Day 48

March 7th

Sharm- el -sheikh. We finally arrived after leaving Cairo at 10:45 PM at night and taking a 6 and half bus ride across the Sinai Peninsula. I have been wondering all day in Sinai is Asia or still Africa. If it is Asia, I have made it to my third continent. However, I have a feeling that it doesn't really count as Asia. Either way, the experience in itself was amazing, regardless if I went to Asia or not.

First the bus-ride. The girls in our group were the only girls on the bus. We were also the only foreigners. So either Egyptian women don't travel, or just don't travel at night. None the less it was odd to be on a bus full of Egyptian men. I shouldn't say full, because the bus we took was 80 pounds, pretty expensive for most Egyptians. Therefore it was really only the wealthy Egyptians who were traveling on the bus with us. Also, Egyptians don't sleep. So in order to entertain all the Egyptians the bus played Egyptian Video and music. The Video was about Omar and Selima, and it looked like a Teen movie. I couldn't help that thinking the smooth-talking, clash- clown, wealthy, athletic Omar was the ideal that Egyptian men looked up too. I hope this is not the case because lets just say there are better role models out there.

When we finally up in Sharm, it was 5:00 AM. Our rooms weren't ready for us to check in. So we made the best of our time and went to the beach. The beach was really just a sandy cliff, and it was amazing. We were elevated about 30 feet off the water, where there was a coral reef. The water was a beautiful light blue and we could see tons of colorful fish hanging out. We went down the path and jumped in. The Red Sea is salty. Very Salty. Even if you get just a little water in your mouth, its disgusting. You have to like clench your mouth shut. After that, I wandered back to the beach area and feel asleep for the rest of the morning. We would go swimming again and John and I also rented snorkeling equipment. It was a good purchase. Even though we didn't stay out that long being able to see underwater was a pretty magical experience.
When we finally got to check in at around 12:00, they had free lunch. I love free food. It was amazing. The workers at the hotel, the Sol y mar, were also amazed that we could speak broken Arabic. They were like noticeably thrilled and were happy to help us. I think that's just an indication how little the rest of the tourists knew. The other tourists were European. They brought with them their European dress codes. I was actually taken aback by the fashion I saw. Many of these fashions wouldn't cut it in America, much less in Egypt. But I guess the Egyptians didn't care here. I was trying to understand why I was bugged so much by the lack of decency, and it wasn't the lack of caring by the Europeans for Egyptian customs. If I was in Europe and saw the fashion I would be equally taken aback. I first thought that the women weren't respecting their own bodies, but the guys also didn't wear that much either. Its just pretty much the exact opposite of the hijab. If I don't judge the Egyptians, then I won't judge the Europeans.
We spent some more time on the beach, got free dinner and then hit the downtown. The downtown was like Europe transplanted. The girls were basically wearing the same stuff they did on the beach. It was kind of culturally shocking. That being said it was really nice and I enjoyed walked around the streets. It was expensive for Egyptians standards and I don't think I would want to stay there for more than a week. I feel I would run out of things to do. I mean living the life of luxury is nice, but its also pulling a blindfold over your eyes.