Paradise

Being spontaneous is so much fun. Thursday night around 3:00 a.m. or so, Sarah and I decided to go to Ras Sadr and Dahab on Friday with Aly.

We left Cairo around 11:30 a.m. and it took about 2-2.5 hours to reach Ras Sadr. Road tripping is sooo fun and adventurous. You never know what will happen on a road trip. Once we arrived in Ras Sadr, we headed directly to the beach. It was so beautiful. The plan was to go windsurfing, something I've never done before. Our plan didn't exactly work out. It was a little too windy. I guess it will have to wait for now. It was amazing swimming there. I love the smell of the salty air and feeling the warm sun soaking through my skin. We spent 3 hours there before ocontinuing our journey to Dahab. Stopping over in Ras Sadr made the trip seem sooo much shorter. We stopped for dinner in a city near Sharm al Sheikh. I can't remember the name of it. I was surprised to see how touristic it was.

Arriving in Dahab was interesting and probably the most fascinating experience I had so far. We arrived at the place we were staying at and headed towards the beach area to meet Alli, Brian, Jess, Tracy, and Jason. I guess a misunderstanding/disagreement occured between one of the employees and us. It was more like miscommunication. Things blew up way out of proportion. I thought the owner/manager (not sure what his position was) and Aly were to fight. It was in your face intense. It was really interesting to watch. I was ready to leave and take my service and my money elsewhere. I couldn't help but think to myself, "why are we taking this shit?" The employee and Aly both stated their version of what happened, and slowly everything started to get calmer and more relaxed and it was as if they had become great friends. The service was really excellent. They treated us soooo well. It was not something I expected considering the "dispute" we had with them.

The experience showed me that if you ever have a problem with someone, why not work it out. Talking about a disagreement helps you to understand the other person's perspective. I think if more people discussed the problems they have with one another, then there would be less hate in the world. This experience has encouraged me to be more patient and more understanding with people. I think if I had a similar experience I would try not to be sooo pissed off and annoyed and instead try to understand the situation better and try to work things out.

We headed to a restaurant along the boardwalk and we smoked the best shisha ever. The next morning we got up early and we were walking towards the restaurant at the lodge. And then I saw it. The most gorgeous and amazingly blue water I've ever seen in my entire life. It was paradise. I've never seen anything like it in my life. After breakfast, we went snorkeling, another first for me. It was incredible. I could have stayed there snorkeling forever. Dahab = paradise.

This weekend was filled with alot of firsts
- First road trip in Egypt
- First time in Sinai and first visit to Ras Sadr and Dahab
- First time swimming in Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba
- First time snorkeling
- First salt water shower
- First time seeing Bedouins
- First time drinking Bedouin tea
- First time using an Arabic style toilet (also known as a hole in the ground) in Egypt