pyramids with stefana and co

Today was a really excellent last day of vacation. It started out with me sneaking into my friends' hotel to munch on their free continental breakfast, and then we took off for the pyramids. When we got there, we learned that the second pyramid (my favorite) had been closed for repairs, but that the third one was now open. This was exciting because I had never been in Menkaure's pyramid before, so we all bought tickets and visited it. There was a lot more going on inside that little pyramid than in either of the giant ones, which was pretty cool. The other three girls also bought tickets to go inside the great pyramid, but I passed on that one, because like I've said before, once was enough. (Also, side note, I've now hit my head on the inside of all three Giza pyramids. No, not on purpose. Ouch.) If anyone got cool pictures of us by Menkaure's pyramid, I'll link to them when they're posted, because my camera is still broken. I should do something about that.
After the pyramids, we took a cab to Khan el-Khalili, where we had juice (banana for me, pomegranate for Stefana, and pineapple for the other two), and I pointed them toward the market, then headed home to study for my quiz that's coming up this week, and to write for NaNo.
Then we all met up again for dinner at Crave, which was delicious again, especially the desserts: chocolate lava cake and strawberry cheesecake. So good. If it weren't so expensive, I would eat there all the time.
Tomorrow, I've got school again, and the girls are heading off to the museum, and possibly back to Khan for some more shopping, then we're going to try dinner at Abu el-Sid (with proper reservations!) and a felucca ride. Nothing can possibly go wrong.
NaNo word count: 34855

tuesday at the pyramids, take 2

Sarah and I slept in this morning, and then lounged around a little bit, until we were awake. Then we took to the streets of Zamalek so I could do my grocery shopping. And so we could eat brunch. We ate at Munch and Bagel, where I (again!) had the delicious turkey bagel sandwich. Someday, I will try something new, but that day wasn't today. Then we went to Alfa for groceries, and I bought apples and peanut butter and 3x5 cards. (Probable TMI warning: apparently you can't buy tampons in Egypt? What the heck? Not cool.)

After eating and shopping, we headed back to the dorm to relax for a little bit longer before heading off to our adventure for the day, visiting the pyramids for the first time for Sarah, and third time for me. I didn't mind at all though, it's not like they get less awe-inspiring.

I had toyed with the idea of taking a bus to the pyramids from Tahrir Square downtown, but eventually gave up that idea in favor of taking a taxi. The ride itself wasn't bad, but when we finally got near the pyramids, right before the hill leading up to the parking lot, two men jumped out in front of the car, forcing the driver to stop. It turned out they were trying to get us to hire a horse carriage or camels from them. They did this by telling us that walking around the pyramids was impossibly tiring, and we really shouldn't attempt it. I wanted to snap at them that I'd already walked all over the Giza plateau with Salima Ikram, so surely I would be fine. Also they kept calling me sister, which was really annoying. Finally, we convinced them to leave us alone (after ignoring them didn't work), and our driver took us up to the ticket booth (getting stopped once more on the way). We bought our tickets, and were in.

sarah's first pyramid!

I waited outside while Sarah climbed into the depths of the first pyramid. I was cheap, so I didn't want to pay for a ticket, or risk hitting my head again. We had good weather, so I didn't mind waiting in the shade and the wind for her to come back out.

big pyramid, tiny sarah

After the first pyramid, we walked over to the second, but didn't go inside. The policemen were trying to get us to come closer to the pyramid beyond the keep-out ropes, so that they could get money from us, presumably. We didn't go, despite their persistence.
Next, we walked over to the solar boat museum, got our booties, and went in. I love that boat. When we finished the museum, we walked a bit around the great pyramid, to see if the mastaba tombs I visited with Professor Ikram were open to visitors, but they weren't, as far as I could tell.
When we were walking away from the pyramid, toward the Sphinx, we got semi-assaulted by a group of babbling middle-school age Egyptian girls. They surrounded us, and I couldn't tell what they wanted. Eventually, one girl in a bright pink hijab spoke up, and said she wanted to take a picture with me. This was very strange. Why, why, why on earth would anyone want to take a picture with me? Let alone go ahead and ask to take one? She asked my name, and I told her, and then I asked for hers in Arabic, after which we conversed between my very bad and her very fast Arabic. Her name was Maha. One of her friends took the picture, with me and Sarah surrounded by eight or ten Egyptian teenyboppers. It was kind of adorable, if very weird. After the picture was taken, I took out my camera and asked if they would take another one with it. I thought the girl did, but I guess she was just being sneaky, because when I checked, it wasn't there. Sad.
After the picture was taken, the rest of their group, and a man I presume was their teacher, came up. I don't remember exactly what was said, but the teacher did invite us to come on their tour with them, which we politely declined. So they left, and we left, to walk down the road to the Sphinx, where another odd thing happened: someone else asked to take a picture with me. I don't know what was going on. This time it was a teenage boy and his friends, though, so I said no, because it was a bit creepy. He was polite though, and not a jerk, so I talked to him for a bit in Arabic/English. He asked where I was from, and I said California, and that I lived in Cairo. Then he called me beautiful, which was out of the blue and a step further in our relationship than I was willing to take, so I excused myself, and we headed down to the Sphinx.
Talking about it later, Sarah and I were wondering what on earth made these people want to take pictures with me. The only thing we could settle on was maybe my hair, since it is pretty out of the ordinary in Egypt. I was dressed modestly, and honestly didn't expect to attract any attention today. Shows what I know.
The Sphinx was sphinx-like, although we didn't get to spend very much time with him, because the best viewing spot was being shut down for closing time, meaning we had to force our way through giant crowds of people going to the exit of the temple near the Sphinx, because the guards telling us to get out didn't think to stop the flow of people going in first.

hello mr sphinx

Then we crossed the street and had dinner at that famous Egyptian restaurant, Pizza Hut. It was worth it for the view:

sunset behind the pyramids. at pizza hut!

We left the restaurant, and caught a metered taxi home, which ended up being cheaper than the 40 pounds quoted to us by the nice man who spoke to us outside. I would have been okay with going with him if he hadn't been so pushy. I think I've taken the advice 'always choose your taxi, never let your taxi choose you' to heart. Traffic on the way back was terrible, but we made it home, where a miracle happened. We didn't have exact change for the taxi, so I over paid by five pounds, and asked for change, fully expecting the driver to just shrug and drive away. But no! He produced a five pound note and bid us farewell. What a gentleman.
We walked to get gelato before heading back to the dorm, and saw this street sign for our road. Mohamed Sakeb. Everything else I've seen calls it Mohamed Thakeb and that's what the Arabic on the sign reads. So, I don't really know what is going on, but I know what to tell the taxi company next time, at least!

this explains a lot

Tomorrow I have to go to school, and take my Arabic midterm, which kind of sucks. I think I'll do alright though. I also get to drag Sarah along to campus on the hour long bus ride. I'm such a great host.

I will have a vlog to post here tomorrow, but I'm not going to stay awake while it uploads, so you'll just have to wait. Be patient.
[Here's the video! Please enjoy.]

NaNo word count: 3592

birthday at the pyramids

Happy birthday to me! I'm not a teenager anymore, how sad. But so far, being twenty has been pretty good.
I was a little bit afraid that having my birthday without any of my old friends or my family around would totally suck, but instead, I had an amazing day, since I've met so many wonderful people here in Egypt.
The day started early, with a taxi ride to AUC's old campus in downtown Cairo, where we got on the bus that would take us to Giza. Professor Ikram wished me a happy birthday and gave me a brownie, which was very nice of her. The drive to Giza was relatively painless, although commiserating with the other students in my class about how totally lost we are for our midterm on Monday was a little worrisome. Still, I've been studying, and I'll do my best. Hopefully that's good enough.
We started our tour of the Giza plateau by meeting up with an archaeologist who is currently excavating the one of the workers' villages near the pyramids. Her work was really interesting, even if we had to climb ridiculous sand dunes and a giant rocky hill to see it. Here's some pictures of that:

view across smoggy cairo from the hill

the second pyramid

foreground: the pyramid builder's village

on the left is the top of the hill we climbed, it's a lot higher on the other side.

Then, we walked to the valley temple of Khafre (the builder of the second pyramid), which is right next to the Sphinx. The temple was beautiful, at least what remained was (all the decoration and statues have been taken to various Egyptian and European museums), but I didn't get any pictures inside. Here's the Sphinx, though:

okay, not the sphinx. a camel leg bone prof ikram
 found on the ground and took home with her.

sphinx! 

After the professors were done talking, they somehow disappeared, or we just didn't keep up. We got a little lost, and were chastised when we found our way back to the group eventually. I won't be doing that again any time soon! (Or ever. Never ever.)
Next, we visited the funerary boat of King Khufu (the builder of the first pyramid). The boat museum was wonderfully designed, and we got to wear awesome shoes inside to protect the boat:

boat booties!

the boat pit where the boat was found

so pretty. i want to sail in it.

what do you mean, i can't sail in it? why not?

At this point, lots of people in our group were very very thirsty, because we'd been promised a return to the bus, which hadn't happened yet, and actually never happened until the trip was over. Professor Ikram bought water for the people who needed it, but once you're dehydrated, one bottle of water isn't going to make you better, especially when you're still out in the hot sun.
Luckily, I'd brought my entire bag with me, two huge water bottles, four granola bars and all. I got a little dehydrated, just because I was usually too busy scrambling along with the group like good little ducklings to have time to take a drink, but by the end of the trip, both bottles were completely empty.
After seeing the boat, we entered two mastaba tombs of the 5th dynasty (I think). They were both really interesting, with carvings and paintings just like we'd talked about in class. Did I take pictures, despite the sign saying no cameras? Well, yes. Because the professor told me I could:

the tomb owner and his special kilt

Then it was time to visit the great pyramid. You might remember, last time I visited Giza, I only went into the second pyramids, because the first was too expensive. However, when you're with Professor Ikram, nothing costs any money beyond the field trip fee! It's just like magic.
The first pyramid was amazing, with the corbelled ceiling in the grand gallery and the sheer size of the tunnels through the rock. The pathways up to the burial chamber were steep, but not impossible. It felt like there wasn't any air inside, and it was amazingly hot and humid, but as you can see (read?), I survived. It was a close thing, though, especially when I hit my head on the ceiling of one of the tunnels, giving myself an instant headache. Ouch. Getting back out into the fresh air was a huge relief, except then we walked straight over to the next pyramid to go inside that one as well.
I almost didn't go, just because I'd already seen it, but then I thought, why miss out on the chance to visit it again, with a famous Egyptologist as a tour guide? It was a great choice, and I had a good time, even though I almost suffocated again.
(The best part of being inside the great pyramid, by the way, was when a man inside with a flashlight offered to take a group picture of us by the king's sarcophagus, even though photos are strictly not allowed. Professor Ikram said it was okay, though, so I jumped at the chance. I'll post that picture whenever I find it on someone's facebook, I promise. Even if I look horrible in it. [Here it is!])

i'm waaay in the back, just about in the middle. behind the freaking sarcophagus.

After getting out of the second pyramid, we headed back for the bus (Professor Ikram made everyone sing Happy Birthday to me and the other birthday student, which went something like, "happy birthday dear mumble-mumble") and went home. I caught a cab back to the dorms with some friends, and then headed straight upstairs for a birthday nap. When I woke up, I showered to get the dust of Giza off of myself, and then studied some more. In between readings, I made plans with friends to go out for a birthday dinner. We ended up at Dido's, an Italian restaurant not very far away. I had pesto fettuccine, which was completely delicious, so I'll definitely be going back there again! After dinner, we walked to a bakery/gelato place for dessert, which was amazing. I ordered tiramisu and coffee gelato, which was the best choice ever.
When we got back to the dorms, sigh, I came upstairs and studied some more. Aren't I dedicated? I hope that I do okay on my Dramatic Lit midterm tomorrow, because I'm afraid I kind of neglected it in favor of studying for Art and Architecture. Oh well.
In conclusion, I had an amazing twentieth birthday, and I can only hope that bodes well for the coming year.

a sketchy situation

Woke up today at 7:30 to shower and start studying, which actually kind of worked. I got stuff done, at least until I took my first break, which lasted a lot longer than it should have. I got to skype with my friend Maggie from home, though, so that was really nice.
Then I went downstairs to the courtyard to study more, and managed to get through my notes almost two times before we had to catch a cab to the Egyptian Museum. It was an interesting experience, because the driver was the first I'd met who willingly admitted that he didn't speak a lick of English, not in so many words of course. I was pretty proud of myself for making it work, and getting him to drop us off in the right place, although we did have to cross about six lanes of traffic to actually get to the museum. We also were there freakishly early, because Kim and I were a bit paranoid about being late again, after last time. It wasn't too long before the entire group showed up though, and we headed inside. The trip this time was much less frenetic, and much less boiling hot, because it wasn't nearly as crowded and we didn't have to run up and down any giant staircases. We looked at and learned about a ton of new and interesting Old Kingdom statues, including the only for-sure identified statue of Khufu (Cheops), the builder of the great pyramid at Giza. The statue is less than four inches tall. And it's adorable. The only remaining image of a pharaoh who is painted in history as an egotistical maniac is a teeny tiny ivory statue. If he'd really been as bad as Herodotus says he was, don't you think we'd have found more evidence?
Part of our assignment at the museum today, other than to follow Professor Ikram around like little ducklings* (or 'chickadees' as she sometimes calls us), was to describe a work of art in detail, as practice for our class paper. I chose a statue of King Raneferef from the 5th dynasty, which sadly is all broken up and the paint is almost all gone. That in itself isn't very interesting, but what happened to me when I was sketching the statue was. Perhaps the fact that what I was drawing was called a 'sketch' lends a certain tone to my encounter. An Egyptian man, who I hadn't noticed standing beside me, all of a sudden commented on my art. "Very beautiful," he said, "you are very good." I pretty much ignored him, and continued to draw. "You have chosen a wonderful piece," he said, "it is beautiful." At this point, I was wondering if he would just go away, but sadly, this was not the case. "You are from America," he stated, "you are touring?" I really shouldn't have responded, but I couldn't seem to help myself. "No," I said, "I live here. I live in Cairo." He was bit surprised, but quickly smoothed it over with, "Me too! I also live in Cairo. I am an accountant. What do you study?" "Egyptology." "What?" "Egyptology." "What?" "I study Egypt," I finally said, really kind of wanting him to go away. "Oh, oh, Egypt. Of course. I am an accountant," he repeated, as if I had thrown him off his script. "I play judo, and also swimming." "Hmmm," I said, trying to be noncommittal and also dismissive, if at all possible. Maybe I should have left then, but I was still trying to draw the stupid statue. He was silent for a while, then said, "Okay, okay. I must say. I am not married. I have not been married."
Around then, my friends showed up, ready to leave, I finished my sketch, and I said to him, "Very nice to meet you, goodbye." And to his credit, he left. Major props to him for that, at the very least. So, that was it. My very first 'marriage proposal' in Egypt. I'm so excited. I could tell he didn't really care about me though, I knew the relationship couldn't last. Relationships based on lies never do, and he started out with one, complimenting my drawing. I know the truth. This was my sketch, after all... (As you can see, that man was a big fat liar. Also, you can stop laughing now. Anytime.)
When I got home from the museum, I studied some more, then made the mistake of taking another break. It didn't really turn out to be a mistake, though. Quite the opposite. Instead of spending another five hours studying, I spent five hours hanging out with friends talking about whatever crossed our minds. And apparently, we are all huge nerds. I mean, I know I'm a huge nerd, but it's always nice to have company. We talked about Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Buffy&Angel, Lord of the Rings, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Anne McCaffrey, George RR Martin, Sherlock, The Room, fanfiction, Lost, Dr. Horrible, internet memes including drunk Jeff Goldblum and sad Keanu, and in short, it was the most epic conversation I've had in a long time. There were, of course, interludes of pizza and cupcakes (not for anyone but Peter, though), but pretty much, it was an amazing conversation that continued solidly for five hours.
One of the best quotes to come out of this monster conversation was this, as Peter attempted to explain why everything bad that happens to Harry Potter and his friends is Harry's own fault: "Harry Potter is the reason Cedric Diggory is a vampire." And I have to say, it was a pretty persuasive argument. Also, the description of the Twilight movies as "comedies with really good soundtracks" was wonderfully apt.
So, that was my day. Egyptian Museum (with marriage proposal), studying, and ultra-nerdiness. It was a pretty great day. Hopefully celebrating my birthday tomorrow on the Giza plateau running around after Professor Ikram again* will be just as fantastic.

*Do not in anyway misunderstand me: I love having the chance to follow Salima Ikram around like a baby duckling.

the one with the pyramids.

This is my first daylight glimpse of the pyramids, across a freeway and miles of Cairo, on our drive over there. They completely dwarf the city, even from far away, and it's amazing how huge they are up close.

Every individual block weighs at least two and a half tons, and the ones I stood next to came up almost to my shoulders.

Finally being at the great pyramids was a dream come true, although in my dreams there were no other tourists, many fewer camels, and it definitely wasn't that hot!

my view from the ledge up the pyramid wall

We started our tour at the oldest and largest pyramid, built by the pharaoh Khufu in 2560 BCE. There were steps hewn into the stone, which let us climb up about 15 feet to a small ledge. Looking up the slanted wall of the pyramid, it was hard to imagine climbing any higher, and impossible to imagine anyone building it. It seemed like a mountain, just plunked down in the middle of nowhere without any human intervention at all.

the second pyramid, featuring my friend emily

From the first pyramid, we were herded back onto the bus by our crazy guide, who then took us to the second pyramid, Khafre's.

It was slightly smaller than the first, but still held some of its limestone casing at the very top. The rest of the limestone was pillaged by successive generations of Egyptians looking for new building material.

Our guide informed us that for 30 Egyptian pounds (about $6), we could climb into the pyramid to view the king's burial chamber, and we all coughed up the cash immediately.

We were forced to hand over our cameras before we could enter the pyramid, and while I have respect for rules in general, I wish I had hidden my camera at the bottom of my bag, just because the sight of the burial chamber was so surreal I wish I had a record of it outside my own mind.

The tunnel floor sloped immediately down at a steep angle, and featured metal bars fastened to the floor to act as footholds. After about 10 feet, we entered the pyramid, into a tunnel 4 feet high at the most. Everyone crouched, and held onto the handrails for dear life, but kept moving forward as fast as possible into the dark. After about a minute, the ceiling opened up and the floor leveled out until we came upon another small tunnel that led up to the burial chamber itself. This path sloped as steeply as the first, but we all found that going up was easier than coming down.

our tour guide and the sphinx. uncanny resemblance, no?

Emerging into the chamber was a relief, especially since I could finally stand up straight, but the temperature in the room was terrible. We were all sweating bullets within a few seconds as we stood amazed at where we were. Of course, someone had been there before us and left his name scrawled on the wall for everyone to see: Giovanni Belzoni, antiquarian Egyptologist extraordinaire. I meant to post a picture of his graffito here, but I honestly cannot find one. Apparently everyone is more scrupulous than me and didn't take a picture of it.

We emerged from the pyramid into the baking Egyptian heat, and all we could think about was how good it felt to feel fresh air. I'm glad I'm not claustrophobic, because I wouldn't have missed my journey into the second pyramid for anything, but I would have felt bad having a panic attack down there!

fezzes are cool

Unfortunately, we didn't visit the third and smallest pyramid, but we did get to see the sphinx from up close. No, Dad, it didn't ask me any riddles. And yes, I would know the answer if it had.

After seeing the sphinx, we headed to lunch, a buffet of traditional Egyptian food served at a famous Saqqara restaurant. I tried all the food I could, and all of it was delicious.

yeah, you read that right

The restaurant was decorated with traditional art as well as photographs of famous Egyptians. I don't know who this man is or why he was important, but I know I like his hat.

After lunch, we got back on our bus for the drive back to Zamalek. Don't you love our bus? I loved our bus.

When we got home, sunburned (slightly) and exhausted (totally), we called the day a success, and all took naps.

I spent the rest of the day filming and editing this video for the youtube channel I share with my friends Amber, Natalie, and Nicole, and my sister Erin. The part about the pyramids starts at 1:49: