A real post on Egypt, a tourism pitch and a promise

Hello from the Suez Canal. We went into the canal around 10:30 or so this morning. We're the 4th ship in line and there are more than 20 ships behind us. The canal is a narrow narrow strip of water, maybe 1/8 of a mile wide. On the Africa side there are a lot of palm trees and farm areas and the occasional town. On the Suez side it's desert, desert, guard station, desert, desert. There are no locks, because it isn't necessary for the water flow, though I don't understand this fully.

The library is closed today and most other offices, and many people including yours truly have been taking advantage of the spa. There are only 150-200 people on board right now. If every day was like this I would never come home. The only bad thing is too many flies. Oh, and tonight the crew is making us steaks grilled to order out by the pool deck. I think we shouldn't stop and pick up the rest of our passengers in Alexandria and just keep on going to Istanbul.

Our first port for Egypt was Adabiya. If you want to find that on a map you'll need a pretty detailed one because all that's there is a port. It's pretty much due east of Cairo on the Red Sea. The people who weren't signed up for a trip had a difficult time because there wasn't a regular shuttle into Cairo and it was about a 2 hour drive. And that's 2 hours the way Egyptians drive which is pedal to the metal. I was on the Cairo extended trip which was 3 days and 2 nights. There was almost 150 people on that trip and we were on 4 buses which travelled in convoy with a security detail which included a suited, sunglassed, agent on each bus. Egypt has a tourist police force who is only concerned with the safety of tourists. I think they were particularly concerned with the safety of our particular group of tourists. (Here is a picture of me and the two guards assigned to me).

Our first stop was Sakkara where we saw the step pyramid and the tomb of Meruruka. A few students were yelled at for trying to climb the pyramid, I think they were yelled at because you have to bribe the guard first if you want to climb the pyramid. There were hawkers selling papyrus, postcards, little statuettes of pyramids and pharaoh heads, the usual. But also a new addition which is the hawker selling camel rides. $1 to get on (ah yes, but how much to get down?).

Next stop was a lovely brunch at our hotel. The hotel Le Meridien Pyramids was terrific. My room was luxurious with a view of the pyramids from the balcony. After a rest we had a trip to the antiquities museum where the second floor is entirely dedicated to king tut treasurers. The most memorable was probably the wall full of boomerangs found in the tomb. Who knew that the Egyptians invented boomerangs? What didn't they invent?

We finished the evening with a Nile river dinner barge cruise which was cheesy beyond belief. It was a buffet dinner and show which included a really bad lounge singer and "belly dance" performance. The nicest thing was to go outside and enjoy the air and watch the Nile, but while we were going under a bridge waving at the locals someone threw down a bag of cooked chickpeas. I just heard the thud and someone scream and then the security guys came running outside.

The next morning we got started at 4:15 with a trip to the pyramids to watch the sunrise. They took us to Giza plateau and the wind was blowing and it was freezing. I bet among the 100 or so of us out there there's more than 1,000 pictures of the sun slowly rising over the pyramids. We had about 2 1/2 hours out there to see the pyramids and the sphinx. Who thought that the pyramids were way out in the desert? I certainly did. The pyramids are practically in the middle of town. There's a bit of land around them that's protected, but Cairo extends in all directions around the site. There were camel rides galore at the pyramids and some really pushy hawkers. One of our students had a very unpleasant experience with a camel ride peddler and I escorted her to go turn him in and on my way back to rejoin the group I had a very unpleasant experience with a hawker. I heard a lot of stories of women being asked for kisses and groped or having uncomfortable things said to them. It's left me with a yucky feeling about Egyptian men. And honestly my pyramids experience was probably forever tainted with the sleaziness of it all. Not to mention the entire area is covered in trash.

Pretty much all of Cairo is covered in trash, and by trash I also mean dead rotting horse carcasses.

After the pyramids we went to the Citadel and Mohammad Ali Mosque. That was my first time in a mosque and I was overwhelmed by it's beauty. The inside of the mosque was a very peaceful, lovely place. The outside of the mosque was more of the same peddlers, hawkers and people yelling "pesicolapepsicolapepsicoloapepsicola." Our guide spent a long time on some kind of tirade about marriage and divorce in Islam and how the laws are misunderstood. Then there was a quick trip to the bazaar, which of all the large markets we've been to, was probably my favorite. The shopkeepers were not as unrelentingly pushy as some places and there was some nice variety in the stuff they were selling. The market also just seemed cleaner and more pleasant.

Another lunch on the Nile, this time we were surrounded by police boats.

After that we had a quick trip to American University in Cairo. The person who greeted us was the Vice Provost who apologized profusely for making us sit outside and listen to him on the lawn. (The weather was so lovely, and it was so nice to sit in the grass I don't think anyone really cared.) He said no one had contacted them until two days before we arrived to let them know we were coming so there was no place for us to sit and no students around for us to talk to since they were all in class. He gave us a very interesting talk about the AUC and stereotypes of Americans and Egyptians. Then he took us into the Special Collections library and showed off some of their treasures which was fascinating for me, and not terribly dull for everyone else.

Mary and Kelly and I had dinner at the hotel in the Laredo Tex-Mex Restaurant. I had a chicken quesadilla.

The next day we were free to explore on our own. Mary, Kelly and I went to the Greater Cairo Public Library where we were welcomed like celebrities. All the patrons have to sign in and leave their id to get into the library. We had to leave our passports (scary). When we walked in a very nice young guy came out and asked if he could help us. We told him we were librarians and wanted to look around, and he took us on a very long tour of the whole building. Pointing out all the different parts of the collections and then introducing us to the library director who is also his dad. The director then talked to us for ages and ages about the library and their programs and its history. They couldn't have been more welcoming and gracious.

That was it really. It wasn't the mad scramble that most SAS trips are, but we did get to see a lot, and pyramids can be scratched off the giant to-do list of life events. If you would really like to get the Egypt experience, but you don't have the time or money or ambition to actually go to Egypt, I would recommend a trip to New Mexico. Rent a car and drive around on the desert some, then go see some indian ruins-- Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde (these are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, BTW), then go find a giant flea market and buy some turquoise. If you simply must ride a camel you can do that at the Albuquerque zoo and you can just stand in line and pay $5 and be done with it. While you're there no one will grab your boobs or your ass, or say anything disgusting to you, no horse carcasses and you can get better Mexican food.

I understand if you feel you simply must go to Egypt, but I promise you New Mexico is just as good.

Now, I'm going to make a promise that I hope I can keep, which is: I promise to write a blog entry every day for a week. That means starting today until November 9th I will write SOMETHING every single day.

PS Just Kidding about the two guards, they were just some guys with guns by the market and I just happened to be in front of them when Kelly took that picture.