the world as i know it.

So I waited a few days after leaving Egypt to write this blog for a couple reasons…if I wrote it the day we left I would have written pages and pages bashing the country (I’ve cooled off a bit now), second, Sea Olympics were yesterday so I was busy all day and it was great..even though we didn’t win.  We did win the big lip sync contest at the end though, which was hilarious. And third, I had like a billion other papers to write and tests to study for ahhh. This whole school thing is really getting in the way of my vacation ;)

The good news is..I got to continue my newfound stardom in this country..only this time I was Shakira..another Latina..I’m not sure if they’re confused or if I’m confused, but as far as I know..I look like nothing of Latin descent..hmmm..

I was not prepared for what I saw in Alexandria or Cairo..at all. No one was actually. I’m not sure anything could have prepared me for it. It was by far the most impoverished place I have ever been in my entire life. When I think of poverty I usually think of like the slums of India or other really poor African countries, not Egypt. Egypt is very, very poor and has no sort of systems whatsoever. All the buildings look like they’re about to crumble to the ground, there is trash everywhere, the way those people drive is unreal (no traffic lights or lanes and just people and cars use the same streets/sidewalks..I must have seen my life flash before my eyes at least 10 times) and just the way all the people act is disgusting. It is literally a world of “eat or be eaten”. Anytime you want to go anywhere or do anything, you are being hassled for one thing or another and all they want is their “baksheesh” (tip in Arabic) even if they didn’t help you do anything. The Egyptian men made the Turkish men seem like saints…that’s how awful they were. So, so, so disturbingly gross. You can’t even sit in the front seat of a taxi without the driver trying to sexually harass you. Luckily I was not a victim of this because I would rather walk (eeek) than sit in the front seat..but almost all my other friends were :( Not to mention I had a hard time even looking at them because their teeth were so gross and you could see like the root covered with blood ewww (anyone that knows me knows how I feel about teeth). I feel really bad because I think that a lot of them don’t even realize how horrible it is because they don’t know any better so they just continue to live their life in that state. There were more women out and about (completely covered, of course..even in the ocean..that was interesting) than there were in Turkey. They’re just not allowed to do a lot of simple things that any American women would normally do (sit at a café, be alone, etc). I could go on and on about how corrupt this nation is but more on that later…

The first day we were here we did a trip with SAS (probably our best idea yet) and just saw the “best” of Alexandria. It pretty much consisted of the library and the few buildings that didn’t look like they were from the 1^st century. We saw some artifacts at the Alexandria National Museum (you know how I feel about museums…) and then headed to the catacombs, which were underground. They were pretty sweet, just not for anyone that is claustrophobic or faint of heart. The best part of the day was lunch because we ate at a super nice restaurant on the water and the food was surprisingly really, really good. Well that, and I was starving. The Bibliotecha Alexandria was the most unique building in the city and definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. It opened only a few years ago and it is a massive library/archaeological museum/planetarium/concert hall/computer center. It was pretty amazing. I wish we could have spent more time there. We also went to the Montazah Palace Gardens..uhhh there were like no gardens..I saw some trees that were surrounded by trash and that’s aboutttt it. Our backyard looks more like the palace gardens than this place did. Going to museums is probably the most exhausting thing in the world so after an entire day of it, we all just passed out when we got back to the ship.

THE NEXT DAY..or the best day I would say..we left really early in the morning for the 3 hour drive to Cairo. We went straight to the Pyramids of Giza. It was breathtaking. I can’t stress how awesome it is to see these things in real life. They’re REEEAALL! Not that I ever doubted it..but it really does take your breath away when you’re standing at the base of them in like 108 degree weather surrounded by camels. They have all the little kids out there trying to give you “free stuff” and then con you into paying for it later. Dan and I got into a little squabble with some kid because he put these things on our head and then we got yelled at when we walked away. These little kids are vicious. Anyway..we got conned within 5 min of being there. Embarassing. We headed down to the Sphinx..which was sort of disappointing. The fake ones are prettier. All of Egypt is nothing but a photoshoot. You just stand in front of each thing, stare at it for a few min, take your picture, and then leave. If you stay any longer than 10 minutes, you will melt. And die. After that..we went to the Sakkara Country Club (sounds like it would be nice, right?) and had an amaaaazing meal. Best by far I think. But in order to get to this place..we had to drive through the absolute ghetto of Cairo. There were literally grass huts that people actually live in as their main residence. There were dead horses and donkeys in the sewage that ran on both sides of the street :( and THEN a little farther down..you see the kids playing in the sewage and having a mud fight. I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. And every time the kids would see us drive by they would chase the bus down the road for a while. I think they wanted us to save them. It was really sad. A little farther down the road you see like 7-year-old kids riding donkeys and herding sheep. That was a strange thing to see in this day and age, kind of funny. And there were kids building a wall the old fashioned way with mud and stone. It’s like this country is stuck in the beginning of time. It is so weird to me..I still cannot get over it. And I saw a little girl get beaten to death by some guy..it was really sad…let’s not talk about it. These ghettos just had me in awe. I don’t think anyone spoke a word as they were watching all of this go by outside the bus windows. Oh, and you know that its dangerous when you have FOUR Egyptian bodyguards on the bus with you traveling with you everywhere you go at all times. Scary. Once we got back into the Sahara Desert/middle of nowhere, we went to see some more pyramids and tombs. We got to go inside these ones which was really neat because you actually could see legit hieroglyphics that still had some pigment on them. They were so perfect that I’m not even sure if I believe they were real. Apparently one of the pyramids we got to go down in to was only discovered and excavated a couple months ago and we were some of the first visitors in it. I don’t know..I don’t buy it. I’m convinced people are out there just making these things for tourists, but that’s just me. FINALLY, we got to the best part of the day (the thing I had been looking forward to foreverrrr)..jeeps and camels! So we all get in these jeeps that are 4x4 with no air conditioning or seat belts of course (never expect either of those things in Egypt) and we could tell right away that our driver was nuts. So we take off in the dunes of the Sahara with Lady GaGa blasting in the car. Everyone else was listening to Egyptian music..but not us. We continued with Beyonce – All the Single Ladies and Akon – I Wanna Make Love Right Now. It was soooo much fun though. So these jeeps are built to roll..and boy, did we roll. I’m pretty sure we were on the brink of death multiple times. Of course I was in the middle/ejection seat and could fly through the windshield at any moment..but I loved it. We just tore through the Sahara for a good 45 minutes. Such a good experience. The jeeps dropped us off in the middle of the desert to about a hundred camels. I’ve never seen so many camels in my life. They are much taller than I remember..but still very nasty animals. They make very interesting noises and spit and poop way too much for my liking. So as soon as we get there we’re hustled by 8 year old boys onto camels and off we go. Dan and I were asked if we were married by pretty much everyone. We just decided to say yes…one of our better ideas because people don’t bother you nearlyyyy as much. SAS actually told all the girls to wear rings on their ring fingers and it’s supposed to help the harassment a lot. But it was kind of fun making up marriage facts and stories for a little while…until he wanted us to take kissing pictures on the camels..then it wasn’t so fun anymore hahaha. My camel was quite feisty. His name was Michael Jackson (of course…one of my favorite people..not.). And Michael’s partners name was Moses. There were also multiple Obama camels..these Egyptians are crazy. They love to talk about Obama any chance they get. So as soon as we get off the camels, we are hassled for money once againnnn. That’s all these people care about..and they’re convinced that every American is very rich and they tell you that any chance they get. They always have an entire list of reasons of why you should give them more money. So we give our little camel leader man about 10 pounds which is $2 in the US and he was not pleased. That was how much we were told to give them…which I also thought was plenty..but needless to say, he gave us a piece of his mind and we walked away. Ugh those people make me so so so mad. Then it was time for the 3 hour journey baaack to Alexandria and lucky me, I slept the whole time.

The three days that followed were a lot less exciting. We got a personal taxi driver named Jimmy…well he insisted that we call him Dad. Creepy at first, but he was actually really awesome. He would drive us everywhere and wait for us outside and he always walked us across the streets (thank god or else we would not be alive today) and he would always walk us in to restaurants and everywhere to make sure no one was ripping us off. And no one would every mess with us when we were with him so that was nice. So now I like a total of 1 Egyptian. We went to the City Center of Alexandria for a little bit, which is just their biggest mall. It was so strange to see these completely covered women buying normal clothes too. Our tour guide was telling us how they only wear their birkas out in public. Never at home or at friend’s houses. I never knew that. They had a few American stores, which was refreshing to see..bebe, Guess, Adidas, H&M, etc. And they had American chain food and a movie theater and a little amusement park called Magic Planet. I was slightly surprised. Of course we still got death stares the entire time.  Other than that..Kylie and I spent every waking moment at the Four Seasons San Stefano. We made friends with all the staff and they loved us and waited on us hand and foot, which was really fun. They had tasty food, yummy mojitos, a gorgeous pool, shisha, and free wifi. What more could I ask for? Plus..it looked over the ocean and it was just so pretty. Once we were there, we didn’t even feel like we were in Egypt anymore. It was a nice break. Besides…after one of those terrifying cab rides..you always need a drink.

Now we’re en route to Morocco..we still have a few days at sea before we get there. And we get to go back through Gibraltar..wooo! I finally got sick, which totally blows. At least this is the best time to be sick though..I should be over it before we get to Morocco hopefully. And we get to start moving our clocks back tonight, which means we’re getting closer to home! Yayyy. We just had a talent show. It was incredible. I love being surrounded by such diverse and talented people all the time. My best friend (LaVaughn Hoh, the academic dean..obviously) did a hilarious performance of I’m On a Boat..so good. Back to studying and paper writing..then..bring on the snake charmers!

Lovelovelove.