Thursday 1 December 2011

Festivities

Yes....it's been a while again...my bad, eeek!
It's 8.30am on Friday morning, first day of the weekend and I'm awake. I was in bed last night at 9.30! That's how tired I've become as the term is coming to an end. School has been hard work and now that our inspection is over, I think everyone is now ready for a holiday. We thankfully passed our accreditation and are just waiting on the report now. Speaking of reports....that's is currently my overhanging job to do until next Thursday. Fun times!

I wanted to share my first ever Thanksgiving experience which I had last Thursday. You see, I have a new American friend and she decided to host a big dinner party where everyone brought their own dish. It was fantastic because it was such a nice atmosphere and everyone had the chance to say what they are thankful for. Personal I don't think that we do this enough. It's such a valuable experience and helps you look on the bright side of everything. I had such a fun evening and felt like I've made some real friends here (which to be honest I was a little lonely a few months ago).

Next Thursday, I am travelling to Lebanon to film our performance for Arab's Got Talent. I still can't believe that we are going! There will be 8 of our from our crew and half of us have never traveled before so there is excitement all round! Wish us luck ;)

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Welcome Back

Hello again everyone!

It's been a very long time, I know. I have had a long summer holiday and been back in Cairo for just under 3 weeks now. I felt it was about time for me to start blogging again. To be honest I don't think I'll ever be a natural at doing this regularly so I'm just going to have to accept that . I will continue to make the effort of course in trying to remember to do it!

As I write, I am sitting on my balcony after a long day at work. I am definitely settling back into the swing of things but it is still as tiring as ever. It's very interesting to come back to the school for a second year and experience the beginning of the school year in a totally different way. I am no longer the person who doesn't have a clue what is going on as well as trying to take in an overload of information, but instead I have come back into Year 1 to familiarity for the first time in my teaching career. My new class are nice with he bonus of a few interesting little characters to keep me on my toes and pretty much knacker me out!

Not only is it different in the sense that I'm in a comfort one, career wise but also strange that my circle of friends is totally different. In fact, if I'm honest I'm still feeling my way about. I have had a lot more 'me time' than last year which suits me down to the bone and I still dance with the crew. I wasn't sure if that would work out because rehearsals were being held twice a week from 9- 11pm...definitely not achievable in my eyes. Thankfully, these times have changed within the last week and I am now able to get my very much needed sleep! We are supposedly performing at a shopping mall on Friday evening but it's not yet confirmed. For now though, our main aim is to practise for Arabs Got Talent in the hope that we passed our audition in July.

My room

Open area, used for a bit of exercise (why not eh)

The lounge

Dining area (with lounge behind camera view)

The main balcony with Subway in clear view
On a different note, I have just taken some photos of my flat incase you were interested! 

Thursday 7 July 2011

My New flat!

The summer holidays...at last! It's been over a week now since I have been off school and a lot has happened in that time. I'm currently chilling in my very very spacious and bright new flat which i have been dying to move into ever since I first viewed it about a month ago. It has 3 balconies!!! which I spent all day on Tuesday cleaning and  so I got covered in dust but it was well worth it. To have a balcony i'm sure sounds very lush and exotic to those at home but if you think about the weather in Egypt it is so important to get flow through air in such hot conditions and when I look around me, nearly every apartment has one of some sort. It's not a luxury here, just a normal add on to any building. But my old flat had a tiny one that joined on to both the boys' rooms....so not the easy to get to really.

Since I've moved in i have had a friend round to help me tidy and some of the guys from the crew came round last night to train together and to have some giggles of course. The actual side of my lounge and living area is bigger than one of the dance studios we used to rehearse in. Unfortunately with does have a mirrored wall but we'll get by! It is important that we spend more time together to get to know each other outside of rehearsals! We auditioned for Arabs Got Talent on Monday and it went okay but it could have been better. I think we were all just a little nervous to be honest. It's the first time we have entered a serious competition. We find out if we got through in September apparently so here's hoping we will. Inshalla as the Egyptians say (God willing...)

Before all that, I spent the weekend at the beach! Two different beaches actually. I stayed with 2 different mutual friends at their holiday homes and relaxed..... Yes I also got a little sunburnt but that of course is inevitable! I think I'm one of very view foreigners that has actually decided to stay in Egypt through some of the summer holidays so everyone else I have seen has been Egyptian. It's kind of nice in a way and I have chosen to spend some extra time here to catch up on valuable 'me time'. I have constantly been surrounded by people which is nice but I have missed spending time on my own and so while I am here in July I intend to train in dance as much as I can and relax too so that i am fully refreshed and ready to see all you guys again! i asm looking forward so much to seeing you!

Friday 17 June 2011

A day with nothing to do

It feels absolutely great to be sitting in my pjammas on a Friday morning (the first day of my weekend) knowing that I have completely nothing to do for the rest of the day. I have not had this feeling in about 5 or 6 weeks. there has alwasy been something on my mind that I need to do or achieve by a certain date. reports are done, assessments are done and there is only one full week of school left. in saying all this, there are things that I do have to organise before the end of the school term, like packing up all my belongings to move flat and organising my classroom for the children leaving. But today...it's not pressing :D

Last night I had such a giggle! We found a hidden Chinese kareoke bar about two blocks round the corner from our flat. Luke knew where it was because he went the previous week and if he hadn't know where it was, I think it would've been impossible to find. We walked through this seedy looking building and had to climb the stairs of what looked like someone's flat. when we arrived it was a nice restaurant with kareoke booths in the back. It was such a funny night shared with friends from work and friends from Egypt! Lots of giggles involves.

Tonight is the QBB (Queen's Birthday Ball) in the British embassy in Zamalek (the little island in the middle of the Nile) and I am so excited because it's a good opportunity to dress up in a posh outfit and dance with my friends before we all seperate. It's going to be strange when they leave because lots of my friends are coming back to Cairo next year and have found jobs in other countries. I'm going to stay in Cairo for an extra month and just chill out so I can come back refreshed to the UK and see everyone.

Saturday 11 June 2011

The Stranger is back...

It has been a long time....a long time indeed. I'm very sorry for my lack of contact over the past month and a half but life has probably been the most hectic it has been in a long time. It's not really a good enough excuse to disappear off the planet and the more I try to focus on all the little things that are not stressful, then hopefully the more I will learn to look at the bigger picture of the world. In this post I'd like to give you a wee summary of how things are living in egypt at the moment, a bit about work and of course a little about life outside work!

I'll start with today...Had a lovely relaxing weekend at the Cataract Hotel which is really close to the Giza pyramids. I got a little pink today even though I stayed in the shade the whole time!! The sun was so intense today, and even hotter yesterday. I went there with a few friends from work and it was the first time i felt I could completely chill out because all reports were done and my class had finally done their assessments! We went to a lovely restaurant last night that overlooked the pyramids. Absolutely amazing. It just so happened that there was a sound and light show on and we could hear it all very clearly. It was beautiful!

It's been such a busy month and so much has happened. Work has been quite stressful, mainly due to the fact that there is alot of pressure for assessments and high grades to be achieved. On top of that, the kids seem to be restless alot more, making teaching them alot more hard work. They are ready for a holiday and so am I!

Also, I've kinda been working my ass off with this dance crew. We had a show last Friday for a Redbull break dance event which went very well! It was scary though because we performed on a circular stage for the first time which meant that I couldn't see anyone even in my peripheral vision so if I messed up I would have no idea! Just had to be confident and go for it! We all made a few mistakes but nothing to serious that other people in the crowd would notice. The crowd actually loved us which made it way more fun to dance!
Hopefully I will have the video of it shortly.

Anyway I shall depart so that I can come back tomorrow and update you with another little happening in my life. I hope that all of you reading this are well and I can't wait to see you! Hehe!

Peace.

Sunday 1 May 2011

the very much delayed update!

Ooooh dear....very late but better than never eh! :p

I've alot to update you on. The past two weeks have been quite eventful, hence why I haven't updated my blog.

First's thing's first, the AUC talent show was successful in that we performed very well. We didn't win but we got up the biggest crowd and got great comments from the judges. The judges however were all musicians and chose musicians for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place even though they weren't necessarily amazing. I'll let you check it out for yourself! follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSiLPKFRZ6E
The swaggers girls do their thing! :p

This is just the beginning of the crew I think. We met up and discussed ways forward so we have another show in a month's time with RedBull. We want to enter Arab's Got Talent and so we need to have a trailer to show with the application form. So on Friday we decided to meet up first thing in the morning to shoot a video with a proper director (a friend of Filex's). It looked pretty awesome because our setting was Yasmine's roof terrace with an epic view of the Nile and pyramids far off in the background. I'm looking forward to seeing the video when it's all put together. We had to do the dances about 7 times so that he could get it from different angles. We also had to do a solo each which took alot of time and effort on my part to rehearse. Even then I don't think it was amazing because I kept changing my mind. He is only going to take clips from it though and mix it throughout the video.


I finally reached the summit.
Last week though was a much needed break for me, it was my easter holidays and it was amazing to have long sleeps without anything in particular to do! Me and a few friends to a trip to Nuweiba and Dahab which are on the Red Sea coast. The beaches were beautiful, calm and and relaxing. We all took time to chill out, snorkle and even do a little bike ride along the coast to the Blue Lagoon....beautiful. An epic part of the trip was our trek up Mount Sinai. we start our climb at 1.30am and reached the peak at about 4.30am with some stopoffs for coffee! it was pretty cold but as we waited for sunrise we slowly saw the true beauty of the landscape. It was class to know that this was where Moses received the Ten Commandments all those years ago. And I was there! :D

The beautiful sunrise.

Friday 15 April 2011

SWAGGERS TONIGHT!!

Aaaaah I am very excited and nervous at the same time heheh! What about?? Tonight is the night....I get to perform an 8 minute show with my dance crew, swaggers. It's a talent show so really a competition.

This week has been one of the most tiresome weeks I've had yet. I have had to fit in PM bench marking (reading tests) for each individual child, finish art work for an exhibition and practise for a year 1 concert that finally took place yesterday. On top of that I have had 3 and half hour rehearsals on Sunday and Tuesday night with a private break dance class on Wednesday night. PLUS marking lots and lots of books on top of that! Whew....that's a lot.

Right now, I am sitting on my sofa with the flat to myself because Nick and Luke half left for their easter holiday. I have slept lots, I have cleaned a little and I have had me time. Things are looking up! And today is going to be a full day of the Talent Show, hair to get done, make to be done, rehearsal on stage at 3pm, show starts at 4pm and we are on at 8pm!! Ah! I am bubbling inside! hehe!

I shall let you know how it goes in my next post....wish me luck :p

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Year 1 Assembly


I was a little nervous about today because I've never had to do an assembly with children as young as 5 in a huge theatre in front on all of key stage 1. We had practised for just over a week for maybe 1 hour or half an hour a day and completed the assembly this morning with success! I was so proud of them all. They remembered what to say and they danced the way they were supposed to and they did it with style hehe! I was so happy with them yay!!
I tried to upload a video but it wouldn't work so a wee pic of them all will have to do!

Monday 4 April 2011

Mosquito hell!

After a pretty stressful and tiresome week, me and a few of the girls thought it would be an excellent idea to pamper ourselves at the weekend. We thought, Thursday night shopping in the posh mall (City Stars) since we'd just been paid; go home get changed and boogie at a local club; then chill on Friday at a posh hotel with some nibbles and giggles, maybe even get a we spa or pedicure or whatever! Sounds great eh??

Well....the shopping went well...bought lots of goodies :D but traffic on the way to the club caused a little frustration and the fact that we weren't that sure where the actual location was did not help matters! Not to worry...we changed venue and managed to fit in about an hour of dancing!
Next day...hit the pool at the beach and hat an epic night of girly chat on the balcony of our hotel room. Little did we realise that we left the balcony door wide open for hour with the lights on.....oh dear, i hear you say!

Yes, that's right, we killed over 60 (no exageration!) mosquitos in our room and thinking that we may have been successful in getting rid....we headed to bed for a nice early relaxing sleeping. Next thing we hear....zzzzzz...you know the sound i'm sure, of that really annoying mosquito that you can never seem to hit when you turn the light on to kill it. Grrrrrr!!!
After a few hours of absolute frustration we try to get help from the hotel staff which i say politely were completely useless!!! We finally end up changing rooms and sleep for a few hours. I of course wake up to find my eyelids swollen as though I have been beaten up. It was crazy, I'd never seen myself look like that before, my eyes wouldnt even open properly!!
After taking antihetimines and sleeping a little more and treating myself to a well deserved pedicure I felt slightly better and the swelling went down slightly leaving behind a lovely shade of pink. I still have the remaining mosquito bites over my arms and bum though (how random!)

Ah well...it is a funny story to remember (maybe not so funny at the time though!)...

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Spontaneousness

This title is related to me just buying a blackberry mobile phone literally about 30 minutes ago! I just been to dance class (which was ok....as soon as the dances are made and we are polishing it, classes will be more energetic i'm sure!). Yasmine has persuaded me to get a blackberry and I thought it was about time that I should get a new phone anyway considering my old one is about 3 years old!!

My year group had sports day today so my class all had to wear yellow and I looked like a big sweetcorn haha! But good news...I won the parent teacher race hehe :p the kids were so cute when they were cheering me on.
right well....I gotta hit the hay, another two days left in school and I'm tired yet again so ciao for now!


Monday 28 March 2011

Swaggers...

That's the name of the crew I'm in that I may have mentioned one or two times before! :p It's been been such a busy week and I know I shouldn't be making excuses about not blogging because really it's meant to be a postcard a day! It's just so difficult to remember when I STILL haven't got into a routine. Hmmm...I feel like I trying to do alot at once at the moment to be honest. I got a bit frustrated last night at dance rehearsals because I was so tired (and therefore had less patience) and the rest of the crew were speaking in arabic again to organise the final dance of the show. I was getting frustrated but trying to hide it of course...which is always impossible for me to do! I know what you're thinking Ruth!

Anyway, we had an audition on Saturday night which went really well and the banter afterwards was great fun! We made such a fun video which hopefully I can share with you somehow when I figure out how! Here's a photo of our crew to keep you going!
Swaggerssss!!

Saturday 19 March 2011

It's getting hot!

Just got back from a run in the wadi...it is getting so hot now. I ran 8k in the heat, it was so difficult but I pushed through. It's been a good weekend. Went out with some locals on Thursday night which was fun. I was the only foreigner there and alot of the time couldn't understand the arabic! That part's not so fun. I'm working on it though, think I might see if I can go on a course to pick it up more readily. Also...it was great to celebrate St. Patrick's day in style hehe!! It's great to Irish haha!

Well this blog I know has been short and sweet but I just wanted to say a few words. I shall put photos up on my next post! Peace out homies...

Monday 14 March 2011

The weekend before

Waow...I really am not good at this whole postcard a day thing! It's shocking...i need to sort myself out. This one is going to be short because well I need to start off the way I mean to go on so that I can tell myself it won't take long to blog!

Last weekend I went to sharm el sheikh and yes I did complete the half marathon!! woo!! not only did I complete it but I managed to come fourth place out of the women (of which there was about 25 I think)...I was so chuffed with myself! had a fab weekend with some guys I work with with lots of laughs, chilling in the sun and of course a wee boogie at night hehe! Love it!

I'm still working on my dancing...and loving the crew so much so that I've decided to stay in egypt for another year....it feels right.

I have sooooo much marking to do...it's not cool!

Sunday 6 March 2011

I can be a freak

I like that line...I can be a freak! :D It's not completely random....it's the lyrics of one of the songs the crew is dancing to. I've just got home from dance rehearsals and I'm buzzing. We had a crew meeting to get to know each other and decided what each of our main styles is. What's my main style I hear you shout??....It's bgirling of course....I love it. It was good tonight but difficult to follow for much of the time because well they usually speak in arabic. I'm getting there though...i'm beginning to grasp what they are saying and I'm picking up words but i still have a lot of work to do. The more I spend with locals the better I will become. And last night I went to a bbq with friends of a girl from the crew. They were so lovely and I feel like I made a few more friends! Yay!

School is going well, it's just a little tiring. The kids are so noisy and restless for most of the time and because I'm so busy all the time, I feel like I'm chasing my tail sometimes. It was ace to get away for a day to the beach and spend time in a hotel just relaxing. Next week I'm heading the Sharm el Shiekh but not really to rest. Instead I'll be running a half marathon....mental!

Anyways...it's time for bed. x

Thursday 3 March 2011

Yo yo yo

I am officially shattered! This week has been one of the busiest weeks I have had in a long time. I have worked flat out in school everyday and have exercised for what seems like forever! Don't get me wrong though, I love it and it's something that I'm passionate enough about to push through the tiredness. I can't remember if I mentioned in my previous blog that I got into a crew! I'm in....officially! Wow...I really cna't believe it and I have to keep telling myself over and over again...I'm actually in, I'm part of a crew. Excellent...it's something I've always wanted! It just means that I have to dance for about and hour everyday in my own free time, go to two hour rehearsals twice a week and a one hour private breakdance lesson once a week (that's optional and extra but still very much worth it). So yeah, it's alot of work. On top of that I need to watch lots and lots of youtube videos of dancers...I need to absorb it really.

So having done that this week...I'm pretty snookered. However, I had a lovely meal tonight with a few friends to say thankyou to Dan for putting us all up in his flat during the days leading up to the revolution before we all fled the country. Just a wee token of our appreciation :) It was sweet. And tomorrow....tomorrow (after a final long distance run one week before the half marathon) a few of us are heading to the beach!! Yay! I can't wait to just chill....
This is me doing a breakdance freeze (or a Paul would say...falling over haha brilliant!)

Monday 28 February 2011

A typical day at school

Hello again! Man I really do need to get into a routine of writing this blog! There is always excuse after excuse for not writing it...and i think it needs to stop, which I'm sure you do too. I have just bought a nice new wee netbook laptop and a wee dongel so I really do have no excuse! My previous laptop which still works, likes to restart randomly every ten minutes or so just for the craic, as I like to put it. Plus...it wasn't allowing me to connect to our wireless internet for some unknown reason. I suppose I could have went to a wee electrical shop and sorted the problem but the fact that the CD rom drive has not been working for quite a while now...gave me the excuse to buy a very much wanted netbook. A great decision made all round I'd say. I hear you say... but there is no CD rom drive built into netbooks jo! alas...I bought an external CD rom drive haha!

Anyways...I should probably fill you in on the latest. The last time I updated you was just before leaving Malaysia and I gave a brief outline of some of the things I had done...the way I like to leave it to be honest. I'm quite lazy about telling stories as most of you know. But I will definitely put up some pictures and give a wee bit of  detail about them.

I've only been back in Egypt for just over a week and I feel like I've been here a lifetime already! So much has happened since then and I am a very happy chica. For one, Cairo is definitely getting back to normal. In fact it's really cool to see the community working together to look after their country. There are signs everywhere saying 'Keep your place clean' and uni students are out regularly sweeping and painting the kerb stones. Rather than the main point being to clean their country...I think they are trying to make a statement that they are proud to be Egyptian (as I have heard my Egyptian friends say alot!). It's awesome to watch. In saying all this, there is obviously still some tension as their problems have not yet been resolved...only half the battle is won and there seems to be an unease of what is to come.

On another note....dance. I am absolutely loving my time here at the moment because I have managed to find dancers!! I have been dancing and rehearsing with them for the past week and a half and it's been very cool to get to know some more people. I ended up dancing with some other Egyptian bboys and breaking some moves (managing not to break my neck!) on the dance floor. It's also helped me brush up a little on my arabic which I am determined to nail. Made a little friend in Radio shack (a wee shop up the road that sells electricals) tonight....says he's gonna teach me arabic if I help him with his English...sweet!

Me and Fay are trying to look our best after 36 hours of waiting around in airports and on planes. Hello Abu Dhabi!

This is the exotic pool outside the apartment we stayed in!

I look quite calm in this photo compared to reality. Those fish you can see are nibbling the skin off our feet! It was soooo tickly hehe. They are called fish doctor i think...I might have just made that up!

These are the official Batu caves with many steps to climb. It's well worth the climb though for the view at the top as well as the close encouter with monkeys up near the hindu temples. This was quite a wee trip with the added bonus of eating with our hands off a banana leaf...typical Indian cuisine.

Aah....my chum David....who I came to see and had an absolute blast with...miss you David!

Fay posing on a rock. This was our last day. We took a trip to the rainforest (one of many), called FRIM...can't remember what it stands for though haha ooops...typical me.

Wednesday 16 February 2011

An the holiday comes to an end.

Well I can't believe that it's over already. It feels like ages ago since I was sitting in the airport in Cairo but at the same time it feels like it's flown in so quickly. We have done quite alot of touristy things, chilled and relaxed lots and all in all had a fab wee break from the revolution going on in Egypt. We ended up having leeches sucking our blood today as we tracked through the rainforest in flip flops, shorts and t-shirt...who's idea was that? Egh it was not pretty when they grew in minutes knowing that they were holding blood!

It's been great to have the time to write, read, relax and sketch. It's made me think about what I really want...I want to bgirl! Or in other language..break dance. I've been saying this for a long time but now is the time to carry it through. I've been inspired and I'm getting to know others who are fantastic at the art. I ended up breaking some moves in a club last night for the first time with professional dancers (one of them being Madonna's dancer)...excellent!

Well I have had lots of sun, greenery, watching butterflies, pulling off leeches, walking through the rainforest, going up the KL tower, climbing the steps to the batu caves, eating with my hands from a banana leave, walking through many thunderstorms and eating amazing food from little stalls on the side of the road.

I really need to put up some pictures of my adventures here in Malaysia but I'm going to wait until I go back to Cairo. I can then describe them in a wee bit more detail. I emphasise the 'wee bit' because you know what I'm like...I'm not the best at writing long blogs!!

Friday 11 February 2011

Life as we know it so far...



I know that it has been a very long time since I’ve posted up here on this wall but I think I’ve got quite the excuse! Let me fill you in from the beginning, shall I?
For about 2 weeks, I didn’t have the internet working in my flat because the company we pay was being rubbish and wouldn’t hurry up and get us online. When I finally did get sorted, I had about 3 days with working internet in my flat, so I do apologise for the lack of my updates for those few weeks after returning from UK at Christmas time. It’s been quite an experience living through this revolution and I honestly did not expect it to get this far!
It all began on the 25th January, on police forces day, where all of us at school were thinking: ‘Great...we have a day off! Then 2 days before the weekend.’ I had no idea what was brewing in the hearts of the oppressed and angry Egyptians. Over the next 2 days, there were protests still going on and all staff were told that they had to go home as soon as school finished having cancelled any after school activities. We were also each given a card with phone numbers of management in the school ( I was thinking...ah it’ll not come to that, but good that they are being precautious). Everything seemed to be normal at home and then slowly but surely, various communications began to get cut off, starting with Facebook. Later on Thursday evening (the beginning of my weekend), people were not receiving text messages but we just assumed that it was a hiccup on the networks. It wasn’t until Friday that things started to affect us personally. On Friday morning, we discovered that all communications had been cut off and in my opinion I thought that was stupid, particularly for the safety of those who might get caught in the wrong at the wrong time. My friend and I still went to church but that was ended early at the first curfew was put in place. This was a strange thing to experience for the first time. As mark and I walked home, the streets began to get more and more quiet and there was an eerie feeling about the place. Everywhere was quiet as locals shut up shop and went home to stay in for the night not knowing what was going on due to lack of communications.
To be honest, it wasn’t until the following night that I began to become aware of how serious the situation was. It was very easy to watch the news and feel that we were completely out of reach because the riots were not in our area. However, on Saturday night, the curfew was brought forward to 4pm and all the locals were out on the streets holding large sticks and batons. Some were armed with more violent weapons such as axes and broomsticks with knives attached. Later we discovered that these locals were not on the attack but well and truly on the defence and protection of their properties from looters. Yes...another new development. The revolution was really on our doorstep with gunfire in the background and army tanks outside the prison at end of Road 233 (a road perpendicular to ours).

Over the next few days, the staff at MES decided to group together for safety in numbers as well as company to defeat boredom in our flats during the ever increasing curfews. There was a little excitement in getting together to hide out so to speak as we shared food and drinks and played some quality articulate. However this could only last so long before cabin fever kicked in. We all knew that the protests and demonstrations were only showing signs of getting worse and as I write this...they are STILL continuing to do so. The only way we could leave the country was to get a friend or family member to book a flight out of Egypt. Thanks to Paul J me and 2 of my friends were able to get flights to Malaysia (we thought well let’s make the most of the revolution eh!!!) which is where I am now as I write this blog. How we eventually got here is a different story altogether having spent well over 36 hours in various airports! I am so glad that we got out when we did though because last Thursday (1 day after we eventually lost Cairo) there was a 24hour curfew and all flights were cancelled during curfew hours.

But I’m in Malaysia now as you will know which has been great! It has been wonderful to have restful and peaceful sleeps as we stay in a beautiful, green and calm country. All we have done since we arrived is relax and sightsee. We have been watching our spending because none of us can transfer money from the Egyptian bank accounts and it is impossible to withdraw money using the Egyptian HSBC card.

However I have written lots already...so I shall save my KL adventures for another day...most likely tomorrow! :D
Many thanks to those who have sent emails and left messages on facebook. I really do appreciate all your concerns, it really means alot.

Friday 14 January 2011

Friends and chillaxing

It has been a while since I have posted anything on here entirely because my internet has stopped working and we have to try and get it fixed (which can be a rather long process). Right now I have the privilege of chilling at a chum's house and using her internet. Currently I'm sitting on her sofa watching a random movie in her very warm and cosy flat, after running 12 K this morning down at the Wadi. Enjoyed a lovely meal last night, playing charades with a few others and having an early night. Usually I'd be up for a big party and full on banter but after a very long week i was completely satisfied with a quite night. School has been very busy over the past week and it seems that there have been quite a few people feeling under the weather. I do honestly think that the weather does have a large part to play in the fatigue I've been feeling. It's not quite as cold as the UK obviously but it's not very sunny either. Today has been raining all day and it's been quite chilly. I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some snaps and share a few to make up for the lack of postcards I've shared this week.

There are puddles!! check it out:

I'm pretty glad though that it wasn't raining first thing this morning....the run would not have been as pleasant otherwise.


Tonight I think I might be playing some Cranium (LOVE IT) and then heading to the jazz club in Zamalek (an island in the middle of the Nile about 20 minutes drive away). It will be nice to listen to some live music.

Saturday 8 January 2011

The weekend.


Started off the weekend bright and early yesterday morning as a group of us went on a run (to train for a half marathon in Sharm el Shiekh) at the Waadi. I managed to run 10K without absolutely dying surprisingly. It was so nice to run in such a peaceful place. It is basically a deserted valley with a track that runs 10K long. One day I will be able to run the full length and back, I’ll make sure of it!! It was lovely to feast on a healthy lunch with chums right afterwards and then hang out at Dan’s joint for a brew.
Straight on to church, without getting bombed! It’s been a bit dodgy in Cairo at the mo with it being Coptic Christmas but the security has been on extra alert so the place is probably safer than most of the time. But just to be extra cautious the mes crowd decided not to go out down town and instead went to a few bars in Maadi, where I got to play lots of pool…yay!
Today has been a much more chilled day, hanging out with some friends. I finally bought some art stuff and arranged to buy a guitar off a friend which is great! Walked down Road 233 (round the corner from my flat) and made friends with the local fruit shop owner. Now I'm just watching some planet earth and relaxing before the beginning of a new week of work...

Wednesday 5 January 2011

Drip, drip, drop little april shower...

Wow! It was awesome seeing rain today. It pelted it down at about 4pm while I was sitting in my classroom. That is the first time I've seen it properly rain since I've been here and it was mezmorising. I wish I had my camera with me to capture it (something I definitely do need to get into the habbit of doing!). Me and Irene went for a wee 5 k run on the route outside school and it was the perfect weather for it (as usual) but I think it might have added a little more excitement if we got caught in the middle of it!

Sorry I didn't get managing to post a postcard yesterday but I was absolutely knackered after a first day back at school. Spent the day stressing about the decision of staying or leaving next year. After flipping from one side to the other, I managed to finally make a decision...I'm staying for another year but as long as I can get involved in a dance class! Annd...I did indeed...I've inquired about a breakdance session!! I am very excited hehe!

Well my dears, I'm just going put up a random a photo ...

Monday 3 January 2011

Back to school tomorrow...

Can't believe it's back to school already! It's been really nice to catch up with everyone back here in Cairo. Chilled out with my flatmates and caught up with friends over some dinner. Much of the conversation was about whether people are going to stay an extra year or whether they will go. The thing is for me...I'm dithering AGAIN! Argh we have to make the decision by tomorrow so that should be interesting...
This photo might seem a bit randombut it's just to let you know where my post comes....for if you send me out a wee letter! :p

Sunday 2 January 2011

First Day Back in Cairo

What a productive day...organised my room and started this blog...amazing! Went round the corner to print some photos in the local Kodak shop and found the perfect fruit and veg shop, so went a little over board.

On the way back home spotted this little delivery service but unfortunately no one there to take home my shopping (apart from the constant beeping of taxis but I couldn't really justify getting a taxi for a 2 minute walk).

This is the entrance to my wee home.
It was nice to see some peeps again this evening, chilling out down at the local beer garden. However, I soon realised it's still not really flip flop weather!

Happy New Year...

Well this first entry is a day late so I will give you a double dosage. Happy New Year to everyone! And my new year's resolution is to keep in touch and on top of things alot better. In other words as I like to put it 'organise my life'. I'm starting with this blog. I intend to update it everyday or most days of the week with a wee photo and a short something to share. You'll have to bear with me...I'm not the best writer but maybe with practise the posts might become 'interesting'.

You may be asking...what is this photo all about? This is a key example of how we spend new year's eve hehe. You have to love the 'Shake Face' photos! Happy New Year Lovelies xxxx