Adventure Egypt: We are Certified!.... also......... dogs, cats, and change.....

We are back from Dahab! Home of the infamous Blue Hole fatalities... (seriously, look it up). We had no clue what getting certified as scuba divers meant but we thought OK, when in Rome do as the Romans do. (or Egypt do as the Egyptians do...) They all dive here at this school and so down to Dahab we went. Little did we know that the oldest person they ever trained was an old man of 56. Wow, OLD! (Wait a minute, I AM 56). Five days later after about eight dives we staggered out of the ocean as certified scuba open water divers. We had to learn about thirty different skills and Donna and I did our best to not embarrass and make fools out of ourselves. Here is a picture of us at the bottom and some of the fish that we saw. Can you pick us out?

Lion Fish and others....this is a small sampling and that's the truth! Amazing fish and coral everywhere. Reality trumps fantasy here.

So while in Dahab we were face to face with Egypt today. A country whose tourist trade has been decimated. Walking down the beautiful Dahab boardwalk, a mile of amazing shops, restaurants, diving shops, and hotels amidst a beautiful backdrop of mountains and surf it was sad to see the drastic drop in tourism. There were people but normally they said there was a throng of lively activity that would go deep into the night. Now, our group (24 from our school) was the biggest activity they had seen in months. We felt safe and comfortable. Friendly people. But upon leaving Dahab in our van we sat while police with automatic weapons took our passports for twenty minutes amidst high security. A reminder that all is not "back to normal" by any means in Egypt.

"Do you have correct change?" No one it seems has any change in Egypt right now. Shopkeepers dig into their own personal wallets to come up with change or go to a neighboring shop to come back with a five pound note. Small change is almost impossible to come by. It brings about some funny situations as they talk to their friends, go to their wallets, or dig into their "secret" cash reserve. It happens time and time again. It's a wonder that things get bought and sold. But somehow it all works out.

As far as the cats and dogs well.... somehow it seems to work out for them too. Zillions of cats and dogs everywhere in Dahab and in Egypt in general. At breakfast in the morning one must shoo them away constantly. At dinner I looked the other way and turned around to see a cat on the table eating my fish. Spray bottles are the general mode of repelling them but many pay little heed to water spray. They come back with a vengeance. They are for the most part friendly animals and crave attention but it does conjure up images of mass sterilization. So.... a few photos of our trip to Dahab and our horrible, crazy ride home from the airport. People thought I was a bad driver. I am a Saint. Truly. Come to Egypt and take a ride... you will see.