egypt my love.

well i did it. i went to egypt. as i sit here on the tuesday after i cannot believe it is over. my months of anticipation for this momentous event is complete. i have walked on ground that i only thought was reserved for my dreams. i had a great week. i loved the sun, the people, the sea, the museum and being amongst the pyramids. it was all very surreal and i came back much more appreciative of the life i live. i was again reminded that i have been thoroughly blessed to be from a country that allows me such great opportunities and also is clean and beautiful. cairo was definitely a reminder of this and an eye opener to how many people live. we all live different lives and have different challenges. i love being able to recognize this and make it a part of my life. i wish everyone could see what my eyes have seen.

following are 7 posts of the journal entries i wrote each day i was in egypt. i didn't ever want to forget my time there. today i spent typing them up. so if you want to know details from my trip read up! keep in mind its a journal entry...so formatted as such.

and yes, i did "walk like an egyptian".

Egypt- Day 1

{journal entry}

Day 1

I AM IN EGYPT! it's true. right now i am being kissed by the egyptian sun while the nice breeze hits my body. i am sitting on our front porch, where the sun is, with my feet up and just lounging, getting tan and listening to colbie caillat.

in front of me is our large resort, a supermarket, buses, trucks and people walking by. far off, not too far, i can see the Red Sea and a hill with probably homes of people who live here in Sharm. the driver that took us from the hotel lobby up to our villa the first night told us that Sharm really only has been around for 25 years. pretty much everyone who lives here come from Cairo or some other surrounding area.

it is february so the sun is warm, but not the hottest it gets here. as much as i like a nice breeze when i tan, i also like to feel my skin changing color and i like to see the glisten of sweat on my skin as it soaks in the rays.

it is peaceful here. i hear birds, some hammering. there is a new resort of some sort being built up the hill. i hear the palm trees rustling in the wind.

last night roberta and i went to the supermarket to get some things. it was a bit sketch-it is part of our resort-but the men in there were pretty funny. they convinced us to buy fresh squeezed milk- the guy was making motions as if he himself was milking the cow trying to explain it was fresh. he said it was delicious. so we will see.(never ended up drinking some) i can barely drink skim milk these days let alone fresh out of the cow...also it was in a pouch rather than a carton.

this morning we went to breakfast-which was chaotic-paid our excursion trips off, walked around for a bit then returned back to our villa to get swim suited up. about 50 steps next to us is a heated pool. when we walked up to it michael jackson was playing. thanks mj. we were only there for an hour then came back & had lunch. now here i am.

let me back track to our journey here...

we left our home in Wadenswil at about 6:15am. our journey began in the dark of the morning. the kids were surprisingly content and remainded that way pretty much throughout the 3 hour drive to Geneva. we stopped outside of geneva so rob and roberta could look at a house they will be moving in a few months to the geneva area. i played with the kids outside while they did that. there was a bit of red light green light and mother may i action going on. we piled back in the car and sometimes it really is a pile back, made a quick trip to Mcdonalds, then headed to the Geneva airport. they were so good in the car that i was convinced they saved all their chaos for the plane. however, i was wrong. the plane ride was (almost) a breeze. i thanked all those lucky stars. (at the end tyler had one freak out when he saw his bottle and wanted it...but we didn't have water....so i rushed to the back and bought some) tyler slept for the majority of the ride, again thanks lucky stars. the girls were great and there were actually quite a lot of toddlers on the plane. about 10 including our 3. there was this really good looking group of guys standing behind me getting on the plane and one of them sat next to me in the other row on the plane. he slept the whole time and didn't see a paper he had to fill out to give to customs. when we were landing he woke up and i decided i should tell him. his friends were sitting a few rows back. i asked him if he spoke english and he did. so i told him and he looked back at his friends to see if they did it. so he filled it out asked me a question and that was that. he was very cute and was german. he wore a beach type fedora hat and dvs tennis shoes. also during the flight i took mariah up and down the aisles a few times and once she decided to stop right by the other guys. me and the guys had a little laugh with one another. so bff right? so naturally they got off the plane and they went their separate way. WELL as i was sitting here up on the balcony the SAME group of guys passed by down below. of alll the places they could have gone here in egypt they wound up at our hotel. how funny. but i will find them again so they know i am here, naturally. who would pass up a group of 6 good looking german guys? not i. even despite my plot to find me an egyptian, marry him and move to egypt and raise half egyptian babies. (well it turns out i never saw them again UNTIL they were on our same flight back to geneva. funny)

our server at dinner last night i think is about to volunteer to provide the above service. at one point it was just me and tyler at the table(we ate at a restaurant at the resort) and he/mohamed came to bring the food. he asked if tyler was a girl or boy-ha- i said boy, that he just has curly hair. he asked if it was my baby, i said no. he asked if i was married, i said no. just then before he could ask me to marry him(i'm sure) they all came back to the table. that may have been my one chance...so maybe that ring on his finger meant something other than marriage. its okay to pretend me and mohamed almost ran off together. (i hope as you read this you know my sense of humor otherwise i would sound like a dope right now...or maybe i still do?) if things don't work out with mohamed i have seen my far share of good looking egyptian men already.

i just took a sip of really warm water. that's the worst. we have to drink bottled water here or we could die. okay not die just get sick which might as well be death. having things erupt our of my body while in egypt might as well be death.

clouds are coming. the sky went from bright/dark blue to a white blue as the sun hides behind just letting it happen. sun, i thought you and i had an agreement. but i guess even the sun needs a break.

our villa is up on higher ground as well as on the second floor so i have a beautiful view of our surroundings.

i am not gonna lie, for day 1 i have a pretty nice golden tan already. thanks ancestors for my unbelievably easily tanned skin.

up the hill where they are building i hear the sweet sound of "we will, we will rock you" those american songs never escape you.

i just came back from the bathroom, you know a mirror is there, and my little tan is actually a pretty marvelous one. i could call it quits if i waned to but i'm no fool...out in the sun i go. but then again you are always more tan in a dark bathroom. i have my own bathroom, fancy right? wrong. its my own because i am the only one brave enough to use it. it is a tad on the ghetto side. the standing shower is questionable and the sink is basically on top of the toilets. i could sit and use the bathroom and wash my hands at the same time. i am a multi-tasker why not? that's probably what they were thinking, it's the multi-tasker bathroom. they knew i was coming.

this colbie caillat is just as good in egypt as she is anywhere. no borders can break apart this love.

HAHA i almost forgot to mention one of the funniest things i have seen. i hope i can do what i saw justice. please try to visualize. so you know how its a tad scary for a young child to make that first hop onto an escalator, who am i kidding? i am still hesitant harriot. so i helped mariah (the 3 year old) hop onto the escalator because she was too scared herself. then a bit later we came to one of those flat moving walkways. mariah somehow decided to do it herself not realizing what it was. gosh, i am laughing just thinking about it. so clearly the second she steps down she thinks it is an escalator and falls down out of panic which then brings her to laying on her stomach. so there she is on her stomach and freaking out trying to reach for something thinking something on this moving vehicle is going to suck her in. then she realizes she can stand up. the shear panic on her face and the frantic search to find something to grab a hold of was pretty priceless. naturally as she was experiencing terror i was laughing.

last night at dinner we had to write down our room number to pay for dinner. rob and roberta couldn't remember so i said, well i think its 4187. like i am pretty sure. i have a pretty good photographic memory, but did only look once. so they decided to go with that. but, if it was me i would have made certain. so we leave the restaurant as we are away mohamed runs back to us and says we have the wrong number. i warned them. rob went to go check at the front desk. it was 8147. i was close.

oh look! a man on a camel coming towards me.

last night i had to remind myself to breath and stay calm. being in egypt, my love, has got me quite a bit happy. i am sooo blessed to be where my dreams have always taken me. that man upstairs truly knows my heart and has throughout my life spoiled this heart of mine.

relaxing by the pool. i can handle that.

our view from our front porch.
the view to the left of the porch
the view to the right of the porch...and the far right of the picture is where they are building another resort.
red sea in sight
unloading the much needed bottled water
there is that camel. first camel spotting of the trip.

Egypt- Day 2

{journal entry}

Day 2

today is monday in egypt, my love.

after writing yesterday we all went "into town"/beach that consisted of us crossing over a busy street to the other hilton hotel. we went and found the breach. it was so close and the water was just right there. it was a windy evening so not really anyone was on the beach. we were. with our feet in the sand, waves crashed up against them, big waves. it was such a beautiful sight. boats in the water being lifted up and down from the waves, beautiful egyptian homes on the ills. if i had my wish i would be the only one in that spot everyday. an egyptian worker tried to get my attention. he looked like he had purchased his clothes from american eagle and i think he was attracted to my tomato colored skin. he tried getting my attention a few times after that. my plot to find me an egyptian husband might be easier than i thought.

after we played at the beach and the big park there-we went "into town". i put that in quotes because it was basically a few roads of stores. but oh those streets were hopping and felt like a mix between vegas and china. we ate dinner at pizza hut. i had a delicious flat crusted supreme pizza(even though i ordered a chicken supreme) and a diet pepsi. it felt great to have american food. then we went back to our hotel and got waffle cones with Moverpick ice cream. its a swiss brand that i guess is the sweetest and the most cream filled ice cream(we had it a few weeks ago for robs bday). i got blackberry. it was delicious. then we came back to the villa and got ready for bed.

this morning, monday, i rob & roberta left at 6am to go hike up Mt. Sinai, you know the 10 Commandments. so i have had the kids all morning and afternoon. its after 2pm right now and they should have been back by now.

this morning i got the kids up-tyler managed to explode the contents out of his diaper. thanks. but finally we made it to the place with our buffet breakfast. of course it was just me w/all 3 of them and since yesterday's breakfast was a disaster i was a tad worried to do it on my own. but i told the girls if they could sit in their seats and not get up and be so good while i got them breakfast that i would take them to the park later. so thats what they did. they were great! hardly made a mess and unlike yesterday no glasses broke. tyler just came up with me to get the plates of food. i barely ate anything. i just ate a few bites of waffles the girls didn't eat then a small glass of carrot/orange juice. then we left. i took the kids to the kids club aka day care. mariah was shy and didn't want to stay without me. i told her to give it a try and if she was still shy she could come back with me. so i stayed with them for about 30 min while the 3 of them played. then it was time for me to head back to the villa to give tyler a nap. so mariah came with us and anna stayed. tyler went for a nap and i started this days journal entry while mariah played with playdo. then when tyler woke up we went and got anna followed by some park time. they sure earned it. while we were there 2 guys, the hotel photographers, came and took pics of the kids. a tad awkward. the guys spoke little english. later we left the park to go back and have lunch and put tyler down for a nap. the cleaning guys came. i told them they could come clean but not to go in the bathroom...tyler sleeps there. yup, he slept in the bathroom.

one of the cleaning guys-who came yesterday too- told anna and me that our eyes were beautiful. i would agree, my eyes are lovely. kind of you to notice. at the end he placed flowers on our beds and wanted to show me. he asked which bed was mine, i said actually the sofa. then he kissed my hand..like i said this getting an egyptian hubby might work.

now it is after 3pm and they aren't back. hopefully everything is fine. i am out on one of our back balcony's sitting in the sun. there was no sign of the german guys today(yet) but i did spot mohamed, you know from the first night. if you didn't know i have picked up that mohamed is a very common name. okay, so i have only encountered it a few times so far.

the parents have arrived. we are now all at the pool. clearly its after 4pm now and that silly sun is hiding behind large cumulous clouds-yes, i remember my name of clouds from teaching it at girls camp back in the day.

i am sitting outside the pool watching the woolley clan dance to shake it by outcast inside the pool.

which reminds me i have yet to "walk like an egyptian" however i have watched many egyptians walk.

may i add that my feet are very dirty and my reef sandals are about to call it quits. they have done me well for over 5 years. they remind me of my days at Lochearn where just about every camper had them which in turn convinced steph and me to purchase a pair after camp. never again to purchase cheap old navy flip flops. okay thats a lie, i bought a pair of gold ones once. gold! it had to be done.

i am writing in my journal i got for christmas(thanks laurie) and my hand writing is near unlegible. might as well be arabic. i don't know what my problem is. when something is placed in front of me i could write and write. as you have noticed. my hands are just trying to keep up with my brain. this reminds me of one of my favorite quotes "sue what are you writing?" "oh everything, everything that you're saying, everything that is going on" "sue, these are scribbles"

it is now evening. we just returned from another evening "in town". we went to dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. i think that may be my first time? i had a honey mustard grilled chicken sandwich. yum. i enjoyed watching the english music videos on the flat screen above our table. on our walk back i was majorly hit on. i was walking with roberta, who he didn't even look at, even though she is far more beautiful.

our conversation went something like this...all while if i hadn't been successfully sunburnt on my cheeks he would have seen me blush.

man-hi

monica-hello

man-oh, you're beautiful

monica-thanks(blushing behind burnt cheeks)

man- do you need a taxi?

monica-no

man-where are you going?

monica- we have a hotel

roberta-we are fine thanks

man- well come do something with me tonight

monica- umm no sorry

man- oh come on, i like you, you like me, why not?

roberta- she has a boyfriend

man-oh, sorry okay bye

i thanked roberta. roberta and i had a good laugh. she was like you are going to get hit on, i said it wasn't the first time. rob was far up in front of us so it just looked like 2 girls walking together. most women walked in large groups or with their male counterparts. i look pretty single walking around with a family that looks like i am not related to. clearly i wasn't the first nor the last to receive one of his compliments. my plot to get me an egyptian is just at my fingertips....if only it wasn't for my total absence of interest when they do approach me...as good looking as they are. if only i didn't just really know the majority of these guys are skeezes.

when we got home my pj's were put on quite strategically in the peanut sized bathroom i and the pigeons outside the window call our own. then made my way to the back porch where i write now with my ipod playing in one ear and the sounds of life in the other. the mosquitos are quicker here. i love being outside. my only request at this very moment would be to have more stars sparkling right now. i think the one mosquito informed his posy i was here. they have arrived. tooo many. going inside. that is all for day 2.

town

on this street is where i met the man i had the convo with.

Egypt- Day 3

{journal entry}

Day- 3

this morning started out a bit chaotic. tyler had another blow out that got all over his bedding. also, there were thousands of ants crawling around one of the counters in the kitchen. YUCK. luckily, it happened today when the parents were here.

we made our way to breakfast at about 8am. today is one of my days off so i didn't need to help too much at breakfast so it was nice to just sit back and have some breakfast(especially since when it was just me yesterday i barely got to eat anything). i found my favorite server this morning. we usually eat in another area which he is usually at but this morning they sat in another area. lucky for me this server was restocking dishes today so was in our new area. at the very end i asked a different guy for water bottles and he asked "my server" to get them for me. as soon as he saw it was for me he had a huge smile on his his face. he asked me how i was and i asked him. he was happy to talk to me. he is cute. i like to think of him looking like a much cuter, egyptian version of carlton from fresh prince. hah. i really don't know if that is accurate at all.

now we are the beach. about 15 steps from the water. people pass by...interesting people...one girl topless..bizarre...why would you want your breasts just hanging out? WHY? or burnt! ouch. found a really cool shell, probably illegal to take but i am a wild woman. oh the american eagle guy was there, he works at the boat place where i saw him the first time. we sat right in front of the boat excursion today. some guy came up to us at the beach to give us info on some fun water sports and such and asked roberta where she was from. she said USA. then he asked me if i was egyptian...i said no...he said that i had egyptian eyes. yesss. thank you! best compliment all trip. someone mistaking me for egyptian.

so roberta and i took anna and mariah on a glass bottom boat tour. i was on the red sea! take that! the bottom beaning class allowed us to see the sea life. yet again the egyptian men were entranced by me. what's the deal!? the boat ride was about an hour. it was enjoyable for sure. then on the way back we all went and walked around on top of the boat which was beautiful to see out and all around.

then we left the beach and here i am by the pool. it is so stinkin hot out here. i feel like i am more hot here in march then i was in vegas last august. possibly. however there is a pretty nice breeze here.

pretty much everywhere i go i am writing in this journal. i'm sure i look like i am writing some sort of novel. i should be. i wrote stories all the time when i was younger. i used to love it. someday i still hope to write childrens books, did you know that? ps. while i write i have to keep one i shut for the page is too bright and i don't want to squint or i get those white squint lines on my forehead.

i am going to HAVE to shower today. it must be done. if i don't today i wont bel able to till friday. today is tuesday. tomorrow i have the kids alone while rob & roberta go to Luxor. thursday is my trip to cairo. i am feeling like the outside is making my skin taste like it.

while i sit here i am contemplating on whether i should have brought a low number sunscreen. sorry to everyone if i get skin cancer. they, woolley's, have some but they have the kind that is like 80spf. i would never get tan if i used that.

whenever i hear/listen to a really good r&b song i just want to break out and dance. doesn't matter where i am. like really bad, but i don't have a big enough audience at the pool today.

at the beach
our glass bottom boat in the background
ty ty at the beach
what we saw on the boat
this one is a huge coral reef that looks like a brain
the view from the inside of the boat
the amazing view out on top of the boat

a beautiful area of our resort
at the pool we always went to. there are several pools but this one was heated and close to our villa.
miss thang in my glasses

snuggled up for a picture

Egypt- Day 4

{journal entry}

Day 4 wednesday

after the pool yesterday i came back to the hotel room and put on my tennis shoes and went for a walk. then i came back to shower. oh how i loved that i showered. then it was pretty lame. we stayed in for the night so Roberta walked "into town" to bring back dinner. boring. oh well. then since i sleep on the couch, i was trying to sleep while Rob & Roberta were in the living room on their laptop. but i wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway i had a lot on my mind plus a tickle in my throat & a stuffy nose. but finally i fell asleep. but of course woke up at a few obnoxious hours. however, i was able to hear someone singing a native song outside pretty loud. it was either at 4:45 or 5:45...i was up every hour starting at 3am.

rob & roberta are on an excursion to Luxor today. i have the kids all day. at about 6:30 tyler woke up. luckily no explosion in his diaper. then he snuggled with me for about a half hour. then once the girls were up awake we all got dressed and ready and went to breakfast. i think we got there at 830am. my favorite server wasn't there! i was totally bummed. must be his morning off? then i ordered my breakfast box for my trip tomorrow. neither of the girls wanted to go to the kids club so we just went to the park for 1/2 hour then came back to the hotel room so i could put tyler down for his nap. he was a snuggle boy again and was falling asleep in my arms. he has been sick-occasionly will throw up, diarrhea and yesterday i noticed he had a stomach rash. i suggested that maybe he was dehydrated. but today he has been better. he has been asleep and the girls are watching cartoons. pretty much today is going to be lame because the park is kinda far and i can either die of sweat carrying tyler while the girls and i walk there or take the stroller which would mean trying to get it up and down the stairs to our room by myself. i have done both before. i guess it can be done again.

the parents get back late tonight from their trip- i hope they have cash to give me s i have some money tomorrow on my trop. there is a time on the trip we will get to do a bit of shopping. i need souvenirs!

now it is 130 in the afternoon. so far we are surviving. tyler would only eat half a banana for lunch and that was after several tries. he just isn't feeling like eating. sorry bud. but now he is in his nap. the girls are watching cartoons & i am out on the porch sitting in the sun writing and listening to 'replay' by sean kingston "its like my ipod is stuck on replay". i really want to dance. i miss it.

just changed tylers stinky diaper. good thing i felt like i should check on him and followed through. do you know how many times these last few months that has happened? that i have felt like i have needed to do something or be somewhere and good thing i followed through. many times. for example, yesterday on my walk i decided i should stop by the pool, where roberta was alone with the kids, and say hi. good thing because tyler ended up barfing twice and i was there to help.

i forgot to mention at the beach/red sea even in the shallow part, close to the shore fish come swim up close. yesterday, when we were there a big fish came over and a ton of people were trying to get a look. i couldn't get too close cuz i didn't want to get my shorts i was wearing wet. but while i was watching i did see a school of little white fish swim past me.

i have many bites from flies on my feet and legs. luckily, they don't itch. i have no idea when they even happened. you cant feel it when they bite. there is one next to me right now that is large w/big red eyes. we are doing a stare down.

i am excited to go on my cairo excursion tomorrow, but i just hate doing something that has me trapped. i will be gone from 430 am till 9pm. but i am sure i will love every second of it and it will go too fast.

it is now after 8pm. the kids have been asleep since 6:30. i put them to bed asap after dinner because of the following...

anna & mariah have been whiney, complaining, fussy all day. after we went tot eh park this afternoon(which i brought the stroller) as we were leaving the girls ran and ran around the pool and would not stop when i told them to. every time i got closer they would run off. i was very disappointed in their behavior-they know they need to stop when told. so finally once i got them i told them that was not okay, that they needed to listen to me, that they cant just run around by a pool where people are walking around. i told them right after dinner they needed to go to bed. so after dinner, they got in their pjs, helped me pick up the living rom (got a cookie for helping clean) then went straight to bed. both fell asleep pretty quick.

tyler barely ate anything all day. things he normally likes. he just has this couch that makes him spit out his food. i think he just doesn't want to eat it cus of it. finally he became super fussy s i just gave him his bottle and rocked him till he was ready for his bed. he was tired and was in bed by 6.

what a day! def not my favorite.

oh and i showered again, what a treat. either the water here or the new Herbel Essences(i bought to bring to egypt) makes my hair very smooth and shiny. a good shiny, not a greasy shiny.

i hardly ate anything all day because there really isn't any food. they forgot to leave me money and i was too frazzled all day to order in. i'm so hungry!

our villa. two rooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, 3 tvs, 2 decks, front porch, great view, great location,

the gathering of people looking at the fish that swam up
the view from one of our back porches
sat on the porch writing in my journal

Egypt- Day 5

{journal entry}

Day 5

right now i am sitting on the plane to take me to cairo. i am pretty ecstatic. my dream is coming true. let me tell you about my morning and the adventure that brought me on this plane.

per usual, on mornings that i don't want to wake up late-like big time- i usually wake up at least once every hour before, starting a few hours before...i think i checked my phone @ 11, midnight, 1, 2, 3am. my alarm was set for 3:30am. plenty of time to get to the hotel lobby by 4:35 am.

last night i laid my clothes out, had my bag packed and was pretty much all set to go for the morning. HOWEVER....the cell phone i was using for my alarm was still set to switzerland time- so an hour behind. so when i checked at 3am it was really 4am here in egypt. BAH. @ 4:15 i shot straight off the couch because i realized it. grabbed my pile of clothes in a mad dash to the bathroom to change. threw up my hair. threw on my tennis shoes. grabbed my deodorant and eyeliner for later. threw my bedding off the couch. grabbed 2 water bottles and headed out the door. i rushed off to the lobby-left at about 4:23 and got there in time to get my breakfast box, go to the bathroom and apply deodorant and sit there and wait 10 min till we left. hah. phew! that seriously was almost CATASTROPHIC. what if i hadn't realized my phone was at a different time?? i would have missed the trip. i think all those hrs i woke up before hand was Heavenly Father trying to get me t realize but when it got to 4:15 He was like WAKE UP MONICA. also, when our group leader arrived i realized i had totally forgot about bringing my voucher.

here i sit. i sit over the desert plains of egypt. we are getting ready to land now. my story will continue later.

it is NOW 6:50 pm. i don't EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN. i feel too overwhelmed with it all to start, but i have 1 1/2 hours till my plane leaves so i might as well use my time. i will start from the beginning and convince myself there is nothing overwhelming about it.

so this morning when i went to pick up my lunch box an older couple were picking theirs up as well and they were headed to cairo. in fact, there was a pretty large van full of people leaving from my hotel. i climbed in the back seat and made friends with that same lady from the lobby. she had a UK accent. she told me where she was from but i have no idea what she said. then we arrived @ the airport in Sharm and a big pile of us were standing around. naturally, we all thought we were all in the same group. not the case. they pulled 5 of us out and told us to stand yonder. turns out we were in a completely different tour or something even though all others were going to cairo. my group consisted of 2 older ladies...marianne & jenny who are from manchester england. they took me under their wing immediately. then a husband & wife-didn't ever get their names. she was/is pregnant. they are from england as well. it was a UK, egyptian english accent kind of day today. i wished the whole day i had a UK accent. i resorted to just using the accent in my head. all 5 of us stuck together. sat by jenny & marianne on the plane-where i learned their names.

after we got off the plane in cairo we were to look for our tour guide...well the sign that said "blue stars". it took us a bit to find. found it. our tour guide was funny from the get go. he remained funny and quite popular everywhere we went. he said he works 6 days a week (everyone here has fridays off for prayer day...their religious day) being a tour guide so he has gotten to know people everywhere he goes because he sees them everyday.

-INTERJECTION-

we are sitting waiting for our flight-me and the british and 2 men laid out one orange & yellow carpet/rug and prayed. you know the muslim way.

back to today- we drove our of the airport to cairo traffic, naturally. our tour guide-if only i knew what his name or nickname was-gave us history as we drove(the whole day). there were guards all over the streets. he said because the president was leaving his house (i think to the airport) it was cool to see guards every 40 meters(i think that is the number he said)

-INTERJECTION-

i am talking with the british now. i love talking w/these people.

a mosque where they would go on fridays
cairo traffic/cairo driving

Egypt- Day 6

{journal entry}

Day 6

so my day in Cairo ended. after i wrote last, i was talking with my group about their jobs/life in england. then we left to go to our gate. wow. that was utter chaos. there was NO order to the airport. a ton of people-two flights worth-were just standing in big jumbles. luckily i took some pics & video of it. it was chaotic. but finally we all boareded & we landed back in Sharm. when i got off i was a bit seperated from my group and when i walked up to them i heard a mans voice say "MONICA!" i was looking all around and it was the guy from the morning who organized us into groups at the airport. it was a great welcome back.

so back to th day. we were driving into cairo-in all the traffic with the soldiers & police in disguise and then all the black cars & motorcycles passed by and the president of egypt was in one of them. we also drove passed where the presidents house is.

we drove into the heart of cairo. the drive was madness. there are lines on the road but no one follows them. people drive wherever they want and drive so close. honking is done more than would be acceptable in the US. people just walk everywhere on the streets and into the road. motorcycle riders without helmets, cars broken down, people riding on the back of trucks. no order to anything. i was so bizarre.

the houses/apt buildings look filthy. most buildings look either like they were just bombed or falling apart from natural causes. people lived in shacks on the nile, people live in shacks on teh drive up to the pyramids. such a poor & dirty city. my tour guide said that 22 million people live in cairo. that is outrageous. it is such a trashy city, trash everywhere, places (like i said) looks like it was just bombed. it was worse than china. at least china was green & beautiful, cairo is brown, deserty and dry. we saw some green but very little.

we drove first to the art museum which was chucked full of the ancient findings. it was amazing. our tour guide walked around with us for an hour & told us what things were- then we had 45 min to ourselves to walk around. i could have spent all day in there. it is amazing that they, the ancient egyptians, had so much invented. i saw everything you could have imagined- old bread, jewelry, clothe underwear, sandals, bedrooms, chairs, old writings, weaponry, coffins, figurines, etc etc etc. i wish i wasn't pressed for time. i LOVE LOVE looking at and studying these ancient artifacts. we weren't allowed to bring our cameras inside the museum which if you think about it its a very good idea because it would take sooo much longer to go thru the place if everyone(which was tons of people) inside where stopping and taking pictures. also, people would be climbing on the artifacts wanting to take pictures with them.

after we finished in the museum, we headed over to the restaurant where we had lunch. it was on the nile and we ate egyptian food. it was pretty good. it was a buffet of salads and desserts then we got to choose what kind of meat. i chose the traditional egyptian plate. my group & i sat together. i like those people. i got a can of fanta orange soda (which was the only thing i had to pay for because the food was included in the price of the excursion) which was 15 egyptian pounds which is about $4 but i think it was worth it, i needed that orange soda.

after lunch we headed to the pyramids. the first sight of them was pretty amazing. we saw them far off just the tops of them through the skyline of the city buildings. on our way to the pyramids we stopped at a papyrus shop where they showed us how it is made and i bought a couple. someday i will frame them and have them up in my house. i bought one with a boat(i love boats) and one with the famous judgement scene. i bargained with them and got a good price. made friends with the men there. we all shared in a joke together.

after the papyrus shop we headed to the pyramids. there they were. i was finally there. i was on ground where the ancients buried their kings & queens. i was in an important place. however amazing it was to b there it was a bit tainted by all the beggars trying to get you to buy something. it was obnoxious. all i wanted to do was take pictures and revel in the experience. because i was walking alone around i got stopped by someone one right after another. the first kid was up on his camel. he kept saying "madame we have same eyes. same eyes" i tried ignoring him but he just came back. then another kid came over with him. he was trying to tell me that the other kid was saying we had the same eyes. which was true. they tried to get me on the came. i said no i didn't want to ride it. they were trying to force me. they put a wrap on my head and were trying to get me in a picture. but i knew that meant they would try and get me to give them money. which of course they ended up trying. they were relentless. i told them i had no money but they said pull out my wallet. it was obnoxious. however the little boy was (okay he was like 14 so not that little) but he was adorable and i wanted a picture. so i said fine if i can get a picture of you both i will give you some money. so i got 2 pics. then i gave them some money to share. then the second kid told me to give the younger boy(the beautiful eyed boy) a kiss on the cheek. i did then he gave me one too. then finally they left then another man came over. then another. the third "gave" me gifts but then wanted something in return. i said i didnt have anything. at first he wanted my watch. NO. so then he was like how about money. AHH NO so i gave him back his things. he gave me a postcard though. gosh. finally i was able to walk around for a bit taking pictures. not gonna lie, i am pretty happy about them. then the beautiful eye boy came back on his camel to talk to me. we exchanged names but i dont remember his. it was tricky. he asked if had a phone number or email. i said no. we chatted for a bit then i left and put my bag in the car. should have left it there in the first place. then i chatted with our tour guide and driver for a bit. i told them how it was my dream to be here.

oh ps. i had to lie to allllll those people at the pyramids cuz everyone of them asked if i was married or had a boyfriend. i had to make up several lies about a boyfriend to one man. they were all like he is a lucky man. hah. but it had to be done. these people were very very friendly but hard to trust.

after chatting for a bit with the guide and driver i headed over to the edge of the hill to take pics of the city from up above. this where i met mohamed. i cant remember what he said first but i was like i don't have any money-which at this point i was just brought my cameras out. SMART. mohamed was like no i am not trying to sell you anything and was kind of offended i implied. but i had to make it known. he walked with me & he pointed out where the sphinx is. i told him he had beautiful eyelashes. he showered me with compliments. we talked about how he has never been to school. he was raised out there by the pyramids selling. he learned english there and french and italian. just from all the people he mets every year. he said he loved america. i asked if he ever wanted to move away from egypt, he said he wanted to but its too hard. he told me if i wanted an egyptian husband i could marry him (how did he know i was in pursuit of one?) he asked for my email. which i felt fine giving him. i gave him my old one which doesn't have my last name. he was kinda getting in trouble for talking with me so long. he pulled me aside and put a head wrap on me and said it was a gift. he told me he loved me. hah. i was like mohamed you don't know me. and he was like, but i do. oh boy, what did i get myself into! then i had to leave & go back to my van, oh but not before i made him take picture with me.

i headed back to the van where the tour guide was out there with some tour guide friends and we were all there chit chatting. they all loved me, i got them all laughing and riled up. 2 guys including my tour guide were pretend fighting over me saying how many camels they would buy me for. i got 300. i felt/feel very comfortable with these people. then everyone else in my group arrived and we piled in the van and headed down to the sphinx. while driving down the hill we passed mohamed & since i was sitting in the back i turned and waved and he mouthed if i was going to the sphinx. i said yes.

so when we got there he came over to me. then left. then came back and gave me his email & phone number. hah. oh boy. keep in mind anytime we were walking together he was either holding my hand, had his hand on my back or arm around my shoulders. then he walked with me for a bit but then he said he had to go to work. and he asked for a kiss on his cheek. then he gave me one. that was that last time i saw him. it makes me a tad nervous he has one of my emails, but i am choosing to think it is harmless.

GOSH there are a million flies here. i have tons of fly bites on my legs. i ahve been here @ the pool since 10:30 and its 3pm now. hah, i love it.

so i walked around the sphinx and took pics. im telling you those sellers are everywhere. they were less annoying and less pushy down by the sphinx though. if only these people realized they could make more money if they weren't so in your face. i would have gone over and bought some things if i wasn't afraid hordes of people would see i was buying something and try to get me too. i wish i was able to just enjoy the pyramids but i am grateful i was able to meet many people there and talk to these egyptians. i also learned a lot about these people by talking and interacting with them.

then we left the pyramids. we traveled out and it is awful how junky and trashy these streets and buildings were. it was so sad. here these ancient kings & queens built these egyptian cities, glorious cities and now cairo is trash.

we headed to a perfume shop. i like to think of it like the mafia of perfume shops. we went in this below ground level shop with couches and large perfume bottles all along shelves on all the walls. we were offered drinks. i got a 7up which came in this glass bottle with arabic writing so i kept it. i am a bottle collector. he told us now they made the perfumes. no chemicals or alcohol. just pressed flowers and oil. we tried on several. we tried on one that is made fromt eh same things inside one of my favorite perfumes that i have always wanted to own. so i bought a small bottle of it, its called Aida. it was 150 egyptian pounds so like $35. very good deal. marianne and jenny bought a set of 3 different perfumes. all of us kept smelling our arms for the rest of the evening. we had like 6 different ones on different spots on our arms. one of which was called Arabian nights. while we were in the perfume shop my tour guide took my necklace order in and had my name written on a cartouche which is a tradition, i guess you could say shape that the kings had with their names. my name is written in egyptian hieroglyphs.

after the perfume shop we headed back to the airport. we passed by so much poverty and again found ourselves in the bizarre cairo traffic. speaking of bizarre...the airport in cairo! NO ORDER. like i said before it was pretty ridiculous. if i was not in a fabulous mood i would have thought it annoying instead of comical. because it was pretty comical. so we flew back and i already mentioned my return back with the group. it was sad saying bye to these people i spent all day with. i'm one of those people who find great value meeting new people and find it a bit sad that i wont ever see them again. i was the first one dropped off @ my hotel and i headed right to our villa and into bed....well into sofa.

so that was cairo.

now onto today. they left me a note last night saying for me to sleep in & they would go to breakfast w/out me. so this morning they all tried hard not to wake me and went to breakfast. they came back just as i was getting up. i got ready and went to eat. my favorite breakfast waiter, again, was not there. i wonder what happened. i ate delicious heart shaped waffles alone. then i went to the pool where i have been all day. it is now 3:30 pm. we ordered lunch here and they have all been gone for about an hour now to the villa but i stayed here cuz they are all just resting.

that is all i have done today. hardly any hotel workers are working today because it is prayer day and they were all at the mosques.

there is an amazing contrast between the resort town of sharm and cairo. feels like another country almost. i have realized, once again how much i have been blessed with in my life and how much i have and the opportunities i have being american. also, i have decided to not marry an egyptian. this is a great place to visit but never to live. (not that i was ever seriously considering it.)

after the pool i rejoined everyone for some relaxation in the villa. well the kind that still entails chasing tyler around when he gets into things. then they got ready and i snapped a few family shots of them of course with the youngens it was tricky and the sun was going down. but i got a couple. we were all going to walk into town to get dinner but the parents didn't think the kids would last that long so me and the kids went back to the villa while they went to pick up the food. i was hoping for one last night "in town" but i suppose 3 nights ago was my last. i am glad i bought egypt souvenirs in cairo because i wouldn't have been able to buy any here because there was no time.

we ate lunch at this restaurant on the nile river
my delicious lunch
my group. husband to lady in black is behind jenny. i wish i would have taken a better picture of everyone together.
we stopped to take pictures of this, the only remaining area of ancient cairo. that is what we are looking at in the above picture.
areas of trash like this are everywhere

pyramids!

my friend.
they guys i paid to let me take their picture who were also hounding me to ride that camel pictured above.




part of cairo is so close the pyramids. this is me standing near the sphinx looking out
my friend Mohamed.

egyptian art museum

why the pyramids of course!

the jumbles of people at the Cairo airport