Sorry, there's another blog in my life...

Hey everyone. I don't know how to put this, but... well, I've been getting bored lately...and...well...I really like the Green Bay Packers...so...so I went and made another blog.

http://jonbobs.blogspot.com/

Make no buts about it. Despite the silly name, this is a very, very serious blog. If you have any interest in sports, I encourage you to follow it. It's a joint venture between me and some colleagues at school. We want to make it big, like "make money off it" big. I'm going to need to put a lot of work into it.

Unfortunately, there are just so many hours in a day, so I don't know if I'll be able to contribute much on here anymore. Besides, I only have 3 weeks left, and things are getting kind of boring anyway.

Let's not think of this as goodbye, but as a new beginning!

See you over at JonBob's!

Half way there...

After today, it's official. I'm halfway done with my 7 week summer program. Three and half weeks remain until I'm home. Not too shabby.

Oh, I forgot to fill you in on my 4th of July celebration. Well, for some strange reason, America's day of independence is NOT a national holiday here in Egypt. And even the holiday occurred on a Sunday this year, that didn't mean much for me considering the Egyptian weekend consists of Friday and Saturday. So with classes the day of the 4th, plus early ones the morning after, I ruled out any excessive, late-night celebrating. I considered going out to a great burger place with some friends, but my money grubbing ways prevented me. Instead, I made myself a tasty three egg omelet, fried up some potatoes, and then proceeded to watch two episodes of the WWII miniseries, "The Pacific." No fireworks or parades, but I think it was a proper celebration of my country and it's freedom, and least given what I had to work with.

This is for sure though: being away from home sucks, especially on the 4th of July. Here's hoping I'm in Pequot Lakes a year from now.

Inititate the countdown...

33 days until WeFest. 38 until I'm back at Notre Dame. And, perhaps most importantly, just one month until I'm home sweet home in Breezy Point, Minnesota.

It's been a long five months, but believe it or not, my time in the Middle East is coming to a close. I won't use this post as an opportunity to share some cliche reflections and cheesy theories on life...but don't fret, I'm sure the time for all that will come at a later date.

So what exactly is this post about? In truth, not much has occurred over the past week, at least in the way of blog-worthy material. Fort the most part, my days of traveling are over (a trip to Alexandria may still be in order, and there's definitely more to see in Cairo itself). The novelty and peculiarity of Cairo and the Middle East itself has more or less worn off, at least to the point where I don't feel like sharing all of my daily observances over the internet. And the reality is that I'm quite busy and focused on my language program, a positive development but certainly one that doesn't provide a lot of fodder for intriguing blogposts.

Let's face it. I don't have much to write about, and you, probably enjoying a beautiful Midwestern summer, have much better things to do. So, I'll make this simple. Here's a brief round-up of the mention-worthy happenings of the past week and a half:

- I won 130 LE in a Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament.1st out of 10. I'd like to say it was all skill, but given the fact that I don't remember some significant stretches of it, I don't think that's the case.

-I'm reading the Brothers Karamazov. I'm 300 pages in. For some reason, I had braced myself for a work that I thought would be extremely dark, complex, and difficult to get through. I was expecting it to sacrifice storytelling for the sake of philosophical discourse. Instead, it's been an excellent and intriguing story thus far that has kept me highly interested...and Fyodor hasn't even been murdered yet! I'm sure once I've finished the book I'll want to return to the meaty bits and explore their meaning with a little more depth, but as for now, I'm just really interested in seeing what happens next.

- My interest in the World Cup more or less ended with the US team's defeat at the hands of Ghana last week. But it is worth mentioning that, despite my relative disinterest in soccer, I was pretty invested in how our national team performed. Thus, it isn't a huge surprise to note that I became very agitated when some Egyptians started heckling us after it became apparent the US was on the way out. Fortunately, an all out brawl then and there in the lobby of McDonald's was avoided, but probably just barely.

-Oh and last, but not least, Ms. Robin Soukup correctly identified the cost of the groceries purchased in last week's contest. 25 LE for 3 boxes of cereal and 10 packs of pasta? Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Congrats Rob! Hope you're looking forward to your tourist trinket!

You know you're in Egypt when...

...it's 108° F and you're the only one wearing shorts.

بكم - GROCERIES?

Recently while out shopping for foodstuffs, I came across a deal I just couldn't pass up. Well, actually two of them. The end result was 3 boxes of cereal and 10 packages of pasta obtained at a ridiculously low price. For those of you that like numbers, that's 750 grams of corn flakes/honey flakes/chocolate puffs and 3500 grams of macaroni/spaghetti.

 

Your task is simple. Guess the combined price of all these goodies, and win a prize, which will actually be a legitimate tourist trinket from Khan al-Khalilee. If all this talk about pasta and cereal hasn't gotten your mouth watering, maybe that will. As always, leave your guesses in the comments.

When flies attack...

Nothing like a little insect infestation to start the weekend off right...

Welcome to the big leagues...

I've just finished my first week at the Hedayet Institute. Instead of detailing how it went, I'll just share with you the things I feel like doing at the moment:

 Curling up in the fetal position

E

Eating chocolate ice cream and crying

Watching Teletubbies

With that, I think you have a pretty good idea of how the first week went. It's been pretty intense and extremely challenging. To be honest, it really doesn't have anything to do with the rigor or anything like that- it's the material itself. For some reason, they've placed me in classes that are well beyond what I've covered in the past. This should push me and challenge me to go beyond my comfort zone, for sure, but at the same time, I don't want to miss out on some of the fundamentals and grammatical rules that I'll need to build a solid foundation. We'll see how it goes. For now, I'm going to put my nose to the grindstone and make the most of it- which means no more Googling images of Teletubbies.

Apartments and Classes and Eggs, Oh My!

Well, I don't think I'm going to get around to writing a recap of my week in Turkey. Failing to do something I said I would- that's definitely not a first. But I have updated the last blog post with some of the highlights of the trip and, of course, pictures.

Moving on. After getting back to Cairo this past Thursday, I finally moved into the apartment that Shannon and I had originally picked out. The apartment is somewhat simple and spartan, but you know what, I like it. Instead of dryly describing it to you, I did the next best thing: I shot a video, uploaded it to YouTube, and embedded it here.

The movie is admittedly a little cheesy, but there you go. Anyway, what I'm most excited about in the new apartment (aside from the lack of cockroaches), is that awesome open living/family room area. It's literally got nothing but big, open windows on half of its surfaces. Now, that may not be great for privacy and keeping the apartment cool, but it does provide a fantastic refuge in which to curl up and read a book. I've taken advantage of this and read two: The Caveman's Valentine and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both were of the murder-mystery variety, but they were both very well written and extremely engaging. I actually surprised myself at the frenetic pace in which I read them (about a day and a half for both). I don't often get the chance to read outside of school anymore, so it was good to see that it was still an enjoyable pastime for me. Next on the list: The Brothers Karamazov.

I've also taken the opportunity to try my hand in the kitchen. Not that I never had chances to help cook or prepare food before, but it's a little different when you're the one who not only has to make the food, but has to buy it as well. Given my deficiencies in both areas (lack of cooking knowledge + money), I've stuck to pretty basic recipes, primarily involving some combination of eggs, pasta, and/or rice.To the right is one of the very first dishes I whipped up. I call it "Eggs a la Hot Dog." If you couldn't guess, the main ingredients are fried eggs and hot dog pieces. There's also a bit of cheese, a healthy does of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Not the most exotic stuff in the world, but it gets the job done. The gold colored substance in the funny looking glass on the left is actually apple tea that I brought back from Istanbul. It's fantastic stuff, and I had about five glasses in one sitting. Anyway, I'm looking forward to doing some more experiments in the kitchen, so if anyone has any solid recipes they can offer that involve relatively cheap ingredients and not a lot of culinary expertise, please send them my way. You may get a prize of some sorts if I like yours...

I've also finally started my summer courses at the Hedayet Institute...well, more or less. Yesterday, we had our placement tests, with a rooftop reception following. For some reason, I had this overwhelming fear that I would do so poorly on the exam that I'd end up repeating material I've already covered in classes. I tried studying for a couple hours beforehand, but there was a lot of material to go over. Going into the test, I really wasn't sure how I'd perform. First was a written portion. It included some grammatical exercises, reading comprehension, as well as a brief essay. I actually think I ended up doing pretty decently on it. Following this was an oral exam with Dr. Nagwa Hedayet, the director of the institute. Now that might sound intimidating, but it wasn't. Ms. Hedayet is an awesome lady who really makes you feel comfortable.This portion of the testing actually went probably as well as it could've, as I was able to utilize a lot of the Egyptian colloquial I've picked up since January. Anywho, classes were supposed to start today, but it seems they don't have the scheduling finalized, so I'm just hanging out here and stealing their internet. We'll see what happens...

Oh and how about that World Cup game? I'll be the first to admit that I'm not an ardent soccer fan (I'm 10+ years removed from days on the Sun Prairie Sparks), but anytime you have the Red, White, and Blue competing on an international stage, it's hard not to get excited. The same can definitely be said for the Olympics. Do you think people would normally give even a passing thought to speed skating or swimming? Heck no! But when it involves the USA v.s. the World, it tends to get our patriotic juices churning. I watched the game at a nearby restaurant and was pretty satisfied with the outcome (a 1-1 tie to England, the 4th best team in the world, in case you missed it). I'll definitely be tuning in to the rest of our games if able.

Retracing my steps in the land of disciples and sultans...

This will be just a brief recap of my time in the fantastic country of Turkey. I'll break it up in a day-by-day fashion to keep it easy on the eyes.

Tuesday, June 2
I took the metro to downtown Cairo in order to defray the cost of a taxi to the airport. I flew out in the early afternoon aboard a Turkish Airlines flight. We were in the air for only two and a quarter hours but we were served a pretty impressive lunch. Two thumbs up for Turkish Airlines.

After landing in Istanbul, I made my way through customs and then attempted to locate my father, who had arrived at the Ataturk International Airport a couple of hours before me. I panicked a little when I couldn't spot the restaurant where we had agreed to meet, but I finally saw him lounging on some couch, eating a cheese sandwich and drinking Turkish coffee. As I told him at the time, he looked like a "hippie statesman." He was wearing a blue blazer and slacks, but his hair was long and somewhat unkempt, and it seemed like he'd dyed it with some blonde highlights or somethings. Anyway...

Our hotel provided transportation from the airport, and soon we were on the road, driving along the Sea of Marmara. My first impression of Istanbul was highly favorable, as I saw more green and blue than I have in four months in Cairo. There were nice looking parks, fish markets, beautiful stucco buildings, and the transportation infrastructure was top-notch. People stayed in their lanes, obeyed traffic signs, and even used turn signals! How refreshing!

We arrived at the hotel (Antea Hoteal, a fine place) and checked in. We were both fairly beat, as I hadn't slept the night before and my father had just endured trans-Atlantic travel, so we rested for a bit before venturing outside in search of dinner. We wandered around a bit before finding a nice seafood place called Agop. Here, we enjoyed some mezze, fresh bread, fish, and of course, some raki, the licorice-flavored liquor that I mentioned in a previous post (by the way, the bottle was 34 Turkish lira, so Robin wins the prize!). After dinner, we strolled around the cobblestone streets, adorned with all kinds of pretty lights and lined with packed restaurants. The breeze coming off the sea was cool and refreshing and their was a kind of vibrancy in the air. I wasn't in Cairo anymore.

(Oh, and of course it was William's 20th birthday).

Wednesday, June 3rd
On this day, our aim was to cover most of Sultanhamet, the area of Istanbul that houses most of its well-known attractions. Our first stop was the Topkapi Palace, a huge royal complex that served as the Ottoman sultans' primary home from 1465 to 1856. Today, Topkapi serves as a museum and recreational area for many Turks. It's sprawling lawns and beautiful flower beds were finely maintained. The buildings of the palace complex were also pretty impressive, including the esteemed harem, which we paid a separate fee for admittance into. The Topkapi Palace also houses some of the most impressive items remaining from the Ottoman treasury, including golden swords and diamond encrusted crowns. Conveniently enough, there was also an exhibit featuring royal treasures from Imperial Russia being displayed at the time, so we were also able to check that out. As we left through the Gate of Felicity, there was some sort of traditional performance going on, which involved reenactors gathering around some guy who was banging on a big drum. Given the a church like building to the left, the crowds gathering around it, and the quad like grassy expanse it was performed in front of, it's no wonder this display struck me as Istanbul's version of ND's Drummers Circle.

Following Topkapi, we retraced our steps and entered the grounds of the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia is quite simply put, an amazing, historically-laden building. Constructed in 532 AD by Emperor Justinian it was the largest church in Christendom until it was converted into a mosque, following the 1453 conquest of Constantinople at the hands of the Seljuq Turks. It served as Istanbul's primary mosque until it was dedicated as a museum in 1935. The place is pretty astounding. I can't recall ever being in a place quite as vast and architecturally impressive, yet simultaneously so old. How did the Byzantines construct this nearly 1500 years ago? The beams of light filtering through the darkness gave the place a sort of mystical vibe, making it easy to imagine what some sort of Christian Mass would've been like back in the day. Also of note were some of the impressive icons still remnant from Byzantine days. Interestingly enough, the Turks had incorporated much of the preexisting artwork in the building when they converted it into a mosque, but had painted over images of human faces. As Muslims, they were prohibited from having art that depicts the human body.

I considered Hagia Sophia to be one of my must-see-sites during my time out in these parts. I've been fascinated with the building itself, as well as the rest of modern day Constantinople, since the good ol' days of Age of Empires. It's one thing to read about something and see it on a computer game- it's something completely else to actually experience it.

After the Hagia Sophia (or Ayasofia as the Turks call it), we traversed beneath the streets of Istanbul into the other-worldy Basilica Cistern. The Basilica Cistern was also commissioned by Justinian, and served as Constantinople's primary water reservoir, capable of holding 2,800,000 cubic feet of water. It's name is derived from the fact that it was originally beneath a basilica, which was subsequently dismantled when the Turks took over. The Basilica Cistern is an eerie place. It's a half submerged room, completely dark except for some dim lights that illuminate some of the pillars holding up the ceiling. Visitors make their way through the forest of pillars via long, wooden walkways, allowing for unobstructed views down the length of the cistern. Pretty neat. One of the main attractions within the cistern itself are the two Medusa column pillars. These are basically what they sound like: the bases of pillars carved in the shapes of Medusas. One of them is tilted at a 90 degree angle, while the other is tilted upside down. They're kind of way back in a corner so I'm not really sure why the Byzantines decided to chisel them into the shape of Medusa heads, but they're still pretty cool nonetheless.


I'll update this more in a bit...

Bunun fiyatı ne kadar? - RAKI

Well, as I can't bring myself to actually write a blog about my travels here in Turkey just yet, I figured I'd do the next best thing and have a "guess the price" contest. And since I'm in Turkey, I can't ask you "بكم?"; I have to ask you "Bunun fiyatı ne kadar?", which means "How much is this?" in Turkish.

The subject of our contest is raki, Turkey's national drink (which is a little odd considering it's alcoholic and, well, Turkey is made up almost entirely of Muslims). Anyway, it's a clear liquor made from distilled suma mixed with ethanol (what the heck? I'm just writing what wiki tells me). When mixed with chilled water (which is how one drinks it), it takes on a cloudy consistency. It's anise-flavored. In other words, it tastes like liquid licorice- the black kind. I'm not a big fan of it.

Anyway, our first night in town, we ordered the small bottle that you see above to accompany our seafood dinner. I think we got five or six drinks out of it. My question for you is, how much did this sucker cost us? Yah, same old same old right? But now with a twist! Instead of guessing in Egyptian pounds, you have to guess in Turkish liras! The going rate right now is about 1 lira to every 60 American cents. So 2 lira is a little bit more than 1 dollar. Easy enough, right?

And finally, here's the last little Turkish twist, one you might like quite a bit. Instead of some crappy Egyptian cookies, the winner of this contest gets their very own box of Turkish delights! Yes, that's right, that mysterious candy that Edmund from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe can't get enough of! The best part is you don't have to betray your siblings to get them! All you have to do is guess, in Turkish lira, how much did our bottle of raki cost? Closest guess wins. In the event of a tie, the person who guessed first will be the winner. Answer in the comments, and if you don't have an account, you can just enter your name.

Alright, get to it! You know you want those Turkish delights just as much as Edmund...nasty little kid.

Istanbul: Definitely not the Middle East

I still don't really feel like writing a blog. So here's a link to my photo album for Istanbul. Highlights include the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia (pictured above), the Dolmabache Palace, and the Grand Rue de Pera. Make sure to check out the three videos at the end, taken from the famous Galata Tower.

I'm at a hotel in Izmir right now. Off to Selcuk and the ancient ruins of Ephesus tomorrow.

Birthday Turkey...

Just two things:

1. Happy 20th birthday, William! No embarassing photo display is necessary. If people want to see those kinds of pictures all they have to do is check out that "Awkward Prom" photo album on Facebook. Anyway, have a good one kiddo.

2. I will be in Turkey, one of the three countries I said I wanted to go to when I was in seventh grade (the other two were Indian and Ireland), in about 5 hours.

That is all.

Memorial Day in Masr...

It's amazing how much more you appreciate your country and those who've fought for it when you're in a foreign country, especially one like Egypt (don't take it personally, Masr). Ironically, despite the fact that I feel more compelled than ever to pay my respects to those who've laid down their lives for their country, my opportunities to do so are limited. No memorial gatherings to attend, no cemeteries to honor with flowers, no battlefields to visit, and no commemorative TV programs to watch. Fortunately, I discovered episodes from the HBO miniseries The Pacific on YouTube, and watched them all before they were taken down for copyright infringement.

The sacrifices these men made nearly 70 years ago, as well as the ones our armed forces make today, get me every time. Simply put, I feel inadequate, and a small part of me hates myself for not doing ROTC. But we make decisions and we go from there. Who knows, maybe I'll get my chance to serve in the future.

Anyway,  I'm certainly not in some position of moral authority to demand it of anyone else, but please do something special to observe Memorial Day. Take if from me, America is an extraordinary nation and we are all extremely blessed to be citizens of it. The least we can do today is reflect upon the sacrifices of individuals who've laid down their lives in defense of a land that is truly a City upon a Hill.

What goes around comes around...

If you've been following this blog, you know that I've been able to explore some pretty incredible landscapes during my time here in the Middle East. I've hiked the plateaus of Petra, traversed the lush, scenic valleys of Lebanon, snorkeled in the pristine waters of the Red Sea, camped in the moonscape-like White Desert, and climbed to the summit of Mount Sinai. All of these experiences have made me rediscover my fondness for nature's beauty, something that I definitely had as a kid, but seemingly lost as I grew older.

Well, I'm here to say that I still have it, and I'm not going to let a return to the US make it slip away again. In fact, seeing some of the Middle East's most impressive natural locales has actually made me realize that we've got a lot of amazing landscapes back in the States as well, many of which I haven't seen. I'm now inspired to check them all out.

Here are five destinations I'd like to visit i the near future. The first two are in Minnesota, but I think it'd be really neat to go on some epic road trip out west to see the rest.

The Boundary Waters

G

Gooseberry Falls

The Badlands

 

Yellowstone National Park

Yosemite National Park

The point of no return...

Well, if I had any last second desire to ditch Cairo and return home for the summer, I've got to forget them now, because that plane has left. Literally.

Today, May 29th, was my original date of departure from Egypt. In fact, I'd probably be somewhere over the Atlantic right now if I hadn't opted to stay here until August. Instead, I'm sitting here in the dorm, gathering the rest of my belongings, and preparing to make the final move down to Maadi, where I'll be living for the next two months.

I've had a lot of people ask me if I'm happy with my decision to remain in Cairo for the summer. To be honest, I tell them, I am and I'm not. I make no buts about the fact that I have mixed feelings about forgoing a couple months back home in favor of remaining out here. It's interesting to see how people react to my blunt answer. I think most of them were expecting a simple "oh, absolutely, can't wait!", the generic type of response for these generic types of questions (you know the type: "How are you?", "Did you have a good semester?", "Was your vacation fun?").

The 21 year-old college kid in me wants nothing more than to return to Minnesota and be out on the lake everyday, drink some brews, stuff my face with Culvers food and relax with my high school buddies who I rarely see now a days. I think these feelings are especially pronounced due to the fact that not only was I barely home at all last summer, but I probably won't be around those parts much next year, assuming I get a job and all. Don't even mention what the chances of me spending an extended period of time at home will be once I have a career that probably forces me to relocate to the East Coast.

In addition to all of that, the fact remains that Cairo, while not a horrible city and one that I've had a pretty good time in, isn't a place that I'd ideally like to spend my summer. It's noisy, polluted, overcrowded, and it's going to get pretty hot and nasty come June and July. I eat primarily chick pea paste and cookies, and probably can't even afford to buy a box of imported cereal. Many of the luxuries I take for granted back at home, such as satellite TV, recreational activities outside, video games, and the ability to just get in a car and go somewhere, aren't readily available to me over here. After four months in Cairo, I feel like I've grown to appreciate the city, but at the same time think I would've preferred trying somewhere else out for the summer.

With all that being said, I recognize that staying in Cairo for the summer is the right thing to do. I have an incredible opportunity to advance my proficiency in Arabic, and all on someone else's dime. The intensive course that I'll be taking part in over the next two months is exactly what I need to give my language skills a much needed boost, a move that will assuredly help me down the road as I seek out employment in the foreign policy sector. Suffice it to say, staying here in Cairo for the summer is an opportunity I just can't pass up, a gift horse I shouldn't look in the mouth, a once in a lifetime chance that will pay dividends down the road.

I'm growing up. Sacrifices have to be made; that's an axiom I've come to terms with a long time ago. While part of me is dying a little knowing I'm passing up on possibly my last opportunity for a summer at home, I know that this was the right decision, one that had to be made. That didn't necessarily make it easy.

But you know what? Knowing what I gave up at home in order to stay out here is going to serve as my motivation to make this summer count. I'm going to hit my Arabic books as hard as I've ever and I'll make every effort to find opportunities to use the language as much as I can each day. I may miss the taste of a Butter Burger in my mouth or the cool, refreshing waters of Whitefish on my feet, but I'll persevere.

And plus, I've got WeFest to look forward to.

Sunburn, Sinai, and a whole lot more...

Apologies; it's been a while. When I last posted (two weeks ago), I had just signed the lease for my summer apartment in Maadi. A lot has happened since then, including the conclusion of my time at the American University in Cairo, a quest for relaxation and comfort gone awry, and some very exciting news stateside. This entire semester I've been successfully posting at least once a week, so I'm kind of disappointed in myself that I broke that streak. I'm going to punish myself by writing a very long and tedious blog post. Bear with me.

Where to start? Well how about some updates concerning the apartment-situation. A week after signing the lease, Shannon and I got a call letting us know that the flat had been vacated, and we could move in. I still planned on staying at the AUC dorms in Zamalek until the end of May (free internet, free laundry, etc), but I decided to move a significant amount of my junk down to Maadi.

We arrived at the apartment in the late morning and learned that "ready to move in" apparently means "in the middle of painting and cleaning and moving everything around." There was dust everywhere, rubbish strewn about, and beds hadn't even been put in yet. While I wasn't planning on staying there much over the next couple of weeks, Shannon was, and she also had a friend flying in from the States who needed a play to stay. Needless to say, she wasn't too thrilled. I wasn't exactly happy either. This incident, along with whole run-around of being temporary placed in an apartment that we hadn't viewed, didn't exactly leave me feeling confident that our two month stay will unfold without complications (aka, getting screwed over). We'll have to wait and see...

Anyway, by the next day the apartment was decent enough to have a few friends over for a house-warming party. It wasn't a big event by any means, but it was still a fun little get together, and was especially warranted as the semester drew to a close and people began to go their separate ways. Anyway, as you can see, we had a decent time, especially Chelsea.

As it stands now, I've only slept at the apartment one night, and haven't even been back there in about a week. I think we have to move out of the dorms tomorrow, so I'll probably finish packing my things and move down to Maadi on the 30th. I won't even bother unpacking considering that we'll be moving to a different flat on the 3rd or the 4th of June, during which time I'll actually be traveling in Turkey.

This last week also marked the four month anniversary of my time in Egypt and also the conclusion of my experience as a student at AUC. Overall, I have to say I didn't like it, for a variety of reasons:

• I hated, absolutely HATED, the one hour commute to and from our dorms to campus. Horrible. That's about one eighth of the time I'm awake on a given day spent on some stupid bus. The bus ride is completely non-conducive to doing actual work, so it really is a waste of time. Can't wait until I'm back in Dillon Hall, and I can get from my bed to practically any classroom in five minutes.
• The student culture of the place was just flat out weird. People who went to big high schools said AUC had a similar vibe. Tons and tons of people just hanging out in courtyards, gossiping, drinking expensive lattes, and flashing their designer merchandise. Yuck. I'm looking forward to returning to a place where sweatpants and Grab-and-Go meals are a way of life.
• The food on campus was extremely limited. Basically, you could go to Al-Omda and get some sub-par Egyptian food (falafel sandwhiches, eggs and bastrma) or you could go throw down big bucks at an American fast food joint, such as McDonald's or Subway. That was really about it. I started fantasizing about South Dining Hall back home after two weeks of this nonsense over here.
• The other students didn't really motivate me to care much. Not just the Egyptian students, who often didn't bother to show up to classes, but even some of the other study abroaders. There just seemed to be a lot of complacency, which really didn't create an environment where learning was sought after. Granted, I copped out as well, but I still feel something like this just wouldn't happen at ND.

The bottom line is that AUC was no Notre Dame. But I guess I can take a positive away from the semester, in the sense that it made me appreciate what I have in South Bend even more. I'll make sure to make the most of my senior year (crap, I'm a senior already?).

Despite my hang-ups with AUC, I was still in a good position coming into the last week of school. My finals few days of class were no joke though, at least not entirely. I had three finals on one day and a take home final that night. I also had a 15 page research paper for my Women, Islam, and the State class, which not only did I start way too late, but I had to change topics about five pages in. I've gotten four of my grades back so far and I'm in pretty good shape, but the last one remaining is for the gender studies one. An "A" is possible but I would be content with an "A-". Let's just say that class wasn't my cup of tea.

So with classes done, I decided to treat myself to a few days of sun, surf, and Sinai. Dahab, the cozy little Red Sea resort town, seemed to be the perfect destination do get some of all of the above. My friend, Mae, bought me a bus ticket and I planned on meeting her at the Turgoman station for the 12:15 am bus. But as usual, there were complications. Due to the fact that I was in a state of delirium after for about 36 hours straight in order to finish my Women, Islam, and the State paper, I didn't realize that my passport was with half of my belongings in Maadi until about 11:15 pm. A passport is an absolute essential when traveling on the Sinai Peninsula, as there are apparently check-points every few hours along the way. There probably wasn't enough time to get down to Maadi from Zamalek and then back to Turgoman to catch the bus.

But even in my sleep-deprived state, my brain pistons (I just coined that one) were firing as well as ever. I called up Shannon, who was down in Maadi, instructed her to find my passport and then begged and pleaded for her to meet me at the station. I grabbed a cab to Turgoman and then began the waiting game. 11:45 rolled around, and still no Shannon. 11:50...11:55....I was really starting to worry. At about midnight, I finally saw Shannon walk up to the station, collected my passport from her, and paid her for her services (gave her money for the cab ride, you dirty minded people). Then I rushed inside to catch my Dahab-bound bus.

Mae was relieved to see me; she apparently thought I was going to ditch her (of course not, silly!). I acquainted myself with her friend, Anna, who was visiting from the states, and then somehow managed to fall asleep for the duration of the nine hour journey (I think the fact that I hadn't slept in about a day and a half was probably a contributing factor).

We arrived in Dahab the next morning at about 9 am, jumped in the back of a pick-up, and were shuttled to our seaside lodgings at the Red Sea Relax Resort. I didn't arrange the accommodations, so at $10 a night, it was a little pricier than I would've gone for, but it was also about 1,000 times nicer than the places I usually shack up. There was free internet with computers provided (I had actually planned on escaping from the internet for a while, but they were providing, so hey), an scrumptious continental breakfast, a nice little pool, a roof top bar, and fairly nice rooms.

Dahab itself was also pretty excellent. The town was definitely touristy and made no attempt to hide this fact, but it was also still very quaint and relaxing. I'd actually compare Dahab to a smaller version of the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta, while it's counterpart to the south, Sharm al-Sheikh, is more similar to the glitz and glam of a Cancun or a Maztlan. Dahab doesn't need to resort to cheap visual tricks because it has an abundance of natural splendor. The Red Sea waters are an azure blue, made even more striking against the backdrop of harsh, earthy-red mountains.


After getting our rooms figured out, we headed down to the beach and began soaking up the sun. Apparently, I soak up the sun much too quickly, and in doses that aren't quite healthy. Although I had applied a decent amount of sun block (SPF 55 mind you), I had forgot a pretty vital area: my legs and feet. My long, fair legs certainly got some ill-advised solar radiation, but my feet took the brunt of the sun's wrath. After about an hour, they were the color of a stop sign. What a great way to start off a three day vacation.

Following some swimming and more flesh-baking, I took a nap in my room and then met the ladies for dinner. While Dahab is certainly cheaper than Sharm al-Sheikh, it still is a far cry more expensive than Cairo. I had reservations about paying for anything more than 20 LE on the menu, but eventually convinced myself that I was on vacation and deserved a brief reprieve from my money-grubbing ways. I splurged on a 25 LE pizza.

The next morning we met in the lobby and were soon on our way to the famed Blue Hole. If you don't want to hear my amateur description, here's its wiki page. Basically, the Blue Hole is a coral reef with a big hole in the middle of it that leads 130 meters down to the ocean floor. It's notorious amongst the diving community, and apparently is billed as one of the most dangerous dive sites in the world.

Fortunately for us, we weren't going there to scuba dive, just to snorkel. After getting fitted with masks, we headed out to the entry point. By this time, my feet were in a great deal of pain, and I even considered wearing socks over them when I put the fins on. But I didn't, because this would've looked silly, and we all know my number one priority is maximizing my photo-genetic ability in any given situation. After jumping in, we began swimming in the open sea, heading south along the coast with the reef by our side. It was a pretty marvelous experience. The unknown depths of the sea lay to our left, while a stunning assortment of tropical fish darted about on our right. These fish came in all shapes and sizes and in a wide array of colors. There were long, skinny ones, with horizontal black and white stripes, that looked like pencils Luna Lovegood would keep in her desk (yes, a literary reference!). There were others whose fins were seemingly every color of the rainbow. Anna even said she saw a sea turtle. Despite the fact that the mask didn't really seem to want to stay on my face, snorkeling in the Red Sea along an ocean reef teeming with aquatic life was definitely one of the highlights of my time over here thus far, although I guess there have been a lot.

We returned to Dahab from the Blue Hole in the afternoon. Next on our agenda was Mount Sinai. We'd be taking a 2 hour bus ride that left late at night, so I used the downtime to tend to my seared skin and rest up for the early morning ascent we were about to embark on. By 11:00 pm, we were in a small tour bus and on our way to a living piece of biblical history.

Mount Sinai, in case you're still wondering, is the place where many believe Moses received the Ten Commandments from God during the Israelites exodus from Egypt. Climbing the mountain in the middle of the night and watching the sun rise is a very popular thing to do in Egypt, whether one be a pilgrim or a tourist. As always, here's a link with some more info.

We arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai at about 1 am. Apparently we had a guide provided for us, but we wanted to go at our own pace, so we soon separated from the main group. I have to admit, being in the middle of this mountain range in the dead of the night, with nary a soul around us, was a little surreal. I mean, this place just didn't look like something I've come to expect to find on planet earth. People were not intended to traverse such barren and desolate landscapes, let alone idle through them on some sort of tourist excursion. Yet there the three of us were, making our way up the steep path, avoiding the occasional camel, and cracking jokes and singing the whole way up.

After reaching the base of the summit at about 3:30, with more than an hour still until sunrise, we crashed in a Bedouin tent for about 45 minutes. About half an hour before the sun would be coming up, we continued to the top, and found a good vantage point for which to look eastward. Then we waited. Even before the sun was visible, the mountaintop view was something to behold as the rocks around us began to reclaim their color from the night. What had been varying shades of gray and black morphed into browns and oranges and blues. Even though we were on a small summit with hundreds of other visitors around us, it was still possible to look off into the vast distance and feel pretty incredibly alone and insignificant. Nothing like some humble pie and solitude.

Finally at 5:50 am, the sun became visible on the horizon and began creeping its way upward. There was a little bit of cloud cover hanging just above the mountaintops in the distance, and once the upper lip of the sun cleared this it transformed from a soft ball of orange into a glowing disc of light (don't worry, the corniness will end sooner or later). Obviously, the sun and its various rising and fallings are fascinating to behold and its no wonder many ancients were particularly obsessed with it.

After we'd had our fill of Sinai sunny delight, we began our descent. We changed up our route and took the "steps of penitence" on the way down. Instead of winding around the mountain, this path cut right through it. The going wasn't quite as easy, but the views, though not quite as panoramic, were much more up close and personal, as we saw several jagged cliff sides and fascinating rock formations. I felt like I was back in Petra all over again.

We took a brief peek into St. Katherine's Monastery (the oldest in the world) and then headed back to Dahab. Though we had originally planned to stay for three nights, we concluded that it made more sense to take the 10 pm night bus back, rather than leave at 10 in the morning and waste daylight. So after a delicious dinner on the shores of the Red Sea and some more wound licking, we boarded our Cairo-bound bus.

The ride back was pretty miserable. I couldn't get to sleep for the life of me. We stopped nearly every half hour. In all honesty, if we'd limited the stops we could've made the trip in 4 hours instead of 8. But it is what it is. After arriving in a strange part of town at 8 am, we hopped in a cab and headed back to Zamalek. I said bye to Mae and Anna and made my way back into the dorm. Another trip completed.

Although I was now out of the Dahab sun, the effects were still felt. My sunburn was killing me, especially those damn feet of mine. Putting on shoes was torture. My left foot in particular was suffering, and it began blistering pretty profusely. Che-che-che-check it out:

And I think it's safe to say that this is one of those rare instances where something hurts more than it looks, and not vice versa. My left foot is currently padded with gauze and wrapped in athletic tape, thank you very much. But despite this little setback, and the fact that I blew way to much money up in Dahab, my three day excursion to the Sinai was an excellent adventure and well worth the loss of cash and skin cells...now if only I could find a way to take some of color my foot got and spread it out evenly around my body.

Oh, last but definitely most important, I wanted to give a shout out to my kid brother David (that's such a strange phrase, especially when the kid in question is taller than you, but I feel this is an appropriate situation for it). David, DOBL, Rolly-Polly, or Baby Fatso, whichever you prefer, is graduating from Pequot Lakes High School tonight as valedictorian. In fact, the ceremony very well might be going on right now. Obviously, this is a pretty sweet accomplishment and I'm pretty darn proud of David for achieving it (although if his speech isn't up to snuff with a certain one delivered three years ago, I'll be sure to give him some crap).

However, there is even bigger and better news. David also decided this week that he'll be joining me out at Notre Dame next year. ND was always his dream school, but he received a very attractive offer from the University of Minnesota that he had to consider. In the end, I think he made the right choice. I'm really happy that I'll get to share a bit of my senior year with him, and hopefully I can pull him into Dillon Hall and continue the Big Red Liedl Legacy. Anyway, great work Davey-boy and see you in the fall. Let the display of semi-embarrassing pictures begin!

This ain't Monopoly money...

Yesterday was the Big Day, the day Shannon and I signed the lease for the summer apartment (if you're just jumping in at this point, no, I am not living in sin, I am renting an apartment with 2 other ND kids for the summer). In addition to signing the lease, we'd be paying rent for the first month, a deposit, and a 25% commission fee to the realtor who helped us find the place. In total, it was just over 10,000 LE, and I was responsible for half of it (about $1,000). This was easily the single biggest transaction I've personally made in my young life.

In preparation for the deal that was about to go down, I had been withdrawing money from an ATM every day for about five days. Due to the single day limit my bank has on my account, I couldn't just take out all the needed cash at one time. Instead, I had several transactions' worth of small bills.

Before we headed down to Maadi to sign the lease, I laid all the money out on a table. There was A LOT of it. Stacks of 100, 50, 20, and 10 LE bills. Even though the money is colored funny and only has a fifth of the value its American counterpart, seeing it all before me was still pretty surreal.

We left to meet the realtor, each with over 5,000 LE in our pocket. My wallet wouldn't shut. Even though theft in Egypt, especially pickpocketing, is extremely rare, I still felt a little uneasy with all that cash on me.

We got to Maadi and met the real estate agent, Monzer, out front. Unfortunately, there had been a little mix-up between him and the owner, and the apartment that we had looked at and wanted wasn't going to be available until June 3rd. There was another flat in the same building that we could stay at until then, but I was still pretty disappointed that we wouldn't be able to move in right away. I was really looking forward to making the apartment "mine," so to speak. Oh well, waiting will only make me appreciate it even more (or something like that).

We took a look at the temporary place we'd be staying in and then sat out at a table to finalize the deal. It turns out that I didn't even need to sign, so so much for that climactic experience. Even so, it was good to know that things were taken care of. The only thing left to do is move on in.

Mission Accomplished

So, I made some purchases I was pretty happy with today.

I (finally) bought a pair of sunglasses, for only 15 LE (<$3). They'll probably break in about a week, but getting a pair was long overdue. I'll especially need them as things start to heat up this summer.

I also enjoyed  a nice, big bottle of water for 2 LE, a delicious shwarma sandwich for 6 LE, and transportation on one of the world's best metros for only 1 LE each way.

Oh yah, and I also bought an apartment!

Well, not quite. I sign the lease this Friday. But everything should be good to go.

The apartment is a three bedroom, two bathroom flat in Maadi. I'll be sharing it this summer with Shannon, a fellow ND student who's been out here since January as well, and Conner, another Domer who'll be joining us in June. Shannon and I are both really excited. The apartment really appears to have everything we want: a huge, open living room with lots of natural light; three, spacious bedrooms; and an excellent location, mere feet away from a metro stop. The total cost is 4,500 LE a month and we'll be leasing it for three months, so I'll probably end up paying just under $800 when it's all said and done. I suppose it's not the cheapest place in the world, but hey, that's what grant money is for, right?

Just as I'm excited to get out of the dorm and into new living quarters, I'm also really excited to live in Maadi. It's not that I don't like Zamalek, it's just that I'm ready for a change of scenery, and I can't think of one better than Maadi. Maadi is any many ways like Zamalek, in that it has a plethora of Western amenities at your disposal (I saw an amazing Playmobil store today), but there's also a little more going on there than there is on "the island." I'd say it's a perfect blend between the calmness and classiness of Zamalek and the action and excitement of downtown. Within a few blocks of the new apartment are several supermarkets, restaurants, and other neat little shops that I can't wait to explore. Another significant plus is that the aparment is only a few miles away from the Hedayet Institute, where I'll be taking classes 5 days a week this summer, so I have the option to walk for twenty minutes or to take a two minute, twenty cent metro ride.

As I said, Shannon and I will be returning to Maadi on Friday to sign the lease. We should be able to move in as early as May 18th if we want to. Whenever we do, I'll be sure to provide you with a virtual tour of sorts.

Coming up for air...

Wow. It's been awhile. Apologies for my absence these last few days, but things have been a little crazy on my end. I'm officially in the home stretch, with just over two weeks of classes left, and I got caught up in a nasty patch of final papers. But a few all-nighters later and I'm no worse for the wear. Anyway, I thought I'd take the chance to fill you in on some developments in my life that you might be interested in hearing about.

Last week, I paid a $500 dollar deposit for the Hedayet Institute's intensive Arabic program, confirming my participation in it this coming summer. I took the trip to the institute early one morning, and had the chance to check out the facility and learn more about the program. It sounds like an incredible opportunity. I'll be sending upwards of 4 hours a day receiving Arabic instruction, and it sounds like the staff is fully committed to providing students with an immersive experience. You even have to sign a pledge that says you will refrain from speaking any other language but Arabic while in the building. Now that's what I'm talking about! I've been disappointed with my progress with the language this semester, so hopefully a summer with Hedayet is the type of swift kick in the butt I need to get back on top of my game. Tuition for the program, which lasts from June 14 - July 31, is more than covered by the $5,500 grant I received from ND for language study.

As a result of the over-generous grant from ND, as well as the fact that I'll have over three weeks free after AUC ends but before Hedayet begins, I've decided to go to Turkey for a week. I'll be flying out of Cairo on June 2nd and coming back on the 10th. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this trip is that my dad is coming out here all the way from Minnesota to join me. I haven't got down to the nitty gritty of planning, but I imagine we'll spend a few days in Istanbul, then head down the Aegean coast, and maybe relax at a Mediterranean resort for a day or two before heading north again to Ankara. Should be a fun trip.

Even with those eight days in Turkey, I'm still going to have nearly two weeks where I'm unoccupied. I'm planning on going to a Red Sea resort town, like Dahab, for a few days to hit the beach and snorkel, and then cap it off with a dead-of-night climb up Mt. Sinai in time for sunrise at the top. I'll probably do this mini-excursion sometime during the last 10 days of June.

Summer in Cairo means I'll need to get an apartment. I'm pretty excited about this prospect. I'm never lived "off on my own," as I've been in a dorm my entire college career and obviously back at 30404 Papago before that. I'm looking forward to the relative freedom and also the endless cooking possibilities that await me. Koshari's been good to me, but I won't mind being able to whip up a salad, or cook some chicken, or store some yogurt in a fridge. Since the Hedayet Institute is in Maadi, I'm pretty set getting an apartment in that area. Even though it's one of the nicer parts of town, rent is still incredibly cheap, sometimes less than $250 a month per person for a fully furnished apartment. I'm headed down that way on Friday with another ND kid who's staying out for the summer to check out some of our options.

And finally, possibly the most important development. After weeks of uncertainty and anxiety, I finally have a return ticket back to the States. Originally, I was told that there were no flights available that would allow me to switch my return ticket from May to August, even though I'd been informed that I'd be able to do this when I agreed to purchase the round trip airfare. However, in a classic case of the squeaky wheel getting some oil, my insistence paid off. I now have a return flight scheduled for August 2nd, departing Cairo at 9:30 AM and arriving in JFK a little after four in the afternoon. I still have to figure out switching the domestic leg of my trip, but just knowing that I have my airfare back to America confirmed makes me feel really good inside. I can't wait to visit the lake, eat a ButterBurger, and just see my friends and family. Oh yah, and WeFest.

Well, that's the big news in my life. As I said, just over two weeks of school left- my last day is May 20th. I can afford to relax for a bit before I have to start getting to work on my 15 page research paper for Women, Islam, and the State. In addition to this paper, I have four finals during the last week of school, an in class presentation, and that's about it. Not too shabby. Can't wait to be done.

Math lesson from Upper Egypt: bike > mini-bus > train...

Well, my semester at AUC is officially in the home-stretch: I have less than 4 weeks left. But although I'm ecstatic to be nearing the finish, the last few weeks will be anything but a breeze. I have a crap-load of work left, including two 3,500 papers due in one week, plus a big ol' research paper for my favorite class- Women, Islam and the State. Yee-haw.

Despite these imminent deadlines, I couldn't resist taking advantage of the 5 day weekend afforded to us. In reality, we only had one day off, a Sunday, but since we also get classes off every Tuesday, nearly everyone simply skipped classes on Monday in order to create a nice, little break.

With my time, I decided to travel down to Upper Egypt and feast my eyes on the Pharaonic wonders of Aswan, Luxor and Abu Simbel. So on Thursday night, I headed to the Cairo's Ramsees Train Station in order to catch a south bound train.

Ben had actually purchased our tickets a few days earlier, so we didn't need to worry about that. We had planned on traveling in the uber-cheap second class carriage, but Ben was informed that foreigners had to purchase first class tickets. We'd paid 330 Egyptian pounds a piece for a round-trip, well more than I thought was justifiable, but I took solace in the fact that at least we would be riding in the lap of luxury. Or so I thought.

Simply put, the train was unfit for human beings to ride on. Well, I suppose that was a bit of a stretch, but it really wouldn't surprise me if it doubled as a camel freighter. It was smelly, dank, itchy and just plain-old gross. Our compartment didn't have a door, so the sounds of babies screaming and Egyptians jamming to music from their cellphones was a common theme throughout the 13 hour ride that began at 11:15 pm. Mumtaz!

We arrived in Aswan, Egypt just before noon, and set off locating our hotel. Despite its size (1 million) Aswan seemed incredibly chill and relaxing. Lazily meandering down the Nile (which is infinitely more pristine and clean at this point than it is a couple thousand miles down stream in Cairo) is the attraction of choice for many tourists who visit. The souq area of the town was also refreshingly muted in comparison to the madness of Khan al-Khalilee.

After checking into the Hathor Hotel, we grabbed some lunch and then caught a one pound fairy to Elephantine Island, a truly remarkable place. Here, a Nubian community operates as it has for hundreds of years (with some modern technological infusions, of course). There weren't really any "must-see" destinations per say, but I vastly enjoyed aimlessly ambling through the thick jungle fauna and navigating through packs of goats and chickens. It was a lovely slice of nature that isn't obtainable within the city limit of Cairo.

After Elephantine Island, we negotiated our way to Kitchner Island, via a private boat (we probably could've swam...it was about 100 yards away). This island is apparently supposed to house an impressive botanical garden, but it was fairly disappointing: it seemed to be more or less a sort of private park. Well the site itself wasn't spellbinding, we occupied ourselves for well over half an hour by entertaining a throng of young Egyptian school children who were simply fascinated with us. It was a great opportunity to practice Arabic and also to help disseminate the greatest game on earth, American football, which the kids seemed interested in learning.

We returned to the mainland in the early evening, and looked around for a little while. Aswan wasn't overflowing with tourist attractions like some other destinations we'd visited in the past months, but perhaps that's what made it so appealing. It had a very down-to-earth type feel to it that I couldn't help but appreciate.

We ate an early dinner and were in bed by 9 pm. We were headed to Abu Simbel the next morning, and our minibus would be departing at 3:30 am. Getting to Abu Simbel is a bit cumbersome due to the fact that you have to travel in a military convoy, thanks to a nasty streak of terrorism targeting tourists in the 1990's. But after waking up the next morning and hoping in our transportation, I hardly noticed as I slept the entire way.

After the Pyramids, Abu Simbel is one of Egypt's greatest attractions, and rightfully so. Everyone seems to know Abu Simbel as "the place with those four giant statues," but I found the intricate and still vividly colored artwork on the inside to be just as compelling. However, the fact that photography within the temple is barred is probably the reason why the artwork inside isn't as well known, and sure enough, the picture I'm posting to the right is indeed of the instantly recognizable gigantic statues of Ramsees II, all identical.

We poked around the various temples for a bit and checked out Lake Nasser, which claims to be the largest man-made body of water in the world, extending all the way into Sudan (which quite possibly we saw...it's only 40 miles from Abu Simbel). After our 45 minutes of fun was up, we were back in the minibus and on to the next destination of the day: The Aswan High Dam.

For whatever reason, I was expecting the Aswan High Dam to be a modern marvel of engineering on the same scale as the Hoover Dam. Boy was it anything but. It was extremely boring. Really, all we could see was just a road going across a structure with a pile of rocks on either side. And it wasn't even that high!

We continued with the sightseeing affair and were shuttled next to the Temple of Philae, or, to be more precise, the place where one takes boats to the Temple of Philae. The temple itself is located on an island amidst the Nile, though not on the original island it was constructed. It was actually relocated in the 1960's, in an effort to rescue it from rising water levels that were a direct result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam and the creation of Lake Nasser. Abu Simbel was also similarly relocated in order to save it from the eroding powers of the Nile's water.

Philae itself was actually pretty dang neat. It wasn't a huge complex, but it had enough to keep one occupied for a while without constantly running into throngs of khawagas (tourists), a big plus for Ben and me.

We completed our tour and were back at the Hathor Hotel in the early afternoon, ready to make the next leg of our trip north along the Nile to Luxor. After eating lunch, we climbed aboard yet another minibus, and were on our way. The trip was a scenic one, filled with several of picturesque shots of the Nile lined with exotic vegetation, but it was a long one; over three hours. When added up with our morning trip to Abu Simbel and then the drive to other destinations, we'd been in a vehicle for over 10 hours that day alone. Not exactly how I like to spend my vacation time. but c'est la vie.

When we arrived in Luxor, we were collected by the proprietors of the Luxor Oasis Hotel, who had us dropped off  in front of their establishment. This was probably a good thing, because apparently a certain rogue hotel in the vicinity, the Nubian Oasis Hotel, likes to steal their customers. Here's an excerpt from an actual email I received from the Oasis:

If you wish to come to the hotel by yourself,(Please do not believe what you say about anything for the Oasis Hotel, perhaps offset some people say to you I am hassan or I'm from Oasis Hotel, please do not believe what is said)and please, do not make the mistake many people do, our is the Oasis Hotel, not Nubian Oasis, which is down the same street. The Nubian Oasis staff may badger you, as they do to other tourists on their arrival either in the bus or train station, and will not hesitate to make you believe they act for us, we do not like this method, and many of our customers have been misled. If you arrive by a taxi, insist that the driver brings you to our Hotel, they will often take you elsewhere as many of them have families which run other hotels.

Good old Egypt! We went to our rooms and I immediately began using the free wireless internet for all it was worth (wait...does that make sense?), frantically catching up on the NFL Draft (I admit, I had actually broken down in Aswan and paid three pounds at an internet cafe in order to see who the Packers drafted in the first round).

The next morning, Ben and I woke up early and began what has quite possibly been our greatest single day adventure yet: bike riding throughout Luxor's West Bank. We had the option to join some other AUC students on a tour, but naturally had a preference for the more independent (and cheaper!) method of transportation. So for 10 pounds a piece, we each had our own personal bicycle at our disposal.

These bikes weren't your run of the mill variety- they had character, as if they were their own individuals. Ben selected a stoic green one, while I nabbed a pink beaut with a basket and all. Now, granted they were probably 20+ years old and the brakes didn't work. But over the course of the day, Ben and I formed a special bond with these bikes that made it hard to let them go.

Our first objective was to actually cross the Nile and get to the West Bank (no, not that one). We drove to the corniche and soon located the public ferry, which carries people across for just a pound a person. We'd read in our guide book that even if you had a bicycle, you should only be charged 1 LE, so we were prepared when the Egyptians at the entrance tried to charge us 2 LE each. We remained calm and collected in the face of their blatant lies, looked around, and noticed an Egyptian man behind us also with a bike. We told them we wanted to see how much he paid, at which point they quickly let us through for the correct price of 1 LE. It may have only been a pound difference, but we relished our little victory. It was a good way to start the morning.

On the other side, we hopped on our bikes and started making our way to the West Bank's destinations, about 3 kilometers from the Nile's waters. We passed lush groves of banana trees on either side as the mountains in the distance came closer. After being cooped up in Cairo for three months, it felt so freeing to be able to cruise around on our bikes and be in complete control of where we went and what we did. Ahh, good times.

We passed by the Collosi of Memnon, and continued our way westbound until we got to the ticket office. For whatever reason, you have to purchase tickets for most of Luxor's West Bank tourist sites at a central location. We purchased tickets for three locations at the reduced student rate (50% off = huge), and set off for our first one, Medinet Habu, also known as the Temple of Ramsees III. It was a lovely temple complex, chalk full of crumbling statues and several walls covered in intriguing Egyptian depictions (inluding this one to the right of some sucker getting it in the face!).

Our next stop was Deir al-Medinat, a former settlement where the Pharaoh's workers once resided. Aside from a couple tombs adorned in (apparently time-proof) brightly colored artwork (which, of course, we couldn't take pictures of), there didn't appear to be a whole lot going on there. The same could be said about the Valley of the Queens. A couple of interesting tombs, but nothing really astounding.


The Ramesseum, Ramsees II's mortuary temple, was actually pretty interesting, although it wasn't nearly as well preserved as Medinet Habu. In fact, its focal point was a huge statue of Ramsees II that lay broken in several pieces. Additionally, it would've been a lot more intersting if an old Egyptian guy hadn't been following us around, undoubtedly trying to score some baksheesh from us.


After finishing up at the Ramesseum, we pedaled our way to the Temple of Hatshetsup, another well-known Egyptian attraction, but for a variety of very different reasons. On the one hand, the temple an impressive edifice, dedicated to one of Egypt's most successful pharaohs, who also happened to be a female. On the other hand, it's also the site of a 1997 terrorist massacre that left 62 people dead, most of them foreign tourists. Cheery thoughts indeed!

Upon arriving, we set about looking for a suitable place to lock up or bikes. This had been a challenge for numerous reasons. For starters, the bike lock itself was silly short, making it difficult to even find a post or tree or fence that was skinny enough to allow us to lock two bikes to it. Secondly, we had to strike a delicate balance putting the bikes far enough away from tourist security so that they didn't ask for baksheesh, but close enough that randos would be discouraged from messing with/stealing them. We thought we found a suitable place in the parking lot of the Temple of Hatshetsup, but then some punk kids came up to us and tried to provide us with "protection" services, which we tried to tell them we didn't need. Nonetheless, they wouldn't budge, so we had to find a different spot, and became paranoid that the kids would sabatoge our bikes or something. Little tykes.

The temple itself was pretty neat, but I'm running out of good ways to describe pillars, hieroglyphics, and statues, so a couple of pictures will have to suffice:

After the temple, we made sure to refill our water bottles and paused to have a healthy portion of the bread we'd purchased that morning. Our next stop was the Valley of the Kings, 6 km away, by far the longest stretch of biking we'd be doing. Additionally, the sun was just about at its peak, and my body (more specifically, my neck) was beginning to feel it. I was anticipating a difficult ride, and that's what I got. The bike had been a champ up to that point, but it had some serious trouble keeping steam. And the weirdest part was that I could swear we were going downhill! I was convinced the little kids had screwed something up in retaliation for not not patronizing them. Egyptian Business Ethics 101.

Finally we got to the entrance for the Valley of the Kings and proceeded to take another brief rest and rehydrate break. The Valley of the Kings has a plethora of pharaonic tombs, but only a few of them are open to the public at a time, and a regular admittance ticket only allows you access to three. Our Lonely Plant guide book suggested which three to visit, but, of course, only one of them was open. So with that as really our only reference point, we headed up the hill and into the valley.

We followed the markers to the tomb we had selected (I forget the name), climbed a steep set of stairs, and entered. It was cool I guess, but I was a little over tombs at this point. Also, the no photography policy was a little annoying. The second tomb we checked out was actually more extensive and interesting than the first one, which the guide book had mentioned. The final one was a bit of a disappointment: although the map outside of it made it seem like it went on forever, tourists were only allowed access up to a certain point.

After finishing up with the Valley of the Kings, we got ready for the bike ride back. Since I was convinced that the grueling bike ride in had been downhill, I was prepared for a beastly uphill ride. However, it was a breeze, and it was definitely not uphill. The sun must've made me a little crazy on the approach trip. But if, you're going to be wrong, I suppose it's better to expect the worst and then get the best. Not too shabby.

Last on our list of West Bank sites was the Temple of Seti. We actually hadn't planned on seeing it, but we were making such good time half way though the day that we'd gone back to the ticket office and purchased additional tickets for it. Possibly a mistake, as it was an extremely boring place. Oh well.

We spent the next half an hour or so carelessly pedaling through the endless fields of lush banana farms that line the Nile, and eventually made our way back to the ferry. We had a late lunch, went to Mass at a tiny little Franciscan church, and that was that. It had been an extremely enjoyable day. We'd thoroughly dominated all of the West Bank in typical Jonathan and Ben style (cheap, rugged, and efficient). Even though the pharaonic temples and tombs didn't blow my mind like some of the sites we'd seen over spring break had, it was still a great time, in large part due to the joy of bike riding. It was great to get some fresh air (well, at least fresher than Cairo air) and solid exercise. Perhaps most importantly, it felt great to be free and empowered, a feeling that only a bike ride could provide to someone who's been trapped in an urban sprawl, shuttled to and fro daily on a bus for over two hours. Maybe it wasn't so much that I missed riding a bike as much it was that I missed being out in the empty openness with the wind in my hair. I definitely plan on going on some joyrides, by bike or by car, once back in Minnesota. Corny, perhaps, but true.

On Monday, we only had a few destinations, all on the East Bank. We took public transportation to Karnak, an expansive and imposing complex of temples that covers two square kilometers. Karnak is considered by many to be the largest religious site of the ancient world, an impressive accolade when one considers its competition. Karnak was really an amalgum of all the things we'd seen the day before thrown into one huge display, with a plethora of statues, pillars, and depictions nearly every way we turned. We spent about an hour exploring many of its nooks and crannies, but probably didn't come close to seeing all it had to offer. One place we did find, however, was a neat little room, completely dark except for a single shaft of light that came down from the ceiling. It was a fascinating spectacle that had a sort of mesmerizing effect on me. Below is a neat picture Ben took that instantly became my Facebook profile picture.

After Karnak, we walked along the corniche and stopped at the Luxor Museum, though we ultimately decided not to go in. The ticket was a little pricey and we figured we'd see more than our fair share of Egyptology stuff at the Cairo museum, which we still have yet to visit. We continued on our way and visited the Temple of Luxor, which was more of the same (can't you tell that I'm getting bored with this). It was 1 o'clock in the afternoon and we had basically exhausted all of our options in Luxor. Our train wasn't leaving until 10 pm that night. Here in lies the drawback of being too efficient. We killed time by napping and reading before meeting up with our AUC cohorts and playing cards for a while. At about 8, per the suggestion of our friend, Shannon, Ben and I had dinner at a nondescript little eatery that served us a delcious meat pot, soup, salad, rice, and bread, all for only 10 LE. It was a delicious meal and left me feeling as full and satisfied as I ever had since being in Egypt.

We got to the train station at 9 pm and waited a while before our Cairo-bound train pulled in. This train was at least in better shape than the one we had taken down, although it had its share of drawbacks: it wasn't compartmentalized and they didn't turn off the lights the entire night. If you know me, you probably know I'm a very, very deep sleeper. However, although it takes a lot to wake me up, it's pretty difficult for me to go to sleep. I lay in bed for at least half an hour before I doze off, and that's on a good day with perfect conditions. Needless to say, I found it nearly impossible to fall asleep on this train. I tried a lot of different techniques, even laying down on the floor, but nothing really worked. I finally got to sleep around 4 am and slept until about eight. After what seemed like forever, we finally made it back to the Ramsees station at 10:30. We got a cab back to Zamalek and that was that.

Overall, I'd say my four day excursion to Upper Egypt was pretty successful. There were a lot of uncomfortable hours spent aboard trains and some of the sites might not have been mind-blowing, but we found enjoyment in other, unconventional forms, such as strolling around Elephantine Island or pedaling through the banana fields of Luxor. It was, for the most part, a relaxing and carefree jaunt, taken just before the horrors of the end-of-the-semester workload finally must be confronted. Speaking of, I've got to write 1000+ words a night for the next week, so I should probably wrap this up. Wish me luck!