Tatiana's Red Sea Birthday
Nuweiba, Egypt

Today is Tatiana's 35^th birthday. She tells me that this occasion is particularly special for her because it marks the completion of a third of her life—as she intends on living until 105 years of age.

Much to our surprise and delight we discovered this evening that Nasser al-Din actually has some basic (ADSL) Internet access running to a laptop in one of the neighboring cottages on the property. It's not all that fast, but at least we're able to make contact with folks for the first time since leaving Jordan a few days ago.

Alas, the downside to this is the connection is setup in such a way that we've got to use his laptop, and the room is around 90°F at 8:00pm with far too many mosquitoes trying to make a meal of you.

But the sweating and the buzzing didn't deter Tatiana one bit from using MSN Messenger to chat and speak with her family back in Lima.

Tatiana and Aidric Videoconferencing with Family in Peru.
(I absolutely love this snapshot.)

Meanwhile, I'd discovered the little evening secret that Nasser al-Din had been working on in the kitchen.

After her call home I lead Tatiana (and a just passed-out 16-month-old Aidric) over to the main lounge and had the two sit down while giving the 'go' to Nasser.

Out popped our host from the kitchen with a homemade birthday cake—candle and all. Chocolate with glazed banana slices on top.

She was stunned. We were both in awe.

Tatiana thought that I'd planned this out with Nasser, but I really couldn't take credit where none was due—this was all Nasser al-Din's doing. He bought the supplies and created this delicious treat on his own.

Damn, we love this guy.

Explore photos from Egypt

Browse more entries