No, I haven't died...
Yes, I am alive and well, sucking in the pollutants of Cairo and absorbing as much Arabic as I can. So much has happened since I wrote to you last! I have taken all kinds of trips and gotten to know all kinds of people. Alas, my camera has developed some sort of illness, so I do not have pictures of these events or these people. I am trying to get pictures off assorted blogs and Facebook pages to show all of you. I have some photos up on my Facebook profile, so if any of you out there are on Facebook (it's open to the public now) you can friend me on there. Sorry, mySpace is for losers.
I just returned from a school sponsored trip to Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt. Don't be confused by this terminology; Upper Egypt is south of Cairo, not north. It is called Upper Egypt because the elevation is higher than the Cairo area, not because it is above it on a map. There has been some confusion on this point. Anyway, the area is beautiful, especially in Aswan where you are surrounded by unique rock formations backed by sand dunes and crumbling cliffs littered with mausoleums and old tombs. We saw so many temples in three days I have a hard time remembering them all, though they were all beautiful. Some of them even had the original paint. I can only imagine these vast stone palaces completely covered in bright colors. That must have been something to see. My personal favorite was the temple of Philae, which sits on an island in the Nile. Standing in the ruins with sparkling blue water all around was almost magical. And then dudes with machine guns started harassing us, but that's ok. Us ladies are used to that by now. I have pictures of it (the temple and the harassment) somewhere. Another standout was the temple of Hatshepsut, the only woman to rule as Pharaoh. It certainly looks grand (you can see it for miles around) but there wasn't much to it.
We spent the trip living on a Nile cruise ship (smaller than an actual cruise ship). The center of our lives on board was the buffet, which wasn't the greatest on earth, but it was much better than we're used to! The house-made donuts at breakfast every morning were a standout. Plus there was the drinking on deck every night, which was fun...don't worry family, I didn't imbibe too much. All in all, it was a great trip, but quite possibly the last school trip I will go on, as traveling in such a large group entails much waiting around. There's always someone who doesn't get the memo...
So yeah. I'm still here, and hopefully I can post some photos soon. Later!
I just returned from a school sponsored trip to Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt. Don't be confused by this terminology; Upper Egypt is south of Cairo, not north. It is called Upper Egypt because the elevation is higher than the Cairo area, not because it is above it on a map. There has been some confusion on this point. Anyway, the area is beautiful, especially in Aswan where you are surrounded by unique rock formations backed by sand dunes and crumbling cliffs littered with mausoleums and old tombs. We saw so many temples in three days I have a hard time remembering them all, though they were all beautiful. Some of them even had the original paint. I can only imagine these vast stone palaces completely covered in bright colors. That must have been something to see. My personal favorite was the temple of Philae, which sits on an island in the Nile. Standing in the ruins with sparkling blue water all around was almost magical. And then dudes with machine guns started harassing us, but that's ok. Us ladies are used to that by now. I have pictures of it (the temple and the harassment) somewhere. Another standout was the temple of Hatshepsut, the only woman to rule as Pharaoh. It certainly looks grand (you can see it for miles around) but there wasn't much to it.
We spent the trip living on a Nile cruise ship (smaller than an actual cruise ship). The center of our lives on board was the buffet, which wasn't the greatest on earth, but it was much better than we're used to! The house-made donuts at breakfast every morning were a standout. Plus there was the drinking on deck every night, which was fun...don't worry family, I didn't imbibe too much. All in all, it was a great trip, but quite possibly the last school trip I will go on, as traveling in such a large group entails much waiting around. There's always someone who doesn't get the memo...
So yeah. I'm still here, and hopefully I can post some photos soon. Later!
posted by Lesley at 11:49 AM
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