Sid Bou Said and Carthage

While in Hammamet we ventured off to Sibu El Said and also Carthage. It was a day filled with driving and awesomeness. Sibou El Said was even more the eternal Greek village with its winding alleyways and beautiful views of the sea and its just plain ridiculousness. The town is high on this hill so everything drops away when you are look at the ocean. All the buildings are painted this stark white and all the accents are bright blue. The doors here and in Hammamet as well are so fun. There are no boring doors here, I swear. They all are painted a fun color or decorated with studs and designed. I had quite the fun time taking pictures of all the doors, after all, it is one thing that they are famous for. The streets wind all over the place Another place I could stay forever, man, the amount of places that I could stay forever are mounting quickly. Carthage, by the way, is AMAZING! I stood there imagining being there when it was all actually built and functioning back in the Roman times. The sheer size of the whole thing is mind-blowing. Even among the ruins you feel like a tiny little ant, myself especially because I fee like that on some normal days when I stand next to someone over 6 feet tall. The ruins are right up against the water and there are some FANTASTIC views of the rest of the city and the ocean from the ruins. There are ruins scattered all over the place too, its not just one big plot of land; its about 9 big plots of land. When I say the ruins are HUGE, I mean it. Man, how cool it would have been to be there when it was in all of its glory. I can only imagine.

Tunisia!

We had two holidays at school that happened to bump right up against one another and so a few friends and I planned a trip to Tunisia. It was the one place that none of us had been to yet. When you hang out with a bunch of travel freaks, finding a place no one has been to before is very difficult. We all wanted to go (but then again, I pretty much want to go every and anywhere in the world, so my input on this whole process was "sure, that sounds fabulous, I'd love to go there"). We decided on Tunisia and then we were off!
Firstly, I am sure that I cannot move to this country or really and any country that has major European influence or is actually European. This is because I would become hugely fat in mere days upon moving in. Our first stop in Tunisia was a city called Hammamet. This is a lovely city along the beach, as was our fabulous hotel. Breakfast here involved crepes with nutella and chocolate croissants. Gelato was a must after every meal. I love food. I love all kinds of food. I am beginning to think that I could be plopped in the middle of hell and still enjoy is as long as there is good food. Not quite sure that they would have good food in hell, defeating the whole purpose of hell, but whatcha gonna do. However, Tunisia was very far from hellacious. It was awesome. The people were nice, occasionally the boys were a little lecherous but I acted like I was deaf a few times and they left me alone. . I loved walking about the town. Town in Hammamet was very Greek aesthetically. The buildings were all white with blue doors and windows speckled along the streets and alleyways. The shopkeepers were hilarious! Some were down right stalkerish. They would track you down in different shops trying to make good deals. I thought it was a bit funny at first, then a bit annoying. After a while, you get used to bartering or you just abandon ship and go to a store with fixed prices (which are conveniently labeled, might I add). I loved all the shopping. The whole medina was filled with great little shops that sold pottery (a must buy in Tunisia) and scarves and camel leather bags. In case you were wondering, camel leather feels quite different from cow leather. It's much lighter in texture and weight. Also, the stores were FILLED with knock-off designer goods. The funniest thing was they were really good knockoffs, quite believable. To the untrained eye, they look like the real deal. The trained eye may have to even take a second look. So I got to shop until I dropped and then lay on the beach. I'd say that is quite the fabulous day.

The Trip Home from St. Catherine's

On the way back from St. Catherine’s we stopped off at the beach to have some lunch. This was not the same hot beach; it was a regular beach that was beautiful. Any time that I can walk along the water and bury my toes in the sand I am a happy girl. I don’t think it’s humanly possible to be next to the ocean and not feel amazingly content. One of my friends found a sea urchin and since its pokiness stabbed no one we were all happy. The water was so blue and clear. I am thinking about putting up a tent and moving there permanently, or at least as long as the weather holds out. I have a pretty good chance of this weather holding out since its Egypt and the weather doesn’t even get slightly cold until Novemberish. Maybe I could build a small hut instead of a tent; someone back in the states needs to get on the designing of this project. I do have a in with someone in architecture. (hint, hint there daddio)

St. Catherine's and Climbing the Mountain!!!

We FINALLY arrived at St. Catherine’s, which is the uber famous Church that was built around the burning bush and at the foothills of the mountain that Moses received the Ten Commandments. Crazy huh? When we checked in, we had a few hours to kill before dinner was served, so we wandered around and breathed in the air. Did I forget to mention the air? It is the most clear and crisp stuff you have ever breathed. Perhaps that is because I was sadly growing accustomed to the grey dinge that passes for air in Cairo, but here it was beautiful. The sky was a crisp blue that had not one iota of smog or impurity in it. Not even a cloud! It was GORGEOUS! As we walked around I took a gander outside and the guide pointed out where we would be climbing. I happened to notice that opposite St. Katherine’s there was this small collection of rocks that one could possibly climb to get a better picture of St. Katherine’s and the trail that we would be taking in the morning. So I climbed it, in my flip flops, with my camera strapped to my back…. And I had a blast! The views just kept getting better and better the higher I climbed, so (mom, stop reading this now) I leaped up a little higher until I was above the church and could see all they way in. It was such an amazing view! Getting down was a bit tricky and I was worried I was going to fall due to the whole flip-flop wearing and me being ungracious as all get out thing, but I made it out with only a slight bruise or two. I was proud of myself. It was like a mini training session for the next day of climbing… or so I thought.

We had dinner at 7:00 and were done by 8:00. Our guide tells us to sleep well and he will see us at 1:00. 1:00 AM. Did I fail to mention that this is a sunrise hike up the mountain? Oh I did, did I? Well, in order to have the opportunity to see the sunrise you have to climb up before the sun rises, in the middle of the night. Which would have been no problem for most people. Most people go to be early and when they have done as much we had that day, they go to bed even earlier. Well folks, 1:00am is early for me. It’s a school night bedtime. I was not a wee bit tired at 8pm, which was expected bedtime. So I popped a simple sleeping pill to help me off of lala land. I wanted to be well rested and ready to climb, is that so wrong? A few hours later, groggy from the lack of actually getting 8 hours of sleep that the pill is supposed induce, I still thought that climbing a mountain at 1am was a great idea. I strapped on my pack and was on my way. The climb was shorter than I expected, it’s amazing how short a climb seems when it’s in the pitch black of night. You’d think that climbing in the dark of night would be boring, but it’s not! Mostly because of the camels, and the ton of other climbers, and guys to help you up in case you feel like giving up. In fact you think that you are doing just fine, right until the stairs. Did I mention the stairs? There are a lot of stairs. About 376 stairs, carved into stone in a trickily uneven fashion. I must say short legs are not helpful when you are climbing things that are not uniform in any way. I must say that it was quite to the workout on the legs. The best part about the whole night climb was the stars. The night was so clear that the stars were so close that you could touch them. The climb took longer because I was stopping all the time to stare up at the sky, that and I had to dodge a bunch of camels who were constantly trying to run me off the path. Once you get to the top of the mountain you get to hang out and wait for the sunrise. It’s freezing! It was quite the different feeling than you get in Cairo. Laying there watching the stars and laughing in hysterical sleepiness was amazing. I was lying at the top of Mount Moses (technically the mountain’s name on account of the whole Moses climbing it and receiving the ten commandments there rumor) staring at the stars. This is not something that I could have imagined ever doing in this lifetime. Then the sunrise! Wow. I cannot even describe the way it looked. It was breathtaking. I am not using any more clichés to describe it because I will make it seem less amazing that it was. A few friends and I started to walk down ahead to beat the crowds and it was a wise choice. We were the only ones walking back and the views got more and more fantastic as I walked on. The sun practically lit the rocks on fire as we were walking back. I took over 100 pictures on just the walk back, if not more. I could not stop myself. Everything was outrageous, most of all the whole me climbing a mountain thing. The whole experience was indescribably incredible, and I am sure it was even more meaningful to those who are religious in any aspect. So at the end of it, there I was, 8:30 am and I had already climbed a mountain, literally! Who knew I could accomplish so much before brunch? I guess starting at 1am will do that that. Look at the pictures, be filled with awe, nothing I am going to write will do it enough justice.

Trip to Mt. Sinai

September 26th

Up way to early for a weekend day, my back is packed and I am off to climb a mountain. Actually, I am walking to the bus that is waiting to drive me to the mountain. But in my defense, the mountain is hours away and I still had to climb it once I got there. I began my journey to Mt. Sinai with left over chips and cookies and a hung-over seatmate. We had a party the night before and the early morning wake up call did not bode well for all. I was fine; I think it has something to do with my youth and fabulous ability to never drink too much. (all right, you may all stop laughing now. I mean it. Once and a while I can make responsible decisions!)
Back to the point. I am on a bus destined to Mt. Sinai. We did have to make a few stops, just to keep it interesting, of course. Our first stop was the old Palestinian defense point, which is obviously no longer active since Egypt bombed the heck out of it forever ago. We get out in the middle of the desert, literally, there is nothing around for kilometers. Half of the base is buried under ground, covered in rocks and chicken wire like type stuff. Apparently the whole thing use to be covered by the sand too, so people couldn’t tell what it was when they were flying over it. It was a crazy intense place. They had huge gun cannon things on these rail systems that were automatic and went through an automatic door. No one actually had to be anywhere near the out doors to do some serious damage to the enemy.
The rocks were meters thick as well. If someone did drop a bomb or shoot at them, the rocks would break but not shatter and the chicken wire would keep it all together, keeping those underneath just as protected as before. Pretty sneaky, huh? There were so many teeny tiny tunnels going all over under the sand. To be honest, I don’t know how anyone bigger that me lived there. I realize that military life is not always the most glamorous thing, but you could really do some permanent back damage crouching down and walking like that all the time. I would have loved to see that chiropractic bills for that crew! There were all kinds of frighteningly large guns and such all over the compound. There was also a really wicked telescope the size of Texas that made 17 kilometers away seem like you could touch it. That was pretty cool. The telescope was almost as long as I am tall!
Basically it was an excellent example of military tactics, which is why it took so long to find and destroy it. It was impressive but scary all at the same time. It was a marvel to see and learn the history behind what everything did and how the soldiers survived and attacked others. I wasn’t too keen on the whole attacking others part, but that goes right along with my whole anti-gun feelings. It was horrifying to think that man has still not moved past the point of using their massive amount of creative intelligence for evil instead of good. All in all the stop was interesting and mildly thought provoking as we continued our trip to the HOLY MOUNTAIN of SINAI. (perhaps this seems ironic to you as well, yes?)

The next stop on our list was my favorite apart from the whole climbing the mountain thing. We stopped at this cave that is the only hot cave in Egypt. I’m serious, some caves might get a tad hot, but this cave is the only one that sweats! It is located over a hot spring and the steam comes up into the cave and makes it like a giant sauna. It was so warm that I couldn’t even go all they way in. There was the whole crawling on your belly in the pitch black to get to the center that may have influenced me as well. Regardless, the cave is not even the coolest part. Because of the hot springness, the ocean is warm. The cave is right across from the ocean and all that hot water flows under the ocean, which heats up the ocean and makes it warm. Like bathwater on a cold day warm. There is also a leak in this hot spring and the water flows along the sand parallel to the ocean. This water is steaming hot! I could make a cup of tea with this water (if I wanted really salty, silty tea, which I don’t). Some of the water got on my flip-flop while I was attempting to take close up shots and I burned my little toe! It was so awesome! I have never felt an ocean that warm before. It was quite the mental joke for me. I enjoyed it. My brain is still trying to figure it out. Definitely must investigate hot springs in my future.

Lunch was with a Bedouin tribe our in the desert. I didn’t get to talk to them much as I am a woman, but they did make us tea and I met their goats. Really cute goats by the way. Their wives were also very nice. At least I think they were the wives, communication was a little sketchy. The goats were cute though. I don’t think that I could ever be that nomadic, but I am amazed at the lifestyle they have and the strength they have to pull it off. I got to pee in a bush, also another reason that I am not destined for the role of traveling farmer who lives off the land. I like my bathrooms to at least be slightly enclosed, with one of those enclosures not being my flatmate telling people to back away. After the bathroom fun we boarded the bus and were back on our way!

International Peace Day

September 21st
So I have been terribly lax in my blogging, I apologize. I have been one very busy lady. It’s hard to keep the adoring public up with your life when you are barely keeping track of it yourself. I joined the peace committee here at school. We were organizing the International Peace Day assembly for International Peace Day, which is September 21st. It was a whole school assembly for peace day, which the school had never done before. It was a whole celebration of peace and the history of peace day and what peace means to the students. It was really cool to see the whole school together on the field. I was up early to set up the field so it was really cool to students get into the assembly and come together like that. The students rocked and it went off with out a glitch. It was awesome! It was totally worth the hours of planning and map making and getting things approved and setting up everything. It was cool to envision something and see it all come together. It was everything that Peace Day is supposed to be.

Pretty Fanoos

The lanterns here are so pretty, and they are everywhere, as you saw in my previous pictures of the lanterns in the Kahn. However, there is one medan that has them all over its trees, in a 360-degree view. It’s phenomenal. In the dark of night the tackiest and most ugly of lanterns looks magical and beautiful. My flatmate and I were walking home on Mustafa the Camel street (my flatmate’s name for it, its really called Mustafa Kamel street, with the stress on mel part, so it sounds like KaMel, not the mammal) and we found this wonderful medan. I could not help myself and immediately followed by taking pictures. Some came out, some didn’t I was only carrying around my little point and click digital so I have to go back with my bad ass camera and see what I get. Thought ya’ll would like a glimpse of what I see EVERYWHERE when I walk around after dusk. Not too shabby, eh?


Also...

Ramadan Hilarity…
Dry cleaning to be delivered at 5pm… however the shop is closed for Iftar and prayers then, so it must be delivered later. Guess when. Just guess, I’ll wait. I’ll even give you a hint. Most businesses close from 3:30 to at least 8:00 pm. Most are open again from 8 to 10 pm. So you figure that the laundry got delivered at 8:30 ish, at the latest, right? WRONG! 10:45 PM BABY! My flatmate went to bed at about 9, which means she missed her dry cleaning by almost two hours. What is she going to do when the insomniac moves out in December? I just don’t know.