Back to Cairo

So in our last day in Luxor, we went to Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. Karnak was huge - a lot bigger than I was expecting. It was completed by Ramses II, but construction started with Ramses I. There was a scarab statue there, and it was rumored that if you walked around it seven times, it would bring you good luck. So of course, a bunch of us walked in a circle around it! After that we went to Luxor temple, which I thought was actually a bit overrated. The city of Luxor was built around the temple, so it wasn't quite as secluded and serene as the rest of the temples we'd been to. Because it's such a tourist hotspot, the beauty of it was taken away a bit by the hustle.

Afterwards, we had quite a bit of free time at our hotel. We had to check out of our rooms at noon, but we had a few rooms to spend time in before we had to leave. I wrote out about 20 postcards, but I still have another dozen or so people to get to! We left around 8pm to fly back to Cairo, where we're spending the next four weeks or so. The flight itself was only about an hour, and I slept through the entire thing, so it wasn't too terrible. But when we got on the bus, I was talking to a few friends here and started getting extremely homesick. I can't remember exactly what I was talking about (missing Robbie's birthday, I think) and I just started crying. I tried to pretend everything was fine, and I don't think anyone noticed me crying on the bus, but it took everything in me not to just break down right then. I think it was the amount of traveling getting to me - since we started this trip, we haven't stayed in the same hotel for more than two nights at a time. Now that we're back in Cairo and staying in Cairo for the rest of the time (apart from day trips to Alexandria and a possible excursion to Siwa), I've been able to unpack and settle into my room. Don't get me wrong, I'm having a great time, but there are definitely moments I miss home so incredibly much.

Today was much better. We spent the day in Giza and got to see two of the most famous sights in Egypt - the pyramids and the sphinx. We took camels to get to the pyramids, which was absolutely amazing. Camels are so much taller than you think, but getting on them wasn't too bad. After climbing up, the camel boys told us to lean back as the camel stood up. We had to hold on as not to fall off at first, but the camels were actually really gentle as they stood up. The trip to our viewing spot was about a half an hour, and then we took camels back to see the sphinx afterwards. The camel behind me, which Lauren and Drew rode on the way there and back, respectively, was super friendly. I was petting her (I think it was a girl) almost the whole way there and she kept nuzzling closer to me. The place we stopped for pictures was relatively secluded and there were no other tourists in the area. Behind us was the set-up for the X-Games that are taking place in Giza this Friday (and yes, we're going!) It's an exhibition, not a performance, but it should be awesome to watch all the same. If you want to check it out, follow the link attached: http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Event/X-Fighters-Egypt-021242825567729

After seeing the pyramids, we took our camels back over to see the sphinx. While it was pretty tourist-y, it was still really neat to see. We took some photos and got back on the bus - nothing too exciting to note there. I'll post pictures, but it's nothing you couldn't find on a postcard anyway. The really neat pictures are the ones of us on camels!

Before lunch, we stopped by the Egypt Papyrus Museum, where after showing us how to make papyrus (just like we saw yesterday too), we were allowed to look around the gallery. I've already ruined enough souvenirs by talking about them in my blog, but I did buy a few pieces of their work to bring back for people. All of the pieces were hand-painted there and the work was absolutely stunning. We ate lunch at an outdoors restaurant, which was included in the cost of our trip. Food was family-style dining, where they just brought out plate after plate of delicious food - tahini sauce, falafels, rice wrapped in cabbage, shish-kabobs, and so much more. It was probably the best meal I've had to date, and it's put me in a semi-permanent food coma.

Since getting back, I've been trying to write my paper due by the end of the night (and somewhat failing, thanks to the distraction blogging has provided). Our first day of class is tomorrow, which I'm actually really looking forward to. Class is 9-1, and we're going to the American Embassy afterwards. I'll post some pictures from the past few days (Karnak and Luxor, and then Giza this morning).