Egypt Update!

So here I am, in Egypt! I have a few days worth of updates, so we'll start with Wednesday, January 19.

I woke up early in the morning, 3 am to be exact, and headed to the airport for our long day of multiple flights. Our first flight was from LAX to JFK. Most of our group got the full body security search! They went through all of my bags, the wand, the whole deal. When they touched us in a private area, they would use the back of their hand (like that made a difference!)

Next leg was JFK to Zurich. 8 hr flight. Really long and didn't sleep too much! Zurich Airport was really nice, we flew over Paris and could see the Swiss countryside, with snow covered mountains and little villages.

Finally, it was Zurich to Cairo. It seemed like the longest flight but it was really only 4 hours. The food was weird but dessert was good - Swiss white chocolate custard! The airport at Cairo was truly an adventure. First, we had to purchase an Egyptian visa for $15 from the bank. Then we went through customs. They didn't ask us anything, they just stamped our passport.

At the airport, there was a sign that said if they found any drugs on you, that you would get death by hanging. Scary!

Getting out of the airport was interesting - there were tons of people with signs waiting to pick up people. We met our guide then took our luggage to the tour bus. On the bus, we got an intro to Cairo.

Finally, we made it to our hotel, Shepheard's Hotel. It was very nice. We had to go through a metal detector to get in the hotel. The hotel was decorated for Christmas, with poinsettias, a gingerbread house, and fake snow with penguins. I roomed with Jessica. We sat in our room for 2 hours or so watching music videos, both Arabic and American ones!

Then, we went to the lobby, where I tried to cash travelers checks at a shady bank...they said they needed the receipts, and later when I went, they said their travelers check system was down. I just changed $40 cash. It was interesting that the bank was open 24 hours. Then, we ventured into the streets of Cairo to get dinner. Our walk was very interesting - the Egyptian army was everywhere on the street with guns. We had to walk down a dark street filled with military vehicles and army guys with guns. The girls were scared! We also stopped by a little convenience store to get water - a large bottle cost only 2 Egyptian pounds, or 40 cents. We walked through a plaza, and most of the guys stared and said stuff to us in Arabic. We ended up in front of a Sbarro pizza place, just like those at the mall. Dr. Hood and the guys went in there to eat, but Brandy, Jessica, Yvette and I weren't sure if we wanted it or to eat at the hotel. Jessica decided to try a restaurant with gyros that was 2 doors down. We weren't sure about it, so we ended up at Sbarro. There were ants walking around the pizza, but I tried to ignore it because I was so hungry! I got cheese because I figured that would be the safest. It tasted weird so I just picked at it. Jessica said her gyro was good and only 50 cents! We walked back down the same scary street to the hotel. I wanted to take some pictures but felt kind of scared to!

I then went to the hotel gift store to buy a phone card. The guy tried to sell me perfume, papyrus and more! When I got out of the store, I realized the whole card was in Arabic and I couldn't read it. I went up to my room and tried to make a collect call but the operator couldn't understand, so I just went to sleep.

That was the 19th and 20th. On the 21st, Jessica and I both woke up at 4:30 and couldn't sleep anymore. We turned on the TV and watched more music videos. We agreed that Cairo is "creepy Cairo"! In one of the Arabic music videos, one of the girls looked just like Audrina from The Hills! They played a lot of the Black Eyed Peas and Gwen Stefani. It was breakfast time! Breakfast was great - lots of pastries, pancakes, fruit, sausage, etc.

After breakfast, I went to the pay phone outside the hotel and was able to figure out the all-Arabic calling card. I called home and talked to Mom for about 3 minutes before getting cut off. We gathered our luggage and met Dr. Hood and the gang in the lobby for our full day excursion. We took our bus first to Dashour. The bus ride was very interesting! When we got out of the city, we followed the Nile River on our bus. We saw people riding donkeys, water buffalo, and people with herds of sheep walking alongside the bus.

Dashour was amazing. We saw 2 pyramids - the reddish pyramid and the bent pyramid. Got a few pictures. There were guards on camels with guns there. We traveled by bus to the next destination - Memphis. On the way, we saw lots of carpet schools, even a Magic Carpet school! We were serenaded by Yvette and Melanie, who sang songs from Aladdin. At Memphis, we saw a huge limestone carving of Ramses II and a limestone sphinx. Then, it was off to Sakkara. We went inside a tomb and saw hieroglyphics on the walls, but weren't allowed to take pictures. It was amazing that some of the colors were still on the hieroglyphics - reds and greens. The hole down to the burial chamber was boarded up, and the tomb was raided and robbed many years ago. I sat with Jessica most of the time. We decided that "My Humps" by Black Eyed Peas was a fitting song for all the camels we saw, plus the Egyptian MTV played the video earlier that day. At Memphis, someone offered to marry Yvette for 5 camels. It was funny!

Then we ventured back into Cairo for a really late lunch at 3 pm. Lunch was bad. They had weird items such as pigeon on the menu. Dr. Hood ordered fava beans and falafel for the whole group. Falafel was ok but the fava beans were so oily so I didn't attempt it. I got chicken kabobs and the chicken was pink so I got grossed out and didn't eat it. I have been living off bread the whole time!

After that, we went to a papyrus institute. The traffic in Cairo was nuts - there are no signals and you pretty much go at your own risk - pedestrians, cars, anything goes. At the papyrus institute, they showed us how to make papyrus from the plant. They had lots of stuff to buy, but it was way overpriced.

Then, we went to the train station. We waited there forever for the train. I roomed with Alex this time. The room was soooo tiny...it was the size of a small closet! There was barely enough room for the suitcases, let alone us! It had a sink and 2 fold out beds. Then, dinner came. We weren't sure if it was chicken or fish...no one could decide! It tasted odd, so I didn't eat it. I had bread...again! Alex got the "whiskey special" with her dinner...it was barely a swallow! Most of the group headed to the club car after dinner, which was a bar and some seats. We shared bottles of wine and played "2 Truths and a Lie." We found out that Dr. Hood was a park ranger and he gave Mr. T a ticket because kids in his group yelled out "fire"! The train was so bumpy that we didn't know how we were going to sleep. Alex had some Tylenol PM - we took some and attempted to knock out. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. When you flushed, you could see the train tracks below...that's where the waste goes! I woke up that morning and attempted to use the terrible sink, which was practically impossible. We just hung out in the room waiting for breakfast and our arrival in Aswan. Breakfast was 4 types of bread and was decent.

We finally got off the train in Aswan. Aswan is definitely more touristy and resort-like than Cairo. The landscape is pretty and right on the Nile. It reminded me of Lake Havasu for some reason. First we took our bus to the boat ramp to go to Philae. There was a bazaar at the boat station, but we weren't allowed to shop. One vendor was allowed on the boat, so I bought a necklace off him for 10 pounds ($2). The boat was small but neat - we went to Philae and saw the temple there. The hieroglyphs were amazing. When the French and British invaded, they wrote over the hieroglyphs and etched crosses into the sandstone to make it a church. We took the boat back and saw the High Dam and Lake Nasser. Then, we went to the unfinished obelisk. It was definitely a hike over numerous rocks to see it, and the thing just looked like a huge rock itself! Finally, we took the bus to the hotel's boat for Hotel Isis Island. The hotel is very nice and resort-like with 2 pools, a bar, club, restaurants, etc. They decorated for Christmas very strangely. Santa looked like a cross between Planet of the Apes and the Abominable Snowman from the Matterhorn. He had a blue face, which was weird! Also, there was some strange decoration made out of sugar cubes, broccoli and Christmas lights...we couldn't figure it out. I roomed with Lynn for 2 nights.

We were all hungry. The schedule is very odd here. We are up and eat breakfast by 8 at the latest, then go all day, not stopping for any lunch until 2 or 3. I'm getting to where I'm not that hungry anymore. We had lunch at the hotel. I had tomato soup that was lukewarm and gross. After, I called home for a couple minutes. We met up with Benji and James (guys in our group) for some drinks...really gross wine! The guys are funny...they bought turbans and Egyptian clothes and wear them out.

I went back to my room to shower - Lynn wasn't there. They only give one key per room which is weird. I went to Jessica's room for a bit, then decided to leave a note on my room door for Lynn, but she was outside. I showered and called it an early night...5:30 am wake up call!

So far, I have learned that I can live without most things and still make do. These things include makeup, food, bathrooms, nice clothes, etc. Today I did the camel ride...but it's getting late here and tomorrow's another early morning. I will try to blog as much as I can but things are expensive here and time is limited, so I'm not sure if and when I'll blog again! Tomorrow is the cruise for 3 days. I am missing everyone, especially Mom and Bailey. Talk to you all soon! Please email me, even if I don't read it for a few days, I would love to hear from everyone. My email is ayc2782@cox.net in case you don't have it.

Love, Amy