Egitto

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! I hope you have an amazing day and I love you.

side note: I added some pictures to my last post.

So...now to update on the rest of my vacation (first two days written about below)...So, after the day where we saw the pyramids we headed by train to Aswan. It was supposed to be like a 9 hour ride, and it turned into a 14/15 hour one. So, we got into Aswan and got to our hotel and then we were told we have 10 minutes until we need to leave again, so we quickly got ready and headed out. Oh, and this time our tour group expanded a bit--now besides me and my friends, there were also three British boys who joined our group. Our first stop was the unfinished obelisk, which was pretty lame. Just some rock partly cut out of a quarry. It was slightly interesting however, cos the ancient Egyptians had cut out the obelisk most of the way before they noticed its imperfection. So, thanks to this, egyptologists were able to learn how they would cut the obelisks from the stone. Also, it is believed that the obelisk was the intended mate for the Lateran Obelisk in Rome (which originally stood before the temple of Tuthmosis III at Karnak), so that's pretty cool, cos I well, I live there. Next we headed on over to Philae. The Temples of Philae were halfway submerged when a new dam was built in the area in the 70s, and when the government realized with the building of the new dam, the temples would be completely submerged, they were all relocated to nearby Aglika Island, which was landscaped to match the original site. Under Bishop Theodorus the temple was converted to a Christian church. Egypt was under the rule of Byzantium (I'm actually learning about all this in class right now!) and so, many of the images of the gods at this and other temples converted into churches where scratched out during iconoclasm. Even though it was cool seeing what I've been learning about, it made me pissed off that they would go and ruin these beautiful images. That night we went out to diner with the British boys. (pic: the temple of Isis at Philae)
The next day we woke up at 3 (after going to bed at 12:30) to catch the bus to Abu Simbel. I slept most of the way there and we arrived sometime around 7. Ramses II built the Sun Temple there and put four giant statues of himself out front to impress his power on the Nubians. On his birthday and anniversary of his coronation, the sun's rays reached deep into the mountain to illuminate the sanctuary in the back. Next to Ramses' temple is the Hathor Temple of Queen Nefertari (his wife). Next the bus took us to the High Dam, but that sounded really boring, and we weren't willing to waste the Euro to pay for it (yea, we are THAT cheap), so we got out of the bus and waited for it to come back. Then back to our hotel to pick up our stuff, and then we headed over to the Nile and jumped on a felucca with the boys, which is a wooden sailing boat that can hold about 10 people, plus a crew of 3. They are only allowed to sail on the Nile between sun rise and sun set, since there are no lights on them. There's a sheet draped over the top, so there is no standing room. We just crawled around the entire day, read books, sun bathed, and played cards. It was all really relaxing AND I didn't get sea sick, which was exciting. When we stopped right before sun set, Ingrid and I climbed up the bank to go pee, and we weren't up there for more than 30 seconds when, out of no where, two guys show up trying to sell us some necklaces. It's like, damnit, all I wanna do is take a leak, and this constant harassment of people trying to sell me junk jewelry for obscene amounts of money never ends. After dark, the captain offered to take some of us into town and so, a couple of us went with. Our captain asked one of the people who lived there if we could use their toilet, and it was just a hole in the ground. Nasty. That night we slept on the felucca. (pics: Ramses II's temple at Abu Simbel, us on the felucca, and sunset over Nile taken from felucca)
The next day we woke up, ate, and then were lead by the captain to a road, a bus showed up and we were told to get in. The whole ordeal was funny. Cos if I hadn't had complete trust in the tour coordinator, I probably would have been freaked out. Even though a lot of people spoke English, many didn't speak it very well and after the first day where the coordinator went over with us what was gonna happen, we were never really told where we were going or what we were doing. We were just passed off from person to person, without any real grasp on what the hell was going on. So, the bus first stopped of at Kom Ombo. There at the Temple of Haroeris and Sobek I was asked to by the ticket guy if I would marry him. I agreed, providing that he gave me my change. So, mom and dad, I guess I'm betrothed. Next to the temple was the Chapel of Hathor where there were some creepy mummified crocodiles in a case, that was pretty cool. Then we headed on over to Edfu to the Temple of Horus, and then on to Luxor. Before entering the area around Luxor, we (as well as all other tourist buses/taxis) were stopped. Turns out that like 10 days prior there was a terrorist bombing in the area, directed at tourists. So, to enter Luxor, all tourists had to go in a police convoy. One police car led the way and another one followed all the buses. We were the last bus, so we also got a police officer in our front seat, holding a very scary and large gun. When we finally got into Luxor, we had an hour to eat and shower, and then headed out and picked up a new tour buddy, Nick and then on to the temple complex of Karnak. It was HUGE. Three separate temples and was built over a time span of 1,300 years. It was really cool and beautiful. After that we hit up Luxor Temple, yet another beautiful temple. There some Egyptian guy tried to buy us off of Nick (the kid we met on our tour) for some number of camels, which was…really funny. (temple of Karnak, jumping pic of Cossella, Nick and me in front of temple of Luxor, Temple of Luxor by night)

The next day my friends and I and Nick first saw the Colossi of Memnon. This large pair of enthroned statues originally stood in front of the mortuary temple of Amenophis III, and are all that is left. They were kinda boring. Then we headed to Hatshepsut’s temple. Many of the images of her were destroyed by the pharaoh who followed her (because she had kinda kicked him out as pharaoh and took it over. But in the images that were left, she was shown as a man, which she used to legitimize her position of power. In 1997, 58 tourists and 4 guards were shot or stabbed to death by terrorists there. The killers nearly got away, but the driver of the car they hijacked deliberately crashed it and then they were chased down by villagers…while it took an hour for the police to arrive on scene. After we went to the Valley of the Kings, where many of the pharaohs were buried (Queen Hatshepsut was the only woman buried there). We paid extra money to go into King Tut’s tomb. I really only paid extra cos I remember my mom telling me about him when I was first learning about Egypt in elementary school and I figured that well, I just had to do it. Funny thing is that Tut’s tomb is very small. He died at the age of just 19 and suddenly, so they didn’t have a whole lot of time to build a tomb. It is actually believed that they just cleared out someone else’s and stuck him in there. Also, he didn’t really do anything with his life, and is really only famous because his tomb had been un-looted and was found as it was when he was buried there. His tomb was preserved because another one was built on top of it. We also got to go into 3 other tombs (there are 60-someodd there but they only let you into a couple, on a rotating schedule to help preserve them). The other tombs were way more impressive than Tut’s, but all of them were beautiful. Then we headed on over to the Valley of the Queens, where the queens and the kids of the pharaoh’s were buried. But only like 8 tombs are there. We ended up going into two of them, and they were pretty cool. That night we caught a train back to Cairo. (temple of Hatshepsut, me at King Tut's tomb, panoramic of Valley of the Kings)

Our last day we took it easy and went to the bazaars and shopped a bit. All in all, a great trip. It was the most different place I’ve ever been. Arabic sounds nothing like any language I’ve ever studied and the culture is much different. Also seeing the extreme poverty there made me realize even more so how privileged I am. We saw people living in cement buildings with the walls broken away and no roofs. I had never seen poverty to that degree or so prevalent, it’s really an eye opener. Also, I realized how lucky I am that for the most part I usually feel very safe, cos even though for the most part I felt safe there, sometimes I didn’t. Like, hearing all the stories of terrorist bombings and shootings and what not was nerve-wracking. But I ended up seeing things that I never even imagined I would see in person, and fulfilled a dream that I’ve had since I was a little little kid. It feels so good to know that I could do all this too. Survive in a country where I don’t speak the language, don’t understand the customs, and no nobody. I don’t know, it made me feel kinda accomplished. I like knowing that I can take care of myself. I’m so happy that I tested my limits, I feel like I’ve grown so much over the last couple of months because I have continually done so.

S

Cairo

So, wow, I'm in Cairo. So, we got here on the 21st and pretty much fell asleep.

the 22nd: woke up earlish, got a good breakfast, and then went to explore the town. We ended up buying a lot of really cool stuff and running into a number of interesting people. One of which, I will now describe. So, we were walking down one of the major shopping streets in down-town Cairo, and this older man (40s) walks by and goes "walk like an Egyptian!" We kinda awkwardly laugh and keep walking. He then introduces himself and told us we were in a too expensive street and that the place with the cheaper stuff is around the corner. So, I'm talking to him and trying to get exact dirrections, and he's like, here, I'll show you. And so we start walking with him. (Right now we all felt a bit iffy about the guy but we were in a crowded street and felt safe enough). So, anyways, as we walk, he kept on making jokes about he knows all the American girls in Cairo and then turns around and points to the skies and said "thank you god for not just giving me one beautiful girl, but 3! (refering to us)....No, I kid! I have wife, and 5 kids". Then he kept on taking my arm and putting it on his as to escort me around. So, after talking to him, he's weird and makes kinda strange jokes, but we like him well enough. He tells us he works at a perfume shop and shows us it. When inside, he let's us smell a scent called Arabian Nights: "This one, makes boys go crazy...makes them so horny!! This is why I have 5 kids. My wife wears it and then 5 kids". Funny stuff. So he's letting us smell all of the perfumes, which are really just concentrated oils and tells us all the uses for them, including for massage. So, I unknowningly get pulled into a neck massage...awkward. Anna busts out her camera to take a picture of this, and he sees it, and instead of keeping with the awkward back massage, he decides to lift me up, into his arms. Wow. just wow. Well, I ended up buying so perfume off of him, which was perfect cos my necklace which holds perfume had spilled. All in all, a wonderful, hilarous experience. The perfume guy:

23rd: So, today we first went to the pyramids at Giza. Very cool. The largest one only 300 people are allowed into a day, so we didn't get to go in. But we went into the next largest one. It was so hot. We were only in there for probably like 10 minutes, but I started sweating within the first 30 seconds of getting in there...mind you we haven't really stopped sweating since arriving, but it was even worse. Crazy stuff. After that we went on a camel ride!! It was super fun. Then on to the Spinx, which was besides being in the pyramid, was my favorite part. It's just so impressive. Then we went to another perfume place (this time arranged by the tour) and what was actually another pyprus place. Then onto the museum. We weren't in the museum for nearly long enough...since we only really got an hour and a half in there, but it was crazy cool. I really want to go back. And we paid extra so that we got to go into the mummy room--creepy. My friends took picture of it all (against museum rules), so I'll get those from them and post them eventually. Okay, got to go, I've run out of minutes on this computer.

<3

So, it's been a while...

I feel like its been forever since I last updated. This last week I had three midterms, one paper proposal, one Italian oral exam, and three site visits. In sum, it was hell. I felt like I was running for like 5 days straight...just too little sleep and too much stress. But even though it was all stressful, I'm still way less stressed here than I am back in Santa Cruz. I don't know--today I went on a site visit to two sites two hours a way and on the bus I thought a lot (and also caught up on a lot of sleep). I realized I don't want to leave here. Not now, and I don't think ever. I had anticipated going through this terrible culture shock, but it's been a really smooth transition. Like yea, there have been two days here were I was super depressed, but that's good for me. I'm always gonna be depressed sometimes no matter where I am, but the magnitude and frequency can vary. I spent far much more time in Santa Cruz or in Orinda being bummed out than I have here. I'm just happier. And I feel truer to myself. I feel down back in the states far too often, and I don't feel like the real me, I'm different. I've missed myself. I haven't felt this true to myself since senior year of high school, except that I also have the added bonus that I'm less depressed than I was in high school as well. I want to hold on to my happiness. I laugh a lot here. And I'm fun here. I don't know, I'm happy here and I'm happy that I have gotten to feel this way again.

Also with being here I've gained some of the independence I've longed for. Yea, my parents pay for my school and my groceries. But I've never spent this much money in my life. It is because I'm traveling (and on the euro, unfortunately) and I don't know, it feels good knowing that I don't need to depend on my parents so heavily for money. So many people on this program are traveling completely on their parents' money. I'd feel terrible if that were me. My parents have already wasted so much money on raising me, my education, and now my living abroad, they shouldn't be wasting their money on me having fun. And eventually I'm going to need to take a loan from my parents, but I'm gonna pay it back as soon as I get the money. Somehow being abroad is different than just being at college. When I went off to college I did feel more independent, but Brian was still there and I don't know, I had someone to fall back on. Here, there is no one. It's all about me. And even though nothing has gone wrong, and if something did got seriously wrong, I have friends here to help me out, I still feel so much more in control of my own life. That's another added bonus to traveling on my own money--I don't need permission. It's liberating, really.

Okay, so now to what's been happening (first in pictures--descriptions below)...


our diner party

Florence
Toga Party!
Giornata Interazionale della Donna
Sancta Sanctum in Saint John Lateran
Temple of Young Jove, Terracina (can click on to see larger)
Tiberius' Grotto, Sperlonga


Okay, so....
1. diner party...already wrote about it last post, I just liked the picture
2. Florence, again. Wrote about it, and got nothing more to say
3. TOGA!!!! So much fun. So, we threw a toga party at our place. And didn't get in trouble for it!! Ingrid made sangria (yes, not Roman, but it's tasty all the same) and we played wine pong. We probably got about 30 people fit into our little kitchen. It got pretty loud though and the guy at the front desk was not happy with us so these really nice girls from upstairs let us move the party up there. Like within 30 minutes of the party moving up there, their apartment is covered in vomit and their toilet is flooding into the hallway. We felt terrible. But seriously, we are all juniors and seniors on this program, everyone should know their limits well enough to not let that happen, for shame. *tisk*tisk*
4. Giornata....International day of women. Celebrated everywhere except the U.S. Yea, we suck. Women are given mimosa (i think that's what they are called) flowers by the men in there lives and go out to diner and what not with their girl friends. Oh, and they get in free to city/state run museums! But, unfortunately, we had midterms to study for so we made our celebration quick--some cookies, chocolate, champagne, and a sunset over Piazza Dell Popolo. It was really nice.
5. Sancta Sanctum. So cool, this chapel was only opened up to the public like 7 years ago or something. The frescoes are amazing, they have this image of Christ from the 7th century that was used in the holy procession performed on Jubilee years (called the acheropita--literally meaning not made my hand because it was believed to have been started by Luke, and finished by an angel---even though we now know the dating isn't correct for this tale) and the relics they claim to have there are impressive--Mary's hair and milk, a piece of Christ's cross, some bread from the last super, and they had Jesus' foreskin and umbilical chord before they were stolen by the Nazis. Even though I don't really believe that these relics are real, I still think the whole idea is kinda romantic, I guess. I know so little about religion, but I'm so interested in it. I wanna know the stories and what makes religious people have such strong faith. I think faith is a beautiful thing. Oh, and also outside of this chapel, they have these stairs that you are only allowed to ascend on your knees--this is because they are supposed to be the stairs from Pontius Pilate's palace...aka the stairs that Jesus climbed during his passion. Pretty cool, huh?
6. Temple of Young Jove. We went there today and wow, we had beautiful views. Not much is left of the temple though
7. Tiberius' Grotto....well, we went to his Villa, of which the grotto is a part. One of the coolest things I've seen here thus far. A great way to spend the day. Beautiful views, by the beach, and it was just so cool. So Tiberius (Augustus' heir and emperor in the first cent AD) had this villa set up which had a bunch of rooms around a central piazza like thing. Most of it is gone. But attached to the villa was a grotto. He used the natural caves already there and just built into them. There is a pool sectioned off which his guests would lounge in--kinda like a spa. And in the center of the water is a platform where they would eat. All within the caves archaeologists found marble statues, in the round, that depicted scenes from the Odyssey. It was all so very cool. It's funny, cos when I took my Classical Rome class freshman year, I was like, "hell yea! I wanna minor in classical studies". And then I reminded myself that I would have to learn either Latin or Greek, and decided against it. But I'm so excited about all that I'm learning (well, minus a lot of the stuff from my women's study class) that I'm kinda thinking classics again. I know it won't happen, but I'd like to take more classics classes, I just think there are no more Roman ones taught at UCSC. bummer.

This week I have one midterm, so way less stress. And then on Friday we are leaving for Egypt!!!! Oh, and tomorrow we are going to a calcio game (soccer), Roma v. Milano. I'm so excited!! Yay, Rome!

Ciao,
Sarah

quick update

1. Our landlord threw a "super big party" (what the sign said) on Thursday with the Swiss Guards. He came on over to our apartment and was all mad at us that we weren't at the party..."why not there? 20 Swiss Guards." Gross, my landlord is trying to pimp me out.

2. On Friday we had a dinner party that was a lot of fun--14 friends. And then after that some British kids had moved in that night, so we went and hung out with them. It was all a lot of fun. We played Kings Cup and in a part you can make up a rule. Their rule was that the Americans had to speak with "the queen's accent". Now, I'm not exactly sure how the queen's accent differs from your regular, run of the mill British accent, but I know I made an ass of myself. Fun stuff

3. I was in Firenze (Florence) this last weekend. I went to the Uffizi this time, and that was awesome, but I still totally prefer Rome over Florence.

4. We booked Egypt!!! I'm really excited!!!

5. This Thursday we are throwing a Toga party and we are trying to get people to (obviously) dress in togas but also to choose a god to be. I'm gonna be Bacchus/Dionysus. Again, excited.

Alrighty, I need to go catch up some reading, hope all is well.

Ciao.