Egypt! (Days One through Four)

So... Egypt was absolutely amazing. Day by day breakdown:

Day One: Traveling, Beer Sheva, and the Kibbutz

Beer Sheva was soo cool. It was the beginning of the way of the Patriarchs up to Jerusalem. It was also where Issac, Jacob and Esau were born. While I was exploring the ruins I found the handle of a pot.

(The horned alter where sacrifices were performed)

After Beer Sheva we traveled some more and went hiking up a canyon. It was a lot of fun but it was incredibly hot and hard to do. It was pretty cool to see how far we had come though.

(We hiked from the beginning of that canyon to the top of the walls)

After that we drove to the Kibbutz for the night. It was such a different change to go from the ultra-conservative atmosphere of Jerusalem to the rather liberal atmosphere of the Kibbutz. It was funny because our guide was like, yeah, we're all a bunch of educated Jews from New York. Our guide took us to a sand dune and that was really fun. We played on it and then our guide had us sit away from others and just contemplate the desert and nature before we were to read a response. It was such a neat experience. It was very spiritual and it was incredible to be able to sit there and just be one with nature. The sun was very pleasant, the sand was cool beneath me and the wind was gently blowing. It was so amazing.

After that we came back and had dinner and went swimming. It was so nice to be able to go swimming again. Either way the experience was fantastic.

(The pretty sand dunes)

(We played jumping games)

Day Two: Traveling across the Sinai, arriving at Cairo

We crossed the border into Egypt and then crossed the Sinai. It is completely barren and ugly. Why anyone would fight over it is a mystery to me. There is nothing useful there.

It was neat to get to Cairo and see the city for just a little bit. We had a church meeting and it was in a really really nice part of Cairo. I was able to see my friend Ryan Coles and that was so cool! The last time that I saw him was in Utah. We went to our hotel and called it an early night.

Day Three: The Pyramids, the Sphinx, Rameses II, The Papyrus Factory, the tomb of Pti and King Djoser Step-Pyramid

So the day was wonderful and started out by going to visit the Pyramids. It was soo cool to see them in person. We went up into the tomb of Khafre and that was quite an experience. It was so incredibly tight and stuffy in there. But still, I've been inside a pyramid! After that we went to the Sphinx and that was cool. Many of us took kissing pictures with the Sphinx to be silly. It's actually a little bit smaller than you would think.

After that we went to the famous papyrus factory and I got some cool papyri. We then ate and went to see the statue of king Rameses II. It was so big! I then was able to see the alabaster sphinx which was also cool. I went and talked to one of the vendors and I spoke to him for a bit in arabic. He brightened up so much after that. It was neat to be able to chat with him, if only for a little bit. He was so nice, he gave me a pyramid figurine. He wouldn't let me pay for it and just shooed me off and bid me a good day.

(The guy showing us how to make papyrus)

(The statue of king Rameses II and Ramzi)

After that we went to the tomb of Pti. He was a rich nobleman and it was cool to see his tomb. It was completely covered in drawings. The colors were still vibrant and beautiful.

After that we drove to the airport and flew to Luxor. It was a long day and we happily collapsed into our beds. We were in the Sheraton and it was a 5 star hotel. It was so amazing. I've never had such a good night's sleep in my entire life.

Day Four: Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's Tomb, Pit 33, Faluka ride, Camel Ride, visiting the Souk

So the day started out early because we wanted to beat the heat. Luxor is incredibly hot. We got up at 6 am and went to the Valley of the Kings. We saw Rameses I, III and IX's tomb in addition to King Tutankhamun's tomb. It was actually rather chilly that morning because of the wind, but it was still getting up there in temperature.

After the Valley of the Kings we went to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. That was really neat to see the temple. It was rather neat. And near the temple was pit tomb 33 where the mummies were found that contained the papyri that Joseph Smith translated. That was cool to stand near it and hear the story that was behind it. It was cool to hear all the things that happened that brought those papyri from Luxor in Egypt all the way to Kirkland, Ohio. Pretty awesome.

(Temple of Hatshepsut)

(Pit 33)

After that we went back to the hotel and I was pretty spent so I took a nap before the Faluka ride. We went on the ride and it was quite eventful. The coast guard pulled over our boat and made us give them registration. After that there wasn't much time until we had to be on the other side so that we could go on the camel ride. So we get over there and get on the camels and went on about a 30-40 minute ride. It was pretty fun. Not too exciting. It was more relaxed than anything. The camel was named Casanova and he was pretty chill. It was neat to be able to look out across people working in the fields right next to the Nile with the sun coming down.

(Me on my camel)

(A cool picture I took from astride the camel)

The faluka ride back probably was one of the highlights of my trip. My boat was the smaller one and our captain put on music and we all started dancing. The light was perfect for photos and I got some amazing ones. :)

(A man and his son waved at us)

(Pwetty)

(Kids swimming in the Nile)

(This was an awesome shot of Brother Manscill's Class on Camels)

(Cool shots of boats)

(A cool contrast between the Nile, the boat and the sunset)

After that we went back, had dinner and a few of us went to the Souk and explored a little bit. I was able to get a really pretty dress and it was fun haggling with the guy. I got it down from $54 to $15. I swear, I'm going to come back to the United States and not understand why we don't haggle for prices. That would be fun to try and do.

Well, that's all for now. I'm exhausted. I can finish up later.

Ma'saleme!

Oops

So I thought that my last post had posted, but apparently it didn't.

I was in Egypt for the past week and I just got back tonight.

So sorry for dropping off the face of the planet. I'll update with a longer post when I'm not going off of 2 hours of sleep.

Ciao!

Pictures!!!

So... I don't feel like writing much so I'll placate you with pictures!

This is part of my view from the center

These are my awesomely cool friends Greta, Aubrey, Mike and Erin :)

Jesse with the Israeli Guards in the Old City

A bunch of us went and did the ramparts walk

This picture of Jake makes me laugh :)

Brother and Sister Klomp!! :D

Cool view of Augusta Victoria

I'm pretty sure that Dean Ford has this picture in his office at Emory

The Church of St. Mary's

My beautiful picture of the Dome of the Rock. Yay!!! :)

Ok, well have a good one!

Jerusalem explored

So I've had my first real trip into the city on my own. Well, in a group, but without teachers.

It was so much fun!!!

First we did a walk of the walls and we started at Jaffa Gate and from there we went around the south western quarter of the wall. It was so awesome. It was a little bit daunting because of the height and the sketchy stairs, but other than that it was cool to explore. It was especially fun to explore the little rooms and tunnels that were hidden within the wall. It gave us a nice view of the city and we got a breathtaking view of the countryside. I've gotten quite a few of those lately.

After walking the wall, Mike, Greta, Erin, Aubrey and I went to the Western/Wailing Wall with a few others. It was quite the experience. While I don't hold the wall in the same reverence as much of the people there, there was definitely a tangible feeling of sanctity and reverence for the place. The noises and craziness of the city just kinda faded away into a peaceful quiet. It was very nice to be able to have that experience. You could really tell that people have some incredible experiences at that place.

After that my group headed into the city a little bit and went down a quiet looking street to eat lunch. We sat down and were eating in that nice quiet place when all of a sudden a local kid comes up and starts kicking at Mike. It was so funny! He couldn't have been more than 5 years old. That was quite an experience. He finally went away, but the whole experience was bizarre.

After winding our way through the Christian quarter, back to the Western Wall to see if the Dome of the Rock was open (it wasn't) we then went back through the Jewish quarter and Muslim quarters to the Armenian and Christian quarters again. It was really fun to go through the city and see some of the stuff that was available. I got the Lion King in arabic!! :)

After walking back from there a few of us went exploring around Hebrew University, which was frustrating but educational. The campus is gorgeous albeit confusing/built like a fortress.

Pretty much after that we were fairly tired so we just did some homework and called it an early night.

But then monday we went on our first field trip. We went to Nabi Samwil, a cool spot north of the city and Augusta Victoria Lutheran Church. We also went to Mar Elyias Monastery which was located just a hilltop away from Bethlehem. Bethlehem is in the West Bank and is one of the two places we'll be going there on this trip. But it was definitely cool to look out over the hills which haven't changed for thousands of years.

Monday night and all of today have been spent in getting better acquainted with classes and doing homework. I'm going to really enjoy my Hebrew class. The teacher is very nice.

It's starting to warm up here finally. I've been freezing for the past week. It's been hard to tell since I'm about 10 shades darker than when I left Utah. But there has been relatively little cloud cover, and I have been outside more in the past week than I normally am. Ha, maybe I'll come back looking like a native!

I'm planning on eventually visiting Mary Magdalene's tomb and head over to West Jerusalem. But we'll see how homework goes. It's really piled on for the next two months. But I leave for Egypt the week after next!!! I'm so excited!!!

And I get to see Professor Shalom Goldman from Emory tomorrow. That's going to be so much fun. :))))

Life is just moving along. I'm trying my best to get the most out of this experience. This is quite an interesting place.