Eight days of Egypt and the only thing I have to show for it is only a couple of pictures...they shamefully under-represent everything I saw and did, but at least it's a little taste of my adventures! Just enough to make all the rest of you insanely jealous :)
Everyone should give a big shout out to my friend, Bekah for risking her life for taking this picture :) They made a HUGE deal about keeping your cameras packed deep into your bag...they really don't like pictures being taken at the Israeli-Egyptian border. Oh and just in case you were wondering, the profile they use to catch threatening individuals and possible terrorists is short and seemingly innocent brunette girls...this girl, Rachel, and I resemble each other and we were both stopped and bags throughly searched going into Egypt AND back into Israel! I gathered that I am so eerily innocent and naiive that it throws people off haha, I don't know. They actually randomly stopped quite a few of us and it took over two hours to get our group of about 80 people through the border....ridiculous! But we made it.
MONDAY: After a full day of driving through the desert, we arrived in Cairo and got to see a 'Light and Sound Show' at the Giza Pyramids!!! The show itself was pretty anti-climatic and surprisingly cheesy at times, but it was spectacular nonetheless.
(I think this was taken when the Sphinx was 'talking' to us...and I feel like I should inform you he has a British accent. Ha yes, told you it was cheesy)
TUESDAY: The great Pyramids at Giza!! We were actually able to go inside one of the pyramids and guess what? Even I had to duck!! It made me feel normal-sized for the first time in my life :) Not likely to happen again so I embraced it.
Oh, the sphinx. This is one of those classic tourist pictures I am sure everyone has, but I really wanted it as well. So there you go.
Me walking through the Sahara Desert. Enough said. (I realized just now that I am walking towards the pyramids...funny how that works out)
Whoever planned this program really didn't want us to stay in the place two nights in a row so after spending our first (long) day in Cairo, we hopped on a plane and headed straight down to Luxor!
WEDNESDAY: First thing we saw in Luxor was the Valley of the Kings (where all the New Kingdom pharaohs are buried). It was so HOT, especially inside the tombs. You know you have hit your limit when you walk out and breathe a sigh of relief to be in the blazing sun and 110 degrees. Such a weird phenomenon. Because of the rise of tourism and whatever else, they don't allow you to take your cameras into the valley at all!! :( So we took the opportunity to get this very fitting tourist picture, complete with a bus smack dab in front of the valley. Yes.
Hatshepsut's Funerary Temple. Egypt's one and only woman-king! GIRL POWER.
Ok this was awesome. Faluka ride and then camel ride along the Nile! It was a little unnerving when I asked why my camel had a cage around its mouth and I was answered, "because he bit." Haha but don't worry, Ali Baba was on his best behavior and we both had a great ride along the Nile :)
Yes, this was taken with my camera!!! It is totally real. After the camel ride, we got to ride on the Nile right as the sun was setting. PERfect timing. I have plenty more where this came from; kind of went a little camera crazy. But you know, 'when in Rome'...
THURSDAY: The Karnak Temple. We were given about a half an hour after we toured the temple grounds to take pictures. Again, got carried away :)
Carriage ride from Karnak to Luxor temple. And as you can see, I am at the reins! I can tell you its not much different than any other carriage ride, but it was still super fun. There was one time that a cab was coming up fast on our left, right as the curb started cutting into the road on the right. Since there are no lanes (or organization of any kind) and crazy, crazy drivers in Egypt, the driver grabbed the reins from me so we wouldn't crash. Oh, how we love Joseph :) I felt really bad, but I must have done something right because he gave the reins back to me after our near-death disaster. Great times haha.
Outside Luxor Temple, camel hat brigade picture. (I have at least 7 more of these pictures). So one of the things we HAVE to bring on field trips is a wide-brimmed hat to shade us from the sun. On our first field trip, my Old Testament professor, Bro. Muhlestein, sported his genuine camel skin leather hat; it was so goofy-looking that everyone just kind of chuckled. He joked and said we should get each person in our class to buy one and start a camel hat brigade! When the time came to where we HAD to get a hat for Egypt, we were walking through the Old City and I saw it. And I just had to get it. So, I did :) Now I am an official member of the camel hat brigade. We only have 5 members so far...but we are growing strong! Shout out to Bro. Muhlestein!
Overnight train from Luxor back up to Cairo. I was not expecting to have so much fun or so much sleep on the train, but I did! Super small rooms and really bad train food, but it was all a part of the experience. Oh, and that was NOT my bed. That is the storage space for our luggage but since we could only bring our Jerusalem Center backpack for the two days in Luxor, there was plenty of space up there and I thought I could fit in it....which obviously proved true.
FRIDAY: That's right. Hard Rock Cafe in Cairo. After touring the Egyptian museum, we had a luxurious lunch complete with burgers and fries! And they were actual hamburgers! The cafeteria at the Jerusalem Center has tried to serve us burgers in the past but they aren't the same. So this was a special treat :)
Two ketchup bottles later (might as well put an 'American Tourist' sign on our foreheads) we had finished our burgers and fries when all of the sudden, bowls of ice cream were laid right in front of us! I can't tell you how elated all of the students were for the rest of the day haha. Ice cream is hard to come by for us because we have no way of storing it, plus its really pricey. Ice cream alone, this was my favorite meal of the trip :) I will never take ice cream for granted ever again in my life.
SATURDAY: Andal-Nassir Muhammad Mosque. I took Islam and the Gospel at BYU last winter semester from Dr. Jackson. Turned out that he is one of the Directors at the Jerusalem Center for this program! What are the odds? He takes every opportunity to quiz me, and the couple other students who also took his class, about everything we see in Jerusalem and on field trips...good thing I brought my notebook so I can brush up on my Islam!
Exodus out of Egypt. For lunch, we had KFC boxes (which actually weren't that good) and to my pleasant surprise....COCA COLA!! I don't consider myself a huge soda drinker, but I think I converted into one THAT day haha. We couldn't drink any of the water in Egypt, so we were provided with 2-liter bottles of warm water everyday...which I got sick of pretty quick. A cold can of coke was the perfect remedy and I thoroughly enjoyed it :)
Brother Muhlestein teaching one of our Old Testament class lectures on the bus. It effectively passed the time as well as lulled me to sleep...best of both worlds.
On our way out to the Sinai, we stopped at a couple oasis' which were most likely the places where the Israelites stopped as they left Egypt. (There aren't many oasis locations to choose from so they are quite confident this is the place) This is Elim. We got off the bus, walked around a bit, read the couple verses it is mentioned in the Bible and then resumed our Exodus.
Dance PARTAY in the back of the bus!!! Someone had a splitter so we were able to plug in 5 pairs of ear buds to my iPod. There's nothing better than rocking out to Styx and Journey, especially when Bro. Muhlestein and his son, BJ (my favorite people EVER) decided to join in on the fun :)
Arrived at our hotel in the middle of the desert and was greeted with exhibit A: plate-ful of carbs. This is what I ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...8 days straight...so NOT colorful. Only hot foods and breads for us!
SUNDAY MORNING: Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 2:30 am! Ready for our hike up Mt. Sinai.
(Me, Hannah, Bekah, and Talia) About 2 hours later, we reached the top and decided it was a good photo-op moment. The only problem was that Hannah and Bekah couldn't keep their eyes open!! Something about the flash being too bright...or whatever. This was the best picture we could get haha.
This was one of my favorite moments of the WHOLE Egypt trip...waiting and watching the sun rise atop Mt. Sinai. There were quite a few people up there with us; some were tourists, others were religious groups, and there was even a T.V. crew from Korea. The students from my Old Testament class got together (which is half of the JC program) to sing hymns and soak up this once in a lifetime experience. Brother Muhlestein gave us a mini lecture while we were up there about Moses and the Ten Commandments, but most importantly, the covenants the children of Israel made with God there. It was such a beautiful and surreal experience. I spied a couple eavesdroppers during our discussion which made me smile :)
(Hannah, Beej, and Me) You think the walk back down would be relatively easy...but it wasn't so much. Walking down 7,495 feet of stairs will make your calves sore for a couple days. After hiking Mt. Sinai, walking up and down the hills of Jerusalem is a breeze!
SUNDAY NIGHT: Arrived home to the Jerusalem Center. As we walked through the doors, there were all the kids (children of our professors) in their PJs screaming, "welcome home!" as they waited for their Moms and Dads to walk through the door...it was the most adorable thing I've ever seen! 'Welcome home' sign courtesy of Lexi Muhlestein :)
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