Dec. 25, Dahab, Egypt

Hello. It's a sunny day in Dahab, Egypt, a small backpacker resort on the Red Sea Coast of the Sinai Peninsula. This is where I chose to spend my winter holiday. Dahab is known for affordability (about $6 per night at a backpacker hotel). I'm enjoying the sunshine. The snorkeling is fantastic, and there are a lot of interesting travelers - from all over Europe, Australia and Canada. Strangely, Americans are conspicuously absent, so everyone makes a fuss when I say I'm from America, and they refer to me thereafter as "Jon the American." I've been on two outings since my arrival last Thursday night. One day I went on a desert trek out to hike in some Canyons (very reminiscent of places I visited in Utah with my dad), and visit an oasis where Beduins have a little settlement. Bedouins are the descendents of desert nomads who do not really belong to any nation. They are given their own parcels of land where they are allowed to live in their traditional ways, kind of like American Indian reservations. We had lunch served to us by Beduoins. It was some kind of mildly seasons meatballs, potatoes, cucumber-tomato salad, and rice. It was pretty good. The other outing was to a different Beduoin settlement called "Ras Abu Galum," this one up the coastline beyond road access. You have to take camels to get there. The camel ride was fun. The way up was much better than the way back because a boy fixed my saddle for me so that I could ride comfortably. On the way back they were in a hurry so I just had to jump on a camel and go. Very bumpy, very rough. I actually got down and walked for the last half mile. Both of these trips were in the company of a French lady I met who lives and teaches in Alexandria. She didn't speak much English, and I speak no French, but we were both traveling alone and so we sort of looked out for each other. The snorkeling at Ras Abu Galum was really great. I saw fish of every color of the rainbow, and some amazing ones like "lion fish" that have a "mane" of white and black patterned skinny fins that come out of it. I wish I had taken some money to Ras Abu Galum because there were children there selling trinkets, and they just didn't understand that I had no money. They wanted to sell me something in the worst way - even the smallest price for the littlest little bead bangle... and finally one exasperated little boy just gave me a bracelette and said "Present - no money - no money." I felt funny accepting a present from this little kid with no shoes, living in a shack. The French lady went back to Alexandria the day before yesterday. I'm meeting other people every day. I met a girl from Saitama-ken (Japan) and talked to her for a while in Japanese. Also met a fellow named Robbin from Edmunton Canada, Swiss carpenter named Manwell, and a Dutch journalist lady named Jovanna. Everyone, of course, is just passing through, but it's kind of fun.

I have had number of conversations with Egyptians here. Many of them speak good English. English is required in their schools. Usually if you talk for more than 10 minutes, they will bring up the topic of Islam and ask me if I have read the Quran. You also see a lot of men with black and blue bumps on their foreheads from hitting their heads on the ground when they pray. They all assume that nobody from the west takes any religion seriously. Of course all they see here is tourists interested in having fun. I can't get them to even consider that there is more than one way to look at spiritual truth. I have no interest in getting into debates about which holy book is the truth. How tiresome. These conversations do tend to take the wind out of my sails with regards to learning Arabic. But I made a connection with a guy here in Dahab whose father was Egyptian and mother was English. He's fluent in both languages and gives lessons at a very reasonable rate, so I'm meeting with him for some practice. I find the language interesting, still.

I'm not sure how I'm going to spend the rest of my Christmas day. There is a place here advertising Christmas Turkey Dinner As Good As Mother Make. I might go for pizza instead. I'm hoping that my friends from Kuwait will come through in the next day or two. They're heading from here to Luxor where there are many ancient tombs and monuments, and I'll probably join them for a few days. Meanwhile, I'm managing to pass the time away on leisurely breakfasts, afternoon walks and catching up on some reading. There are a bunch of very tame, gentle cats living in the hotel where I'm staying. There's a space under the door to my room, and they just squirm through there, come right in and make themselves at home on my bed. They're good company. I might venture into one of the bars for drink or a game of pool. I'm not very good at shooting pool, but people are so laid back here I don't think it matters much.

I'm not always in the mood to be a reporter, so the blog entries, as you see, are less frequent. But I am getting along okay. It will soon be 2008 and I will already be through the first quarter of my contract period in Kuwait. That's a good thing! : )