Christmas and a Tourist Excursion to Cairo

While I'm at it, I suppose I may as well report on my Christmas and my very touristy day the day following.

Obviously, as Egypt is a Muslim country, there was no observance of Christmas on a national scale. But those of us who normally would celebrate the birth of the Savior or simply relish in the tradition of Santa Claus were not left entirely without some merriment. We did have class the morning of Christmas day, but the afternoon was ours, and Erik, Channan, and I, who all live on the compound at Agami, decided to have ourselves a Merry Little Christmas.

Following class we congregated in Channan's and my apartment and made ourselves a feast of pasta alfredo and lots of steamed fresh vegetables. We enjoyed a lazy afternoon watching Mary Poppins, the only decent show broadcast in English that day. Our evening was eventful and packed with games of darts and bowling (cheap little plastic games we picked up a week ago at Carrefour). And most importantly, I got to speak with my family on the phone. So all in all, it was a pretty great day.

On Friday, a bus picked up Channan, Erik, Mustafa, Judy, and myself at 7:00 am to take us down to Giza and Cairo. There we went to the Pyramids, a dream of mine since reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It was difficult to get great pictures as they were so colossal. But, I did my best. We had a tour guide with us throughout the day, which really made the trip remarkable. His name was Mohamed and he was quite knowledgeable and provided us with informative details I would have deeply regretted not knowing.

While in Giza, we saw not only the pyramids, but of course the Sphinx as well. These places were quite crowded and it was a bit difficult to maneuver through the crowds at times, but we managed. We had our lunch at a restaurant that provided us a view of the Sphinx and the Pyramids and then we went to a Papyrus Museum and learned how the papyrus manuscripts were made. We also attended a little show at this perfume parlor and I still smell like Lotus Flowers and the Secret of the Desert. (I smell quite good, in case you were wondering.)

After this we went to the best museum in Cairo where we were able to view quite a few things that had been excavated from King Tutankhamun's burial site. We saw chariots and weapons and furniture and even his underwear. We saw a lot of gold, including giant boxes, gilded inside and out in gold and placed withing one another. In the innermost box was the actually mummy sarcophagi (again, there were several mummy boxes placed within each other). The innermost mummy casing was solid gold and I wonder how heavy that thing was. No one could tell me at the museum.

Anywhooo, the museum was beautiful and allowed us to view several pieces from several different dynasties and kingdoms. My favorite piece was a sculpture of "The Sitting Scribe," which I'm convinced would have been my ideal job. This guy was charged with preserving the Pharoah's innermost secrets by recording them in an archaic language only the sitting scribes could understand. And literally, they sat and recorded secrets. Okay, I suppose I'd get bored and my butt bones would surely be sore, so mayhaps this is not my ideal job. But being charged with the preservations of a language so few people know, and also getting to know the king's personal secrets sounds pretty cool.

Finally, we went to the Old Market, a place to buy tons of souveniers and Egyptian goods that requires haggling skills. (Name this movie quote and I'll highlight you in my next blog entry--"You gotta haggle.") Anyway, I'm learning the haggling art, but my Arabic still has a looooong way to go, so I took Mustafa with me and he helped me get a guitar for $25 American. It was pretty fun. Once I am more competent myself, I will go back and do a little gift shopping.

An Update and Explanation for my Twenty Days of Blogging Silence

I had good intentions of updating this thing frequently (and by frequently I was thinking once or twice a week). So, I am now behind. Here are my excuses: The internet has been real spotty throughout Egypt for the last week and a half or so. Also, I spent a little time in the hospital and splayed out on the couch staving off intense pain caused by kidney stones with a little Egyptian powder I have lovingly taken to calling "The Fuzz." I always thought I was quite lucid, but my friends here tell me otherwise. But, the internet is back up and, though there were moments of doubt, I have won the battle against my kidneys.

The day I ended up in the hospital actually started out pretty fantastically. My friends, Katka and Judy, and I actually spent several hours at the Library of Alexandria. What an incredible and beautiful place. There are several museums on the lower levels of the library, and this is actually where we spent most of our time. I saw a mummy--not just the encasing tomb, but the linens as they were wrapped around and around a body. It provoked feelings that I cannot really name, but will say that it is quite amazing to stand a foot away from the actual body of an individual who lived so long ago.

On account of my hospital visit and subsequent pain, I missed a couple days of teaching and so I still have two more classes to teach under observation before I receive my certificate. I should finish everything up in the next couple days as I begin my internship. In the meantime, I wanted to share a picture of everyone in my certificate group. Starting on the front and left we have Nevien, one of our teachers and an awesome girl. Then there is me and my roommate, Channan, who is from England. Mustafa is hunched over and the guy on the far right is Mohamed, our driver. Both of them are from Alexandria. In the back and from the left are Khaled, the director here and another one of our teachers. Then there is Erik who has also lived in Alaska. Islam, from Dubai, is next. (And I will just add that he was a great friend and I adore him). And lastly, almost hidden by our Egyptians, is Judy, also from Alaska. We were a fun group, but now, only Erik, Channan, and I remain for the internship and Arabic language study. But, in the classic words of Vonnegut, "So it goes."

Eid Holiday

Well, I've finally succumbed to the pressures of my generation and have decided to give this whole blog thing a whirl. I debated whether to give a little background information on myself and whatnot, but came to the conclusion that it would probably be more interesting for me to write, and if anyone really cares at all to read this, it would be more interesting to read if I just jumped right in. And that is why I am going to tell you today about the odd events of last night and this morning.

I suppose when it comes down to it, things weren't really all that odd. But in that dreamlike state to which one awakes after an interruption to a healthy REM cycle, everything just seemed disjointed.

Yesterday marked the beginning of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, a holiday that celebrates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Abraham and Issac in Jewish and Christian traditions). I went to bed at at a fairly decent hour after just finishing the book, Three Cups of Tea, which I recommend to everyone. Exactly at midnight, however, my sleep was interrupted by what I first thought were strong winds blowing through the trees of my village area. It seemed the leaves were rustling against one another in the rush of the wind and was really quite a pleasant sound. But soon I heard all the neighborhood children and even adults yelling praises and generally expressing excitement in the streets. Apparently it was not wind I was hearing, but the first rains of Egypt's rainy season. This was cause for celebration and the dancing in the streets continued for some time. But what made the event seem so out of place in my mind is that all of a sudden I could hear countless sheep and goats baaing across the village and in my neighborhood. These sounds were unfamiliar as normally in my neighborhood area there wouldn't be so many sheep and goats. But, in commemorating the sacrifice of Ibrahim, on this holiday families with the monetary capabilities make a sacrifice similar to that of Ibrahim. Then they share the meat of their sacrifice with the poor. And so I was surrounded by the living animals who would become sacrifices in the morning.

Eventually I fell back asleep to the lulling sounds of baaing sheep. I awoke briefly around six in the morning and enjoyed the peaceful sounds of prayer, on this morning not being broadcast over speakers from various mosques. Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar...I heard chanted in natural and sonorous tones. I drifted off again, lost in whatever dreams I never seem to remember, to finally awake at 7:30. This time, the sounds that pulled me into my day were the sounds of sheep and goats again, only this time, I awoke to their slaughter.

It is a beautiful day here in Agami, the rain of the night having pressed the dust and sand back to the ground. The sun warms my skin and the smell of cooking meat with various spices piques the interest of my salivation glands .(I'm pretty sure that is not what they are actually called, but alas, it has been a long time since I took anatomy.) I will do laundry today and study for an upcoming test. Tomorrow I will go back to Alexandria and visit the library there, as well as other historic sites. In the meantime, I wish everyone well and welcome you to my personal blog.

By the way, in case anyone in wondering, Cama'i is the Yupic word for a warm hearty welcome.