Photo Update

My photos are all up to date on snapfish. You can check out everything up through my Nile cruise here. Enjoy!

Africa Cruisin'

I wrote this piecemeal along my trip and am posting it all today:

On Friday morning, we got up early (way too early! 4am early) to board the bus to the airport. It was around 5:45am when our EgyptAir flight took off for Aswan- which was absolutely remarkable, seeing as that’s the time we were suppose to take off, and nothing ever happens as it’s supposed to in Egypt. After a quick (1.5 hr.) flight, we arrived in Aswan, Egypt’s southernmost city. A bus took us on the short trip through the city to our cruise ship, which is currently docked (as I write) and will set sail in about a half hour. The ship is surprisingly nice; the rooms are fairly spacious with nice bathrooms, the food is quite good and service is amazing. Aswan itself is also very enjoyable. The city was the original home to the Nubian Egyptians (and still is) and has always been the meeting place and marketplace between Africa and Egypt. There is definitely more of an African feel in this small city which sits where the Sahara meets the Nile.

After food and an orientation of sorts to our trip, we headed out for a faluka (small boat) ride around the area where we’re staying. We saw Elephantine Island, which was used in ancient times as a fortress island; we saw the botanical gardens; we saw the home of the Agha Khan, the trader who gave his weight in diamonds to everyone who attended his 50^th birthday party, and then came back to the boat.

Next, we drove over the Aswan High Dam, which is a huge dam in the Nile which has created Lake Nasser, the largest manmade lake in the world. If the High Dam were to collapse, the water would rush through the Nile and into the Mediterranean Sea so fast that it would wipe out Tripoli, Tel Aviv and Capri. That’s a lot of water. Also, Nile crocodiles all live south of the dam, as they can’t get through. This makes me happy because my cabin is about at water-level and I don’t need a friend busting through my window when I’m sleeping and Captain Hook-ing me.

After the dam, we made our way to Philae Temple via boat. Philae is a temple to the god Isis, and is a Greco-Roman temple (built by the Egyptians at the behest of the Greeks when they ruled Egypt. The temple is a series of courtyards and buildings which get smaller and darker until you get to the holy of holies; the walls of the entire temple are covered in beautifully ornate hieroglyphic carvings. At first glance, the temple is impressive and old. However, when you stand inside the holy of holies and look at a carving on the wall, thinking about the fact that someone was doing the same thing thousands of years ago, you feel like a small part of a much bigger story, one which will go on forever, but one which could not have gone on without you or anyone else that has stood there. After Philae, we headed back on the boat where our Nubian guides sold handmade jewelry as they probably have for thousands of years.

After dinner I sat alone on the sundeck for a bit and read. The moon was bright and the docked falukas sat silently awaiting the next day of fishing. I thought about Africa as I read Hemingway, a man who had loved this continent at one point, and about its rich history, amazing scenery and frightening present and future. I’ve been touched by Africa in a very subtle way (as Egyptians and Africans alike will deny Egypt’s African-ness) and it has called me to explore more, letting me know in a faint voice that it has so much more to offer.

Overcompensating

Another early morning today (2:50am wake-up call). We hopped on a bus to Abu Simbel, one of the most impressive (if not the most) of the ancient Egyptians sites. Abu Simbel is a pair of temples, one built by Ramses II to prove to the people south of the Nubian land that he was mighty and was to be feared as a god, the other a tribute to his beloved and beautiful wife, Nefertari. The temples were absolutely massive with huge colossuses standing guard outside. Inside both is a series of chambers with more ornate carvings depicting scenes of great battles, of the Pharaoh’s romance and in praise of the gods. The craftsmanship that goes into such building is absolutely stunning and is difficult to comprehend without seeing it. Looking south past the water (about 50 km) from Abu Simbel, you can see Sudan. I was so close! And this is from whence all of the camels in Egypt come. We spent a couple hours at Abu Simbel and then drove back to the boat.

The boat set out around lunchtime and got us to Kom Ombo, where there stood an open Greco-Roman temple to Horus, the god of healing. Kom Ombo is smaller much than Abu Simbel, and a bit smaller than Philae, and is more ruined than the others. Apparently, prior to its preservation by Napoleon’s scholars, the temple would be dismantled by locals and the pieces would be used for building or to make millstones. We walked around Kom Ombo only for a short time and got back on the boat to finish our day’s travels.

Travel Buddies

By nightfall we’d docked at Edfu, a small port “city” with a riverside bazaar. A couple of us walked a bit and realized that the normal instances of Egyptian shopkeepers trying to goad you into their stores was even more forceful down south than it is Cairo. It is literally impossible to walk passed a storeowner without having him walk up to you and say “Hello, my friend. What you looking for? I give good brice (they can’t say “p” here). Where from? Where from?” It’s constant and incredibly off-putting, but if you watch the European tourists who haven’t been here long, they eventually give in and go into the stores “just to have a look.” They come out with “beautiful cartouche, for good brice.”

This brings me to European tourists in general. So Americans have a reputation, throughout the world, as being loud, culturally insensitive tourists with big hats, crappy cameras, shorts and sandals with socks on. This may or not be true. However, if we’re guilty of it, the Europeans are 100 times worse! Cultured Europe, my ass! Every ancient ruin, bazaar and city-center seems to be filled with funny-sounding hoards of people who refuse to wear sleeves (sleeveless shirts are bad enough in a country whose culture isn’t based on modesty) taking pictures in everyone’s way and telling jokes about the sites without actually appreciating them. It’s enraging. I’m gonna throw Aussies in there too, by the way. That is all.

Everybody Was Edfu Fighting

Sunday morning we got up early again and went to Edfu Temple, which I’d contemplated skipping to sleep in, but was pleasantly surprised with. This temple, which is also dedicated to Horus, the hawk god of healing, was absolutely gorgeous. A Greco-Roman temple built by the Ptolemies, this “young” temple spent many years half-buried in sand which makes it now one of the best-preserved temples of the ancient world. The high stone walls and pillars stand tall with hieroglyphics and hide tiny nooks and side-rooms which, as one walks around alone, one can picture a priest, thousands of years ago, walking through with great reverence and some fear, to appease the great god who brought healing and destroyed chaos. Though a gargantuan structure, this place was peaceful and quiet and was the most introspective of ruins I’ve been so far. The rest of the day on Sunday was spent at our leisure and the boat made its way north to Luxor, our final destination. Most people caught up on sleep during the hottest part of the day and sat around the deck and read, etc. We made a quick walk up and down the riverside street in Luxor at night, but got to bed early.

Luxoriffic

Monday was our last day of touring and we got up early once more. I actually didn't get up as early as everyone else, as reception forgot my wakeup call and I slept passed the time everyone was leaving. They went to the Valley of the Kings; I slept in. I grabbed a taxi on shore and met up with the group at Hatshepsut Temple, a temple built by a woman who pretended to be a man, since women couldn't be Pharaoh. It was a fairly small temple which had mostly been reconstructed, but the stairs leading up to it were gargantuan and impressive. They were also difficult to climb in the already blazing heat. After Hatshepsut, we went back to the boat for lunch.




Post-lunch we made our way to the grand finale: Karnak and Luxor Temple. Karnak is a temple built for the sun god, and greatest of all Egyptian gods, Amun Ra. This temple, the biggest place of worship in the world (at over 100 acres), was built piecemeal by a number of pharaohs, but was finished by Ramses II. The place is simply enormous and the pillars that stand row after row are incredible. We toured around a bit, feeling dwarfed, and then got back on the bus due to the heat (it was somewhere in the 120s). Our final stop was Luxor Temple, which sits in the center of the city of Luxor. This is a smaller temple and is really interesting mostly for its geographical location and because people are still discovering things about it now. Unfortunately, the heat on Monday made some of the things difficult to really enjoy. We made our way back to the boat. Monday night was spent a bit on the boat and a group of us went to a "British Pub," expecting sweet relief from the terrible beer we've been drinking this entire time. No dice. Once again, it was Sakara, Stella or Heineken. Yuck.


Suxor

Luxor, despite its amazing historical scenery, has one main drawback, the people who live in Luxor. My friend, Carole, and I went out shopping on Tuesday morning and to see the city. Big mistake. The taxi drivers, carriage drivers, shopkeepers and restaurant owners swarmed like vultures. In Cairo, especially at the bazaar, it's a common thing to have people goad you into your shops. However, in Luxor, it's two hundred times worse. Mostly, it's because Luxor is a town run completely on tourism and it's the off-season right now, but they went from the normal annoyance to that which enrages. I still have a carriage driver waiting outside the Sheraton to pick me up. After constant haranguing, we finally got what we needed and gave up, heading back to the boat. The rest of the day was spent hanging on the boat and relaxing. In the evening, Sarah, her mother (who came on the boat cruise with us), Carole and myself went along the corniche for dinner. It was a bit nicer further down into town and I saw the nice, quiet part of Luxor which sits meekly beside the Nile. It could be really great if they just took out like 90% of the people. At 11pm, we caught another flight back to Cairo.

I was a bit disappointed that so few of my classmates made the Nile cruise (only about 20 out of 45) but for those who did, it was an amazing and whirlwind tour of the parts of our host country that once made it the dominant power in all the world. For its good and its bad, I've taken quite a liking to Africa.

I Found Cairo!

So yesterday, I finally found Cairo. The real Cairo. The Cairo where people live and aren't ripping off tourists (for the most part). It's behind a famous mosque (Al Azhar), it's a maze of tiny alleys with a ridiculous assortment of shops (shoe store, shirt store, shoe store, fake designer bag store, shoe store, crappy toys store, gross meat store, coffee shop, spice store, papyrus shop, etc.) and it doesn't smell very good, at all. I'd expound upon what I was doing in this area, but it involves some items people are getting when I come home and I don't want to spoil that. Just know that I got to see some artisan work being done firsthand and was taken into some very cool shops that tourists rarely get to see (the places Cairenes shop).

I'm in a bit of a rush, so I'll just say a few things: I'm done with finals and leave tonight for a cruise from Aswan to Luxor (in southern Egypt); it's getting incredibly hot here; it's apparently hotter in Aswan (around 115-130 farenheit); I need to blog more, but probably won't get a chance to while on the cruise; I need to shoot more photos of city life in Cairo.


After studying for and taking finals, my literary sense is a bit shot. However, I'm really looking forward to the boat trip and to getting some good reading in while there (I just bought some Hemingway and Yeats in the campus bookstore) so expect more blogging when I get back from the trip). I hope all are well and please keep the comments and emails coming, I really love getting them, even if I haven't had a ton of time to reply to them all lately.

Don't Blow Your Fingers Off!

Not much doin' here in Cairo on the Fourth of July. We finished classes yesterday so now everyone's scrambling to learn five weeks of material in one weekend before finals start next week. I can't exempt myself from that statement, though my grades aren't transferring back to my school, so it's not such a huge deal for me.

Tonight, we're all taking time off from our finals studying to do the most American thing we can in Cairo...that's right, dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe! We heard the embassy is having some party, but it's out in the rich-people part of town (the other one, besides the one we're living in) and it's during the day when we're all studying. Therefore, instead of doing the usual American things like setting off fireworks, wearing cowboy hats and shooting apple pies with Colt revolvers, we'll just have to settle for the deliciously overpriced American food the Hard Rock cooks up. Maybe they'll have Budweiser there (do you see what I've been reduced to? I'm sorry, Dad). I'm pumped! Have a good day, everyone, and make sure the fuses are long and the beers are cold. Peace from the Middle East

Photos

Here is the latest link to my snapfish account. I've got all my photos updated. Which are your favorites? Enjoy!

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A Weekend in Asia

So my travels breached a third continent for the summer as I made my way across the Suez Canal and onto the Sinai Peninsula, the border of Asia and Africa, early Thursday morning. Our bus left the dorm around 2am Thursday and took about seven or so hours to get to St. Catherine's which sits in the middle of a large mountain range. I slept for a few hours that night but awoke as the sun was rising over the harsh desert sands and mountains- everything was still as we serpentined through the windy desert roads and into the town of St. Catherine's. We stopped at the Daniela, a tiny little hotel tucked into foreboding rock cliffs, ate breakfast, through our stuff into our rooms, and hopped back on the bus to tour the monastery.

Umm...That's Not on Fire

St. Catherine's Monastery is a 4th cent. Greek Orthodox monastic community set at the base of Mt. Sinai. As we walked in, we were told that the monks may be cranky and not to disturb them too much- I also had to wear a sarong of sorts because I'd forgotten to change from shorts to jeans and apparently Egyptian monks are kind of conservative. As we walked into the tiny walled-in village, I noticed how many people were there, probably bothering the monks and how many had shorts on. Oh well.

The monastery is built on what is believed to be the site of Moses' encounter with the burning bush. The monks have planted the same type of bush on the spot where the original one was. This, my friends, is no tiny shrubbery; it's planted on a wall of sorts and must be about 4x7x4. It was not on fire- nor was God talking from it anymore. While it was impressive to stand in that spot, it was made less so by the small size of the passageway in which it sits and the large amounts of tourists walking about. However, we continued on.

Next, I ducked into the chapel which, despite the same annoying, non-reverent tourists, was more of a contemplative and quiet space. This was enforced by an angry looking monk standing guard at the front. The chapel was small, with delicate and intricate icons on the back wall. From the ceiling hung beautifully gilded lamps and braziers. I sat for a bit and prayed and took in the importance of my surroundings, trying to get out of the tourist mindset, if only for a minute. I walked through the back of the chapel which houses the remains of St. Catherine of Alexandria, who was martyred in the early 4th cent.

After leaving the chapel, I headed up to the museum, which is the second largest repository of Christian religious texts in the world, behind the Vatican. The texts and icons kept in the museum include a letter from the Prophet Muhammad to the Bedouin people of the area, telling them to act peacefully toward the monastery, 6th cent. paintings of Moses receiving the 10 Commandments at Mt. Sinai, and ancient copies of Homer's Odyssey and Illiad. After the museum and roaming about a bit more, we headed back to the Daniela for lunch and naps.

My Bedouin Birthday

So last Thursday I turned 24 (thanks to those who sent me birthday messages- for the rest of you, God has delivered a curse upon you, it will arrive in 5-7 business days). After we all woke up from our naps, we headed to the Daniela for an underwhelming dinner. As the dinner came to a close, I heard a noise coming from the kitchen and turned around to see seven or so of the Bedouin men who work in the hotel coming out with a cake, TGIFriday's style. Apparently, one of my classmates had asked for a candle in a piece of the dessert they had out for us, but they refused and insisted on baking me a Bedouin birthday cake. Also, they must have had drums and tambourines lying around in the kitchen because their Bedouin birthday song included a rhythm section. They brought my cake and everybody stood and clapped to the music as an incredibly sweaty man started dancing and insisted I join in. So my 24th birthday wound up being celebrated with a quickly made cake (complete with bday message), drums and tambourines, Egyptian singing, and me dancing with a man while I wore a chef's hat and wielded a knife someone had given me to cut said cake, at the base of Mt. Sinai in a tiny little hotel. Could have been worse. By the way, pictures and video will begin to surface of this event on facebook. I'll do my best to suppress them, but if you look hard enough, you'll probably be able to spot some.

After the embarrassment that was my Bedouin dancing came to a close, we all went outside and sat. The hotel workers had laid out blankets for us and we sat under the quiet night sky as the stars and moon collaborated with a fire to light up our little area in the middle of the mountains. Our program director, Dr. Freamon, led us in a discussion and people took turns giving their assessment of the future of the program as well as reflecting on their time in Egypt and their ambitions for their careers. We sipped tea and talked and sat until the men at the hotel got bored and insisted they put on a party for us. So once again, out came the drums, out came the tambourines, and out came Hipsy, that was the name I gave to my birthday dance partner who could shake his hips like no man can or ought to ever do. We danced and talked and laughed and shot photos until it started to get late and then we made our way back to our rooms for a couple of hours of sleep.

The Climb

We gathered again on the bus at 2am, ready to take on Sinai. Not really, we were all pretty tired, but excited for our climb. For those of you who don't know, Mt. Sinai is the place where God gave Charleton Heston the 10 Commandments. It's best to summit the mountain at night because of the heat of the Egyptian sun and the fact that the country can't afford shade. Our group started up the mountain with our tour guide, who apparently climbs the things every night and people were annoying as hell with the stupid flashlights. A few of us ventured ahead of the group to avoid these annoying lights and climb like God intended, aided only by the light of the moon (don't worry, it's safe, the moon's pretty bright). Our tiny band hiked and hiked up the rocky sandy mountain, accompanied by my adopted pet, Buddy, a stray dog that apparently just likes hiking mountains.

We stopped intermittently at little coffee-shacks set up along the path and rested. Despite the fact that it was night in the desert, it was still pretty warm out and my backpack made me lose about six pounds of sweat. The climb wasn't terribly difficult, but hard enough and continued for about 2.5-3 hours at a pretty steady incline. Finally, when we felt like we should really be at the top, we hit the hard part. You'd think stairs would be easier than hiking rocks- or so thought the monks who carved the stairs into the last 1,000m of the mountain. They were wrong. Sure it may be easy for the Bedouin guys who hike up and down the mountain every day to get to work in their little coffeeshops, but let me tell you, those stairs sucked! I literally thought I was going to pass out at some point, or maybe my legs would just give out and I'd tumbled to my blissful death. Luckily, I'm friggin' awesome and made it to the top of the mountain at about 4:50am, where I found a nice flat surface amongst the chapel ruins and promptly laid down.


I sat with my friends Sarah, Lena and Brian at the top of the Mt. Sinai, none of us really saying much, looking out over the vast mountain range as the sun came up. I was exhausted and thought about living there so I wouldn't have to walk back down, but there was just a serenity there. As the stars and the moon gave way to lighter hues of blue and the mountains turned from dark silhouettes to burly brown rocks below, a stillness existed that only nature can create. I understood then how so many years ago, after fleeing slavery and wandering the desert, one could see God on the top of this peak. It was a fleeting glimpse of perfection.

The Rest of the Day

Walking down mountains is the unfortunate and stupid side effect to walking up them. Sarah, my partner in crime here in Egypt (don't get any ideas, folks, she's happily engaged), and I trudged back down the stairs and the sandy path as we dodged lazy people on camels and the gross mines camels leave behind.



We talked and complained about this and that and the heat and what not and finally found ourselves at the bottom of the mountain again. We hopped on the bus exhausted and ready to get to Sharm. After breakfast and a much needed shower, everyone got on the bus and made the 1.5hr or so trip to Sharm el Sheikh and the beautiful Sofitel Hotel.

Any Egyptian will tell you that Sharm is not Egypt; it's a European resort town that just happens to be within the Egyptian borders. Upon arrival at the Sofitel, we realized how true this was. Arab decoration adorn beautifully bright white buildings overlooking the Red Sea where sandy beaches spotted with pink flowers buttress clear blue water. The whole town is a bit extravagant and overdone, but at such a low price (by Western standards) it's hard to pass up. When we got in, I headed straight to the beach and swam along the the reefs where exotic fish darted along, one of which bit my shin. I sported my SPF 60 forcefield and was able to skirt around a sunburn- take that, the sun!

That night a few of us found a tiny little restaurant with seating on the roof. We walked upstairs and found tables surrounded by pillows on the ground. Little lights guided the path through the dining area and the rooftop overlooked the city lights and sea below. It was pretty nice.

Darling It's Betta, Down Where It's Wetta...

On Saturday morning a group of us gathered early after an amazing Sofitel breakfast feast. We met with a Brit, a German and an Italian and went out for a day of boating, snorkeling and scuba diving. They took us out on the Red Sea to a place called Ras Katy and anchored the boat near the reef. We were instructed on how to use scuba gear and took turns with the diving instructors under water for 30 min. increments each. While we waited our turn, everyone else snorkeled around the reef which was absolutely amazing. The marine life at the reef and the reefs themselves are known worldwide as some of the best things to see as a diver. We were lucky enough to be able to go with instructors who stayed with us the whole time so we didn't need to go through certification. We spent the day swimming and eating and just having a good time. It was a terrific way to relax and enjoy the sea.

That night we all gathered for dinner at the hotel's Indian restaurant. While the food was good, the service was horrendous and we wound up waiting hours for our meals. However, we got to talk more and just enjoy the company of our classmates. This group is a lot of fun and everyone seems to be able to get along and have good, fun, interesting conversation with each other. I'm amazed by the caliber of person that the program has drawn and how dedicated each one is to knowledge, service and bettering themselves personally. I'm sure every one of them will be successful both in their careers and their lives in the future. Later that night we just kind of walked around and had a drink or two. It had been a long day on the high seas.

Sunday morning my roommate John and I awoke at 9:58am when the maid came in. By 10:02 we were out the door, worried we'd miss the gigantic breakfast buffet. We didn't. We tore that buffet up! After breakfast I went and swam in the pool for a while and sat around. I also paid a male classmate a considerable amount of Egyptian Pounds to join the women in the water aerobics class in the pool. It was money well spent- top 4 funniest things in Egypt, ever. We sadly packed and made our way back on the bus for the 9 hr. ride back to Cairo. No one wanted to leave the shining Western beacon that is Sharm for the dirty loudness that is Cairo. By the time we got home we were all exhausted. I passed out pretty quickly after I got in and responded to the myriad birthday messages on facebook. I woke up unenergized for my last week of classes. Here we go...!

It's a River. Cool.

So yesterday we were duped into a trip to the Suez Canal with promises of lectures, slide shows, virtual trips on faux tanker ships, swimming and just all-around joy and happiness. Lies. We hopped on the bus at 8am and made the two hour trip to the canal. When we got to Ismaila, the town where the Canal Authority is based, we ate a quick breakfast and made our way over to learn about the canal. Our guide, who works at the Authority, took us on a quick boat ride in the canal and then gave us a lecture.

The lecture/ Q&A session was actually pretty interesting and we learned about both the history of the canal (which connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea for the geographically challenged amongst you). Some of the more startling facts about the canal: roughly 120,000 Egyptians died during the building of the canal; it takes a ship about 13-15 hrs. to make it through the canal; about 20,000 ships pass through the canal each year. However, after the talk we were simply given free reign to swim amongst the jellyfish (which I did- it was pretty salty) and eat a typically poor Egyptian lunch. The idea of vegetarian meals here in Egypt always makes me laugh- whatever everyone else is eating, minus the meat, no matter how little is left.

If you've noticed I haven't written quite as much lately, don't worry. I still like Cairo and am still happy here. However, the more we've gotten into the day-to-day of classes, etc., and the more I've gotten comfortable here, the less striking things have become and the more I really have to look for things that might interest you all. This weekend was kind of a lazy one and everyone in the program seems to be kinda dragging. This upcoming week holds promise though- St. Catherine's Monastery, climbing Mt. Sinai, a couple days at the beach in Sharm el Sheikh. Please keep the comments and emails coming, it's so nice to hear from you all.