Mimi and Kari's Egyptian Adventure - Day 3

Day 3 (Tuesday) was PYRAMID DAY!! We got there early - maybe 8:30 or so (?) so we could be sure to get tickets to go inside the Great Pyramid. We had been there maybe 2 minutes when Luke tripped and fell and bumped his head on a big ol' rock.

It took about 15 minutes to get him from this point:

To this one:

It was definitely a situation that called for ice and a bandaid, and I had neither... Oh well.

Luke, Jason, Mom, and Kari decided to go inside the pyramid. I have already done that once, and also went inside the red pyramid last fall, so I didn't go.

They got about halfway to the entrance before Luke got super-whiney about his head. Jason brought him back down to me, and the three of them went in alone.

I was worried about the lack of moving air inside the pyramid and the claustrophobic feeling I had when we went in the first time, but Mom and Kari both made it in and out just fine and were glad they did it.

Luke and I kept ourselves amused by taking self-portraits.

We had a snack and Luke played in the sand with his front loader.

Here are Jason and Kari sitting outside the entrance to the pyramid after they'd climbed out. You can see Mom on the left taking their picture just before the guard shooed them away.

And I happened to be taking this picture of Luke playing in the sand right at the time the three of them came out of the pyramid. So you can see Luke in the foreground and Jason's white shirt halfway up.
Near the pyramid is a vizier's tomb. We went inside and saw some neat heiroglyphics.

I'd never been in that one before. It was pretty cool.

Then we walked over to the next pyramid.

Luke is a big Bugs Bunny fan right now - this is him doing his Bugs Bunny "I'm the winner" pose with his hands clasped in the air.

The Great Pyramid is just so massive you sort of have to just stand there and stare awhile.

One of Mom's Egypt goals was to ride a camel with Luke. Jason found this camel man and negotiated a fair price for a 10-minute camel ride.

Most camel rides are at least an hour, and we knew we didn't want that! We had hoped to get Kari on a camel, too, but the guy didn't have 2 camels handy. He did have a horse, though, so rather than wait for a camel, Kari hopped on the horse and rode a horse around the pyramids instead.

I used to think camels were noble-looking, with their serene, smiling faces and long graceful eyelashes. After living here, that misconception has gone out the window! I have learned that most camels are very opinionated, and Mom and Luke's camel was no exception. He was quite the talker!

If you open up the picture of the camel in another window, you'll be able to see the patterns shaved into his neck. The camel man explained that this is the camel's "name." I guess they all have different patterns.

While we waited to see if there would be another camel for Kari, Luke just walked right on up to the camel, within a foot of him! Thankfully the camel remained quiet at that point, or we might have needed a change of clothes for Luke! He has come a long way from his day at the Gainesville Zoo when he adamantly said, "NO CAMELS!" after the camel there growled at him. And a long way from last fall, when he cried when our driver put him on a camel!

We had a little trouble convincing the camel man to stop after a few minutes and let them off the animals. They couldn't understand why we'd only want to go such a short way and tried to convinces us to go farther for a really cool picture. Leery of being taken too far away from where we started and wary of being ripped off for more money than we agreed on, we insisted that they let everyone off.

After they all got down, the camel man decided Luke should dress up like an Arab and sit back down on the camel. At first, Luke liked the idea.

When he got up on the camel all by himself, I think he got a little scared. He wanted down right after this picture.

The other camel man kissed the camel. Now, I used to kiss my cat, but THIS is just GROSS.

We started down the hill toward the sphinx and decided to stop in the tomb of the pharoah's doctor. First, we let Mom the Yoga Girl take a picture doing her pyramid pose in front of the pyramids.

More cool hieroglyphics inside the tomb:

And, this is the tomb where you can crawl down a little passageway to the room with the sarcophagus.

Then, on to the Sphinx!

I love how it looks like the sphinx is part of the family in this picture. Not intentional, and so funny!

Luke doing his Sphinx pose:


It's hard to believe that we spent nearly 5 hours at the pyramids and sphinx, but we did. We were EXHAUSTED by the time we were through there. We walked over to Barry's restaurant and had lunch. This was the only real Middle Eastern/Egyptian food we ate while Mom and Kari were here. I don't love the food at Barry's (mostly because I don't like most Egyptian food), but you can't beat the view, and we had a very sweet, friendly waitress from Romania.

After lunch, we were supposed to go to the museum, but we were all so wiped out that we opted for plan B - to just go home and crash! As we drove away from the pyramids, Mom snapped this cool picture of a camel caravan ready to depart.

Mimi and Kari's Egyptian Adventure - Day 2

The second morning Mom and Kari were here we got up and took Luke to school. He was so excited to show Mimi and Aunt Kari his school and his cubby, and to introduce them to his teachers. After dropping him off, Mom and Kari and I went to CSA - the community center-type place where I took Arabic lessons - to get coffee and breakfast. It just happened that it was a bazaar day at CSA, so we got to do a little shopping, too. After that, we headed to Coptic Cairo. Mom had seen a documentary about it on the National Geographic channel.

I had been to Coptic Cairo once before with Jason, Luke, and the Simons. Because Luke got worn out early that day, we went home without seeing much. Here's our post from that day. The most notable thing we learned about Coptic Cairo that day was that it was so different from other parts of Cairo, in that it was very clean, quiet, and calm compared to everywhere else.

With Mom and Kari, I was excited to see the other sites I'd missed before. We went to the museum first. They don't allow cameras in the museum, so we have no pictures inside. Just these from outside the garden gates:



The museum houses a lot of architectural elements that reflect the Greco-Roman influence in Egypt as well as a huge collection of Coptic art. There are also pieces that show Egyptian gods and goddesses, as well as ancient textiles and texts. It was interesting, and the architecture of the building itself inside was as beautiful as the exhibits themselves.

Just outside the museum is one of the towers from the Babylon Fortress.

Opposite this tower sits the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, which actually was built on top of another tower from the fortress. Here I am reading about the church, in all my dorkiness, on the steps of St. George.


St. George slaying the dragon - on the outside walls of the church.


The story goes that St. George was tortured using a wheel of swords. There is a model of this wheel inside the church.


This picture is kinda hard to see, but there's a little cave-like hallway you go down inside the church, down some steps, and into this little room, where there's a picture of Jesus in a cave. Underneath the picture is a little niche where people have left prayers on pieces of paper.



After St. George, we went to the Hanging Church. It's really pretty. It's called the Hanging Church because it sits above the gatehouse of the Babylon fortress, and its nave is suspended over a passageway.


This map shows the travels of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Egypt.



"Maadi" (where we live) means "the crossing," and is so named because it's where the Holy Family supposedly crossed the Nile. This mosaic depicts that, and it's found in the garden outside the Hanging Church.



Inside the church:
After the Hanging Church, we decided to try to find the church of St. Sergius, which is built above a cave where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus supposedly stayed while they were in Maadi. It was a little disappointing, because you can't get down to see the cave. The water table has risen and flooded it, so you can only see steps leading down to it and a picture of what it used to look like before it was under water. Still, amazing to be standing in a place where Jesus may have stood.

Another site to see in Coptic Cairo is the Ben Ezra Synagogue, which is supposedly located on the site where Moses was drawn from the Nile. Here's the well which is supposed to mark the spot. You can't get up close to it.


This is a sweet little Egyptian Jewish man who told us about the synagogue. He was so proud of his heritage and of his children, who are studying at Cambridge and Columbia.


After Coptic Cairo, we had a quick lunch and then headed home for naps. That night, we took Mom and Kari to one of our favorite restaurants in Maadi, called Cuba Cubana. It's got a variety of food and you can sit outside or inside. We started outside, but eventually moved inside because a lady sat down at the table next to ours and began smoking shisha. The wind drove the smoke right into our faces. Inside was much more pleasant! Here are some pictures we took before the smoking lady came to eat:




Update: I forgot to add the pictures of what we did after dinner in my original post! We took Mom and Kari through part of Maadi we call the PDC. Here's the background. We call our area of Maadi "Donkey Cart" Maadi, because you see a large number of donkey carts in our neighborhood compared to other parts of Maadi. It's a much more "Egyptian" neighborhood than Degla, our first neighborhood. Just over the bridge from our house, and not far from Cuba Cubana, there is an area we call "Prehistoric Donkey Cart." That's because you see even more donkey carts there, and parts of the neighborhood probably look the same as they did hundreds of years ago. It's pretty primitive in some cases. Jason is always excited to take visitors through this part of Maadi. I would never walk through there without Jason, especially at night, because we definitely stand out. However, we had a good time showing Mom and Kari around. Here are some pictures.

This is a typical scene at night in any part of Cairo - men sitting around smoking shisha (flavored tobacco in a water pipe) and drinking tea together. These guys let us take their picture after some persuading. Once they found out we were Americans, they said, "Bush - bad, Obama, kwayyis!" (Obama = good!) I replied, "President Obama, Hamdulillah!" (Thanks be to God!) I told Mom and Kari that no matter what you might really think, it is always a good thing in Egypt to act like you love Obama.


My favorite part of the PDC is the market area. Tiny little shops selling all kinds of food line one of the narrow streets. The fruit and vegetable stands always have pretty displays, like this one:
The spices are pretty, too:
And, should you have a hankerin' for some hossenfeffer, you can always choose a nice fluffy one from this shop:
I don't think the cat was for sale. :)

Mimi and Kari's Egyptian Adventure - Day 1

Mom and Kari were scheduled to arrive in Cairo at 2:15 AM on Sunday - the day we were supposed to go back to school after spring break. They ended up arriving at 4:00 or so. Jason met them at the airport, and thankfully, I had checked the flight schedules and knew that they had left Amsterdam late, so he wasn't waiting there for four hours. They got to the house around 5:30 AM. It was so surreal to have Mom and Kari in our apartment!!! We were all so excited. Luke was the only one in our family who had slept that night. Jason and I had gone to bed at a reasonable time but could not sleep. We woke Luke up to see Mimi and Aunt Kari, and he hit the ground running, ready to show them his toys and his room.



I hated that we had to go back to school on the first day, and I knew they wouldn't be ready to get out in Cairo by themselves, so I'd made sure to have food in the house for them and tried to think ahead to what they'd need. I had made homemade cinnamon rolls and a breakfast casserole for breakfast, and since they arrived so late, we all sat down to eat them together.

After breakfast, Jason and I had to get ready to go to school. Leni came to get Luke ready for school, and as soon as we all left, Mom and Kari slept. Luke went to school and came home to play with Leni until Mom and Kari woke up around 4:00.

We got home around 5:00, and when we walked in the door, Luke said, "Mama! Mimi and Aunt Kari are STILL HERE!!" He was so excited to have them here. We hung out here for a while and then took them to Lucille's for dinner. We had to wait a little bit for a table, and by the time we sat down we were famished.

This is outside Lucille's, where Luke is standing on a bench. The neon Arabic writing says Mattam Lucille's, or Lucille's Restaurant.



Happy Mimi, Happy Luke:


In our regular booth at Lucille's after our tummies were all full of Egypt's best hamburgers.



Jason had a softball game at 8:30, and we were eager to take Mimi and Kari there to see Jason play and to let Luke play on the playground. It was cold outside that night and we were all so tired. Everyone except Jason went home before the game ended to get ready for bed. Mimi was a champ at the game - she and Luke played catch with the ball and she chased him around a lot.


Luke likes to slide down this pole in the bleachers and he had fun showing Mimi and Aunt Kari his firefighter skills.


We headed back to the house for showers and bed. I took the next two days off of school and we did a lot of sightseeing those days. There are lots of pictures to share, and I'm slowly but surely working on them. I should have another post done tomorrow.

Read this

Written by my friend Anne Marie:

http://marriedtotheempire.blogspot.com/2009/03/letting-go.html

So Much to Say

My precious Mom and sweet sister Kari spent the week in Cairo this week. We had a GREAT time all together! I have over 700 pictures and videos - don't worry, I won't post them all! - and some great stories to tell from the week. Since we go back to work tomorrow, I'm not sure how soon I'll get them posted, but they're coming!

We had a fabulous time, saw almost everything we had planned to see, celebrated Luke's 4th b-day a little early, and then took them back to the airport this morning. It was hard to see them go. Luke cried. (I did, too, but that happens every time.) He said, "I like my presents, but I DON'T WANT MIMI TO GO BACK TO TEXAS!!!"

A bunch of misc. pictures

Here are some more photos of Luke and his new bat. He loves this bat! He plays with it as a bat a lot, but it also serves as a stick shift, Elmer Fudd's gun, a shovel, and a lot of other things. I HAVE to try to capture his Elmer Fudd routine, but it is difficult to catch him when he's not self conscious about performing it!

We went up to the ball field early one Friday morning to play for a while before Jason's early softball game. We went out on the field so Luke could bat and run the bases. The haze you see in these pictures is not fog. It's a combo of pollution and sand. Ick.


Practicing his shortstop stance like Daddy:Playing on the playground while Daddy plays his game:


Oh, and we went to Jared's before the game for bagels. This kid loves his sesame bagel with cream cheese! (Just like Daddy's!)

Here are some recent pictures of my art room. It's a really happy place to be right now. I love the artwork the kids have produced that is on display right now. The third graders have some neat texture projects up, the fourth graders have done optical illusions, and the fifth graders worked for about six weeks on these masks. They are so proud of them. Some of them really did a super job.

I have sent home very little student artwork yet this year. We're saving it all so that we can go through it, have students select their best work, and display it for an art show I'm holding at the beginning of April. It will be during parent/teacher conferences, so parents will already be in the building anyway. I am going to turn the hallways into a gallery and invite parents to the art room for cookies and to see the student work on display there, too. I'm pretty excited about it, and the kids are too! (Thanks North Ridge Elem. for the idea! :) )

Life here has been pretty normal lately. There has not been much going on since the trip to the farm, which is why I haven't really posted anything. That, and I'm lazy. (!) Jason's got IB exams coming up soon, with his mock exams the week after we get back from spring break. He's been doing a great job, and his kids think the world of him, as usual. School here for me has been normal too - a lot of the same February blahs and "I can't wait till spring break" that teachers at home get, too! It's not any different. This week is spring break. We're not going anywhere, and we are all looking forward to hanging out together and doing family things. Luke still has school, and I am excited to be able to take him and pick him up each day. Mom and Kari will be here next week (!!!!!!!!!!!!), and Luke's b-day is the 26th. He will be FOUR! I can't believe it. Time really goes by so quickly. We are going to celebrate early with Mom and Kari with a pirate party.

I guess that is about it. Seriously, not much to tell or show lately. I will finish off with a few sweet pictures. This one Jason took last weekend. Luke fell asleep watching Sesame Street Old School with me. We napped like this for a few hours. It was so wonderful. I love this snuggle time, and savor every minute of it!
Today Jason took Luke back to the wadi (that dry riverbed/canyon we hiked in last year) to play. They climbed some, but spent most of their time throwing rocks. There was a dust storm while they were out there, and they both came home a mess.



Check out this face:

Jason did a great job showering Luke off, but I'm still finding little patches of dirt on his face! I love having a boy. :)