If only I had my papyrus

 Today we woke up on our cruise. We had landed at Kom Ombo! Breakfast was pastries, sausage, and tea. We left the cruise at 7am. Having never been on a cruise before, they gave us a card for counting purposes. We passed through a market before arriving at the temple.

Kom Ombo is dedicated to Horus and Sobek. It was split into two, one half for each god. We got to see the story of Horus again. We read the cartouche of Cleopatra. Colors were still present at the top of the temple! We learned about the whispering rooms, where people would come to pray and priests would hide in the wall and answer as the god. We saw hieroglyphs depicting surgical instruments. There was an area that Heba described how they mummified crocodiles there! The museum afterwards had about a dozen mummified crocs of different sizes! Even eggs! Such a cool place and I’d love to see it again from a different TD’s point of view. We stopped by the market where I haggled (well Heba did) for a galabeya. It’s blue with long sleeves. There’s embroidery on the front of sunflowers  I paid $15 for it. Wearing it later, I found out one sleeve is smaller/tighter than the other. I’ll have to remedy that at home .

We spent the rest of the day on the boat. I napped in the morning because it was too windy up top. We had lunch. After lunch the boat stopped for some to get off and explore. I was on the top, listening to an audiobook and playing sudoku. I took some videos and pictures of us cruising the Nile. Sarah and I reenacted the Titanic pose; she made a TikTok with the music! I drank some wine and had them figure out a mojito. Whoops. I thought that would’ve been an easy drink. Both were $15 total.

I napped before dinner, which I had chicken, fish, eggplant, and cous cous. It was Meg’s birthday so we sang and ate cake. It was a fun experience. After dinner, we headed up to the lounge for the galabeya party. We danced with the crew, conga style then in a circle. There was a raffle. Since Sarah wasn’t there, I DANCED for her prize: a cheap Egypt wallet with a laminated calendar inside with Jesus on it. We laughed so hard when I found that. We took a group picture and danced some more. There was a photographer who took our pictures individually and as a couple.

Tomorrow is the big day: The Valley of the Kings!

What a boat-iful day!

Omg this morning was so nice. I was so well rested. I woke up after 8 hours of sleep to work on school. I sat on the balcony overlooking the entrance to the hotel, Aswan, and the Nile in the distance. What a sight. Breakfast was good, consisting of pastries, hibiscus tea, chicken sausage, fava beans, and falafel. Ate on the balcony by the pool and the temperature was great.

We left for the Nubian village on a ferry, the same type of boat we used the day before. We enjoyed some history of the area by Heba before we could enjoy the boat ride, taking videos and pictures. We saw cows and a donkey on the bank, ducks and gulls, and peaceful sites on our journey.

We arrived at the Nubian village and made our way to the primary school. They have Friday and Saturday off, so we didn’t get to see children (to Heba’s disappointment). We went into Mr. Wael’s class where he taught us the alphabet in Arabic, including the song (the last 3 symbols sound like HAIR WOW FAIR). We also learned numbers in Arabic AND Nubian. The irony of most of the world using Arabian numbers, and Arabic speaking countries using Indian numbers. 1 looks the same, 4 is a backwards 3, 5 is 0, 6 is 7,  7 is V, and 0 is • Heba wrote our names in Arabic and then we could donate to Mr. Wael to help support his classroom. The school was super colorful, with blues, reds, and yellows all around. On the second floor we could see, Mickey, Tom, and Jerry painted on the wall. The courtyard is the play yard for the kids.

Next we went to this house where they hosted us with tea and snacks. People could get henna and I ended up with braided thread in my hair. The house also was colorful, with the walls painted blue and colorful woven art on the walls. We were allowed to look around and see what the rooms were like. The rooms had thatched ceilings to have air flow, but also a few ceiling fans (I’m assuming for guests). At one point I wandered outside and saw Diane taking pictures with strangers. I mouthed if she was ok and she was smiling uncomfortably. Unfortunately that brought the guy’s attention to ME so I joined the picture with the son and his wife and Diane. Then the older gentleman took a selfie with me. I learned the younger man’s name was Romi. We danced in a circle while the hosts played music. It definitely reminded me of us dancing that night in the Moroccan Sahara desert. 

Next we went through the market to head to the boat. I bought a hot pad that was orange and blue, a basket for Deborah, and a keychain from a little boy for Robin. I did buy a Nubian dress for $60. I told Heba and she said I was cheated. We went back and after arguing, she ended up handing him the dress back and getting my money back. I now know not to spend more than $20, but preferred $15 on these dresses. I hope to buy one to wear to Saturday’s dinner, but if not, I’ll wear a Tunisian dress.

We then took the ferry to our cruise, that we’d be riding for the next 3 nights. We went down to the first floor to have lunch. It was a buffet. I ate rice, beef shawarma, fish, veal, olives, broccoli salad, cauliflower salad, potatoes, and dessert. We then went upstairs to rest/unpack until we met up to go for our Felucca sailboat ride.

That boat looked similar to our ferry beside that it had a giant sail. We enjoyed our trip up the river. It was a nice, peaceful ride with no destination. We linked up to a motor boat for a few minutes to get us going. Children on paddle boards would hold onto the boat and sing to us. It was more annoying than cute; what did they want from us? Then was the photo shoot. We lined up to take pictures with the sail, with the sunset and shore in the background. Damn, we looked good. Jessie and I got deep on the way back to the cruise. Yay for trauma bonding. Damn. It’ll be 20 years since Ivan this year. 

We got on the cruise, got the itinerary for tomorrow, and had food. It was a buffet and I had breaded chicken, fish in lemon sauce, moussaka, and dessert. Both times I had cubed mousse: strawberry and caramel, cheesecake or a tart, and something small and chocolate.

Im writing this the next morning because I started to work on school, but I downloaded the documents I need to read and take notes. I did for a bit, but I was sleepy and we leave the boat in 1.5 hours. Jessie’s 5am alarm woke me up. I turned it off and 25 minutes later another went off. I let it for a few minutes before I poked her to get it.

So yesterday we were on 3 different boats; how often does that happen?

Gods, glass, and good times

 Today we woke up at 2am to get on a plane and fly south. Our flight was at 6am out of CAI and with 34 people and checked bags, it was going to take some time. We had boxed breakfast (with questionable meat sandwich) at the hotel. You have to go through two different security checks: once immediately at the door, the other before our gate. Jessie was kind and bought us baklava while waiting. I fell asleep on the plane, trying to rest one last time before our busy day. 

We landed an hour and a half later. Egypt air has really comfy seats. We walked in on a jet bridge, but walked off downstairs outside. We bussed to the terminal, picked up our luggage and got on the bus. We drove to the docks to take our first boat ride of the trip. 

We got on a ferry to the Temple of Philae. It was big and beautiful, with tall carvings thousands of years old. We learned which direction to read hieroglyphs. We learned more stories of gods and goddesses like Isis, Osiris, Horus, and Hathor. It was sad to see the remnants where people scratched or tried to remove the symbols off the walls. There was graffiti from the 19th century and Byzantine crosses. At one point in time, people could worship Christ in a church and Isis in the temple and keep peace. I saw the temple of Augustus in the back. I was exhausted and hit a wall so when we broke for pictures and shopping, I went and sat down. We had been up for almost 9 hours by that time. 

We returned the same way we came and went to a perfumery. We had some lunch (bread/pita filled with falafel, potatoes, eggplant, or fava (beans?) I ate four halves. We got to smell lots of scents. They also had beautiful bottles for sale made out of blown glass. Candice helped make a camel and brought it home. I bought 50mL of Hathor scent for $72 I just need to dilute it 9:1 with alcohol to make perfume. 

Finally we got back to the hotel to rest. Some had a party by the pool. I napped. Again. They have us a welcome drink that tasted so bad. Like apple cider vinegar gone wrong. We went to dinner at 6. Got on a ferry at the same dock to take us to a Nubian restaurant across from the temple. We saw their light show and could occasionally hear music. We ate rice, bread, vegetables 2 different ways, and protein. I got sea bass that was great. Dessert was a custard. Sarah was goofy and brought over 4 so we could recreate last night’s photo with me and 7 desserts. This time it was 8. I wonder if this will be my schtick.

Time for sleep. I’m going to wake up early to work on Codex; the world doesn’t stop when you’re on vacation

I’m sphinxing about Egypt

 Today was the first official day of the Egypt trip. I roomed with Anne Marie in Giza; we didn’t get here until 1 am. We had boxed dinners waiting for us: 2 cheese sandwiches, apple and banana, olives, and a coke. The cheese sandwiches were like Olive Garden breadsticks cut in half with a few slices of cheese. We were hoping for extra pizza, but we were tired and couldn’t deal finding the room and fighting for a slice.

We had breakfast where all of us Morocco crew reunited. It got loud and joyful. So many hugs. I finally saw Jessie for the first time in forever (or 6 years). She scarfed some food down and we got on the bus. Heba introduced herself and I fell in love with her motherly nature. We drove to the pyramids while she told us about the history. It was really interesting, but too long (and too long since) to write everything down.

The pyramids were visible from our hotel! We pulled up and gathered around. All but 5 of us chose to go inside the pyramid. They crouched down stairs, went into an antechamber, more stairs, and a final room. Then they took the same way out. I’m tall and not doing that. Also there’s nothing there. No hieroglyphs. No sarcophagus. It’s empty. And hot and musty. Doesn’t seem enjoyable. 

We all took a group picture before they split off. Non pyramid crew took pictures with the stones, showing off their size. We walked around the entire pyramid, taking it all in. Peddlers tried to sell us things and get us to ride camels but LELELELELELE. (No) we got back on the bus with everyone and went higher up to see the smaller pyramids. They’re amazing in person. The bigger two have the same angles, down to the minutes. Just copy and paste.

Once at the top, a group went on a camel ride to take pictures on them in front of the pyramid. I was the no camel group. I rode in the Sahara in Morocco for a lot longer. So instead we took pictures “holding” the pyramids. They were fun! When everyone got back, we jumped on the bus for the Sphinx. 

The Sphinx is down in a valley; you can’t see it from the pyramids but you can see the pyramids from the Sphinx. We learned about the mummification temple right before we went to see it. How it’s made of alabaster floors, granite outer walls, and limestone inner walls. We learned more details of the process that we might have forgotten. Finally we went through and saw the mighty Sphinx! It met my expectations; some thought it was going to be smaller, some bigger. I imagined it exactly that size. We took pictures with it, some capturing the pyramids in the background. I became the “kissing” photographer because I could squat in the right position and get pictures of people kissing the Sphinx. I did that for 3 people, including a stranger. My knees were not happy. 

We stopped by a market for snacks on the way to the papyrus institute. I got wafers, date newton (like fig newtons) and some canned pineapple drink with real chunks. The guy tried and succeeded to overcharge me, but our guard saw him doing that and stopped him. I had given the cashier 2 50lb notes for my snacks. The guard opened my bag, argued with the cashier, took one 50 back for me, and pushed me out of the market. I was so grateful. The conversion rate at this time is 30/1. 30 e£ to $1

We went to the papyrus store and learned about the plant and how the papyrus is made. It takes weeks to make a sheet. It rolls up without cracking. It’s waterproof. The outer layer was used to make shoes and even Moses’ basket. They showed us this cool art that had glow in the dark art, some completely different than what was seen in normal light! They let us loose in the store. I wandered around looking at different art. I purposely have e£ so I don’t spend more money like in Morocco. Jo even found me to keep me accountable. In the end, I haggled and got a small map of Egypt (that may glow in the dark. I don’t remember) and two book marks with names in hieroglyphs on it. All together 1500. I charged my card (because the big bills were on the bus) and I got a text that it cost me $48.66! The two bookmarks are for me and Nona. I win at gifts. Again. 

Then we came back to the hotel to nap. We went to our welcome dinner and had so much good food. Baba ganoush, Cole slaw, beans, beets (which I didn’t eat), potatoes, and pita bread. Then we received meatballs, fries (pomme frites), and stuffed grape leaves. Then our actual food came and it was half a chicken. It was cooked over an open fire and was so good!! For dessert we had milk pudding. It was like warm rice pudding without the rice and with some broil on top. I got a silly picture with everyone’s bowl from our side of the table since I had finished mine and was going to finish Jessie’s and Sarah’s. We made a schtick for me to have EVERYONE’s bowl in front of me. 

Now I’m in bed, packed for tomorrow because we leave at 3am for the airport. Time for some sleep. Maybe tomorrow I’ll catch up on my Tuesday Frankfurt journey.