So what have we been up to lately…let’s see.
Well the weather has been getting nicer and nicer, or some might say, hotter and hotter. The forecast for the next two days is for a high of 98F!! Of course the weather here is pretty nice all the year round, but spring (yes, I think you can call it spring) brings all the flowers out in Ma’adi and there is a fantastic display of nature everywhere you look. Flowers of every color and trees blossoming as they reawaken after a brief sleep. I think my favorite has to be the delicate periwinkle colored blossoms that adorn many of the trees here, apparently it’s not just my favorite. Then there are some massive red blossoms that really stand out on an otherwise dead looking tree devoid of any leaves. Apparently the leaves come later. These are also quite popular with the fruit bats that we can see swarming this type of tree in the early evenings. Campus comes alive in spring and there are some spectacular trees richly draped in majestic royal purple flowers, so much so you can’t see the branches beneath.
Nancy can probably add a few more that I’ve left out along with the names.
So the weather has been getting better but we have had a few haamseens which block out the sun and has the effect of casting an eerie golden dusk-like hue to everything. These are big sand storms for anyone who hasn’t heard the term before. Warm air blowing across the desert picks up the sand and carries it along. It’s not uncommon for the temperature to rise by 20 or more degrees during a haamseen. I suppose every place has its own quirky weather and for Cairo this seems to be it. Oh and the occasional high pollution day when the smog settles so thickly over the city that nobody wants to be outside. We’ve had a few of these as well.
The past two weekends we’ve enjoyed a few activities that I think I’ve mentioned before. Womping and Hashing are quickly becoming two of our favorite outings and we’ve done both recently. The Womp, which occurs every Thursday almost without fail, is led by the Grand Poohbah of the Womp, Kim (who incidentally lives upstairs from us). This is a chance for primarily teachers to end their work week at 3:15 and enjoy a nice walk or run in the local Wadi. Wadi is a term used over here for what are in essence dried up rivers in what is now desert areas. We can be in our local Wadi in about 15 minutes and it’s a great place to go get away from the city, the people, the smog, the noise, the taxi horns and, well, just about anything else you want to get away from. The Womp culminates with a gathering following the walk and run where people sit and talk about whatever anyone wants to talk about, have some snacks and enjoy a few amber nectars or your beverage of choice in good company, I’d have to say the deserts are one of the best features of Egypt. Incredibly tranquil, especially when compared to the city, they are an excellent retreat when everything else gets to be too much. Nancy and I are walkers for now, maybe some day we’ll run. Whether a walk or a run we are normally out for just over an hour before returning to the vehicles and the gathering, which can last much longer. The wadi is also a great place for mountain biking as well and I can see myself spending more time there exploring, but maybe I’ll get a GPS before I go too far. Sand doesn’t have many distinguishing characteristics.
Now the Hash, for which we also have Kim to thank for introducing us to it, is similar to the womp, but on a larger scale. You could even say a global scale since there are Hash Houses located all over the world. Funny that I hadn’t heard of them before but there it is. The best explanation that I’ve heard that describes the Hash is that they’re a group of drinkers with a running problem. This group “hash’s” every Friday, without fail, and is made up of members from all over Cairo making for a very diverse collection of individuals. We’ve been twice now and I would say there might be between 50 and 100 people who came out on these occasions. Like the womp, there are both walkers and runners but instead of just going off on an unguided, random walk or run like the womp, on the Hash there’s actually a trail you follow. In fact, it’s best thought of this way, a hare or rabbit, leaves his scent along his trail and the hounds follow him, trying to follow his trail. In this case there are two rabbits, one runs, the other walks and they leave different trails. Now the hare, knowing he has hounds after him tries his best to confuse them by leaving false trails, doubling back on his trail, or trying to disguise his trail to throw off the pursuers. The trail is set by hasher’s who are designated as the hares and they usually lay the trail earlier in the day, leaving small piles of lentils or flour to mark the trail. Sometimes the trails may cross, sometimes not. The trails we’ve followed have been well planned so that both the walking group and the running group finish around the same time. And even within the walk or run, the false trails and double backs have the effect of slowing down the faster walkers or runners so the slower members of the group can catch up allowing everyone to finish about the same time. In any event it’s great fun and excellent exercise and we both enjoy it. Like the womp, afterwards comes the circle where some pretty goofy things can happen. Think of a frat in college and you’ll have a general idea. Members who have set a trail (been a hare) for the first time are initiated in the circle by answering a few questions about themselves, we were lucky enough to witness this last week. Based on what the circle now knows about the person from his answers, Hash names are then proposed for the person, a vote by rowdy cheering and then the person is, well, I guess you might say “baptized” with this new name. Kim’s name is Rude Yard, Rebecca’s, his wife, is Castrati, another’s name is Useless, another’s Gorillas in the Mist, and they get crazier from there. Anyway, songs are sung and beverages are imbibed, not necessarily in that order. There are certain traditions that are adhered to, anyone with new shoes must drink from their shoes for example. A friend of ours, Tim, who we talked into coming last week had some very flashy trainers on and was unfortunate enough to have them noticed, I mean they were lime green so…
And not last, and certainly not least, Nancy has been seen on the golf course (of all places) a few days with me. One day we visited the club and she practiced on the driving and putting ranges mastering the finer aspects of the 9 iron. Two other days found us playing 9 holes with our friend Cathy. I won’t tell you her score, she can if she likes, but all I’ll say is that for playing the entire round with a 9 iron she did fantastic! She’s a natural. Perhaps we’re no Tiger Woods but we do enjoy walking the green course and having some fun in the process.
Apart from these terrific diversions, much of my time has been spent organizing our summer travel plans. Here’s the way it looks, briefly, we fly from Cairo to London where we’ll meet MARY!! (woo hoo!!) who’ll travel with us in London and Scotland. From there we fly to Ireland, where we’ll spend a week touring Northern Ireland before meeting up with Tom & Julie and family (woo hoo!!) who we’ll travel with for a few days before they head to London. After a few more days in Ireland we fly to Paris where we’ll meet my parents who are traveling with us for the remainder of the summer through France, Germany and Italy.
Nancy, busy as always found time to help organize, decorate and host a baby shower for our friend and downstairs neighbors Dustin and Verna this past Wednesday. Unfortunately I missed it, so I’ll let Nancy tell you about it.
So why’d I miss it? I was on a plane on my way back to the US. I was asked if I would perhaps be interested in returning to work temporarily to help out during the very busy closing that is happening. It was all very last minute, and although we dislike being apart for so long, we agreed that I should go. So as I write this last part, the first part having been written on my layover in Milan, I’m currently at my parents in Maine. I’ll be working until June 1st when I fly back to Cairo to help close up our apartment for the summer.
The road to Petra that we took is called the King's Highway. Here’s how the Jordan Tourism Board’s website describes it: “First mentioned by name in the Bible (Numbers 20:17 and 21:22), the King's Highway was the route that Moses wished to follow as he led his people north through the land of Edom, which today is in southern Jordan. The name may, however, derive from the even earlier episode recounted in Genesis 14, when an alliance of "four kings from the north" marched their troops along this route to do battle against the five kings of the Cities of the Plain, including the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The invading monarchs captured Lot, Abraham's nephew, before retreating, only to be chased and overpowered near Damascus by Abraham, who rescued Lot before continuing his mission. This may have happened around 5000 years ago”.
The canyon walls climbing high above us, resplendent in their colors and shielding us from the sun, were awesome. 
The narrow outlet finally arrives at Petra’s most renowned site, the Treasury.
The Monastery carved into the cliff here was gigantic and the views were incredible and easily worth the effort of the climb. This region is a hiker’s paradise. Those who don’t like walking would find it a bit more challenging.
Again the views from up here were terrific, I caught Paul in a moment of solitude out on this peak. Talk about being on top of the world!
The park was extensive and required a fairly lengthy hike down into a ravine. Further than we had time for so we turned around about half way down and headed back to the car. Perhaps on our next trip we’ll schedule a full day or two here to explore the area on foot. Having our daily exercise out the way, and it being near feeding time, we wandered into a little, what’s the word….hotel, I guess. That’s what the sign said anyway. A bit like a hostel from what I saw, we asked the first person we saw that looked like they belonged to the place if we might be able to find food here. He told us wait here and disappeared only to reappear a moment later and say yes. After a brief staring contest in which we both seemed to be deciding our next move, we climbed some stairs where we could hear what sounded like dishes clinking. It indeed did look like a dining area, long tables arrayed with seats all around and some people just finishing up on their way out. We seated ourselves in a clean (ish) area and chatted for a few minutes. After a few minutes more, and no trace of anyone else, we began to wonder if perhaps we were mistaken. I know for a fact that many people not really conversant in English, when they don’t understand a question, just say “yes” and was wondering if perhaps that had happened to us. So now, maybe we were sitting here waiting to be fed, and maybe the guy was down stairs wondering what we were doing here on his roof and not knowing what to do next. More time passed and a man walked by, Wendy flagged him down and asked if perhaps we could have menus. He indicated to us to just wait. By now we had the waiting thing down, so reassured that we were doing the proper thing sitting here, we waited. Moments later, men laden with trays of food descended on us (well, ascended really, we were on the roof) with the most wonderful, authentic Jordanian village meal we could have dreamed of. All vegetarian, which delighted our vegetarian (Sarah). In fact I think we were all astounded and although perhaps a simple meal, it was none the less delicious and we devoured it.
