Blog Like an Egyptian

(I know this is way late, but I had scheduled this post to go up while I was gone.  It didn’t, so I’m throwing it up here now, waaaaaaay too late.  Oh well.  Enjoy.)

Before we get to Egypt, we have a ten-hour layover in Amsterdam.

We arrive at 11 a.m. but have most of the day to ourselves.

To pass the time, we are visiting the Raijks Museum and Anne Frank’s house.  We’ll finish it off with dinner in Amsterdam before catching our flight at about 10 p.m.

It’s funny.  Everytime I tell people we’ll be in Amsterdam for 10 hours, there’s usually a raised eyebrow involved.  Sorry, folks.  No sketchy details here.  Just a whole lot of education and history.

And we’ve come to the end of the trip.  we have free time on July 19 and July 20.

We might do some shopping, visit the Pyramids again or take another stroll through the Egyptian Museum.  But there are so many cool things in Cairo; I hope we’re checking out new sights and sounds.

We leave for the airport at 1 a.m. July 21 for the 3:55 a.m. flight.

We will roll into Amsterdam at around 8 a.m., catch a plane at 10:30 a.m. and arrive in Vancouver at 12:50 p.m. July 21.

We’re teaching kids in grades five, six and nine these days, with nothing else really planned.  We will be treated to a traditional Egyptian dinner on July 18, but other than that, we have free time after teaching each day.

Nothing is planned today.  We have an evening meeting about our service-learning project, which takes place over the next three days.

We will arrive in Cairo early in the morning and relax before taking a trip to the famous Khan al-Khalili market.  I’m super excited to haggle with the vendors over what is probably some pretty worthless junk.  But still, I’m looking forward to seeing what all is for sale.

The tour guide will take us to one of their favorite coffeehouses afterwards.  Cairo is huge on coffeehouses.  It bears only a passing resemblence to our ideas of cofee.  Cairo coffee is much thicker (for a lack of a better word) and much stronger.

We’re visiting the Luxor Temples and Karnak today.  Karnak was a pretty huge temple built to honor Ra, the Sun God.  I think it’s the largest and most orante temple, so I’m really looking forward to this.

The afternoon is free for xploration.  I might shop at the markets or visit the world’s first Mummification Museum.  I might also place $10 on 17 black.

Back on the train tonight, for an overnight sleeper train back to Cairo.  And thus concludes our jaunt into southern Egypt.  The official tour is almost over, but our trip continues for another week.

Nope, still not the casino with a giant freaking laser beam.  Still, it sounds like a pretty fun day today.

There’s a full day of sight-seeing at the Colossi of Memnon, the Temple of Hatshpsut (truly a beautiful temple) and the royal burial sites of the Valley of the Kings.

Nope, it’s not the casino with a giant freaking laser beam.  I’m still getting over the disappointment of learning that, but oh well.

We return from the felucca early in the morning and travel by a van to Luxor today.  Along the way, we’ll visit the Edfu Temple, which I’m sure was important to someone at some point in time.

We’re cruising the Nile by felucca today.  I briefly considered bringing an inner tube I could just hook to the back of the boat.  Then I was reminded of alligators.  Alas, I’ll stick to the boat.

There’s a stop at the Komo Ombo Temple, north of Aswan.  Trust me, when I get back, I’ll explain all of these temples and monuments we’re visiting.  In the mean time, picture something cool.  (Yeah, that’s not vague or anything.)

Dinner will be cooked by our Nubian guides aboard the Felucca.  We might be spending another night under the stars.  Good times.

I am very excited for this day.

We are departing for Abu Simbel at 3 a.m.  What is Abu Simbel, you ask?  It’s a giant temple, built by Ramses The Great.  It’s main purpose was to show off to the Nubians and everyone else to the South.  It was Ramses’ way of saying, “haha I’m so cool.  You’re all suckers, and don’t you forget it.”

We’re leaving for Abu Simbel at 3 a.m., and we’ll be escorted by a police convoy the whole way there.  I guess they do that for ALL the tourists visiting Abu Simbel, but I will have flashbacks from “The Kingdom” dancing through my head.  That’s assuming, of course, that I’m awake for the ride.  We’re leaving at 3 a.m., after all.

We’ll explore Abu Simbel for the day and return to Aswan, where we will board a felucca (Egyptian sail boat, essentially) for the evening.  Yes, I am sleeping on a boat on the Nile River tonight.  I can’t tell you how lucky I am.