Reasons I Love London

1. They speak a form of English
2. You are not allowed to intimidate or make insulting comments to a woman alone
3. I don't need a headscarf to try to blend in
4. No one cares what length my skirt is
5. Tea mmmm tea with scones and clotted cream and jam mmmmm
6. Shopping!!
7. Entertainment-movies, theatre,
8. The food isn't too weird (aka testicles never show up on the menu)
9. The metro means I can easily get anywhere
10. It isn't too poluted
11. It isn't painfully hot
12. No Geckos
13. I don't need a man to walk down the street
14. No one has asked me where my husband is
15. Marks and Spencer
16. Cheap Internet
17. I can be anonymous if I want
18. Children don't act scared or me or stare at me like I have two heads
19. No one has asked me for my photo
20. When asked and I say from Canada not one person mentions Canada Dry
21. It's the last stop before going home
22. Haven't been propesitioned once
23. No random marriage proposals
24. I can go outside at night
25. The government isn't obviously monitoring my internet use
26. There aren't armed soldiers outside every hotel and on every street corner

So you can guess the last few days in Cairo were difficult on me. It isn't easy being a woman alone in a muslim country. It was muted during the tour because there was a group of us but by the end of my time in Cairo I just gave up on going out of the hotel. I got leered at enough and strange questions just in the hotel. So I'm very glad to be once again back in London, although I'm pretty much ready to head for home. Today at heathrow I saw the Air Canada planes and found myself wishing I was getting on one of them and heading home.

That being said I am excited to be here I've got tickets for some shows and I'm booking a tour into the countryside. It will be good and I'm excited to see Scotland probably the place I've read more about than anywhere else. I have a weakness for Harlequin Romances set in the highlands...you know the ones with the buff guy in a kilt on the front (LOL)... usually with a big (cough) sword....(shoot mom when you read this please disregard the double entendre)...I'm pretty sure there won't be any fabio types running around but it'll still be nice to see the countryside where so much history took place and that has been described so picturesquely in so many books I've read.

I'm sad to report that I will be sending yet another package home....which is proof that I shop too much....I mean Egypt had nothing except tacky souviners and I still have stuff to mail home. It's all the carpet guys fault. Yup I bought a carpet...not a big one but still a carpet. It's a hand knotted silk/wool blend...very pretty and not a single camel on it....very hard to find things without a camel on it.

Well I'm getting silly partly because I was up at 5am for my flight this morning and partly because I went to a movie and so haven't had supper yet. I'll post more later but mostly just had to say I'm glad to be in London but sorry it isn't home.

Egypt Photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=strohhaeckers&target=ALBUM&id=5457727636881063297&authkey=Gv1sRgCMra5af0ubOAjAE&feat=email


http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=strohhaeckers&target=ALBUM&id=5457812529512020801&authkey=Gv1sRgCI7B1oL238jpJQ&feat=email


Here they are the links to the long anticipated and stupidly slow to upload egypt pictures. Once again due to my patience being worn thin there are no captions or comments. You'll just have to wait and see me in person for my commentary, trust me it's probably better that way anyways.

Well I'm done in this one task took me all bloody day yep that's right all day with a frustration break to watch some tv and calm down. Oh well it's done now. Please enjoy!

Wow that went fast

Well I'm mostly done my Egypt tour, the rest of my group has gone home I have a few too many extra days that I'm trying to fill here in Cairo. The tour was amazing! I so enjoyed the valley of the kings visit and I got to go into several tombs with pretty amazing art work. It is very very hot in the valley of the kings and the tombs are even hotter so it's a bit like going to the sauna with your clothes on. It was totally worth it though! I've seen so many ancient temples with Philae and Karnak being amongst the best. I've learned so much about Egyptian history and art. The best accommodation we had was on a nile cruise boat for several days we drifted down the nile on our boat stopping to see important sights and then reboarding. I greatly enjoyed sitting by my cabin window with my feet up watching Egypt life go by. It was very hot in Southern Egypt but without humidity so I survived pretty well. In Cairo it's quite a bit cooler so now I'm very happy.

To fill the time I've booked a private tour to two important sites for pyramid development in Egypt so I'll be going to Dashour and Saqqara with just me, a guide and a driver. Which should be a cool experiance. I'm also going to revisit the egyptian museum and prowl around the artifacts some more. Other than that and a visit to the coptic museum I'm not sure what else to do with all my free time but my hotel has 2 pools, sattelite tv, 4 restraunts and shopping so I'm pretty set.

It was weird being away over Easter especially since I could picture my family being all together and knowing I was missing that. I also found it weird to have such hot weather for Easter. One on my tour mates made the observation that this was probably closer to what the weather would have been like for the first Easter and that made me realize what a special opportunity this was. There were no easter chocolates or ham but it was still Easter.

The food here is excellent with felafal being my favorite food followed by tanjine. Culturally the men are very big flirts but for the most part know where the lines are and don't cross them. I'm a big hit though with my blonde hair turning lots of heads. I'm actually glad when we tour mosques since I have to cover my head. Modest dress and demenor help greatly as well. Also all of Egypt seems to be in love with Canadians. Although they all think it's very funny to announce "Canada Dry Never Die" which I don't totally get but they laugh uproariously. One guy even hummed the Hockey Night in Canada theme song which cracked me up.

The markets are lots of fun with fast and furious bargaining and lots of calls of please don't break my heart beautiful buy my _______. Needless to say I've broken lots of hearts. Still don't know how many camels I'm worth but my bargaining skills have won me a few proposals. The egyptian people are very baffled by my travelling alone and not afraid to ask questions. Which is somewhat ackward but I've learned they're just curious.

I'm glad I've visited Egypt and can't wait to share my photos with you all. It's a very beautiful country. I'm feeling much more like my old self and it's been nice to be with people who just know Megan. I was afraid I didn't know how to just be Megan since I'd been Megan&Armin so long but she's here and having a great time. I've also proven to myself how much stronger I am that I thought and that if I can tackle this trip around the world alone I can face anything....even moving to Regina. I'm actually beginning to get excited for school although I know I'll be putting a lot of miles on my mustang visiting home. I got my official letter from the UofR so I'm officially starting in the fall! Now to figure out a way to sign it for them :D since they want it back before I'm home.

Well it's supper time here in Cairo so I'm going to finish up here on the computer for today but since I had to pay a ridiculous amount for a ridiculous amount of time I'll be able to post my photos tomorrow I hope.

Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! what a wonderful promise and gift we have in those few words.