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Published: October 28th 2007
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Salam Alakum everyone!
How are you all doing?
Well what can I say, it has been a blissful two months spent so far chilling and learning how to dive in Dahab but like all things - reality has to kick in sooner or later and work beckons!!! After trying really hard to look for work(not) and after not having much luck the perfect opportunity came along! I found out a few weeks ago that there's a bus that goes to Sharm el Sheikh and back to Dahab every day. When I contacted the school (Sharm college) it turned out they were looking for a teacher so before I knew it Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt I had a job! I start teaching the wee yins tommorrow (Monday) and I am looking forward to it although I am a little anxious! I will be a primary 2/3 teacher which will be a lot different from teaching stroppy hormonal teenagers in high school (God love them!) I have been in a few times now to meet the kids I'll be teaching and to shadow their teacher Lisa from Australia who has been great! Fell in love with the kids as soon
as I met them as they are just so cute and friendly! It's an international school and so the children are a rainbow of nationalities - Egyptian, Italian, Russian, German, English, Dutch and I even have a wee Scottish boy in my class from Fife which was a pleasant surprise! He's my little kindred spirit, he at last has someone who talks his lingo and understands him! I'll be teaching them English ( so let's hope they won't be speaking English with strong Scottish accents - that would be funny), Maths (eek!) and Science! Will be nice to be busy working with children again and being productive instead of being a beach bum! Will let you know how my first week goes with them next week! I will be cream crackered that's for sure teaching hyperactive 7/8 year olds plus having to travel an hour and a half to work and an hour and a half back from work every day but hey I'm sure I'll have a grand although exhausting time.
Diving has proven to be really addictive! I'm hooked already. David took me on a test dive when we first arrived which was quite funny! He did
all the work, adjusted my buoyancy and manuvoeured me around while I doggy paddled around staring at all the wonders of the Red sea in awe and amazement! Started the Open water course after that while David was training to be an Instructor. When David passed he then helped me complete my Advanced and Rescue Diver Course! I think I tested his patience especially when I was to show my navigation skills underwater and use a compass!!! ha ha! I have no sense of bearings or direction at the best of times - god I get lost driving in my hometown! The rescue diver course was stressful but really good fun! I did it with a French girl called Stephanie and David enjoyed making us exit him out of the water on our backs (mine's nearly broke), playing the part of a panicked diver and trying to drown us on several occasions and putting us through stressful rescue scenarios! Feel more confident after the course but heaven forbid I ever have to rescue someone - that is a scary thought me coming to the rescue!
After weeks of trying to name the hundred types of tropical fish that live
in the Red sea and after seeing many moray eels, octopi, stingrays, sea horses (so cute) etc I was longing to see one of the bigger animals of the sea! So I went on an early morning dive with some Germans from Sunsplash two days ago in the hope we might see an eagleray or shark! We went to the Blue hole which is the most dived site in Dahab and is really famous (unfortunately because of the number of fatal accidents that have occured there). However, although we didn't see anything out of the ordinary it was still a memorable dive! David had just finished the open water course with a 11 year old German boy and so was taking him and his father to Moray Gardens to dive together!
I went with them and we were only in the water 5 minutes when David signalled to us that there was a hawkbill turtle a few meters away! I was so excited and was busy watching her move gracefully over the coral and try to munch on another diver's camera that when i finally moved my head around to move on I couldn't believe my eyes!!! It was
one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen - a WHALE SHARK was swimming right in front of us only a few metres away! It was so beautiful - 4 metres long! I was so shocked that I didn't feel scared or nervous by its presence! I was so mezmerised that I nearly forgot to breathe! Everyone's reactions was hilarious, they all started to high five each other in the water! David then proceeded to swim as fast as he could and follow her! That was worrying because at that time I didn't know what type shark it was. All I knew was that it was a shark so it's probably best not to go near it!!! It's fin on it's back was a over a metre high! Thankfully though David informed me as soon as we surfaced that it was a baby whale shark - the adults can reach up to 12 metres in length. They are gentle giants supposedly as they only eat plankton and small fish and are not at all threatening or dangerous to humans. It was a wonderful experience and one I hope repeats itself - next time dolphins or a hammerhead shark
- that would be awesome!
Anyhoo I will keep u's up to date on a regular basis now we have this travelblog up and running! Hope you're all in top form! I've signed a contract here till the end of May now so will be in Egypt till that time and have plenty holidays so head on over anytime folks! Can't wait to experience Cairo, Aswan, Luxor etc - plenty time for all that tho! Have a few weeks off in Dec and then over 2 weeks off from Jan24th to 10th Feb so perfect opportunity for any1 to come over! Also have a few weeks off in Easter etc so no excuses people! If u ever wanted to see Egypt before there's no time like the present!
Ma Salama
Take care y'all
Love always Michelle xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Gwenny Jenkins
non-member comment
I'm looking for flights right now!
Oh wow, those photo's are amazing!