Wine Tasting in Alexandria

Egypt is probably one of the last places you would expect to find a winery but nestled behind steel gate doors is a very respectable vineyard and bottling facility.

The whole way up to Alexandria, we asked ourselves, "What's the catch?" A free catered bus ride to Alex, an amazing buffet lunch, tour and tasting for free. There has to be some stipulation. But there was none. Sure, it would be nice if you picked up a few bottles of wine on the way out but there was no heavy soliciting.

The grounds were beautiful and the weather perfect. The vines were still barren but you can see all the work that goes into making wine- something you seldom think about when you grab the 3.99 bottles of wine of the shelves at Trader Joe's.

Pictures to come!

Black and White Dessert

One of the perks of living abroad is the push to turn a regular weekend into a travel adventure. We were off on Friday morning into the barren dessert for a two day/one night camping and sightseeing excursion.

The road was paved most of the way and the ride was quite comfortable though there wasn't much to see driving out there. Just a lot of desert, and more desert. The landscape did change frequently though, maybe every ten minutes- from rocky, pebbly desert to whitish sandy desert to black rock covered desert and so forth.

When we got there, there wasn't much to do but walk around in the desert. Just like any camping adventure, you have to entertain yourself and, hopefully, have good company around to help with that. We listened to music around the campfire and were treated to delicious food.

Even though it was a short getaway, any escape from Cairo is refreshing and helps you push through another workweek. It was back to the grime, smog, and commotion Saturday night. Everything I owned was covered in sand but there's nothing like still finding sand in your bag two weeks later and realizing it's time to get out of the bubble again.

Ain Sokhna

After struggling through a mid-year workweek, I was off to the closest thing to paradise in Egypt- Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea. It was less than a two hour drive away but it felt like we were on a different planet. There was no car honking, no smog, no dust, no yelling. Actually, there weren't even people there. We were alone in this beach resort, summer homes of the wealthy. This time of the year is too cold to swim but warm enough to sit out on the beach. The gentle, unassuming sun even gave 2/4 of us pretty bad sunburns. I, of course, was sparred.

It always baffles me how beautiful blue water can sit right up next to a dry barren desert. Isn't it ironic? (cue music)

Cairo Flea Market

The Cairo Flea Market is a monthly market held in Designopolis (what a name!) in the 6th October. I've been eyeing it for a while- carefully examining the pictures on their Facebook page. It looked promising enough so I booked a driver for the day and headed out. 

The market was a lot smaller than I expected and held in a very upscale retail mall. It was almost too organized and orderly for my taste. I get a certain satisfaction from rummaging through a pile of stuff- looking for something I didn't know I needed. 

Perfectly lined tents housed used clothing, antiques, tupperware, jewelry, etc. The food selection itself was enough to make me forget I was in Egypt. I enjoyed the live music which was heavy with American oldies while I snacked on a hot dog and popcorn in the scorching hot desert sun. 

I walked away with some shirts, bags, a ring, cards, and guava jam. A successful shopping day in my book-not that my shopping list featured any of those items....

Garbage City

The name is not at all misleading. It is indeed a city full of garbage. The men and women sort through rancid, disease ridden garbage that is piled high in the streets and in front of their homes, spilling into their living rooms. It makes you cringe but at the same time, without them, Cairo would be piled high in waste.

We hired a trusty driver and drove on in- windows up and cameras out. In this city of rubbish are three churches (the population is predominately Coptic Christians) built into caves, as well as a recycling center. A.P.E. works with the women in the community, training them to make goods out of recycled materials to empower the women and transform garbage into marketable items.

Outdoor Classroom

Happy Turkey Day!

It's my second Thanksgiving away from family. Better Thanksgiving than Christmas but it still sucks. 

While Egyptians celebrate the commercial side of many American holidays, there's not much to play with when it comes to Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving=turkey and where's a turkey to be found in Cairo? Thankfully, my school got us a coveted turkey and fixed us up a Thanksgiving lunch. Aside from the bird and mashed potatoes, it was all Egyptian food. Nonetheless, it was delicious and so thoughtful. 

We GPSers had a little Friendsgiving tonight with chicken and some vegetable sides. To really top it off, we played Apples to Apples- making our own play cards with a little Egyptian twist. 

Spinnin' and Twirlin'

It was a long weekend and I did a lot! Every weekend is a long weekend here. I don't know if I can go back to an American academic calendar.Islamic New Year last week- Thanksgiving this week. I love teaching at an international school!

I revisited a lot of places. Things are definitely more interesting the second time around for some reason. You notice different things. Take it slower. Take less pictures...

From the Mohamed Ali Mosque to Al-Azhar Park to the Egyptian museum to the Khan, I feel like I did everything under the Egyptian sun.

The weekend ended with a traditional Tanoura show- a beautiful display of music, singing, and dancing. Sufi dancers have large colorful skirts and twirl for about an hour. How these men don't pass out is a real head scratcher.