My plane flight to Cairo was delayed and so I spent some time in the Milan Airport reading Imagined Communities and people watching. I flew EgyptAir and discovered that their symbol is the Egyptian god Horus and appropriately a falcon that was worshiped for protection. (When I went to the Egyptian Museum he was everywhere!) They even had his symbol on our seat belts! The plane ride was my first alone, and the longest one I had experienced since our flight to London. However, it was only three and a half hours I think. I had plenty of room too, because the seat between this guy and me was empty! They gave us a late lunch that was interesting and the movie Matchstick Men played. Before too long, they made an announcement that we were getting ready to descend and I looked out the window and saw Cairo all lit up! It was exciting and I also thought it was funny to see sand along the runway! I felt bad for being so late, and the luggage took forever, but once I bought my visa and made it past all the people I found Uncle Mark! Uncle Mark and Musa (their driver) had just gone and got tea after calling the airline and finding out the plane was delayed. We made it back to the Breckell's apartment and I told them a little bit about Ashley and my travel over some dinner. The next day I enjoyed a relaxing day at the apartment. Instead of updating my blog, I did some Essex stuff and went on Pottermore!!! It was so fantastic I was finally able to go on :) Later that evening we went to Aunt Stacy's ultrasound appointment. I got to see my little cousin! He kept blocking his face with his hands, but we could still see how adorable he is.
The next day, Wednesday, Uncle Mark and I went to the Pyramids of Giza and the Egyptian Museum. It was a very enlightening trip because we went with a tour guide. I realized that I hardly know any Egyptian history!! It also was an incredible experience of course! Egyptian tourism has been down since the revolution and there was hardly anyone there! It was not the typical packed place a national monument would have in front of it and the souvenir industry has taken a hit. Apparently the prices of the figurines and other touristy stuff were super inexpensive! After hearing about the Great Pyramid of Giza, Khufu's pyramid, and getting an up close look at it's greatness we went down into one of the smaller pyramids! It was actually built for Khufu's wife (all the smaller pyramids that you don't think of are for the Queens). It was very hot, but really cool to actually go down into one. Going down into one of the smaller ones was plenty for me, I got the experience I think without having to go farther in bending down and walking down backwards. Plus I'm a wimp when it comes to breathing in dust and being drenched with sweat! Haha they are like ovens! Anyway, after seeing the pyramids up close, and learning a bit about each one, we drove to higher ground and saw all three of them in the distance! We got some pretty spectacular pictures as well. Next we went down to where the Sphinx is and heard all about how the ancient Egyptians prepared their dead. In the Valley Temple right next to the Sphinx, there are pink granite pillars and alabaster flooring where the mummification took place. Our tour guide, Izzat, told us a bit about the process and also a little about the ceremonial boats.
Seeing the last remaining wonder of the ancient world was undoubtedly one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had! I got that same awestruck feeling I get in really historical places in Europe. Who would have thought even six months ago I would be going to Egypt?!!! (especially about six months ago when the revolution was happening) After we explored Giza, we were driving to go get some lunch towards the museum when we got stuck in traffic. It was really intense standstill traffic and pretty soon hordes of people started walking our way. It turns out it was part of the funeral for a top Egyptian official that had been imprisoned and had died the day before after being transferred to a hospital. They actually carried the coffin right next to our van! It was an experience we weren't expecting and it was cool to witness! After lunch at McDonalds we went to the Egyptian Museum!! It was built in 1897 and opened in 1902 so the building was fantastic in itself! I also got to see Tahrir Square and a burned building. When you first go in you can see how easy it would have been for the people to break in from the windows on the ceiling during the revolution. We saw the old security system as we walked in, there was just some security cameras they checked on frequently. Not very secure. Izzat explained that some of the gold statues that they retrieved back look kind of different from others, so it's not certain they are the real ones. In the beginning he took us on a tour of the most interesting pieces of the museum and gave us the history behind them. Our first thing we saw was the FAKE Rosetta Stone. The real one is in London, and it's just weird that they have arguably the most significant artifact for ancient Egyptian history as the stone allowed the hieroglyphics to be deciphered. However, a French officer was actually the one to read the Greek and realize the significance, so in a way imperialism allowed ancient Egyptian history to be fully explored. Actually a lot of the most famous pieces are in London, so i'm glad I can see them! Not to diminish Cairo's museum, we saw a lot of incredible pieces. It's so big and full of tons of statues and giant walls of hieroglyphics it would have not meant as much if we hadn't had Izzat to explain things. One of my favorite Egyptian stories is of Hatshepsut. She is the only woman to have actually been Pharaoh and not just a Queen married to the King of Egypt. She dressed as a King with the false beard and refused to let the previous King's son rule as Pharaoh because of his age, and she felt she had the right to rule. At the age of 33, the son finally ruled and previously it was thought he killed her to become Pharaoh, but then they found her tomb in Luxor. If he had killed her she wouldn't have a proper King's burial, so it was clear that she had just let him rule when he became a good age. Stories like that sound familiar from when I went to an Egyptian museum in San Jose and just from learning Egyptian history but it was so nice to have a guide to show and tell us so many interesting things! The museum actually has a whole floor dedicated to King Tut and what they found in his tomb. His body is still in his tomb in Luxor, however everything that was with him is on that floor! We saw the famous gold coffins and all his jewelry in the only air conditioned room as well! He had several thrones, a chariot, pretty much everything he would need in the afterlife of course! It was interesting to see all his shoes that showed him grow up as he ruled from age 9 to 19 when he mysteriously died. The story of the military commander and the high priest killing him sounded convincing to me! I just remember watching something on him in sixth grade and his DNA showing he had scoliosis, I remember the important stuff clearly! Honestly I was upset with myself for forgetting a lot of Egyptian history, ancient history is hard for me to imagine and not my favorite, but in the future I should take a class if I can. I won't describe everything we saw, however the mummified animals were cool! Especially the crocodile mom that had a baby in her mouth! But some kitties were killed during the mummification process, for cheap mummies. :( We like the cats that were revered in Egypt! Like Shwaya of course :) Earlier at the pyramids Uncle Mark actually got a cat statue, Bastet, the feline goddess they worshipped.
After our wonderful adventure to Giza and downtown Cairo we went home and Uncle Mark had a softball game. Aunt Stacy made a delicious stir fry for dinner and after we caught up on Grey's Anatomy! Although she has the last half to finish because I stayed up later. Although this is only a piece of my experience in Egypt I'll have to save the rest for later because I'm tired. We are really having a blast! xoxo Marissa
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