I"m Sorry

Unfortunately, Sarah's Egypt Adventure blog will be momentarily interrupted due to my going to the beach. I will resume writing the day I get back and everyone who happens to read this will finally know the end of my trip. I'm sorry this journal will be interrupted, but I promise it will be completed soon.

Day 9

6/20/10




We are docked at Qena. It is where we docked yesterday for an optional tour of the city. It is the cleanest city in all of Egypt; there is a contest every year, and it has won the last few years. And by clean I mean clean, no trash, local areas taken care of, etc.


We woke up and after breakfast bussed it to Denderah temple. This is a greco-roman temple(built during greek or roman occupation of Egypt) for the cow goddess Hathor. The far side of the temple has one of the few remaining reliefs depicting Cleopatra and her cartouche. There were some beautiful reliefs all around, the colors are amazing.

Once inside the temple, past the hathor-headed coloumns, you look up to see a beautiful blue decorated ceiling and a black ceiling. Restoration is at work here. A cleaning solution that will not interfere with the paint is being applied to the ceiling to restore it to its former glory.

We go through the temple and walk our way up to the roof of the temple. Once there we see a modern relief for the very first horoscope. It was named after the god Horus. The horoscope was taken by the Louvre to be studied, and has never been returned. the view from the roof is amazing and you can see for miles.

Next we climb the whole way back down and some of us go even farther into the crypt of the temple. There are no mummies there, it was never used for bodies. Beautiful jewels and precious treasures were found here. It is small and a squeeze to get through, but the colored reliefs inside are amazing. Up close and personal. Anne went with me and on our way out she gave me her camera to take a picture of her climbing back out. She was not the only one who did this, and it became a great joke.

I found Mark on the way out as Grandma and Karin left earlier with Dorothy to sit by the shops and cool off. Grandma bought a red hat to protect her head from even more sunburn. I asked Mark to take a few pictures of me next to a huge column and in front of the temple with my phone so I could send the pictures to Mom along with the update.

When we met up with Dorothy, apparantly Grandma and Karin had been talking about why I chose Egypt for a senior trip, so she gave me a hug and told me I will make a wonderful Egyptologist because I have the passion for it. It was really sweet and I really hope one day it will be true.

When we got back to the River Anuket I changed and headed up to the pool deck with a book and a water bottle. It is paradise up here. The view of the riverbank is beautiful, and the pool is perfect for my purposes. I sat in the shallow water edge that was most of the pool and read. The water came up to my waist while sitting and I was perfectly cool while sunbathing and reading. I feel great after being out in the hot sun all morning.
We are skipping dinner today because after lunch we really weren't hungry and we were promised popcorn with our movie in the lounge after dinner. We were watching Death on the Nile. I shopped during dinner before going up to claim a seat. I bought a red carnelian and alabaster vase for Mom, a camel sandglobe for Austin, and little statues and pyramids for my librarians.
We were the first ones who went to claim a seat in the lounge and got the best seats and several refills of poporn. We were the only ones who really wanted it, and some of the other people gave us theirs. I really enjoyed the movie even though I couldn't get through the book and the movie was pretty old.
Today was a really great day.

Day 8

6/19/10

Definately sick.
I'm feeling better, and I'm not getting sick anymore. But I'm still out of it and could not imagine walking through direct sunlight over rough terrain all morning. It was NOT happening no matter how much I wanted it to.
Grandma stayed with me because she's not feeling so well either, and she doesn't care as much by now. Karin offered to stay home instead, but she ended up going. She felt miserable most of the time and didn't participate in everything.

Once everyone was returning to the ship for lunch, Sam called my room to check up on me. She told me to go to lunch and that it should help. Turns out the frozen ice cream helps; go figure the cold is what I was really craving. Sam came over to check on me and she was please with how I was feeling. I think I'm going to be ok for tomorrow.
I hung out in Kj's room after lunch, and she and Mark had brought me back a present from the alabaster workshop. They make pieces there the same way it has been shaped for thousands of years. Kj said Mark picked out the blue lapis lazuli cat statue to match my Sekhmet statue. Its very pretty and I like it a lot. They also brought back pictures from the Valley of the Kings in postcard size. NO pictures can be taken in the tombs, so they sell pictures this way.

I haven't told mom I've been sick in my daily text message, and I'm not planning on doing so until I get home. She will just worry and mess up her own day worrying about me while I'm feeling better.
After dinner Mark suggested we all play a game in the "library" area. We played british monopoly. Grandma was in position to win when she decided she just didn't care and made silly moves in order to lose. I hope she and Karin feel better tomorrow and that tomorrow will be more exciting. Tomorrow is the temple of Denderah.

Tune in tomorrow for the continuation of Sarah's Egypt Adventure

Day 7

6/18/10

Today is the day we fly to Luxor. We woke up at 3:45 to put our luggage out at 4:15 and leave by 5:30. We went to breakfast at 4:30. We have been eating at Omar's Cafe in the hotel and they opened early for us. Karin and Mark joined us later because they are always slower than we are. Im a light eater for breakfast, and I was done eating by the time everyone inlcuding grandma got to the table.

After breakfast, we went out to the bus to identify our luggage at 5:15. Sam gave us our boarding passes and explained that we were already checked in and that we were sitting alphabetically. I was not near any of them or anyone I've met so far. After a trek through the winding airport, we took a bus out to the complete other side of the airport to board our plane from the middle of the loading area. I had the aisle seat! But, I couldn't check my carry-on like everyone else did on the domestic flight because of my huge, heavy blue cat statue; I am afraid someone will inadvertantly break it.

Grand Circle again takes care of getting our bags for us. All we have to do is identify that it is there. Its great. We head out to our new yellow bus and wait for all of the luggage to be loaded up before we head to the ship.

The River Anuket is only a few minutes away and as we are the first of the two flights out this morning, we get there before about sixty people. It is much less intense. The very first thing we do is take a cab over to EgyptAir to pick out our seats for our Cairo JFK flight. We get a four seats near the frontish of the plane.

We then stopped at the Luxor Museum. There are some beautifully preserved statues that were found at Luxor temple underground nearly by accident. They looked like recreations they were so well preserved. Sam says she was actually at Luxor temple when they were being excavated. The rest of the exhibits were beautiful, I particularly liked one Sekhmet statue when she looked sad. I got a postcard on the way out the door.

After being hasselled by all of the cab drivers and horse and carriage drivers we decided to walk back the few blocks. The direct route was not clear due to contruction and we had to go around. It wasn't too bad of a walk, but grandma had a hard time with it for obvious reasons.

We got back just in time for lunch.

After lunch we went to the Luxor Temple which is in the middle of Luxor the city and only a few blocks away from the river front where we were docked. It is huge! I took so many pictures. I was drinking water, but it was getting really hot. Upper Egypt is soo much hotter than I thought it was going to be. We walked around and saw so many statues and fragments found that have not been identified or put together yet.

Before we got back on the bus we explored the avenue of sphinxes outside of the temple. This avenue used to lead straight from Luxor temple to Karnak temple. For those not in the know, it is miles away, and each sphinx is pretty big.

I'm not feeling to good and am very glad to be getting back on the bus.

Dinner is ok tonight. I'm not feeling so good and Mark is pressuring me to eat cheese even though I DONT DO THAT EXCEPT ON COOLED PIZZA. But I make it through dessert. We like our seatmates well enough. We are getting ready to leave. I want to go upstairs to our third floor cabins because I do NOT feel good. Grandma stops to talk to someone and Kj and Mark stop at the gift shop. I cant wait anymore and I run back to Grandma for the key. I run up the steps as quickly as I can and rush to the bathroom.

I'm ok until right before they make it up. I do not feel good for the rest of the night.

I'm instinctively searching for cold and I end up staying in the bathroom for the rest of the night. Every time I start to get too cold it wakes me up and I simply turn over to the other side and get colder. This stops my sickness, but I'm still to sick to think about going out tomorrow. I hope I can go out tomorrow. Its Valley of the Kings Day!!

Tune in tomorrow for more of Sarah's Egypt Adventure

Day 6

6/17/10

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Today was the spiritual Cairo optional tour. We were instructed to dress more conservatively than usual, but I didn't need to change, I've already been dressing conservatively for an american. Not too many had to change much, most just added a jacket of some sort. Well Iwas already doing that anyway.

Our first stop was Muhammed Ali mosque. Yes we had to take our shoes off. Grandma and I brought socks. After walking through, Sam allowed us to sit down and she answered questions about the Islam religion and other local practices.

After our talk we walked out to a beautiful view of Cairo city including the City of the Dead, their part cemetery part city. It is a cemetery, but people have begun to live there and build schools there.

We walked around and started back to the bus. It is so hot inside the complex surrounding the mosque. There is no relief, no breeze, no shade. the bus helps, but we all close the curtains on the bus for the first time.

Next we drove to the Hanging Church. It is the oldest christian church in Egypt, supposedly. Unfortunately, no one knew it was under construction, and we got a look at tarps and plaster. It wasn't too bad, except Mark was feeling really sick, and the heat was not helping at all.

Next we trekked by foot to an old synagogue where the Nile flowed near once. Here, supposedly, the Holy Family hid.

Mark was feeling worse and worse as the day went on. We passed through a small bazaar while going to the synagogue, and Karin found books she liked.

While we were waiting for the buses to find us to take us to Khan il Khalili bazaar, Karin and Mark bought huge cokes for a dollar and grandma bought cute souvenirs for Juliet and Suzanna.

Bus comes and we are all dying, but we still aren't going back. One of the largest bazaars is up next. Grandma saw a plate yesterday at the Citadel that she liked, but didn't have time to bargain for. She is hoping to find it today. Mark is still on the great tie search.

I know you are all shocked, but Grandma does find her plate. She doesn't want to bargain for it though and the guy lowered the price a little bit and she was ok with it. I bought a mug from the same place.

Mark and Karin find one of our security guards and ask him what a necktie is in arabic. He goes with us to try to find one. He takes us really deep into the bazaar and I start to get really uncomfortable. Eventually I convince them to turn back because I don't feel good and we are getting nowhere. No one has a tie. After we return near the front of the bazaar grandma and I pick out shoes for Mom. She had asked for them if we found neat ones.

I almost get traded for 5000 camels. I have another dowry offer. Grandma was seriously considering this one. Thankfully Sam suggested we hold out for more and that it is not a good enough price. I was like, " Thank you Sam!!!" I grandma had really wanted to get rid of me, Sam had offered to take me. But she could not have sent me to the American University in Cairo, it is too expensive. She would send me to the German school, so I better spend this summer learning German. LOL.

By now we have used up all of our time and need to head back to the bus. I had wanted to search out the perfect Thoth statue but there was no time after the great tie adventure. We went back to the bus, but due to bazaar rules, the bus could not be turned on until we are ready to go. NOOOOOOO! That means no air conditioning!

As we get on, our driver, Osman, sneakily tries to steal mom's present as a joke. This has been a joke between us since the first time I brought a bag back to the bus. I really like him, everyone does.

We finally get to head back to the hotel once everyone makes it back to the bus. For all it has seemed like an entire day has gone by, we return by two ish. We decide to have an hour to ourselves and then off to the pool to really cool off. Unfortunately, grandma's and my reading hour turns into grandma's napping hour. I had to break out the ear plugs.

The pool was great. it is very long and just deep enough. The sun drys everything so fast that I felt that I could actually get my hair wet. Part of the pool is under a balcony and is a nice relief from the constant sun at times. After much horseing around and practicing all of my tricks that I haven't done in years, I stretched out on an isolated chair to dry off. KJ found a discrepancy with her bill. The Marriot believes they drank juice. They rushed off to fix it and Grandma went to check ours.

When I went back, Grandma wasn't there and I had not taken my key. so I knocked on KJ's door. We hung out while we were waiting for them to return. We all decided to go eat at the Bakery. We went for sandwiches and found a whole other level of shops!! We browsed a little bit and determined tha we would come back when we returned to Cairo for our final day. We leave for Luxor tomorrow.

We returned and backed everything for another flight. All of the water bottles I have been hoarding are coming with me and making my luggage very heavy. But no matter, we are going to an even hotter part of Egypt, Upper Egypt in the south. Yes I know what I just wrote. But, Upper Egypt has more hills and is higher above sea level. Lower Egypt in the north is a low lying delta.

Day 5

6/16/10

Today we took the train to Alexandria. We traeled first class, but the train station looked like it belonged in the At&t commercials where everything is covered in tarps, only much dirtier. The place was a mess. Thankfully the train was on time and we could board right away. We traveled in this fashion for the next three hours. I read, looked out the window, and slept.

When we got there, we met our buses that were driven down earlier that morning. We almost didn't need them right away though, because our first stop was only three minutes away. We stopped at a Roman Amphitheatre discovered when a bank wanted to build on the lot. It is the only one of its kind found in Egypt. There was also an open-air museum of artifacts found in the Mediterranean from old Alexandria that were lost during the earthquake. It was very big and very beautiful.

Next we went to the Library of Alexandria. History Lesson- the old Library of Alexandria was a mecca of learning and a repository of ancient text and rare manuscripts. Unfortunately all was lost in a great fire. So, the library is a point of pride for every Alexandrian and this new one is very high tech and well funded. We toured the library and received access to the library's website and was given a quick tutorial. It is amazing and I wish I had known about it before all three years of history fair had past. But it was wonderful. On the lowest level, there were several museums and exhibits. One section was old and rare books including sections of the Book of the Dead of Ani! And now I have pictues of it!! Happy!

We also stopped in the gift shop. I bought a Sekhmet statue (lioness goddess) and a blue scarab for Austin. Karin and Mark had a hard time buying what they wanted. The proprietors could not find a box for their candle holder and took forever to resolve the issue. We were almost late for the bus. Thankfully we walk faster than everyone else so we were not very last. I was having anxiety attacks the entire time because i absolutely HATE to be late.

After the library we drove out to the summer palace on the Mediterranean. It has since been transformed into a hotel for very privileged guests. Bill Clinton stayed here when he was visiting the Egyptian President one summer. It was beautiful as you can see.

There is a restaurant in a hotel right next to it in a beautiful garden complex. This is where we had lunch. The view was beautiful. Mom would have loved it. Karin loved the desserts. There was this chocolate mousse pudding thing that she was almost writing poetry about after trying it. lol.

We then drove to the seaside and walked down to the beach; which was full not of sand but of tiny sea shells. It was very rough but my feet were nice and soft after that. Hehehe. We all stuck our feet in the Mediterranean, and it was so clear and clean and warm!. Its also the first time i've stuck my feet in an ocean or a sea in many many years, so I took a picture as proof for mom that I actually got my feet wet.

After drying off, we continued to drive up the coast with beautiful beaches and clear water. We drove to the site of the old Pharaohs lighthouse which was one a wonder of the world. It was destoryed and a fort was built on the site and used some of the blocks to build in the 14th century. There was a small bazaar there. I found a blue pyramid set I though Aus would like, but I didn't like the price, so I walked away. The vendor continued to follow me and lower the price while I was saying I really didn't want it. I wasn't trying to bargain I truely didn't want it. After watching grandma and Karin buy Aunt Marcy a scarf, I mentioned the funny affair, and grandma went to look at the pyramids. She decided to buy them, and the vendor gave her the lowest price he had offered me, and she didn't need to bargain! She hates bargaining.

We returned to the bus and prepared for a long trip back to Cairo. I slept until our rest stop where nearly everyone bought an ice cream pop of some sort, Iwas no exception. Traffic was not bad, but Sam filled the time answering questions that had built up during the trip. We learned an awful lot about her. She is divorced, has two older teenaged boys, and lives in Heliopolis. (Heliopolis is right next to Cairo airport). She was very open and honest with all of her answers and is generally really great.

As we were nearing Cairo, the traffic became really bad and we saw true Cairo traffic with total disregard for any traffic laws. We also saw an Alex Bank sign for the Bank of Alexandria. Karin asked me to take a picture so she could take it home to her son, Alex.

By the time we got back we were so tired we really just went to our rooms and went to bed to prepare for the next day.

Day 4

6/15/10

Pyramid Day!!

Today we left for Giza; home of the three largest pyramids and the sphinx. It was jaw-dropping amazing. We all felt like " This isn't happening. This isn't real. It cant be four thousand years old, and i'm CLIMBING inside and on it!" Even though I still didn't have my camera, we took dozens of pictures. After we climbed and took pics of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, we traveled to a plateau where we could get great pics of the three pyramids and two smaller queens' pyramids.

There was a small bazaar there, and I bought a foot tall blue lioness statue for sixty dollars or 300 egyptain pounds. I don't quite have the haggling down pat yet. I keep getting confused with the exchange rate of five.

Next we parked between the middle pyramid of Kafre and the small pyramid of Menkaure. The middle pyramid is the pyramid we climbed inside. Karin, Mark, myself, and a lady named Anne from our trip all climbed down this two foot tall shaft that goes at a diagonal. You are hunched over and nearly crawling to get though. It was soooo hot down there, even more than outside in the sun. I found myself thinking "I can't wait to get outside where it is cooler". And this about the Egyptian desert in the middle of a heat wave.

A giant stone sarcophagus was still inside with its lid propped open. Mark laid down inside and we wished we had our cameras. We were not permitted to bring them inside. The workmanship was amazing, and karin and I kept finding other passageways and wistfully wishing we could deviate and explore.

After climbing back up the shaft, we went back to the bus and AIR CONDITIONING! Mark left to take more pictures, but un inside got our names written in arabic on our name tags by Sam.

Next we were off to the sphinx a couple of miles away. There I received my first dowry offer of 2000 chickens. Pictures were spectacular with the pyramids in the backgroud.

Speaking of pictures, here we bought a new memory chip for my from an outdoor vendor. It was still in its packaging, and we negotiated it down to normal price at home. Then we had to rush to our group photo in front of the Sphinx.

After photo ops at the Sphinx, we headed to lunch. We ate at a nice restaurant called the Carvery. From the windows you could see pyramids in the distance behind electricity lines. Wow, to have them be part of your every day life!!!

After lunch we left for Saqqara and the Step-Pyramid complex. Most of you should know that last year's history fair project was on the Step-Pyramid. It is the first pyramid and first large stone structure built in the 3rd dynasty by Imhotep and Pharaoh Djoser, roughly 4500 years ago.

There we took pictures of the complex and Sam lectured to the uninformed, and we were able to see two pyramids of Snefru, the Bent pyramid and the Red pyramid.

During the free time, Karin throught of questions she had for Sam, and we sat and talked with her for several minutes. She is not a Dr. Zahi Hawaas fan like Karin. Now for you non-Egypt-freaks, Dr. Hawass is in charge of all Egyptain Antiquities. He decides everything from how the museum is organized to who can dig and research, to what is shown on tv. He has a major ego and is very hostile to anyone with differing ideas and plans for digs and research. That at least is our opinion. (And the opinion of many others) We had a good talk of other subjects too.

We started back and nearly fell asleep on the way back to the hotel. When I got back, I spent the afternoon postcarding and reading. Grandma and Karin went to the pool and I had the room and the fan on the air conditioning all to myself.

After the pool we tried dinner at a restaurant in the hotel called Harry's Irish Pub. The food was supposed to be English and American, but they failed. It was still good, just different. Though there was a strange moment when we all thought I had broken a tooth. There was a loud sound and we all were apprehensive because dental in Egypt is scary and the trip would have to be canceled. Thankfully I was fine, it was just weird.

When we tried to leave back the way we came, we were told we could not do so. We had to walk out around the hotel to another entreance and walk through a metal detector again just like the front entrance. At first we had no idea that they were trying to tell us this, but eventually we got it. When we went back, Grandma stopped in Karin's room and never came back, so I went looking for her, and we stayed there and chatted for a while before bed.

Good news!!! My camera works with the new chip!!!!! Hopefully this will be the end of the camera distaster.

Tune in tomorrow for more of Sarah's Egypt Adventure

Day 3

6/14/10

Today was EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES DAY!! The long-awaited day where I could finally see all to my heart's content. The only problem was....... NO Cameras Allowed. I couldn't believe it. Apparantly this is a rule in all Egyptian museums, no cameras. To compensate I bought postcards and playing cards as per my usual. The museum was wonderful though, and Sam knew so much about everything. Karin and I were too short to see what Sam would be talking about, so we would wander around and come back to it later. My favorite artifact was probably the collosus of Tiye. It was so majestic and strong.

Next came the mummy room. The most famous Pharaohs and queens of Egypt are kept here and I even saw the mummy proclaimed to be Hatshepsut. I've seen the search for her body on discovery channel and now I'm seeing the results!! Many of the mummies were so well preserved.
Unfortunately I did not know there were TWO mummy rooms and I missed the body of Queen Tiye!! Karin and Mark saw her though and said she was beautiful.

I bought another silver ankh charm... big surprise. As well as two cat statues and stamps. There is a post office in the garden outside of the museum and I bought stamps to send postcards.

Today is also the orientation lecture; very long, very dry, very repetative, and very boring. Also, an american woman named Sarah who married an Egyptian man and lives in Cairo.

Finally today is the at-home dinner. My group and about fifteen others are going to the apartment of a woman named Sheri (i'm sure she spells it differently). She, her husband, and her three boys live there. But, as her oldest is getting married, she is planning the next step for their lives.
In Egypt, the males need to provide a dowry, the house, the wedding, and half of the furniture. So, sheri needs to build or buy three houses. She is planning on building three villas and will live in an annex in her youngest's house. Wow. What a place to be a girl!

The food was interesting and I didn't even try some of it. The rest was not at all how I thought it would be. They seem to put this one spice I don't like in ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! I liked the chicken. The rest wasn't tooooo bad if I stopped paying attention to texture.

Later we had a group photo, and Sheri's son had trouble with my camera. So I checked it out later. My camera chip is FRIED! As in no pictures exist and no more can be taken. I don't know what to do. My four day old camera is broken!
After conferring with Karin and Mark, I text mom with my special international plan about the problem. She read me the manuel, then raced to Best Buy. Once there she met with the person who sold it to us and they tried to fix it from half a world away. Their best solution is to buy another chip. Now where am I going to be able to do that?!?!?!
I guess I'll have to hope for the best and rely on everyone else for pictures. Yikes! I bought this camera even though it was expensive for it's panoramic capabilities. Well I guess THATS out.

Day 2

6/13/10

Six o'clock in the afternoon is soooo not one in the morning!!!!!

The day is half over and nothing has happened but air sickness on the landing, Mark already getting frustrated with Grandma and Karin for facilitating it. I still need to find a place to exchange my money. Everyone is getting testier and testier as the day goes on.

We find out we are in the yellow group. Our group leader is Ebtisam. She is a girl. But she is not here because she is part of the Alexandria pre trip. So Basem, the green group leader is telling us all of the pertinent information for the first day.

Yadda Yadda Yadda about water and room assignments. We make it to the hotel where we have to go through metal detectors and scan our belongings. And this is a five star Mariott hotel.

We find the Bank of Alexandria where we exchange my 300 dollars for 1700 egyptian pounds.

We finally find our rooms in the garden and are settling in when Mark and Karin find out the desist mandate on Calling Cards. They have no communication home. EXCEPT ME!!!

Dinner is at 7 outside my balconyand the food is traditional egyptian cuisine to convince us all we are really in Egypt. Dessert was very cocounty and pretty good. I did not particularly partake in the rest of the meal.

Discovery!! Our hotel is five minutes from the EGYPTIAN MUSEUM!!!!!!!!! You can see it from our hotel!

We meet Sam for the first time. She is very nice and very interested in meeting me. She promises to point out the American University in Cairo tomorrow because it too is near the museum.

We are gross and need a rest. We leave for our rooms early. I take a nice bath and fall asleep to the nice hum of air conditioning. I Love Air Conditioning.

Tune in tomorrow for the next chapter in Sarah's Egypt Adventure and the Egyptian Museum

Day One

6/12/10

Today begins my Egyptian Adventure. True, day one starts and continues mostly in the United States, but every story needs some background.

Drive the three hours to JFK airport.
Arrive FIVE HOURS EARLY to wait in line to check our luggage and for me to realize i forgot my lock. We sit and sit and sit. We watch the football match U.S. vs Great Britain. Meet a lot of people from the Grand Circle Tour. Meanwhile I am having a revelation.

I AM THE YOUNGEST PERSON ON THE TOUR. This tour is meant for ages 55 and up.

Mom is beginning to react to the separation, and she even got me a texting plan before we left. My three year old phone is old enough that it will work in Egypt where only At&T exists. I have the only communicative capabilities on this trip.
We board. We are in a four across and I am stuck in the middle. Great.
Movies- Invictis- ok New Moon- UGGHHHHHH can't escape!! Did You Hear About the Morgans -funny
Twelve hours of screaming children when you are trying to sleep to arrive at Cairo Airport.
I don't know if we will survive.

Toon in tomorrow to see if we survived the worst flight in the history of flights!