I'm back for part two of my Christmas break adventures.
We pick up the story where we last left off--sleeping in the Nubian Oasis hotel in Aswan. The following morning we awoke at 3 AM in order to catch a convoy that was heading down to Abu Simbel. We boarded a bus and hit the road. Before many minutes we pulled off the road and parked amidst a group of about 10 other buses, all full of passengers. As we talked with the other tourists on the bus we learned that all foreigners traveling to Abu were required to travel in military escorted convoys because of an incident that had occured several years earlier. As the story goes, some tourists were kidnapped on the road by terrorists, and ever since then, anyone traveling that stretch had to have a military escort, just in case. Needless to say, it took awhile for all of the buses to be cleared for travel. But by 4 AM the long line of vehicles was once again moving.
The next thing I knew, we were pulling into the parking lot of the Abu Simbel temple. The driver told us that we had two hours to see the area before returning to the bus. As we emerged into the bright morning sunshine, I was struck by two things: First off, it was genuinely cold. I was glad that I had brought my jacket, because the wind was brisk. The second thing I observed was that the temple was set in a beautiful area. When the Aswan High Dam was being built in the 1960s, the temple was dismantled piece by piece and moved to higher ground where it was reassembled in a mountainside. Completeing the dam in 1971 led to the formation of the massive Nasser lake, which serves as the beautiful azure backdrop for the temple grounds. The early morning sunlight, the breeze, the lake, the deep blue sky; all of these combined to become a picturesque morning to see some ruins.
Abu Simbel is the sight of the Temple of Ramses II. If I had to describe this temple in one word, it would be big. The 4 statues standing (well, sitting actually) guard at the temple's entrance tower over visitors. More than many other sites we visited, Abu Simbel is very well maintained inside and out. Board planking makes floors level and easy to walk on while adequate and professional lighting makes viewing the many heiroglyphs easier. And so we perused the corridors of the late Ramses II's temple and in what seemed a brief period of time , we headed back to the bus to head to our next destination--the Aswan High Dam.
I'd like to say something right now: the Aswan High Dam is a misnomer. Calling that pile of rocks a high dam is like calling Michael Jordan a mediocre basketball player. Anyone who knows or has seen any dams can tell you that there is nothing high about that dam. It is built of successive layers of sand, rock, and dirt, with a small amount of concrete. But the worst part of all is that we had to pay for tickets to stand on the pathetic thing. Upon inspecting our tickets later that day, we discovered that they were probably fakes (All tickets to authentic Egyptian sites carry an embossed holographic seal, and these tickets had none). So after shooting the breeze for 15 minutes on the Aswan mildly-elevated pile-o-rocks, err... dam, we were again on the road, this time headed for Philae Temple.
Philae Temple, also known as the Temple of Ises, is built on an island in the Nile, and must be reached by ferry. Upon arriving, we were struck by the idyllic setting. The temple grounds are in relatively good shape, and unlike many other sites, Philae is quiet and rather peaceful. I must say that this was one of my favorite temples, and anyone who visits Aswan should make the trip out to see it.
Well, it was getting late in the afternoon when we left Philae and headed back into Aswan. But before our tour concluded, we made one more stop at the ancient quarry where the unfinished obelisk was sitting. It's size was impressive. According to our guide book, the obelisk was to be the largest ever constructed, at 42 meters. Workers were in the process of hewing it out of solid granite when a crack formed. Knowing that it was now useless, the workers abandoned it, still attached to the bedrock. The highlight of this visit was that Eric got to hold one of the guards' AK-47 for 10 LE. I was more than a little jealous, but it's okay, I took the pictures.
After all of this traveling, we were more than grateful to return to our hotel for some much-needed rest. Ricardo had moved on which left just Eric, Kevin and I. It wasn't long before all three of us were passed out, fast asleep.
That sums up our last full day in Aswan. Tune in next time to hear about our Felucca cruise, making new friends, and seeing some more temples.
Coming Soon...
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Let it Snow?
I find myself waiting for supper and reflecting over the past three weeks. Christmas break is officially over, and I've had a lot of adventures to tell about. So where should I begin? At the beginning I suppose. Here we go.
First of all, the crew for this trip consisted of Kevin, Eric, and myself. Our travel plan was fairly simple: catch a train down to Aswan, explore Abu Simbel and all the temples in the area, then mosey up to Luxor to check out the scene there, after which we would make our way to Zowek to spend a couple days with students. We would meet up with Daniel there. After our stay in the village we would go up to Asyut and catch a bus into the Western Desert, stopping off at a couple oases and seeing whatever there was to see. That was the plan...
We managed to procure 2nd class train tickets from Cairo to Aswan for the 21st of December. Our train left the station at 10:00 PM and traveled through the night to reach our destination. I must note here that amidst the chaos and unreliability of Egypt, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the trains stick to a pretty good schedule. I would also like to add that traveling by train was very relaxing. The seats are large and there is plenty of leg room. Needless to say, we arrived in Aswan on Monday at 12:30 PM.
It was as we were exiting the train station that we met the first of what turned out to be quite a list of interesting people. We were walking in stride with a well-tanned man with black hair and stubble who appeared to be in his 30s. After a brief introduction we learned that the man's name was Ricardo and he was from Spain. Since he had no plans either, we decided to stick together and find lodging. We checked out several potential hotels recommended in The Lonely Planet guide book, and finally settled on the Nubian Oasis hotel. For a reasonable price we got a 4 person room and a tour for the next day. Feeling quite pleased with ourselves, we headed out to explore the bustling tourist trap known as Aswan.
Aswan is a city of 1.2 million people located in Southern Egypt. To say it is a tourist town is an understatement. Everything is overpriced and catered to foreigners. However, this is not all bad. The streets were very clean, thanks to the garbage service, and despite all the scams, the town was actually rather quiet and calm. We perused the spice markets and wandered through some souqs (open-air bazaars) before heading down to the waterfront to catch a felucca ride across the river. The Nile is very busy in Aswan as was evidenced by the many feluccas, fishing boats, ferries, and cruise ships choking the water ways.
We chartered a felucca to take us across the river to the Tombs of the Nobles, after which we would explore among the various islands in the are. Our captain insisted that we call him Jamaica, and the reason soon became obvious. He was higher than a kite. Although the thought of a stoned man piloting our boat was a little disconcerting, we comforted ourselves with the thought that if we had to, we could always jump out of the boat and swim. Fortunately that never happened, and before long we were climbing the hillside to explore the Tombs of the Nobles.
The most rewarding part of the tombs wasn't the tombs themselves. The view from the top of the hill, however, was fantastic. Standing in the ruins of a large stone gazebo, we could look out in all directions and see Aswan laid out below us. After getting our fill of the tombs, we boarded the felucca once more and sailed around the many islands in the area. This voyage continued until after sunset, whereupon we debarked looking for food. What we ate isn't important, although the spaghetti was quite good. But the conversation we had with Ricardo was really interesting. Now keep in mind that there's no way of verifying his story, but all the same, it's worth telling anyway.
Ricardo told us that he was the son of a Spanish mother and a Columbian father. He went to school in Paris and Barcelona and is a fashion designer. He has traveled all over the world, both for work and leisure. His plans were to visit Paris, New York City, and Bogota within the week after he left Egypt. Ricardo also told us he had 3 passports; Columbian, Spanish, and American, enabling him access to virtually any country he desired to see. I can't verify this claim, and Ricardo said a lot of pretty fantastic things, so who knows. But more interesting than all of this were his ideas about life and religion. If ever there was a man of the world, Ricardo would be it. He proclaimed his belief that there was no God, yet he described how he believed every religion had their own "life force" that could be tapped. Apparently he had attended meetings from many different religious groups, including several cults. As his monologue continued, strange gaps in his logic became more and more evident. Although still a pretty nice guy, we realized that he was like a confused child, searching for meaning all over the world but never finding it. I really felt bad for him. Despite his success in this world, when it came right down to it, he was failing in the worst way. I wonder how man Ricardos there are out there...
So concludes the first day of my break. Tune in for the next installment.
First of all, the crew for this trip consisted of Kevin, Eric, and myself. Our travel plan was fairly simple: catch a train down to Aswan, explore Abu Simbel and all the temples in the area, then mosey up to Luxor to check out the scene there, after which we would make our way to Zowek to spend a couple days with students. We would meet up with Daniel there. After our stay in the village we would go up to Asyut and catch a bus into the Western Desert, stopping off at a couple oases and seeing whatever there was to see. That was the plan...
We managed to procure 2nd class train tickets from Cairo to Aswan for the 21st of December. Our train left the station at 10:00 PM and traveled through the night to reach our destination. I must note here that amidst the chaos and unreliability of Egypt, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the trains stick to a pretty good schedule. I would also like to add that traveling by train was very relaxing. The seats are large and there is plenty of leg room. Needless to say, we arrived in Aswan on Monday at 12:30 PM.
It was as we were exiting the train station that we met the first of what turned out to be quite a list of interesting people. We were walking in stride with a well-tanned man with black hair and stubble who appeared to be in his 30s. After a brief introduction we learned that the man's name was Ricardo and he was from Spain. Since he had no plans either, we decided to stick together and find lodging. We checked out several potential hotels recommended in The Lonely Planet guide book, and finally settled on the Nubian Oasis hotel. For a reasonable price we got a 4 person room and a tour for the next day. Feeling quite pleased with ourselves, we headed out to explore the bustling tourist trap known as Aswan.
Aswan is a city of 1.2 million people located in Southern Egypt. To say it is a tourist town is an understatement. Everything is overpriced and catered to foreigners. However, this is not all bad. The streets were very clean, thanks to the garbage service, and despite all the scams, the town was actually rather quiet and calm. We perused the spice markets and wandered through some souqs (open-air bazaars) before heading down to the waterfront to catch a felucca ride across the river. The Nile is very busy in Aswan as was evidenced by the many feluccas, fishing boats, ferries, and cruise ships choking the water ways.
We chartered a felucca to take us across the river to the Tombs of the Nobles, after which we would explore among the various islands in the are. Our captain insisted that we call him Jamaica, and the reason soon became obvious. He was higher than a kite. Although the thought of a stoned man piloting our boat was a little disconcerting, we comforted ourselves with the thought that if we had to, we could always jump out of the boat and swim. Fortunately that never happened, and before long we were climbing the hillside to explore the Tombs of the Nobles.
The most rewarding part of the tombs wasn't the tombs themselves. The view from the top of the hill, however, was fantastic. Standing in the ruins of a large stone gazebo, we could look out in all directions and see Aswan laid out below us. After getting our fill of the tombs, we boarded the felucca once more and sailed around the many islands in the area. This voyage continued until after sunset, whereupon we debarked looking for food. What we ate isn't important, although the spaghetti was quite good. But the conversation we had with Ricardo was really interesting. Now keep in mind that there's no way of verifying his story, but all the same, it's worth telling anyway.
Ricardo told us that he was the son of a Spanish mother and a Columbian father. He went to school in Paris and Barcelona and is a fashion designer. He has traveled all over the world, both for work and leisure. His plans were to visit Paris, New York City, and Bogota within the week after he left Egypt. Ricardo also told us he had 3 passports; Columbian, Spanish, and American, enabling him access to virtually any country he desired to see. I can't verify this claim, and Ricardo said a lot of pretty fantastic things, so who knows. But more interesting than all of this were his ideas about life and religion. If ever there was a man of the world, Ricardo would be it. He proclaimed his belief that there was no God, yet he described how he believed every religion had their own "life force" that could be tapped. Apparently he had attended meetings from many different religious groups, including several cults. As his monologue continued, strange gaps in his logic became more and more evident. Although still a pretty nice guy, we realized that he was like a confused child, searching for meaning all over the world but never finding it. I really felt bad for him. Despite his success in this world, when it came right down to it, he was failing in the worst way. I wonder how man Ricardos there are out there...
So concludes the first day of my break. Tune in for the next installment.
Friday, November 28, 2008
As I Was Saying...
Wow, it has truly been too long since my last post. The internet has been down more than it's been up lately, and I'm afraid that I've been shirking my duty when it did see fit to run. But just because I haven't written, doesn't mean that nothing has happened. Quite the opposite, really. I hope you've gone to the bathroom and brought snacks, because reading this is going to take awhile. Try not to get lost in the maze of dangling participles and conjunctions. I wish you the best of luck!
Now let's begin...
My anecdote took place on November 4, which you all know was voting day. Eric and I decided that we should make every effort to vote, since we are Americans, and voting is the most American thing one can do. So we set out on our journey to the American embassy at about 1:30 in the afternoon. By 3:45 we were standing in front of the embassy complex, ready to vote. However, this proved to be more difficult than we had anticipated. We strode up to the Egyptian man sitting behind thick, bulletproof glass and told him that we wanted to vote. He politely informed us that voting was closed, and that we should have come the day before. Eric and I looked at each other and decided to try again. We walked around the great wall of the embassy and came into the lobby of the main entrance. Once more we were greeted by an Egyptian man at the reception table. He too, told us that voting was closed, and that furthermore our request should be lodged at the window we were at first. So we walked back around the wall to our original location at the information window. Once more we asked to be allowed to vote, and once more we were denied. By this time, we were getting tired of dealing with the Egyptians working the entrances. So we insisted that we be allowed to speak with and American. reluctantly he directed us again to the main entrance. Upon our arrival we repeated our request and were ushered through a corridor until we stood before a checkpoint manned by a marine.
After listening to our plea to vote, the marine notified us apologetically that voting was indeed closed, but that she was very sorry. Feeling dejected, Eric and I were about to cut our losses and head home, when a middle-aged man wearing a blue suit strode up. he slapped his passport down and told the marine enthusiastically that he was there to vote. The marine relayed her apology to him, but he wouldn't have it. he notified her that we (he included Eric abd I) were American citizens and that we had the Constitutional right to vote for the President. Furthermore, he said, the embassy was technically American soil, and since it was November 4, we must be allowed to vote. Well, upon hearing this declaration, the marine got on the horn to one of her superiors.
After a few minutes, the marine hung up the phone and instructed us to head to the side entrance that Eric and I had visited twice before. So this time the three of us felt sure that we would be admitted so as to vote. However, our old Egyptian friend at the window had other plans. He insisted that we were not to be allowed inside, and that furthermore, the embassy was closed to visitors. This bit of news did not sit well with the man in the blue suit. He launched into a tirade on the Egyptian, quoting from the Constitution, declaring our freedoms as Americans, and all but demanding that we be allowed to vote. While taken aback, the Egyptian insisted that we could not enter. It was at this moment that the man in the blue suit played the trump card. He delivered an ultimatum: Either we would be allowed to vote, or he would call CNN and have them at the window in 10 minutes asking why American citizens were not being allowed to vote at their own embassy.
The man's eyes grew wide and he quickly begged the blue suit man to not follow through with his threat. The American in the suit then instructed the Egyptian to call Hanes Mahoney. Hanes Mahoney was the embassy director, and as we discovered, a personal friend of the man in the blue suit. It was at this juncture, while the Egyptian man was on the phone, that the American in the suit introduced himself to Eric and I. He told us his name was Darryl John Kennedy and that he was a composer and musician. He explained that he traveled the world giving concerts and performing for different foreign dignitaries and high caliber events. Just the night before he had performed in the Cairo Opera House, and he was currently finishing a six-month tour of Egypt. He continued by adding that his position afforded him many influential connections, including the directors of the American embassy, the Egyptian correspondant to CNN, and a slew of famous Egyptian actors and directors. In fact, he informed us that he had just completed the score for a major Egyptian movie set to be released in early 2009.
Needless to say, Eric and I were more than mildly impressed by this revelation. We continued to chat until the Egyptian man at the desk called Darryl over and passed him the telephone. The embassy director was on the line. Darryl greeted the man as if he were speaking to an old friend. After a light exchange, Mr. Kennedy handed the phone back to the man at the desk. Finally, the door was opened and we entered the hallowed inner sanctum of the complex. The Egyptian man was very apologetic and he made every effort to expedite us to the makeshift polls. And so it was that at 5:15 we were able to vote for President of the United States.
Afterwards, Darryl gave us his personal cell phone number and told us that if there was ever anything we needed, that we shouldn't hesitate to call him. We thanked him profusely, and then parted company.
Still awake? I'm impressed. Stay tuned for the next installment. Coming soon. I promise...
Now let's begin...
My anecdote took place on November 4, which you all know was voting day. Eric and I decided that we should make every effort to vote, since we are Americans, and voting is the most American thing one can do. So we set out on our journey to the American embassy at about 1:30 in the afternoon. By 3:45 we were standing in front of the embassy complex, ready to vote. However, this proved to be more difficult than we had anticipated. We strode up to the Egyptian man sitting behind thick, bulletproof glass and told him that we wanted to vote. He politely informed us that voting was closed, and that we should have come the day before. Eric and I looked at each other and decided to try again. We walked around the great wall of the embassy and came into the lobby of the main entrance. Once more we were greeted by an Egyptian man at the reception table. He too, told us that voting was closed, and that furthermore our request should be lodged at the window we were at first. So we walked back around the wall to our original location at the information window. Once more we asked to be allowed to vote, and once more we were denied. By this time, we were getting tired of dealing with the Egyptians working the entrances. So we insisted that we be allowed to speak with and American. reluctantly he directed us again to the main entrance. Upon our arrival we repeated our request and were ushered through a corridor until we stood before a checkpoint manned by a marine.
After listening to our plea to vote, the marine notified us apologetically that voting was indeed closed, but that she was very sorry. Feeling dejected, Eric and I were about to cut our losses and head home, when a middle-aged man wearing a blue suit strode up. he slapped his passport down and told the marine enthusiastically that he was there to vote. The marine relayed her apology to him, but he wouldn't have it. he notified her that we (he included Eric abd I) were American citizens and that we had the Constitutional right to vote for the President. Furthermore, he said, the embassy was technically American soil, and since it was November 4, we must be allowed to vote. Well, upon hearing this declaration, the marine got on the horn to one of her superiors.
After a few minutes, the marine hung up the phone and instructed us to head to the side entrance that Eric and I had visited twice before. So this time the three of us felt sure that we would be admitted so as to vote. However, our old Egyptian friend at the window had other plans. He insisted that we were not to be allowed inside, and that furthermore, the embassy was closed to visitors. This bit of news did not sit well with the man in the blue suit. He launched into a tirade on the Egyptian, quoting from the Constitution, declaring our freedoms as Americans, and all but demanding that we be allowed to vote. While taken aback, the Egyptian insisted that we could not enter. It was at this moment that the man in the blue suit played the trump card. He delivered an ultimatum: Either we would be allowed to vote, or he would call CNN and have them at the window in 10 minutes asking why American citizens were not being allowed to vote at their own embassy.
The man's eyes grew wide and he quickly begged the blue suit man to not follow through with his threat. The American in the suit then instructed the Egyptian to call Hanes Mahoney. Hanes Mahoney was the embassy director, and as we discovered, a personal friend of the man in the blue suit. It was at this juncture, while the Egyptian man was on the phone, that the American in the suit introduced himself to Eric and I. He told us his name was Darryl John Kennedy and that he was a composer and musician. He explained that he traveled the world giving concerts and performing for different foreign dignitaries and high caliber events. Just the night before he had performed in the Cairo Opera House, and he was currently finishing a six-month tour of Egypt. He continued by adding that his position afforded him many influential connections, including the directors of the American embassy, the Egyptian correspondant to CNN, and a slew of famous Egyptian actors and directors. In fact, he informed us that he had just completed the score for a major Egyptian movie set to be released in early 2009.
Needless to say, Eric and I were more than mildly impressed by this revelation. We continued to chat until the Egyptian man at the desk called Darryl over and passed him the telephone. The embassy director was on the line. Darryl greeted the man as if he were speaking to an old friend. After a light exchange, Mr. Kennedy handed the phone back to the man at the desk. Finally, the door was opened and we entered the hallowed inner sanctum of the complex. The Egyptian man was very apologetic and he made every effort to expedite us to the makeshift polls. And so it was that at 5:15 we were able to vote for President of the United States.
Afterwards, Darryl gave us his personal cell phone number and told us that if there was ever anything we needed, that we shouldn't hesitate to call him. We thanked him profusely, and then parted company.
Still awake? I'm impressed. Stay tuned for the next installment. Coming soon. I promise...
Friday, October 31, 2008
Rain, and other occurances of late
Yes, it's true. Last Friday it rained here. And not only did it rain, but it rained hard. I was working on class planning in the computer lab and I stepped outside only to discover that the heavens had opened up and it was truly and genuinely wet outside. Accompanying this downpour was wind, lightning, and thunder. This lasted for about a half hour and then subsided. The day continued and I didn't think anything else of it. But a few hours later the same thing happened. This time the showers lasted for over an hour, thoroughly soaking everything not covered. I just stood outside for a couple minutes, letting the rain hit me. I closed my eyes and for a moment I felt like I was back home in Oregon. I later found out that the last time it had rained that hard was about 8 years ago. I'm glad that I was here to experience something unusual.
There were some unfortunate side effects to all the precipitation, however. Nothing in Egypt is built for rain. The roofs are sunken and have no pitch whatsoever. Some students with large squeegies had to climb onto the roofs of all the buildings to prevent them from collapsing. Another problem that resulted had to do with the power. Now, remember, here in Cairo it rains maybe once or twice a year and even then it is in trace amounts that are almost negligable. So it may not be any surprise that all of the power wires leading to the circuit boxes and transformers are exposed to the elements. So when water came into contact with these wires it caused an electrical surge that damaged electronics, burnt out light bulbs, and in the boys dorm started a small fire.
All told, the electrical mishap destroyed two laptop power cables, a computer battery backup, the main computer lab printer, and other assorted appliances. Things are basically back to normal now, but I will never forget the day it rained in Cairo.
But that was last week. Now let's talk about yesterday.
Every year the SA here plans a trip to Cairo's own theme park- Dream Park. So yesterday the entire student body loaded onto buses and made the trek across town (no small undertaking) and arrived at about 11:00 at the front gates. We spent the next 9 hours exploring the park, visiting the attractions, and generally having a good time. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Dream Park was in most ways comparable to any American theme park. There were some minor differences of course (you had to pay extra money to ride the big roller coasters, for instance) but on the whole it was very similar. I have to say that my favorite part of the day was playing bumper cars with NUA students. There were enough of us that we could occupy all 20 cars at once. The ensuing melee was the stuff of legend. I, of course prevailed thanks to my exceptional driving skills. But Some of my students felt the rubbery wrath of my bumper!
I also enjoyed the time I spent getting to know the students outside the classroom. It was really good for me to not be a teacher for once, but instead just a friend. After all, a fair number of the students are at least as old as I am, and in some cases older.
So that brings my story to the present. I think I'll go to bed now. Thanks for reading.
There were some unfortunate side effects to all the precipitation, however. Nothing in Egypt is built for rain. The roofs are sunken and have no pitch whatsoever. Some students with large squeegies had to climb onto the roofs of all the buildings to prevent them from collapsing. Another problem that resulted had to do with the power. Now, remember, here in Cairo it rains maybe once or twice a year and even then it is in trace amounts that are almost negligable. So it may not be any surprise that all of the power wires leading to the circuit boxes and transformers are exposed to the elements. So when water came into contact with these wires it caused an electrical surge that damaged electronics, burnt out light bulbs, and in the boys dorm started a small fire.
All told, the electrical mishap destroyed two laptop power cables, a computer battery backup, the main computer lab printer, and other assorted appliances. Things are basically back to normal now, but I will never forget the day it rained in Cairo.
But that was last week. Now let's talk about yesterday.
Every year the SA here plans a trip to Cairo's own theme park- Dream Park. So yesterday the entire student body loaded onto buses and made the trek across town (no small undertaking) and arrived at about 11:00 at the front gates. We spent the next 9 hours exploring the park, visiting the attractions, and generally having a good time. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Dream Park was in most ways comparable to any American theme park. There were some minor differences of course (you had to pay extra money to ride the big roller coasters, for instance) but on the whole it was very similar. I have to say that my favorite part of the day was playing bumper cars with NUA students. There were enough of us that we could occupy all 20 cars at once. The ensuing melee was the stuff of legend. I, of course prevailed thanks to my exceptional driving skills. But Some of my students felt the rubbery wrath of my bumper!
I also enjoyed the time I spent getting to know the students outside the classroom. It was really good for me to not be a teacher for once, but instead just a friend. After all, a fair number of the students are at least as old as I am, and in some cases older.
So that brings my story to the present. I think I'll go to bed now. Thanks for reading.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
I don't know...
I have learned some truths the hard way recently. One of them is that Muslim's don't think. I know all of you are gasping and shaking your heads at this revelation of my apparent intolerance, but I can back up this statement. When I came to Egypt I feel safe in saying that I had a very open mind about my experience here, including the role of Islam in Egyptian culture. But after nine weeks I can tell you all with certainty, that Islam isn't doing anyone any good here. It teaches absolute adherence without question, and therefore it comes as know surprise that nobody thinks. Whenever it comes to light that I am American, the Egyptian response is always: "I like Americans, but not their government." The reason for this is simple. The United States is a strong supporter of Israel, and Egyptians hate Israelis--a lot. Why? Because they were taught to. They don't even know why. It is the same with any given topic. They Like or dislike this or that only because that is the way they were taught. To think for one's self is not only discouraged, but according to Islam it is virtually forbidden. Even the word Islam means 'one who submits'. I am eternally grateful that I was born into a nation that encourages free thought. I am equally thankful that I am part of a religion that has firm reasoning for its teachings. I never appreciated these things as much as I do now.
Another point of frustration is the dysfunction and deceit that permeates life here. 9 out of 10 people on the street are out to take advantage of any situation. I find many friendly people wherever I go, but I have discovered that this friendliness is only a facade for alterior motives. Anyone is willing to be your friend--for a fee. Even amongst the students I am vigilant of over-friendliness. Too often the students try to become your favorite only to gain some sort of special treatment. I am sad to say that I trust few people here.
So that's my rant. Hope you enjoyed it. And now onto something new...
A couple weekends ago I had the privilege to go with the ministry team to the village of Massra, a place about 6 hours south of Cairo. On Friday morning Eric, Myself, and 10 others crowded into a minibus for the long trek there. The scenery was generally boring along the way, although I did get my first glimps of the Western Desert (All I can say is that there's a lot of sand out there). Stepping out of the door in Massra was like going back in time. Mud-brick buildings lined a quiet street along which men in traditional robes strode past and donkeys trotted complainingly. Our group stayed with the only Adventist family in town. Their abode was a large three-story structure occupied by three brothers and their respective families. In all, four generations were represented under one roof. The family made a living by raising crops, cows, and pigeons. The latter of these were raised in the house, giving a curious odor to the place.
But what the house lacked in amenities, the people made up for in hospitality. I had heard stories about the way in which guests were treated in Upper Egypt, but I never expected them to be so true. At meal times they would herd all of the guests into a separate room set out with a veritable smorgazboard of food. After we had eaten our fill, the family would come in to eat what was left over. When we met together in the main room it was a time for stories, songs, and laughter. My only regret from the weekend was that I didn't bring an extra camera battery, and so when my battery died prematurely I was forced to finish the weekend sans photographs. oh well.
So until next time, I'll be here, where will you be?
Another point of frustration is the dysfunction and deceit that permeates life here. 9 out of 10 people on the street are out to take advantage of any situation. I find many friendly people wherever I go, but I have discovered that this friendliness is only a facade for alterior motives. Anyone is willing to be your friend--for a fee. Even amongst the students I am vigilant of over-friendliness. Too often the students try to become your favorite only to gain some sort of special treatment. I am sad to say that I trust few people here.
So that's my rant. Hope you enjoyed it. And now onto something new...
A couple weekends ago I had the privilege to go with the ministry team to the village of Massra, a place about 6 hours south of Cairo. On Friday morning Eric, Myself, and 10 others crowded into a minibus for the long trek there. The scenery was generally boring along the way, although I did get my first glimps of the Western Desert (All I can say is that there's a lot of sand out there). Stepping out of the door in Massra was like going back in time. Mud-brick buildings lined a quiet street along which men in traditional robes strode past and donkeys trotted complainingly. Our group stayed with the only Adventist family in town. Their abode was a large three-story structure occupied by three brothers and their respective families. In all, four generations were represented under one roof. The family made a living by raising crops, cows, and pigeons. The latter of these were raised in the house, giving a curious odor to the place.
But what the house lacked in amenities, the people made up for in hospitality. I had heard stories about the way in which guests were treated in Upper Egypt, but I never expected them to be so true. At meal times they would herd all of the guests into a separate room set out with a veritable smorgazboard of food. After we had eaten our fill, the family would come in to eat what was left over. When we met together in the main room it was a time for stories, songs, and laughter. My only regret from the weekend was that I didn't bring an extra camera battery, and so when my battery died prematurely I was forced to finish the weekend sans photographs. oh well.
So until next time, I'll be here, where will you be?
Saturday, October 4, 2008
It's been awhile
Hello all!
I can't believe how fast things have been going as of late. It's already been six weeks since I first set foot on Egyptian soil and I've hardly had a chance to catch my breath. I am currently on a break that lasts until Wednesday, then it's back to teaching classes. Not much is new in the school here, so I will be happy to tell you about the adventures I have had this break.
Last Tuesday Miguel, Daniel, Eric and I boarded a bus bound for Sharm El Sheik, a tourist hot spot on the tip of the Sinai peninsula. We arrived there at about 2:30 AM and by 4:00 we were on the road again headed for our real destination: Dahab. Dahab is a small coastal town situated along the Gulf of Aqaba. Due to it's remote locale, it doesn't see nearly as many tourists as Sharm and that makes all the difference in the world. When we arrived in Dahab, the sun was just rising. After consulting Eric's copy of the ever trusty Lonely Planet guide book we hit the streets looking to rent a couple rooms for the week. Finally we settled into a couple of rooms at a joint called Alaska Camp- a favorite of backpackers. After resting and cleaning up, the four of us headed out to see the town. Now Dahab exists for two reasons: for scuba divers, and for windsurfers. All along the seashore dive shops abound, mostly run by expatriate Europeans who offer fantastic tours to the areas many reefs. To compliment these shops are a slew of restaurants, bazaars, and hotels, making Dahab a fantastic place to come relax.
So, for the next few days we filled our time eating, sleeping, and lounging. I of course busied myself with some photography as well, but all in all I did as little as possible. I cannot describe to you how gloriously beautiful my time there was. The most active thing I did was scuba diving in the warm water and admiring the myriad of marine life. The rest and relaxation was exactly what I had been needing, and I enjoyed every moment of it. So that was Dahab. And now the real story begins...
Daniel Kempf is an SM from France who works as a maintenance supervisor here. He was at NUA last year and all of his knowldege about how things work here has proved invaluable. Needless to say, he knows what he wants, and he is always determined to get it on his terms. He absolutely will not let himself get ripped off by locals, which in most cases is definitely admirable. Anyway, on Saturday we chartered a minibus to take us to St. Katherine's monastary at the foot of Mount Sinai. Our plan was to visit the monastary and then begin climbing the mountain in time to watch the sun set. We would then sleep on the summit, watch the sun rise, and head back down into town to catch a minibus back to Cairo. It seemed like a feasible plan.
However, things got interesting once we actually arrived at St. Katherine's. While attempting to enter the monastary, a security guard confronted Daniel, insisting that Daniel had taken a picture of him. Daniel told the man adamantly that he had not, but the man persisted. After some more bickering Daniel ignored the man and walked away to look at the sights. All seemed fine until we attempted to climb the mountain later that afternoon. As we walked past the entrance of the monastary (the two paths leading up Sinai originate in the valley next to the monastary) the same security guard rushed out and demanded that we have a tour guide with us. This was strange for three reasons: 1. Daniel had climbed the mountain two other times and had never needed a guide before 2. Everyone one else we had talked to that day told us that tour guides were optional, not required & 3. This was the same guard who had hassled Daniel earlier in the day about the picture.
It was evident that this guard was full of it; expressing some sort of vendetta for the earlier events of the day. So the four of us headed way from the monastary until we ran into a tour group headed up the mountain. We quickly blended in until we passed the entrance to the monastary. The same guard again rushed out and confronted Daniel, this time demanding that we go back and get a different tour guide. By this time we were very upset with this guard. Daniel, especially was livid at this man's actions. So, together we formed a plan to sneak around the back of the monastary and get far enough up the hill that even if the guard saw us, he wouldn't be able to catch us. So that's what we did. With the help of a local bedouin boy, we stealthily went around the other side of the monastary and up to an alternate path. As we ascended higher, we heard shouting down below and saw some tiny figures rushing about. However, we didn't wait around to find out who they were yelling at. The next morning we awoke early and headed down. To avoid any confrontation we opted to take a round about route to the town of St. Katherine's, thereby avoiding the monastary altogether. And so after a day of travel, I find myself back at NUA, trying to gear up for classes on Wednesday.
So that's the update from Egypt. Finally some relaxation and an adventure to boot! I promise not to wait so long before my next post. Thanks for listening,
-Monte
I can't believe how fast things have been going as of late. It's already been six weeks since I first set foot on Egyptian soil and I've hardly had a chance to catch my breath. I am currently on a break that lasts until Wednesday, then it's back to teaching classes. Not much is new in the school here, so I will be happy to tell you about the adventures I have had this break.
Last Tuesday Miguel, Daniel, Eric and I boarded a bus bound for Sharm El Sheik, a tourist hot spot on the tip of the Sinai peninsula. We arrived there at about 2:30 AM and by 4:00 we were on the road again headed for our real destination: Dahab. Dahab is a small coastal town situated along the Gulf of Aqaba. Due to it's remote locale, it doesn't see nearly as many tourists as Sharm and that makes all the difference in the world. When we arrived in Dahab, the sun was just rising. After consulting Eric's copy of the ever trusty Lonely Planet guide book we hit the streets looking to rent a couple rooms for the week. Finally we settled into a couple of rooms at a joint called Alaska Camp- a favorite of backpackers. After resting and cleaning up, the four of us headed out to see the town. Now Dahab exists for two reasons: for scuba divers, and for windsurfers. All along the seashore dive shops abound, mostly run by expatriate Europeans who offer fantastic tours to the areas many reefs. To compliment these shops are a slew of restaurants, bazaars, and hotels, making Dahab a fantastic place to come relax.
So, for the next few days we filled our time eating, sleeping, and lounging. I of course busied myself with some photography as well, but all in all I did as little as possible. I cannot describe to you how gloriously beautiful my time there was. The most active thing I did was scuba diving in the warm water and admiring the myriad of marine life. The rest and relaxation was exactly what I had been needing, and I enjoyed every moment of it. So that was Dahab. And now the real story begins...
Daniel Kempf is an SM from France who works as a maintenance supervisor here. He was at NUA last year and all of his knowldege about how things work here has proved invaluable. Needless to say, he knows what he wants, and he is always determined to get it on his terms. He absolutely will not let himself get ripped off by locals, which in most cases is definitely admirable. Anyway, on Saturday we chartered a minibus to take us to St. Katherine's monastary at the foot of Mount Sinai. Our plan was to visit the monastary and then begin climbing the mountain in time to watch the sun set. We would then sleep on the summit, watch the sun rise, and head back down into town to catch a minibus back to Cairo. It seemed like a feasible plan.
However, things got interesting once we actually arrived at St. Katherine's. While attempting to enter the monastary, a security guard confronted Daniel, insisting that Daniel had taken a picture of him. Daniel told the man adamantly that he had not, but the man persisted. After some more bickering Daniel ignored the man and walked away to look at the sights. All seemed fine until we attempted to climb the mountain later that afternoon. As we walked past the entrance of the monastary (the two paths leading up Sinai originate in the valley next to the monastary) the same security guard rushed out and demanded that we have a tour guide with us. This was strange for three reasons: 1. Daniel had climbed the mountain two other times and had never needed a guide before 2. Everyone one else we had talked to that day told us that tour guides were optional, not required & 3. This was the same guard who had hassled Daniel earlier in the day about the picture.
It was evident that this guard was full of it; expressing some sort of vendetta for the earlier events of the day. So the four of us headed way from the monastary until we ran into a tour group headed up the mountain. We quickly blended in until we passed the entrance to the monastary. The same guard again rushed out and confronted Daniel, this time demanding that we go back and get a different tour guide. By this time we were very upset with this guard. Daniel, especially was livid at this man's actions. So, together we formed a plan to sneak around the back of the monastary and get far enough up the hill that even if the guard saw us, he wouldn't be able to catch us. So that's what we did. With the help of a local bedouin boy, we stealthily went around the other side of the monastary and up to an alternate path. As we ascended higher, we heard shouting down below and saw some tiny figures rushing about. However, we didn't wait around to find out who they were yelling at. The next morning we awoke early and headed down. To avoid any confrontation we opted to take a round about route to the town of St. Katherine's, thereby avoiding the monastary altogether. And so after a day of travel, I find myself back at NUA, trying to gear up for classes on Wednesday.
So that's the update from Egypt. Finally some relaxation and an adventure to boot! I promise not to wait so long before my next post. Thanks for listening,
-Monte
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Waiting
Things here just keep changing. At the moment I am teaching only 12th grade history and watching the computer lab here. I did have two ESL computer classes, but they were canceled. So here I wait. Things should be picking up pretty quickly, though. Eric Barnes arrived last-night, completing the list of SMs here. I suspect I will be taking at least one of his classes to replace the two I lost; I just don't know which one(s) yet.
Week 1 of school is well under way and all is going smoothly thus far. The students are enthusiastic and very friendly and with 137 enrolled there isn't very much quiet time. The cafeteria is up and running which could be viewed as good or bad. The good side is that it's free for me and I don't have to prepare my own food. however... what can one say about cafeteria food? It's not bad, but... it could be better. A typical meal consists of fuul (slow-cooked beans), salad (cut-up cucumbers and tomatoes), some soft (and very salty) cheese, and pita. It tastes good, but when you eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it loses its charm.
Speaking of charm, Ramadan is well under way which is interesting in its own way. The main difference here on campus is that the prayers are louder, longer, and more frequent. However, right at sunset a magical thing happens: The streets become deserted! For those of you not up on your Ramadan tradition, during the month of Ramadan, muslims fast while the sun is up, and then feast all night long. So right when the sun goes down, everyone disappears from sight into their homes and stuffs themselves silly with all manner of food. it makes travel quite convenient and quick and we try our best to take advantage of this lull when heading into town.
So for now, that's all I have to report. Thanks for reading!
Week 1 of school is well under way and all is going smoothly thus far. The students are enthusiastic and very friendly and with 137 enrolled there isn't very much quiet time. The cafeteria is up and running which could be viewed as good or bad. The good side is that it's free for me and I don't have to prepare my own food. however... what can one say about cafeteria food? It's not bad, but... it could be better. A typical meal consists of fuul (slow-cooked beans), salad (cut-up cucumbers and tomatoes), some soft (and very salty) cheese, and pita. It tastes good, but when you eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it loses its charm.
Speaking of charm, Ramadan is well under way which is interesting in its own way. The main difference here on campus is that the prayers are louder, longer, and more frequent. However, right at sunset a magical thing happens: The streets become deserted! For those of you not up on your Ramadan tradition, during the month of Ramadan, muslims fast while the sun is up, and then feast all night long. So right when the sun goes down, everyone disappears from sight into their homes and stuffs themselves silly with all manner of food. it makes travel quite convenient and quick and we try our best to take advantage of this lull when heading into town.
So for now, that's all I have to report. Thanks for reading!
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