Pyramids and Camels

When people take a trip to Egypt, often the first thing on the list of things to visit is the Pyramids of Giza and trust me, they were at the top of our list too.  We see them all the time because they are about 15 minutes away from our house.  However, when we see them they are still miles away.  Even then they looked magnificent.  But, as is true with anywhere you live, you need to make an effort to be a tourist in the area you live.

Where seeing the Pyramids for tourists is often their first stop, we opted to wait until now to see them because we wanted the weather to be cooler.  Many local people warned us about the sun and the heat, so we decided to heed their advice for the sake of the kids.  This also leads to there being fewer tourists around which had pros and cons.

When we first pulled up to the Pyramids it was truly amazing.  They have two things going for them, they are really big and really old.  You cannot help but stand in amazement as to how they built them.  It was a very clear day so we could see virtually every massive stone in each of the 9 pyramids on the site.  Princess is a climber so naturally she wanted to climb all the pyramids.  As soon as we walked through the gates to enter the area of the historic landmark, the locals began trying to sell us things.  Men on camels trotted up and tried to sell pictures with the camel, or rides on the camels.   We played along as we usually do with these types of "salesmen" because it makes it more of a joke than an annoyance.  Hubby is particularly skilled in this department.  He develops a new name and new story with each person that tries to sell him something.  It is really quite comical.

One of the things you have the option to do at the pyramids is to go inside them.  I have heard that they are barren and empty inside and hardly worth the time or the money to go into.  However, we felt differently and had that opportunity to go inside the biggest of the pyramids.  When we walked to the entrance the two "guards" inspected us for cameras.  They asked repeatedly if we had cameras as they are forbidden inside the pyramids.  The minute we walked inside and turned the corner it was worth the money. Going inside was amazing because the tunnels were so short and the climb was quite steep in places.  Princess climbed the whole way up and down on her own, which we felt was rather impressive!  Dimples stayed outside with a friend of ours because the ascent would have been too challenging with him.  The end of the climb took us to an empty room with one sarcophagus.  There were some tour guides to show us around the empty space.  Despite the fact that we had no cameras, we did have a cell phone and the guide took our picture in the vast space.  We then began our decent, in ways the decent was easier, but Princess was moving very quickly which resulted in me bumping my head more than once on the hard stone.  We probably looked ridiculous as we walked all curled up down the stairs in this 3 foot tunnel, but it was fun.  Was it worth the money we paid for it?  Not really, but if we did not pay the price we never would have gone inside which was an experience of a lifetime.

Once we exited the pyramid, Princess exclaimed that she wanted to go in all the pyramids.  Each pyramid had different cost and I was not about to shell out more money for the same experience, so we reunited with Dimples and our friend and discovered that Dimples had played in some camel poo. Not exactly what I was expecting, but we got him cleaned up promptly and I wished I had brought him a change of clothes.  We decided to venture towards the next humungous pyramid.  This is where we met Charlotte Brown, Snoopy and Mahmoud.  Mahmoud was the camel man and Snoopy and Charlotte Brown the camels.  I have ALWAYS wanted to ride a camel around the pyramids.  In fact, within the first month that Hubby and I met 9 years ago, I created a list of places and things I wanted to do with him in my future travels.  Consider it my traveling bucket list.  I think there were upwards of 50 places on the list.  Right close to the top was Egypt's pyramids and a camel.

Princess never ceases to amaze me when it comes to her adventurous spirit.  She walked right up to Snoopy and wanted to climb right on, without help of course.  So, Hubby took Princess up on Snoopy.  It was only going to be for a short while to start with and they went for a short walk around the area.  Dimples and I stayed behind and he played with the Camel Stick that Mahmoud gave him to hold.  By the time Hubby and Princess returned, we had decided that we would see how Dimples would react to being on a camel.  He is a bit more reserved that Princess.  He seemed to enjoy Charlotte Brown, so we decided to go for an hour tour around the pyramids as a family...our friend also joined us on a third camel. 

If you ever find yourself in Egypt, visiting the Pyramids of Giza, you must take a camel ride.  The tours all take you far out into the desert where you get the most incredible pictures of all 9 pyramids in one shot.  It is truly breathtaking.  The camel ride is entertaining in and of itself and a unique way to journey out into the desert.  You would never want to take the walk to the place where we ended up.  In the sand it would be an arduous journey that would probably take two hours on foot.  Our guide was very kind and carried our camera for us and took pictures of our journey.  Dimples rolled in the sand and I was incredibly impressed by how well behaved both kids were on the camels.  No one whined or cried and that made the trip even more incredible.

When we returned to the 2nd pyramid and dismounted the camels, the very kind and generous Mahmoud became a very nasty man that insisted that we pay 350 LE for each camel that we had taken on our journey.  This is a ridiculous price because we know that the going price per camel is 50 LE.  Our Egyptian friend defended our position and after a very heated negotiation, the price dropped to what we wanted it to be.  This is where the major con of going when there are not many tourists around.  The people that are selling things become very greedy and demanding because there are fewer people around to try and sell things to. Then when they get someone to indulge in their services they try to rip them off.  This is common in virtually every tourist area so we were not phased by this.  Some of our friends were extremely distracted by it and it tainted their experience at the pyramids.

Once the negotiation with Mahmoud was dealt with we finally ventured to the area where the Sphynx sits.  I really was looking forward to seeing the Sphynx but as we walked through the little market, the salespeople really started to bother me.  They just would not let up.  The most interesting sales tactic was that they would give something to the kids and say, "it is a gift", let them hold it for a minute or so, and then ask for the money.  We had no problem giving them back their pyramid or camel or pen.  We did walk away with some small treasures, but it was something we actually wanted. 

Once we got past the market and closer to the Sphynx, it was truly grand.  It was everything that I thought it would be and we reveled in the presence of such old and magnificent structures.  We took our pictures, climbed all over the rocky structures, chased the kids and posed for the cheesy tourist photos that everyone should do, just for fun. 

 When we left the Sphynx, we decided that we were all pretty tired.  Our butts were sore from the camel ride and we smelled like camels.  But despite being tired, we still went for lunch and dined along the Nile.  It was an excellent way to end such a special day.  (Pictures of the Sphynx still to come).

Dimples loved playing with the Camel Stick. 

Princess was so excited she would not even pose for the camera!

Hubby and Princess on Snoopy, ready for the trip!

This picture was about 20 minutes into our camel travels.

This is one of the cheesy tourist pictures we just had to take.

Dimples is a sand magnet...this is post playing with the camel poop and he was already filthy anyways.  Other tourists walking past commented that one day he would be an archaeologist excavating some ancient treasure.  I couldn't have agreed with them more!

 

God Still At Work in the Revolution!

This is a guest post from the pastor at the church we have been attending.  It is a different perspective on the revolution that is occurring now as it takes the spiritual battle into account.  And, since he was here in February, he has interesting perspective.  Pastor Steve keeps a blog at

Steve's Blog  www.maadicommunitychurch.com/blog/ .

Is it Revolution 2.0?  It’s beginning to feel a lot like … last February!  The tension and anxiety levels have risen dramatically.  We pray the elections will take place so that forward movement can take place.  But as violence and fear rise, God is mightily at work!

I spoke with an Egyptian pastor yesterday who was at the prayer rally to ask about what is going on spiritually in Egypt.  While you read alarming headlines, God is counter-punching Satan to open doors like never before!  In addition to 71,000 praying—the largest Christian gathering in over 1000 years by one estimate—it was also an unprecedented event in bringing unity among the three major Christian groups in Egypt: Orthodox, Evangelical, and Catholic.  Most of the 8 million Christians in Egypt are Orthodox (Coptic).  These groups have moved quite separately for centuries, so praying together was nothing short of a miracle of the Holy Spirit!  The walls are coming down!

If that was not enough, there is more!  Muslims who came to check out the prayer event expected to hear Christians pray God’s curses down as a result of the burning of churches like in Maspero and the killing of Christians in mid October.  Instead they experienced the Spirit of God as Christians prayed for peace, healing, and blessing on ALL of Egypt.  One Muslim news media person is reported to have texted on Twitter, “I am in heaven now.”  As a result, relational bridges are being built like never before.  It was not about converting; it was about extending a hand of love and cooperation.  Imagine the spiritual power released when 71,000+ used God’s tools of love and forgiveness rather than Satan’s tools of hate, violence, and fear.

As a result, many Orthodox leaders are anxious for further prayer opportunities together.  Don’t under-estimate the power of prayer.  It’s one potent tool when done with the right motive! One evangelical church that right at the epicenter of the Revolution on Tahrir Square has added another dimension to building bridges.  They opened their church to be a clinic for those who have been injured.  I don’t know about you, but I think I smell the spirit of Jesus over-powering the dust and smoke and gunpowder!

The Revolution Continues

It is 6:40 AM and our house is silent.  I though it would be a good time to update the blog on some of the most recent events here in Egypt.  Turns out they initial reason the demonstrators were protesting, as usual, has more to the story.

The elections were originally planned to be within since months of the fall of Mubarak.  The military was going to step down at that time to allow the new government to rule.  That clearly did not happen.  Whenever a deadline approaches, the military extended the deadline, which then, extended their rule.  Despite the fact that there as a prime minister and a cabinet, the military ultimately holds the power that the president would have.  So, this is why the demonstrators are extremely agitated and irritated.  Then, on Tuesday night, when General Tantawi spoke to the nation, his speech was extremely reminiscent of Mubarak's speech the day before he stepped down as president of Egypt in February.

Since Essam Sharaf's cabinet stepped down early this week, their needed to be a new prime minister.  The new prime minister, Ganzouri, held the same position during the rule of Mubarak.  Naturally, people here are not pleased because it is starting to look more and more like Mubarak's rule with a different name.  The military has truly dug in its heals and is not resigning or stepping down.

The elections are going to be proceeding as planned this week.  This is a good thing for the country, but, since it is so unstable right now, we are unsure what this holds for the upcoming week.  The military tried to calm the masses in Tahrir down by announcing that there will be a new President by mid 2012.  So, we will see if the military holds true to their word.

Again, the protests are very centralized and have not spilled out into other suburbs of Cairo.  All I hear is birds chirping.  Yesterday, we went to church in a different suburb, if anything, traffic was lighter than usual and we saw nothing out of the ordinary on our way.  Today, we are going to the pyramids with a group of teachers from the school.  I am super excited to ride a camel...it is on my bucket list.  I will be sure to write about that experience.

I have also made a Guest Post today.  The pastor of the church that we have been attending also keeps a blog at, www.maadicommunitychurch.com/blog/ .  He has been blogging about what is happening in Egypt from a spiritual perspective, so I thought that I would include that here as well.

Continue to think of and pray for this country.  Despite all the headlines, amazing things are happening in Egypt!

If you want to read more about the events in Egypt last night, check out this link from Reuters.  Protesters Dig in to Keep Pressure on Egypt's Military

More protesting

It has been just over 48 hours since the Million Man March in Tahrir Square on Tuesday.  Thousands of people gathered in major cities across Egypt trying to get the leader of the military Tantawi to step down and let the county be run by civilian rule.  General Tantawi addressed the masses in Tahrir on Tuesday evening and eluded to the fact that he would not be stepping down anytime soon.  This led to throngs of people staying until the early hours of the morning shouting, "Go, Tantawi, Go!"  People who were around in January and February have said that it is very reminiscent of when they ousted Mubarak, but Tantawi is not budging at the moment.

Yesterday was fairly peaceful in Tahrir.  It appears that there is a "truce" between the people and the Military.  A truce that will end tomorrow when the people are plan to schedule a second Million Man March in a continued effort to have Tantawi step down.  There is a lot of speculation that he will announce his resignation, but that is all speculation.

Our day to day life remains generally unaffected by the protests and riots in Tahrir Square.  With the elections just days away now and tensions intensifying, the school has granted the staff a 4 day weekend.  The Islamic New Year is on Saturday, so the government has declared Sunday a holiday, then, the elections start on Monday.  It makes for an unexpected long weekend, and a very short week of teaching next week.

As the protests grow, more and more people are making their way to the epicenter of the protests.  As this happens, we have started to hear stories first hand of what it is like to be in the Square.  Students have gone to join the protest, and parents of students have ventured out to join the rally.  Some students proudly declared that people they know were in the makeshift medical clinic in Tahrir due to side effects from the Tear Gas.  The protests bring out a unique side of people and for those that have gone to Tahrir, they are very proud of it. 

It will be interesting to see how things develop over the next few days.  Both the People and the Military are so involved in this event now, that it would be hard for either side to concede.  If the People were to give up, it would demonstrate that they do not have the will power to stand up for what they believe in and what they are fighting for.  If the military concedes, it demonstrates to the People that if they are unhappy with something or someone, if they show up with huge amounts of people in Tahrir Square, they will very likely get their way.  This would set a very dangerous precedent for the new government that is about to be elected by the People.

The question then becomes, "if Tantawi resigns and removes Military Rule, who will take over?"  We have heard many speculations, but they are just that, speculations.  Only time will tell what is going to occur and whether the Egyptian people will get their way.  In the meantime, Tear Gas floods the streets, particularly in Alexandria and rubber bullets fly.  People are injured but are proud of it because they are standing up for what they believe to be right.

We are still doing great.  After school today, we went to the mall, went for dinner and grocery shopping.  There still has not been a moment that we have felt unsafe.  Since the protests have remained very isolated we are continuing with our plans to FINALLY visit the Pyramids on Saturday and likely venture into Maadi for church.  Continue to think of us, and I will update the blog again when there is more current information.

Unrest and Protesting

Today, we woke up and got ready to go to school like any other day.  We walked to school and everything was the same.  Quiet, calm and peaceful.  We arrived at the school and prepared for the day of classes.  Everything was just as it usually is.  Except, today, we were going to leave school early because of a scheduled, "Million Man March" at 4 PM. 

Protestors in Tahrir Square, November 21st, 2011.

I will be the first one to admit that when Egypt erupted into protest in late January and early February of this year, I saw the news and assumed that the whole country was in unrest and that the whole country would be a very unsafe place to be.  I assumed that what the news was reporting was accurate and that the country was complete chaos.  At the time, I had no real attachment to Egypt, so my desire to investigate what was actually happening was minimal.

Then I got a job in Egypt.  That changed my entire perspective on the protests, riots and chaos earlier in the year.  As I looked into the protests more, the more I discovered, that the riots and protests were fairly centralized in certain places.  People here wanted some change and as you all know they got the change they were looking for.  Mubarak stepped down and the country was on a path towards an election and democracy.

Egypt has been under military rule since Mubarak stepped down in February.  People rejoiced at his resignation and looked forward to the, "New Egypt".  There have been disturbances and protests since then, and a couple since we have been here.  But, both the protests since we have been here have been relatively isolated incidents that could not be completely linked to a certain political movement. 

Then, on Friday, we were told by many local people not to venture far from our house because there was going to be more protesting downtown in Tahrir Square.  Tahrir Square has become symbolic for the events that occurred in January and February and has become a meeting point for protestors.  So, on Friday we stayed close to home, mostly because we were sick, not because we were afraid.  We stayed in our area on Saturday and on Sunday we went back to school.  We did not really follow the news over the weekend, but were promptly informed of the unrest in the square and that the protests were escalating in terms of size and violence.

I am sure you have seen the news over the past 4 days.  The headlines, "Egypt in Crisis", seem ridiculous to me.  We are here, living in Egypt, only 45 minutes away from Tahrir Square.  It is calm, quiet and peaceful.  I am not seeing tanks driving down the street, rather, I am seeing donkey carts with fruit for sale and kids riding their bikes.  Is there unrest in downtown Cairo? The pictures on the news casts make it clear that there is.  But to label the occurrences in downtown Cairo as the picture of what is happening throughout Egypt is a ridiculous statement.  Is there unrest in other parts of Egypt?  Yes, there is.  In most major cities there has been a gathering of people from the city to protest.   Is it the picture of what is happening everywhere?  No, it is not.  And sadly, many people will watch the news, as I did in January and February and believe what the media is saying, and perhaps, worry for the Canadians that are in Egypt. 

I have been asking local people why the protests are happening again.  It hardly makes any sense to me because the elections start next week!  But, I come from a democratic country and am used to the process of elections and voting and the democratic process as a whole.  When I have asked the local people, they say that there are many different stories as to why the people are protesting again, and all the stories are convincing.  It is hard to determine who is being truthful and who is trying to grow a following of people.  This has caused a division amongst some of the people.  Ultimately however, Egyptians have decided that they are tired of the rule of the military regime because they believe that it is merely an extension of Mubarak's rule.  So, Egyptians are gathering by the thousands, and potentially, by the millions, in cities around Egypt, to protest the rule of the military.  Egyptians what the military to step down and allow Civilian Rule to take its place.  Again, my thoughts are, the election is next week, why all this protesting?  It remains a mystery.

We have been in Egypt for 3 months now, and there has not been a moment that I have not felt safe here.  Sure, we have driven past tanks and seen military on patrol with AK-47's and really, really, sharp knives.  Yes, we have driven through some pretty interesting road blocks by oil fields, but everyone has been really friendly, welcoming and kind.  I have no desire to venture to Tahrir Square right now and join the protest (aside from the fact that my contract states that I cannot become politically involved).  We have been paying closer attention to the news over the past couple days, but for the most part, are not aware of what is happening downtown until after it has happened. 

Are we in danger?  Not any more danger than if we were at our house in Winnipeg.  If we were in danger, the embassy would be rushing us out of the country.  The protests could escalate and become more frightening, but as they are now, it is very centralized and we are in no danger unless we go to the places where the protests are occurring.  The school has a very thorough evacuation plan in place in the event that the country truly enters a crisis and we have plenty of extra dry goods and water in the house if necessary.  There are many people looking out for our best interest and safety including the owner of the school. 

For those of you that have thought of us during this time we are grateful.  As I mentioned, I am unsure as to why the people have decided to protest again when the elections are so close.  There are many theories as to why the protests are occurring and pieces of them all may be true.  We do not know how long the protests will continue.  The elections begin on the 28th of November and there are several other election days between the 28th and the end of December.  As I type this, the clock is turning to 4 PM.  The Million Man March should have just begun.  As the march develops and grows, the violence may also grow.  I may not have to go to work tomorrow if they protests become extreme.  Right now, we are living moment by moment because things can change in an instant.