Egyptian Encounters

Egypt was amazing! I could rave for days about it, but I know you'd rather see pictures.

So, here goes.

We found this sign before we even crossed the border into Egypt.

Apparently the sign was right!

Good thing Suz knows how to share!

Any questions about how I felt about going to Egypt?

Typical traffic in Cairo. Don't ask me how many lanes there were to start with. I don't think they even knew.

Who would have thought the Tree of Life was right there in Cairo, all along?

Bet you didn't know I'd grown that much since I've been gone!

It's pretty crazy to think these were already ancient by the time Abraham saw them.

Our tour guide at the papyrus museum, showing us how to make papyrus.

Typical Egyptian housing. They just keep building layer upon layer. Oftentimes they don't even have windows or real doors-- just cloth in the doorway. Also, they leave the rebar on top because they don't get taxed for a finished building that way. Besides, their kid or grandkid can just build on top of it in a few decades. I'd hate to be in there in an earthquake, though.

The Plague of the bedbugs. I think Moses forgot to mention this one in Exodus. My roomate and I both got mistaken for a meal in our first hotel room in Cairo. I ended up with 22 bites afterward. Other obnoxious plagues included mosquitoes and diarrhea.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing the Egyptian temples. They were rich with symbolism, much of which is familiar to us as Latter-day Saints. This carving shows, in the top-left corner, the gods washing the pharaoh to prepare him for godhood. To the right of that, the gods are anointing the pharaoh with oil. Two panels after that, the gods are laying their hands upon the head of the pharaoh. After that is a barrier, or veil between the Pharaoh and the gods. The other side of the veil is the pharaoh's ultimate destination. In some carvings, we even saw the Pharaoh putting his hand through the veil to the gods on the other side.

Pharaoh and one of the gods, embracing.

Taking a carriage ride in Luxor. That was where I discovered a new talent-- not driving a carriage, but attracting Egyptian men. Yuck. Our 15-year-old drive kept trying to put the moves on me (as evidenced). Apparently he didn't realize I'm twice his age. Then again, the men at the bazaar were even worse. A white girl can't walk through the bazaars in Egypt without being catcalled every few minutes. I had men yelling at me "I'm single," "You're very beautiful," and asking my mom "How many camels can I pay for her?" Not enough, buddy.

Sunset on the Nile-- taken by yours truly.

We stayed in this less-than-clean overnight train from Luxor to Cairo. It was definitely not the highest class ever. The seat here folded down into a bed and another bunk folded out of the wall above it. I have no idea when the sheets were last washed (and I probably don't want to know!) Also exciting was the fact that the toilets (at either end of the car) flushed straight onto the train tracks! I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

My roomate, Rachel, and me in our luxurious train compartment

Before this trip I think I would have put an Egyptian playing bagpipes in the same category as pigs flying. Maybe the world really is about to come to an end . . .

Is it just me, or is there something wrong with this picture?

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters . . .

(Oh, and if Heather starts commenting about who's the tallest, ask her who got to be on the top every time we made a human pyramid!)

Me and my trusty camel, Michael Jordan!

Riding camels was by far one of the very coolest things we did in Egypt. The scariest part is getting up because the camel stands up two feet at a time. So, half of him rises and you feel like you're about to slide off one way, and then his other half stands up and you think you're sliding off the other way. Once you're up, though, it's pretty cool. The whole time, I couldn't stop thinking of Rebekah, lighting off her camel to see her new husband, Isaac.

Another cool thing we did was to hike to the top of Mt. Sinai. We got up at 2am and hiked up in the dark, watching the stars as we hiked. At the top, it was bitterly cold (Mt. Sinai is about 2300 ft-- about 2/3 the height of Mt. Timpanogas in Provo). Honestly, I haven't been that cold since I was tracting in Wisconsin in the dead of winter (in negative-degree weather). We all had to huddle together for warmth until the sun rose. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on hand for the sunrise, but it was incredible. I highly recommend it if you're in Egypt and you can stand the cold up there.

Favorite quotes from Egypt:

"I am God, the God of they father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for . . . I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again." --Genesis 46:3-4

"I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt . . . unto a land flowing with milk and honey." --Exodus 3:17

"It's just that I've never seen anyone make out with an apple before!" -JJ Campbell

Jordan Moody: "I feel like I'm on the top of the world right now!" Me: "Is that because you're on top of Mt. Sinai, or because you're cuddling with 8 girls at once?" Jordan: "Both!"

"I've never had a date. I mean, the fruit!" -Ken

"Speak up if you're not here." -Mama Pharaoh (our tour guide in Cairo)

"We are 2 peas in a pod. And Jacob is the pod!" -Anne

"My bags made it through fine, but my joints didn't!" -Brother Thomas, explaining his delay at the border crossing