Sometimes it seems like a good thing (from my point of view) when I don't update my blog very often...it means I have been enjoying my time so much that I just don't have any spare to sit down and type. As I walk around town to ACE or the softball fields or Yoga class, I write blogs in my head. I think about how the traffic flows like water. Cars pay no attention to the dotted lines and merely sway back and forth making 4 lanes into 5 and then back to 4 just as quickly. Trucks breakdown in the middle of the highway without even an attempt to get to the side. Vans will be piled high with suitcases, carpets, furniture and other wares, doubling their height. Egyptians will be piled in the back of pick-up trucks or hanging on the sides of buses 12-deep. Cars often compete with donkeys and tractors for highway space and have little concern for the pedestrians scrambling helplessly across the pavement. (I've been hit twice already.)
Back to the updates...
A couple Thursdays ago (Thursdays are our Fridays) I organized a Felucca ride for myself and about 10 coworkers. It's such a nice time to just chill after the week, sip some wine on the Nile and watch the sunset behind the pyramids. And it costs just a couple bucks per person. This was my second felucca ride and it was just a bit different from the first one. This time I got to experience my first sandstorm, all while on the far side of the river just after sunset. We could see lights dimming in the distance and we felt the wind turn. Before we knew it we were being blasted from the north and west with sand gusts probably around 40mph. People scrambled to cover up the food and secure the libations before the brunt hit us. With only seconds notice, we ran aground on the west side of the Nile on a reed-covered island and there we sat for the next few hours. A ferry came to rescue us eventually, but was only successful on the third attempt after it rammed us on the first one. But to be honest, it couldn't have been more fun. Despite the circumstances, and thanks to the wine, everybody was in high spirits and enjoying themselves. It was definitely one for the annals.