- Arrived in Cairo at 11pm the night of the MASSIVE World Cup qualifying football (aka soccer) match between Egypt and Algeria which was IN CAIRO. It was absolutely insane. Kids hanging out of car windows holding flags, standstill traffic because the youth were crowding the streets, horns blaring... Long story short, the traffic was sooo bad that I couldn't even get to my hotel. The cab driver only spoke Arabic, but I was really glad that my Jordanian dialect was easily understood. He found me a cheap hotel outside the madness. I stayed awake, somewhat terrified, until 2 am listening to the riots outside. Thank goodness that Egypt won, otherwise I have no idea what could have happened.
- Spent all day Sunday by myself waiting for the NU students to arrive. Spent four hours at the Egyptian Museum, pouring through room after room full of incredible artifacts. Tons of tombs, mummies... Everything. It was really interesting. I couldn't believe how some of the large pieces were even transported to the Museum, and the animal mummies (crocodiles, birds, dogs, cats)were really bizarre.
Spent way too much on a much needed American dinner in the Nile Hilton. I promised myself I wouldn't pay for any Arab food because I need a little bit of a break from that. But it was nice to see the great view of the Nile from the top floor of the hotel downtown. Of course, I had already checked into our hostel nearby, which was surprisingly nice considering that it was only 15 dollars a day. Great free internet.
- Monday was a great packed day; the NU group had arrived from Chicago on Sunday night. Andrew and I got up in time to head over to the Egyptian Museum for the early afternoon; I had told him it was a must-see. So, we headed over, and I showed him around the overwhelming number of artifacts. It was essentially the Louvre, but only of Ancient Egypt.
NEXT was the great part. We met up with the rest of the group to try to see the pyramids at sunset. Giza is only a 20 minute cab ride away, but once we arrived, the gate was due to close in 15 minutes. We went to a horse tour place that promised us to arrive before it closed. We hopped on horses, and literally began to trot/canter/gallop to the gate. Little boys, literally no more than 6 or 7 year old boys, ran with our horses to the gate. Unfortunately, we didn't make it in time, and we had to haggle with the horse company owner. Apparently, there's a way to see the pyramids from outside the wall perimeters from essentially giant sand dunes in the Sahara.
So, walking/trotting with the horses, whose boys let the more experienced riders take the reins themselves, we saw the pyramids. It was amazing. I miss riding SO much. It's impossible to find riding like this in the states; no stable would take on the liability of having inexperienced, unhelmeted riders take the reins. The little boys screamed at us to "Yalla!", essentially the Arab equivalent of GET GOING!. It was hilarious. But I got to trot, and even gallop, my horse a little bit. She was a little testy, but it was way too much fun to care.
So, the next day, we woke up somewhat early and went to the market in the Islamic quarter. We first walked around the tourist section, but everything was essentially cheap-made souvenirs that we had no desire to bargain for. So, we went to the real market: stores full of live chickens, butchers slicing open freshly butchered cows, and cheap felafel and other Middle Eastern foods. We didn't buy anything there either, but it was definitely an experience. And only emphasized further my strong desire for vegetarianism. I have been eating way too much meat off the bone in the Middle East. It's super healthy that so many things are cooked in the home here, but I'm pretty sure the emphasis on lots of meat and tons of oil counteracts any healthiness.
More to come!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment