Egypt (Part 2)

One of my first impressions of Egypt is how it is the epitome of primitive meeting the present. Horse carriages, Honda Civics, donkeys carting people and every other mode of transportation you can possibly think of share the road together. Spending most of my time in a large charter bus, I got to view this spectacle from a safe perspective-- leisurely picturing myself back in the old days. The last day, however, Osman paid for us to have a horse and carriage ride. Four to a cart, we were thrown into the hustle and bustle-- without the safety of Magdi's old faithful charter bus with bathroom and refreshments included. If we were safely trotting on the sidewalk that would have been one thing, but these mad drivers actually try to merge traffic with their fairytale carts. As my family knows well, merging is not my strongpoint. If I can't merge onto the interstate with my dependable Toyota Camry, imagine the fear in seeing Mr. Ed plunge between two cars and a public transportation van.

I have never in all my life seen traffic like in Egypt. Osman says about Egypt: "The number one rule in Egypt is that there are no rules." He is exactly right. There are no lines on the roads, no traffic signs, no speed limits, no traffic lights. Six lanes of cars fill the area that is supposed to hold 3 lanes and no more. Honking is more like a game than a warning signal. Many have their own unique horn, and they like to show off its stellar sound.

As to the forwardness of their men, our teacher's warnings were very much appreciated. I have never in my life (except in one horrific incident in high school that was quite close) ever had a guy lick his lips at me. I wanted to begin by throwing up on him and end with a dramatic throwing of a mouth-watering steak at his face to fulfill his desires. All I could manage at the time was a quick gasp and a girly grasp of my mouth. On the cruise, my housekeeping guy was always waiting at my door. He called me "Nefertiti," who is one of the most beautiful Egyptian queens we have seen. I began to think maybe my Grandpa had "Demetri" mistaken for "Mahammed" and that perhaps Egypt was the place for love-- but I soon started piecing together that other girls were soon called "Cleopatra" and on and on. I suppose "player" is a worldwide concept.

Old City of Cairo- Adding to the list from before, I also got to go into the church that is built on top of the place that they believe Mary, Joseph and Jesus stayed when they fled to Egypt. They have that part roped off, but you can look down into it. Even though they can't be 100% positive about the spot, they know it was in that area-- and that, to me, is neat. We also visited a mosque here and the girls had to wear green robes with head coverings. We saw a few people carrying on their rituals and it was just a very beautiful place, inside and out. Children flocked to us when we came out, wanting ballpoint pens that we had. Sitting up high in a nice charter bus really makes me feel miles away from these people. They look up at us like we are from two completely different worlds-- and we are. It breaks my heart.

The King Tut exhibit (within the Egyptian Archaelogical museum) and his tomb were also highlights of the trip for me. I didn't realize how many of his belongings were still in tact. We saw his beds (which were beautiful, but looked very uncomfortable), his chariots, his jewelry, his shoes (that they found on his body!), and so many other things. We paid a little extra to get into his tomb, and besides the annoying clapping man (who claps 5 times to tell you you have stared at Tut's dead body for your allotted amount of time), it was so amazing! The amount of time and detail they put into decorating his sarcophagus (spelling?) is unbelievable. They put him in three different ones, all equally detailed. His death mask is magnificent. I just kept staring at it. The pushy, chattery Japanese tourists couldn't even push me away from this exhibit.


I learned how to write in hieroglyphics. One one-hour class doesn't make me an expert, but I now pride myself in reading animal drawings. If you lay out a box of animal crackers (frosted, preferably), I will tell you what it means. Haha. I am only kidding, of course, but it is a very neat way of writing.

Alexandria is home to the world's largest catacomb and we got to go in it. It had a very eerie feeling to it, with all these slots where you knew dead people had once been. It seems to go down forever and it has all these different passageways. This was where the early Christians hid and there are still remants of crosses that they carved. I am getting pretty used to going where dead people are. I can't tell you how many tombs I've been in-- when we went in the pyramid (Shh-- don't tell anyone..) me, Noah and Sarabeth crawled in the actual tomb where one of the Pharoahs had been. While the back-on-the-ground, crook and flail position had been my goal, knees on the floor was all I could manage. I don't want to be all-the-way cursed, just partly. We also saw the famous Alexandrian library and where the lighthouse would have been. I have seen so many wonders of the ancient world this semester! (Sadly, I didn't know about a lot of them until I was told!)

I GOT TO RIDE A CAMEL. This day in Nubia was probably one of the coolest days. We had just hopped off a night train and we looked pretty rough and had not showered-- but it did not even matter. So you don't get on camels like you mount a horse. They are squatted awkwardly on the ground (it looks like it hurts) and you sit on them. The guy tells you to hold on tight and he whips the camel until it makes one jerk forward, then up, then back, then gets steady on its feet. The only thing scarier is when it lies back down at the end of the trail. We walked around the edge of this village and interacted with the village people (we're past the YMCA here, people). We got some cokes at a nearby house and some guy stuck a crocodile on me. It was alive. It had teeth. It was scary. I overcame my urge to be a girl and scream and instead remembered a time on America's Next Top Model where they posed with tarantulas on them. I decided to make this an artistic moment and posed with a crocodile prop while people took pictures. I also got a henna tattoo (when you see the pics-- it's fake, Mom..)

We got to go to a carpet shop (Egypt is known for their handmade carpets..) I bought a small one for $10. We also went to a papyrus store and I spent a lot of money in there on this Nefertitti painting. It is so mysterious and beautiful-- I had to get it. I got King Tut thrown in for free because of my purchase. I didn't know this, but many of the perfumes from America are from Egypt. They make them with their essences and send them to America where they re-name them and raise the price because Britney Spears or whoever puts their name to it. There was this one scent called "Secret of the Desert" that the man passed around and said this was a special scent that was "only to be worn at night and on special occasions" which got lots of laughs. Apparently it makes the manfolk wild. What seemed to be all for kicks ended up to be really desired because it ends up a lot of girls bought it-- apparently I'm not the only one needing an extra scent of good fortune. Yes, I bought it. You got me. Maybe the secret of the desert will be revealed in the states. I also got another scent that I liked and a few things for Mom ;-) (Sorry, Dad-- no secret of the desert..)

That doesn't BEGIN to cover the extent of my knowledge and appreciation for this ancient land, but I hope it gave you a taste of my adventures. If you have any questions or want more detail n something, just let me know. :-) Love you guys!