Dear all

Thank you so much for your amusing emails! It's lovely to hear from friends when I'm so far from home, so do keep them coming!

Well, the sunshine continues.... I won't go on about it, but the tan's coming along nicely and setting off my white hair a treat! For those who know me well, you'll be amazed to hear that I haven't actually sunbathed yet - I seem to be too busy doing 'things' - however it's on my daily 'to do list' - I just need to find the time to fit it in!!

I've been busy making a life for myself since I last wrote. I've signed the contract on the house and paid the deposit to ensure that all the building work is finished for when I move in. However, with the moving in date of 29th now passed, I'm still waking up with Adel's cats sitting on my chest - things are typically on 'Egyptian time'. Mohammed, my landlord, finally made it back from Cairo two days late, having been unable to leave when he wanted (Egyptian time) and then getting stuck in his lorry overnight in the middle of the desert due to new legislation - after a crash between a lorry and a tourist bus last year where all the tourists were killed, lorries are no longer allowed to travel after 6pm! But, he's back and has bought the most beautiful furniture for both houses, as well as a brand new marble kitchen and fab funky tiles for the new house. It should now just be a matter of days, however, a cat gave birth to five kittens in the new house last week and we're not sure when we can move them to continue the building. I saw them yesterday - five kittens and five colour combos, eyes just opened and SO cute!!! So we'll see how it goes, and we're working towards 1st April now - Enshallah! And once the house is done, I start camel-riding lessons with Welma! - can't wait!

George, the cat has been through a traumatic time. We took him back to the Egyptian vet as the growth in his mouth kept bleeding. The vet said it was a tumour and needed to be removed and so burnt it off. George came home totally out of it after the anaesthetic and we had a very restless night - firstly, we'd left him on the bed to recover, and when I went to go to bed, we discovered he had no bladder control and had wet himself. So we had to change all the sheets, and Adel sat up with him till about 1am. At 5am I suddenly had a feeling something was wrong and got up to find he'd manage to wander a few steps and then collapsed with his head hanging over the TV cable! Who knows what might have happened if I hadn't found him. So I made up a bed in the lounge and went to sleep with George on the floor, to make sure he was warm enough and had reassurance as he came out of the anaesthetic. Unfortunately, the bladder control wasn't quite back to normal and so we had another accident on the cushions and my trousers - bless him. Everything seemed to be improving but a few days later we realised the growth was growing again and so called a German lady who lives in town who is famous for caring for cats as she has 25 of her own!! Her friend, who's a vet in Germany, was on holiday, and offered to have a look at him. By the time we got to the vets, his mouth was pouring with blood and they said he needed to be operated on urgently. Apparently the Egyptian vet normally treats goats and camels, and is limited by his education. He is a lovely, caring man and does his best with the tools and knowledge he has, but of course that can't compare to western standards. Because the tumour was growing so quickly, we had two options: 1) take him to a really good vet, with full operating theatre, where they would be able to remove most of his upper lip to ensure removing all of the tumour and any cells that may had started to spread from it, and then perform a skin graft to reconstruct his lip, or 2) operate on him in Dahab and take as much out as possible and keep our fingers crossed. The only really good vets near here are in Israel, and being Palestinian, Adel can't get into the country that easily. So poor old George had to go back under and have it cut out by the German vet in a make-shift operating theatre in the back of the dive shop - very funky lighting courtesy of dive torches hung from the ceiling, but all very professional with everything sterilised, and all western equipment and drugs. We are now two days past the operation and things seem to have gone well. He had to have a large triangle cut out of his lip which has been sewn back together giving him a slightly cheeky grin and wonky nose. He also has to wear a collar which we made for him out of plastic water bottles. He managed to pull it off within minutes of coming out of the anaesthetic, so we've also had to bandage up his paws so he can't pull it off, so all in all, he's a sorry sight! He's also rather amusing as he keeps trying to shake the bandages off and shakes each foot with each step - Ministry of Funny Cat Walks!!! But he's happy, eating and drinking and apart from a very pitiful miaowing session every morning in the garden, is happy and relaxed. The vet is taking the tumour back to Germany with her to have it analysed, so we won't know whether it's benign or malignant until around 10th April. Fingers crossed.....

On to more human matters, I knew I wouldn't be bored, what with the PR and the yoga, but I'm being approached almost daily by locals for various things (no, not those kinds of things!!! ;-) - partnership in a real estate and tourism business (he needs someone western to be the front end to secure sales and manage marketing), teaching english to a russian secretary in a friend's dive shop, one to one meditation and pranayam tuition to the most famous diver in Egypt (he's going for the world record again in September - 275 metres - eek!! - and needs to train his breathing and focus) - he's also opening a hotel and has asked if I want to set up a yoga business with him, a Brit who runs super-luxurious yoga hols wants to meet me today for 'professional advice'... The list is endless. It's hugely flattering, and I guess compared to Egyptian education, I'm pretty well-rounded, what with my languages, yoga, marketing, TEFL etc etc... But I need to decide just how much I can actually do.

My arabic lessons slowed down as my teacher had to go to Cairo for a few days. I got back into it again yesterday, learning 1-20 in numbers and also, on request, the phrase 'I live in Dahab, I'm not a tourist' - may seem daft, but when you consider that tourists often pay twice what locals are charged, it should pay for itself pretty quickly!!! I'm picking up the odd word too - Sabach al cheer (good morning), Enshallah (God willing), tamem (good), mesh (OK), sah! (right/eh!). Most of the words I'm picking up are colloquial but it's what I need to learn to get by here....

I've got back into the yoga - not teaching yet, but going to other classes here. A lovely Austrian girl, Jana, teaches Ashtanga, so I'm getting a good work-out with her. Last night the weather really warmed up and we were able to do it on the roof for the first time - imagine doing yoga and being able to see nothing but the sky, stars, moon and palm trees - absolutely amazing! Julie (or Siri Datta in Kundalini circles) is also teaching here, Kundalini and Hatha, and I met her for lunch yesterday. I had wanted to do my Reiki training before I came out, but ran out of time, but I found out that she does atunements and training, so I'm starting with her on Friday! I haven't managed to go to her yoga classes yet as I've been so busy with the cat, but this Sunday will be the first!

I'm setting up a personal website, so will be able to update you all via that, including photos, once it's up and running. In the meantime, if you're thinking about coming out, check out - www.redseaflights.com - for flights. I don't know when the little house will be ready for guests, but I'm sure it'll be in the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted as soon as I can!

So, the sun's shining, it's my birthday today and I intend to enjoy it! I was taken out for dinner last night to my favourite restaurant overlooking the sea, a bottle of wine, the moon reflecting on the ripples of the water.... Ahhhh... And tonight it's my joint birthday/housewarming party with Tristan, who's going to move into the house with me for a while. Life is great and I really hope to see some of you out here soon,

Sending you love and sunshine from Dahab, the Golden town!

xxxxx
Sara