Golfing in Egypt - Egypt style

I didn't even do this as part of a bet...

Tolerable

My weekend (Thurs/Fri) was alright this week... On Thursday me and 11 others took a bus to Cairo for a "pub night" at the Canadian embassy, which turned out to be pretty fun. There was a lot of expats there, plus a pork roast bbq!! woo hoo! After the embassy we went to the Hard Rock where we ate some more and then danced for a bit once the "nightclub" started... all in all a good time. We got back to Stella around 3:30am which was a little hard because I had a golf tournament to play in at noon on Friday, but I made it up in time! Didn't play too well though which sucks, but whatev.

Friday evening I did some housesitting for fellow Canadians (the GM of the operations team, he and his wife will be here for 3-5 years)... fed his cat and dog and chilled out at his place on the beach about a 15 minute drive south of Stella Di Mare. It was great to sleep in an actual bed and not a hotel bed... Too bad we have to stay in the hotel here instead of being able to rent villas, I think it would make our stay here a lot more tolerable.

Keep on...

Ali-baba

Well, it's been a wild and crazy few days... First off the last weekend of Ramadan where we had from Friday to Monday off was a bit of a runaway, as per usual I s'pose. For those of us expats who hung around the resort we planned a tournament each day. Friday was golf, Saturday was Poker and college football (via slingbox), and Sunday was pool. I was relatively well behaved Friday and Saturday nights even though I had dressed up in my galabeya (spelling?!) to play golf... But Sunday was a little different. After he pool tournament it turned into crazy expat karaoke, followed by drunkin' room rally in my room, followed by even more drunkin' beach crashing... I only remember about a 2/3 of the evening, and I'm not proud of that either. Needless to say the sun was well up when we finally crashed and I didn't wake up until 3:30pm Monday afternoon. I'll try and post some pictures as there was a guy taking some until the wee hours... You could safely compare him to "that guy" that takes a camera to a bachelor party, I thought what happens in Egypt stays in Egypt.

So then I had a squash game lined up for Tuesday evening. So I get back to my room after work around 6pm, realise I'm running low on Egytian money so I take $400 US out of my safe and put it with my wallet so I remember to take it to work the next day to change. I leave my room at 6:25pm to play squash and return at 7:40pm to find the US cash, my Egyptian cash, and both my mobile phones gone. No signs of forced entry, but also not all "valuables" are gone, only the cash and phones. So the rest of the evening is spent convincing hotel security that I didn't just misplace it all and it didn't fall behind the desk. It all seems a little sketchy for my liking, even by Egyptian standards. I'm hoping the perp is a hotel guest who's gone now, but if it was staff then we're all f'd.

Bottom line, I'm out about $600 in mobile phone technology and $500 US equivalent in cash and an uneasy feeling leaving anything of value in my room. But where do I hide a laptop and related electronics, sunglasses, watches, personal documents, pictures, etc in a 250 square foot hotel room with a .5 cubic foot safe? Son of a... So I had to call Rogers and deactivate my YYC SIM card/number so don't bother calling that one. Mind you I've been here 8 months and the only calls I field are Scotiabank trying to sign me up for credit card insurance. I'll replace the SIM and reactivate the # at Christmas when I'm back on the continent.

I grew a goatee over the weekend (ok ok, last 2 weeks)... I don't think I like it and haven't decided if I'll share it with anyone. blah!

Ramadan

Below is a presentation that was forwarded to me via email that Shell put together for their non-Muslim employees to let them know a little about Ramadan. It has been Ramadan here in Egypt for nearly a month and it's ending this Friday... As a foreigner working in a predominantly Muslim country it has been quite the experience that I'm glad to have had. Living in a "European" style hotel run by a Coptic Christian Egyptian hasn't exactly been too effected by Ramadan, but my work environment and other interaction with Muslims has been enlightening.

This weekend, starting Friday, we get 4 days off... Some of my co-workers are taking off to Europe or other places to take a break, while me and some others are sticking around the resort. We've planned a weekend of tournaments, including golf, poker, pool, and couple others. I'm looking forward to a relaxing and fun weekend, glad to have a break from travelling...

Hope all is well in your part of the world.

Slingbox

Does anyone in Canada have access to a SlingBox connection that they want to share with me so I can watch Flames' games? One hooked up to a PVR would be prime, that way if I sleep through it I can watch it the next day...?

P p p p pleeeeaaaasssseeeee...

Europe Video - again

Here is the video again through blogger in case you can't access YouTube.

Europe Vid

Here's a quick video compliation I put together of the recent trip to Prague. Sort of amateur, but whatever. Enjoy...

Eastern Europe Pics

Here's a link to about 50 pics from the Europe trip on Facebook... hope you can get to Facebook from work...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56093&l=a12f0&id=666980653

Insert Homer Simpson scream here.

From: Amani.Shenouda@dfat.gov.au [mailto:Amani.Shenouda@dfat.gov.au]
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 1:09 PM
Subject: <> [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

The travel advice for Egypt has been reviewed and reissued. It contains
new information in the Summary and under Terrorism (Israeli government
warns of very high risk of attack and kidnapping in the Sinai at this
time). The overall level of the advice has not changed.
The full text of the revised advisory on Egypt can be found on the internet
at: http://www.smartraveller.gov.au
Please find below the text of the Summary & Terrorism sections of the
Travel Advice:
Summary:
We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in Egypt because of the
high threat of terrorist attack. Attacks could occur at any time, anywhere
in Egypt.
Tourist areas and popular destinations such as Hurghada, Luxor, Aswan,
Giza, Alexandria, Red Sea and Sinai resorts, Upper Egypt and places
throughout the rest of Egypt are potential terrorist targets, as are
commercial and public areas known to be frequented by foreigners. We
continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks against a
range of targets, including but not limited to places frequented by
foreigners. These include tourist resorts and hotels, transport
infrastructure, including the Cairo metro system and its stations, and
other symbols of the Egyptian government.

Pics from Europe 2007

Here is a quick link to some pics from the trip... I'll post more and some stories afte some sleep (and golf).

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56093&l=a12f0&id=666980653

Praha 1

Back in Prague, 2nd time in 2 years (I think, the first time is a little cloudy). Not much has changed, it's a lot busier here this time with it being high season... Jagr's bar is closed, it's now an Irish pub/sports bar. The other change is I'm staying at a full-on hostel this time too, which we did a bit of in Krakow but never shared a room with anyone. This time we are, 2 bunks out of 6 in 1 room. How come the more money I make the cheaper places I stay?? Haha, so far it's alright and has been a good way to meet a couple younger people. We'll see what I say tomorrow after listening to 5 other donkeys snore and toss and turn. It's friggin' cheap tho, I'll give it that.

We're thinking of Berlin in a couple days, we're thinking we'd like to see "the wall" since Munich is likely going Oktoberfest crazy with drunken brits, which we also experienced in Poland. No complaints though, just sayin'.

Anyways, enough key clackin', back to the streets!

Poland

Poland has been an amazing surprise. Before this trip I thought that it would be cool to come here one day, almost as a novelty, and now that I've come I can say that I'm sure glad I did. The country is beautiful, full of history and tragedy, and has still managed to not be fully engulfed in western commercialization. This isn't to say that it's not here, but of all the places I've been in Europe Poland has so far resisted being fully converted. This is probably also a result of it only shedding communism 18 years ago... The people are friendly, the sites and people are beautiful, and there is a definite festivity in the air most of the time. There is also an abundance of young people, mostly here on school trips, learning the history and respecting the past.

After 4 or 5 nights of being up until 5 am we had a sobering day today. We went to Auschwitz, which is everything you imagine it to be, and worse. It is just not fathomable what humans do to humans, even in times of war. I can only hope that we've learned from our mistakes.

More touring is planned tomorrow, and then we're heading to Wroclaw to visit a friend of Mike's who is from Poland. Then we're not sure where exactly, probably Prague...

See you around, Ryan.

Stats

Here's a chart of hits on my blog... I guess most people surf on over on Sundays, but not too many during the week, while at work. But the few I do get I should give a shout out to: Nads, Amish, the Colombians, mom... who else are work-time visitors?

We lose a good one

Last night was the going away of one of the waiters/bartenders at the pub in our hotel... he found a better job eslewhere. We smoked cigars and drank cognac in his honor.

Waleed was Rick's favourite (Rick in red):

Me and Waleed (and cognac):
The afterwork pub gang:

More Colombia Pics II

Mucho Aguilas:
Torture table at the Spanish Inquisition Museum in Cartegena:
Museum again, outside at dusk:
Playa Blanca, 45 min boat ride from Cartegena:
Lime anyone:

More Colombia Pics

The three best men:
Three best women:
Bride and Groom, post nuptuals:
Mud bath on the lip of a dormant volcanoe (I hope), that's me looking at the camera:
The Pinzon-Heinz clan looking at wedding photos:

pillow vs pillow = wicked awesome

Had a good weekend here with the Peck's visiting me in Ain Sukhna. They were supposed to arrive Wednesday evening but they were 20 minutes late getting off their boat and subsequently missed the government convoy that is required to drive up the coast from where they were to here. This annoyed them royally, as us westerners aren't used to being told we can't go somewhere without a government escort. So they ended up arriving Thursday afternoon. We enjoyed dinner at the beach and then went to a friend's villa for some beverages on their rooftop patio. It was a great night with some mild debauchery, but the company was the best part.

Friday was spent making quick work of 9 holes and then heading to the beach. I was a little under the weather (and still am) but as usual the weather was perfect and it was good to relax for a little while. The Peck's enjoy telling stories, so they filled the air recounting their dive trip and other adventures for my co-workers and friends here! But the visit was short and sweet as they had to leave this morning to head back to Rome before travelling to Zambia for their 2 months of volunteering.

Next week I'm off for 2 weeks to galavant around Eastern Europe with a friend from Fort McMurray. We were housemates there (actually he was my landlord) and he's decided to quit his job, sell his house, and go travelling for awhile. So we meet in Warsaw, Poland on the 14th and will be training our way through Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany for Oktoberfest.

It's a hard knocked life.

Silent film

Quick vid from the top of the Nile Cruise boat...

Roots

Three posts in one day, not too shabby.

It seems like I'm going on a lot of vacations lately, which is alright with me. My next "rotation/home-leave" is 14-Sep to 27-Sep. But, I'm not heading home quite yet. I am meeting Z who was my roommate/landlord in Fort McMurray in Warsaw and doing an eastern European tour ending up in Germany Oktoberfest, which I know is a tourist thing to do but we don't care. I'm flying to Poland and then have to make my way to Frankfurt for a fligth back to Cairo by the 27th... we're training it all of the way, which will be cool. The main goal of this trip will be to buy new golf shoes and maybe some WWII shtuff.

Colombia, get off my back already!

Seems like so long ago already! But here it is... Like I said, Facebook is to blame, there are like 50 pics there of Colombia.