july 13,2008

I'm back! Egypt was AMAZING! i didn't get sick so that was the best thing of all.
It was crazy how much we did. We'd get up before 6 everyday and be gone all day long.
Here was our schedule
July6
Left J.C. at 6:30am
Beersheba----This was a cool place we got to wear hardhats as we walked around and saw the layout of the fortress that they've built there now.
Wilderness of Zin---This was amazing. It really made me think about how awful it would be to wander around the desert for 40years. I had always imagined something like Moab as the Wilderness but there is nothing but sand and rock here. It was beautiful though. It looked like the Grand Canyon of Isreal. I think I can say it was beautiful only because I knew I'd be on an AC-ed bus in less then an hour.
Avdat----This is a fortress on the Spice Route. It was full of very cool ruins. I got lots of fun pictures of Roman Architeture. It amazes me that everything we saw this week is older the Christ's time. and yet its still there.
Dinner, Dancing, and Overnight at the Kibbutz---the Kibbutz is a place for Communal living by certain jews. It was amazing how they have so much farming land in the middle of a desert. There was a date farm and a horse farm. We had the best dinner program though. A brother and sister taught us some Jewish songs and then we took over. They invited us to come up and sing and dance with them but i don't think they thought we'd get as into it we did. We had a BLAST!!! after dinner our hotel had a pool so we swam and it felt amazing!

July 7
Taba Border Crossing----I know have stamps in my passport from Egypt and Isreal!
Drive though the Sinai Desert---it was crazy hot and boring but we had a good camel count going on. After we got to 56 we gave up the count and spent the rest of the time talking and laughing. Oh another highlight is that I got to go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground and pay for the privlege of a small square of tp.
Arrive at Cario 7 hours later
Sound and Light show at the Pyramids----I saw the pyramids and it was amazing. They are HUGE and right inthe middle of the city of Cario..which has over 20 million people living in it...they are so beautiful. The City of Cario puts on this corny beyond CORN play where they narrate and show lights on the Pyramids but it was so much fun.

July 8
Pyramid of Khafre, Kufu, and Menkaura------We climbed on the Pyramids and took tons of pictures. Then we actually went into Khafre's and saw the tomb inside. It was crazy hot and stinky but we were actually inside one of the Pyramids. We weren't allowed to take pictures in any of the pyramids or tombs so you just have to take my word for how amazing it all was.
Sphinx---the sphinx was so cool. It was a lot smaller then i thought it would be in relation to the pyramids but it was still HUGE! I've decided that Ancient Egypt's theme was "go big or DIE" cuz they all went BIGger then BIG! But we had fun taking pictures at the Sphinx. I felt like an idiot as I posed for my kiss of the Sphinx but then i looked around me and everyone was doing the same thing...kissing air. but i did get a good picture!
Saqqara---this was fun because we went out into the Sahara Desert and saw the step pyramid, the slope pyramid and the first pyramid EVER!
Memphis---this was where the hugmongous statue of Ramses was.
Papyrus Factory---i loved this. We learned how they make Papyrus and then we got to buy some. All the Papyrus is handmade and gorgous.
Airport
Fly to Luxor---the flight to Luxor was the perfect length of time. By the time we got in the air it was time to come back down. ;)

July 9
Valley of the Kings---I saw the most amazing artwork on the tombs. We went into 3 tombs (besides tut's) and it was so cool. The colors are still there and everything. One tomb had a false bottom at one point so we all hummed the Indiana Jone's theme song as we crossed the Bridge.
King Tut---I saw King Tut. He is one little man. but I have seen King Tut!
Medinat Habu(Temple of
Ramses III)--- The temple of Ramses was amazing. It was so detailed. Every square inch was covered in hieroglyphs. It was so crazy how deep they were. Our guide told us that they were carved that deep so that other kings couldn't come in and erase the king's names without destroying the whole wall. They were so deep i could fit my hand in them fingers to wrist.
Colossus of Memnon---These were just two huge statues with nothing else. What amazed me about this site was the fact that they are still standing and the city is growing around them.
Swimming, Shopping---in the pool we made a human pyramid with a base of 5 boys! how we did this was amazing if i say so myself. We had the base stand in the pool link arms and stand as tight as possible. Then another row of 4 boys would climb on their shoulders and sit on the shoulders of the base boys doing the same thing linking arms and staying tight. Then we had Jon boast a row of 3 girls up to the shoulders of the boys of 4. We got to a row of 2 girls. (Thats where i was and it was crazy hard to climb over people standing on heads and arma and legs.) for the top we had a small boy from Holland named Sylverster come and climb to the top. He didn't make it very high before we all toppled backwards. It was so much fun. A definiate highlight ;)


July 10
Carriage Ride to Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple---I think its funny how many different moods of transportation we used on this trip. Boat, Train, Bus, Car, Carriage, feet, plane...just to name a few. The temples were amazing though. The Karnak Temple was huge. and full of symbolism that LDS people can understand. I didn't understand it fully myself since i've never been to the temple but those that had were so excited. I can't wait til I get to go through the temple then look back at my pictures to see if I can understand the importance. It really struck me on this week trip in Egypt that although these monuments and pyramids and temples are beautiful and huge they are also sad. They used so much time, effort, labor, money to build these beautiful things that they thought would bring them eternal life but really they were kinda a waste in that sense. How would you feel to be Pharaoh Kufu and have this huge pyramid built that took years and tons of manlabor and money, fill it with all your gold and tresures, have another temple built just to be used for 72 days while they mummified your body, have all this work done only to find out that when you die none of it matters? To me that was a sobering thought. I am so glad that I have the knowledge that I have about the plan of savation. I won't be shocked when I get to the other side, I may be blown away but I have a far better idea then these poor pharaohs whose whole life was spent preparing for death.
Faluka Ride---this was a fun little adventure on the Nile. We were in Faluka boats and we got tugged up the river then set lose. Our boatdrivers had us just float in the current, then they put up the sails then they let us paddle a bit. It was fun to see how the Nile currents work and how perfectly the Nile can transport things with little effort.
Camel Safari----the camel safari was wicked fun. It lasted for about an hour and a half and it was just fun. We went through a town in the ally ways and got to see how family life is more or less. The only thing was that me being a girl all my camel guide wanted to talk about was marrying me and giving me whiskey. We had one scare with this. One camel guide took his camel and the girl on it to the back of the line and then on a "shortcut" through some allys away from the group. He then offered her some camels to become his wife. Thankfully nothing happened other then that but it was a scary thought. She said that she felt calm during the whole thing, she was upset but she felt like it would be ok. I love how we are allowed a comforter to help protect us and calm us in scary situations. During the safari we had our pictures taken with the camel and the guide so the leaders were able to identify the guide and take care of that problem. It amazes me still how few problems the BYU students have here. I'm not saying there aren't any problems but the problems we have aren't as bad as they could be. God really is protecting us and this program.
Trainstation--at the trainstation we were there during a prayer-call. And immideately after the prayer call a group of men pulled out their mats and got in a corner(right in front of our bench) and started to do their prayers. It was interesting to watch. It also made me realize how devote some of these people are to their religion. I sometimes catch myself thinking that other people aren't as devote to their religion because they don't have the true gospel but I've been slowly learning how wrong that thinking is. I'm learning a lot here.
Overnight train to Cario---the train was a blast! we had a dance party in the club car since we were the only ones there. When we pulled into a station with the blinds up and all us American's dancing we got some funny looks so we quickly closed the blinds. ;) the train was fun and although it jerked a lot during the night I slept wonderfully.

July 11
Citadel and Mohammad Ali Mosque---this was a hard day because after the trian we got into Cario around 7am we immediately went to breakfast then off to the Mosque. No time to change, shower or refresh much. Plus we were all tired from a bumpy train ride sleep. But the Mosque was beautiful to see. We all kinda laughed when our guide was telling us how hard it is to fast during the month of Ramadan. He was making it sound like it was impossible to fast during the day and eat at night. I think he didn't know that Mormons fast as well. He just kept complaining about how awful it was.
Cario Museum---like i said earlier it was a hard day to stay awake and excited. I also think i was a bit dehydrated because I had a headache and couldn't really walk straight. But the highlight was seeing all the treasures found in King Tut's tomb and also seeing the mummy room. I was seeing things that I had seen in my textbooks all my life. THe mummies were INCRIDBLE! they were so amazingly preserved. They had hair,haircolor, eyelashes, fingernails, expression. It was just amazing how old they are and yet how they still are people. They also had a little description about who they were and the descriptions were quite funny sometimes.
Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe--this was a blast. We were all so tired but as soon as we had food in our systems we all got up(about 30 American kids)and started dancing to YMCA, We WIll Rock You and a couple other 'classic' songs like that. The waiters and people eating loved it. They kept taking our pictures and laughing but no one would dance with us.
Khan al-Khalili Bazaar---this was just a shopping center for us. I really don't like to barter but I did start to get the hang of it here.
Sacrament Meeting at Hotel--This was a definate highlight in my book. and No i didn't get the date wrong. We had Sacrament on Friday because in Eygpt the holy day is Friday. We had a small sacrament meeting in our travel clothes in a ballroom of the hotel. The thing that was amazing tho was how the spirit was still there. It was a totally valid sacrament meeting becuase we had the right authority there. The gospel is amazing that way. Another fun thing was as we walked out of the meeting a wedding party was coming into the hotel. These people know how to make an entrance!

July 12
Wake up call 3:45
Depart at 4:45
Snorkel in Red Sea---I slept the whole bus ride..well as much as you can sleep on a crowded bus anyways. But after we crossed the border into Isreal we stopped at the Red Sea to Snorkel. It was so beautiful. I've never seen water so blue and clear before in my life. The fish were so colorful and bright against the blue water. Also it was fun to swim in the water after a hot day in the bus. It also really made me think about how Isreal crossed the Red Sea and how it probably took more time then we think it did. The sea is quite wide and the bottom is anything but smooth. There are coral and rocks and sand and canyons and stuff like that.
Drive 12 hours back to J.C.---it was weird to feel so excited to get back"home" to the JC. We all couldn't wait to take a shower with our faces in the water without worrying about getting sick, and to eat fruit and stop carrying around a waterbottle. It was a great feeling to be back in Isreal after Egypt.


And that was my week. It was the best week I've had ever but it was at such a hectic pace that I'm glad to be back "home" at the J.C. and back into my classes here.

the pictures are
me kissing the Sphinx
and a bundle of us jumping at the Valley of the Kings ;)
me and the step pyramid