Sandblasted!

Our story starts in a land far, far away. (well, for everyone except Marc, Kylie, Jody and Josh) In a land we will call "Egypt". Our four heroes called the Canadianators were having their powers slowly drained by the noisy city of Cairo. To regenerate their energy to continue with their superhero duties they embarked on an adventure out to "the desert". After a bus ride out of Cairo, the Canadianators could tell right away that they were in for a fast paced ride, as all you could see when you looked down from your bus seat window was SAND. Our heroes didn't know it yet, but the desert had much more than amazing sand for them to contend with.

First stop, Bahariyya Oasis, our story begins here. As part of our strict regeneration program, we were put up in very pleasing huts. While staying here our superheroes also soaked in a power renewing hot spring. The things a hero has to endure!
The next day, we met the director of hero camp, named Peter. A truly unique character, bubbly and wonderfully helpful, our entire trip was put in place by this man and it was AMAZING. He really knows what superheroes like us need.
First, we needed a Bedouin guide, to take us through the desert safely. Even superheroes need a little help sometimes.
Second, we needed transportation, fit with all the necessary trinkets and whistles to help us battle the bad guys.
Our Desert Mobiles would speed through the vast expanse, taking on sand, basalt, limestone, salt, water, asphalt and cold nights.
Finally our superheroes, Doctaur, Giggles, Wonderwoman (no this is not bias), and Subman were ready to go. Bring on the desert, superheroes are always ready.
We were taken to places that would blow the average humans mind!!! But our heroes were able to absorb the wonderful sites because of their super brain powers.
We went to places called:

The Black Desert

The White Desert

You can see our superhero camp with the tents near the desert "snowbank".

The "Oasis" (actually, there are many oasies and springs of all different names)

And many other places, but I can not add anymore or it could blow this computer.

Superheroes have a lot of superpowers, but these need to be sharpened in places like, the desert. This could be considered a working holiday for our Canadianators.

Superhero, Subman, regenerating his ability to leap from tall buildings. The superheroes never knew their would be so many things to climb and jump off in the desert.

Subman and Doctaur, fast as speeding bullets, sharpen their sand mogel skills.
Subman practicing his ability to go without water while in the desert. This is part of the extreme conditions training that all superheroes must endure.

Luckily for our heroes, they were on top of their game when they started to encounter the wild desert BEASTS. They had to use all of their incredibleness to survive.

We battled SCARABS. The Egyptian symbol for luck, which was put in place of the heart in a mummy.
We battled wild beasts called, "cows". They caught us off gaurd in the palm trees, but we were able to adjust.

We even battled the MUMMIES themselves. All through the desert there are tombs and old town sites where you can still see walls, pottery and if you are really unlucky the 3 thousand year old inhabitants themselves!

The tree with real superpowers. Middle of the desert, nothing but sand, rocks, and sun, then there is ONE tree, standing all alone. There are no other trees for miles and they are all palm trees. So, what is it's secret to survival? The tree sends chutes into the ground to find water, it doesn't actually root, if there is no more water in that area, the tree will actually MOVE. It will roll, send out more chutes in other areas and the trunk will just sort of fall in the right direction. You could see 3 other places, meters away from it's current location, where it had grown before. AMAZING!

There are very specific requirements for a superhero camp to be operated in the desert first you need Antar. He is the wisest desert superhero of all. He will teach you the ways of the desert and will take care of you. Here Wonderwoman is learning delicious Bedouin recipes that will refuel any superhero.
Here, Antar has shown our Doctaur, Giggles and Wonderwoman how even the desert can look and feel like home with the right touches. This includes a 4x4 Land crusier or desert mobile, a tent like structure that connects to it, mattresses, sleeping bags, water, a table and tasty meals to go on top of it. (prepared above)
We really loved Antar and would recommend that any of the superheroes out there reading this that may be taking a power rejuvenation trip to the desert, you should look him up.

Last but not least, the superheroes regained much of their power from the elements provided by the desert itself. Wonderwoman soaked up the flower power from this "flower stone", formed in this old sea when magma rose out of the earth and then was cooled quickly by the water.
Subman, also regained strength from the wind which could be quite cold in the desert. Because of this picture we have given him a new superhero name we call him PUFFY PANTS MAN, he loves it!

Nothing regenerates superheroes like the desert, we are practicing our cute and innocent poses to throw bad guys off our true identities. How are we doing?
Alas, one can not stay in the desert forever, well you can if you are a Bedouin, but not the heroes of our story. From the desert we set off on another adventure to the Nile and a town called Luxor.

The trip was a success, our powers are fully charged, CRIMINALS BEWARE!

K
(aka Wonderwoman)

Still Learning Tricks in Cairo

Cairo is an incredible place. After being here for about 2 weeks now, we've learned some really handy tricks for survival in Cairo. Buying freshly squeezed fruit juice for about 25 cents a glass has become part of our daily, or nightly routine. Below is a picture of Tyrn pounding back some ice cold tamarind juice with pomegranate on deck. Thanks be to Josh for showing us this place.

We've spent lots of time wandering around the markets, which are everywhere, and amazing. In this one Kelsey and I are looking at some handmade pillow cases. We didn't end up buying because I'm too cheap, basically. We really like the black and white ones at the bottom, and we might go back to get them later.
Kelsey had a crazy attack of bites here. In this picture they've gone down quite a bit and she had them all up her arms and legs and on her FACE and back! At first we thought they were from fleas, but Dr. Marc says they're from mosquitos. Crazy African mosquitos! The bad spell of bites has ended and they're going down.



In university I learned about the Sufi subsect of Islam, and in particular their music and dancing. Of course the music is amazing, but doesn't catch well in a photo, so here are a couple of the dancing. This first guy spun in a circle for about half an hour and then when it was all over he stood still and bowed in 3 directions and walked offstage. I don't know how they do it.




Kelsey loves these lamps. They hang everywhere in Cairo, and are usually covered in a thick layer of smog, but still look beautiful, especially when lit up at night.

This is what most city streets look like. Notice that the pedestrians are mixed right in with the cars, which are always moving. Some of our taxi rides have felt like we were riding with Evil Keneivel but we have survived. The cabs are little decrepit clunkers that would never pass inspection in Canada, but they drive them like it's the Cairo Grand Prix every day.

Cairo should be famous for it's mannequins, because there are thousands and thousands of them. Almost all of them are blond and blue eyed, which is strange here. At night it looks kind of creepy with all of them staring out on to the grungy streets from their brightly lit ranks.

We saw this thing on a side street in a poorer section of Cairo. We think it's the predecessor to the Zipper. There were amazing things to see in this area, like furniture makers, cows, and underworked shoe polishers.

We took a couple of rides on the Nile in a sailboat with our friends. Great times!





This guy is making "Egyptian pancakes" at one of our favourite restaurants: Gad.
Mmmm, Gad is Good!

The drumming and the music here can't be resisted. I ended up buying one of these after some good shopping and bargaining. I love it! Unfortunately, I won't see it again until we get back because Josh is taking it back to Canada for me. Can't wait to show you how it sounds.




Last night we took a cruise on the Nile with Marc and Kylie, complete with buffet and belly dancing. This video goes out to Josh, who's also addicted to colour accent mode on his camera. We're also really excited to showcase our first video on the blog. Thanks Marc for showing me how to do it.



From here we're heading out into the desert with Marc and Kylie and likely won't be blogging until we find an oasis.

Ty

Friendly Reunion

Cairo is a miracle of existence. Undescribable, infinitely complex, and ALIVE. There are a million cultural rules that you can either learn by breaking,or being broken by. For example, when you take a taxi, you have to just KNOW the appropriate price andpay it when you get out. If you ask, you'll be swindled big time. Even if you look unsure when you pay, you might have trouble. BUT, there are ways of attaining this information. First, ask Josh. If not, once you've finished bargaining on one purchase and made a successful transaction, you can ask that merchant what the "egyptian" price is for your next purchase in Cairo. He'll give you the proper answer. Just to give you a benchmark, tonight 5 of us had supper for a total of 7 dollars, and that was at an expensive place by Egyptian standards. Everything is for sale here, at any hour of the day or night. You need a knob for your oven or tv? Just keep your eyes open and you're bound to pass someone selling exactly that, and only that. There's no 9 to 5 here. People are always working, but at the same time socializing, having fun, visiting, trading and moving. I really could go on and on, and we've only hardly scratched the surface.

As you can see, there are no rules on the roads.
Coca Cola really is everywhere
We have now moved downtown into the Sultan Hotel with Josh, Marc and Kylie. We love being all together to have the opportunity to talk late at night and just relax in the mornings. However, I do miss the luxury of Maadi living with Jody. The hotel is great and is only $2/night/person. Unfortunately these days, I keep finding more and more bites all over my body. This morning was the worst, I woke up with 10-15 bites on my FACE, as well as lots on my arms. I even put bug spray on last night, so I am not sure when I am getting them or from what. One good thing is that seeing and doing all the amazing things we do, I often forget about my bites and am only crazy itchy at night time.

Sleep Over
Us in the Sultan, currently you see Kylie doing her rock star impression, Tyrn showing off his skills, Marc in the top right corner is about to somersault onto Ty's bed and break it, Josh in the front is dancing for the ladies and I am trying to rush back to get in the picture. We love these guys!!

Today we went to the Giza pyramids. They are AWESOME. It was such a great day, great weather, great company and great sights.

There are cops on camelback at the pyramids who can be bribed, either by you or by the touts so that they'll let you climb the pyramids. Speaking generally, there is a lot of corruption here.
The Sphinx was a bit of a disapointment but that might be because the site was closing when we came to that side, so we were ushered out by a symphony of police whistles. It's funny that although all the police openly carry a machine gun, it's the whistles that make the tourists run. The guns quickly pass into the subconscious and you soon don't even notice them. I'm sure that would change if one of them opened fire!
This is an extraordinary photo of an ordinary camel. Most of the camels around the pyramids are decorated up like this. Kelsey was shocked at how tall they were. The touts come by and repeatedly offer you a rental on their camels, and they hate it when you say no.
This is our reunion shot. Aaron, where are you?
We payed LE 1.50 for this unsolicited photo opportunity. That's about 25 cents.
We have to run, again. Please check "adventures of Marc and Kylie" or "DJ3J" for their perspectives on the recent days.

T & K

Walking Like Egyptians

This guy met us at the airport and ushered us through the customs/visa process in Presidential Style. We then were introduced to our driver, who took us to Jody's apartment in a Maserati luxury sedan. This was all arranged by Jody before we arrived. Thanks Jody!

We've been in Egypt for about 4 days but there is no way we can show you or really describe what it's like. A picture is a thousand words, so we'll show you some things we've seen and tell you what little we understand of it. Actually, we have to run at this moment so we'll add some commentary later. We're safe and sound staying with Kelsey's cousin Jody, who's teaching at an international school and visiting with our friend Josh, who's on vacation from his job in Sudan and also with Uncle Brian and Auntie Joan who are here visiting their daughter.

Auntie Joan, Uncle Brian, and Ty. Relaxing on Rd No. 9

Cousin Jody, Brian and us at Cairo American College, which is actually a private K-12 school.This guy and 2 others could really use some heavier equipment to tear up this sidewalk. Labour is cheap here. You should have seen it when we came back and another guy was holding a chisel with his hand while this guy swung his hammer down on it. That's either trust or stupidity.
Ty and Josh walking down one of the thousands of crowded market alleys. Walking is often interrupted by cars, dirtbikes, scooters, and sometimes horse drawn carts coming through. They'll just honk a lot and drive through quickly. Everyone casually moves to the side at the last moment.
A sign, like many others. We think it means you should stop here? On this note, everyone thinks you should stop and see their shop. One guy asked Tyrn, "Friend, what you are looking for?" Ty said, "nothing". He said, "I have nothing. Come in and see. No charge for look."
Some stuff for sale. Most things in the shops don't look this orderly. The white things are dried starfish, and the red stuff is dried hibiscus leaves, which make a great tea.
Smoking shisha, which in this case is apple flavoured tobacco. The smoke is drawn through water at the bottom of the pipe (hookah) to soften it. Canadians call this a bong, I believe.
The charcoal on top of the hookah. It's really about the experience. The whole thing is decorated with chrome, glass, carved wood and fabric. The pipe vibrates in your hand from the bubbling in the water. All in all, it's an experience that even hardcore non-smokers like us can enjoy.
Some carpets or something for sale in the markets.
These windows are made so that the women can see out, but the men can't see in.
These women must wear their headscarves in public, but are free to shop for bras at the same time. NB, the vendors are always men.
A shop in a Bedouin market area. This one, like many, sells quilts, bags, and pillow cases.
Josh, navigating the menu for us. Our favourite dish so far: Aysh with Baba Ghanouj and a bunch of other spicy and savoury sauces.
Josh, by the Nile.
Us smoking shisha, again.
A mosque. There are calls to prayer 5 times a day, broadcast by loudspeakers on street corners. Undescribable. You have to hear it and see it.
In a cab. Cairo traffic is insane, even compared to Rome or Paris. It's amazing that there aren't very many collisions. It's a completely different system, based more on awareness and cooperation than on rules. Actually, there are no rules here.