It's been half-completed. That year which I'm supposed to survive. Semester one as a school teacher in now behind me. It has not been an easy five months. If I were to have an option, I would not do it over though. Mainly because I would never want to redo my first semester as a new teacher. I think any teacher would agree. There are some great moments, but also lots of stress, unknowing, and mistakes to learn from. One thing that could not have come at a more needed time was the two week semester break. My mom flew in to Istanbul, to tour my new home for the first time, then take off for our Egyptian adventure.
The first full day in Constantinople, my mom was thrown right into the crazy life of the city. We went to the Covered and Spice Bazaar with the headmaster's wife Tania. Now, the Covered and Spice Bazaar is a stop for anyone who visits Istanbul, but I have no idea how tourists can enjoy the experience being new to this city. Even for me now, it is an extremely overwhelming experience, and I've been here for five months. Exotic spices, Turkish towels, copper goods, silver jewelry, hand-painted ceramics, colorful scarves, leather jackets, Turkish rugs, and many tourist knicknacks made in China. I have started finding my own shops which I go to for particular goods and therefore know I won't get ripped off. For the many one-time tourists, I can only imagine the experience they get of constantly being hassled and incessantly followed. These storekeepers don't believe in casual browsing. They're there at every step. That is, until you build that relationship for them. Then, to me, the Bazaar becomes manageable.
Anyways, we brought my mom to this place. First day waking up 8 hours earlier than her bodily clock expects. She did an amazing job browsing through. We came away mainly empty handed which is another feat on her part. We then crossed over to the Asian side for some excellent Tuskish cuisine at a place called Chiya. She met several of my friends there. The second day was a much more mellow day as she went into my work and met several more coworkers, walked into Arnavutkoy and the nearby town of Bebek, and then returned back to my place for a glass of wine to celebrate my official end of the semester.
We took off the next morning for Cairo. Once at our hotel, we dropped off our stuff and the two of us decided to take a walk out in Cairo. That's when it hit us. We're in Africa. People stared as we walked by. Little children pointed. And understandably. We were uncovered, white skinned, light hair, light eyes. We looked very different to the surrounding population and obviously not in an area they are used to seeing many foreigners. Although nothing actually happened to us, the whole experience was a bit unsettling. It made me realize how happy I am that I am living in Istanbul and not in a place such as here. Although Istanbul has a very different culture and at times, I do feel like I stick out, it is nothing at all in comparison to this.
As far as Cairo and unrest, we saw or heard nothing of it. In fact, we heard from more people that it was just blown out of proportion. Of course, those people were all in the tourism business, but I do think that they had some truth to what they were saying. Except for that extra attention, there was nothing that made me feel uncomfortable and definitely ever unsafe. We did see a little demonstration on the street which we guessed was part of the upcoming election, but it was just as peaceful as a demonstration you would see on the street at home.
Day 1 in Egypt
The next day, our first full day in Cairo, we were picked up by our tour guide Susan and headed to the Pyramids. We unfortunately were hit by a rare sandstorm which made walking around the magnificent structures painful and chilly, but still, we were looking at the Pyramids...something I have wanted to do my whole life, nothing could take away from that!!! We went into the Great Pyramid. It involved some uncomfortable huddled crawling at times, but was worth it to just be inside that thing! We ascended the Pyramid through some wooden rail like pegs using an entrance cut in 820 AD and climbing through the Pyramid's Great Gallery believed to have been used as a slipway for the blocks covering the entrance. The route took us to the sarcophogus of the Pharoah himself, a dimly lit and medium sized room. Nothing else but the sarcaphogus remained.
Some facts: Giza and Cairo are separated by the Nile. Giza is located on the west bank and hence the Pyramids and burial grounds were here since the ancient Egyptians buried their dead with the setting sun. The three pyramids are Khufu's (Great Pyramid), his son Khafre's, and his successor Menkaure's tombs dating around 2500 BCE. To give some perspective on timing, we are closer now to the birth of Jesus than he was to the building of these monuments. Although Khafre's pyramid looks bigger due to being built on higher ground and today being more intact, Khufu's is the tallest and was the tallest building in the world up until the 19th century. It is estimated that there are over 2 million blocks of limestone in Khufu's Pyramid, with each weighing up to 15 tons.
We then visited the Sphinx which was built in Khafre's time in the same area. I shared some kisses with the lion man which I think he enjoyed as much as I did. As I was taking these pictures, I was approached by a man who wanted me to take a picture with his fully covered wife in front of the Sphinx (no, no kissing involved). We posed, Western culture meeting Muslim culture in the front, animal meeting man behind.
We then took off a trip about 45 minutes outside of town to check out the ancient capital of Memphis, and impressive granite statue of Ramses II and the graveyard of ancient Egyptian graveyard of Saqqara. The step pyramid there of Djoser is credited as the first pyramid of the ancient culture. Walking around the ancient structures was amazing, but equally fascinating was our insight into the lives of the Egyptians now. Cairo is dirty, crowded, and smelly. Looking around, it felt like I was taking a step back in time, even compared to my new home in Istanbul. Old, dusty Coca-Cola machines seemed to sit outside every convenience store. Carts behind donkeys rode alongside the dilapidated cars on the crowded streets. Every once in a while there was a jolt back to the times. A boy sitting on the donkey cart with the day's yield texting away. It is evident that Egypt is in hard times economically, those working in the tourist industry particularly affected. Everywhere we went, we were flocked by boys and men pushing their goods or services. Although our hearts broke for them, we had to learn to ignore them because we found any kind of conversation opened ourselves more to further pushing and annoyance. In fact, by the end of the five days, I was ready to leave this beautiful land just because of this constant harassment.
Day 2
Early in the morning, we caught our plane to Aswan and spent the morning there at the large market. Shops of alabaster, glass perfume bottles, silver, scarves, fruits, spices, Nile perch stretched for probably a kilometer. Aswan is a beautiful city on the Nile and seemed to move at a slow pace and we enjoyed the more relaxed ways. We went to the Temple of Philae (around 4th Century BCE) which is no longer accurately named. The Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, was originally built on the Island of Philae which now is completely submerged due to the building of the 1902 Aswan Dam and later 1971 High Dam. Before the building of the High Dam, each stone in the temple was removed and labeled and put back together on a new island recreated to look like Philae. Due to this tedious project, the temple is completely restored and in beautiful shape.
Day 3
We spent the night on our Nile cruiser anchored to Aswan. At 7am, the boat detached and we were set cruising north and downriver (little fact, the Upper Nile is actually to the south since the river flows north). The day was spent with stops at the Temple of Kom Ombo and Temple of Horace in Edfu (both built around the 2nd Century BCE by the new Graeco-Roman rulers wanting to ensure loyalty from the Upper Egyptians), ending the evening in Luxor. The views from the cruiser were fascinating, with glimpses of the average farmer on the Nile. Mud huts as well as more elaborate painted stone dwellings dotted the shore. Men tended the fields and livestock. We passed small boats of fishermen and local commuters. Palms and sand covered the untended land directly beside the great river, with endless sandy hills stretching behind it. Sugar cane is a huge crop in this area. We went to bed still moving, reaching our destination of Luxor sometime around 3am.
Day 4
Today was the first anniversary of the overthrow of Mubarak. Except for more armed forces and a celebration in the square, in Luxor there was nothing out of the ordinary. We visited the Valley of the Kings first which was my favorite place on the trip. Unfortunately, due to the fact that they are all tombs, no photos were allowed. The Valley of the Kings is in a natural limestone valley. Due to the natural pyramid-looking structure on the top of the rocks (reminiscent of the famous pyramids which by this time were about 1000 years old!) and more hidden natural surroundings (pharaohs knew at the time their graves were being robbed and plundered) about 30 pharaohs dug their tombs into the ground here. One such tomb is King Tut's, famous because it was discovered relatively untouched by the ancient thieves. We ventured into three of these underground tombs, all of which were empty except for the sarcophagus. Some were more elaborate, with a long entryway, rooms for holding all the pharaoh's luxurious items for the afterlife, and false doors and turns to fool the robbers. What made these so amazing to me was the great state of the walls. In the temples we had seen so far, you could see the elaborate hieroglyphs and scenes, but little paint remained. In the protected caves, though, the paint and detail were still there, preserved to almost the same state of when they were drawn. It really was stunning. Few places had any kind of covering in front of it, so you could actually reach out and touch these ancient pieces of artwork.
We stopped nearby to an alabaster "factory" where old men were working on making their alabaster pots and plates the same way they had done long ago. We then headed our way to Hatshepsut's Temple, a stunning three tiered worship place hewn into the limestone cliff. From the structure, we got a fantastic view of the banana, sugar cane, cabbage, and mango fields.
Day 5
We rounded up our tour of Egypt with two more stops in Luxor. The first was the impressive complex of Karnak Temple. Layers of building were evident because many pharaohs added pieces to the complex during their time of rule. The final stop was Luxor Temple which was sitting opposite our moored boat. Like Karnak and many other temples before it, the temple had been changed or added to by its rulers. Some hieroglyphics had been painted over in a Christian theme during the Roman period when the temple was converted to a church. Then, in the 1000's AD, when about 20 feet of the temple had been buried under sand and mud leaving only the top 10 feet visible, the Muslim rulers built a mosque into it. When the temple was later unburied, the mosque was left with another entrance made so that both could be visited. The first door of the mosque is now visible high on top the wall of the temple.
The trip has been amazing. A Nile cruise is the way to see this place. The hassle from the vendors got very aggravating, but seeing the poverty sheds some understanding. Walking down any Egyptian street you know you're coming to a hotel or any other destination for tourists from the drastic change. The simple, dusty, mud apartment building stands in such stark contrast to the modern, clean hotel. But understanding can only go so far and the constant barrage of vendors passed me into a state of irritation. Whenever we were without our guide going to or leaving a sight, the vendors descended. Escaping it felt like you had survived the gauntlet, until the next one. At one stop, a small boy was along my side the whole way. I hushed him and told him to stop and just enjoy the sight. He paused with me as I enjoyed the view and snapped some photos. As soon as I turned to leave, he expected money for listening to me. Ah! Vendors would give us gifts, then follow us around asking for money for it. We would have to sometimes rip off their "gifts" they had put on us to get them away. I also attracted a little more attention being "young" and blonde. My mom felt like she had to take a role of being my protector at times, even though I guaranteed her I was perfectly capable. Twenty-seven now and still her little girl...wonder when or if that will ever change. One young man offered 3000 camels for my hand in marriage. I declined, but told my mom if they ever ran into financial problems, I know how I can help them out. Not sure what they would do with 3000 camels though... Overall, though, those Egyptians that were not hassling us for money were absolutely terrific. I really hope these elections this summer get them on the right track, whatever it is, to making this country a better place for them to live.
The first full day in Constantinople, my mom was thrown right into the crazy life of the city. We went to the Covered and Spice Bazaar with the headmaster's wife Tania. Now, the Covered and Spice Bazaar is a stop for anyone who visits Istanbul, but I have no idea how tourists can enjoy the experience being new to this city. Even for me now, it is an extremely overwhelming experience, and I've been here for five months. Exotic spices, Turkish towels, copper goods, silver jewelry, hand-painted ceramics, colorful scarves, leather jackets, Turkish rugs, and many tourist knicknacks made in China. I have started finding my own shops which I go to for particular goods and therefore know I won't get ripped off. For the many one-time tourists, I can only imagine the experience they get of constantly being hassled and incessantly followed. These storekeepers don't believe in casual browsing. They're there at every step. That is, until you build that relationship for them. Then, to me, the Bazaar becomes manageable.
Anyways, we brought my mom to this place. First day waking up 8 hours earlier than her bodily clock expects. She did an amazing job browsing through. We came away mainly empty handed which is another feat on her part. We then crossed over to the Asian side for some excellent Tuskish cuisine at a place called Chiya. She met several of my friends there. The second day was a much more mellow day as she went into my work and met several more coworkers, walked into Arnavutkoy and the nearby town of Bebek, and then returned back to my place for a glass of wine to celebrate my official end of the semester.
We took off the next morning for Cairo. Once at our hotel, we dropped off our stuff and the two of us decided to take a walk out in Cairo. That's when it hit us. We're in Africa. People stared as we walked by. Little children pointed. And understandably. We were uncovered, white skinned, light hair, light eyes. We looked very different to the surrounding population and obviously not in an area they are used to seeing many foreigners. Although nothing actually happened to us, the whole experience was a bit unsettling. It made me realize how happy I am that I am living in Istanbul and not in a place such as here. Although Istanbul has a very different culture and at times, I do feel like I stick out, it is nothing at all in comparison to this.
As far as Cairo and unrest, we saw or heard nothing of it. In fact, we heard from more people that it was just blown out of proportion. Of course, those people were all in the tourism business, but I do think that they had some truth to what they were saying. Except for that extra attention, there was nothing that made me feel uncomfortable and definitely ever unsafe. We did see a little demonstration on the street which we guessed was part of the upcoming election, but it was just as peaceful as a demonstration you would see on the street at home.
Day 1 in Egypt
The next day, our first full day in Cairo, we were picked up by our tour guide Susan and headed to the Pyramids. We unfortunately were hit by a rare sandstorm which made walking around the magnificent structures painful and chilly, but still, we were looking at the Pyramids...something I have wanted to do my whole life, nothing could take away from that!!! We went into the Great Pyramid. It involved some uncomfortable huddled crawling at times, but was worth it to just be inside that thing! We ascended the Pyramid through some wooden rail like pegs using an entrance cut in 820 AD and climbing through the Pyramid's Great Gallery believed to have been used as a slipway for the blocks covering the entrance. The route took us to the sarcophogus of the Pharoah himself, a dimly lit and medium sized room. Nothing else but the sarcaphogus remained.
Some facts: Giza and Cairo are separated by the Nile. Giza is located on the west bank and hence the Pyramids and burial grounds were here since the ancient Egyptians buried their dead with the setting sun. The three pyramids are Khufu's (Great Pyramid), his son Khafre's, and his successor Menkaure's tombs dating around 2500 BCE. To give some perspective on timing, we are closer now to the birth of Jesus than he was to the building of these monuments. Although Khafre's pyramid looks bigger due to being built on higher ground and today being more intact, Khufu's is the tallest and was the tallest building in the world up until the 19th century. It is estimated that there are over 2 million blocks of limestone in Khufu's Pyramid, with each weighing up to 15 tons.
We then visited the Sphinx which was built in Khafre's time in the same area. I shared some kisses with the lion man which I think he enjoyed as much as I did. As I was taking these pictures, I was approached by a man who wanted me to take a picture with his fully covered wife in front of the Sphinx (no, no kissing involved). We posed, Western culture meeting Muslim culture in the front, animal meeting man behind.
We then took off a trip about 45 minutes outside of town to check out the ancient capital of Memphis, and impressive granite statue of Ramses II and the graveyard of ancient Egyptian graveyard of Saqqara. The step pyramid there of Djoser is credited as the first pyramid of the ancient culture. Walking around the ancient structures was amazing, but equally fascinating was our insight into the lives of the Egyptians now. Cairo is dirty, crowded, and smelly. Looking around, it felt like I was taking a step back in time, even compared to my new home in Istanbul. Old, dusty Coca-Cola machines seemed to sit outside every convenience store. Carts behind donkeys rode alongside the dilapidated cars on the crowded streets. Every once in a while there was a jolt back to the times. A boy sitting on the donkey cart with the day's yield texting away. It is evident that Egypt is in hard times economically, those working in the tourist industry particularly affected. Everywhere we went, we were flocked by boys and men pushing their goods or services. Although our hearts broke for them, we had to learn to ignore them because we found any kind of conversation opened ourselves more to further pushing and annoyance. In fact, by the end of the five days, I was ready to leave this beautiful land just because of this constant harassment.
Day 2
Early in the morning, we caught our plane to Aswan and spent the morning there at the large market. Shops of alabaster, glass perfume bottles, silver, scarves, fruits, spices, Nile perch stretched for probably a kilometer. Aswan is a beautiful city on the Nile and seemed to move at a slow pace and we enjoyed the more relaxed ways. We went to the Temple of Philae (around 4th Century BCE) which is no longer accurately named. The Temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, was originally built on the Island of Philae which now is completely submerged due to the building of the 1902 Aswan Dam and later 1971 High Dam. Before the building of the High Dam, each stone in the temple was removed and labeled and put back together on a new island recreated to look like Philae. Due to this tedious project, the temple is completely restored and in beautiful shape.
Day 3
We spent the night on our Nile cruiser anchored to Aswan. At 7am, the boat detached and we were set cruising north and downriver (little fact, the Upper Nile is actually to the south since the river flows north). The day was spent with stops at the Temple of Kom Ombo and Temple of Horace in Edfu (both built around the 2nd Century BCE by the new Graeco-Roman rulers wanting to ensure loyalty from the Upper Egyptians), ending the evening in Luxor. The views from the cruiser were fascinating, with glimpses of the average farmer on the Nile. Mud huts as well as more elaborate painted stone dwellings dotted the shore. Men tended the fields and livestock. We passed small boats of fishermen and local commuters. Palms and sand covered the untended land directly beside the great river, with endless sandy hills stretching behind it. Sugar cane is a huge crop in this area. We went to bed still moving, reaching our destination of Luxor sometime around 3am.
Day 4
Today was the first anniversary of the overthrow of Mubarak. Except for more armed forces and a celebration in the square, in Luxor there was nothing out of the ordinary. We visited the Valley of the Kings first which was my favorite place on the trip. Unfortunately, due to the fact that they are all tombs, no photos were allowed. The Valley of the Kings is in a natural limestone valley. Due to the natural pyramid-looking structure on the top of the rocks (reminiscent of the famous pyramids which by this time were about 1000 years old!) and more hidden natural surroundings (pharaohs knew at the time their graves were being robbed and plundered) about 30 pharaohs dug their tombs into the ground here. One such tomb is King Tut's, famous because it was discovered relatively untouched by the ancient thieves. We ventured into three of these underground tombs, all of which were empty except for the sarcophagus. Some were more elaborate, with a long entryway, rooms for holding all the pharaoh's luxurious items for the afterlife, and false doors and turns to fool the robbers. What made these so amazing to me was the great state of the walls. In the temples we had seen so far, you could see the elaborate hieroglyphs and scenes, but little paint remained. In the protected caves, though, the paint and detail were still there, preserved to almost the same state of when they were drawn. It really was stunning. Few places had any kind of covering in front of it, so you could actually reach out and touch these ancient pieces of artwork.
We stopped nearby to an alabaster "factory" where old men were working on making their alabaster pots and plates the same way they had done long ago. We then headed our way to Hatshepsut's Temple, a stunning three tiered worship place hewn into the limestone cliff. From the structure, we got a fantastic view of the banana, sugar cane, cabbage, and mango fields.
Day 5
We rounded up our tour of Egypt with two more stops in Luxor. The first was the impressive complex of Karnak Temple. Layers of building were evident because many pharaohs added pieces to the complex during their time of rule. The final stop was Luxor Temple which was sitting opposite our moored boat. Like Karnak and many other temples before it, the temple had been changed or added to by its rulers. Some hieroglyphics had been painted over in a Christian theme during the Roman period when the temple was converted to a church. Then, in the 1000's AD, when about 20 feet of the temple had been buried under sand and mud leaving only the top 10 feet visible, the Muslim rulers built a mosque into it. When the temple was later unburied, the mosque was left with another entrance made so that both could be visited. The first door of the mosque is now visible high on top the wall of the temple.
The trip has been amazing. A Nile cruise is the way to see this place. The hassle from the vendors got very aggravating, but seeing the poverty sheds some understanding. Walking down any Egyptian street you know you're coming to a hotel or any other destination for tourists from the drastic change. The simple, dusty, mud apartment building stands in such stark contrast to the modern, clean hotel. But understanding can only go so far and the constant barrage of vendors passed me into a state of irritation. Whenever we were without our guide going to or leaving a sight, the vendors descended. Escaping it felt like you had survived the gauntlet, until the next one. At one stop, a small boy was along my side the whole way. I hushed him and told him to stop and just enjoy the sight. He paused with me as I enjoyed the view and snapped some photos. As soon as I turned to leave, he expected money for listening to me. Ah! Vendors would give us gifts, then follow us around asking for money for it. We would have to sometimes rip off their "gifts" they had put on us to get them away. I also attracted a little more attention being "young" and blonde. My mom felt like she had to take a role of being my protector at times, even though I guaranteed her I was perfectly capable. Twenty-seven now and still her little girl...wonder when or if that will ever change. One young man offered 3000 camels for my hand in marriage. I declined, but told my mom if they ever ran into financial problems, I know how I can help them out. Not sure what they would do with 3000 camels though... Overall, though, those Egyptians that were not hassling us for money were absolutely terrific. I really hope these elections this summer get them on the right track, whatever it is, to making this country a better place for them to live.
