Wordless Wednesday - night night, sleep tight!

Back home, 'Bertie goes BAD!!', wonderful gifts and last call for 'bootie-licious' entries!!

JD - Hi everyone - we're back home!

Max - Which is more than Bertie is! We have sad news everyone - Bertie's gone BAD!! He was last seen in the streets of Luxor, Egypt, hanging around coffee shops and smoking sheeshas!

Bertie - "Honest - I never inhaled!"

JD - We're quite shocked - we hope he finds his way back soon.....

Bertie - "I feel strangely relaxed.....!"
(Don't worry everyone - the sheesha is simply an Egyptian 'mild cigarette' - no dodgy stuff was smoked by Bertie or Naggar!!)

Max - We had fun at the kennels, but it sure is good to be home again.

JD - For example, we've missed having a human around to take a kip on!

Max - Hmmm - it's strange, but female human seems to be EVEN squidgier than before, we can't quite understand it.....

JD and Max catch a quick snooze on female human (who was VERY tired after the previous days travelling!) and appreciate the extra upholstery that she now seems to be sporting for them, he he he!!

JD - And very excitingly when we got back home there was a message telling us that a parcel had been delivered for us and was awaiting collection at the Post Office!

Max - So we sent female human out forthwith to collect it!

JD - We were SO excited!

Max - It was a parcel from our bestest bloggie buddy Oskar - we love him and his mom person!

Oskar shows off his expertise at nesting - what a pro!

JD - Oskar - who is an expert at the art of the 'Schnauzer nest' - sent us a special cushion each!

Max - "What's in there JD, what's in there?" JD - "Oooh - such good things Max!"

Max - He said that now we're allowed on the couch it was time we became skilled at the art of Schnauzer nest building!

Max - "Oh WOW - huge cushiony comfiness!!"

JD - We LOVE our new cushions! They're even colour matched for us - red for Max.....

Max - "Red cushion - MINE I think!!!"

Max - ....as I'm the alpha dog, naturally!!

Max - "My cushion, my cushion, MY cushion - mwahahaha!!!"

JD - *rolls eyes!* ....and blue for me - it brings out my eyes, he he he! Max needs a bit of practise in nesting - he treats the cushions like a stuffie at the moment and runs around playing with them!

JD - "Blue cushion - MINE I think!!"

Max - "You sure Oskar didn't send them BOTH for me?!" JD - "Oh yes Max, QUITE sure!!"

Max - "Rarrrr! The cushion is mine I tell you, all MINE!!" (Note Flea in the background of this photo - Flea is our favouritest toy and came with us to the Kennels to keep us company!)

Max - Well, they're fun! And they smell of Oskar - brilliant!

Max - "You SURE I can't have this one too JD?"

JD - "Um, no Max!"

JD - Whilst I have taken to nesting like a duck to water! Ahhhh - comfy!!

JD - "First you line up a cushion in front of you....."

JD - "..... and one behind you - ahhhh! Sink into that comfy snugness!"

Max - Oskar's mom produced a fabulous card for us - female human adores it! There's a photo of Oskar, looking his usual dapper self, waiting by the door, looking quizzically up at the flashy box with the question, "what do you mean I can't deliver this to JD & Max myself?"

JD & Max - "Oskar's mom is so talented - this is a great card!"

JD - It's wonderful! Thank you SO much Oskar and your mom person! You're the best pal a couple of Schnauzers could have!

JD & Max - "We love you Oskar and your mom person!!"

Max - Yeah - you rock! Thanks also for the great and yummy snacks included. Unfortunately, the humans didn't get a photo of us eating them as - erm - they were very, VERY yummy.....*burp!* He he he!!

JD - Before we sign off we'd just like to remind everyone to get their 'bootie-licious' entries in by the end of Monday. We've been putting the competition post together and we'd like to say thanks to everyone who has entered so far - the photos are fantastic, it's going to be a fun competition!

Soundbites of Egypt

Please indulge me, if you will, to some random musings about my 'second home', my 'adopted country' that I love so much....

This is our last evening in Egypt. There is a wedding going on in the street outside - it's noisy and the decorations that have been put up are bright and garish (lots of tinsel!) and the tables are groaning under the weight of food that has been produced. It would feed half of Luxor!

The wedding will probably last for three nights - that's traditional for an Egyptian wedding - and the celebrating usually goes on until just before the first call to prayer (which is just before sunrise). So we won't be getting much sleep tonight.... We've been invited so we will wander down a bit later, but only for an hour or so -I have to say that I don't really have the stamina to celebrate they way they do out here!

Also, as it's a traditional wedding and as tonight is the first night, the men and women will be separated which I find a bit frustrating as few women in the village speak English and my Arabic really should be a bit better by now.....

When we first came to Egypt the very first morning we took a fellucca (Nile sailing boat) down the Nile. We had decided to see how well we could manage 'on our own' as we didn't want to experience this beautiful country through the eyes of a tour-guide so we wandered outside our hotel - and were immediately besieged by locals following us, shouting at us 'Taxi!', 'Kalesh!' (horse drawn carriage), 'Sailing boat!', 'Papyrus!' - and so it went on. We had not experienced anything like this before and were a bit taken aback.

Suddenly this young Egyptian man wearing western clothing appeared in front of us. "Excuse me - you want to go on sailing boat? Banana Island? You are English? I give you fixed price - English like fixed price!" This is how we met Naggar - we liked him immediately. However, I realised that I had left my camera in the hotel room. I didn't want to sail down the Nile without my camera so told him we were going back to get it and that we would return in a few minutes.

He seemed amazed when we actually did return - we now realise that a lot of tourists are so freaked out by being 'hassled' that they use any excuse to run away back to the 'safety' of their hotel. We followed him to the fellucca and were introduced to his colleague who was softly spoken and wearing the traditional Egyptian clothing of gallebea. He introduced himself, offered us tea and whilst Naggar was making the tea he proudly showed us photos of his family - this is how we met Mahmoud.

We sailed to Banana Island where 'Mr Lovely' has his 'antique emporium' full of 'lovely items at Asda price!' It's still there - in fact, our flat looks over Banana Island - I have a real soft spot for Banana Island now - you can't visit Luxor without a visit to Mr Lovely's 'antique emporium' - it just wouldn't be right! We had a great trip and when we got back we paid and gave a tip, which seemed to embarrass Naggar who insisted that we had agreed 'fixed price' and insisted on giving us our tip back. We wouldn't have it - and he suddenly said "I like you! You must come and eat with me and my family tonight!"

Now, we're obviously Westerners and this sort of thing just doesn't happen in our culture. We take ages to get to know someone before we invite them round to our house - and even then I think twice about some folks, he he he! But we really liked Naggar and Mahmoud and we really wanted to experience the 'real' Egypt so we nervously accepted.

And so began a lifelong friendship - Mahmoud and his family are the friends who live on the ground floor below our flat and Naggar (who is now a very successful business man) always runs us around everywhere whenever we're here - he gets quite upset with us if he ever finds out that we have walked anywhere or if we got a taxi.

I love visiting Egypt. Because the culture is so different it's a place in which I can really switch off and truly relax. In fact, I think I experience a little of a dogs concept on life when I'm here! What I mean by that is - this is one of the few places where I will never think about the things that I've done and I will never think about the things that I have yet to do. When I'm here I find it easy to simply 'live in the moment'. And do you know what? It's nice - it's worry free and I like it. Our dogs can teach us a thing or two eh?!!

Friendship here is a serious business and it can take a little while to get your head around it. Most Western friendships require little in the form of responsibilities back to the other person - a friend is simply somebody whose company you enjoy. Being a friend is very different in Egypt and there are very few grey areas - people are either strangers or friends. If you are a stranger you can expect hospitality, but that is all. Once you are a friend you acquire a complicated web of rights and responsibilities. Friendship out here requires a lot of energy and constant nurturing.

For example, us Westerners seem to hate asking others for favours. Out here, Egyptian friends expect to be able to ask favours of you and expect you to ask favours of them in return. Initially, if you are unused to this state of affairs, you can end up feeling a little used or 'put upon'. But you have to realise that this is the intensity of an Egyptian friend and if you were not considered a friend you would not be asked in the first place.

It can lead to confusion though. As an example - back home if I observe that I like something that someone has I'm simply making a statement. Out here I have learnt - through embarrassing first hand experience - that if I say I like something they will always try to give that something to me!

Visiting friends and relatives is the basis of Egyptian life. Rather than 'going somewhere' or 'doing something' as is a Western custom Egyptians relish getting together for the sake of being together. Once you are together then that is it. To a Westerner who is used to 'action-oriented' socialising then being in some one's house for an afternoon or evening to do absolutely nothing other than sit around and talk can seem a little unsettling. Especially when you consider that visits are expected to last several hours - anything under 2 hours is considered rude.

However, it really is a great way to 're-discover' yourself and learn how to appreciate people without constant distractions. One of the reasons that I look forward to visiting Egypt is because I know I will enjoy genuine 'quality time' with my husband in the company of my friends. We have spent many fun evenings in Mahmoud's house, playing with the children, talking about the day with me being shown how to cook by Tiba, Mahmoud's wife. (I still can't cook though - she thinks it's hilarious that I've got to my age without being able to cook properly!)

One thing that will always strike you about Egypt is the noise - it is such a LOUD country! The language is loud and people shout and gesticulate wildly - when I first came here I initially thought that everyone was arguing! Privacy is a little known concept - people expect you to share your thoughts with everyone and everyone likes to join in with your conversation. In fact, in most Western societies 'personal space' when speaking with someone means keeping roughly 18-20 inches away from them. In Egypt the norm is a distance of 10 - 12 inches and I admit it does take a bit of getting used to.

The other noises in Egypt are the sounds of the animals - donkeys, geese, sheep, cows - they all mingle with the call to prayer which sounds from the many, many minarets five times a day. In between all this is the music - Egyptians seem to have a need for music at all times, it sounds in all their shops, all their coffee shops and drifts out of almost every home.



And then there's the traffic noise - horns seem to honk incessantly day and night. Horns communicate a drivers intentions to other drivers and pedestrians. One honk means 'I'm here!' or 'thanks!' if passing another vehicle. Two honks mean 'I am passing you!' Three honks means 'I'm driving fast - watch out!' It seems to work - just as well really, as lanes or any rules of the road seem to be pretty non-existent here. In fact, people drive with their lights off at night, seemingly going as fast as they can - yikes! We've asked a few people why they do this. The most common explanation is that they feel that lights would bother the driver in front or that it would run their battery down causing the car to break down. Naggar now puts his lights on if he drives us around at night as he knows how freaked out we get otherwise!!

I love the food in Egypt which is probably just as well as food definitely forms part of the Egyptian expression of hospitality and generosity. Stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, fresh Nile perch, sea bass (Bruce would love it here!!) falaffel, sun-ripened fruit, freshly baked bread - I often feel like I'm tasting food for the very first time when I come here it is just SO good I can't stop eating it! (My husband - and our bathroom scales - will testify to that!!) Luckily for me, being a good guest in Egypt requires you to show your appreciate of the food offered to you. How? By eating it!! In fact, if you refuse seconds - or thirds - you can seriously insult your guests. I always like to be as polite as I possibly can so do my very best to eat as much as is humanly possible. JD and Max are gonna have a whole lot more human to snuggle up into when I got back home....sigh!

Well - that's me done for now. The blog will be going back over to the domain of the boys again when I get back home and normal service will resume once more.

I'd like to say thanks again to everyone who has entered the 'bootie-licious' competition so far - I can't wait to show the entries, they're great! If you haven't got your entry in yet please do so by 23rd November - it's going to be fun!

Camera Critters goes to the birds!

Hi - I thought I'd do a quick camera critters post from Egypt today. There are so many animals I could choose from here, but I've decided on a couple of birds for today. The first I think is wonderful - here is a heron hitching a ride down the Nile on some discarded banana plants.

The second is one of the ducks who live on our roof having a splosh around in his water bowl! We have lots of chickens, ducks and a few geese - but this fella is my favourite! He's the cheekiest anyway - always demands a snack whenever we appear on the roof and pushes right up to us awaiting his food. Hmmm, sounds familiar, almost like a couple of pups we know, he he he!

Find out what all the critters are up to at....

Bertie lands in Egypt....

Hi everyone - female human here, sitting in sunny Egypt, writing this missive from the roof of our flat in Luxor which overlooks Nile and the Valley of the Kings! It is a sunny 34 degrees here on Friday the 13th - which means it the most religious day of the week. The call to prayer is sounding all around us, mingling with the sounds of the donkeys, the geese, the cows, the cockerels and the faint strain of a distant dog barking (could it be JD or Max, all the way from England?! Nope! Although it might be my imagination playing tricks with me because I'm missing them so much!)

Our friends who live on the groud floor - the matriarch of the family is the best cook in Egypt!!

The family in the flat below are burning incense on their doorstep and along the small village streets children are running around and shouting happily as they play football - this is the Egypt I love so much.

The view from our roof....

The Egypt I DON'T love so much hasn't surfaced yet - although it's hotter than usual for the time of year I've managed to stay out of the uncomfortable heat and amazingly I've only got one mozzie bite so far - I've usually got over 30 by day 2 so those ankle and wrist straps I'm using this time round actually seem to be working for a change! It's good to be back and I'm very, very relaxed!

....another view from our roof!

I first came to Egypt in 1999 - it was a birthday present from my husband for turning 30. Like most people I was fascinated by the history and wanted to witness some of its splendour first hand - I didn't realise I'd fall so hard for the people and - well, let's face it - the FOOD too!! We've been back almost every year since and in 2005 finally got ourselves a little flat overlooking the Nile in the middle of an Egyptian village. We have made many good friends here - the family below look after our flat when we're not here and when we are here the meals they cook for us are truly spectacular! Egyptian hospitality really is amazing - when they say 'pop in anytime' they actually mean it - when I say it I'm usually just being polite, he he he.....!!!

The West Bank - we look over this from our roof - this is where the Valley of the Kings, Queens and Nobles is

We really miss the boys - in the evenings what I wouldn't give for a schnauzer snuggle! But they ran into the kennels without so much as a backwards glance - they really seem to enjoy it there which is really good. They'll be very pleased to see so much interest in their 'bootie-licious' competition - thank you so much to everyone who has either entered or posted a link to it, I can't wait to go through all the entries with the boys and then show them to Santa & Minnie and Nellie & Calvert! And - isn't this wonderful - Groucho (the inspiration behind it all!) has sent everyone a good luck message which we're posting below....(click to biggify!!!)

Groucho sends good luck to everyone!

Right, well, I'm off now as me and hubby are off to go quad biking in the desert - woo-woo! We'll post photos of Bertie at some landmarks soon and if I get a chance I'll visit some blogs, but I might not get a chance as I'm finding out that relaxing is quite a time-consuming pass time, he he!

Egyptian sunset viewed from a sailing boat....

....and Egyptian sunset viewed from our roof!