Friday, July 23, 2010
Back to the US! "Masalaama Masr!"
The past 7 weeks have flown by and I'm flying out early tomorrow morning! This trip has been a combination of amazing and frustrating, but overall it was a fantastic growing experience. I've done things I've never done before, stepped out of my comfort zone, and taken charge of my own life. I've made awesome friends and encountered some wonderful and colorful people. The school itself is horribly run, but the country of Egypt is amazing and there is so much more to explore. While I've had my fair share of interesting experiences and stares involving taxi drivers, tour guides, bedouins, sexist men, and shop keepers, and the food was not always fantastic, and things didn't always turn out as planned, the little "bumps in the road" kept me on my toes and made the trip come alive. There is so much more I'd like to experience and visit and I certainly want to travel back again to Luxor and the Sinai peninsula. While I can't wait to see the people I've left in the US, and leave all the craziness of Cairo behind, I will surely miss walking around the desert in the warm evening, shopping in the bazaar, gazing at the Nile, and sitting at cafes drinking mango juice. "Masalaama Masr. Shukrun for everything, and I will return one day. Insha'allah."
Friday, July 16, 2010
Mount Sinai
This Thursday/Friday morning, a bunch of us climbed Mount Sinai. The ride from Cairo was 6.5 hours, but could have been closer to 10hrs if we had hit traffifc. We left at around 6pm Thursday, and since we made such good time, arrived at the base of the mountain around 12:30 am Friday. We hired a bedouin guide named Sahla to take up the mountain, and they even provided us with a bodyguard (we're not sue whether this was because we were a group of all females or because we were Americans or a combination of the two. Either way, we didn't see any other groups with bodyguards). We began our trek around 1am and while the terrain was rough and rocky and we only had flashlights to light our way in the dark, there were multiple stops along the way to rest at bedouin cafes. It was difficult to see the mountains in the dark during our climb, but the stars were amazing! There were so many! I almost lost my balance trying to look at all of them! We finally reached the top of Mount Sinai around 4 am and hunkered down next to the other 100-plus people up there waiting for the sun to rise. It was freezing and the wind was howling and blowing sand in all of our eyes. It was extremely surreal being up on the mountain top at such an early hour. Hundreds of people were there for the same purpose -to become closer to God and/or to experience the beauty of nature. Besides European, American, and Asian tourists, there were also many Egyptians at the mountain. All of them seemed super excited and sang songs in Arabic throughout the morning. Finally, around 6am the sun began to rise. People began pointing, shouting, and clapping. Everyone rushed to the cliffside to watch it. It was gorgeous.
After the sun had risen, we began our trek down. The first part of the descent comprised of 700 hundred rock stairs, which for me were suprisingly easier to go down then they were to climb in the dark. Our descent took less time than our ascent (roughly an hour an 45 minutes) but it was painful going down the slippery sand and rocks at a downward angle. Sith the sun up, we were finally able to see all of the mountains surrounding us. They were incredible and had various colors and textures to them.
Once we'd reached the bottom, we rested outside St. Catherine's Monastery (it's closed on Fridays, so we didn't go in) and then began the long drive back. We were all tired and sore and passed out on the bumby bus ride back.
After the sun had risen, we began our trek down. The first part of the descent comprised of 700 hundred rock stairs, which for me were suprisingly easier to go down then they were to climb in the dark. Our descent took less time than our ascent (roughly an hour an 45 minutes) but it was painful going down the slippery sand and rocks at a downward angle. Sith the sun up, we were finally able to see all of the mountains surrounding us. They were incredible and had various colors and textures to them.
Once we'd reached the bottom, we rested outside St. Catherine's Monastery (it's closed on Fridays, so we didn't go in) and then began the long drive back. We were all tired and sore and passed out on the bumby bus ride back.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Citadel and Muhammed Ali Mosque
This past weekend my friends and I went to the Citdel in Cairo. The Citadel was home to Egypt's rulers for almost 700 years and has walls over ten feet thick! Now home to various museums regarding Egypt's military, police, and art history, it is most famous for the Muhammed Ali Mosque within its enclosure. The Muhammed Ali Mosque is breathtaking. It was built in the 19th century and named after Muhammed Ali (not the boxer) who is regarded as the founder of modern Egypt. Muhammed Ali remade Egypt into a regional superpower. He built the mosque to mirror those in Turkey and it is complete with various domes and minarets. The walls are all made of alabastor and inside lights hang in orbital rings. After visiting the Citadel, we went to Khan el Khalili again to finish our shopping! We went deeper into the souq this time and were able to haggle for some good deals.
While waiting for the rest of group to gather after shopping, a woman named Mimi came up to the few of us who were sitting on the sidewalk. I have no idea if anything she said was true or if she was up to something, but she said she was from Saudi Arabia and just wanted to talk to us and hear our impressions of Saudis. She wanted to convince us that they are not all terrorists and that they do have various freedoms. She said that she was from the royal family and had to sneak out sometimes to have fun. She also informed us that she was bi and had a tattoo. To make this encounter even stranger, Mimi then began to make assumptions about all of us. Apparently one of the girls here is a lesbian (which she's not), apparently I'm really sophisticated and care a lot about appearances, and apparently someone else doesn't think she's beautiful. Regardless, it was a very strange but interesting encounter.
After Khan, we took a cab to Zamalek and had a lazy dinner overlooking the Nile. Overall, a tiring, but successful day.
Climbing Mount Sinai thursday night/Friday morning!
While waiting for the rest of group to gather after shopping, a woman named Mimi came up to the few of us who were sitting on the sidewalk. I have no idea if anything she said was true or if she was up to something, but she said she was from Saudi Arabia and just wanted to talk to us and hear our impressions of Saudis. She wanted to convince us that they are not all terrorists and that they do have various freedoms. She said that she was from the royal family and had to sneak out sometimes to have fun. She also informed us that she was bi and had a tattoo. To make this encounter even stranger, Mimi then began to make assumptions about all of us. Apparently one of the girls here is a lesbian (which she's not), apparently I'm really sophisticated and care a lot about appearances, and apparently someone else doesn't think she's beautiful. Regardless, it was a very strange but interesting encounter.
After Khan, we took a cab to Zamalek and had a lazy dinner overlooking the Nile. Overall, a tiring, but successful day.
Climbing Mount Sinai thursday night/Friday morning!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Saqqara
Today was my roommate Michelle's birthday, and since she's an egyptology major, she really wanted to visit Saqqara (where the Step Pyramid is located) and some other sites for her birthday. We went with a tour company that first took us to Memphis (the first capital of Egypt) where we went to the Memphis Museum. The museum contains an enormous statue of Rameses II, one of the pharaohs of the 19th dynasty. The statue legs are no longer part of the structure, but the rest of the figure is in wonderful condition. It's amazing how much detail artists could achieve in those days - muscle definition, bone structure, defined eyelids and cheekbones, etc. After the museum, we went to Dahsur, which is remote desert pyramid field from the Old Kingdom. The pyramids date back to Dynasty 4 or 2600 Bc and were built by king Sneferu, son of Djoser (builder of the Step Pyramid) and father of Khufu (builder of the Great Pyramid). The two pyramids located at Dahshur are the Bent Pyramid, which is bent because during construction it became unstable so the slope had to be changed to support it, as well as the Red Pyramid, which gets its name due to the color of the interior walls. We were able to climb inside the Red Pyramid, which was amazing and slightly terrifying. It involved climbing up a bunch of stairs, entering a small doorway, and then crawling through a long and dark downward slopping pathway into the pyramid. After emerging through the Red Pyramid alive, we the went to Saqqara to see the Step Pyramid, the first pyramid ever built. There, we also explored tombs of deceased ministers, which contained beautiful reliefs on the wall depicting everyday life in Egypt during that time period.
After visiting these historic sites, our tourguide tok us to a wonderful lunch spot. We ate delicious traditional Egyptian dishes and even tried our hand at making fresh pita! Somehow we weren't successful.
Following lunch our guide took us to various shops including a carpet store/school, a cotton store, jewelry store, and perfumerie. The carpet store was interesting and the carpets beautiful, but I was a bit turned off by the fact that they employ young children to do a lot of the work because their small fingers are quick and able to weave better than most adults. The perfumerie by far the best shop we went into. They gave us a demonstration on glass blowing to show us how they make their beautiful and intricate perfume bottles. They then explained their various perfumes, their different uses, and allowed us to sample them. They make a lot of them from local flowers and even supply a lot of their notes/scents to major perfume companies, such as Gucci, D&G, Armani, Dior, etc. Their perfume is very cheap compared to in the US and since it doesn't contain any alcohol it will last forever. We all gave in and bought small viles.
Overall, it was a wonderful day and I think my friend Michelle thoroughly enjoyed her birthday.
After visiting these historic sites, our tourguide tok us to a wonderful lunch spot. We ate delicious traditional Egyptian dishes and even tried our hand at making fresh pita! Somehow we weren't successful.
Following lunch our guide took us to various shops including a carpet store/school, a cotton store, jewelry store, and perfumerie. The carpet store was interesting and the carpets beautiful, but I was a bit turned off by the fact that they employ young children to do a lot of the work because their small fingers are quick and able to weave better than most adults. The perfumerie by far the best shop we went into. They gave us a demonstration on glass blowing to show us how they make their beautiful and intricate perfume bottles. They then explained their various perfumes, their different uses, and allowed us to sample them. They make a lot of them from local flowers and even supply a lot of their notes/scents to major perfume companies, such as Gucci, D&G, Armani, Dior, etc. Their perfume is very cheap compared to in the US and since it doesn't contain any alcohol it will last forever. We all gave in and bought small viles.
Overall, it was a wonderful day and I think my friend Michelle thoroughly enjoyed her birthday.
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