Dahab is Da-Bomb!

We just returned last night from our trip to the Red Sea! What a week! We arrived in time for breakfast on monday morning. The hotel had quite a spread for us each morning. Some of it might seem a little odd from an American perspective (grilled vegetables? potato salad?) but it became our favorite meal each day. We would spring out of our comfortable bed to go to the dining room! haha Some of our favorites were the rice pudding, warm hard boiled eggs, cheese, granola, and the best of all- Loukamades! I like to call them Leukatrienes like the allergy commercials because it's funnier, and it reminds me of Heather and the Greek Festival. But they are basically mediteranian funnel cake served with honey. Oh yeah!

So, I could go on for days about the breakfast but we did do other things. Like eat lunch and dinner! We went to several different places, that all served food along the sea and decorated in bright jewel tones and big cushions. There was lots of great vegetarian food and the fresh juices-everything from mango to watermelon-were to die for. At night we enjoyed the "Furry Cup" bar at the resort, it was a cool wooden building that had swings instead of stools at the bar, and a rooftop overlooking the sea. The Egyptian beer is growing on us. The two labels are "Stella" (not Stella Artois, sadly) and "Sakara". They're ok, a little bitter and boring for my tastes but they'll do...During the day we did a lot of plain old relaxing by the pool in big wooden chaise lounges with big blue cushions. Ira did some reading to prepare for the semester and I read David Sedaris' new book "When You Are Engulfed In Flames" which was hilarious, a novel called "Flower Children" about the hippie subculture of the 70's from the prespective of a child, and another novel called "On Beauty" by Zadie Smith.

When we weren't lying around, napping, or swimming lazily in the pool, we were busy studying one of the most incredible coral reefs in the world. Ira went snorkeling a couple of times without me, I was, uh, busy (see previous paragraph). But our last morning we woke up with the sun and went for a snorkel and we were the only people in the water. It was awesome! We saw dozens of different kinds of fish, including about seven Lion Fish which are poisonous, but very cool. And the coral looks like something in a science book, every color of the rainbow and just as many diffferent textures. We also got a chance to see the reef when we went scuba diving. We had a "lesson" before we went out in the water and then we had some more instruction in the bay, and then it was time to do it! Sadly, Ira had a lot of trouble with his ears so he couldn't stay down. He went snorkeling while I kept going with the instructor. I went down 30 feet below the surface! It was so strange and felt really unnatural to breathe when you feel like you should be holding your breath. But once you get the hang of it, it's truly liberating. I think i would like to continue on and get certified the next time we go.

We also took advantage of the yoga that's offered at the resort. The shala was up on top of the roof and had views of the mountians and the sea. It was hot! But, that's a good thing. I think we both enjoyed it. Our instructor was German and she would say things like "just take the posture a little bit furrrther" or "We'll do one more sun salute, yah?" Very cute...and as you can see I had some fun taking some picutres up there, too. By the way, it took me all damn day to figure out how to put that stinkin' slideshow on there so you better enjoy it! Just kidding...but not about the all day part. Well, I could go on and on about the trip but this entry is long enough and I don't want to make you too jealous. Now it's back to reality, still no internet, still no shipment, still no relief from the heat, and orientation starts tomorrow. I'll be sure to report back about the fancy new campus!