Pyramids!!!

I took Cristina and Dutu to the pyramids and we had so much fun! Nichole's parents came too, so there was quite a group!We decided to ride camels around the pyramids and i got the price down from 150 LE to 30 LE/hour. We spent 2 hrs on the camels. Me and Nichole got horses, as we didnt want camels. Cristina was too scared of the camel so i took her camel and she took my horse. It was alright in the end.

Mahmoud, the guide, was very funny - he was hitting on me. I thought he was in his 30's but to my surprise, i found out later he is only 24.

I've been to the pyramids before, but this was by far the most pleasant experience so far. We got a good deal on the camels and enjoyed the ride a lot!

We ended up by the Sphinx and this little girl came to sell us things; cristina bought something. The little girl wanted to take pictures of us - she was very good at it as you can see; the pics look very touristy, but i love them, so i cant help not posting them!

I keep saying i am not a tourist, as i live here now and it seems like my home, but when you go to sites like this, you cannot help not being treated as a tourist.

I am happy Cristina and Dutu enjoyed themselves and so did Nichole's parents.

Luxor wt Cristina!!!!!!!

So, finally the day has come!!!!! Cristina came to Egypt!!! After adventures of me messing up the date of her arrival and buying tickets for Luxor, we had a great time together!

I picked her up at the airport and the next day we went to Luxor. We took the night train - 1st class (Nefertiti). It was a bit dirty, but in the end it was not too bad. The only weird thing was a guy that share the compartment wt us - he looked very dirty and had a "cool" pair of trousers on!!

The guy at our hotel offered to take us from the train station for 75 LE but i kindly refused his offer. Once we got to the train station in Luxor i asked an Egyptian guy what wud be a fair price from there to the ferry and he said 10 LE. It turned out to be worth less than that as it was not very far; that is why the taxi driver agreed from the beggining on 10 LE.

We got to our hotel (Nile Valley - very clean and pretty, wt a swimming pool), left our bags, showered an off we went to see the Valley of the Kings. Ibrahim, a guy that we hired to drive us there, was very funny and had a car tat ws a bit smashed on the left side - he kept saying that was his horse that did that!

Me getting in trouble (again!)

We visited 4 tombs at the Valley of the Kings, and right at the first one i got in trouble. At the entrance it was written you cannot take pictures inside the tomb, but after my previous experience at Abu Simbel, where the guards wud take ur camera to take ur picture, i thought it should be ok to take one (thousands of apologies to all the archeologists around the world) ... and i did!! Suddenly, this man comes and asks for my camera - apparently he was one of the guards. He takes it and looks at the pictures i have taken, sees 2 pics of the tomb and goes: "No photos inside the tomb!!" And he takes my camera (btw, brand new, brought by Cristina). I dont know what to do ... he goes: "We need to go and see the police outside!". At that word -"police"- i freak out. Hmmm... i tell him, i might as well see the tomb before that, so he allows me to. When i am done, i go back to him. Many thoughts go through my mind at that point - maybe he wants baksheesh, maybe he is quite serious about it and he will take me to the police... My legs were shaking, thinking i am in deep s**t. I bravely go to him and say: "Alright then, let's go to the police!", so i start walking fast in front of him. he stops me at the entrance and explains everything to another man that was there. They both go: "Mishquais"! I am still shaking ... they tell me i need to pay a fine of 100 Le. In the end i tell them that i live and work in Egypt, i am helping their country ... They ask me to delete the pictures and i try to, but because my camera is new i have no clue on how to do that!

In the end, they gave me my camera back and let me go. I was happy! i didnt give them any money at all.

We also visited Hatshepsut's temple, where everyone was asking or tips in euros or dollars and when Cristina gave the guy 2 LE he started complaining. We ignored him and left.

We got back to our hotel around 6, after having dinner at "African restaurant" on the roof top of a building wt a gorgeous view on the Nile. So, i slept from 6 pm until next morning at 8. Next day we rented bikes and cycled around Luxor to see the temple, Karnak temple, museum, try and buy tickets at the train station...

Trying to buy train tickets - that was quite of an adventure. The morning we got there we tried to buy tickets from Luxor to Cairo and they told us to come back next morning. After renting the bikes and getting a bit lost around Luxor (outside Luxor) we got to the trian station just to find out that tickets were sold out. We tried talking to the manager, to explain what happened but he couldnt help us at all. To my surprise i was calmer than my previous experience of trying to buy tickets. There was no way for us to get back to Cairo the night we wanted to, unless we have taken the sleeper train, which we did in the end! At least i got to sleep well.

Luxor was not as bad as i thought; i was warned about all the hassleing, but having rented the bikes has helped us a lot - it spared us from a lot of hassle. Cristina got hassled at the souk and she got scared a bit, but it was alright in the end. She managed to get things for a good price.

When am i getting married?

This was the first question i got from my KG kids on Monday morning.
"Miss Mocanu, but when are you getting married?"
Answer: "I dont' know!"
"Hmm... i think you should get married next year!"
Me to myself: "Inshallah!!" :))

A morning in Hell ... the Mogamma!!

After three days of continuous celebration and partying, it was now time to go downtown to apply for an extension of my visa. Nichole and Dave came wt me. We left early in the morning just to avoid the hassle at the Mogamma.
Well ... even though there were just a few people that early, i still had my share of hassle for the day (or should i say for the year). I filled in the application form and handed it to the person in charge. They sent me to office 42 (Lost Passports) - i looked at the sign, thinking: "i did not loose my passport, but hei, you never know here... maybe they changed the office and left the sign". the guy took my passport, looked at it 3 times ... He leaves, then he comes back. He speaks no English, and my Arabic is zero (still!! after 6 months here). Then he comes back for me; he says: "come!" He takes me to this other office; he opens my passport and points at the stamp i got in Taba "Problem!!!". I'm like: "Hmm... alright!" He tells me i need to buy a 15 $ sticker. I do not understand why, he takes me back to this other guy. He has me waiting there for 10 minutes, i am trying ot figure out what's going on ... the guy says: "wait.. the manager will come.". The man came back and sent me to office 18 to buy a 15 $ sticker. I go there... the door is locked - with a lock on it! I try the next door - i go inside and explain the situation to the guy there ... and how i was advised to buy a 15$ sticker/visa. The guy looks at my passport and finally tells me: "The stamp from Taba is available only for Sinai; you do not have a visa for Cairo!".
then i point the visa i got in Israel and his expression is one i cannot describe in words - he looked like a child who just discovered the secrets of the Earth. Then he takes me back to the same guy i have been dealing wt from the very first thing of the morning.
He takes my passport, goes away, makes a phonecall... comes back.... During this whole time a bunch of Egyptians kept going in front of me and trying to get stuff done.
In the end, the guy gives me a piece of paper to fill in - the paper was actually saying that i had lost my passport! I panicked... but filled it in anyway ... The guy takes the paper, my passport and leaves. I am frustrated and VERY panicked. Where is he going? What is he doing wt my passport? Why did i have to fill in that paper? I did NOT loose my passport! At this point i had tears in my eyes ...
He comes back, sees my face and tries to assure me that everything is ok and that i need a stamp on my passport. When all of that is done, he tells me i am ok now and i can go and fill in the visa extension application.
I go to NIchole and Dave, start crying .... just to calm down. In the end i go to the desk again and hand in the papers. The lady tells me i need to pay a fine of 150 LE. I do not understand why and she tells me that my visa is expired. I go: "No, my visa expired yesterday and you were closed yesterday!!". She goes: "No! you do not have a visa!!" I show her the visa from the Egyptian Consulate in Eilat - Israel. That is when the bomb comes: "that is not a visa! you were supposed to come here within a month after that for a re-entry visa and you didnt, that is why you are fined!" I try to tell her that nobody has informed me about that and the Egyptian Consulate in Eilat said i am ok and free to go to Cairo for 3 months.
Apparently, i was illegal for 2-3 months here. i just went and paid the fine, handed in the application and left the building. At that point i was fed up!!
I went wt Nichole and Dave to the bike shop and ended up in Zamalek .... we had a great time there!

Birthday!!!!!!!!

My 25th birthday .... a week ago ...
Both me and Nichole had loads of plans ... culminating with a nice relaxing weekend in Anafora, with a bunch of people. It took us a while to get everybody to confirm etc and finally i called ... but only to find out that they were completely booked until March. :(( At that point we were running out of options. I was very disapointed as i really wanted to go to Anafora!!
I looked into other places to go and spend the weekend and it seemed like all of Egypt was booked - only because the University students have a break during that time. We had another idea of going out to Wadi Digla and have a bonfire and bbq, but i was not too keen on that.
So, in the end Nichole organised the whole day - asked me not to make any plans, as i was being difficult on what to do.Friday, after church she took me to meet the group - they had ordered Chinese/Thai food and we went on a felluca on the Nile. It was very relaxed! The food was good, i enjoyed my time ...
After the felluca we went to have ice-cream right across the road. I think that is the best place for icecream in Egypt!! I love it!!! The whole group sang Happy Bday to me on the street. :)
We returned home and Bronwyn invited us for dinner. It turned out to be a surprise party, as everyone was there, even Karabo, who was supposed to fly to South Africa. Bronwyn had cooked for us all ... Nichole made a chocolate cake wt strawberries (yummee).

It was amazing! We all had a great time!! Bronwyn served us osme of her special drinks, that i am kind of looking forward to have again!! :P
25 years is a quarter of a century - it seems a lot when you put it that way, but it is not (really). I do not feel older ... maybe wiser (?) (i should!!). The most important thing is that i do enjoy this stage in my life now, i enjoy what i am doing, the people i meet every day, i realise i am learning so much from the simple fact of being far from home, in a different country, different culture ...

Cute!

I was reading the story "Thumbelina" last week to my children and when i got to the part where the big frog comes and wants Thumbelina to marry her ugly son i got some funny replies from my kids. Amongst questions like "why" and "when" one of my boys said: "Well, the reason they cannot marry is because he is a frog and she is human!!". then he continued: "... and they cannot kiss!!!"
It made my day!!