Connecting the dots

During the Sharm trip, we rode ATVs in the desert. Which sounds pretty awesome, but it was like riding shotgun with a 16 year old with a learner's permit. About 30 of us rode in a single line. We gunned our ATVs for about 50 yards, then slammed on the brakes. For two and a half hours. Occasionally we'd have to swerve out of line to avoid rear-ending the ATV in front of us. Every time we did that, our Egyptian guides yelled at us and told us to get back in line. If one of us fell behind as the rest of the group sped towards a quick stop, we got yelled at and told to speed up. The Egyptians just didn't seem to understand why we would swerve out of line, or why we wouldn't go as fast as we could (for 50 yards). In fact, many Egyptian adults didn't understand a lot of things I would take for granted that American adults would understand. In light of my last post about how lead pollution can make Egyptians dumber, I wonder if the reason Egyptian adults seemed to have the reasoning capacity of an American child wasn't the pollution!

Also, as many of you know, I have an irrational fear of bees. Been afraid of them since I was a kid. Nothing I can do about that now; I'm way too old to kick this habit. So I'll miss the absence of bees in Egypt. I think I saw 2 bees, both in Alexandria or Sharm (both cities are outside Cairo, the most polluted city in Egypt, and both are right on the coast, where coastal winds could clear out any remaining pollution). Again, maybe the pollution killed off my nemeses...