Saturday, July 07, 2007

a busy 3 weeks

i am not feeling so creative and haven't been writing much lately. maybe because i am overcoming my addiction to facebook. i am on the 5th step of a 12 step programme. or something like that.

here is what i have been up to the last 3 weeks:
  • i rubbed shoulders with the vice president of kenya in mombasa
  • i contracted malaria because i slept without a mosquito net during the rainy season in mombasa (i direct you to http://www.spreadthenet.org/ again because now that i know what malaria feels like and that it can be prevented so easily and treated for very little money yet most who get it cannot afford the drugs, i really think that we should keep spreading the net)
  • i went to egypt and although it was hot as balls, it rocked the casbah and maybe i will get around to articulating how much it rocked in the near future, for now my smattering of photos will have to do (there are more on my facebook, if you are so inclined)
  • i found some generic egyptian drugs to treat the malaria
  • i went hot air ballooning over the valley of the kings in luxor
  • i dodged taxis and other vehicles on the streets of cairo, which put the streets of nairobi to shame even though i wasn't sure that was possible
  • i saw a half naked fat man in his flimsy white boxer shorts and am still laughing about it
  • i was defeated at trivial pursuit (but it was the british version so i had a slight disadvantage)
  • i kicked butt at ping pong on the beach of the red sea
  • i hung out in king tut's final resting place
  • i ate hummous, tabouleh, baba ganouj, tahini, and grape leaves
  • i read some books, including A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (7/10), Blessings (7.5/10), and A Thousand Splendid Suns (8.5/10 and this would be higher but it just doesn't compare to the author's other book, The Kite Runner)
  • i went snorkelling in the red sea and got windswept
  • i floated on the red sea (but not over to saudi arabia)
  • i had my bum fondled on the metro and my photo taken on a ferry
  • i broke into kenya and snuck my way around buying a visa thinking that i could just leave on my other passport to avoid paying for yet another visa, that was NOT a good idea and they almost made me miss my flight to london by insisting i go home and locate my 'misplaced' passport, but they let me on the flight after making their point, pulling my luggage off the plane, and delaying the flight
  • i gave up my seat that had extra leg room (mine aren't so long) and they gave me a first class bag of goodies with khiel's products
  • i visited my sister in london and bought my first pair of skinny jeans
  • i ate the best sushi with some pretty good company
  • i am also a full fledged hippy as i do not have a tv, like to knit, and now own a pair of birkenstocks
  • air canada is perhaps the most miserable airline to fly with - i don't want to hear what my flight attendants are doing on the weekend, what their hobbies are, nor do i want to be barked at or be forced to overhear their rude conversations with other passengers
  • i flew next to refugees being resettled to the us, it was nice to look over and smile at the well-behaved kids laughing out loud at the cartoons
  • a man tried to lasso me as i came through the arrivals gates at the airport in calgary and i have been slightly afraid of the stampede ever since
  • i arrived home after 3 long weeks of travelling through kenya, egypt, and london
  • i am attempting to readjust to life in the developed world and the pace of calgary while avoiding the stampede

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As a fellow traveller let me second your comment that Air Canada can be a miserable airline to fly with!