINK. This was no different, only lots subtler than the Vagina Monologues. I was still just so impressed to see these women expressing themselves!

Istanbul was amazing! One of my top three favorite cities so far. The city was filled with Tulips and flowering trees! Ater the drab shades of brown in Cairo the color nearly knocked me over. It is such an interesting mix of Europe and the East with the Islamic influence and then unique Turkish flavoring all of its own... So interesting. I posted pictures but haven't gotten around to writing in depth about the trip. It was awesome though!

I was in Istanbul during the Dahab bombings and so far no one I know was hurt. But the 23 who are confirmed dead could have been any one of us - Dahab is very popular with students. So many people I have spoken with returned to Cairo hours before the bombing. It's sobering.

The train ride down, ten hours from Cairo to Luxor, was a great experience. I have never before seen the Nile Valley. It is so rich in agriculture, beautiful. It is GREEN, like I have never seen green, but just for a definite distance. All of the sudden, on both sides of the Nile, it just immediately switches to sandy desert after a few kilometers. I could see the sand dunes starting on both sides of the Nile Valley. I’ve read about it but was so excited to see it.

Spring Break. A group of my girlfriends, and Megan, my friend from ASU currently studying abroad in Scotalnd, took a cruise down the Nile (well, technically “up” the Nile as it flows South to North). We were complete tourists. Included in the price per night of the cruise were all means, and buses to sights of interest when the boat stopped, along with our very own tour guide. Our guide was a certain man named Maged, a middle aged man who wore his shorts up to his ribs and tucked his shirt into them, complimenting this with red hightops and his socks pulled up to mid shin…haha. A really nice guy but every morning I would look forward to the clothing ensemble he had chosen for the day. He seriously knew everything there was to know about the sights were visiting. We viewed the Valley of the Kings (the sight of King Tut’s burial), Queen Hetshepset’s temple, Kom Omombo, Edfu, Philae Temple… It was so wonderful to be a tourist. I have spent the last few months trying to convince everyone (including myself) that I’m not just a tourist, that I live here, that I go to school in Egypt, that they can’t rip me off because I know what’s what. I also do my best to go along with local culture, covering my arms and legs and respecting whatever I can. But this cruise was filled with Europeans, and we girls spent the entire time on the boat in our bathing suits. It was BEAUTIFUL! I’ve got the sun burns to prove it. Woops. Haha. Three days was enough, though. It was so exhausting (slight sarcasm here) getting up for a tour, then spending the rest of the day laying in the sun, eating, laying in the sun, eating…you get the picture. Haha. Three nights was the perfect amount of time. I was just starting to get sick of it. I also learned something else on the cruise. BACKGAMMON. We girls are complete nerds. We spent the entire three days playing backgammon on the top deck of the boat. Yeah, the same game that they portray in the movies as being played by the elderly in nursing homes. It was a complete blast. We even had the owner of the boat sitting with us showing us different techniques. The game is huge here in Egypt, and Justin told me it’s also very popular in Armenia. Also, interesting enough, the Ancient Egptians played a game called Sennet which was very much like modern-day backgammon. So in accordance with the Ancient Egypt/tourist theme of our trip, we sat around playing backgammon and laying in the sun...