I rode a camel and his name was Maradonna

Kate and I were on our own for our second day in Cairo and as two small blonde girls in a predominately Muslim metropolis we felt a bit uncomfortable about going around alone. So we decided to rent a private car, complete with an English-speaking driver, from our hotel to take us to see the sights. On our way to the Great Pyramids in the air-conditioned sedan our driver, Matmout, stopped in the middle of the bridge crossing the Nile to show us one of his favorite places in Cairo. It was the island of Gitarra sitting in the middle of the slow moving Nile River; he said if he could live anywhere, it would be there. There are no cars allowed on the island and the few houses that were on the small isle were surrounded by crops. With a freshly-lit cigarette hanging from his lips, Matmout pointed to the middle of the island where a mosque and church were sitting side-by-side. He said it was an example of how Muslims and Christians lived happily together in Cairo. Even he had "at least two dozen Christian friends". As we drove into Giza City Matmout continued pointing out sites of interest to us but his friendly manner was stopped when Kate started asking about women's health issues for her women's health class. He said he knew nothing about women's issues, and when she gave examples of abortion and childbirth as possible topics he started sweating profusely, got out his handkerchief to blot his perspiring forehead, and stopped talking. Oh well, at least we had a nice, safe car.

We saw the perfect forms of the Great Pyramids rising above the tall apartment buildings of the city. The pyramids are massive tombs left over from the time of the sun cult, their triangular shapes chosen because of their likeness to the shape of sun rays. There are pyramids at five sites throughout Egypt; the pyramids of Giza are the largest of the pyramids. Later rulers decided to go with smaller pyramids to decrease the likelihood of burglary. I was just getting excited about exploring the site when our car went past the entrance, drove away from the pyramids, and turned up a back alley. As we went down the dirt road with the walls getting closer and closer, I started wondering where Matmout was taking us when the car came to a halt behind a stables. It took a good twenty minutes of convincing before we got out of the car for our unplanned camel ride. Our drive was insistent that we had told the hotel that we had wanted to ride camels around the pyramids, and nothing we could say would sway him of this idea. With my mom's warning echoing in the back of my head ("Don't ride a camel...and don't go into the desert.") I nervously walked into the stables.

Five minutes later we were bouncing up and down on the backs of our brightly saddled camels, our guide trotting beside us on a small horse, our faces overwhelmed by our smiles of excitement. My camel's name was Maradonna, Kate was on Michael Jackson, and our guide's horse was Mickey Mouse. We rode through the small back alleys of Giza City, winding our way towards the pyramids past stables, a courtyard soccer field, and food stalls. The street beside the wall enclosing the pyramids was filled with tourists on camels, guides riding horses, and donkeys with vendors' wares on their backs. Laughter and greetings filled the air. There were horse-drawn carriages and old cars overflowing with locals who were having water gun fights or spraying foam at each other. Everyone greeted us with "Welcome to Egypt!" One of the young men sprayed white foam on my foot as our two-camel caravan passed him. Our driver, a young boy named Ali, was seated in front of Kate on her camel. It seemed unreal to be at the pyramids in the first place, but to be seeing them from camel-top while we rode in the desert surrounding them was completely surreal. Ali would urge the camels into a trot every once in a while, causing me to hold on tighter with my legs to the camel's hump as I clutched my camera to my chest. We got to ride up to the end of the site, stop and touch the middle pyramid, and stop by the Sphinx. It was much more enjoyable than walking through the warm sand under the hot sun would have been. We had heard horror stories about camel napping, extremely high tips, and hustling around the pyramids but our guide was good. He protected us from the hustlers selling Cokes from the top of horses, was good about telling us exactly where we were going so we didn't worry, and even took tons of pictures for us on our cameras. The camel ride was my favorite part of Egypt. It was so much fun, my face hurt from smiling so much

After that adventure we visited a papyrus store- a local owned enterprise that produces their own papyrus, the paper ancient Egyptians used, from natural materials and free of chemicals. Then we went to Sakkara where the first pyramid was built in 2000 BCE. It was actually the first stone structure ever built. After seeing the step pyramid we walked through the temple, its walls covered with hieroglyphics, then went into one of the old pyramids. The hot, stuffy air filled our lungs as we descended down the steep ramp into the dark interior of the pyramid. After reaching the bottom we had to bend down so that we were almost doubled over to get to the inner tomb. The black-stone sarcophagus stood empty to one side underneath the stone roof that was covered with carvings of stars.

Back in Cairo we ate lunch at a local popular food chain called GAD where we had very interesting "Egyptian pancakes". Despite our weird food choice, lunch was great thanks to a little Egyptian girl. When her family sat down behind me she promptly turned around and stared at Kate, smiling hugely. Kate smiled back and waved, which made the girls brown eyes widen and made her smile even larger. After we ordered she climbed out of her chair,squeezed between me and the chair next to me, and started talking to us in English. She must have been under seven years old, but she spoke very proper English and exuded happiness. When we would say something she would toss her head back and laugh and smile even bigger, if possible. She came back to talk to us several times throughout the meal, telling us the names of her mother, father and brother, asking us where we were from, and if we could speak Arabic. We would say no to the last question, and she would say "English" to which we would say yes, and she would throw her head back and laugh adorably.

That afternoon we went shopping in the women's district; it was a very interesting experience. Women that were completely covered were shopping among mini-skirts and tank tops. The shops were split between traditional long dresses and very Western-style clothing that was obviously meant to be layered in their wardrobe. Being the only females without head coverings, we attracted some attention, but no open hostility. The women who worked in the shops greeted us warmly and asked our names (the apparent greeting for strangers?). I ended up buying only a sparkly gold dress; it will be perfect for my Egyptian goddess Halloween costume this year.

We met up with a big group of our friends and all went out for dinner. By the time we finished eating, the streets were starting to come alive with people.