Sharm El-Sheikh: Great is the night and it smiles at you

Wednesday: December 15, 2010

It may be winter in the United States and Egypt, but it doesn’t feel like that here in Sharm El-Sheikh at the Renaissance Sharm El Sheikh Golden View Beach Resort.

Today I sat by two different pools, one of which had free Internet. Unlike Hurghada, there is no breeze here and it is very hot and sunny out. I like all the touring we did during the first few weeks of this trip, but I can’t complain about relaxing, reading, and napping by the pool. The pool with the free Internet is freezing while the pool without the Internet is heated, go figure.

Today a bunch of us ate lunch at Acapulco Joes, a Mexican restaurant at the hotel. Melanie and I split a serving of chicken fajitas (I caved and ate some chicken but there was so much food!). After, we returned to the heated pool, read, and soon fell asleep.

Mom: Don & Odett now work @ Pizza Hut Sharm

After the buffet dinner in the hotel dining room, some of us took a taxi to Naama Bay, about a 10-minute drive from our hotel. We fit 5 of us into a cab and it only cost us 25 pounds (5 pounds each=less than a dollar each, wow). Naama Bay is a nicer version of the Luxor market and it was also much bigger. The nightlife at Naama Bay is awesome and there are tons of shops. There are lots of hookah bars and touristy shops lining 3 or 4 streets. There was also a McDonalds (which I didn’t have), a Pizza Hut (which was huge), Hard Rock Café, TGI Fridays, and a Baskin Robbins! I shared an Oreo Cookies and Cream milkshake with Melanie and it was the best 30 pounds I’ve spent in a week. A lot of people went to a nightclub, but I was too tired/not in the mood to spend 100 pounds to get in. Four of us took a taxi for 25 pounds back to the hotel around 1am.

Tomorrow, more relaxing and more Naama Bay nightlife. Unfortunately, it is also the last day in Sharm El Sheikh as we then travel to St. Catherine and climb Mt. Sinai (where my mom works).

Once again, the Internet situation will be sketchy until I return to Cairo on Saturday the 18th. Keep those comments coming!

And yes, Little Chief Tunis, it was real and it was alive.

Hoy, Sharam A Sheikh

Tuesday: December 14, 2010

Welcome to beautiful Sharm El-Sheikh! Today we took a direct flight from Hurghada to Sharm El-Sheikh, which lasted exactly 20 minutes. In fact, it probably took more time to get our luggage than it took to cross the Red Sea (or to arrive in Asia, whichever way you look at it). Sharm El-Sheikh literally means the “Sector of the Elder.”

Formerly a part of Israel after it captured it in 1967 during the Six-Day War, Sharm El-Sheikh, located at the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula, was returned to Egypt in 1982 under a peace agreement between the two states. It is less than 40 years old, it this fact was obvious as we drove from the airport to the hotel. The area to the right of the major road was pure desert and mountains while the land to the left of the road was either developed or under construction. Similar to Hurghada, Sharm El-Sheikh is undergoing a lot of development. However, unlike Hurghada, Sharm El-Sheikh has a master plan and is really sticking to its already-developed land use policies. It has well planned roads and hotels, though it still has an Old Market area (which I plan to going to tomorrow night). Because the streets are well planned, there isn’t congestion like Cairo and therefore lots of peace conferences are held here.

The hotel is beautiful; it is the Marriot Renaissance Sharm El Sheikh Golden View Beach Resort. It is located directly on the Red Sea and from my room I can kinda see the sea. Breakfast and Dinner is included, drinks aren’t…but I found some free Internet near the pool area (apparently you have to buy a drink—but yeah…didn’t). There are 4 adult pools and 4 kid pools and at least 5 different restaurants.

Mailbag!

Uncle Adam: Hey! My tour guide seems to know his stuff, so I would also go with (1) and (2).
Is there a curriculum? We have our various excursions—a pretty packed schedule as you’ve read—but not really. We don’t have student visas, we have tourist visas (we’re pretty much tourists). Professor Ghaly’s Egypt Mini Term Website (Egypt.union.edu) says:

“This miniterm intends to give the students extensive exposure to ancient and modern Egypt. Monument and temple visits of Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic sites are planned. The goal is to explore both the cultural and engineering aspects of this civilization.”

Do you meet with your professor as a group (or individually) to discuss what you have learned or experienced each day? No, we will do this during presentations during the Winter Term.

I know you have been having some stomach maladies, but have you had any truly traditional Egyptian food? Yes, I’ve gone to a few home-style restaurants—and they are really good…though my stomach doesn’t seem to agree with me. At this point, I don’t think my stomach will agree with anything for whatever reason.

I should have taken some of the frogs, locusts, and ping-pong balls from Aunt Mindy’s house and toss them in the market when someone tells me “No Hassle.” They would probably try to sell me my stuff back.
Little Chief Tunis: Sorry I haven’t been able to update more…It sucks from my end too. I think 20% of the population celebrates Christmas…and they celebrate the same way they do in the States. The Sharm area has a lot of “Merry Christmas” signs and there is a huge Christmas tree in the lobby (which we took a picture in front of as a group. Ugh, Cliff Lee. I didn’t see that in the news…I haven’t spent the 15 pounds to get a lousy English-Egyptian paper, but that’s very cool.

Uncle Adam: Yeah, the sharks are a big concern here. They wont open the beaches until an investigation is finished. I read a few days ago in the paper that some people think the Israelis planted the sharks here…and I laughed. Our group wont be going on any sea excursions (no banana boats).

Mom: I know that the Egyptians are proud of their ancient history, but is any of it incorporated into their modern way of life, other than it being the source of much needed tourism income? Lots of jobs excavating undiscovered temples, the money has various historic symbols, a lot of older businesses (carpet making, alabaster carving is still around). Tourism is a huge deal here; English often dominates.

Mom wants to know if the site where Pharaoh's daughter found Moses was ever identified and, if so, is it marked? I have no idea. How wide is the Nile? Not as wide as you would think. Probably the width of the Delaware near Aunt Mindy’s house times 2. It obviously gets bigger during the flooding season. How deep? Deep. Is it clean enough to go swimming in? The farther away from Cairo, the better the water quality, but you don’t want to swim in it—lots of crocodiles. Are there reeds along its bank? Nope, just rocks—the construction of the Aswan High Dam probably destroyed that type of agriculture.

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee…Mohammed Ali of Egypt

Writing from an Egyptian sleeper train is harder than I thought it would be. I’m currently in car number 2, cabin 10 traveling overnight to Aswan in Southern Egypt. I guess I over estimated what the sleeper train was going to be like since I pictured large cabins and regular sized beds. There isn’t Internet on the train, so I’m writing as if you are reading it the day of!

Anyway, we hopped onboard the 8pm train from Giza Station. Giza Station reminded me of Jamaica station on the Long Island Rail Road in New York. There were only two tracks but the metro was above the commuter tracks using an elevated concrete structure similar to the one used for the AirTrain to Jamaica. Once on the train, we were soon greeted by a train conductor (or attendant, I’m not quite sure what to call the gentleman).

He gave us dinner (presented in a similar style to the airplane food) made up of rice, chicken, fish, cole slaw, a piece of bread, an orange, and a chocolate éclair-type desert. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if my stomach could handle the chicken yet even though it has gotten somewhat better throughout the day so I had some rice, the bread, and the desert. After we finished dinner, the conductor picked up our trays and set the beds up in the cabins. The seats fold down and a bed comes off the wall for the lower bunk while the upper bunk comes out of the wall. I just hope I can get some sleep tonight on the train but the train shakes back and forth when we get to track that splits in multiple directions In fact, I’m having problems typing as my computer shakes from side to side in my lap.

Earlier today, however, we visited many religious sites in and outside of Cairo. On our way to the Citadel, we could see from our tour bus the City of the Dead. This is an area where there are many mausoleums and in recent years it has been renamed the City of the Dead and Living since people who have immigrated to Egypt have had problems finding homes and therefore use the aboveground monuments at this area. This is a dangerous place to live because this area is at the bottom of a mountain where rocks have collapsed.

We then traveled to the Cairo Citadel, a fort the highest point to protect from Crusadors around 1100-1300 AD. At the Citadel, we saw the al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque that was built in 1335 during the Mamluk period and is of Islamic architecture. This mosque was an open-air facility and we had to take off our shoes. There were many doors (that have since been closed off) for easy escape for fighters who could have been in the mosque as an attack was occurring. This was important because many wars were going on and was considered the “Bloody Time.”

We also saw the Mohammed Ali Mosque (no relation to the boxer) who reigned over Egypt from 1805 to 1848. Mohammed Ali’s mosque was once the most beautiful mosque because of its marble construction, though like most stones in Egypt, they were stolen and recycled. Mosques in general were domed because microphones didn’t exist and they helped control temperature. Many people didn’t understand or like Mohammed Ali since he wanted to modernize Egypt. In fact, people would cut off their fingers to avoid having to join the military. Since there weren’t any women in the military, there wasn’t a place for women to pray. Apparently the Mamluks were causing trouble so Mohammed Ali invited 300 of the most important Mamluks to a party and instead of showing them a good time, he showed them death by shooting them.

We had a buffet lunch on a boat that stays on shore, though my stomach was really hurting me. Lets just say I had some bread, but didn’t eat anything else…I hope this goes away soon…damn, probiotics guy in Port Chester…you were right. I hope this only happens once.

We also visited Old Cairo. We got off our bus in front of a metro station. Cairo has 2 metro lines and is planning on building two more lines. Apparently the metro is pretty nice, though Zach, our tour guide didn’t suggest I get on board a train…too bad. We then visited a Coptic Church. 80% of Christians in Egypt are Coptic. It was made of wood treated with poison to protect against rot. Professor Ghaly, who was a Sunday school teacher, told us about the story of Passover and the plagues that god brought to Egypt. We also went to Ben Ezra Synagogue, the most-visited Jewish site in Cairo, and saw a converted Coptic Church turned Synagogue. This was pretty cool being in temple on a Saturday afternoon, even though I was in Egypt.

Another great and busy day in the Cairo area. Once I get off this bouncy sleeper train, I’ll be in Aswan in southern Egypt. I hear it is a whole different place…but I really need some sleep! Sorry about the lack of pictures, I’m way too nauseous to do that right now! Till next time!

MAIL BAG! (Keep them coming!)
Comments and Questions:

Ian: Thanks! It’s getting better, but I guess I need to be careful over the next few days.

Dad: We left Cairo before the second round of elections but it is noticeable around the city. You can’t go anywhere without seeing an election poster, sign, or banner—all in color with the candidate’s photo. I haven’t seen a fire station or truck yet. There are various types of police: Tourism, Antiquities, Irrigation, Traffic and the Military (a bunch of guys in Cuban-colored getups all got off the train at Giza Station.

Taxes are a major concern of Egyptians. They try to avoid it at any cost. Many of the buildings in Cairo are not finished because old tax law said that property tax was not applicable on unfinished buildings. So 3 floors are finished and the 4^th is just an open roof. I have pictures of this that I will put up at some point. I have no idea what the political parties are here…I want to read the paper everyday but they seem hard to find for the average tourist, nor do I have time.

Jeremy: Chicken from the bone; I wish they had chicken nuggets.

Aunt Mindy: Thanks for reading! Water: don’t drink it, only bottled water. The irrigation canal is also really nasty. No drought in Egypt right now, they are in a good situation with the Aswan Dam. It is however, the low water season in the Nile right now. The high season is from June to August.

I’ve seen little horses, donkeys, water buffalo, and crocodiles.

I have no idea where the girls are…but…there are women, albeit less, peddling goods. I’ll investigate further in the coming days. I haven’t seen them at restaurants at all come to think about it. The housekeeping staff in the Cairo hotel was comprised of men too.

I’m buying local, handmade crafts…or so they say.

Education…I haven’t seen a school yet, but we’ve discussed it while seeing children on the streets. Egypt has a public school system free to all children. Most however, don’t make it past 6^th grade because they need to help their family economically. The public school system in Cairo isn’t great because there are between 60 and 70 students in one classroom. There are also private schools—both international and Egyptian ranging in price from 3,000 Pounds ($600 USD) to 30,000 Pounds ($5,000 USD). International schools are around $7-8,000 USD a year. Government Universities are free-Cairo University and Heliopolis University to name a few. There are also international private universities. Our tour guide, Zach, went to Cairo University where he studied archeology and Helwan University where he received his degree in tourism and hotel management. The kids should be in school…but it seems like they can do whatever they want whenever they want for a quick pound.