Tuesday: December 21, 2010
Words cannot accurately describe the past three weeks. I’ve written in this blog (almost) daily describing the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met. It has easily been the most productive and most fun winter break I’ve had in college. Sure, some places and hotels were nicer than others, but all in all, it was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will treasure forever.
Between packing and being on the computer, I didn’t get much sleep the night before we left for New York. I woke up at 5:20am, finished packing my bag, took my bags to the lobby, and had breakfast in the hotel at 6am. We left for Cairo Airport on the early side (around 6:45am) to avoid the downtown Cairo traffic and I couldn’t stay awake on the bus. It was sort of melancholy on the bus as Professor Ghaly expressed how great the trip was and as the group expressed their praise for Professor Ghaly. He was crying—something I’ve never seen him do before. We arrived at the airport, took our bags from the bus, and entered the terminal. I hugged Professor Ghaly and Mama Ghaly as I went through the general terminal security. I looked back and saw memories of Egypt as I put my bags on the screener.
I didn’t have much time to say goodbye to Egypt as Melanie and I hurried to the check-in counter. Professor Ghaly and Melanie told me that the plane was going to be packed, but I thought since it was a Tuesday people wouldn’t be traveling—and I was very wrong. We waited inline for a good amount of time and I was happy that my luggage was not over weight.
We then went through Egyptian immigration and officially left the country—we were in no-man’s land—a crazy legal idea that we were in Egypt, but we technically weren’t. The main security area where you go through a metal detector was at the boarding area—different from NYC—so we sat outside the boarding area gate until they opened it. Once through security, we sat in the boarding area until a little after 10 am. After changing my seat a few times (26k to 38J to 39I to finally 39J), Melanie and I wound up sitting together, which was really nice. EgyptAir flight MS 985 took off at 10:55am, Cairo Time. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast at around noon, took 2 Dramamine, and started watching “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Happily and un-expectantly, I fell asleep—for 4 hours! It was glorious! I then woke up, read the free newspaper, and finished the movie. They also served us lunch (I had chicken and rice) on the plane and then I watched the movies “Flipped” (cute movie) and “The Day After Tomorrow” (yay, New York). After 9313 km of traveling, we landed at 3:15pm EST at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City. We were finally home!
We waited in line for awhile before we went though immigration—but once the officer stamped my passport, I was finally back in the United States. I then got my bags and went to the customs checkpoint. The guy told Melanie and I that we had to go to the secondary checkpoint where the officer asked us a few more questions and let us go without having to open our luggage.
With passing that last checkpoint, I was home. United States, New York, Home. Going to Egypt was amazing. Simply amazing. I learned about a whole new culture—different money, language, and religions. I learned how to haggle and I learned how to repack my suitcase every three days. The tombs and temples were remarkable in everyway. The ancient Egyptians were so advanced and so smart. They had technology and architecture that we struggle to achieve with computers and formulas. The mini-term concept is a fantastic one, and while expensive, it was worth every penny…or piaster, I wish I could do one every year. Sure, at times I struggled with the food and the security, but that was expected. At least I learned that I could be on a plane for almost 12 hours without losing my mind.
I want to thank everybody that has supported me in my journey across the world, including my parents and grandparents, my family, my friends, and my classmates. I also must thank Professor Ghaly for his hard work in making this trip a reality. He has been working since last February to put together this 3-week trip and it showed.
Egypt is a diverse and interesting place to visit and I suggest everybody try to check it out at some point. It’s been great blogging with you…and thank you to those who have read my rambling—I really appreciate everybody who took a few minutes out of their hectic days to see how my day had gone—yeah the seven hour time difference was rough at times—just ask my Mom! Anymore questions, ask them here or in email, I'll answer them! Until next time!
Don’t fear time, sometimes it feels like 10 seconds.
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Far From One Gustave L. Levy Place
Saturday: December 18, 2010
Today was a long day. It started at 1:15am when I received a wake up call and had to get to the bus by 1:45am. I think I slept for an hour—in my jeans and a hooded sweatshirt (I had the hood up the entire time). I couldn’t sleep because of the mosquitoes flying around my head and making a buzzing noise in my ears. Apparently there was a repellent in the room, but Mike and I didn’t realize it. Even with my hood up, I got three bites on my face (Melanie’s room also had the same problem—and she got bites on her face, legs, and back).
Why did we wake up so early? We woke up soon after going to sleep to climb Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise at 5:50am at the mountain’s peak. With flashlights in hand and wearing many layers of warm clothes (it was pretty cold at the beginning of the night as well as at the top of the mountain), we were led up the mountain by a Bedouin (pronounced: Bedwin), a type of person who lives in the desert. This man is employed by the Egyptian government to lead groups to the top of Mt. Sinai in order to give them job opportunities and ensure that touring companies don’t take advantage of visitors.
The group was moving up the mountain in the dark at a pretty swift pace. Melanie and I decided to take it easy up the mountain (we each have a history of knee problems). As we climbed the mountain, there were dozens of people offering camel rides up the mountain. A good number of non-Union people paid at least 80 pounds for this service but personally I would have been scared to ride a camel in the dark up steep slopes. There were rest stops along the path with drinks and candy, but I didn’t buy anything. After a quick rest stop here and there (anything longer than 5 minutes would have caused our body temperatures to drop), we continued on to the top of the mountain. I often looked up at the stars and I’ve never seen them so bright—it’s too bad the camera couldn’t capture these images. The ground was pretty rocky and I often was looking down so I wouldn’t trip or step in camel dung.
At the 2/3 mark, we had to climb ~750 steps to get to the top of Mt. Sinai. Even with our moderate pace, we caught up with the rest of the Union group and arrived at the top at 5:30am. I didn’t see any tablets, nor did I see Moses. Many aren’t sure of the exact location of Mt. Sinai, but this spot was chosen after it was geolocated using texts and historical background (not truly hard evidence). We spent 45-50 minutes at the top of the mountain to watch the sun rise. After hot days in Sharm, I quickly found myself shivering while wearing 4 layers, two hoods, and winter gloves. Check out this video below!
After watching the sun peak through the clouds and avoiding the numerous vendors, we descended the mountain and got to the bottom around 9am.
The Union group met at the entrance of St. Catherine’s Monastery where we then entered as a group. Interestingly, St. Catherine herself had problems with the ruler of Alexandra regarding religion among other things and was beheaded. Later, a monk saw St. Catherine’s angel and was instructed to bury her in its present location. There are many churches in the area, including one on the top of Mt. Sinai. During the 3rd/4th centuries, the Bedouins living in the area would attack the monastery for food and water and killed monks while doing so. In order to protect themselves, they built walls around the monastery for protection, similar to the walls that surround castles. The wells in the monastery apparently were used during the time of Moses, according to Zach. The monastery is also home to the burning bush. This brush is thought of to be the actual burning bush that is mentioned in the Old Testament because this location has been passed on from generation to generation, pieces of papyrus say this is the correct location, it was there in 642 AD when the Arabs came to Egypt, and pure faith.
After spending time admiring the burning bush, we returned to our hotel, had breakfast, and got back on the road to head back to Cairo. On our way back to the capital city of Egypt, we made three stops. The first stop was a Moses Water Spring, a well-type structure near the Suez Canal made from stones of the Roman time.
The second stop was an open-air Egyptian military museum depicting the events of the 1973 war between Egypt and Israel. This site was 3.5 km from Moses Springs. Professor Ghaly was the translator for the special military guide who showed us around the site. He prefaced his translating by saying this is the Egyptian side and there might not be agreement. Before 1973, Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula and in 1973, Egypt regained control. We saw an Israeli-built shelter made from reinforced concrete and baskets with stones to absorb cannon ball hits that housed 6-inch caliber cannons. The guide explained that the shelter contains an Israeli flag—and that the 6-pointed star represents the 6 countries Israel wanted to conquer, the top blue strip represents the Nile River, and the bottom blue stripe represents the Tigris/ Euphrates Rivers. I’m not sure that I agree with this explanation being that the Israeli flag was designed in the 1800s, long before the creation of Israel in 1948, but I heard what the military personnel had to say.
We then left the museum and continued our ride back to Cairo. In order to move from Asia to Africa, we took a tunnel that went under the Suez Canal. Unlike tunnels in the New York City area (that were bored from hard rock), the Suez tunnel went through soft sand and needed reinforcement. It is located 10 meters below the canal and is ~4km long. There is a toll to use this tunnel—5 pounds (less than $1) for cars and 10 pounds for buses. After another hour in the bus, we arrived in Cairo and had dinner at a local restaurant where I had chicken and French fries. Next, we checked into our hotel, the Mercure, which was the first hotel we stayed in while in Egypt—we’ve come full circle. Moving around the country has been very exciting, though it is nice to return to where we started three weeks ago. After a night in a hotel like last night, Cairo was a sight for tired and weary eyes.
Tomorrow we take a long bus ride north to Alexandria for a day trip and return to Cairo in the evening. Any questions!? Ask! I’ll answer them! Thanks for reading!
**One Gustave L. Levy Place is the location of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City**
“Cairo has never looked so good.”
—Melanie Watman as we entered Cairo this evening.
Today was a long day. It started at 1:15am when I received a wake up call and had to get to the bus by 1:45am. I think I slept for an hour—in my jeans and a hooded sweatshirt (I had the hood up the entire time). I couldn’t sleep because of the mosquitoes flying around my head and making a buzzing noise in my ears. Apparently there was a repellent in the room, but Mike and I didn’t realize it. Even with my hood up, I got three bites on my face (Melanie’s room also had the same problem—and she got bites on her face, legs, and back).
Why did we wake up so early? We woke up soon after going to sleep to climb Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise at 5:50am at the mountain’s peak. With flashlights in hand and wearing many layers of warm clothes (it was pretty cold at the beginning of the night as well as at the top of the mountain), we were led up the mountain by a Bedouin (pronounced: Bedwin), a type of person who lives in the desert. This man is employed by the Egyptian government to lead groups to the top of Mt. Sinai in order to give them job opportunities and ensure that touring companies don’t take advantage of visitors.
The group was moving up the mountain in the dark at a pretty swift pace. Melanie and I decided to take it easy up the mountain (we each have a history of knee problems). As we climbed the mountain, there were dozens of people offering camel rides up the mountain. A good number of non-Union people paid at least 80 pounds for this service but personally I would have been scared to ride a camel in the dark up steep slopes. There were rest stops along the path with drinks and candy, but I didn’t buy anything. After a quick rest stop here and there (anything longer than 5 minutes would have caused our body temperatures to drop), we continued on to the top of the mountain. I often looked up at the stars and I’ve never seen them so bright—it’s too bad the camera couldn’t capture these images. The ground was pretty rocky and I often was looking down so I wouldn’t trip or step in camel dung.
At the 2/3 mark, we had to climb ~750 steps to get to the top of Mt. Sinai. Even with our moderate pace, we caught up with the rest of the Union group and arrived at the top at 5:30am. I didn’t see any tablets, nor did I see Moses. Many aren’t sure of the exact location of Mt. Sinai, but this spot was chosen after it was geolocated using texts and historical background (not truly hard evidence). We spent 45-50 minutes at the top of the mountain to watch the sun rise. After hot days in Sharm, I quickly found myself shivering while wearing 4 layers, two hoods, and winter gloves. Check out this video below!
The Union group met at the entrance of St. Catherine’s Monastery where we then entered as a group. Interestingly, St. Catherine herself had problems with the ruler of Alexandra regarding religion among other things and was beheaded. Later, a monk saw St. Catherine’s angel and was instructed to bury her in its present location. There are many churches in the area, including one on the top of Mt. Sinai. During the 3rd/4th centuries, the Bedouins living in the area would attack the monastery for food and water and killed monks while doing so. In order to protect themselves, they built walls around the monastery for protection, similar to the walls that surround castles. The wells in the monastery apparently were used during the time of Moses, according to Zach. The monastery is also home to the burning bush. This brush is thought of to be the actual burning bush that is mentioned in the Old Testament because this location has been passed on from generation to generation, pieces of papyrus say this is the correct location, it was there in 642 AD when the Arabs came to Egypt, and pure faith.
After spending time admiring the burning bush, we returned to our hotel, had breakfast, and got back on the road to head back to Cairo. On our way back to the capital city of Egypt, we made three stops. The first stop was a Moses Water Spring, a well-type structure near the Suez Canal made from stones of the Roman time.
The second stop was an open-air Egyptian military museum depicting the events of the 1973 war between Egypt and Israel. This site was 3.5 km from Moses Springs. Professor Ghaly was the translator for the special military guide who showed us around the site. He prefaced his translating by saying this is the Egyptian side and there might not be agreement. Before 1973, Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula and in 1973, Egypt regained control. We saw an Israeli-built shelter made from reinforced concrete and baskets with stones to absorb cannon ball hits that housed 6-inch caliber cannons. The guide explained that the shelter contains an Israeli flag—and that the 6-pointed star represents the 6 countries Israel wanted to conquer, the top blue strip represents the Nile River, and the bottom blue stripe represents the Tigris/ Euphrates Rivers. I’m not sure that I agree with this explanation being that the Israeli flag was designed in the 1800s, long before the creation of Israel in 1948, but I heard what the military personnel had to say.
We then left the museum and continued our ride back to Cairo. In order to move from Asia to Africa, we took a tunnel that went under the Suez Canal. Unlike tunnels in the New York City area (that were bored from hard rock), the Suez tunnel went through soft sand and needed reinforcement. It is located 10 meters below the canal and is ~4km long. There is a toll to use this tunnel—5 pounds (less than $1) for cars and 10 pounds for buses. After another hour in the bus, we arrived in Cairo and had dinner at a local restaurant where I had chicken and French fries. Next, we checked into our hotel, the Mercure, which was the first hotel we stayed in while in Egypt—we’ve come full circle. Moving around the country has been very exciting, though it is nice to return to where we started three weeks ago. After a night in a hotel like last night, Cairo was a sight for tired and weary eyes.
Tomorrow we take a long bus ride north to Alexandria for a day trip and return to Cairo in the evening. Any questions!? Ask! I’ll answer them! Thanks for reading!
**One Gustave L. Levy Place is the location of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City**
Monday, December 6, 2010
On The Nile Again...Just can't wait to get on the Nile again
What a difference a day makes! We left Cairo via sleeper train and arrived in Aswan ~620 miles away on Sunday morning, 8:05am. Gone are the days of traffic and garbage in Cairo city, which we traded in for quiet streets and beautiful landscapes across the countryside.
Oh, and don’t ask me why I was excited about the sleeper train for weeks leading up to this trip. It was cramped, loud, and sleep-less. I wound up being on the floor most of the night because the door between the cabins was loose and made noise. Arg. Tired. Either way, we arrived in Aswan (which means “Trade” or “Market”), the last city in Egypt before the country’s boarder with Sudan. It feels much more like Africa here in Aswan since it is hotter and the people have darker skin. For better or worse, Aswan is the same as Cairo in that there are so many vendors trying to sell you something, but I am getting used to the cash/bargaining culture here.
Once we arrived in Aswan, we immediately took a bus ride to the Aswan High Dam. On our way to the High Dam, we crossed the Old English Dam that had been raised numerous times in the past. Going to the High Dam was very exciting for me after learning about dam infrastructure in Sustainable Infrastructure and dam engineering in Environmental Geotechniques, both taught by Professor Ghaly. The Aswan High Dam took 10 years to construct it (1960-1970) and was paid for by nationalizing the Suez Canal and financial assistance from the USSR. The dam is the largest earth and stone dam in the world. It has a factor of safety value against failure of 6, which is very high for a dam. A factor of safety of 1 is the critical safety value and 4 is the normal safety value for an earth and stone dam. The water in the Mediterranean Sea would rise approximately 1 meter if the dam failed, enough to cover many Mediterranean cities. The core of the dam contains low permeable clay with bentonite to ensure that it doesn’t fail. It produces ~1500 megawatts of power, less than 10% of Egypt’s power need. Problems with the dam include it not having a fish ladder (so there are a lot of fish and crocodiles on one side of the dam) and not having a silt gate (denying farmers necessary fertile silt).
We then took a motorboat to Philae Temple on an island in the Nile where elephants were trained for the army. There were many instances of graffiti on this temple and was moved between 1980 and 1985 to its current location because of flooding on the Nile due to the High Dam. It was a beautiful site surrounded by the Nile. Next we went to the unfinished obelisk which shows how the granite was cut for the pyramids. The Nile River used to flood up to the location of this site for easy transport via boat. From there, we went to a Nubian restaurant, which even though I have been having stomach problems, is my favorite restaurant so far. I had chicken (surprise, surprise) with tomato sauce that was cooked in a small bowl. It tasted like chicken catachatorrie. After lunch, we took a boat back to shore to catch another boat that took us to our 5-star hotel on an island in the Nile River. Ghaly gave us 30 minuets from the time of checking into the hotel to get ready for our next excursion to the Nubian Village. While many people complained about having to rush through their showers and not getting an opportunity to rest, many still ventured out on a boat ride to the Nubian Village. It was a nice rural marketplace-type town and we went to a place where people (not me) smoked hookah and got Henna Tatoos. I did, however, hold a baby crocodile (picture to come in later blog—stay tuned). I haggled for an item I have been looking to buy (I can’t disclose what it is because it will ruin the surprise since it is a gift for my parents). The item was originally 80 Egyptian pounds and I got it for 40. We had to buy our own dinner tonight; a bunch of us ate at an Italian place in the hotel and I got pizza for ~$5 USD—dirt cheap.
A beautiful hotel. A fantastic view of the Nile. Get to sleep late, right? No way…I’m waking up at 2:15am to hop on a bus to Abu Simbel to see the great Temple of Ramses the second and Queen Nefertari. Maybe I wont go to sleep for the second night in a row.
Once again, not sure how the internet is going to be over the next few days, so stay tuned! Tons of pictures and stories to come!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
"Long distance information give me Memphis"...Egypt
Today I went to Memphis and didn’t learn anything about Elvis Presley. Why, you may ask? Instead of being in the American city in Tennessee, I went to Memphis, Egypt, the site of the first capital of Egypt. Memphis (Mn-nfr) literally means “Beautiful monument” and was the capital for 700 years, though it was totally destroyed during the Persian Occupation in 900 BC and under Arab rule when they recycled stones in 642 AD.
Our first stop of the day was the Memphis Open Air Museum. The area was filled with various artifacts from the Memphis area since any pieces found are property of the Egyptian government. If artifacts are found on a person’s property, the government has the right to relocate your house. Among the many small pieces that had great details in the stone, there were two statues of King Ramses II. He had ~50 wives, ~200 children, and ruled for 67 years. The indoor statue was huge and was made entirely of limestone. Additionally, I bought a handmade carpet/tapestry from a merchant with Randy Miller. The merchant was originally asking 350 pounds for it, but we got him down to 100 pounds and a free bag.
From the Open Air Museum, we traveled to Saqqara, the home of the oldest pyramid. At Saqqara, we watched a movie narrated by Omar Shariff about the area and the pyramid. The Imhotep Museum was very cool since it showed old columns, arches, and artifacts. There were also mummies in the museum in humidity-controlled cases. It is amazing to see artifacts made around ~2500 B.C. when we are in 2010 A.C. We then drove up to the Step Pyramid of Djoser where we first entered a funerary area, which led us to the pyramid complex. It was considered to be a stairway to heaven. It turns out that the Egyptian Government is restoring the pyramid (as you can see in the picture). This restoration is very necessary in order to avoid a collapse of the structure. I’m curious how the final outcome of this restoration looks.
We then went to the Mereruka Tomb where we saw hieroglyphics stenciled into the stones of the walls. Each set of symbols represents a story and is read depending on the story. These symbols were once totally in color, but they have faded badly. The color was done by grinding up stones and mixing it in egg whites to create ink. Next to the tomb was King Titi’s Pyramid. I went down into the pyramid and it was interesting to see so many hieroglyphics and King Titi’s sarcophagus (but no Mummy).
Before heading to lunch, our group stopped at a carpet school. The one we visited was one of many schools along the road leading to the step pyramid complex. It was a very nice facility where the guide told us that school children are taken off the street (and away from drugs and crime) and are taught how to make silk and wool carpets. The children (elementary and middle school aged) showed us how to make these carpets, and while they move at a nice pace, it takes many months and sometimes years (depending on the detail) to finish a carpet. The school also had a large showroom, but I didn’t purchase any carpets.
Memphis is the ancient capital of Egypt and at one time was considered “the most important city” in the world. While the countryside is beautiful, the irrigation canal is pretty disgusting. Not only is there garbage lining each side of the canal, the floodwalls (I’m not sure that they are designed to be floodwalls or levees, but they somewhat look like them) are falling apart in many sections.
There are two types of canals in Egypt- the high level dam is for irrigation for crops and the low level dam is for runoff (which has a much higher salt content). These dams run solely on gravity (though some farmers have pumps to get extra water from crops). The farmers that have pumps deny farmers downstream of the same water quantity. Since water is a precious commodity in Egypt, the irrigation police monitor water supply to ensure that all farmers have a fair share of the water supply. There are 9 countries that share the water of the Nile River and there are regional agreements—though Egypt does get the majority of the water supply since it is based on historical rainfall. Even though I’m talking about water and rainfall, it was once again very nice here today—the day started off overcast but it eventually burnt off and was a warm and sunny day.
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| Melanie and King Ramses II sitting in an open-aired museum... |
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| Step Pyramid Under Renovation |
We then went to the Mereruka Tomb where we saw hieroglyphics stenciled into the stones of the walls. Each set of symbols represents a story and is read depending on the story. These symbols were once totally in color, but they have faded badly. The color was done by grinding up stones and mixing it in egg whites to create ink. Next to the tomb was King Titi’s Pyramid. I went down into the pyramid and it was interesting to see so many hieroglyphics and King Titi’s sarcophagus (but no Mummy).
There were various vendors around these sites peddling their goods, but I told them no and didn’t allow anybody to put anything in my hands unwillingly. Woo!
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| One of many carpet schools on the road to the Step Pyramid |
Lunch was very unique in that it was an open-air restaurant. The restaurant was buffet-barbeque and the tables were set up under a large pavilion. Guess what I had for lunch, yes, chicken—my stomach has been hurting me all day—and I think my good luck streak in the bathroom department has finally ended. Hurts…literally.
After going back to the hotel after our late lunch, I relaxed and checked emails. We then headed out to the Great Pyramid complex to see the Sounds and Lights Show of the Pyramids. The show was very cool since it lit up each pyramid as it told the story of the Great Pyramids. The music and narration was not as exciting, but the laser show was very impressive.
Tonight is the final night at our hotel in Cairo as we travel via sleeper train to Aswan tomorrow evening. I’m not sure what the Internet is going be like the next few days, but I’ll continue writing—internet or no internet—and I’ll post the entries when I have available WiFi.
FYI: I had pizza in the hotel plaza area...not chicken...:)
FYI: I had pizza in the hotel plaza area...not chicken...:)
Have any questions? I’ll answer anything! Talk to you soon! Thanks for reading!
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