Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Impossible Skinny Eating In Egypt

Bear with me, as I wrote this yesterday and then the Internet died a spectacular death. 

I have come to the realisation that there is no such thing as eating skinny in Egypt for three reasons: 
1. (This is a fairly obvious one) Being in the middle of the desert means practically no fruit and vegetables - the only ones that seem in regular supply are cucumber, tomato, lettuce, some kind of marrow/squash and melon. 
2. The staple diet because of the above is bread, rice, pasta (macarona? I know, this surprised me too), sugar and more bread.
3. When you are the centre of attention you get offered a lot of food and you can't turn it down, so you graciously accept and eat it. I get offered a LOT of food. 

Today, I went on a day long boat trip which involved snorkelling and a stop of this island. I went to say hi to my Egyptian family and as fate would have it, they were all coming on the same boat trip. So we boated all day - it was nice, but exhausting. There was no such thing as me doing my own thing and endless (and I mean endless) pictures being taken. The photographer on the boat was getting awful handsy at one point. Little brother, Ahmed got really upset and told him off, and then told his mother who told the photographer "no touch". It was honestly the sweetest thing. I have resolved to go visit them in Cairo as soon as I can and to take my big sister with me. I think she will hate the culture, because she is a no BS kind of person and doesn't take well to people hassling her. But I told her already that she needs to shut up and bear it, because it will only cause trouble if she doesn't. I LOVE EGYPT! More than Egypt, I love Egyptians. 

This island we stopped at was like being in the middle of a barren desert - there was literally jackshit on this whole island. I mean - jackshit. There is an army house and a couple of "umbrellas" made of palm fronds, but that's it. It was about 1pm when we got there and I went straight to the little umbrella place, because this lily white skin is not made for that kind of sun. The family thought I was sad and it was all I could do to try to explain to them that I would get sunburnt, they didn't understand at all. So we settled on it being too hot for me. They laughed. 

The boat was all Egyptian, I was the only Westerner. None of them used any sunblock - at all. Some of the younger ones got a bit sunburnt and were generally not happy by the end of the day. It's so unheard of. I mean, we don't even leave the house in grey old London without at least and SPF15. 

The lunch was actually pretty kickass, they made rice, pasta, kofta, fried fish, salad (with the creamiest yummiest cheese in it), potatoes and some other bits that I didn't have. I only had the salad, fish, kofta and potatoes. And there were also litres of fat Pepsi going - my heart. I love the culture of food here, everyone just tucks in, no ceremony, just family and sharing. You eat from each other's plates, take a bite and pass on, swop things on each other's plates. Honestly, this is what food should be... Without the carbs. 😂

Right at the end of the trip, they were playing super jazzy Egyptian music, which I am IN LOVE with and everyone was dancing. More accurately they were trying to make me dance and as we know, white people can't dance, except if we are drunk and think we are the reincarnation of Freddie Mercury. They thought I was hilarious, personally I am convinced I looked like a drunk noodle. Again, they filmed me acting like a drunk noodle. 

Tomorrow, I would love to have a day of tanning by the pool as I'm pretty beat from the trip today and on Thursday, I have a desert safari. I really want to go to the beach, but am pretty petrified of being swamped again by this photo story. Honestly, I must be the most photographed tourist in Hurghada at the moment. It's intense. Even today on the boat and on the beach, random people asking for pictures and I don't really know how I am supposed to say no... That aside, I'm gonna put some pics on my Instagram of my adopted family and general stuff. Defo follow me if you haven't. keranboyd is the username! :) 

I really REALLY hope that I don't put on too much while I'm here. It definitely will be 2kgs at least. And then the battle to get below 62 will continue. I am going to skip dinner I think and just sip some Diet Pepsi and download my day into my journal before I forget. Well, my other journal. This is one of them. 

Love & Sunshine from Hurghada 
Xo Xo 

1 comment:

Nasimiyu said...

Oh have fun!

I loved Egypt when I visited - It's been a few years and I only spent time in Cairo and Alexandria but had a great time. The men were a bit handsy though and had the most hilarious pick-up lines

Exhibit A: "Did you have honey for breakfast today because you're soooo sweet" I almost died laughing from that one