Meg S

Megs Adventure

Meg S

Modern languages student at Durham University. 20 years old. Oldest of 3 girls. About to head off on 15 month adventure around France, Egypt and Russia.



Europe » Russia » Siberia » Tomsk February 13th 2012

It is almost Valentine’s day. I’ve been single over 6 months and I am currently sharing a miniscule flat with a 50 something year old Russian lady, a dog/mop, a cat and a hamster. Tatiana’s 11 year old grandson is also often wandering about this 3 room apartment. The breakdancing little scallywag. Tatiana herself wears long fur coats, has bright red frizzy hair and often coasts around the house in only some hideous green leggings. And a bra obviously. The cat is quite possibly deranged – she keeps telling me it has something – an illness I believe – the word she says sounds a lot like catarrh but that could mean anything in Russian really. Eve has suggested it may suffer from Tourettes which generated much laughter from Jay and I, a cat’s lack of ... read more
Evie, Jay and a new friend
Jay trying out Russian fashion.
Siwa Oasis

Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Alexandria November 27th 2011

Soooo, I have absolutely loads to write about and i have little lists in my notebooks of all the things i have to remember to include. However, whilst at some point i will actually write them all out, right now there are slightly more urgent matters which need to be addressed... So a few weeks ago now i woke up in a country minus a government - the former cabinet having tendered it's resignation in response to the unrest here. I'm sure most people saw on the news some of the drama unfolding in Tahrir Sq, Cairo. Well similar things, albeit on a slightly smaller scale, were happening here... Certain areas became no-go zones and rumours were flying around about 4pm military curfews if the aggravation didn't die down. Advice from both the university and the ... read more
More unrest
Eid!
With the Grandparents

Africa » Egypt » Sinai » Dahab November 13th 2011

This is only going to be a short entry but i feel it is a necessary one. It would be a little disrespectful not to note Remembrance Day in this blog, especially as i managed to commemorate in such a unique way this year. About 15minutes before the sun rose on Friday, I remembered that it was the 11th and therefore Remembrance Day. And it was then, at 5.30am, sitting at the summit of Mount Sinai, listening to an american choir sing 'Hallelujah', the first rays of sun escaping over the horizon to warm our icy extremities and flood the valleys spread below us with light, that i chose to do my minute's silence. Despite it being a spot famous for religious pilgrimage, i couldn't quite declare the moment spiritual. There were a lot of people ... read more
The Yellow Light
The Sun on Mount Sinai
The Cemetery at Al-Alamein

Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Alexandria November 2nd 2011

Ahlan everyone! I wrote most of this yesterday before our Halloween so apologies if the timeline is a little squiggly. Time is flying by and my blogging rate leaves much to be desired i know. As usual, my apologies. Em and I had the sudden realisation yesterday that we don't really have all that much time left before we are back at the airport leaving the country. The strangest thing is, that despite all my bitching, i will really miss it and i can't quite wrap my head around the idea that the next bit won't be with emma... However we still have 5/7 weeks here respectively and so i won't take up any more space with that stuff just yet. It is an absolute abomination on my part that exactly 3 weeks ago today em ... read more
Outside the Syndicate of Journalists
Trapped in Market Chaos
Henna

Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Alexandria October 21st 2011

Ok so i have massively neglected this blog recently. I apologise, however, despite a decent amount of time trying to stay in touch with all my uni people via skype or facebook, emma and i have been trying to live it up in Alex (and Cairo one weekend). What this effectively means is that i have had little to no time to write when i haven't just felt like falling asleep. Excuses over, i shall now progress with the meat of the last 3 weeks. Most importantly, up until now i have neglected to tell you all about Dick. (I realise this sounds amusing but that's exactly how he would want it and therefore i refuse to change it.) Dick aka Richard Turnbull is an Arabist at Leeds but up to now has only done a ... read more
Dick in one of his skirts
PARTAY!
Oh the Afro.

Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Alexandria October 2nd 2011

Greetings from the Ancient Land of Kings and Cleopatra. It has been a week of settling in and acclimatizing here. I say acclimatizing because Alexandria really has been a culture shock for us. I'm not entirely sure what i was expecting, maybe the Mediterranean setting gave me the naive hope that Alexandria would be slightly more western; a city perfect for the transition between West and Middle East. This was stupid. The women are mostly veiled and standoffish. The men are overly welcoming and often treat us the same way small children treat cats; that is to say it isn't uncommon here for us to be chased down the street with men either trying to lure us towards them or, alternatively, hissing at us. And all of them; men and women alike, drive like absolute maniacs. ... read more
My attempt at being arty.
One of many juice bars
The Old mixes with the Modern in Alex

Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Alexandria September 25th 2011

Ok, so i have arrived on part 2 of my year abroad. There are many things i had to say about the last week or so of france and then more again about my brief stint at home. However time seems to have dashed away from me and i have missed my chance really to say many things. I will perhaps add a small reflective blog at some point soon as i'm sure everyone would love to hear the stories of my last week or two. A quick example being my last aquagym session when some participants had to leap out of the pool to help me remove an entire wasp from my arm. Yes the whole wasp. It's sting didn't detach or something. Not funny when you are supposed to be "professionally" jumping up and ... read more
A statue
The Unknown Soldier
A man on a tank!

Europe » France » Aquitaine » La Teste-de-Buch August 29th 2011

So i'm writing this on the way to picking my littlest sister up from Bordeaux. She is the latest in a long line of visitors and for me her arrival really does mean that i am now on holiday - my work is over and i have 6 days left to profit from in France. I feel as if my 2 week hiatus has rendered the majority of you ill-informed. As such before any kind of entry about the ending of my season, i feel i should detail various ventures undertaken with a variety of visitors. My aunt and cousin arrived about 2 weeks ago now and stayed for a grand total of 5 days, during which we kept as busy as possible. 15yr old boys require constant diversions to prevent boredom descending. For the avoidance ... read more
The Tent
Scott
Me

Europe » France » Aquitaine » La Teste-de-Buch August 25th 2011

Good day my lovers, I hope this extract finds you all well. I'm sorry i've been so severely negligent the past 2 and a bit weeks - i've been trying and apparently succeeding in keeping myself occupied and we've actually been having some decent weather so i've basically just been loath to take the time inside to type this up. I have so many things to write up now though and so I am sorry if I bombard you with a few entries in quick succession. My love of the sun (and sunbathing) has been noted by everyone here as "very weird for an English girl" and has earnt me the nickname 'Lizard'. It's not a very flattering creature to be named after I know, I would have preferred something a bit more powerful e.g. Lioness ... read more
Animateurs contre Vacanciers.
Caught unawares
All dressed up.

Europe » France » Aquitaine » La Teste-de-Buch August 8th 2011

I wish this was a melodramatic title - unfortunately, for reasons which i may possibly never understand, this is exactly what has happened to me for now the second time in my life. Exactly a week ago now, minus a few hours, Ed decided to call time on our 18 month relationship. As it can safely be said that his decision to finish it was unexpected (after only 5 weeks of separation and up to that point a really lovely day) i did not handle the news well. The hours after he told me are just a blur now, I know that i cried and that i threw up but mostly i just remember pain and the desperate desire for him to take it all back, to let me lay my head on his chest and ... read more
Mama and I
Air Display
Me paddling.




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