Welcome Home, Mr. Engle

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.

A trip to the Valley and Mohammed's Shop

Thursday: December 9, 2010

Hello from the Steigenberger Nile Palace in Luxor, Egypt! We checked out from our cruise ship early this morning and headed to the Valley of the Kings. Everybody, including myself, was excited for this part of the tour because it is home to King Tut’s Tomb!

The Valley of the Kings contains 63 tombs in the complex and was built in the mountains instead of pyramids. The ancient Egyptians stopped using pyramids as tombs because they were easy targets for tomb robbers. They thought that the tombs would be safer if they were hidden in the valleys and mountains…and they were correct! They also chose this area because they thought the mountains looked like pyramids and were a way to get to the second life. The ticket we were provided with allowed us to visit 3 tombs and King Tut’s tomb was an extra ticket costing 50 pounds, which I paid for without hesitation (good thing I did!) Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures while in the tombs. They were very strict about this and I saw many people trying to sneak a picture who quickly had their cameras taken from them. One guy in our group got caught taking a picture and they erased his memory card—hurts.

The security during the time of the construction of the Valley of the Kings was high for ancient times. These officials were so afraid of tomb robbers that the people working on the tombs were required to stay at the West Bank and lived in an area called the “City of the Workers.” The government gave the workers land in this area as well as a few animals for food. Another perk of moving to the West Bank to work was being able to construct your own tomb in the area, which is not something ordinary people commonly had. The houses in the area surrounding the Valley today are similar to those during ancient times as they are both made of mud and stone. The government is moving these homes in order to excavate underneath them for artifacts.

Zach told us a story about the Valley of the Kings where the Abdesurul family discovered many artifacts in the area before it became a popular site for archeologists and tourists. The family would make trips to the Valley to get artifacts and sell them to various collections for money. One of the family members got sick and couldn’t go with the rest of the family and was upset when he didn’t get a cut of the money. He then told everybody about what the family was doing. While this was a long time ago, a member of this family is now a consultant to the Egyptian Antiquities Council because of the secrets that have been passed down from generation to generation within his family.

In the 1800s they found 25 royal mummies transported by security people that are now at the Egyptian museum in Cairo, which I’ll see towards the end of the trip.

Apparently they are still excavating 26 temples and are looking for 500 more.

Zach couldn’t lecture in the tombs so he told us to be on the lookout for a few things:

• Humans and animals sitting correctly meant that they were a good spirit while figures that were upside down, had knives in them, or had no heads meant that they were bad spirits.
• A book of the Dead—a prayer to help a spirit avoid danger while moving from the 1st to 2nd lives.
• A solar boat—with good gods to help one get to the second life.
• Lots of snakes.

The first of the three tombs we visited was the tomb of Thutmoses III. It was built during the 18th dynasty and was discovered by Victor Loret in 1898. Thutmoses III was a great conquer who ruled Egypt in 1504. He was a king who thought of himself as a human instead of being god-like (which restarted with Ramses II). He also was the first to bring modern chickens and pomegranates to Egypt…and yes, there are KFCs in Egypt. Thutmoses was considered the “Napoleon” of Egypt. In order to reach his tomb, we had to climb a large set of stairs up the mountain and then descend 60 ft to reach the various rooms of the tomb. It was very very cool to see the colors on the wall—though these were different, they were drawings instead of carvings. We also can’t understand these symbols since they are different than traditional hieroglyphics. The ancient Egyptians apparently preferred to have deep underground tombs to protect the artifacts inside, but this was not always possible.

The second tomb we saw was the tomb of King Ramses III. It was constructed during the 20th dynasty. It is somewhat small because he didn’t live long enough for the workers to completely finish the tomb. The third tomb was of King Ramses IX. It was constructed during the 20th dynasty as well.

The fourth—and most exciting tomb—we visited was King Tut’s tomb.

Howard Carter found the tomb of King Tutankhumun (Tut) on his last day of searching in the Valley in 1922. His tomb is very popular because it was found almost entirely intact. Surprisingly, his tomb is the 2nd smallest tomb in Egypt. It was built during the 18th Dynasty. The tomb didn’t have any colors. When you get to the bottom of the tomb, we saw Tut’s mummy (so cool!) and his sarcophagus. The tomb is undergoing a study to determine the best way to preserve the tomb for future generations. Apparently Tut wasn’t famous earlier because he became King at a young age and died ~19 years old. He had malaria but he died from an infection he got after he fell off a chariot. Archiologist knew he had a bad leg because they found ~110 canes with him in his tomb. While the rest of Tut’s tomb lacks color on the walls, the area that has the sarcophagus is the only area with color.

The tomb of King Ramses, another famous king, was found to be in very bad condition because of the runoff from the mountains. It was not open for tours while we were there.

After the Valley of the Kings, we traveled via bus to the Temple of Hatshepsut “Hot Chicken Soup.” The ancient Egyptians weren’t accepting of her at first because they weren’t used to a female leader. In order to help people get used to her, she started dressing like a man and had darker skin (women were considered to have light skin). She ruled for 22 years…wow. She had a strong army but didn’t use it for wars; instead she used it for expeditions for trees, plants, and flowers from other countries. In fact, she had a botanical garden in front of her temple—two small tree stumps (~3,500 years old) are evidence of this, which we saw.

We also visited an Alabaster Shop where they make and sell handmade stone carvings. They were a pretty entertaining group as they sang, chanted, and joked as the manager told us how everything was made. The workers all talked in unison--sure it was scripted, but it was hilarious. It is a skill passed down from fathers and grandfathers originally for religious reasons, but now more for souvenirs for tourists. The figures come in white, brown, green, and glow-in-the-dark.

My stomach has been getting better and I ate the chicken at the Egyptian-styled restaurant the group went to. They had spicy potatoes, which I liked a lot. I used the sauce from the potatoes and put them on my rice and chicken. In terms of my stomach these days, it is a day-to-day situation. One day I feel normal and the next day not so much. I’m being very conservative with the foods I’m eating. Don’t worry! It’s not only me getting sick! It seems most of the people on this trip have been sick at one point or another—sometimes worse than what I’ve had. Luckily, I haven’t missed anything because of my stomach issues.

We then got back on the bus and traveled to our 5-star hotel located in downtown Luxor. Before we could enjoy the numerous amenities it offers (tennis courts, shops, entertainment at night, swimming, and napping), we dropped our luggage off (it was around 4pm) in our rooms and headed downstairs to the dock where two sail boats were waiting for us. It was really relaxing to sit on the boat and just enjoy the sights and landscape of the River Nile. We got to see the sunset and had a nice breeze pushing us along. Apparently there is a law that you can’t sail on the Nile after 5pm, which we soon found out from the Nile Police riding around on their motorized dinghy.

It took us awhile to get back to shore as the wind died down, but once we did, a bunch of us headed out to El Souk—The Market, about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. We took a group picture in front of Luxor Temple, which we will visit tomorrow, and then a good number of people rushed across the street to the Golden Arches—McDonalds. I didn’t get any and continued down the street to the market place. There were so many shops in the market place and it was somewhat intimidating. Melanie got some scarves and I helped her haggle them down in the store. As I was walking down the market with Melanie, we were waiting for our friends Mike and Elana. A man named Mohammed asked me if I was American and if I could write Merry Christmas and Happy New Year on a business card so he could write it to his friend in the United States. I believed him for a second and said sure. He wanted me to come into his store to write it down, but I refused to do this and told him to come to me. He wasn’t really happy about this, but I told him that I was also looking for my friends. I told him I would come back after we found them…and sure enough…when we were walking past his shop, he spotted me and called my name, except Melanie and I told Mohammed that we were Mike and Elana! So he sucked us into his store and Melanie and I found stuff we wanted to get anyway at some point. I haggled him down from his original price of 280 pounds to 90 pounds…student discount, yeah right. The entire time he was calling me Michael, hahah. If I go back to the market tomorrow--oy.

We then walked back to the hotel around 9pm and ate at an Italian place in the hotel where I got pizza.
Tomorrow is the final major sightseeing day as we see Karnack and Luxor Temples. I’m tired these days—but oh well, its really interesting to learn and see these sites.

Sorry about the lack of Internet this week, its been tough with no blogs, emails, communication with the world! Talk to you soon!

Some other notes:

• There is no evidence that it was King Ramses II who dealt with Moses (i.e. Passover).
• How did they get light into the tombs during ancient times?
• Not fire—it would have had too much carbon monoxide/soot associated with it
• Might have used mirrors to get light down there
• Mountain made of limestone—good tomb material because it is very dense and can take higher loads. It also absorbs humidity—a major reason they close certain tombs for periods of time.
• There are concession areas at all of the places we visit—The rent at the Valley of the Kings to sell Pringles, ice cream, and chips? $62,000 USD/month! Yes, that is not a mistake! The manager says they are losing money and have one year left on their contract.
• A few days ago an Egypt Mini-Term 1st occurred! A couple on the trip got engaged. Congrats and mazel tov to them!

Little Chief Tunis' Corner

What is the Jewish population in Egypt? --Not sure what the exact number is, but it is very very very slim. Kinda get the impression that they don't discuss it if they do. Our tour guide is friends with two Jewish families.

How's that working out for them? Decently, I guess. In addition to the Shul I visited, there is an active one in Cairo. 

[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? Mom wants to know if the site where Pharaoh's daughter found Moses was ever identified and, if so, is it marked? How wide is the Nile? How deep? Is it clean enough to go swimming in? Are there reeds along its bank?]--Saved for when I have more time to write!

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!

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.