Back to life

"Hey guys, we're in Egypt" was probably the most commonly heard phrase for me this weekend. We were indeed in Egypt. Not Egypt proper, but in the Sinai peninsula at a little town called Dahab.

We don't really have a spring break here at JUC, scheduling being what it is, but we do occasionally have the odd weekend off. This was one of those weekends. All of the new students were in Galilee for 4 days and us "old-timers" had some time to do something on our own. As an added bonus we had just finished midterms and were ready for a vacation. So it ended up that 4 of us headed down to Dahab for a long weekend.

I would recount all that we did while down there but I'm afraid that it would be terribly boring: "Today I sat and read and wrote and talked and thought and walked along the sea and listened to the wind and the waves and drank tea and played rook." It was lovely, but perhaps not all that interesting to hear about. :) Among all of the relaxing we did have a few adventures, though.
1. For me, coming from a state where public transportation is all but nonexistent, it was a new experience to ride buses and taxis. We had a few adventures in that department. Like the guy that gave us a ride from the bus station to the border crossing at Taba told us that he loved Saddam Hussein, I think because Saddam killed many womens' husbands...leaving more unattached women? Well, then. Or in Egypt trying to talk the taxi drivers into giving us a better price...and failing miserably. Or having problems figuring out what bus to take from the main station in Jerusalem to get back to campus. All sorts of little adventures. :)

2. Snorkeling. Words fail me. Years ago in sophomore gym class they taught us to snorkel. I guess it was a nice break from swimming laps, but I didn't think I'd ever get to snorkel anywhere as cool as the Red Sea (which, for the record, is supposedly something like the second snorkeling location in the world). We rented snorkel equipment for $3 a day and entered the water from the beach. Wow. It was incredible. I mean, for me, to be able to see and breath while (at least partially) submerged in water is amazing enough. And then I saw a fish swimming towards me! I'm pretty sure I squealed in excitement, which isn't necessarily a good idea in snorkeling gear. And THEN we actually started swimming along the reef, with all colors and shapes of coral, fish, and various other creatures. Sea anemones and urchins (echinoderms!) and mollusks of various types. It was absolutely incredible. We snorkeled twice on our second day there, and the wind and currents were fairly strong so we didn't go as far. The next day we snorkeled again, this time in much calmer water, and made it much farther along the reef. I've decided that I want to be a marine biologist when I grow up. Ok, well, not really. But I have decided that I need to learn more about the different sea creatures that I saw and that, given the chance, I would love to snorkel, or even scuba dive, more.

3. As it turned out, because of a couple last-minute cancellations, I was the only girl on the trip...that made for some interesting times...but really, in general, it was good. They were very kind and took very good care of me and even condescended to laugh at my jokes occasionally. It was also nice to get to know some people better in a smaller group. It takes less effort to add to a conversation if there aren't already lots of people taking part in it. I like people, but I think I do better with smaller groups, at least at first.
4. We had really cheap rooms ($4 per night per person) with rather lumpy beds, questionable sheets and towels, no blankets, and public bathrooms in the courtyard which occasionally had toilet paper. Not the most hygienic place I've stayed, but sufficient. It added to the adventure. There were also some pretty cool bugs that hung out in our rooms once or twice. :)
5. I think that this was perhaps the second real "vacation" of my adult life without my family, the first being the weekend my old roommates and I spent at my parents' house in Lewistown. This time, as then, the goal was not to see the sights or be busy doing anything. We did some things, but a lot of time was spent just sitting and thinking or reading or talking. It was lovely to get away from many things, including, of course, school and the work associated with it. In addition, I enjoyed getting away from my computer and the internet. We also avoided the tyranny of time. We had no set schedule. We went to bed when we were tired, woke when we were rested, ate when we were hungry, and sometimes refused to even look at a clock. I started reading Les Miserables which, well, I'm only about 150 pages into it, but it's very touching and thought provoking so far.
6. It was a good time to gain some perspective. This semester has been, well, different in many ways. So it was especially nice to take a step back. I think we humans like to avoid our problems. Which is probably why we like changing our location. We go somewhere else and we say, "Ah, this is the life. If only I could stay here forever." We forget that our problems eventually follow us (or we eventually get new ones). They just take a while to catch up. The newness is exciting and the any discomfort is different than the normal discomfort and is therefore easy to ignore for a while. So we go to our vacation spots and think that if we could stay there forever, then maybe life would be just perfect. But eventually we have to go back home, back to the daily grind, back to normal. And then, though we may be sad to leave our vacation spot, we realize that we are actually glad to get back to home, back to the normality and comfort we find there. We are glad to get back to work because God made us to work. We are, hopefully, even glad to get back to the same old problems, knowing that God allows them in our lives for a reason. So I enjoyed Dahab a lot, but I am glad to get back to Israel and Jerusalem, which I am learning to love more. I am glad to get back to school and have another chance to work diligently and learn a lot this semester and make the most of the time God has given me here.

Egypt, Day 5

December 10, 2008

And yet another amazing day. Today’s theme was temples. We saw four in all, two from the Greek/Roman time and two from, I think, the New Kingdom. They were all pretty much amazing. So huge, so many carvings, so complex, so…defying description. It really kind of bothers me, though, that someone (Christian or otherwise) spent so much time chipping out the beautifully carved faces and figures. It’s rather unfortunate. Still, so many good ones do remain.

At the first temple Heather gave a presentation on Egyptian medicine, which was quite interesting. They really knew quite a bit, considering the technology they had to work with. Their knowledge was probably partly the result of their practice of mummification – they learned a lot about anatomy and physiology through that. There was a carving on the wall which included various medical instruments they would have used.
As I look back, the first two temples especially are starting to blur together… I think it’s a lack of sleep. Or maybe it has to do with the time period they are from, which we didn't study at all.
The third temple was especially amazing, though. We went to Karnak! I have been looking forward to seeing that for a long time. It has so many links to the Bible and the land of the Bible that we’ve considered in class. It was nice to make those links. We got to see Thutmose III’s city list, and Shishack’s city list and all sorts of cool stuff like that. It’s amazing to see such old carvings that mention places that I’ve been. There were also images from Merenptha's campaign into Canaan and some people (like Anson Rainey) think that is also depicts Israelites:
Additionally, the sheer size of the place was amazing. It took 8 “average” people to reach all the way around one pillar.
The fourth and final temple was Luxor, which we visited after dark. We had presentations on the Sphinx and on astronomy, both of which were quite interesting. I was excited to see one of these places after dark. We see advertisement about them being lit up at night, but we hadn’t seen any yet. It was lovely. Not quite as massive as Karnak, but still quite impressive.

More impressions of Egypt:
1. I think Aswan is still my favorite place that I’ve been thus far.
2. It’s hilarious how much time we spend comparing water prices. “I had to pay 10 pounds here!” “I got some one pound water at that place!” “Two for five!”
3. The whole 5 course meal is nice, but not all that helpful for us. We don’t know what to expect, so generally we eat up the first two or so, thinking that’s all we’ll get, and then we get to the main course and are slightly shocked that they’re still bringing us food and are too full to eat it.
4. I’m kind of glad not to be the oldest never-married person on this trip…
5. I’m really a bit exhausted.
6. Egyptians are interesting people. Friendly, in general, but I’m not entirely comfortable being asked to pay “Baksheesh” for minor favors or being asked to have a picture taken with me.

Home and Egypt

Well, here I am, after a good night's sleep in a nice bed, sitting in a comfy chair in front of a blazing fire, while outside people are enduring sub-zero temperatures. The last time I slept through the night on a bed I was on a train to Cairo and the temperature outside was probably in the 70's. What a change a few days make! What a ride. And I'm 1/4 done with my master's degree, Lord willing. Now I just need to decide if I want to do a thesis or not. Hmmm.... any advice? :) Anyway, to catch you all up to date I'm going to post all my Egypt impression reports. Don't feel the need to read them all in one sitting.

December 6, 2008

I’m in Africa! Today was quite a day – at the bus at 5:30 am, and we didn’t get to our hotel until 10:30 pm. This is the sunrise we saw on the Ascent of Adumim, on the way out of Jerusalem. Actually, you can see the Dead Sea in this one.
As we were driving we saw an island just off the coast with the remains of a crusader castle on it, I think. Very picturesque. That’s apparently one possibility for the location of Solomon’s fleet in the Red Sea (Biblical Elath).
Our only real “stop” of the day was at the Red Sea, on the Egyptian side of the border. We got to swim for a bit, which was fun. One more ocean to add to my list! Plus we got to see lion fish in the water. (You can't see it too well in the picture, but it's there!)
I need to check tides, though, because I’m guessing there isn’t much of one there. The water was really still. After swimming we went to lunch at Sol y Mer, Sea Star, at the Captain’s Table. It was pretty good food. I even tried a stuffed crab. It was cute. I think I may have had real crab meat before, but never in recognizable form. Pretty exciting.
Then we drove across the Sinai Peninsula. It was pretty barren, and fairly flat much of the way. I admit it – I slept. Still, I saw parts and was glad that I didn’t have to wander there for 40 years. Finally, probably around 6pm, we made it to the Suez Canal and actually drove under it. We got into Cairo itself around 8. It’s a city of around 20 million. (Egypt has a total population of 80 million). I think that would qualify it as the largest city I’ve been in. Hmm…then again…well, I’d have to check, but at least it’s close. Dr. Wright said that the number of people who work the night shift here is greater than the number of people in Chicago. So, it’s a big place. And busy. It’s nearly midnight as I write and it sounds like rush-hour traffic outside. Egypt is 15% Christian. Fairly large Coptic group, I would guess. We got to our restaurant (a boat on the Nile) around 9:00. Good dinner. And now it’s nearly bedtime.
(This is the boat we ate on, on the right side of the picture. You can see the lights of the city reflected in the Nile to the left.)

A few first-impressions of Africa/Egypt.
- Lots of Arabic! I wish I could read it and/or understand it orally, even a little bit.
- Fortunately, the heat hasn’t been bad, though I did notice that the boarder crossing was warmer than Jerusalem. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.
- Traffic is crazy
- I saw a bus/van/something with headlights that change color like fiber-optic decorations. Apparently, they don’t like to use their headlights all the time, so the colors were only noticeable when the headlights were off.
- As we were driving, I could see clearly into a men’s bathroom…fortunately no men in at the time. Curtains are good, yes?
- It’s really a good distance from Jerusalem to Cairo.
- I’m always amazed at the western influence in these Muslim countries. I suppose the ones I’ve been to so far are fairly westernized, but the clothing one sees in stores is really not all the much more modest than clothing in America. I suppose the main difference is that girls wear it but cover it up when in public. Maybe?
- Minarets and mosques are odd. They are often beautiful buildings, but at night they are lit up by neon green lights. It just strikes a discordant note to me.
- I kept seeing small vehicles with huge amounts of luggage stacked on top. Will have to try to get a picture.
- I’m sure I’ll add more tomorrow, but right now I need sleep!

It's December...

...and mosquitoes are in the air! I probably kill an average of one or two a day. Not a problem that is common in Montana in December.

(Oh, Happy first of December and Rabbits and all that. :)

I went to the Scottish Presbyterian church again on Sunday. You know what my favorite part is? They have music! I mean, like, hymnals where you can sight-read the music if you don't happen to know the song! They also sing hymns! The other churches I've been to (and our own vespers service) generally sing more "praise songs." Which isn't bad, but if you don't know the song, well, you're kind of out of luck because they're only going to sing through it once. The entire semester. Ok, so I don't want to be a grumpy, picky person, but I will say that is nice to be able to have music to look at while you try to learn the songs.

It was a rather busy weekend for me. I had a final and a paper due on Thursday and then two papers and a final today. Glad those are over! Now I just have two more finals. Hebrew is tomorrow and shouldn't be too bad. Archaeology is on Friday, and I am a bit more worried about that one. I think I will be eating, breathing, and sleeping archaeology for most of the rest of the week.

I leave for Egypt on Saturday! So exciting! That's going to be quite a trip.

Tonight I got to see the conjunction of the moon, Venus, and Jupiter. Over Jerusalem. Someone said that they last time they were in this formation was around 2 BC, but I haven't been able to find confirmation of that. At any rate, it's a beautiful sight.