Today the whole beach went on strike. They are protesting the fact that the government is going to pave the street here (just brick, but still...), making it less a bedowin village and more like Sharm El Sheik -- that's a bad thing since Sharm used to be like Dahab but is now a high dollar diving spot for tourists. You'd think that the locals would want that, but then it wouldn't be the Dahab that we all know and love -- it would be Sharm. We'll see what comes of it. Also, they closed the Blue Moon cafe, that's the one I eat at mostly because the food is half price and the atmosphere is pretty much the same as every other place on the beach. The rumor is that the owner sold it to good ol' McDonald's -- damned americans!
I helped my friend Galel (he runs a shop down the street from the beach) sell 124EL worth of merchandise in about 15 minutes, making 63EL profit for him. He hadn't sold anything in a couple of days so he was very excited. I personally was worn out from all of the activity so had to go back and relax.
Oh, and Steve is still here -- there's something about Dahab...
I decided to take today and relax. Ok, so you're thinking that that's no different than any other day, but it is. I woke up and immediately began relaxing. Then, for the rest of the day as I sat on the beach and into the night everytime I felt that I was going to break from total relaxation I redoubled my efforts and became even more relaxed than before. Now you may think that I accomplished nothing that day, but I beg to differ -- it was a very enjoyable day that I'll try to remember for a long time and hope to one day do again ;o)
- Editor's Note:
- As I type this nearly one month later I'm thinking that tomorrow may be another day of total relaxation -- we'll see... ;oP
Damn, Steve left today at 11pm :o( That was harder than I thought for me -- must be the fridge jokes... I decided to call it an early night (about midnight or so), headed back to relax a bit, shower, and when I returned realized that I had lost a sock. It is indeed a mystery. It was here when I went to shower and then gone when I returned. WTF??
Ah. Today I found the sock. It turns out that a small, furry, cute as can be, danged puppy came in through the gap under my door (it's about a one foot gap), grabbed the sock, and ate the best parts -- that would be the toe and heal. So much for my sock :o( The puppy belongs to the camp so I got the manager to give me a free night out of the deal. It's only 5EL but it's the principle of the thing. Damned dog!
Hung out with Galel part of the day today. Poor guy is trapped in that shop of his so I go by and visit him, smoke shisha, drink tea, you know, the same stuff I would normally do on the beach ;o) Tonight I ate again at Shark's and was tempted into having their special dessert consisting of a slice of mixed berry cheesecake and 12 small scoops of ice cream for 7EL -- Beppo's cheesecake is still the best I've ever had, but this was still good. Later we went down to Sphinx for pool and I met a Norwegian guy who is also descended from William the Silent -- my cousin! His name is Yoren (ok, the 'o' in his name has like a slash through it and you pronounce it like "urine", but ya can't pick your relatives...).
Need I say that I finished the day with a bit of relaxation with my friends down at Pengiun? I thought not ;o)
Laundry day again. Not that it's that hard to walk it down to the laundrette (word I picked up from some british chick -- damned foreigners), but I have to wear the "other" pants. I should have just bought two pair of the same danged pants, but with my luck I'd get two of the "other" pants and hate them both. Caroline and Shelagh are leaving today and I didn't see Shelagh all day. I feel bad that she didn't get to see me, poor girl (heh).
Here's an odd one. I'm just past the 3 month mark where travellers historically are hit by their first bout of homesickness. The strange thing is that I am missing Norrath so much it's not even funny. Where is Norrath you might ask? Well I believe the server is located in California somewhere, and the landscape is virtual within the game EverQuest. The southern desert of Ro comes to mind most often. *sigh* perhaps one day I'll have to visit again. Perhaps one day friggin soon! I just have to remember that this too will fade. It's just a typical response to change. Oh, and EQ is just a game, right? It's not as sick as it sounds, I have access to some of my best friends in that world. Don't judge me. I realize it's not real, but the people I connect with inside are, and they are my friends.
Aside from missing EQ I also have to wonder if I'm stupid to be doing what I'm doing. Acutally I wonder this periodically. Sure, sure, everyone I talk to says that it's the experience of a lifetime and if they could do it they would. The difference is that it is my life that I'm gambling with and I did do it. I just hope it pays off in the long run.
Here's a question for y'all. At night, when you close your eyes, what do you see? Do you step through code trying to find that elusive bug? Do you replay that conversation replying with confidence with phrases that you didn't think of at the time? Are you making lists of the things that you didn't do today that you absolutely must do tomorrow? Do you replay the funniest sitcom of the evening? I see South Ro -- the sun is shining, my friends are smiling, and an adventure awaits :o)
I should become a tourist in Dahab. Sure, sure, I've been in Dahab for a month now, but I've not yet really been a tourist. Hell, I'm practically considered a local now -- if only I could speak more arabic and didn't avoid the sun like a pasty white man in the friggin desert. It's getting to be time to shove off and I haven't done those touristy things like climbing Mt. Sinai, snorkeling in the Blue Hole, visiting the bedowin village of Abu Galum, junk like that. I did buy my first piece of jewelry today tho. It's a silver ring in the shape of a snake coiled three times around my right thumb. Kinda cool, we'll see how it works out.
WARNING: RANTING AHEAD
Ok, some more culture for ya. Kinda culture, kinda venting. I was needing a pee in the worst way so I headed for the nearest toilet that I knew. Turns out it was at Napoleon restaurant and I happened to be sitting in Ali Baba restaurant. Not that big of a deal since I was so well known and people in Dahab aren't generally twitch about that sort of thing. Turns out that tonight the owner of Napoleon intercepted me and asked me if I was eating at his restaurant. I wasn't and couldn't be bothered by conversation at the moment for obvious reasons so I said, "nope, but I need to pee" and tried to continue. He persisted and told me that I couldn't use his toilet and was even a bit snotty about it. Normally not an issue, right? I mean really, if you don't eat a place you would expect not to use the facilities, unless it's McDonald's or something. The thing that really got me was his attitude and the fact that for the last month every time I met anyone from his (or any other) restaurant I was greeted with "hello my friend". I'm thinking they must mean something different by that phrase than the conventional definition. I mean really, what friend would deny a pee to his mate?? Suffice to say it rubbed me wrong. Bastige. I told him that I was friends with people from the restaurant (which I actually was) and that I had eaten there before (which I may or may not have, I certainly didn't frequent it by any stretch). He said he didn't care that that it wasn't his problem. I offerred to pee right there to which he responded that he didn't care. Right. I found other facilities. I'm sure that this is mostly my problem, but still. I have nothing else to do in Dahab, so I'm boycotting Napoleon. Oddly, I don't think they see the change.
- Editor's Note:
- Just so I can close this chapter I'll let you know how the whole thing worked out. A few days later my friend Ahmed switched from working in Ali Baba to working in Napoleon. Right. He then took it peronally when I wouldn't come sit in "his" restaurant. Very personally. I tried to explain that I hated that dork before he started working there and that it had nothing to do with him, but he wanted to show his new boss that he could bring his friends in as new customers for the restaurant -- and since I wasn't going in then neither were the rest of our friends because we all hung out together. Sheesh. Then we were at Sphinx playing doubles pool one night. Ahmed's old boss, the owner of Ali Baba, was my partner against Ahmed and some other guy. It was a fun night and afterwards, as we were walking away, Ahmed said that I was invited to "the owner's" camp (I assumed the owner of Ali Baba that we had been playing pool with all night) to relax. No problem, I got in the cab with them (that means I jumped into the back of the truck -- most of the taxis are compact pickup trucks). Turns out we headed over to hang out with the owner of Napoleon. Wonderful. I enjoyed a couple hours of four egyptians telling Ahmed in arabic how Napoleon was so much better than all of the other restaurants. I wish I had understood some of it as I could have set them straight on a few points. Needless to say I was miffed at Ahmed for tricking me into that situation. So now it's weeks later. Ahmed has gone to visit relatives in Suez and I still don't like the dork from Napoleon. Am I a better person for it? I don't think so. Do I feel differently? Hell no. I think the problem is that I began believing that they were my friends and that this guy betrayed that friendship -- even though we had never met before. I'm a freak, it's true.
Went and did a bit of e-mail today. It had been a while because there have been problems with the internet connection in town. I guess the reason was that the streets are being paved (it seems the 24 hour strike didn't work as they had planned) which somehow did something to the phone lines. Whatever. It was nice to hear from friends and touch a bit of the outside world. It sure is going to be strange to leave this place. Time seems to move so much differently here... Oh, I relaxed on the beach again and it's not getting the least bit monotonous ;oP
I met a nice group of people and ate dinner with them. They're all quite nice and all but one of them (Hi Alice) are leaving tomorrow -- too bad about that. Now that my group of friends has disbanded I'm in need of more. That's the main drawback of staying a long time in a place where most of your freinds are fellow travellers. On the upside the meal was delicious. Later that night I went up to Sphinx to play a bit of pool and choke down a beer or three. I sat down next to a british guy, we got to talking, one thing led to another and I related the glorious tale of my last days in EverQuest. Ah, that only got me thinking about EQ even more, a thing I definately didn't need help with -- now I'm really missing it :o( Alas, time to head to bed, relax, and ponder...
Still thinking way too much about EQ. I gotta stop doing that. It can't be healthy. Not that it's unhealthy or anything. It's not like I think it's real or anything, and I think I miss my friends more than the actual game itself. *sigh* What's a gnome to do...
I met some norwegian folks today (hey, I'm norwegian!), Pernille, Cecilie, and Pal (ok, put a dot or something over the 'a' and pronounce it "Paul" and you got it). Hung with them, which was pretty fun. The girls wanted to hit up the disco, so we did. It was a blast. Nice having friends in town again :o) Went back afterwards and as I was relaxing thought of the funniest thing (no, I won't relate it as you may not think it's funny in the state of mind that you're in). The point wasn't what I was thinking about, but rather that my brother, Mike, would have found it at least as funny as I did -- and possibly nobody else. Maybe there is something to that whole blood thing. Hmmm, is it possible that after 3+ months of travel I have accidentally learned something? Oh the strain, I should definately rest after this one ;oP
The sun is shining, the air is still, and the water is so friggin blue it makes you wonder why they named it the "Red" Sea. Again I am faced with absolutely nothing on my agenda. No meetings, no bugs on my plate, no chores to be done, not a damned thing. Life ain't so bad today. Turns out one of my new friends, Pernile to be precise, is in need of a toe ring. I don't question these things, I'm just here to help. I, being the veteran of this veritable metropolis that I am, offerred my services as guide which she snapped up greedily. Ok, truth be told, she mentioned that she could stand to acquire a toe ring and I agreed to walk with her in her quest. Turned out to be kinda fun. We stopped in on Galel in the process which is never a fast process, but we did end up with the item. Mission accomplished. Later that evening I saw an actual dancing arabian horse. It was kinda cool. From what I hear the horses don't listen to tourists well, but from the looks of it that bedowin guy had no problems whatsoever.
With a busy day like that I'm sure you can guess that I definately relaxed before heading off with the norse folk to see the live band at Nesima (another restaurant way the heck up at the other end of the beach). The band does covers off other groups and it's not half bad. Afterwards we went over to the disco where they were having a party with a guest DJ playing techno, trance, and house music. Turns out it was all techno-house music, monotonous as hell and boring. We left after a bit having danced not at all. We all relaxed to end the evening, not a bad day all in all.
Hold onto your socks folks, I was up before noon today! Ah, what to do with so much daylight?? Why backgammon on the beach of course. Don't think that today is exactly the same as any other. Why I met a couple of nice folks from Israel and chatted with them for a while, and I even did a bit of e-mailing. Le film du jour is Shakespeare in Love, well worth seeing again. Ummm. I'm sure there was more. Really. Why I walked all the way down to the other end of the beach and then back again. Ok, so I do that pretty much every day, but still... I did relax with great ferver. That in itself is a great accomplishment. Ok, fine. Onto the next day where I'm sure great things are happening.
Up at noon today. I'm thinking a shave is definately in order. I think it's been a week or so and I'm lookin a bit grizzly. The guy here does an excellent job, Mohommad is his name. Actually, do you have any idea how many freakin people in Egypt are named Mohommad?? More than those named Ahmed and Mahmoud I assure you. Anyhoo, the shave was the high point of the day. Later I did walk farther on the beach than I had ever been. Pernile and I decided to see more of this massive town so we hoofed it up into the actual bedowin village where the locals live. That was quite the experience. Squat concrete homes, most of which would be considered unfinished in the states, but they don't actually need windows and doors here so it's not that big of deal. Don't get me wrong, most of the buidings have doorway coverings that can lock and window coverings that can lock if need be, but the locks are token and the coverings are not generally used. Tonight we watched The Matrix and then, you guessed it, headed back and relaxed. Gotta love Dahab :o)
Up by 10am today. I must be sick or something ;oP The wind made a showing today. The beach reminds me of the Washington coast: wind, big waves, rocks (the part I was looking at when I had this thought was rocky, ok??), etc. The only thing missing is the seagulls. At breakfast I bought 6 of the string bracelets that the bedowin girls sell. I have been not buying them for so long that I figured I could spare the 9,50EL that they cost me spread out to 5 girls -- just doin' my part to help the economy ;o)
Ok, I'm thinkin' with all of this wind it's the perfect day to spend inside updating my website that's over a month behind right now. But alas, it was not to be. When I went the first time the place was closed -- go figure. Then, when I returned the connection was so slow that I barely got through a couple e-mail in 1/2 an hour. Finally, the partner came back and had an altercation with the other partner that was there when I showed up. When they started throwing furniture out of the place I decided to skulk off and finish up at a different date. On the upside (isn't there always an upside?) I walked away with a free half hour of computer usage -- cha-ching! :oD
That evening I came upon that irish girl from scottland named Alice, sick as a dog sitting by the fire in Al Capone restaurant. You remember, I met her the other night with that group of people all of whom were leaving except, you guessed it, Alice. Pal (norwegian guy, "paul") and I couldn't just leave her to be ill alone, so we made her walk farther up the beach with us and eat at Green Valley restaurant -- they have nice soup. Aside from a few pukey faces the walk went fine and she didn't actually hurl once! She actually said that she felt much better afterwards, thankyouverymuch. I played some backgammon and then headed up alone to the lame-o disco. It's been much better but just happened to bat an abyssmal low that night. Scooted out of there in a hurry and whiled the night away with a bit of relaxation.
- Note on "Al Capone":
- I don't see what the problem was with arresting this bloke. Just look at his name. The man was clearly a killer with a name like that. Sure he fudged the spelling but with a bit of tweaking it becomes clear -- "I'll Cap One"! Everytime he wrote his name he was vowing to kill again!!
Got up before noon once again. I'm thinking that this is no longer noteworthy. I'm just a regular ol' joe now, gettin up before the crack of noon like everyone else on the planet. Oh, I did come down with a cold. It started yesterday but I thought it was just the dust blowing around making my nose run. Today, though, the left side of my face is all clogged up (yes, I'm sure you needed to know that). With this new development clearly the only thing I can do is relax, so I did (it's not my fault, I was forced into it by forces beyond my control). Something About Mary was on so I watched it. Relax, sleep.
*snif* *grrr* Still sick. Not a happy camper. Just sitting around playing backgammon, relaxing when the mood grabs me, and not doing much else. Sleepers was showing so I watched it.