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.

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!!

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 25^th 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.