Egypt sidetrip...

Greetings from Egypt! Lauren and I have had 4 great days in Egypt so far. It's VERY different here... a little hard to explain. First, the country is 85% muslim and very Arabic. Most don't speak English, so that's been a struggle for us when we're not with a guide. We've been very fortunate with our guide, Azza, who speaks excellent English and is a progressive Muslim woman who has been fun to be with. We spent the first day resting at the hotel (we flew through the night and arrived mid-morning). On Saturday, we visited pyramids and tombs at Saqqara (the oldest in Egypt - around 4500 years old) and the great pyramids at Giza (where the sphinx is located). Highlights of the day for us were the camel ride into the desert around the pyramids at Giza and the trip into one of the pyramid tombs at Saqqara. I'm a little claustrophobic so that part was a real challenge... you have to climb down into the pyramid where the overhead height is only about 3 1/2 feet (so yes, you have to hunch way over). The only places you could stand were inside the burial chambers. It was neat but was a relief to get back to the surface! Sunday, we toured the Egyptian Museum which contains over 140,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts including the treasure of King Tut's tomb. I had really looked forward to this but it ended up being somewhat miserable because this is the height of summer and the place IS NOT AIR CONDITIONED!!! I couldn't believe it. It was close to 100 degrees inside and packed with tourists. We managed to last for about 2 hours but were exhausted and sweaty when we finished. After that, we toured several churches. Our two favorites were the Hanging Church which was built after Mark (one of Christ's 12 disciples) spread the gospel to this part of the world. He was here around 60 AD and the church was completed around 230 AD by descendants of his converts. It was absolutely amazing. We were also impressed by a nearby site, "The Holy Crypt" where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus stayed when they left home under Herrod's rule to keep Jesus safe as a young boy. No pictures were allowed here. The night was capped off by a dinner cruise on the Nile River with excellent Egyptian food and a great show including belly dancing and other traditional Egyptian dancing. The amount of history here is amazing, and they've done a good job of preserving very ancient artifacts. It's hard to fathom something that is 4500 years old - the Egyptians were definitely an impressive people. They had baskets, tools, furniture, pottery, and even blown glass. Seeing reproductions of their rooms wasn't so different from being in a modern home. Today we had the day "on our own" which meant we hung out at the hotel. We had planned to get out and explore the city but ran into a few complications... first, the city is huge (over 30 million people) and slums are mixed with commercial areas, so there's no real shopping, and while they say it is very safe, it doesn't always feel that way to us. Also, everything is in Arabic and we definitely feel that we are in a foreign country here. Finally, it's been uncomfortable the few times we've been out without a guide because Lauren is causing quite a stir. Apparently, whatever "look" Egyptian men go for, she has in excess! And here, they see marriage to an American as a way out. Also, Muslim men here are allowed to marry up to 4 wives and marriage between a 16 year old and 40 year old is not uncommon. Last night our guide said, "I have met many foreigners and Americans, but I have never seen anyone as beautiful as your daughter." Today, we walked down the street to eat at McDonald's (which after 3 weeks of African food was AMAZING!) and the attention really embarassed Lauren. We decided it was more fun (and comfortable!) to hang out in the hotel, watch the limited English TV, and use the Internet. Tomorrow, we leave early in the morning to drive 2 hours north to Alexandria (founded by Alexander the Great) to hang out on the beach of the Mediterrean Sea and explore Greek culture. Then, we fly home to Kenya at 11 p.m. And yes... we'll have a guide and driver the whole time!

While we have enjoyed this trip (and it is definitely one of those "once in a lifetime" things) we miss Kenya tremendously and are looking forward to returning for three more weeks before heading home to the US in mid-August.