EGYPT WAS AWESOME!!!!!! I loved it!! Everything I imagined and MORE. One of the best experiences of my life! I will try and give you somewhat of a rundown of all the things we did and more of the cool things that happened in between. Sorry I haven’t gotten to you sooner.
EARLY Thursday morning (like four), we woke up had a quick breakfast, and then went on our way. I took a Dramamine so I was a little crazy on the bus and I didn’t really get much sleep.
Tel Beersheba. Where Abraham and his family may have passed through thousands of years ago.
Chillin in the ancient ruins. No biggie.
CISTERN!! haha
Our first stop for the day was Tel Beersheba which was pretty cool. It was supposedly the place where Abraham passed through. I always kind of have a hard time listening to our teacher because he knows pretty much everything about the Old Testament and he spouts out tons of information constantly and at every place we visit, but it’s really cool to learn about all of it. Our next stop was Sde Boker (which was the wilderness of Zin Overlook and David Ben Gurion’s Grave). For those of you who may not know, Ben Gurion was the first Prime Minister of Israel. Another cool spot to visit. We then went to Tel Avdat, Maktesh Ramon, and then a place called Kibbutz Yotvata for a tour and then dinner.
Tel Avdat. Giant fortress that we explored.
Israeli flag waving at the fortress.
I feel freeee!!
The Tel that we went to had a huge fortress and we got to walk around and explore. SO cool. Amazing to see their water system and to think that there were people that actually built a civilization there. It was really interesting. Took lots of pictures.
The “Kibbutz” that we stopped at was pretty cool too. It’s basically a huge community that does everything together and shares everything they have with one another. Kind of reminded me of socialism… maybe I shouldn’t have said that. But it did. It was cool to learn about the kinds of people that live there and how they get by with everything. You’ll see pictures of that too. It was gorgeous there.
Kibbutz
Many different kibbutzes specialize in some type of food or industry. This one specialized in dairy products. The ice cream was pretty good!
We then drove on a little bit to stay at another Kibbutz called Kibbutz Eilot. That one was even more beautiful. Definitely not what I expected. It kind of felt like a motel except a little more welcoming and in a more exotic spot. Lots of palm trees everywhere and kind of reminded me of Hawaii, as weird as that sounds.
On our schedule it said that we were “not allowed to swim or leave the Kibbutz Compound,” basically because they were really paranoid that we were all going to get sick from swallowing the pool water or something. I know I was SUPER paranoid the entire time. Most of the people in our group (including me) didn’t even use the running water for anything. Hand sanitizer was my best friend that week (I used a whole bottle), and all I did was use the shower and did whatever I could not to get it in my eyes and I used bottled water for everything else including brushing my teeth and washing my face and hands. It really made me appreciate the clean water we have back at the center and in America that’s for sure!
LONG line (and wait) to cross the border
First sight of the Red Sea!
About to enter the Suez Canal.
Traveling through the Suez Canal.
The next day, we woke up early and left on the bus for the Taba Border to get ready to cross. What an experience that was! We had to go through a TON of security and fill out forms for our intent of crossing the border and get our passports stamped and all that stuff. All 82 of us had to go through all that and then pack all our stuff onto a completely different bus with a different bus driver that was waiting for us on the other side of the border. We had armed security guards on our buses (which is required there), and I’ll admit it was pretty cool.
Entering Cairo.
On the bus, first sight of the PYRAMIDS!!!!!
Driving into Cairo.
Anyway, as soon as we had everything packed on the buses we started our LONG drive to Cairo. I think it was about a 7 hour drive. So fun though. I really got to know some of the people in my group. Those bus drives are really something. Really brings us together. Ha. We then arrived at the Oasis Pyramid Hotel in Giza, (which was really nice!) and had a really nice dinner. Again, we were all really paranoid to eat the food, but it worked out.
Excited to be in EGYPT!!!
Just after checking in at the Oasis Pyramid Hotel. Beautiful.
Excited for the sound and light show to start!
Anxiously anticipating the sound and light show!
Eric Torrie being the creeper he is... haha
Sound and light show. Everything we dreamed and MORE. Haha.
"Man fears time, but time fears the PYRAMIDS...!"
We then went to a sound and light show at the pyramids around 8:30 pm. It was a lot cooler than people made it out to be. Just to SEE the pyramids so up close was absolutely amazing!! I loved it.
Corina Cox and I were WAY excited to go see the pyramids!
Mormon pyramd!!
That classic jumping picture...
Me, Lindsay Irion, and Marissa Purser in front of the pyramids.
Posing like Egyptians.
Last sight of the pyramids.
The next morning we had another really early breakfast, and then left the hotel. We went and saw the Pyramids and had another guided tour, (and we got to go inside one of them and sing hymns!!!) and then left that place after only staying for about a half hour. Kind of sad because we all wanted to stay much longer and explore more but it was really cool nonetheless. Awesome experience!!!!
The Sphinx!
Sphinx complex.
You can see the marks from when they did target practice on the Sphinx.
We then took a tour of the SPHINX! That was really amazing too. We took all our pictures and then left for the papyrus factory.
We had a quick demonstration of how papyrus is made and then looked around the museum where they had of a bunch of really cool ancient depictions all on papyrus. They had scenes such as the final judgment, the weighing of hearts and lots of other ones. It was amazing!
Snapped this one just in time as we were driving through Cairo... haha
Learning about papyrus.
We had a quick demonstration of how papyrus is made and then looked around the museum where they had of a bunch of really cool ancient depictions all on papyrus. They had scenes such as the final judgment, the weighing of hearts and lots of other ones. It was amazing!
Zoser's step pyramid with Jenni Perkins. One of my favorite pics from Egypt for sure.
Ron Linn compared to the little Egyptian man. He was pretty funny.
Sam and John sandwich.
We then went to Saqqara (Mastaba and Zoser complex) and explored around there for awhile. It was SO COOL to see all these places up so close when I had studied all about them in art history with Ms. Thomas my senior year. Made everything that we saw that much better. I LOVED IT!!!!!!
Typical Egypt landscape.
Driving around town.
We then drove to the Cairo Airport and took our flight to Luxor. We then had dinner at the Sheraton Hotel in Luxor and slept there for the night. It was amazing! My roommate and I got to stay in something different than everyone else in our group. I can’t remember what they were called, but they were right outside the hotel, kind of in a different part of the Sheraton and they looked a little different than regular hotel rooms. They were kind of more beach looking. It was really fun. If I think of the name I’ll tell you. Loved it though!!
View from our hotel, looking out over the Nile.
Anyway, we then went to VALLEY OF THE KINGS and went down and explored all of the different tombs. We saw Tut’s tomb and it was absolutely amazing to me that they fit SO much of the things they did in that tomb. The hieroglyphics were amazing to look at, and it was so awesome to see his body right there in front of my face. Kind of disgusting (and he was a short little pharaoh), but I’ll admit it was really cool. We weren't allowed to take ANY pictures, so that's why this section is kind of barren. Ha.
Marie and I doing our poses in front of Zoser's step pyramid.
Pretending to walk like an Egyptian.
Amazing heiroglyphics.
John Wiest is giving me a lesson on heiroglyphics.
Colossus of Memnon
We then saw Colossus of Memnon which was also amazing. SO HUGE! Cool to see something so amazing that people like them built so long ago.
Sphinx of Memphis.
Riding the felucca boat over to ride CAMELS!!!!
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Floating down the NILE. One of the best sunsets I've ever seen.
Anyway, after that we had lunch at the hotel and then had sacrament meeting right in the Sheraton Hotel. It was really good. We then took our Felucca ride down the Nile and went on a CAMEL SAFARI along the Nile River!!!!!! I was so amazed at how beautiful it was there.
Me posing with Seal, the boy who led my camel. He was only five years old.
Look mom! I'm on a CAMEL!!! In EGYPT!!!
Camel ride view.
Camel ride view.
The boy that led my camel and his friend that was leading another camel were really cute. The boy that led my camel’s name was Seal (if I heard him right), and he was FIVE. Such a sweet little boy. We couldn’t really talk a whole lot because he didn’t know much English but he kept asking me where I was from and I kept telling him I was from America. He kept picking up flowers along the way and giving them to me. He was such a cute little boy. That was one of my favorite experiences. I couldn’t stop taking pictures either! SO beautiful. There were also a bunch of men along the way that kept proposing to the girls in our group. They were VERY forward. Just the men there in general. Kind of funny.
Karnak temple with Jenni Perkins.
More Karnak Temple.
The next day, we took a boat ride from the Sheraton Hotel to KARNAK TEMPLE and took a tour of the place. It was AWESOME. The pillars there were so huge! Amazing that they built something that spectacular so long ago!!
Luxor Temple with Marie Cope
Acting majestic and commanding at the Luxor Temple.
Me with Jill Baker and Chelsi Funk at the Luxor Temple.
We then took a carriage ride from Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple and took a tour there. By that time our group was pretty tired, but it was absolutely amazing to see the kinds of things they built back then and all the hieroglyphics that covered everything. It was really interesting to hear the guide give us interpretations of some of them. We then took a carriage ride from the Luxor Temple back to the Sheraton for lunch. So much fun. Our carriage driver let Marie and another guy in our group drive our carriage. He was awesome, and it was such a perfect gorgeous day. Couldn’t have been better! I felt like I was in a dream.
Later that night, we took an overnight train from Luxor back to Cairo and had a late “dinner” on that train. Probably one of the most interesting nights of my life. The beds smelled pretty bad and the food was absolutely terrible, but I’m definitely glad I got to experience something like that. Really made me appreciate all the hotels we had been staying in for the week. (By the way, throughout the week, we stayed at FOUR different hotels, used SEVEN different types of transportation. All in one week. A carriage, a felucca boat, a camel, a plane, a train, a taxi, and a bus. Absolutely crazy!! I loved it.) Anyway, the train was pretty fun, no one really slept very well, but I had taken another Dramamine (thank goodness), so I was pretty much crazy the rest of the night until I fell asleep a little later that night. Slept really crappy but it’s definitely something to laugh about now, the whole overnight train experience.
Very early the next morning, we were woken up and basically got thrown off the train. We arrived at Giza and had a REAL breakfast back at the Oasis Pyramid Hotel. Much better food haha. We then went to the Egyptian Museum!!! I was SO dead tired when we arrived there, but after seeing so many awesome things in that museum, I was definitely woken up. We saw a bunch of the pharoah’s MUMMIES (kind of gross, but really cool at the same time, especially since one of them we could still see the eyelashes), but we also saw the Palette of Narmer (maybe you remember that one Kelsi and Todd and Kevin) and a bunch of different mummified animals and ALL of the things that were stuffed in Tut’s tomb. Absolutely unbelievable. I was so shocked. Wow, that museum was SO amazing. It would definitely take at least a year to get through that whole museum. I loved it!
Our last day in Cairo. My last glimpse of the Nile River...
After the museum visit, we all had burgers at Hard Rock Café in CAIRO. Really good. The teachers then took us to the Khan al-Khalili Bazaar. It basically felt like the streets of Jerusalem except the men were much more forward and aggressive about us buying their junk. We were all required to be in groups of at least four, with at least one male in the group. I definitely always feel a lot better with a guy there, for obvious reasons.
We then had dinner at the Oasis Pyramid Hotel and stayed overnight there. So good to be back at such a nice hotel.
Muhammad Ali Mosque. Beautiful.
Marissa Purser and I at the Muhammad Ali Mosque.
We had to take off our shoes, just like most mosques we went into...
Epic jumping pic.
The next day, we had early breakfast and went and visited old Cairo and the Citadel (Mosque of Muhammad Ali). It was absolutely beautiful. Took lots of pictures and couldn’t stop saying how beautiful it was. We then had lunch and drove from Cairo to Saint Catherine’s by way of the SUEZ CANAL and Red Sea. It was really cool to just see it up so close. It looked like the boats were traveling right on the sand.
We got to our hotel which was (to say the least) not as nice as the other hotels we had been staying in). Just to give you sort of an idea, when we walked in our hotel room, my roommate and I noticed that the shower tile had been broken to pieces on the floor. It looked like someone had been murdered right there in our room. I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had. Just kidding! We then talked to management and we switched rooms. It worked out.
Waiting to see Mt. Sinai sunrise.
It was FREEZING!!!
Sunrise on Mt. Sinai.
On the hike back down Mt. Sinai.
Kimberlee Ray and I hiking back down.
This is where we had testimony meeting.
Possible site of the burning bush?
On our way down from Mt. Sinai at about 7 or 8 am.
Eric Bushman and I in front of the place that is the possible site of the burning bush?
We then went to St. Catherine’s Monastery and explored around there for awhile. The toilet was literally a hole in the ground and I had my first experience with that. Very interesting. We then had lunch in Nuweiba and left for the Taba Border. When we went through security, they asked me if I had been carrying anything back to Israel for someone else and they made me open up my bag. They pulled out my straightener (for my hair) and asked me what it was (with a LOT of suspicion in their voices.) Meanwhile, most of my underwear was falling out (keep in mind I literally had ten minutes to pack back at the hotel so I just threw everything in my bag), and there were three guys in my group standing right behind me. SO embarrassing but kind of funny when I think about it now. They finally let me pass through and we went through more security and they stamped our passports. What an experience!! I had never been so happy to be back in Israel. Egypt was one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been to, and I wouldn’t trade it or any of the things we did there for anything. I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ll try calling some of you on Sunday when we have a free day (which I will be spending most of doing homework). Sorry this e-mail is so scattered and crazy. I just don’t know how else to tell you about all the amazing things we’ve done the past week.
It’s good to be back in Jerusalem and classes start again on Monday. Three midterms and a couple quizzes and a paper due this next week. Things are going to be even crazier. I pray for you all every day and hope you’re all doing well.
Love you all!
Jill
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