Red Sea Relaxation

I have a job here in Egypt.  I really do.  I just get a lot of days off to celebrate all Canadian, Egyptian, Christian, and Muslim holidays.  Last week when we arrived home from the long Easter weekend in Turkey, the school announced that it would respect Egyptian labour day the following week, creating a short-notice long weekend.  Tom and I decided to travel to Ain Sukhna, a beach getaway for Cairenes.

We stayed in an apartment with two friends, at the same resort as another half dozen teachers from our school.  Tom and I shared the room with the double bed (sorry moms, I hope that's allowed), while our friends (a.k.a. our children for the weekend) stayed in the room with two twin beds.  Our temporary children were impressed with our parenting abilities when we made a big stack of banana chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  We much enjoyed the pancakes on our balcony, overlooking the Red Sea.   

There are some obvious and some not-so-obvious differences between resorts in Egypt (at least this one) and the resorts we've been to in the Dominican Republic.

1 - The Beach

Dominican - sprawling sandy beaches with no end in sight
Egypt - a few dump trucks of sand plopped in the 100ft space between the highway and the Red Sea

Thankfully the pools at our resort were really nice and had lots of lounge chairs.  

2 - Beachwear

Dominican - mostly bikinis, with a few 1-piece bathing suits, and a few topless women.
Egypt - bikinis on Westerners, plus the burqini... swimwear that covers the body from head to ankle

3 - Rooms

Dominican - all rooms are completed
Egypt - many rooms are still under construction

4 - Beverages

Dominican - beer, wine, slushy boozy deliciousness, bahama mamas.... all included!
Egypt - no alcohol (other than the stuff we packed into our bags of course)

Don't think this stopped us (especially Tom!) from having a great time. 

While I may not give our resort a 5-star rating, we really appreciated the chance to get out of the big city and relax with friends.  Our apartment was nice, the pools were refreshing, and 2 days of not needing to do anything in particular is particularly enjoyable.  Now I'm well rested for the two 5-day weeks of teaching in a row before the Victoria Day long weekend.