Goodbye Fayoum

Day 43 July 3 – Goodbye Fayoum

Sorry batteries on camera are dead, can’t find more. No pictures for a few days.

Well I found out last night that today was going to be my final day in Fayoum. Today the adviser picked me up and drove me to the same farm as yesterday. Again we did the rounds; looking at the ponds and adjusting food levels based on the responses of the fish. I got even more practice checking the farms by sight, and recognizing other “symptoms” of a pond.
After a few hours of walking around in the sun we took a break in a building for tea and lunch. I refused tea today because the last thing I wanted was a boiling hot drink, I was dreaming of Eegee’s. Turning down the tea made everyone concerned, I had to convince them that I felt fine and that I wasn’t sick. The lunch consisted of, you guessed it, fish. The way they cooked the fish was about as simple as it gets, just chuck it in the fire. They made a small fire and just laid the fish right down of the wood, ash, and embers. Five to ten minutes later they grab them out and plop them down on the table. Obviously, you don’t eat the skin; all burnt and nasty looking. But once you peel back the skin the fish tasted fine. Not good, fine.
I finally figured out why I have been feeling so awful whenever we drive in Egypt. I have never gotten motion sickness, or carsickness in my life; but I always feel terrible when we drive here. I realized that it is the combination of noise, THICK air pollution, driving style, and the roads. The noise is ridiculous, everyone is honking their horn, it drives me crazy. The air pollution is a major problem inside Cairo, I can feel it in my lungs whenever I’m there. The way the drivers are constantly swerving, accelerating and decelerating also contributes to the problem. The roads are so bumpy and uneven that you are constantly bounced into the air. It is necessary for me to sit in the middle seat, otherwise I constantly smash my head into the roof of the car. These things all put together make me carsick nearly every time we drive. I have been able to keep it down but I still feel awful.
After lunch we drove back to Cairo and I moved back in with the Elghobashies. I was happy to sit around for the rest of the day, update the blog, and catch up.