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Carolyn Scotchmer found her red hair often attracted attention. Here children, picnicking with family along the Nile in Cairo, Egypt, wanted to be photographed with her. |
EGYPTIAN HOLIDAY LEADS TO A CHANGE
BY MELODY FALCONER-POUNDER
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two part series about a woman, with local ties, who recently returned to Canada after working as a tour leader in the Middle East. This week the focus is on her work experiences…
Carolyn Scotchmer is a red head. She never thought of it as a particularly exotic hair color until she moved to the Middle East.
She is the daughter of Howard and Nancy Scotchmer, of Bayfield, and has recently returned to Canada after spending two and a half years working as a tour leader in Egypt and Jordan.
“The Egyptians were often fairly interested in my hair,” she said, recalling one of her earliest memories from her time abroad. “I went for a walk in Cairo on their big spring holiday, Sham el Nisseem. Families celebrate by going out for a picnic. I was just wandering along the river taking pictures when some kids ran up to me and wanted me to take their picture, which I did. One of their mothers, Amira, came over and started talking to me, but she didn't know much English and I didn't know much Arabic at that point. She kept saying, "Ahmer, ahmer... gamela". I knew gamela meant pretty but I didn't know what ahmer was.
“Anyway, she invited me to join them, and I spent the afternoon picnicking in the park with her and three generations of her family. A couple of the men did speak a bit more English, but most didn't. They were so generous and friendly though, and were so happy to share what they had with me. It was a wonderful afternoon, and despite the fact that we didn't really speak the same language, somehow we managed to make ourselves understood. When I got home, I looked up Ahmer - it means red.”
Scotchmer had wanted to visit Egypt since she was a child learning about it in fourth grade, so when the opportunity arose for an extended vacation, that was where she determined to go.
“I also wanted to go to Syria, so I ended up spending five weeks in early 2006 working my way through Syria, Jordan and Egypt, with the last three weeks being in Egypt,” she said.
She found Syria and Jordan to be amazing places but it was Egypt that stole her heart.
“It was such a beautiful country and I met such wonderful people,” she said.
Immediately upon returning home she started trying to figure out how she could go back.
“I had spent part of my time in Egypt on an organized tour, and the leader had suggested that I consider applying for the job. It took me a while to put things in order so that I could go, but I was ready for a career break so I applied with The Imaginative Traveller, the company I had traveled with.”
It turned out The Imaginative Traveller wasn’t hiring until May 2007, but Scotchmer forged ahead with her plan and moved to Egypt at the beginning of March. She spent nearly three months traveling around and getting to know Cairo before heading to England for an interview at the end of May. And she got the job!
The training included a week in England with tour leaders who were headed out to all different destinations. They were instructed in general techniques, company policies and intensive first aid; as tours don’t always take place near hospitals. By June’s end she was on her way back to Egypt to begin one month of shadowing a tour leader, helping them with their jobs and preparing all the “briefs” needed to tell the groups.
“Even though we work with guides at the major sites, we needed to know a lot about the country – it’s actually a pretty steep learning curve and the training is intense. But it was interesting to me so I didn’t mind the work. Plus, having already lived there for a couple of months, I had a bit of a head start,” she recalled.
She ran her first tour mid-July with two people.
“Tours don’t usually run with less than five but occasionally cancellations result in small tours,” she explained. “The tour participants were two friends from New Zealand, who were wonderful and who still don’t know that they were my first group.”
According to Scotchmer, there wasn’t a lot of red tape to cut through in order to get the job.
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One of Scotchmer's postcard quality photographs. This one taken along the Nile at Aswan. |
“In Egypt and Jordan, there really isn’t any concern for those foreigners working in tourism as long as we’re also working with local guides, service providers and transportation companies. They see us as bringing extra money to their economy so it is easy to work there. It isn’t quite as easy if you’re working in other fields,” she explained.
The travel company is British and due to the nature of the work, tour leaders are hired as “self-employed international contractors” which Scotchmer translated to mean: “in the eyes of the British government we’re not their business.”
Since her first excursion she has lead tours for people from all parts of the world. The tour members mostly hailed from the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada but people from the United States, New Zealand and South Africa would join the mix. She also noted that visitors from Europe and Asia were becoming increasingly common including, Japan, Korea, Spain, The Netherlands and Scandinavian countries.
“I once had a tour composed of one other Canadian, two Americans, one Brit, one New Zealander, one Irishwoman, one Spaniard, one Philipino and three Khazakstanis,” she said.
Through her work Scotchmer had the opportunity to visit most of the historical sites in Egypt, and she has been to the main ones more times than she can count. Included in these stops were the pyramids, Valley of the Kings, Karnak, Abu Simbel plus lesser known sites like Tel Amarna, Dendara and Beni Hassan.
“I went up Mt. Sinai 39 times and rode donkeys to the Valley of the Kings more often than that.”
“I went up Mt. Sinai 39 times and rode donkeys to the Valley of the Kings more often than that,” she said.
Most of the trips concentrated on the Nile Valley, but she also had the opportunity to travel to Fayoum, the Sinai, Suez and the Red Sea. Visits to Siwa in the west, and the other five main Oases in the Western Desert were also included in some tour itineraries.
During her time in the Middle East, her company had more tours running in Jordan than ever before.
“Jordan is a much smaller country, and I was able to see almost all of it, except the eastern-most part. Most people go there to see Petra, which I’ve now been to over 20 times, but there is so much more to the country than that,” she said. “There are amazing natural areas at Wadi Rum (desert) and Dana (forest), Roman ruins such as those at Jerash and Jeddara and biblical sites such as Mt. Nebo (where Moses died) scattered all over the country.”
Scotchmer often worked eight or nine week periods running tours back to back, with a week or two off between. A lot of experiences were repeated but during any given two-week period each day was designed to be different. The only thing typical about a day would be the early start times.
“The earliest day was Mt. Sinai day – we would be up between 1:30-2:30 a.m. to climb for sunrise. Abu Simbel day involved a 2:45 a.m. or 3:30 a.m. wake up call followed by a three-hour bus ride, a two-hour temple visit and a three-hour bus ride back. That one felt a whole lot like the movie Groundhog Day, since it was something I did almost every two weeks.”
According to Scotchmer, donkey day was a little bit later (5 a.m. wake up call) and a whole lot more fun. Riding donkeys with the group to the Valley of the King, about 2-hours roundtrip, was often a vacation highlight.
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| Donkey Riding on the West Bank in Luxor, Southern Egypt. |
“The thing about tour leading is that on a good day it is the best job in the world, but on a bad one it’s about the worst. Things can go wrong, sometimes very wrong, people can be difficult, and, being human, I could be in a bad mood or even sick. But it doesn’t stop – you can’t take a day off, or ignore the group. They paid for their vacation and they expect you to keep doing your job and doing it with a smile regardless of what else is going on.
“When you are running the most exhausting tour we run on the last week of a nine week stretch with a group that is less than ideal, it takes everything you have to smile and pretend that you are still having a good time. But hiking around Petra or snorkeling in the Red Sea with a group of people who have become friends is a pretty amazing thing to get paid for,” she said.
For Scotchmer the tour experiences were so varied and the people taking these tours so diverse that she could probably write a book. There are lots of stories including those with elements of romance, danger and the absurd.
On her training tour, during the desert trek, one of the group members proposed to his girlfriend. On a hike back down Mt. Sinai, a tour member ruptured a disk in her back after hiding the extent of her back problems from the group. And in an episode Scotchmer termed “downright ridiculous”, one of her group members accused her of smuggling drugs because she saw her hand someone a package outside a restaurant just after crossing from Jordan to Egypt. The package contained cat food for Scotchmer’s pet. Cat food was far cheaper to purchase in Jordan compared to Egypt.
“But the best moments were those in which you could almost watch a person’s perspective, or even sometimes their life direction, shift with the experience they were having. That’s what happened to me when I was a tourist there and I loved to see it in others when it happened.”
Next week Part II: In the July 29 edition of the Bayfield Breeze, Scotchmer reflects on the more personal and cultural aspects of her time in the Middle East.
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Carolyn Scotchmer at the Pyramids, an historic site that could never get old, not even for a tour leader. |
TOWN HALL
Jazz is the musical genre of choice for the next in a series of concerts to be held at the Bayfield Town Hall.
Vocal Jazz quartet, After Four, will take to the hall’s stage on July 25.
This will be a return visit to the hall for Jenny and Ron Nauta, Theresa Wallis and Dave Williams. They will be accompanied by an instrumental quintet. Their lively renditions of traditional jazz songs will be sure to have fingers snapping and toes tapping.
Tickets for this 8 p.m. show are now available for $20 per person. For more information please contact Pat Langley at 519 565-2894.
PRESBYTERIAN
Rev. Susan Moore, of Knox Presbyterian Church, invites all in the community to join her for a summer book study. The study entitled, Catch Your Breath, will be based on the book of the same name by Don Postema. The sessions will be held at Knox Presbyterian Church every other Thursday from 10-11:30 a.m. The next session is set for July 23. Included in the study will be a look at labyrinths and the traditions surrounding them. A meditative walk to the gardens at 13 Clan Gregor Square to experience a labyrinth first hand is also planned.
Visitors and local residents are invited to Knox Church, Bayfield to rest, pray or meditate through the hectic summer months. The doors of the church will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday, from now until the end of August.
Knox, Bayfield will play host to the Joy of Music to be held on July 29 at 7 p.m. All are invited to attend this concert featuring local church choirs and some very talented soloists.
Knox’s anniversary service is fast approaching. This year the church will celebrate 78 years on July 26. The service will be followed by an ecumenical pot luck picnic on the church grounds.
Looking ahead, the Annual Knox Summer Sale is planned for Aug. 1. This sale is always a bargain hunters’ delight featuring household items, jewelry, purses, books, toys and other treasures.
RATEPAYERS’ ASSOCIATION
If, among other local topics, you are interested in a review of the Huron County Official Plan, you should plan to attend the annual general meeting of the Bayfield Ratepayers’ Association (BRA), Aug. 1.
All ratepayers are welcome to attend this meeting which will be held at the Bayfield Community Centre beginning at 10 a.m.
A number of reports will be given and members of the council for Bluewater will make comments.
Individuals interested in becoming a member of the BRA board are invited to contact Dave MacLaren. |
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Carolyn Scotchmer takes in the impressive Pillars of Karnack Temple in Egypt. |
WATERSHED PLAN
How does your property fit into the watershed plan created by the Bayfield North Watersheds Plan Committee (BNWPC)?
Property owners between Bayfield and Goderich can find out at an open house to unveil the draft plan being held at the Bayfield Town Hall on July 23.
Two presentations will be held, the first at 5:30 p.m.; the second at 7:30 p.m.
This project first began in late 2007. The committee and the community have prepared the local watershed plan with public input through a series of well-attended public open houses.
This community led watershed plan is an Environment Canada and Ontario Ministry of the Environment initiative with staff support from the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA). The plan to protect and enhance the area north of Bayfield will include a characterization of the watersheds for the area and a section for management options identified by the community.
For more information contact Hope Brock at 1-888-286-2610 or email hbrock@abca.on.ca
UNITED
Don’t be surprised if you see a number of bicycles parked outside of St. Andrew’s United Church on July 23. The church is a mid-morning stop for about 30 cyclists from the Listowel area, who are fundraising for the Canadian Bible Society. All are invited to come and meet the group and/or to make a donation to the cause.
Everything’s coming up roses at St Andrew’s on July 25, when the Stewards will be hosting a Rose Tournament. From 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. come for tea (or coffee) and a bouquet of “all things rose” including, rose jelly, rosy pink sandwiches, cupcakes and tea biscuits. The surroundings will be decorated with rose plants and flowers and rosy music will fill the air. Bet you can’t guess the names of the servers and musicians? All are welcome.
St. Andrew’s will hold their church service and picnic at Pioneer Park on July 26. Please bring a lawn chair and your own cutlery and dishes plus a picnic lunch to share. Drinks and dessert will be provided by the Session.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
One of the most popular parts of the Bayfield Fall Fair is the Youth Talent Search held on the Friday night following the opening ceremonies.
This year the date is Aug. 14. This Bayfield Competition is a preliminary for the Ontario Youth and Junior Talent Search. It will be held upstairs in the Bayfield Community Centre starting at 7 p.m.
To make the event a success contestants are needed. There are two divisions: Juniors, aged six to 12 years; and Youth, aged 13 to 21 years. Contestants are vying for the opportunity to advance to the London City Music Theatre Stage at the Western Fair in September where cash awards will be rewarded.
The entry closing date is Aug. 7. A completed entry form is required for each contestant. Participants 16 years and under require a parent's signature.
For more information or to register call Susan Armstrong at 519 524-2435 or email her at armsd@tcc.on.ca
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Thunderbirds will be the cars to spot in Bayfield on Sunday, July 26 when the Southern Ontario Thunderbird Club (SOTC) members bring their vehicles to Clan Gregor Square for the 12th straight year.
This year the membership of the SOTC is celebrating their 30th anniversary. The featured T-Bird models in the show will be from 1969.
The show will run from 10 a.m. to about 4 p.m.
The Bayfield Historical Society will operate a food booth at the event from 10 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m. The selling of hamburgers and hotdogs to those people who visit the show is a fundraiser for the society.
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| Tammy Preszcator, of Hensall's Just A Team, was on the pitching mound when her team met Bayfield's Ups & Downs in league play on July 9. |
LADIES’ SLOW PITCH
Two of the seven teams in the Bluewater Ladies’ Slow Pitch League met on the ball field in Bayfield on the evening of July 9. Bayfield’s Ups & Downs defeated Hensall’s Just A Team in a very close game by a score of 6-5.
As of July 20th, the Ups & Downs were first in the league’s position standings with Just A Team in third. Bayfield is home to two teams in the league. The Bayfield Shadows find themselves in fourth position overall.
The Shadows take to the field next on July 22 at 8 p.m. when they take on the Cougars. The Ups & Downs will play their next game against the Angels on July 23 at 8 p.m.
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| Lisa Masse, of Hensall's Just A Team, leaves second base during a game played against the Ups & Down recently. |
ANGLICAN
From now until Jan. 3, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto has on exhibit one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century: the Dead Sea Scrolls. Members of Trinity Anglican Church would like to invite the public to visit the exhibit with them.
The church is sponsoring a bus trip to view the exhibit on Sept. 23. The cost for the trip is $89 per person taxes included. The trip will include deluxe motor coach transportation, a meal, admission ticket to the ROM and a tour director on the coach.
The scrolls were discovered from 1947-56. Bedouin goat-herders made the discovery in a series of caves off the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. The scrolls were authored between 200 BCE and 68 CE. Over 900 separate documents were unearthed, pieced together from over 100,000 scroll fragments.
Created by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Royal Ontario Museum, Dead Sea Scrolls highlights the tale of their discovery, examines the environment in which they were found and explores the science and technology which helped to decipher them.
To reserve a spot on the bus please call Joyce Lambert at 519 565-5023 as soon as possible.
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Trinity Church will present “Twenty-four years of the Ultimate in Recycling” when they host their annual Bayfield Antiques Show and Sale on Aug. 7-9 at the Bayfield Arena.
Over 30 professional antique dealers from across the province will bring an array of quality antiques and collectibles to the show.
The Gala Evening Opening Celebration is set for Friday from 7-9 p.m. This festive evening includes refreshments and music by Cactus Jam. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet the vendors, browse and purchase unique items for their collection. Tickets for this special night are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.
Show times for the weekend are Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission on these days would be $5 per person.
For more information contact Janet Snider at 519 565-5549. |