One of the primary reasons why we came to Egypt when we did was the Muslim Eid holiday. This is the 'big Eid,' which celebrates when God spared Isaac after requesting his sacrifice by Abraham. In Egypt, the people get 4 days off for Eid. This year, the Eid holiday also aligned with Pallavi's 30th birthday.
Pallavi knew that we would be going on a trip for her 30th. That is as much as she knew. We asked her if she wanted it to be a surprise or wanted to be involved. She said that she didn't care. Bwah hahahahahaha. The 3 of us, especially Heba and Nayeli, LOVE throwing surprise parties.
After planning for over a month, we had decided to go to a small town called Dahab, on the Red Sea, in the Sinai region. Heba had arranged the hotel and the minivan, that would carry a group of 11, including the four of us, her friends, and some of their friends, the nine hour drive to Sinai. Nayeli and Heba had helped me to arranged a chocolate cake dripping with icing for us to eat on the mini-van, as we would ring in Pallavi's birthday on the overnight bus and then we'd spend Pallavi's birthday celebrating in Dahab.
We arrived back from the North Shore at 6 p.m. and we needed to leave by 11 p.m., all while coordinating the surprise cake and sign in the van, and not allowing Heba's friends to tip Pallavi off on where we were going. Pallavi knew the following:
Pallavi knew that we would be going on a trip for her 30th. That is as much as she knew. We asked her if she wanted it to be a surprise or wanted to be involved. She said that she didn't care. Bwah hahahahahaha. The 3 of us, especially Heba and Nayeli, LOVE throwing surprise parties.
After planning for over a month, we had decided to go to a small town called Dahab, on the Red Sea, in the Sinai region. Heba had arranged the hotel and the minivan, that would carry a group of 11, including the four of us, her friends, and some of their friends, the nine hour drive to Sinai. Nayeli and Heba had helped me to arranged a chocolate cake dripping with icing for us to eat on the mini-van, as we would ring in Pallavi's birthday on the overnight bus and then we'd spend Pallavi's birthday celebrating in Dahab.
We arrived back from the North Shore at 6 p.m. and we needed to leave by 11 p.m., all while coordinating the surprise cake and sign in the van, and not allowing Heba's friends to tip Pallavi off on where we were going. Pallavi knew the following:
- We were going to a beach and needed to pack a swimsuit, flip flops, and a sarong
- We were traveling with a group but we were staying in a room with just the four of us
- She needed to pack a pair of jeans and hiking stuff, just in case
That's it. When Pallavi and I went to the bank and to get groceries (at the store that isn't close to the house), Heba and Nayeli got the cake. When Pallavi went to use the bathroom before we left, Heba and Nayeli took the cake to the car. I made up some reason for Pallavi to be the last person to the van so that Heba & Nayeli could hang the 'Happy 30th Birthday Pallavi' sign in the van.
Finally, it was time to get into the van. Heba & Nayeli asked Pallavi to pick her seat. Pallavi looked at the van, oblivious to the Happy Birthday sign, and said any seat would do. I then told her to look harder, that picking a seat was very, very important..... ohhhhhhh, she said! She finally had seen the sign. We all got on the bus at 11:00 p.m. and, around 11:45, my co-conspirators and I decided we'd get the cake ready to sing and eat at midnight. At 11:55, Pallavi says, don't sing for my birthday! Quickly, I whisper to H&N that the plan is off! Pallavi then turned to me and asked, what? Is something planned? I said, there was, but not any more. Pallavi then told H&N they could go ahead. So go ahead, we did! We lit the candles, we sang 'Happy Birthday,' and then we looked at the icing on the cake which said, 'Happy 30th Rallavi.' That's right. This wasn't Pallavi's birthday. This was Rallavi's birthday! Thus 'Rallavi' became Pallavi's name for the entire day.
This cake was one of the best cakes we have ever eaten. It was thin, biscuit crust, carmel crunch, dripping with the most perfect chocolate mousse-like icing. It was amazing. The sugar high lasted for about 5 minutes before everybody on the van passed out into an acrobatic, uncomfortable, semi-sleep.
We arrived at a beautiful hotel and immediately changed and jumped into the pool. After a dip and a nap, we went to explore the town. It reminded both of us a lot of Aswan in the south. The town had a single strip that walked along the Red Sea. You can see Saudi Arabia on the opposite side (and even catch their mobile signal). We had a lunch at a horrible Egyptian place. Who would have thought that this tourist town would have great European cuisine but horrible Egyptian? We chased it with a dip in the Red Sea by another restaurant. The water is so clear and filled with wildlife that we saw an octopus just on a rock right by the restaurant!
We then started Rallavi's birthday pool party. It was a ball filled with cocktails, beers, cannonballs in the pool, and Egyptian meses. We'll never know all of the birthday wishes that Pallavi received because, in a tragic moment, she dropped her cell phone, and then I dropped it! By midnight we all gave Rallavi a football tackle style hug and said goodnight, broken phone and all. Happy 30th birthday Rallavi!
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