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!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
I Have Arrived...
After flying through Amman, we reached Cairo, Egypt last night. I dont have much time to write (as I am about to catch a train to southern Egypt), but here are a few brief highlights. Last night we checked into the Hilton Ramses along the Nile River. It was a great room with an even better view. Today we went to the Egyptian Musuem and to see the Pyramids of Giza as well as the world-famous sphinx. Then a great dinner along the Nile River and then tomorrow is a cruise between Luxor and Aswan. I will post more and upload photos as I can. Hope you all are doing well!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The night of Jesus’ arrest
The trees are in the Garden of Gethsemane (where Jesus prayed the night of his arrest). The steps are over two thousand years old are and believed to be where Jesus walked to his false trial.
Dead Sea
Big or small…it’s easy to float the Dead Sea. It's made up of thirty percent salt. And yes my eyes look squinty…it was 100 degrees and sunny! Please also note the age of the people behind me. I don't fit into the equation.
Random Pictures
I am finally able to upload photos of Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, I am now at a location with a bad keyboard. So I am switching temporarily from words to pictures. There are also pictures from Jaffa south of Tel Aviv (see picture of mosque below). I hope you enjoy them! Dozes more will be posted when I get back to the United States.
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