Jessie Goes….

Been in the no internet zone/exhausted zone/ lazy zone for a few days here…so this is going back a couple of days: but now I’ve got some time to catch up on this blog, so here goes:

So for the first official day of our guided tour we went back to the Egyptian Museum – which both Bryan and I thought worthwhile, as there is so much to see, and nothing is labeled, a guide would be great.

A quick forward comment, as with most of Egypt, I suspect, security around here is pretty lacking. For those of you into tomb robbing and the like – might I suggest the Egyptian Museum? Though you walk through multiple metal detectors and an xray machine, the place has the security of a pasta strainer. No metal or cameras (and I’m just assuming no weapons) are allowed on the premises, yet both Bryan and I walked in packin’ : cameras, cellphones with cameras, ipods, glass cutters, plastic explosives, and Nothing. Not a pat down, beep or anything. And because I’m a woman, every time I go through, even if I do beep like crazy, indicating these machines are actually working, their religious modesty prevents them from actually touching me, so, ….? Aside from that, once we got in there, though the place was stationed with guards and cameras, Bryan is snapping pics and nobody ever said a thing (no flash, so please, no angry emails). Crazy. Frankly, the way things are organized in this place, if you actually did walk out with anything, lets say a 20 foot stone sarcophagus, I’m not sure they’d ever miss it anyway!

Anyhow, back to the story here, as you might imagine our second visit to the Egyptian Museum was a lot more productive. For future reference for those who might visit, i’d recommend a couple of hours in the late afternoon, as the place was a true mob scene in the morning, packed to the brim with tour groups – claustrophobia city.

Next stop was the palace/mosque of Muhammed Ali – the original – not the boxer. Extremely ornate and altogether beautiful. From the back side of the mosque you could see over the entire city skyline. For once, we were actually allowed in the mosque, but I had to cover up (I was wearing a baggy hoodie and even baggier cargo pants). The ladies at the door grabbed me and put me in a bright green long robe. To complete the effect I put my hood up. I looked like a cross between Kermit the frog and the Virgin Mary. Bryan has a picture that I will post if I can find a USB.

The mosque itself is surprisingly European in design; it is painted and lit in traditional Islamic fashion, but the architecture, domes, columns etc are reminiscent of some of the churches in Europe. It isn’t traditional, or so I am told, but given none of the other mosques will let me in, I can’t confirm that.

On the way to the mosque, stepping back a second, we passed by the walled “City of the Dead” which is a cemetery of the type where the tombs and graves are all above ground… and in this case most were actually built with rooms above them so that the family would have a place to operate from in the caring for the dead. Right now, due to the massive poverty of the general population, many poor families have moved into those rooms, creating an actual city of the living and the dead. I understand it to be the most dangerous neighborhood in all of Cairo.

Next step(this was a packed day), Coptic Cairo. Egypt is not actually wholly a Muslim nation, though their really isn’t any separation between the Muslim “church” and state), about 10-15% of the population is Coptic, which is an ancient Christian religion, visually along the lines of Catholicism: very formal, ornate churches, etc. Being raised in a mostly Christian society, seeing some of the paths of the beginning of that period of history was so much more impressive than going to some of the other Christian sites, such as the Vatican. It was humbling to me, vs. somewhat appalling as the Vatican example was to me, a shrine to a history of excess and corruption. Anyhow, Coptic Cairo and its history was worth visiting I thought, just for the age and beauty alone.

PART II: New Years Eve

So, today is New Years Eve. Bryan and I are very interest of course, to see what a “new years eve” gala event the hotel has planned. All the hotels around here charge you for the event if you are staying the night there, so you might as well check it out huh?

 We met our new Aussi friends (Steven & Rebecca) and a new couple Erin & Tim (Kiwi/Aussi mix), and revisited the beer store for a little preparty in Tim/Erins room. A little get to know each other, I suppose, seeing as we were spending the next week together. We stepped it up and purchase the 10% alcohol Sakara brews…oh boy, not recommended. Sort of like drinking 40s at home…but 500 ml of beer cost only 5 Egyptian Pounds (80cents) and we felt it our duty to drink as much 80 cent beer as possible.
Only after this, did we go to our Egyptian ‘gala dinner’ which was suspiciously in a ballroom upstairs in the hotel.

Bryan and I looked at each other when we walked in. “80s prom night” best describes it. Pink and gold ballroom with helium filled balloons everywhere. Someone even boutinere’d Bryan! I looked at my watch – crap..only 9pm…I’d already done senior prom once, and it wasn’t that fun the first time! What were we gonna do?

Somehow it did pass though: 80s music playing in the background, we drank a lot more beer, and raised a glass at Egyptian midnight to our new friends, and our friends and family at home.

Thank god that was out of the way. 12:20, back in our rooms, passed out.

Tags: Cairo, Egypt, Egyptian Museum, New Years Eve, Tag Index

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 6th, 2007 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Egypt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.