Luxor testing times

I have no pictures to show but I thought to share a few things with you with regard to my move to the West Bank.

Apart from the flying carpet that is no longer gracing my floor, I have still not found my passport or my marriage contract, both of which were "shoved in a bag" by a friend.  But which bag? She cannot remember lol. I guess they will turn up when I am least expecting it.

I am now slowly getting sorted out. As this is a fairly temporary move, I had already boxed up some of my things  and marked the boxes "not needed".  They are now safely stacked away, but the pile of other stuff that is not needed is growing by the day. Well, its not that we don't need them, we just don't need them over the summer, or they are just ornamental stuff that can be stored until later.

The new flat is a furnished flat, but as we already have a lot of our own furniture, most of it was not needed. Both bedrooms had both a double and a single bed in them. I do not need that amount of beds, so I asked that the double in the second bedroom be removed, and the single in the master bedroom be taken into the second bedroom, leaving us with a master bedroom and a twin room. Nice yes?  Make sense.... yes?
Not to some Egyptians!  The double bed was removed from the "twin" room and the 2 workers disappeared into the master bedroom to move the single to the "twin" room.  All going well so far.  Not! After about 20 minutes, I decided to see what the hold up was as we were waiting to move things out of the main living area.
The double bed in the master bedroom was in pieces and was about to be moved to join the single in the "twin" room.  Ok, so does it make sense to you, that I should want a double bed taking out of the "twin" room to be replaced by the double bed from the master bedroom, leaving the master bedroom with a single bed only?  Yes? No? Hmmmmmm  Anyway, the problem was eventually resolved and we now have a master bedroom and a twin room.

Then there is the fridge.  A nice fridge, decent size with a separate freezer at the top.  But!! No shelves! Just a huge empty space! Ok, so the landlord says he will find the shelves....... or we could change the fridge for one that is in an empty flat. No problem said I....... just get the shelves, no need to change the fridges over.
Nearly 2 weeks later, and numerous visits from "a man with shelves" and I still have a fridge with no shelves.  The first couple of visits came with shelves that were too small, the third and fourth visits had shelves that were too wide, 5 and 6 saw shelves that fit widthways, but were too deep...... and 3 days ago there was the promise to be back tomorrow to bring yet more shelves.  The "man with shelves" has not been seen since. It's amazing how adaptable a person can become when trying to use a fridge with no shelves!

The aircon in the second bedroom, nice split a/c unit worked for a brief time, but then kept cutting out and just didn't sound right. Investigation found a birds nest in the outside unit.  Sparrows. The young were fledgling though and were already hopping around, so we waited a couple of days before removing the nest.  Job done!  No! Overnight a new nest was built, and removed the next morning. This has now gone on, night and day, for over a week now, and we still have a nest there. So we have decided to leave it and hope our first visitor does not mind sharing her airconditioning with a nest of sparrows! Or hopefully the sparrows will leave the nest and not build again by the time she arrives. They have 3 weeks!

On that note, I will end this as it can get boring without pictures and I keep forgetting to get batteries for my camera!

Moving House in Luxor!

Apologies in advance if this is a bit long winded, it was hard to leave things out! Sorry!

I had to move from my flat and it all happened very quickly.  Search parties were sent out to look for something I would like and I ended up temporarily (well, for the summer anyway) in a lovely flat on the West Bank with a view of my favourite river, the River Nile in Luxor,Egypt.

We found the flat on Monday of this week, and moved out on Wednesday.  I had one day to pack completely. What a nightmare!  I had started to organise myself a few days prior to that, and had a couple of suitcases and some boxes of stuff that I knew I would not be needing over the summer months, and stuff that I knew I could live without for the time being.

However, I had no idea how much “stuff” I have accumulated over the last 4 years!  And then a well-meaning “other half” decided to get involved in the packing procedures.  After all, “it’s easy”!

Following that statement, at 3pm on Tuesday, I was told that the “car”would be coming in an hour for the first run to the new flat! What???????  Mania took over and the packing frenzy increased. Anything and everything began to be thrown into boxes! But we had enough for the first run and off they went. At this point, I had no idea anymore what I had in the old flat and what had already gone to the new flat.

Eventually, by 4pm on Wednesday we were ready to go!  A good friend of mine and her husband brought us over the river in his taxi, with the roof rack full and every inch of the taxi packed to the hilt!  My friends and I squashed in, and our task was to clean the flat before the bulk of our stuff arrived.

We opened the door to be greeted by a living room that had disappeared under the boxes delivered here on Tuesday.  My requests that everything be placed in the second bedroom had been totally ignored and things had just been dumped inside the door, spreading out over the floor.  So we dug in, moved them to clear some space and off we went!

Hmmmmmmmmm  now where was the cleaning stuff bag??  Oh oh......... still in the old flat! So off to the shops I went to get enough cleaning materials to tide us over. While I was gone, my friends decided to make tea.  Now where is the kettle that I purposely left out, so that I could make endless cups of tea for the workers????  Yes, you guessed it. Still in the old flat!

And no gas bottle either, so we couldn’t even boil water on the gas stove!

Oh well, a quick phone call meant I could at least bring cola and sprite back from the shops!

So the cleaning started, a second taxi load arrived. You guessed it, still no cleaning materials and still no kettle. But we did find a small travel kettle. Not exactly conducive to “mashing” tea for the 5000, but better than nothing.

Oh and my nice rug flew off the top of the taxi somewhere between East and West Banks!  If you see it anywhere...........

Then we began the wait for the main load coming.  Due at 7pm at the East Bank flat, the car failed to turn up until 9pm, then it had to be loaded with the sofas, and my big wall cabinet as well as other bigger stuff.

Eventually, the car arrived.......  and the whole load was dumped downstairs.  The “carrying” men had gone for tea, and had not returned. The driver was already reversing away from the building and my “other half” was complaining how tired he was. So we took a decision to leave it where it was, it was safe and locked inside the building, and we hoped no-one would want to steal one of my sofas.

Then he got bored and decided to bring in the wall unit. So he rang a friend, got him round and they carried it upstairs, put it together and then expected me to fill it.  No way, it needed a good clean  by this time, and I had no idea where anything was!

So that was the end of the move...... or so I thought.....   more about that soon.

“Time for bed” said Zebedee, eventually.   Hmmmmmmm great idea, but where is the mattress??  My Habitat mattress that cost me a fortune?  Downstairs, buried behind sofas and big chairs!   A quick “throw everything on the floor” session in the second bedroom cleared the big single bed, and we spent the night trying desperately to sleep.  

The mosque called the early morning prayer, and I was still awake.  I gave up trying to sleep, got up, made tea and toast, and sat on the balcony watching the sun come up.  It was magical and serene and I knew in that instance that there was a reason I had to leave the flat I was in, and move back to the West Bank.

I still do not know that reason, but whatever it is, it was time to move. 

Back online

Following my recent move from the East Bank of Luxor to the West Bank of Luxor, I am now the proud owner of a dongle!  I miss my usual adsl connection though! But needs must and I need to be online.
I will be back blogging as usual in the next few days....... beginning with the fun, stress and trauma of moving house in Luxor, Egypt!

See you all soon

Reiki Master in Egypt

In a few short weeks, a good friend of mine is coming to Luxor, Egypt to work on her Reiki Master training. She is already working hard on keeping her Reiki diary, and already changes are happening. Preparation of her own manuals is underway, and we are both getting very excited about her stay here.

While she is here we will do a lot of practical work with the Master energies, and also spend as much time as we can working in the temples (heat permitting, I feel some early starts coming on lol).  And it is planned to have a very special visit to Sekhmet in Karnak Temple.

Finally, she will teach her first course to Reiki Level 1 while she is here!

It's going to be an intense week, but I know it will be a productive and fun one!

And I am sure there will be at least one afternoon spent sailing on the River Nile, with maybe a Reiki meditation thrown in for good measure.

Exciting stuff!

Easyjet flights and feluccas

I am delighted that Spirit of the Nile got a mention in this month's Easyjet destination guide for Luxor, Egypt!
Located opposite the Old Winter Palace, Luxor, Egypt is Felucca Spirit, available for sailing on the River Nile.

Please email us at enquiries@spiritofthenile.com for more information or check out our website at http://www.spiritofthenile.com

And for Easyjet flights to Luxor view the following website http://www.easyjet.com
They are currently operating direct flights weekly from London Gatwick to Luxor! Grab a bargain!

About Reiki Healing

I know I have a few followers who may not be aware of what Reiki is, so I have decided to give you a brief outline.

Reiki is a Japanese word that is pronounced “Ray-kee”. “Rei” translates to “universal, spiritual, sacred” and “ki” is the Japanese word for “energy” or “life force”. So Reiki is interpreted as “universal life force energy”.

Reiki is a simple system of healing that involves the practitioners placing their hands on or over a person, plant or animal in order to channel energy. Practitioners can also send absent healing over distance and through time.

The system is believed to be thousands of years old, (some claim it dates back to Ancient Egypt), and had been forgotten until Mikao Usui rediscovered it around 100 years ago, although he did not call it Reiki. 

How does Reiki heal?

It is believed that life energy, or Ki, is flowing through us. Ki flows within the physical body through pathways called chakras, meridians and nadis. It also flows around us in a field of energy called the aura.

The free and balanced flow of Ki is desirable for good health. It is Ki that animates the physical organs and cells of the body, supporting them in their vital functions.

When the flow of Ki is disrupted, it interferes with the healthy functioning of one or more organs and tissues of the physical body. Therefore, it is the disruption in the flow of Ki that is the main cause of illness.

When a person receives a Reiki treatment, Reiki will flow through the practitioner to the areas where the Ki is blocked, often by charging the energy field with positive energy causing any negative  energies to break apart, allowing Ki to flow in a natural way. Once Ki is flowing naturally, the physical organs and tissues are then able to complete their natural healing process.

Reiki is not a cure-all, it facilitates the body’s own natural healing functions and is just one of the therapies that is complementary to traditional medicine.

Is Reiki a Religion?

While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. In fact, Reiki practitioners may be found in all the religions of the world.  It has no dogma and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use Reiki. In fact, Reiki is not dependent upon belief at all, and will work whether you believe in it or not. 

How do I become a Reiki healer? 

Reiki is a special kind of life force that can only be channelled after someone has been attuned to its energy. The attunements are the continuation of an ancient process of tuning the healer’s body, both physical and etheric, to a higher vibration. This clears a channel for the energy to flow through.

Once attuned, this channel will remain open and the energy is available to be used by the healer for the rest of his/her life.

All healers use the life force or Ki, but not all use Reiki. The Reiki energy works on a different vibration and is generally only available after a correct attunement has been given by a Reiki Master.  It is, of course, possible that some healers might be born with the Reiki attunement already having taken place, but this would be a very rare occurrence.

Once attuned, Reiki treatments are then given by the pracitioner who, with the intent to heal, simply places his or her hands on the person to be healed.

WELCOME TO THE REIKI PATH!!