The Heavyweight Champion of Egypt

TOOT TOOT TOOT TOOT

Katkoot = pussycat

Aswan DAAAAAM!

Aswan is HOT. Like being thrown in the midst of a charcoal pit hot. With everyone laughing and not sweating as you sit there in shock hot. Its hot.

We took the night train from Cairo last night, arriving this morning. Hussein, a friend of our cousin's husband picked us up and drove us around all day. First thing we did was check out the High Dam, the view is great and the water is much cleaner than in Cairo. We took a boat to Philea, an island close by that has some temples. Lots of the pictures and words are chiseled out as each new generation tried to erase the last one. There's even some crosses cut in from when it was a church. At this point I was dead tired from the heat.

The Aswan people and the Nubians here are the nicest, most genuine of Egypt that I've come across so far. Which is not hard with pushy Cairenes and crazy eyed Alexandrians. The nubian guy who took us on the boat is getting married tomorrow, and Hussein said we might check out a Nubian wedding tomorrow, maybe its the same one.

I'm slogging around looking for shade and water all the time. Had the tastiest sugar cane juice today. Its all over the country. They have these storefront stands with big ass machines that they feed a couple sugar canes at a time through, and out the bottom comes a couple cups of super fresh sugar cane juice. I think 90% of the machine must be storage for the used up canes that make the delicious and refreshing stuff. Tomorrow morning we'll take a falucca on the nile for a couple hours, and the next day we are going to Abu Simbel early in the morning. Halfway into this trip through beautiful Egypt.

PS. Aswan is hot.

No Man Bags In Egypt

News Flash - Egyptian men do not carry man bags. They may walk arm in arm, hold hands, kiss hello, but never take a bag. Before entering the new library in Alexandria, you have to check bags. When I went to get mine back, the guard asked me "where is the owner (feminine) of this bag?" I told him it was me, he watched me as I put it over my shoulder and walked away, then I realized what had just happened.

This week in Egypt

Sunday, we went to the pyramids. Dusty, old. The tomb interior looked new and spooky. Monday and Tuesday we were in Alexandria. Cool breezes, an amazing cathedral, and delicious and fresh calamari. We went out to Montaza, which was the king's palace on the water. The new Alexandria Library was a great sight to visit too, alot smaller than I imagined. Our aunt hooked us up with someone who took us around the city. whopee

Wednesday we went to monasteries in the deserts outside of Cairo, the monks were nice and they served us a great lunch. I was preparing myself for a gross plate of beans but they brought out chicken, rice, potatoes, and fresh cheese. Mm Mm good.

Yesterday and today are chill out days in Cairo, visited my mom's old friend, went to a going away party for one of Mark's coworkers. They had karaoke. I wanted to sing Ziggy Stardust but no go. Too bad. We take the night train to Aswan tonight. We're going to check out the valley of the Kings, then cap off the trip at a resort on the Red Sea.

Dusty

The pyramids are dusty. And big and stuff. The top of the middle one still has some limestone at the top which must've looked awesome back in the day. They say it was ripped off to make mosques. What the hell? People are still quarrying limestone today. There's enough to go around without taking things off wonders of the world. Egyptian people are giving me a headache.

We climbed up inside the tomb of the great pyramid. There wasn't as many people as I expected inside, which was great. After a while two Egyptian kids came in, we tried to scare someone coming up but he didn't go for it. WOOOOOOOHHHHHOOOOOOOO. The tomb had a cool echo effect.

The guys around the pyramids are the most annoying ever. Saying no is worse than ignoring them. Threats with rocks don't work either.

crossing the streets is an adventure

We recorded ourselves crossing the street in Egypt. It's like playing frogger. Nobody stops, they honk to let you know they're not stopping, so you play it by ear, wocka wocka....Cairo is crowded and the pollution sticks to your lungs but insanely cheap and its fun just walking around. I had the tastiest tahmiyea ever. EVEERRR. We spent the afternoon in the big museum, the place is stuffed with sarcofigi and what nots, king Tut's treasures were pretty awesome. He has three beds, each with its own magical use in the afterlife.
We haggled a faluka guy down to 40 pounds, 8 usd for an hour ride on the nile, the boat to ourselves. Sunset on the Nile, very relaxing. Groppi is cafe my parents used to hang out at, which isn't as posh as it was back then, but was cool to check out nonetheless.

Planning trips to Luxor, Alexandria, and the Red Sea....whopeeeeeeeeeee

This is taking twice as long to write because Mark's laptop keeps throwing the cursor around while I type and spell check doesn't work so there are probably tons of typos I don't see....

misr

howdy from the land of the Egypt. I got in late last night, we went to a shawirma stand called Baraka (that's BA-ra-kah), walked on the streets because apparently walking on the sidewalks is for rookies....
Half a day in london was ok. It was very gray, I walked over to the Serpentine pavillion at the end of Hyde Park to find it was still under construction, Gehry's turn. Saw the gerhkin, the tate modern, lots of very expensive bad sandwich shops. I spent 50 bucks on a coffee, two train tickes, and a couple sandwiches. I walked so much, plus I hadn't slept, that I fell asleep at the airport and almost missed my flight!

OK gotta meet Mark downtown.....
PEEZ!

Saudis are not Egyptians you ignorant moron

This is why certain people have no sense. This is why certain people use Indian accents to make fun of Arabs. Idiots.

Nobody in Egypt dresses like this. I've never met an Egyptian who dresses like this. My brother in Cairo never sees anyone dressed like this. SAUDI ARABIA IS AS FAR FROM EGYPT AS ENGLAND IS FROM FRANCE. Do you see anybody confusing England with France? No. You don't.