December 11, 2008
This day was mostly traveling. The train was a couple hours later that we expected getting into Cairo, which made us very grumpy – we could have slept longer! It also made our day a bit more cramped, and I believe we missed a stop or two. Alas.
We headed out of the land of Goshen into the Sinai Peninsula. What a difference! No wonder the Israelites complained. They went from a green land where water was plentiful to a barren wasteland where there is not green to be seen for miles and if you don’t have water for 3 days, you die. It’s a pretty harsh environment, though beautiful. (Here you can see some trace of green - this is pretty close to the coast. Also, in the background is a mountain we think is a possible location for Mt. Sinai.)
Our one stop of the day was really worth it, though. We took jeeps across the desert to start with, which was really fun. Our driver was crazy! He kept driving off the "packed" trail and into the deep sand. It was fun - kind of felt like driving in deep snow, like when I drive fast down my parent's driveway to keep from getting stuck when they haven't plowed yet. :)
It reminded me a little of the Bad Lands, only so much more barren. It was also crazy to see people living out there, and even a few trees (tamarisk?) growing. We stopped at had lunch with some Bedouin. Then we continued on in the jeep to the Turquoise mine of Hatshepsut. There is also a temple to Hathor (goddess of mining!) in the area. 
Apparently, this is also where the earliest version of “proto-sianitic” script was found – quite similar to proto-canaanite: the beginning of the alphabet as we know it. I was really excited to see all this, having heard about it numerous times. In addition, we were able to hike under the setting sun and then under the full moon. It was beautiful. From the top we could see Mt. Sinai – a 5 day camel journey. We got to see one turquoise mine and a tiny bit of turquoise still in it.We hiked back down as the dusk was deepening. I love hiking in the dark, I really do. It was quite dark once we reached the jeeps (which, yes, were actually Toyota landcruisers...but they called them jeeps. I don't know why.) We took the jeeps back to the bus and rode the bus to our hotel by Mt. Sinai, which was quite a bit nicer than I expected. We ate dinner around 10 and then went to bed for a couple hours.
December 12, 2008
At 2am we were awaken by knocking on our doors and by three we were again on the bus to go to the base of Mt. Sinai. We got our guide there and started up. It was a beautiful night, under a full moon. We could still see stars, though, including the Big Dipper! I was especially excited about that one. I haven’t seen it all year, and I’ve missed it. We also saw a few shooting stars.
So we hiked, probably going faster than needed, but oh well. I was among the first “group” to trickle to the top. It was still dark, with just a hint of light around the eastern horizon.
There were already hundreds of people up there. (As a side note, I always thought the national parks of America were pretty international, but I have to say that all these Egyptian sites are far more international in the nationalities you see and the languages you hear.) We found a niche and huddled close together to keep warm for a while. Shortly, though, we moved to find a better place to view the sunrise. It was cold, but hardly the coldest I’ve ever been. Doug said something about it being like hunting, which I could agree with. I have fond memories of feeling about the same level of coldness starting out on an early morning hunt. (Oh, and now, back in the states, I think I got colder in 5 minutes outside than I did on the whole Mt. Sinai excursion. It's cold here!!!) Anyway, the sunrise was something to behold. 
The moon was still up too. It was beautiful. 
After that we gathered and Josh recited Exodus 19-20 and Dan recited a poem about Moses. Then we headed down. I ended up taking the stair path with Christian, Trey, and Laura. It was crowded and a bit frustrating. You would get stuck behind people moving so slowly…and then the add insult to injury, while you were stuck waiting in line people would shove themselves in front of you. That’s something that really bothers me, I find, and it was very common here. It happened as we were crossing the border too. I kind of felt like a jerk, but no matter how much that guy behind me shoved his stroller into the back of my legs, I was bound and determined to keep him from passing me.On the way down I started feeling rather unwell. I slept most of the bus ride back and didn’t eat anything all day. Kinda sad. We got back to school just in time for many of us to pack and say good-bye. I was blessed to have to many people volunteer to help me. Looking forward to next semester!
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