I Turn Another Year

April 02, 2010

I Turn Another Year

We take a bus ride to Sharm and then a cab to Dahab (coastal city) On the bus ride, midnight strikes and I hear the birthday song: "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..." Being with family on my birthday and being sung to will ALWAYS put a smile on my face! We arrive to Dahab early early morning and take a nap. Relax on the beach, take an Egyptian cooking class and Bren sets up a romantic dinner for 2 on the beach through the hotel.

At the cooking class, the head chef was our instructor and found out we would be doing the dinner on the beach. He was so excited and made sure we got the best cut of the lamb, the biggest shrimps, delicious starter salads, and he even baked me a birthday cake. The atmosphere on the sand in front of the quiet beach, with candles and rose petals all around was so Beautiful! After my B-day dinner we got ready to climb Mt. Sinai, but not before receiving b-day cards. Very special part of my b-day. received cards from Javs, Mama C, Papa G and my parents. Not to mention the birthday email from Ang, and facebook posts I received. Thank you to everyone. You make me feel special and very loved. My day just kept going. 11pm and off to Mt. Sinai. Mt. Sinai is a hight mountain that you climb at night to be at the top when the sun rises over all the rocks and turn them a golden color.

You may have also heard about Mt. Sinai and Moses; this is where God presented Moses with the 10 Commandments. Why Moses climbed all that way to talk to God was a mind boggler, but when we got up there, I realized this place would be a pretty great place to have a conversation; peaceful. When we arrived to the base of the mountain, there were many many people and all were making the trek! My parents went up on camel, while Bren and I really felt teh urge to climb the mountain. On our way up, there were people with lights and in groups singing religious songs in all languages. Very interesting and cool to be a part of. We meet the parents up at another base and had to walk 750 steps to the top and the camel could not climb this part. My mom, with her sprained ankle, makes it to the top. We hang at the top for about 1 hour before the sun begins to rise at the top of Mt. Sinai. the sun begins to rise: serenity and not one person is talking.

What a neat feeling with the sun rising on top of Mt. Sinai on my birthday. We hand on top of the mountain for some time and soon the crowds begin to dissapear and we find ourselves alone on Mt. Sinai: Peace Once we get down, we walk into St. Katherine's Monastery; the 1st and oldest monastery. Within the walls of the monastary we find ourselves with the biblical "burning bush." 1st the spot of Moses and the 10 Commandments and then the burning bush.
Recap: Happy Birthday song at midnight, Egyptian cooking class, romantic dinner on the beach, trek up to Mt. Sinai, trek down to the monastery, finished by what felt like a 5 minute drive back to the hotel, only becasue we were all so tired, we fell asleep as we got in the car and didn't wake till the driver woke us up. What a birthday...need I say more?