Pharoah, Pharoah

We spent the morning in the Egyptian Museum. Three stories filled with thousands of artifacts from ancient Egypt. It is amazing to see things thousands of years old. The museum also houses mummies. Real deal mummies. It's so insane to see thousand year old dead bodies still intact-skin, eye lashes, hair, teeth. We saw the body of Ramses II, who was the pharaoh during the time of Moses.

Hannah took us to a local 'restaurant,' it was more like a outdoor/indoor kitchen with plastic chairs and tables outside. One of the common local dishes is called 'fuul' (pronounced 'fool'). It's a bean that is soak, boiled, and cooked with spices. Fuul is also a common dish in Sudan. Traditionally, fuul is eaten with bread (kinda like pita). It was flippin delicious! While I was eating, I was thinking about Jon and how he would have loved it. Ethnic food, eating outside, ect. He loves that kinda stuff. Hannah invited a friend of hers from language school who is originally from South Korea. She said her English was not that good because her and Hannah always speak to each other in Arabic. Hannah's Arabic is great by the way. Not that I would really know, but everyone she talks to seems to know what she is saying. Her roommates say the same and a taxi driver told us today that her Arabic is 'kwees' (good).

Khan el-Khalili

We started out the day at a mosque. Head coverings are required for all women. Most of the women wear head coverings anyway. Actually almost everyone here is clothed from head to toe. Even though it's 100 degrees. Jess calls this reverse adaptation. Very few women reveal their head. There is a decent size group of women in burqas (only their eyes showing). It's a very interesting feeling for someone to see you while you're unable to see them. The mosque had a tower that overlooked the city. Cairo is dry and dusty, full of cement buildings with mosques scattered in between.

Next, we headed to Khan el-Khalili, a huge local outdoor marketplace. Khan el-Khalili gave us a real taste of Cairo...tons of people, colorful clothing, spices, bargaining, ect. I love outdoor markets where people are yelling and shoving stuff in your face and bargaining their hearts out.
One of Hannah's students from Sudan is on holiday in Egypt with her family. We spent the evening with them at a huge 'western' mall. Everything we have in the U.S. was there. It was like Mall of America or something. It was so interesting to spend the morning at the market and the evening at the mall. There is such a huge gap here between the lower class and the upper class. A huge portion of the population is on the lower end of the totem pole while another decent size portion of the population is very wealthy. Coming from a country where the middle class dominates (in size anyway) the middle class here seems to be sparse.

Sailing on the Nile

We spent the morning in Coptic Cairo. A Copt is a native Egyptian Christian. Egypt has a long history of Christianity. According to tradition, the Coptic Orthodox Church was established by Saint Mark in the 1st century. We visited the Coptic Museum and The Hanging Church. The Hanging Church (El Muallaqa) is one of the oldest churches in Cairo dating back to the 3rd century A.D. In the museum we saw coptic manuscripts of the gospels and psalms also dating back to the 3rd century. It was really amazing to see a part of the history of Christianity. I sometimes forget that Christianity is an Eastern religion that ended up in the West, not the other way around.

We ended to the day by sailing down the Nile. We met up with Hannah's room mates and some other friends and ate chicken swarma wraps and played dominos on the Nile. It was a great day.

Amsterdam-great place for a nap

On our way to Egypt, we had a very long layover in Amsterdam. After walking around and seeing more than our fair share of hookers we found a park for a much needed nap. One of my favorite things in the world: taking naps in parks. I thought Amsterdam would be cool enough to have city wide Wi-Fi so I could call my husband, not so.

Masters anyone?

After 3 years of research, writing, reading papers, comprehensive exams the end has come. The master's degree is completed. It's interesting that the more graduations you have the less excited they are. The most exciting part was probably the hood, which was accompanied by 'how to wear' instructions. Thanks to all my friends and family for your support and encouragement.

pretty...

"The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth. "
-Kate Chopin ('The Awakening')