Walk like an Egyptian

This post is very late, and I do apologize for that. Many of you have asked me when I would post about my trip to Egypt. Here it is!

We arrived in Cairo late at night and got on the bus to head to our hotel which was a few miles outside the city. I was impressed by how beautiful Cairo was at night, not because of any magnificent buildings (though there were a few), but because of how alive Cairo was. We later found out that many of the people who live in Cairo will not wake up until the afternoon and then they stay up until about 4 A.M. This is because of the heat during the summer, and also Muslim holidays that don't allow you to eat or drink at certain times.

When we arrived at our hotel we felt like kings and queens. It was definitely the most beautiful hotel I have ever stayed in. Our room had tiled floors, a luxurious bathroom, and a balcony that had a great view. I was rooming with two other guys so one of us had to sleep on a roll away cot. I opted for the cot, because it was more comfortable than the beds. The beds were stiff and I prefer a very soft bed.

The next morning we got on the bus and began our tour of Egypt. We were on our way to see a statue of King Ramses II. Now, I have to mention that Cairo is covered by a haze until about midday. While on our way to our first site Carlos and I spotted the Pyramids through the haze. They looked like a black shadow that dominated everything and anything around. They were mesmerizing.

A few hours later we visited the first pyramid built by the Egyptians. The Step Pyramid. Its called the Step Pyramid because of its step-like shape. Part of visiting the step pyramid was getting to go inside. Going inside pyramids is not for the weak. You have to walk down a steep slope to the bottom and then go up another steep slope, all while being hunched over in a tunnel that is maybe 4 feet high. Once inside the burial chamber you can stand up straight.

Our next stop before going to see the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx was lunch. I fell in love with Middle Eastern food while in Israel, but that was nothing compared to Egyptian kabob! We got a mixed kabob which was lamb and chicken, accompanied by the best rice on Earth, pita bread, hummus, and salads (salads don't have lettuce there).

When we arrived at the Great Pyramid I was just in awe. I couldn't even fit the entire pyramid into the frame of my pictures. There are two other pyramids at this site that are not as big, but are still huge. We did not get to go inside the Great Pyramid, but we did get to go inside the 2nd largest. It was a very brutal journey inside compared to the Step Pyramid. The shaft going down was much deeper and going up was even higher. There was no air circulation, so you instantly would start to breathe heavy and break out into a sweat. The humidity inside must have been 100%. Someone decided they needed to urinate in there at the bottom, so you could smell that through the entire journey. Even though it was hot, stinky, and laborious, it was an experience I will never forget. I can count on two hands how many people I know that have been inside this pyramid.

That night we got on a train and headed to Luxor. This was an overnight sleeper train which was grungy as all get out. I liked the grungy part oddly enough, but the food was awful. I slept fine as long as the train was in motion. Whenever it stopped though, I would wake up.

We got off the train and onto another bus. Our tour of Luxor was fabulous. The Valley of the Kings was amazing, but the Valley of the Queens was even more amazing. The tombs there were beautifully decorated.

Now, here is something you have to understand about tourism in Egypt. There are vendors and hecklers everywhere and they bombard you. While at the Valley of the Queens I stopped in one of the shops to look at some stuff. I found something I liked and when we agreed to a price I went to my wallet to get the money out. As soon as I opened my wallet this guy ripped all of the money out of my wallet and started going through it. Taking what he wanted, which was far more than we agreed, he really pissed me off. Then he saw that I had Israeli money and started freaking out on me. I freaked out back on him, forced him to give me my money back or I'd break his nose (no joke, I'd have got away with it too). Threw what we agreed on at him and left. I headed straight to the bus, but guess what? The bus was gone. Here I am in the middle of the desert alone. So I start walking down the road, all these Egyptian kids started making fun of me, I was burning with anger from everything that happened in the shop and being left behind. I wasn't worried about being alone in a foreign country until I realized that my passport was on the bus and I had no idea what hotel we were staying in that night. Finally the bus came back and got me. Apparently the driver just took off before anyone had a chance to get a head count. Grr.

Probably the most spectacular site, other than the Pyramids and Sphinx, was seeing the Temple of Luxor lit up at night. It was beautiful. The Temples in Luxor were probably my favorite part of the whole trip.

We visited the Muhammed Ali Mosk in Cairo on our last day in Egypt. I didn't have a true understanding about what Muslims believed and practiced before going to the Middle East. The American mindset usually equates Muslims with terrorists, which is far from true. I'm pretty tired of hearing people here say, "those Muslims will kill you if they get a chance" or other things like that. People, if you say things like that you're an ignorant fool.

One of the senior citizens with us asked our tour guide "Well didn't you all support the attack on 9/11?" That was a very ignorant question I thought, and I really appreciated her calmness in answering him. The Muslim community was outraged about the attack and it being connected with Islmaic Jihad. The majority of the Muslim community is not extremists, just like the majority of the Christian community doesn't go about bombing abortion centers. I learned a lot about Islam while in the Middle East. Jew, Christian, Muslim, Buddist, etc. Everyone thinks they are right. God is a just Judge, ultimately it will be up to Him. I'm not falling into syncritism, I believe what Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) I do however have a new outlook on the Middle East, Islam, Judiaism, and Christianity.

These experiences have also helped me reaffirm something I have been saying for a while. "Stop thinking and acting like an American and start thinking and acting like a Christian."