The End of the Beginning

Due to the increasing volatility of the situation in Egypt, I have had, regrettably, to cancel my trip.
In one day, the U.S. State Department sent three emails telling me not to go.  All U.S. citizens have been evacuated from Egypt and the U.S.  consulate office has been closed indefinitely.  The email said that, should I get into any trouble in Egypt, there have been no planes deployed to take me home.  I was a bit concerned that the Egyptian govt. (Sisi) would close the airport...

Coupled with this, three people in Egypt advised me to make arrangements to "come another time," since things are not safe in Cairo at this time. My main contact told me that, in addition to this, Luxor sites were closing and there are pro-Morsi protests there in the evenings.

In the mean time, one Egyptian FB friend has been giving me Arabic lessons over Skype.  Additionally, to prepare for the trip, I borrowed a camera, purchased a memory card for it, and bought:

1.  an Ipad Mini, 
2. an entire long skirt, long-sleeved shirt wardrobe
3. a hajib and arm sleeves
4. 7 videos on Egypt
5. 7 books on Egypt
6. countless international adaptors, memory boosters, and battery back-up devices for my Ipad
7. countless gifts to give people in Egypt
8. a travel hair dryer
9. and, well just ask ebay
10. (I was SO READY).

My folks were going to watch my dog Mama and Carolyn was going to watch my little hellion kitten.

I had already paid for all my hotels and train rides, and booked all my tour guides and drivers.  I can only get a 77% return on my three train trips (including two overnight rides). And I cannot get a refund for the $600 I spent to purchase enough miles to fly on the American Advantage program...

...but they are waiting for me.

Those miles are waiting for the day when Sisi turns over control of the government to another democratic ruler.  I hope, for the sake of the Egyptian people, that that happens quickly, because my sources say the government is killing and harassing pro-Morsi people in the streets, even as they are praying.  

Tieing up Loose Ends

Booked the Trains, called the dr. to make appt. for innoculations,/malaria pills, registered with the State Department,  hired Cairo tour guide... lost the Luxor guide (because he was a "teacher," not a tour guide?)

School is winding up and there are a million things to do to close up a classroom, not the least of which is inventory, goal updates and leveling an entire library.  (Sigh.)

African Cultural Center
I have told some of you that I am lucky enough to have met a Nigerian woman who is opening up an African Cultural Center for kids in East Dundee.   Well, she's coming out to my house Friday to peruse my African materials.  I'm going to help her develop the school's curriculum, and get to teach a few classes. She is a spunky little ex-engineer who is very passionate about this "CAKE" (Culture of Africa for Kids School" (or something like that), and has rented out the wing of an old school. Went out there last weekend and saw the dance studio, the art studio and the drama center.  Quite nice.  School is out Thursday, so this endeavor coincides quite well with the ending of another.  This is Lande: 

 

 

Meanwhile, Gasser tells me I might have to borrow his sister's "abaya" if I'm going to go into a mosque during Ramadan:

 

He still has to ask permission to see if I can enter a mosque on Ramadan. (He says the people of Elephantine Island are "open-minded" about foreigners wearing abayas- but I know it will at least produce a smile from me!)

 



My Cat Hop Ching is very ill. I have to take her in to euthanize her tomorrow.  She has lost feeling in her lower left quarter and gone blind in one eye.  She can't walk or stand. 
Hop Ching has slept with me under my covers for 18 years.   She is little and gray and loved me unconditionally. My saddness has no words.

June 6, 2013

 

I'm starting in Cairo, then traveling south to Giza, Luxor, then Aswan (Nubia).

Okay, so no one told me it was going to be RAMADAN for the entire time I'd be in Egypt, until last night!  What are the implications?  Is this a good thing or bad thing?  One guy I'm renting from said everybody would just be lazy/laying around in the mornings.  Now THIS is not a good thing for someone who wants to visit tombs and ride camels.

But I, on the other hand, wonder if there will be different calls to prayers (which happen regularly 5x/day over the town's loud speakers), or other ways of celebrating, in which I may be able to partake. The calls to prayers, incidentally, I first heard in a back-packers hostel in Dar eSalam, Tanzania.  Magical and haunting the imam's voice woke me, and I clammered across my bed to stick my head out the 5th floor window as far as it would go.  No matter where Muslims are, when the imam calls them to prayer, they drop, face Mecca and pray.  It is a spectacular thing to witness.  I have seen joggers on the beach prostrate themselves mid-stride at daybreak. 

Thrift Store "Must Haves" for Entering Muslim Territory
The scarf I bought today is dark blues and grays.  It will serve me well for wrapping my head, shoulders and neck when entering temples.  I also bought a sort of turtle neck lavender top to wear when I tour the city in Cairo.  Oh, lastly I picked up a pair of shoes which cover my toe nail polish, thinking that might, also be a "come hither" message.

Part of me wants to wear the long gogo (grandma's) robe I bought in Ethiopia one day when I was cold. 

Headdress or Not?
Thank goodness, I don't have to wear a scarf, covering my hair everywhere I go. (I mean, my hair is such a big part of me, and my face isn't that great all on its own! lol)   One source explained that I should dress much more (literally) conservatively in big cities, while, once I start traveling to smaller cities known to inhabit thousands of tourists, I can wear shorts and a smaller top.

To Buy an Ipad or a Tablet?
Since wireless is everywhere, I thought I'd sit on my patio at night and blog while gazing over the Nile.  And, hoping to Skype with my family (!?), I decided I needed to carry an electronic device. Finding that the Android tablet I needed to do these things would cost me $200, I decided to splurge and spend an extra hundred to go the Mercedes route:  Ipad.  Now it's all up to Craigs List. Whoops!  I got lucky:  Meeting a guy with a Ipad mini (8") tomorrow at at Starbucks in St. Charles.  Wish me luck. 

Getting Lucky
Featuring a Saturday night belly dancer and snake charmer (ho hum; I saw that in India), the Hotel Nefertiti in Luxor now has one more reservation.  this is the exact middle of my trip.  After sleeping in a hostel in Cairo

then a sleeper car on a train, to Luxor.....

...I figured I deserved a break.  The Hotel Nefertiti looks charming, although it's going to cost a whopping $27/night!  (The hostels I'd been looking at were as low as $2/night.)
Here is the Hotel Nefertiti:

 

 

 

 

This night club is on the rooftop of the Nefertiti. It looks out over the Nile and onto the sand dunes.

It has raving reviews!

 

The First Step

Hi there, and welcome to my JackiWalksLikeanEgyptian blog!

I booked my ticket. Straight through Jordan, I will fly to Cairo, Egypt on Royal Jordanian on Tuesday, July 9 at 9:30 p.m., arriving in Cairo at 7:15 p.m.  That's only 10 hours.  Not bad, as things go.  Thought I would have to stay overnight in London (uck), but some American travel agent saved me.  And with my miles, I only have to pay $680.  Saving $1,720 was never a bad thing!  And I am planning my whole trip over the internet!

This is the picture I saw on Facebook that compelled me to go to Egypt, a place that had not previously been on my radar:

Can't you just see me staying here?

I don't know how I met the woman (Cornelia Kaufmann) who posted this picture of an Aswan house, but she has since helped me with travel accommodations at a $13.76-a-night hostel and a tour guide (female Muslim) in Cairo ($40/day).   Cornelia is a photographer, as well.  Only she uses a Hasseblat and I will be using my trusty point-and-shoot (and my phone).  This is Cornelia:

She lives in Austria, but travels a lot. Isn't she georgeous?

If you Google "Aswan houses" you will see the reason I am going there to photograph.

Using two internet travelers' sites (Couchsurfing.com and Airbnb), I found a Nubian tour guide named Gassar with a house for rent in Aswan (which is Nubian Egypt, and the furthest south of all cities).  And then I came across "Individual Aswan," a site by a woman named Petra Dressler created specifically for people who travel alone.

Here is Gassar (on the left), and the entire house he is renting me for $20/night in Aswan.  (It's the one in the middle.)  It's on Elephantine Island, located in the Nile River, and is called "Ibiza House." (I don't know what that means, yet.) He runs a tour boat touring company down the Nile, but says tour guide services have been in a slump since the revolution (Mubarak) two years ago.

 

 

Here's a picture of the other side of it:

 

 

 It has room to sleep 4 and lots of charm in the inside.  Bonus:  As you can kind of see from the above pic, it has a balcony which faces the Nile! I mean, can you beat cocktails and a hookah on the Nile, for Pete's sake?!  You can even see the dunes of the desert from the balcony, just across the river.

 

Here are some pictures of the inside:

 

 

 

 

Can you believe this?  And Gassar says he's not charging me for tour guide services because he is "just proud to be showing tourists the beauty of his country,"  but I'm paying him like $20/day.

 

So, I jumped the gun;  Aswan is the last 5 days of my 14 day trip...but the part I am most excited about because there I get to go see:  Abu Simbel temple, a camel market in the desert, an animal market, a souk (Egyptian bizarre), the Nubian village,  Philiae temple, the Tombs of the Nobels, the Botanical Gardn, the Monestary of Simeon, and Crocodile Island.  I will also get to RIDE a camel (!!) and a Felucca boat, which has overnight trips down the Nile.

 

I mean, how cool is this?  And did I say I BOOKED MY TICKET TODAY?!