Pyramids and Battle Scars

Well, I've spent another two weeks here in Egypt and it's been exciting! I feel like I'm finally starting to get into the swing of things. I've started walking places and not getting lost. I've even started taking taxis on my own! Alas, if they could only discover seat belts, we'd be set.

Let's see, where to start? Chronologically seems most appropriate. So, during my second weekend in Cairo, I went to the Cairo Museum, I toured three very old and famous mosques, I went to an old ottoman house that's been converted into a museum and I went to the ruins of the ancient city of Memphis. It isn't too hard to understand why I then succumbed to the cold I had been battling the week before. I spent most of Sunday in bed blowing my nose, and most of Monday coughing. It sucked, but I have recovered!

The Cairo Museum was pretty interesting. Unfortunately, the museum isn't really well kept or organized. It's not laid out in the way that we in Canada are used to in museums; for instance, there are very few labels or lights, and everything is kinda packed in because they have so much. I mean, it was interesting to see all the stuff and it took me hours, it's just I didn't feel like I learned the "story" behind the pieces, or much of the history. The only stuff that resonated was the stuff that I already knew about and was able to identify and piece together. Apparently, they're in the process of building a new museum that will exhibit the collection much better - of course, it won't be finished until after I'm gone. If I go again, I think I'll give one of the Egyptologists standing outside offering to be guides a shot, maybe I'll learn something. The other unfortunate bit of news is that they no longer allow anyone to take their camera inside, so I don't have any pictures (but I totally saw this guy taking photos with his blackberry and I was pissed
man!).

Cairo Museum

Despite all of these difficulties, the King Tutankhamen exhibit was pretty fantastic (it's what most tourists come to see, they usually don't even go through the rest of the museum). His was the only tomb excavated that wasn't looted, which is why it's so amazing because they found a lot of stuff. I mean, there were huge...boxes, I guess you could call them (but picture them the size of a van) that were plated in gold! Well, everything was plated in gold. Also, there are several sarcophagi (plural?) one inside of the other with each more ornate as you go (apparently, this was to discourage looters). I mean, the wealth was nuts! And apparently, because he's known as the 'boy king' (they estimate he died when he was 19), they figure his tomb wasn't even that extravagant because he didn't have the time to build up his wealth or prepare as much for his 'afterlife'. It boggles the mind and makes me wonder what was in the rest of the tombs that were completely ransacked, and what that might have meant to world history. Finally, I had to pay extra to go into the Mummy Room! It was creepy at first, but then it was interesting to see how well preserved they are for being like 7,000 years old (some still have hair - and it's red!). Plus, it was funny because they had Queen Hatshepsut's mummy and the label explained how they didn't realize it was her at first and how the people that found her labeled her the 'fat lady' cause she was 'obese'. Now, I don't know how they decided this, because, as I confirmed upon my second glance at the body, she was skin and bones (as mummies are wont to be). Confused? Me too.

I also went to three very old mosques - the Ibn Tulin mosque, the Sultan Hassan mosque and the Al Rifa'i mosque - which were fairly amazing, and HUGE! The architecture was beautiful. Next to the one mosque is an old Ottoman house that was preserved really well by a British ex patriot in the early 1900s, and when he moved back to Britain, he donated the house to the Egyptian government as a museum. It was pretty cool and I took a million pictures (the rest to be seen on Facebook). Afterwards, we drove to see the ruins of the ancient city of Memphis. It sounds more impressive than it was, there's not really much left, but there were some cool statues.

Inside the Ibn Tulin mosque

Me and Ramses at Memphis

There was a lot of walking and the whole weekend was pretty exhausting, so as I said, I ended up sick for a few days. Then, on Tuesday I went shopping at the huge mall here called City Stars with my friend Nada (she's Egyptian, and a fellow intern). It sucked a little because they have mostly the same stores that we do, except the clothes are more expensive (because of import duties) even after the exchange rate, so it wasn't worth it to buy anything. However, purses and shoes are cheaper! So I'm concentrating my efforts on those fronts.

This past weekend, I went to the el Fayoum oasis and the Maydoum pyramid. The el Fayoum oasis is the largest in Egypt and it's pretty populated now, so it didn't exactly fit this image of an oasis that I had in my head from movies. There was a huge lake though, which was really strange because it goes from desert straight into lake. There's no demarcation of grass or something. I also saw a desert for the first time ever! So that was cool. Again though, the desert doesn't look like what I've seen in movies. Jill told me that the desert in Egypt is very flat and packed hard (it's not fluffy, and you don't sink in). All the movies that shows the sort of rolling dunes are filmed in Tunisia or something. Nevertheless, still cool to see some desert.

Now, for the piece de resistance, I went into a pyramid! The Maydoum pyramid is one of the older step-style pyramids (they hadn't quite gotten the technique down yet that they used later for the Great Pyramids at Giza). We had to climb down this small opening on a really sketchy wooden platform with pieces of metal ever foot or so that you brace yourself on. I tripped a few times, so that was scary. Then you climb up these ladders into a really small room the just fit the sarcophagus. Because it was the early style, there were no drawings or inscriptions or anything, so it was fairly boring (and really hot and humid once you got inside). But still cool to have gone in! Then I went into this other temple thing beside the pyramid that had other tombs, including the first sarcophagus ever discovered in Egypt. I went into the tomb by myself because Jill and her friend Judy didn't want to crawl in. I don't blame them, it was really hard, but I figured I had to do it since I was there (when would I ever get the chance again?), even though my legs were killing me already from the pyramid. Anyways, at one point I had to literally crawl on my stomach through a square opening that wasn't much wider than my shoulder width. I wasn't sure I would ever make it out again, and I totally scraped up my ankle in the process. Ah well, it was worth it!

Me at the Maydoum pyramid!

So, as for everything else, work is going ok. Still a bit of a struggle what with the lack of Arabic and all. Plus the other interns are finished (their school break is over), so I'm all alone now. I've signed up for Arabic lessons (two hours, twice a week - so it should be pretty intensive), which start tonight so we'll see how they go.

As for other observations about Egypt, I'm beginning to see the development issues that are kinda glossed over when you first get here, especially because I've really only seen the wealthier side of the country. It's an amazing country, but they face a lot of challenges, not the least of which is the huge differences between classes, the gender gap, and religious intolerance, among others. But I've met a lot of friendly people, especially those who work at my office, who are trying to overcome these challenges and hopefully they'll be successful in time.

Signing off, it's a beautiful 22 degrees Celsius and sunny here in Cairo. How's it going in Canada? :P