Last night was crazy! After leaving the hotel in search of an internet cafe, we met an Egyptian who not only took us to one, but also took us back to his art studio to show us some of his work on paypyrus. He took us through winding (and dark) back alleys, speaking in broken English. At first, I legitamtely thought I was going to be kidnapped, beaten, and have my money taken. (Okay so maybe that's morbid, but hey, your a young white kid in the middle of the biggest city in Africa). It turns out he was just showing Egyptian hospitality. When you meet someone, they want to know everything about you and introduce you to every member of their family (I'm not kidding). Its one of those things thats different about Middle Eastern culture than life back in the U.S. If someone took me through wondering streets of Seattle, I might be afraid. But here, its just how things work.
Anyway...after that we finally made it to the train station. After running up and down stairs and from platform to platform, we finally found the train to Luxor, Egypt. After finding our seats we were suprised at what we found. An entire Egyptian family (meaning mom, dad, four children, grandma etc) plus two recently graduated kids from America. They looked at us like "what the crap are you doing here" and we looked at them the same way. It was a good experience, however. They didnt speak English but kept on saying "welcome, welcome" - trying to show as much hospitality as possible. Anyway, after an 11 hour trip we made it to Luxor where its well over 100 degrees and down-right beautiful. The Nile River makes everything so green. We visited several temples today and are enjoying life on the cruise ship. It's amazingly nice!
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2 comments:
Daniel, I am so glad you are writing so much. I don't want you to forget a thing, and of course I want more details when you get home. You had me a little creeped out writing about the dark alley, but we have heard that Egyptians really like Americans. Sounds like a very interesting experience...all of it in fact.
Love you! Can't wait to read more...
Dan - you have me fantasizing about quitting my job and going on a middle eastern adventure for several months.
I've wanted to visit Egypt since I was a little boy. I can't wait to see your pictures of this incredible place.
Be safe, be well, and keeping living it up!
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