Nivea-kampanja

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Gone divin'

Location: Red Sea
Bottom time: 55 minutes
Depth: 3 meters
Visibility: 81 %

Red Sea is no doubt a diver's paradise. On a single dip, you may see dolphins, barracuda, lion fish, angel fish, grouper, flute fist, parrot fish, spotted eagle ray, and sea serpent. And if you get really lucky, a reef shark. There are about 1400 coral and fish species, many of which native only to Red Sea, world-famous wrecks like 2ndWW-Thistlegorm, great visibility, and there are a lot of different reef profiles; islands, walls, drifts, etc. To read on, you can pick any book on a given topic. However, you will now read a different diving story from rookie's point of view.

I love water, swimming, and marine life, and know nothing better than spending a day chillin' on a snorkling trip. After a couple of months and a dozen trips I considered myself an old hand in snorkling. I figured it would be a sin not to try out exploring the underwater world through the oxygen tube, or first stage, as the pro term goes, now that I had the prime opportunity.

I enrolled on a half-day intro course in a 5-star diving centre. First we were each given a plastic box full of equipment. I happily added the parts I already owned: silicone mask, Mares leak-proof snorkel, and a 5 mm Beuchat wetsuit. Then we watched a video, after which my head was spinning from the technical terminology, how to calculate the ratio of pressure and shrinkage of lungs, and the necessary paraphenalia: SPG, BCD, first and second stage, buoyancy, O-ring...

The next task was to put together the equipment. The oxygen bottle was rather heavy that I could hardly lift it. I wondered how it was physically possible to carry all the stuff in my back, with the weigth belt and all. We had to be very careful not to make the oxygen bottle tumble, lest it could explode. We had to wrench a little screw in order to test that the bottle was ok. Our instructor, Amir, was helping my fellow course member. He loosened the valve and – bang! There was a loud explosion sound, we were all in one piece, and he quickly managed to close the ring. No O-ring bottle for me, thank you, I will use the other system.

We filled and emptied the BCD (air vest), and practiced breathing through first and second stage (emergency oxygen supply). We learned the necessary communication signs to use underwater, and to read SPG (pressure gauge). We helped each other lift the bottles to our backs, and off we went from the shore, backwards, of course.

We held the air valve upwards, pressed the button that emptied the BCD, and descended 3 meters in the sea bottom. We had to keep popping our ears as we went, to stabilize the pressure. Amir signaled us our tasks, and one after another we repeated them, knelt in the seabed. First we practiced taking off the regulator from our mouth and putting in back again. Here is a simple test for you, who are thinking of taking the diving course: If the thought of being temporarily disconnected from your oxygen supply in sea bottom freak you out, then diving may not be meant for you.

When it was my turn, I removed the regulator, but had to get to the surface. The others waited for me, and the second time it worked. Then we emptied the mask by slightly lifting the underpart, and blowing air through the nose. Then we tried another technique, replacing the 1st stage with the emergency regulator. My mask had salty water inside, and I was freezing. My ears were sore and ringing from the pressure difference. We had been sitting at the bottom of the sea for almost one hour.

I did not become a diver, and am unsure if I would ever want to do the full 5-day open-water course required for PADI certificate. The thought of standing on the seabed in the depth of 15 meters did not become any more attractive to me. But who cares... I did it, and passed the intro course. My life motto is to try everything at least once in life, so here another landmark has been passed. However, somewhere deep inside of me still resides a little thought... maybe one day I'm going to repeat the course from the diving boat, gazing the diversity of the reef in hues of rainbow, and marveling the beauty of the lively, bright, multi-coloured fish that I have learned to love...

Let's learn Arabic!

I love to study languages, so one of the must-do's for me was to take an Arabic course. I now want to share the best bits I learned.

Greetings is not just 'Hi, how are ya' -business in Egypt. When you meet a friend, you generously shake or hold hands, stare gently in the eyes (also guys with guys, because eye contact and showing friendliness is crucial), and exchange the following:

-Sabah el heer. (Good morning)
-Sabah el nour. (Morning of light)

If you want to go the full round, the routine continues as follows:

-Sabah el full. (Morning scented with jasmine)
-Sabah el ishta. (Milky morning)
-Sabah el a-azel. (Morning scented with honey).
-Sabah el warda. (Morning scented with flowers).

By the way, Warda (flower) is also man's name, as well as Badri, which stands for 'early'. One of our bus drivers was called Badri (no pun intended, I guess). Well, let's move on.

- Amle ee? Means, 'How are you?'
- Meya, meya. = Good. (literally: 100, 100).
- Nouss, nouss. = Not so good. (Half, half)

The Egyptian Arabic differs a lot from Classic Arabic. For example, the everyday word for car in is 'arabeya', while in Classic Arabic it is 'sayyara'. Therefore, one needs to learn two sets of words, the vernacular, and Classic terms.

It's no coincidence that 'Sahraa' stands for desert, as of Sahara, which is the only environment type in this corner of earth, featuring rocky mountain ranges, sand, and sole acacia trees.

One of the very useful expressions I learned, was 'Not your business': 'Da mish shorlek.' Egyptians are extremely curious to the point of nosiness, and notorious gossips. The news seem to travel faster than in the internet! A person asking for something that do not belong to him, is called 'hesheriy'. Another funny one, reminding me of a certain Biblical analogy, meaning 'get lost', or, 'you can go now', is: 'Il beeb iifaod gemel', literally, 'The door is large enough for a camel to pass'.

The Arabic-speakers love idioms and proverbs. Here's one for you: 'After the incense is passed there is no sitting on.' (Don't overstay your welcome). The explanation: When the visit has lasted long enough, the host passes round the incense signifying that it's time for his guests to leave.

Moon, 'amar', has a lot of symbolism in Islam. Is also is an analogy for beauty. If you want to call someone beautiful, you can call her 'inti amar', 'you (are beautiful like) the moon'.

Travelling: Alexandria

A friend of mine, one of the 5 Muhammeds with whom I regularly work with, comes from Alexandria. He constantly tells me how wonderful the city is. When my colleague visited there and also highly recommended it, I decided to explore the city myself.

I arrived at Cairo railway station early Saturday morning. I bought a ticket to 'Al Iskandria', as the Arabic-speakers call it. All the first-class tickets had been sold out, so I booked a seat in the second class later that morning. Another colleague had advised me to admire the Nile delta scenery along the way. According to her, the train ride is the best part of the journey. I studied some history of the cities and the map along the way – Benha, Tanta, Damanhour. Vast corn, aubergine and sugar cane field extended on both sides. I saw cows, watering channels, electric water pumps and more green fields that I had seen during my whole stay in the massive sand box known as Egypt.

I had 24 hours to explore the highlights of Alexandria, so I wasted no time hiring a cab to the Kom al-Shuqafa Catacombs. These tombs named as 'hill of treasures' date back to 2^nd century AD and house underground library and tombs. The taxi drivers fight vigorously for clients. The first driver didn't agree on the price I offered, and when another taxi picked me up, he informed the second one how much I would pay. But this was not an issue for him, so off we went.

Qaitbey fortress used to face one of the ancient seven wonders of the world, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, but the latter collapsed in an earthquake in 1303 AD. However, the sturdy Fort still stands, posing against the brisk winds and mighty wawes of the Mediterranean. I climbed to the top of the fortress to capture a panorama view towards the city and the sea (picture). Then I sat down on the wave breaker near the sea, nibbling cotton candy and watching sea shell seller lure clients. The day before my journey a friend of mine told me how he had sat on the same spot as a kid, watching the waves pound the rocks.

What suddenly stroke me was the absence of tourists, or any kind of foregners even at the most popular places of interest. Flocks of locals; young families with children, and couples walking hand in hand milled around the fort and the promenade, but I spotted only five other foreigners. I was keenly aware of the Egyptians peeking at or directly staring at me, a white woman travelling alone. A group of young lads followed me while I captured snapshots, and made some comments about me. They were quite astonished and amused when I responded to them in Arabic. I was growing weary and annoyed to being noticed everywhere, even though the friendly and naive interest that the Egyptians show towards foreigners is common everywhere. Here they obviosly were not used to us. When I said Good aftenoon in Arabic upon entering a shop, the girl clerks gave a shy smile and giggled with each other.

I took a ride on the minivan-microbus to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The bus driver was confused because I didn't understand if I had given him too much or too little change, and he didn't charge me anything when I exited. The original library doesn't exist any more, of course, but the new one, inaugurated in 2000 and featuring 8 million books in 11 floors, could rightly be called one of the modern wonders of the world.

On the way to the hotel we passed Stanley bridge, another symbol of Alexandria. The taxi driver slowed his vehicle down so I could make some sunset snapshots. We drove along the coastline lined with sandy beach and parasols, and high-rise hotels on the other side. I felt like I was in Riviera. Finally we arrived at huge park, featuring Montaza Garden & Royal Palace. My hotel, Helnan Palestine, was inside the park, nestled in a sandy harbor. The Neo-Gothic summer palace is one of the presidential residences.

I had gotten sick during the overnight voyage because of freezing air conditioning. All I wanted was to get some rest and soothe my flu. There was a big surprise waiting for me in my hotel room... I was been given a special room from the top floor, with a fruit basket and all the trimmings. It was such a treat... The view from the balcony was gorgeous. On the left side I could see the president's palace, the Mediterranean sea stretched straight ahead, and a small islet and the lighthouse appeared on the right. There was so much beauty gathered in one place that I could only take a deep breath, watch in awe, and then bounce for joy like a child for discovering it. This became one of the top 10 the places in the world where I want to return.

Our landlord

This is Abdullah, our landlord. He always wears his traditional cotton dress called galabeya. It is very comfortable and has handy zippered pockets, where one can easily slip his Nokia phone, money and keys. He is always smiling and helpful.

One of the most important tasks of the landlord is to keep unwanted guests away. In other words, Egyptians of opposite sex. People in groups and foreigners are okay. On the bottom floor Abdullah has a small room, equipped with a mattress, and he constantly peers the people who is coming and going, even at 4 am.

He also has spare keys to our apartment. But here's the catch: If we forget the key on the inside of the lock, the door cannot be opened from the other side. This happened to me once, on my birthday, late in the evening after a long day at work. My neightbor wasn't home, so we had to wait for her to arrive, because the only way to get back inside was to climb into my balcony from hers and get inside through my balcony door. I climbed, but of course the balcony door was also locked. Then Abdullah climber over the balcony rail in his galabeya – on the height of 5th floor. He cracked into my room with his tools and then fixed the door. Voilá, I was back at home.

Landlord's other tasks involve supplying us with the household equipment that is included in the rental contract. We received the ironing board and laundry lines in due time, within a week after our arrival, but the balcony furniture never showed up, and the shower curtain was installed punctually in the middle of the bathroom – two meters from the shower itself.

However, we concretely discovered the meaning of Egyptian time concept while waiting for the bed covers. Officially, the expression goes, 'bukra, insh'allah' (Tomorrow, the Lord willing'). This roughly means the same as 'mañana' in Spain.

We started asking for warm blankets in the end of October, when the apartment started getting cold at night. Abdullah does not speak many words in English, but he made most of it. The first few times the answer was 'tomorrow'. After several inquiries, apparently aiming to calm us, he then promised to bring them 'after ten minutes'. I came back after two hours, but there were no blankets, neither the next day. (Those who have lived in exotic countries can probably relate. It was no helping the case that I was going through culture shock in other ways, too.)

We really needed to get the covers, so my flatmate and I took turns asking, but the answer was always the same; either ten minutes or one hour. However, it didn't make any difference. After few more weeks of this I called my Egyptian colleague and asked him to interpret for our landlord, that we couldn't risk becoming sick, because it was freezing cold at night, and we didn't have the promised blankets that were supposed to be there when we had arrived. Calmly Abdullah walked into the laundry shop in front of our flat and said the guy working there something in Arabic. He produced two blankets. They were clearly used, but our landlord explained that they had been washed. Actually we were supposed to have new blankets, but after all the hassle and waiting I was more than glad to have them.

Miraculously, after another month the new king-size covers and even more pillows arrived. Our boss had found out that Abdullah had actually visited the household store, but it had been out of stock for a while. Anyway, now I know what 'five Egyptian minutes' stands for.

Conquering Mt. Sinai

One of my dreams during my stay was to climb on Mt. Sinai. I had few days off in May and flew to Sharm el Sheikh to realize my desire.
Our Egyptian guide picked me up 22:15 from the hotel, and the others after me: 3 French-Egyptians, 4 Russians, and 2 Egyptians. I didn't know beforehand that it would be a 3-hour drive to the base, 1500 m from the sea level. We reached the gate of the national park 2:25 am. Each was given a bottle of water and a flashlight. And then we started climbing.
The trail was quite narrow, and we had to beware of camels, that were available, if anyone would get too tired to hike. Every 40 minutes were took a rest of 5 minutes and then we pressed on. We were not alone on the mountain: every night about 3,000 pilgrims venture towards the top, so the huts along the trail and the path was quite crowded at times.
I felt dizzy and slight headache in the beginning, but it passed after I took some painkillers. After a couple of hours of climbing I didn't feel tiredness or the altitude, just totally at balance. It was full moon, so we could see the outline of the surrounding mountains and numerous stars. The trail was dotted with hundreds of torchlights of fellow climbers coming up the rugged terrain.
The last leg before the top, 2285 metres, was the steepest and the most dangerous. We stepped into 350 stone stairs in pairs, and every now and then we had to stop to wait, because of the long queue ahead: everyone wanted to reach the top before sunrise.
Finally, after 7 kilometres and 3 hours of climbing, we were on top. It was cold (+10 C), but the scenery was breathtaking: sharp mountaintops reaching into 2000-3000 metres everywhere around us. The rising sun coloured the sky orange long before we saw the red ball of sun emerge in the east. We took our time to snap pictures and admire the barren beauty of the uplands. Then we took a steep plunge down: 700 stone blocks and 2 hours later we we back in the starting point, St. Catherine's monastery. We paid homage to the Burning Bush and the well of Moses, where he supposedly met his wife-to-be, Zipporah.
In Egypt you have a change to plunge into the depths of the sea or to the bottom of the pyramid, or to reach the heights of the highest peaks. The hike was no walk in the park, but absolutely an experience to remember for a lifetime.

Nowhere else than in Egypt...

I like Egypt. It is not only getting warm, but soon I will start missing this country, for my contract is coming to end here.
Where else does a driver casually stop the bus or taxi and walk to a convenience store to buy a pack of cigarettes, and then continue driving like it was the most natural thing to do.
Where else can you walk into your favourite restaurant and ask them to open the wine bottle for you (if you don't have the corksrew), as in Egypt they are nowhere to be found in shops.
You can also ask the landlord/security of your building to go and buy a prepaid phone card or bring some takeaway food for you.
In hospital you can get past the queue in you know some doctor there, or if you take with you a friend who does.
The landlord/security doesn't allow the Egyptians of the opposite sex come into your apartment, unless there are several, or they are rich and figure a way to pay. Likewise the Europeans are not allowed into most Egyptian's apartments.
In this country they will also do anything to sell you an item. Once I wanted buy a beautiful lilac turtleneck sweater. One knitted string loop had gotten loose in the middle of the front part, and as I mentioned this to the seller in order to get the price down, he got his scissors and cut the loop, which practically ruined the whole sweater.
If the shop owner doesn't have change, he may give you a cookie or candy instead. If you buy something expensive, you'll often get an extra gift.
This list could be continued endlessly. Nowhere else than in Egypt...