October 24th #3 Egypt Diaries: Pink Flowers on Uneven Asphalt

Pink tissue-paper flowers splash across the uneven asphalt. Two puppies play in the petals, their small paws unsteady in the sinking mass. Looking up, pink flowers adorn almost every level of the towering apartment building, reaching up to the sky. Bright and delicate pink flowers have always reminded me of Maadi. The suburb of Cairo I wanted to live in for years and where I finally spent nine months this year.

We’re leaving Maadi for a little while this weekend. Swapping out Cairo for the coastal town of Dahab. We’re going to live in a small place with a big garden about one hundred meters from the sea. I will swim every day and take my puppies for walks along the beach, stopping to watch crabs scuttle between rocks and sunsets disappear behind the mountains.

I never considered living in Dahab until several weeks ago. I wasn’t sure I could survive the slow-pace of life, but now it seems like the natural next step of my Egypt journey and the best place to bring up my dogs. I’ve visited five times this year and every instance I longed to be back almost as soon as I arrived in Cairo. I missed the people, the beach parties and the endless outdoor activities.

For readers who have never visited, Dahab lies in a cove surrounded by mountains in South Sinai. Thirty years ago it was a small fishing village home to Bedouin families, then divers found out it was one of the best places on the planet to discover the underwater world.

Dahab means gold in Arabic and it’s easy to see why it was given the name. Every evening gold light swaddles the town and every morning the mountains behind and those across the sea in Saudi Arabia glow bright gold. In the past it had a different name. Bedouin of the area used to call the town waqat thahab which means time goes, as it is so easy for days to run into one another and for time to fly by in blissful joy. 

I hope my extended stay there will be a golden time or waqat dahabi, to blend the two Arabic names. Although I’m sad to leave behind my friends in Cairo, I know they will all visit sooner than later as most of them can’t stay away from Dahab for too long. 

I’m equally happy I was able to live in Maadi this year. I spent an incredible summer here five years ago and was unsure whether it could ever live up to the memory. Yet it entirely did and easily surpassed any expectations. Everything I wanted came true and although it wasn’t always without hiccups I couldn’t be happier with where I am now.

As I’m writing this at my favourite yoga studio in Maadi, I feel obliged to end with, “enjoy the space between where you are and where you are going.”

Egypt Diaries is a weekly series published every Wednesday about my life and adventures.