As some of you may know, I will be coming home tomorrow. The doctor reviewed the results of my blood test and said that I have a liver dysfunction and should get my liver and gall bladder scanned. So...I will be taking care of that, along with my broken tooth, at home. I'm really sad to be leaving so sudden. I have met a lot of amazing people on this trip that I hope to keep in touch with and see again at school. I wish I could stay, but my health is the most important thing right now.
On a better note, my final grades are posted and I got 3 As and one B... a 3.7 gpa! I'm so surprised, especially in my one journalism class that was super duper hard. That was my last grade to be posted, and an A to brighten up my day at that!
Anyway, my flight is leaving tomorrow am at 940 so I will be heading to the airport at 7. I have a brief stop in Zurich, and will touch down in LA at around 5. Keep my travels and health in your prayers. I hope to share my pictures with everyone, it would be great!
Ciao Roma, I hope to return soon...
Love, Amy
Friday, January 4, 2008
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Roma
After lecture yesterday, I went to the grocery store down the street from our hotel. It was so awesome! I wanted to take everything home...all the food looked so good! I picked up some croissants, bottled water, and candies to take on the day journeys instead of buying lunches. The doctor called, and said that he wanted me to go in for a blood test due to some findings in the urine sample. He asked if I could go the next morning. I went to dinner at the same place I ate the night before, this time with Lynn and Leah. Of course, I ordered the same thing! It was amazing. After dinner, I went to sleep as I was tired and still not feeling the best.
This morning, I went to the lab with Jessica to get the blood work done. The lab said that their doctor would call my doctor, and that I would probably get the results tomorrow afternoon. After that, I went to the hotel for breakfast and got ready for our day trip to Tarquinia. We took a bus there, as it was about an hour and a half north of Rome. On the way, we could see the Mediterranean Sea from our bus. It was cloudy today and I was so sure it was going to rain. Tarquinia was a neat town, we were just there to go to a museum, but I wish I could have explored it. It was perched high atop a hill, and was a walled town. The views were awesome, you could see the Mediterranean from the museum! The museum was full of Etruscan artifacts and tombs, which were interesting as the tomb had a sculpture of the person buried inside on the outside of it. After that, we went to a cemetery to see underground tombs, which werent that exciting. Today was a cold, windy day! We made our way back to Rome on the bus, and it is nearing time for lecture so I am going to cut it short. I will try to update on my health tomorrow. I am still not feeling so great, but am trying to hang in there as I do not want to miss another day of seeing the sights. Mike (who works with my dad)s aunt Connie lives in Rome and she got in touch with me to let me know if there is anything she can do for me, she is here to help. I thought that was very nice of her to reach out to me and am very grateful for it. Even if I dont need her, it is always nice to know that someone is there to help. Anyway, I must go, but I will talk soon! I got a really great phone card at the internet cafe that gives me tons of minutes, so I will try and call everyone.
Love, Amy
This morning, I went to the lab with Jessica to get the blood work done. The lab said that their doctor would call my doctor, and that I would probably get the results tomorrow afternoon. After that, I went to the hotel for breakfast and got ready for our day trip to Tarquinia. We took a bus there, as it was about an hour and a half north of Rome. On the way, we could see the Mediterranean Sea from our bus. It was cloudy today and I was so sure it was going to rain. Tarquinia was a neat town, we were just there to go to a museum, but I wish I could have explored it. It was perched high atop a hill, and was a walled town. The views were awesome, you could see the Mediterranean from the museum! The museum was full of Etruscan artifacts and tombs, which were interesting as the tomb had a sculpture of the person buried inside on the outside of it. After that, we went to a cemetery to see underground tombs, which werent that exciting. Today was a cold, windy day! We made our way back to Rome on the bus, and it is nearing time for lecture so I am going to cut it short. I will try to update on my health tomorrow. I am still not feeling so great, but am trying to hang in there as I do not want to miss another day of seeing the sights. Mike (who works with my dad)s aunt Connie lives in Rome and she got in touch with me to let me know if there is anything she can do for me, she is here to help. I thought that was very nice of her to reach out to me and am very grateful for it. Even if I dont need her, it is always nice to know that someone is there to help. Anyway, I must go, but I will talk soon! I got a really great phone card at the internet cafe that gives me tons of minutes, so I will try and call everyone.
Love, Amy
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Happy New Year!
On NYE, all of the new people arrived. We went to dinner at a restaurant close by. It wasnt very good. I got a pizza fritta, which I thought would be a pizza but it was more like a fried calzone that tasted really weird. Oh well! After dinner, most of the group was going to a square to ring in the New Year. Since it was supposed to be really crowded, a few of us decided to stay behind. We walked outside a few blocks to watch the fireworks at midnight. It was really neat! Apparently, we had a better time than the large group, as they didnt see any fireworks!
On New Years Day, our whole group had an orientation walk around Rome. We went to a couple churches that were beautiful. At Santa Maria della Maggiore, they were doing a New Years mass. I bought a rosary and a small cross. After that, we walked to the Colosseum and Forum. The Colosseum was closed inside but we got some pictures of the outside. We were allowed some free time after, so Thomas, Jessica and I walked to the Trevi Fountain to check it out. It is so beautiful! I got some pictures, and when I looked back on my camera to review them, they totally looked Photoshopped. We also had some gelato...Nutella!! After that it was time for our first lecture back at the hotel from 4 to 530.
The lecture was on ancient Rome. Thomas and I were really hungry after the lecture, so we found a nearby restaurant. I had the most amazing pasta...penne with tomato sauce, pecorino cheese and bacon. Yum! I called home and Nick and Marcey after dinner, then knocked out.
Today has been an interesting day. More to come on that...another hopefully minor medical problem. I have had some bladder problems the past day. I had to have a doctor come to the hotel ( at 100 €...grr) and then go for a urinalysis at a nearby lab. My urine is really dark, the doctor referred to it as il colore di marsala, or the color of marsala wine. I am supposed to hear back from him this afternoon. I have just been hanging out at the hotel. I missed the morning excursion, at least it was a short one! Anyway lecture time is nearing so I must go. I checked my grades...another A, yay! Just waiting to hear from one more class...the hard journalism one. Talk to everyone soon...keep my health in your prayers! Thinking about you all, and missing you too.
Love, Amy
On New Years Day, our whole group had an orientation walk around Rome. We went to a couple churches that were beautiful. At Santa Maria della Maggiore, they were doing a New Years mass. I bought a rosary and a small cross. After that, we walked to the Colosseum and Forum. The Colosseum was closed inside but we got some pictures of the outside. We were allowed some free time after, so Thomas, Jessica and I walked to the Trevi Fountain to check it out. It is so beautiful! I got some pictures, and when I looked back on my camera to review them, they totally looked Photoshopped. We also had some gelato...Nutella!! After that it was time for our first lecture back at the hotel from 4 to 530.
The lecture was on ancient Rome. Thomas and I were really hungry after the lecture, so we found a nearby restaurant. I had the most amazing pasta...penne with tomato sauce, pecorino cheese and bacon. Yum! I called home and Nick and Marcey after dinner, then knocked out.
Today has been an interesting day. More to come on that...another hopefully minor medical problem. I have had some bladder problems the past day. I had to have a doctor come to the hotel ( at 100 €...grr) and then go for a urinalysis at a nearby lab. My urine is really dark, the doctor referred to it as il colore di marsala, or the color of marsala wine. I am supposed to hear back from him this afternoon. I have just been hanging out at the hotel. I missed the morning excursion, at least it was a short one! Anyway lecture time is nearing so I must go. I checked my grades...another A, yay! Just waiting to hear from one more class...the hard journalism one. Talk to everyone soon...keep my health in your prayers! Thinking about you all, and missing you too.
Love, Amy
Monday, December 31, 2007
New Years in Rome!
I am finally in Rome. The keyboard here is a little different so bear with me! Anyway, Iàm so glad to be here. It is absolutely beautiful. It is about 730 and New Years will be here soon. Yesterday, we had a 4 hour flight from Cairo to Rome and took a shuttle to our hotel. I am rooming with Brandy again, and we have to share a bed, but it is okay because she is really cool! We will be getting 2 new roommates this evening...4 total. It will be hectic getting ready in the morning with 4 girls!
Anyway, after we settled in our room I inquired with the front desk about getting a dentist to fix my teeth. They said that dentist offices are closed on Sunday and I would have to wait til Monday. So...we went to lunch! Our first real lunch in a couple weeks. It was so awesome. I shared a prosciutto pizza with Brandy, made from a pizza oven. It had the amazing thin crust. Yum! After that, we wandered briefly to check out stores. Our hotel is kind of on the edge of Rome, which is good and bad. It is a little walk to the main sights, but at the same time is quieter and not too hectic. There are tons of amazing clothing stores and restaurants in the near vicinity of the hotel. I found this really neat store around the corner that has really cute clothes and the owner is also the designer. I picked up a really cute top for €20. After wandering, we relaxed in our room for a bit and then headed out for dinner with the whole group to another pizzeria. Since only a few hours had gone by after lunch, I wasnt too hungry and didnt eat. After the dinner, some of the group went to an Irish pub that reminded me of TGI Fridays restaurants. It was just okay, so we left.
Today, I woke up and had breakfast...bread with Nutella and coffee...the perfect breakfast! After that, it was dentist hunt time. The front desk man sent me to a dental office down the street. Jessica and Brandy accompanied me. The person there only spoke Italian, and from what I understood, they only cleaned teeth and didnt have a dentist to do dental work. I loved that I could finally put my 1 1/2 semesters of Italian to work! We went back to the front desk man and told him that it wasnt a dentist, just a tooth cleaner. So, he sent us to another dental office. We walked there, and rang the bell, but no one answered. I wrote down the telephone number and went back to the hotel. The front desk man called and the dentist said he would come in at 12 to see me. I was so happy! I went back, and the dentist was really nice. He put a temporary filling in to seal out the air until I return home to get dental work. He said it was a very good break....grr! Anyway, he only charged me €25 for the whole thing, which is really good. I was afraid it would be at least a couple hundred euro. I was happy and my mouth was numb.
We decided it was time for a short break. There was a street fair right next to our hotel that we checked out. They had all sorts of good things! I got some amazing salami from a meat market at the fair...10 slices for less than 2 euro. Cheap lunch! I also picked up a knockoff Burberry scarf for myself and a little something for Marcey. We took our lunch back to the hotel and ate it. After that, some of the group decided to take a walk to a lunch spot. I decided to check it out. I ended up getting a torta della nonna, which is a cake that is hard to describe but it was just okay. We wandered a little more to see the New Years Eve stages being set up across town and I found another cute clothing store (got a cute red top for NYE for only €15), but headed back to the hotel after that. I have just been hanging out, waiting for dinner time to arrive and 15 more people to be added to our group.
Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years Eve! I will try to update soon.
Love, Amy
Anyway, after we settled in our room I inquired with the front desk about getting a dentist to fix my teeth. They said that dentist offices are closed on Sunday and I would have to wait til Monday. So...we went to lunch! Our first real lunch in a couple weeks. It was so awesome. I shared a prosciutto pizza with Brandy, made from a pizza oven. It had the amazing thin crust. Yum! After that, we wandered briefly to check out stores. Our hotel is kind of on the edge of Rome, which is good and bad. It is a little walk to the main sights, but at the same time is quieter and not too hectic. There are tons of amazing clothing stores and restaurants in the near vicinity of the hotel. I found this really neat store around the corner that has really cute clothes and the owner is also the designer. I picked up a really cute top for €20. After wandering, we relaxed in our room for a bit and then headed out for dinner with the whole group to another pizzeria. Since only a few hours had gone by after lunch, I wasnt too hungry and didnt eat. After the dinner, some of the group went to an Irish pub that reminded me of TGI Fridays restaurants. It was just okay, so we left.
Today, I woke up and had breakfast...bread with Nutella and coffee...the perfect breakfast! After that, it was dentist hunt time. The front desk man sent me to a dental office down the street. Jessica and Brandy accompanied me. The person there only spoke Italian, and from what I understood, they only cleaned teeth and didnt have a dentist to do dental work. I loved that I could finally put my 1 1/2 semesters of Italian to work! We went back to the front desk man and told him that it wasnt a dentist, just a tooth cleaner. So, he sent us to another dental office. We walked there, and rang the bell, but no one answered. I wrote down the telephone number and went back to the hotel. The front desk man called and the dentist said he would come in at 12 to see me. I was so happy! I went back, and the dentist was really nice. He put a temporary filling in to seal out the air until I return home to get dental work. He said it was a very good break....grr! Anyway, he only charged me €25 for the whole thing, which is really good. I was afraid it would be at least a couple hundred euro. I was happy and my mouth was numb.
We decided it was time for a short break. There was a street fair right next to our hotel that we checked out. They had all sorts of good things! I got some amazing salami from a meat market at the fair...10 slices for less than 2 euro. Cheap lunch! I also picked up a knockoff Burberry scarf for myself and a little something for Marcey. We took our lunch back to the hotel and ate it. After that, some of the group decided to take a walk to a lunch spot. I decided to check it out. I ended up getting a torta della nonna, which is a cake that is hard to describe but it was just okay. We wandered a little more to see the New Years Eve stages being set up across town and I found another cute clothing store (got a cute red top for NYE for only €15), but headed back to the hotel after that. I have just been hanging out, waiting for dinner time to arrive and 15 more people to be added to our group.
Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years Eve! I will try to update soon.
Love, Amy
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The Sphinx and Broken Teeth
Today was an interesting day...I broke my tooth on a soft roll at dinner. I am okay but was a little shaken up. I am hoping to visit a dentist tomorrow when I go to Rome.
Other than that, this morning we visited the Sultan Hassan Mosque. It was a huge building, really neat. After that, we went to the pyramids at Giza. They were really amazing. I stood next to one of the bricks and it is about as tall as me! I have a picture to show just how large the pyramids actually are. We also saw the Sphinx. I thought it would be a lot bigger but nevertheless it was amazing to see. After that we went to a t-shirt store for people to pick up souvenirs. It was way overpriced but I got a Red Bull that had Arabic written on it which was neat. After that, we went to the Egyptian Museum. It was really overwhelming with all of the King Tut items from his tomb, and many other artifacts. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside and describing stuff is really hard. We were gone all day today, from 8 am to 5 pm with no lunch breaks, very intense!! Anyway, I'm really tired and my tooth is hurting so I will try and update sometime in Rome. Keep me in your prayers!!
Love, Amy
Other than that, this morning we visited the Sultan Hassan Mosque. It was a huge building, really neat. After that, we went to the pyramids at Giza. They were really amazing. I stood next to one of the bricks and it is about as tall as me! I have a picture to show just how large the pyramids actually are. We also saw the Sphinx. I thought it would be a lot bigger but nevertheless it was amazing to see. After that we went to a t-shirt store for people to pick up souvenirs. It was way overpriced but I got a Red Bull that had Arabic written on it which was neat. After that, we went to the Egyptian Museum. It was really overwhelming with all of the King Tut items from his tomb, and many other artifacts. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside and describing stuff is really hard. We were gone all day today, from 8 am to 5 pm with no lunch breaks, very intense!! Anyway, I'm really tired and my tooth is hurting so I will try and update sometime in Rome. Keep me in your prayers!!
Love, Amy
Friday, December 28, 2007
Sound and Light Show
Hi everyone! I love the fact that I can update more while I'm here...even if it's a bit pricey, it's worth it. Last night we went to the sound and light show at the pyramids at Giza (where the Sphinx is). I must say, it was very interesting. I don't know what I was expecting, but this was like a Disney show with cartoons and stuff being shown on the pyramids. The voices they used sounded like the Haunted Mansion or Pirates ride...I was saying "Dead men tell no tales"...if you know that voice from Pirates ride I think, that's what they sounded like. Other than that, I'm excited to walk around the same pyramids today and then we're off to the Egyptian Museum. Traffic in Cairo is so nuts, I don't think there are any rules and it is a demolition derby of sorts. We have seen about 20 almost-accidents but no real accidents. I have only spent $110 here in Egypt the whole time which is amazing...more $$$ for Italy!!!! Yay! I have gotten rid of a few items in my suitcase to make room for new ones hopefully. Oh and today was a 7 am wake up call...lovely! I knocked out about 10 last night and feel like a new person this morning. Anyway, it is breakfast time and I'm hungry. Sorry if this post is a little jumbled, I'm trying to type fast because of the cost. I will try to check my email and post this evening so email me.
Speaking of email, my Cox account is acting up and will not let me respond to any email. I can read it but that's about it. So...I have a Gmail account that I will use from now on. Email me there. It's ayc2782@gmail.com
Talk to everyone soon!
Love, Amy
Speaking of email, my Cox account is acting up and will not let me respond to any email. I can read it but that's about it. So...I have a Gmail account that I will use from now on. Email me there. It's ayc2782@gmail.com
Talk to everyone soon!
Love, Amy
2 Days til Italy!!!
Gosh, I cannot wait til Italy!! I have really been slacking on my journal. I need to start it up again but things are so intense here. Today was a 4 a.m. wake up call. That's pretty much the norm. We are gone all day seeing the sights and are exhausted in the evening. I will try my best to refresh and update you guys though!!
I checked my email today as well. I loved hearing from everyone...Mom, Nick, Marcey, Pattie, Candy...I was kind of teary eyed (and still am) from reading the email. Glad to hear everyone had a safe and nice Christmas. I wish I could have joined you!
I think I left off in Aswan. That morning we flew to Abu Simbel, which is about an hour south of Aswan and very close to the Sudan border. We stayed there for a couple hours, just to see the temples located there. The temples were immense! It's kind of sad, but most of the group are tired of seeing temples. After awhile, all the temples and hieroglyphs all blend in together. Also, I am getting pictures of funny translations ( or lost in translation) of English from Arabic. At Abu Simbel, there were "Family" flavored chips. Wonder if they were salty, sweet, or a little of both???
After we returned from Abu Simbel, we took a felucca, which is kind of like a sailboat, to a botanical garden. Our felucca driver was a little nuts, and we got stuck on a sandbar and also ran into another boat. It was kind of scary!! The botanical gardens weren't too exciting. Just a bunch of trees. Our felucca picked us up to take us to the camel rides. That was I think the most interesting part of my journey thus far! There were a bunch of camels awaiting our group, and they handed us a number which determined our camel. I got the young guy who thought it would be funny to name my camel "Ferrari" and hit it in the butt with a stick while I controlled the reins. It was a scary uphill ride. I survived, however, with pictures to prove! I think the worst part was getting on and off the camel. I almost fell off!!
After the camel ride, we returned to our hotel. I thought I would try the hookah. It was interesting, not bad, but interesting. It was apple flavored, which made it a little better as I don't smoke and don't really like it.
The next morning, we went to the Nubian Museum in Aswan before catching our cruise ship. I enjoyed looking at all of the ancient jewelry the most. After the museum, we made a short stop to stock up on bottled water for our cruise. Our bus driver bought us sugar cane juice. It wasn't too bad! Time for the cruise...
The cruise ship isn't exactly Carnival or the like, but it was an experience in itself. The rooms were tiny, and I had a triple this time, as there are an odd number of girls. I roomed with Diana and Brandy. As it was Christmas Eve, the ship was decorated interestingly. I really don't understand Egyptian Christmas decorations. There was an especially weird decoration with a baby made out of dough in I think a manger with a dough snake in there...it was really odd. Trying to describe these decorations just don't do them justice...they are very weird. They had a Christmas dinner for us, but the cruise food was weird also. I had my staples of rice and bread. Either I'm gaining weight from all the carbs, or losing from not eating that much. The jury is out...I've worn the same pair of jeans for the past 5 days I think, so they've stretched out. I got kind of emotional when I went into the dinner as I wasn't celebrating Christmas with the family. Everyone is really nice in my group though, but it can get hard when you don't know people that well and get lonely.
After dinner, I stayed up to watch the ship's Christmas spectacular even though next morning was a 4:30 wake up. This was probably another trip highlight so far as I am baffled by how odd some things can be. First, there was this man that spinned around in circles with some weird rainbow colored dress to music. He must really like Celine Dion as he twirled to the same song twice, 3 songs in all. I was crying I was laughing so hard at it, but I think some people actually liked it. He also brought some little 8 year old girl under the skirt thing while he twirled, I just couldn't figure it out. After that was the belly dancer. She was very interesting as well, definitely had a belly on her too!
Christmas Day we had to wake up super duper early to get off the boat at 7 for another temple visit. We were only there an hour, and back to the boat it was. At least they had good coffee and bread on the ship for breakfast...I stocked up!!! In the afternoon, the cruise ship asked Dr. Hood to give a speech on ancient Egypt. Our group had to go, which was kind of a bummer. I tried my best to stay awake...it was hard!! The next day, we took a horse and carriage (definitely not Cinderella) to another temple....I felt bad for the horses as they were super skinny and were whipped with something with barb wire at the end. Even though I'm allergic, I'm an animal lover and don't believe in that sort of thing.
The next day we disembarked our ship early and headed out for a loooong day at the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, and many more sights. We went to where King Tut's tomb was, but our guide said it isn't worth it to go in as all of the treasures are at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which we are going to tomorrow. I am looking forward to that! I got some amazing pictures of people in hot air balloons going over the temples. I wish I could upload my pictures as telling you is one thing, but the visual is much better! At the Valley of the Kings, I hung out with Jessica the whole time. She is very much like me, quiet and really nice. We climbed into one of the tombs, which was a hike. After we got out, we were pretty much done and over the tombs as there aren't any items in there, just more hieroglyphs. We went to Tut's tomb to take a picture outside of it by the sign and saw the paparazzi all around. Starstruck as I am, I wanted to see who it was. Turns out, the president of France was there! In true stalker style, I lined up with the paparazzi and got some pretty cool shots of him. Everyone said I should have tried to sell them to the Enquirer or something. I think that beat the tombs!!! After that, we went back to our ship for a quick lunch and then it was off to the temples of Luxor and Karnak. We were in Luxor finally! The temples were some of the better ones. The French president was at Karnak and I got another pic of him. Jessica snuck out early to go to McDonald's and got me a burger. It was pretty good!!! No dinner that night on the ship for me!!!
Yesterday, we finally got off the ship. I just thought it was okay. I was more interested in their weird decorations than anything else. We had another early morning as we had to meet up with the other tour buses for a military convoy escort to the temples outside Luxor. Apparently, it is through a dangerous stretch of Egypt and buses of tourists were killed there 10 years ago. It was kind of scary!! The bus was 3 hours to the first place, 2 to the second. I saw a guy with a San Pedro hat there and of course took a picture...got a little homesick!
Late last night we checked into our Luxor hotel. I roomed with Diana this time. The tour company almost lost one of the girls' luggage...they left all our stuff in the lobby the whole day. I felt so bad for her, but luckily they found it. There was a Pizza Hut/KFC next to the hotel...score!! Jessica, Benji, Thomas, James, Diana and I all left the group and went there. It was interesting...Pizza Hut is kind of fancy there and a sit-down restaurant!! The pizza was almost the same, it was kind of glistening grease when it came out but I didn't care...I stuffed my face! It's funny how we find comfort in American fast food establishments outside of the U.S. We also got some KFC, it was great as well. After that, we sat at the hotel bar and got a drink. I have become a beer drinker, which is really weird, but I'm trying new things. As we sat there, the hotel club DJ tried to recruit Diana, Alex and I to go to his club. We thought we'd try it for a few minutes as it was a 4 am wake up call. We went there, and were the only people there. It was funny, they had advertisements for the club and added pictures of Britney Spears and Ashton Kutcher...like they've ever been there or would want to! I asked when people were coming as we were the only ones, and the DJ said "Within minutes" but no one ever came so we left. As we were walking back in, the power went out and it was kind of scary!
We woke up this morning for an early flight to Cairo. After we arrived, we went to the Citadel and Muhammad Ali mosque. We had to take off our shoes to go inside, and if skin was showing on the girls, they had to wear some robe thing that looked like a hair salon apron. Only one of the girls, Melanie, had to do so. After that, we went to Coptic Cairo, which is the Christian area. We went in a couple churches and a synagogue. I enjoyed seeing the art and architecture in the churches and cannot wait till Italy for the good stuff. We have free time till 5 when we are getting picked up for the Sound and Light Show at Giza Pyramids, so a few of us ventured out into Cairo to go to Hardee's (Carl's Jr.). I had a chicken sandwich with fries and it tasted like heaven.
Anyway, I have been on the internet for an hour so I am hoping to update tomorrow as this hotel has internet access, which is lovely. When we get to Rome on Sunday, I'm not too sure how the computer situation is going to work but hopefully I will be able to call home more often. Also, no more 4 am wake up calls, which is nice. I had no idea they would work us to the bone! Our tour guide said that we are doing in 9 days what people do in 3 weeks...intense! I miss and love everyone, especially Bailey. Keep me in your prayers!! Oh, and I checked my grades and have one A and one B, am waiting for the 2 other classes to update.
Amy
I checked my email today as well. I loved hearing from everyone...Mom, Nick, Marcey, Pattie, Candy...I was kind of teary eyed (and still am) from reading the email. Glad to hear everyone had a safe and nice Christmas. I wish I could have joined you!
I think I left off in Aswan. That morning we flew to Abu Simbel, which is about an hour south of Aswan and very close to the Sudan border. We stayed there for a couple hours, just to see the temples located there. The temples were immense! It's kind of sad, but most of the group are tired of seeing temples. After awhile, all the temples and hieroglyphs all blend in together. Also, I am getting pictures of funny translations ( or lost in translation) of English from Arabic. At Abu Simbel, there were "Family" flavored chips. Wonder if they were salty, sweet, or a little of both???
After we returned from Abu Simbel, we took a felucca, which is kind of like a sailboat, to a botanical garden. Our felucca driver was a little nuts, and we got stuck on a sandbar and also ran into another boat. It was kind of scary!! The botanical gardens weren't too exciting. Just a bunch of trees. Our felucca picked us up to take us to the camel rides. That was I think the most interesting part of my journey thus far! There were a bunch of camels awaiting our group, and they handed us a number which determined our camel. I got the young guy who thought it would be funny to name my camel "Ferrari" and hit it in the butt with a stick while I controlled the reins. It was a scary uphill ride. I survived, however, with pictures to prove! I think the worst part was getting on and off the camel. I almost fell off!!
After the camel ride, we returned to our hotel. I thought I would try the hookah. It was interesting, not bad, but interesting. It was apple flavored, which made it a little better as I don't smoke and don't really like it.
The next morning, we went to the Nubian Museum in Aswan before catching our cruise ship. I enjoyed looking at all of the ancient jewelry the most. After the museum, we made a short stop to stock up on bottled water for our cruise. Our bus driver bought us sugar cane juice. It wasn't too bad! Time for the cruise...
The cruise ship isn't exactly Carnival or the like, but it was an experience in itself. The rooms were tiny, and I had a triple this time, as there are an odd number of girls. I roomed with Diana and Brandy. As it was Christmas Eve, the ship was decorated interestingly. I really don't understand Egyptian Christmas decorations. There was an especially weird decoration with a baby made out of dough in I think a manger with a dough snake in there...it was really odd. Trying to describe these decorations just don't do them justice...they are very weird. They had a Christmas dinner for us, but the cruise food was weird also. I had my staples of rice and bread. Either I'm gaining weight from all the carbs, or losing from not eating that much. The jury is out...I've worn the same pair of jeans for the past 5 days I think, so they've stretched out. I got kind of emotional when I went into the dinner as I wasn't celebrating Christmas with the family. Everyone is really nice in my group though, but it can get hard when you don't know people that well and get lonely.
After dinner, I stayed up to watch the ship's Christmas spectacular even though next morning was a 4:30 wake up. This was probably another trip highlight so far as I am baffled by how odd some things can be. First, there was this man that spinned around in circles with some weird rainbow colored dress to music. He must really like Celine Dion as he twirled to the same song twice, 3 songs in all. I was crying I was laughing so hard at it, but I think some people actually liked it. He also brought some little 8 year old girl under the skirt thing while he twirled, I just couldn't figure it out. After that was the belly dancer. She was very interesting as well, definitely had a belly on her too!
Christmas Day we had to wake up super duper early to get off the boat at 7 for another temple visit. We were only there an hour, and back to the boat it was. At least they had good coffee and bread on the ship for breakfast...I stocked up!!! In the afternoon, the cruise ship asked Dr. Hood to give a speech on ancient Egypt. Our group had to go, which was kind of a bummer. I tried my best to stay awake...it was hard!! The next day, we took a horse and carriage (definitely not Cinderella) to another temple....I felt bad for the horses as they were super skinny and were whipped with something with barb wire at the end. Even though I'm allergic, I'm an animal lover and don't believe in that sort of thing.
The next day we disembarked our ship early and headed out for a loooong day at the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, and many more sights. We went to where King Tut's tomb was, but our guide said it isn't worth it to go in as all of the treasures are at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which we are going to tomorrow. I am looking forward to that! I got some amazing pictures of people in hot air balloons going over the temples. I wish I could upload my pictures as telling you is one thing, but the visual is much better! At the Valley of the Kings, I hung out with Jessica the whole time. She is very much like me, quiet and really nice. We climbed into one of the tombs, which was a hike. After we got out, we were pretty much done and over the tombs as there aren't any items in there, just more hieroglyphs. We went to Tut's tomb to take a picture outside of it by the sign and saw the paparazzi all around. Starstruck as I am, I wanted to see who it was. Turns out, the president of France was there! In true stalker style, I lined up with the paparazzi and got some pretty cool shots of him. Everyone said I should have tried to sell them to the Enquirer or something. I think that beat the tombs!!! After that, we went back to our ship for a quick lunch and then it was off to the temples of Luxor and Karnak. We were in Luxor finally! The temples were some of the better ones. The French president was at Karnak and I got another pic of him. Jessica snuck out early to go to McDonald's and got me a burger. It was pretty good!!! No dinner that night on the ship for me!!!
Yesterday, we finally got off the ship. I just thought it was okay. I was more interested in their weird decorations than anything else. We had another early morning as we had to meet up with the other tour buses for a military convoy escort to the temples outside Luxor. Apparently, it is through a dangerous stretch of Egypt and buses of tourists were killed there 10 years ago. It was kind of scary!! The bus was 3 hours to the first place, 2 to the second. I saw a guy with a San Pedro hat there and of course took a picture...got a little homesick!
Late last night we checked into our Luxor hotel. I roomed with Diana this time. The tour company almost lost one of the girls' luggage...they left all our stuff in the lobby the whole day. I felt so bad for her, but luckily they found it. There was a Pizza Hut/KFC next to the hotel...score!! Jessica, Benji, Thomas, James, Diana and I all left the group and went there. It was interesting...Pizza Hut is kind of fancy there and a sit-down restaurant!! The pizza was almost the same, it was kind of glistening grease when it came out but I didn't care...I stuffed my face! It's funny how we find comfort in American fast food establishments outside of the U.S. We also got some KFC, it was great as well. After that, we sat at the hotel bar and got a drink. I have become a beer drinker, which is really weird, but I'm trying new things. As we sat there, the hotel club DJ tried to recruit Diana, Alex and I to go to his club. We thought we'd try it for a few minutes as it was a 4 am wake up call. We went there, and were the only people there. It was funny, they had advertisements for the club and added pictures of Britney Spears and Ashton Kutcher...like they've ever been there or would want to! I asked when people were coming as we were the only ones, and the DJ said "Within minutes" but no one ever came so we left. As we were walking back in, the power went out and it was kind of scary!
We woke up this morning for an early flight to Cairo. After we arrived, we went to the Citadel and Muhammad Ali mosque. We had to take off our shoes to go inside, and if skin was showing on the girls, they had to wear some robe thing that looked like a hair salon apron. Only one of the girls, Melanie, had to do so. After that, we went to Coptic Cairo, which is the Christian area. We went in a couple churches and a synagogue. I enjoyed seeing the art and architecture in the churches and cannot wait till Italy for the good stuff. We have free time till 5 when we are getting picked up for the Sound and Light Show at Giza Pyramids, so a few of us ventured out into Cairo to go to Hardee's (Carl's Jr.). I had a chicken sandwich with fries and it tasted like heaven.
Anyway, I have been on the internet for an hour so I am hoping to update tomorrow as this hotel has internet access, which is lovely. When we get to Rome on Sunday, I'm not too sure how the computer situation is going to work but hopefully I will be able to call home more often. Also, no more 4 am wake up calls, which is nice. I had no idea they would work us to the bone! Our tour guide said that we are doing in 9 days what people do in 3 weeks...intense! I miss and love everyone, especially Bailey. Keep me in your prayers!! Oh, and I checked my grades and have one A and one B, am waiting for the 2 other classes to update.
Amy
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