Bessalama Morocco!

Morocco was not what I expected. With minimal information mainly from travel books about the African nation I imagined sweltering heat and harrassment for being white and a woman who isn't completely covered. But the weather was cooler than most of the other places that we've visited and we were significantly less hassled than we had been in Turkey and Egypt. The streets actually felt safe to walk down, we didn't have to avoid all eye contact and be constantly on guard against the jeers and taunts of local men. Not saying that I didn't enjoy visiting Istanbul and Cairo, but I just liked Casablanca and Marrakech so much more.

I loved Marrakech- it was my favorite place from this whole trip. We stayed in the medina (Old City), the Muslim part of the French city, in a riad that was both beautiful and peaceful. The courtyard was filled with squishy, colorful couches and young trees that had small birds flitting in their upper branches. After arriving we sat in the soft afternoon sunshine in the small courtyard garden, surrounded by the tinkling sound of the fountain in the center, and enjoyed the best mint tea I've ever had. There were about four rooms in the whole riad, and the people running it were very helpful and kind. Each morning they served us fresh orange juice, crossaints and bread in the courtyard garden.

Leaving our riad and walking through the wide alleyways of the Medina backstreets, it only took us four minutes to get to the Djeema el-Fna square, where we spent most of our time. All day long there are rows and rows of juice stalls, selling freshly-squeezed orange and grapefruit juice for 3 dirham (about 30 cents) a glass. The refreshing and delicious juice was a welcome relief in the hottest part of the day. The sound of drums and instruments of the traditional Berber musicians always filled the square, quieter in the daytime and working up to a frenzy at night when the square is filled with thousands of locals and tourists alike. Snake charmers played whining songs to their cobras, who laid lazily in the sunshine or twined around their necks and hands as they walked around, trying to snare easy tourists into taking pictures with them for a few dirham. Veiled henna artists sat under their umbrellas during the day's heat, collecting into larger groups as the day progressed, calling out to all passerby to adorn their hands and feet with the swirling brown and black ink designs. Traditional dentists sat at tiny tables whose surfaces were covered with large piles of troublesome molars that they pulled from their clients' mouths with huge pliers. We ate dinner on one of the rooftop restaraunts that surrounded the square, watching the square beneath us fill with people as the evening dinner stands were erected, the smoke from their grills snaking up into the darkening sky. After dinner, local couscous with vegetables for me, we joined the crowds of people in the huge square. The benches of the dinner stalls were crowded with people enjoying all kinds of meats including snails that you slurped straight from the bowl. We stopped by the famous Ice Legend, on the south side of the squre, to test some of their homemade flavors of ice cream. After exploring the square thoroughly we returned to our riad to relax on the rooftop terrace which was filled with lounge chairs, couches, and potted palms. The night stars shone in the purple sky above us, the sound of beating drums from the square drifting to our ears on the warm night breeze.

I woke in the morning to the sound of birds chirping in the treetops directly out from our second floor room. The morning air was cool and quiet, the Medina around us silent except for the occasional rattle of a cart being driven or pulled through the alleys. The sweet smell of baking bread rose from somewhere and the far off hoots of owls could still be heard. The soft morning sun was beginning to rise while the half moon still hung in the sky opposite it. After breakfast we headed back to Djeema el-Fna square.

Back in the square we passed the busy juice stalls and plunged into the alleys north of the square, into the souks. The souks, traditional bazaars, were filled with hundreds of tiny shops filled with jewelry, lanterns, leather goods, metal teapots, and billowy clothing. We used our well-practiced haggling techniques to great success with the shop-keepers.

Before leaving Marrakech the next morning we stopped to visit Las Jardines Majorelle. The Majorelle Gardens are famous for their blue architecture and its calm interior is filled with palms and cacti. One of the pond's surfaces is covered with water lilies, their flowers opened wide in the afternoon sunshine, tiny turtles basking from their pads or swimming through the shallow water. Sitting under the shade of some of the palms that fill the gardens, I realized how weird it will be to go home and not be surrounded by palm trees wherever I go.

Our port city of Casablanca is the most important city in Morocco economically and has one of the most famous mosques in the world- the Hassan II Mosque. The mosque took six years to complete, 1987-1993, and was funded completely by donations; about one-third of the donations came from President Hassan II, thus its name. The estimated cost of the museum is over 800 million USD. Our first close up view of the mosque was of the turqouise-covered minaret piercing the midday sky with the pale moon hanging directly over it's tip. The minaret is the tallest in the world at 200 meters high. The mosque itself is 200m long, 100m wide, and 65m tall. The massive cedar ceiling weighs 1100 tons is opened electronically during summer prayers to cool down the mosque's interior. It only takes three minutes to open and two minutes to close. The interior of the mosque is constructed mainly of marble, of cedar to withstand the ocean air and for its pleasant smell, and the doors are of titanium. There are circular glass parts of the floor through which you can see down into the abolution rooms. Behind the niche facing Mecca are the King's private quarters, where a part of the floor over the Atlantic Ocean is glass so he can see the water while he prays. During Ramaddan 25,000 people pray inside the mosque while another 80,000 pray in the courtyard outside. The Islamic-styled scrollwork in the marble was so delicate that it looked as fragile as a seashell. It was so peaceful and beautiful inside; I enjoyed this the most of any monument I've seen on my trip.

My Birthday!

I went on a SAS trip to Rural Cairo and a Children's Hospital for the whole day. Along the way our guide told us a wide range of information about Egypt. I learned that ancient Egyptians began to settle the area in 3100 BCE and that Cairo is so overpopulated now that all of the city is filled with apartment buildings because there is no room for anything else. Their bases have the grocery and necessity stores. Only eight percent of Egypt is occupied (the area along the Nile) and this number is expected to increase up to 15-20 percent due to the construction of dams and canals. Education is free and compulsory in Egypt, but if they want a more complete education students can attend private "language schools" for a relatively large sum of money. They start with their first language (e.g. English) immediately, and four years later learn another language (e.g. German, French)! In rural Egypt the farmers have between six and fifteen children. After the parents pass on the children inherit the unfinished buildings and add on to them to fit their families in. This made the small "villages" that I saw on my trip from Alexandria to Cairo, the compounds surrounded by trash and topped with shanty houses. Since it was Monday Cairo was one big traffic jam with people returning from their weekend getaways.

We visited the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Center which serves as a workshop for female and male artisans who weave tapestries out of wool and cotton threads. The cool garden filled with birdsong was a stark difference from the dusty road outside the gates of the center. The woman in charge, Wassef's daughter, described the center as a place for artistic talents to be found and flourish. The artists start as children usually when they are given thread and no patterns or instructions and are asked to create artwork; some of the artists have been there for over fifty years. She said that they have no quota that they are expected to reach and they are allowed to work whenever they want to, that it is a place for art, not work. It was beautiful to watch the colorful flowers, animals, and people be created by the flying hands of the artists.

Lunch was amazing. We ate on "La Pacha" (The Prince) a riverboat on the Nile in the fashion of the boats used by Egyptian royalty in the early 1900s. Fresh pitas were piled steaming in a basket in the middle of the table. Bowls of veggie and bean dips were arranged around the basket. I had fresh mango juice, perfectly chilled with sweet mango chunks. It was delicious.

Last day in Cairo

We set off from our hotel in downtown Cairo towards the bazaar with good confidence in the directions we got from the man at the front desk . Almost an hour later, after walking beside a highway overpass, through the trash, and being approached by multiple slightly creepy men wanting to guide us in exchange for baksheesh, we reached a shopping area that still had half of the shops closed. We walked past the shopkeepers still putting their wares out and ended up following the narrow alleyways back into the shopping area until we were lost in our search for the Egyptian bazaar. We were in the local's shopping area, the pathways only a few feet wide, the stores filled with cheap WallMart-style clothing. After a claustrophobic walk during which our every step was watched and laughed at we found our way back out onto the wide walking street of the tourist's bazaar. The same street that we had walked down earlier was now filled with merchandise and tourists looking for souveniers. The tourist shops were very much like what the Plaka (in Athens) and the Grand Bazaar (in Turkey) held, but the shopkeepers were much more polite and less intrusive than the Turkish sellers were. I spent most of our time there watching the scenery. The intermittently congregated around the bright-orange water coolers in the middle of the small street. German couples with their shorts, hiking boots, and cameras passed holding hands. The shop owners stood waiting in the minimal shade outside their shops for people to come look at their scarves, pyramid impressions, and chessboards. A small, tabby kitten bounded between shops, sticking her face in the shiny jewelry and crawling through the shade underneath the tables.

In the afternoon we visited the Egyptian Museum. For a museum housing some of the most precious archaeological treasures of the ancient world it was surprisingly dingy, lacking in titles, and hot. But looking at all of the Egyptian relics took our minds off the uncomfortable conditions. The mask of Tutankhamoun shone brightly in the middle of one room, the gold inlaid with turquoise, his head adorned with the two serpents denoting his majesty. On the shoulders were miniature depictions of a falcon made out of deep-black obsidian. He is Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, of whom the pharaohs were supposed to be living incarnations of. The shrunken corpses of the human mummies were slightly disturbing, their fronts covered with garish depictions of their occupants. The light falling in streams from the high windows was filled with swirling motes of dust, lending an air of mysticism to the antiquities. The most interesting room to me was the room of animal mummies. Huge crocodiles (about seven meters long) filled the glass cases along one wall, their green bodies dried out, their tails seemed to be posed mid-swing. A dog mummy still covered in hair had its mouth opened in a silent bark. There was a huge, flat fish mummy that was as tall as me. The shelves covering another wall were filled with mummies of cats, their upright bodies covered in the preservative wrappings. There are four different types of animal mummies: pets, victual, sacred, and votive offerings. The pets were animals extremely special to the owners, such as baboons or dogs, whose mummies were placed in their owner's coffins or tombs after they died to accompany them into the afterlife. Victual animal mummies were meant to provide food for all eternity to the humans. Sacred animals such as the crocodiles, fish, or rams were the living forms of gods and most of the mummies were of old animals who had died naturally after a lifetime of being worshiped. The votive offering mummies were used in the same way as votive candles are and were made of animals, usually birds, that were bred and killed for the express purpose of being used to give spiritual protection to those who placed them in the tombs.

After leaving the museum Kate, Courtney and I split off from the rest of the group to return to Alexandria on the train. But before we left we wanted to see the Nile River one more time, so we stopped to have fruit drinks and dessert on one of the ship restaurants lining the river's banks. The Nile's waters lapped gently as we sat sipping our ice-cold fruit juices, a perfect way to say good-bye to Egypt's 19th capitol city.

We arrive in Alexandria after midnight, and were a bit worried about being three girls alone at night, but we had no problem finding a safe cab drive to take us back to the port. A man who spoke minimal English interpreted where we wanted to go for our driver. After we were all safely in the cab he leaned through the front window to ask where we were from, America, to which he replied "America? Obama! Obama good. Bush was bad!" and he waved goodbye to us with a huge grin on his face.

Last day in Cairo

We set off from our hotel in downtown Cairo towards the bazaar with good confidence in the directions we got from the man at the front desk . Almost an hour later, after walking beside a highway overpass, through the trash, and being approached by multiple slightly creepy men wanting to guide us in exchange for baksheesh, we reached a shopping area that still had half of the shops closed. We walked past the shopkeepers still putting their wares out and ended up following the narrow alleyways back into the shopping area until we were lost in our search for the Egyptian bazaar. We were in the local's shopping area, the pathways only a few feet wide, the stores filled with cheap WallMart-style clothing. After a claustrophobic walk during which our every step was watched and laughed at we found our way back out onto the wide walking street of the tourist's bazaar. The same street that we had walked down earlier was now filled with merchandise and tourists looking for souveniers. The tourist shops were very much like what the Plaka (in Athens) and the Grand Bazaar (in Turkey) held, but the shopkeepers were much more polite and less intrusive than the Turkish sellers were. I spent most of our time there watching the scenery. The intermittently congregated around the bright-orange water coolers in the middle of the small street. German couples with their shorts, hiking boots, and cameras passed holding hands. The shop owners stood waiting in the minimal shade outside their shops for people to come look at their scarves, pyramid impressions, and chessboards. A small, tabby kitten bounded between shops, sticking her face in the shiny jewelry and crawling through the shade underneath the tables.

In the afternoon we visited the Egyptian Museum. For a museum housing some of the most precious archaeological treasures of the ancient world it was surprisingly dingy, lacking in titles, and hot. But looking at all of the Egyptian relics took our minds off the uncomfortable conditions. The mask of Tutankhamoun shone brightly in the middle of one room, the gold inlaid with turquoise, his head adorned with the two serpents denoting his majesty. On the shoulders were miniature depictions of a falcon made out of deep-black obsidian. He is Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, of whom the pharaohs were supposed to be living incarnations of. The shrunken corpses of the human mummies were slightly disturbing, their fronts covered with garish depictions of their occupants. The light falling in streams from the high windows was filled with swirling motes of dust, lending an air of mysticism to the antiquities. The most interesting room to me was the room of animal mummies. Huge crocodiles (about seven meters long) filled the glass cases along one wall, their green bodies dried out, their tails seemed to be posed mid-swing. A dog mummy still covered in hair had its mouth opened in a silent bark. There was a huge, flat fish mummy that was as tall as me. The shelves covering another wall were filled with mummies of cats, their upright bodies covered in the preservative wrappings. There are four different types of animal mummies: pets, victual, sacred, and votive offerings. The pets were animals extremely special to the owners, such as baboons or dogs, whose mummies were placed in their owner's coffins or tombs after they died to accompany them into the afterlife. Victual animal mummies were meant to provide food for all eternity to the humans. Sacred animals such as the crocodiles, fish, or rams were the living forms of gods and most of the mummies were of old animals who had died naturally after a lifetime of being worshiped. The votive offering mummies were used in the same way as votive candles are and were made of animals, usually birds, that were bred and killed for the express purpose of being used to give spiritual protection to those who placed them in the tombs.

After leaving the museum Kate, Courtney and I split off from the rest of the group to return to Alexandria on the train. But before we left we wanted to see the Nile River one more time, so we stopped to have fruit drinks and dessert on one of the ship restaurants lining the river's banks. The Nile's waters lapped gently as we sat sipping our ice-cold fruit juices, a perfect way to say good-bye to Egypt's 19th capitol city.

We arrive in Alexandria after midnight, and were a bit worried about being three girls alone at night, but we had no problem finding a safe cab drive to take us back to the port. A man who spoke minimal English interpreted where we wanted to go for our driver. After we were all safely in the cab he leaned through the front window to ask where we were from, America, to which he replied "America? Obama! Obama good. Bush was bad!" and he waved goodbye to us with a huge grin on his face.

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.

Egypt here we come!

All of the preparation for Egypt that SAS was giving us was not looking good. It's their job to prepare us for the worst so they were kind of telling us horror stories about hustlers, robbery, camel-napping, scary taxis, and terrorists. So when Kate and I stepped out of the port onto the streets of Alexandria we were wearing our most conservative clothing and had our game faces on, ready to walk to the train station to travel to Cairo. We met up with some SAS boys outside of the port and all agreed to go to Cairo together.

Egypt has the most crazy streets and drivers that I've ever seen. Cairo was the worst, but even in Alexandria there were no lines, no crosswalks, no streetlights. we were all on our own to cross the streets and we learned quickly that we just had to step out in front of the streams of oncoming traffic, walk in front of buses, and in general "walk like an Egyptian" (as a guy in Cairo admiringly called after me as I took on a line of taxis).

So after a rather hectic stroll through the slightly-sketchy city of Alexandria, we found the train station, navigated buying our train tickets with a woman who only spoke Arabic, and made our way into the station. The trains waiting at the platforms were of an indeterminite color that may have been yellow at one time, but were now indistinguishable under their thick layers of grime, and didn't seem to have any doors or windows filling the holes in their walls. Luckily we bought first class tickets so our train was nicer and even had air-conditioning. However, we were slightly put off by te sight that greeted us when we walked towards the platforms. The whole far wall of the station was filled with train cars that were smashed up against the end wall, their remnants reaching up to the ceiling of the station and the platform and vendors stalls demolished between them and the wall. At first I thought that it was a rather odd piece of modern art, but the police and workers blockading that area and working on cleaning up the wreckage combined with the crowds of people behind the blockade taking photos quickly helped me to realize that this was a real train wreck. We didn't have much time to contemplate the state of public transportation in Egypt as we sprinted past the wrecked cars and onto our train. As we pulled out of the Alexandria station we saw machinery going in the opposite direction to remove the evidence of the accident.

It was an almost four hour ride south through the Nile River delta from Alexandria to Cairo. Every empty space of the landscape was filled with crops, taking advantage of the only major source of water in all of Egypt. The Egyptian countryside is so different from anything that I've ever seen before, which makes it really hard to describe. People had said that Rome and Athens were dirty, but they have nothing on what I saw of Egypt. There was trash filling the streets and overflowing from the area beside the train tracks. The brightly colored shutters stood out strongly from their sand-colored buildings. The small villages had what looked like palm branches piled on top of the walls of their buildings as roof thatching. The irrigation canal next to the tracks had palm trees along its banks that small children played under and old wooden boats tied up to its banks. People were transporting their goods on the backs of camels and on their mopeds on the small dirt roads next to the canal. The brilliant greeness of the land was not what we had associated with Egypt, but made sense with being in the delta area.

When we reached Cairo we decided to walk downtown to our hotel. I literally had my compass out the whole time, directing us in the right direction over the broken cobbled sidewalks and through the trash. We got to work on our street-crossing skills as we walked through the busy streets of Cairo. The local taxis were overflowing with people, little boys played soccer under a highway overpass, and as we passed people they said "Welcome! Welcome to Egypt!"

We found our hotel on the sixth floor of a shopping center in the women's shopping district of downtown Cairo after an extensive adventure through the streets. The Egyptian way of life seems to be much more relaxed that what we're used to; after a long time relaxing and talking with our hosts, getting transferred to a different (nicer) hotel, and resting some more we finally made it to our rooms in time to set our bags down and leave for the Sound and Light Show at the Giza Pyramids.

Cairo has 22 million residents and is the largest city in Africa. Due to its massive size, there are no traffic laws and there is a large amount of pollution. It's situated at the base of the Nile River delta. Cairo is only the part of the urban area east of the Nile River, west of the river is Giza City with the main occupation of its 7 million residents being tourism associated with the Great Pyramids.

Our driver of the private car we rented took us to Giza City where we enjoyed the most amazing fresh, chilled mango juice at a local cafe before going to see the show. (Even Kate, who never liked mango before, loved it!) At Giza the massive pyramids dominated the night skyline with the moon hanging white above them and the stars shining through the murky sky. The show was like a sci-fi bonanza with the orchestra music coinciding perfectly with the laser light show. It was very other-worldly with the pyramids the only visible sight against the backdrop of the Sahara. They seemed like large spaceships, getting ready to take off into the night sky. It was interesting to hear the history of the pyramids and the ancient rulers of Egypt and relaxing in the warm night air watching the beautifully lit pyramids were a great way to end our first day in Egypt.

After returning to Cairo we walked across the Nile to explore one of the islands in its middle. We had drinks and desserts at a restaraunt on the waterfront. I tried the traditional om-ali, an Egyptian speciality of rice baked with milk, raisins, cinnamon, vanilla, and nuts. It was delicious. Small boats lit up with multi-colored lights and blasting dancing music filled the river. On our walk back to the hotel I was very surprised at the massive amounts of people out that late at night, by this point it was almost two in the morning. Whereas in the European countries that we have been visiting most people at this point of the evening had made their way to bars or dance clubs, the streets of Cairo were filled with people. The bridges were lined with groups, mostly men, talking and watching people walk past. It was basically a party in the streets. The shops were in full swing and the street vendors were still hustling their goods; there were more people out shopping than we had seen in the afternoon. Children were playing in groups and families were out enjoying the evening air (it was still rather warm out). There were even a good amount of mothers with their babies who were out and about. However, most of the people we saw were men. All of the women were with at least one male and every other woman we saw, besides one, had at least her head covered completely. Kate and I, with our uncovered blonde hair, were definitely attracting a lot of attention, but it seemed to be interest in our difference instead of hostility. It had definitely been a long day by the time we collapsed into our beds back at Cairo Central.

Bulgaria- my new beach vacation spot

Our ship made the journey up the Bosphorous Strait from the Marmara Sea and into the Black Sea before docking in the port city of Varna.

Laura came to visit me in Varna, making the trip on her own from Finland via Greece. We spent most of our time on the beach in Varna. It wasn't that crowded, the sunshine was perfect, and the drinks (I got tons of bottled water and fruit smoothies) at the beach bars were cheap and delicious. We explored Varna a little bit, but there wasn't that much to see. The entire area is still recovering from war so there were massive construction projects everywhere. Varna and the surrounding north coast of Bulgaria is becoming famous for beach vacationing, especially among young Europeans looking for a cheap place to relax and party. The food and drinks were definitely cheap there, and actually were amazingly scrumptous. We ate at the same local restaraunt (Godzilla) once every day, I got something different every time we went, and it is now my favorite restaraunt; it's distinguishable by the huge Godzilla outside of the opening. Behind the beach there is a beautiful park with massive trees and tinkling fountains that we got to walk through a bit.

We stayed in Gregory's Backpackers, an amazing hostel 17 km outside of varna in a small Bulgarian town. We met so many cool people there and it was a really nice place to stay. It was a nice change to get out of the city proper and see what a more rural area is like. They had a bar, garden area, computers for use, TV lounge, and kitchen. Most of the people there were Australian or English and being there felt very safe, like we were visiting a family's home. One of our dorm-mates was Zach, an American working for the US Embassy in London who was visiting one of the LLC's on my ship. He's a ManU fan and promised to take me to a game if I get a chance to visit him in England. He came out with Laura and I on our last night in varna; after a delicious late dinner we went to a local bar that was having salsa night before going to a local club and dancing till the early morning. The salsa bar was filled with locals and the dance floor was always full; we were very entertained watching it.

Overall, Varna was very relaxing and I enjoyed it so much that it has definitely made the list of places that I would like to go back to as a vacation spot.

Athens: a bird's eye view

From the Acropolis- Mt. Lykabettos and Athens

More Italia- courtesy of my friends

Rome's rooftops- from our hotel's rooftop garden

Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum

Roman Forum

Rome at night

gelato with my amichas

Italian gelato- yumm

Drinking fountain at the morning market near our hotel

Vaticani Wall

Istanbul, Turkei

Turkish delight and other fruit sweets in the Spice Bazaar

The open-air book bazaar

Ballikaya Hike outside of Istanbul:
navigating the trail with our guides

inside the Aya Sofya-
one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Topkapi Palace
Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror's residence

Fresh grilled corn was available on the streets every half a block from carts like this

The Blue Mosque

Dondurma- the weird, taffy-like traditional Turkish ice cream
(not so good, but definitely worth a try!)

Kapali Carsi (the Grand Bazaar)
with one of the many stores of beautiful lamps

Harry Potter no. 6!

my Greece visit in Pictures

The Oracle of Delphi's mystical cauldron
(about a meter in diameter the Oracle would sit in it to give her "prophesies" of Apollo)

Temple of Poseidon con Megan

Pita Pan hummus with Megan and Kate in Piraeus...
it was amazing

Parthenon

Sea Olympics

The Girls- our team got second!

Kate the Pirate- our amazing mascot of the Caribbean Sea

Croatia

Kate's ArtBook- me on a beach

Girls Night Out: Allie, Kate, me, Alex, and Megan

Dubrovnik, Croatia
Old City Walls

Italia Pictures

Mt. Vesuvius valley

Mt. Vesuvius

Pompeii "Statues"

Pantheon with Megan, Kate, Allie and Marissa

Pompeii

Doing the Colosseum with Allie

Istanbul Modern, Spice Bazaar, and Aya Sofya

07.22.09
We went on a walking tour of the city north of the river in the morning passing the famous Galata Tower on the way to Taksum Square. We passed along streets that were organized much like the Bazaar; one street was dedicated to music stores, another to plumbing and electronics.

Later on in the day I sat between the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque as my friends split up to sit in an internet cafe and visiting the mosques. At the center of the small park is a large fountain surrounded by small palm trees, trees with pink flowers, and benches and grassy areas to sit and relax. I did some people-watching and reading while relaxing under one of the trees. When I was sitting there the call to prayer was issued from all the minarets in the area, the call overpowering even the persistant sound of water falling from the fountain. The call sounded like an echo as it was issued alternatingly from each mosque's towering minarets. The sunshine was warm as it came down from the baby blue sky (however, I was NOT in the sunshine, I was hiding from its rays under a tree). There small, chirpy sparrows searching through the grass for the spare corn kernels left over from the ears of corn bought from the vendors all around the square. There was a wide mixture dress in the people walking through and relaxing in the small park; some women were just wearing head scarves, others (probably visitors from Northern Africa or another more conservative country) were wearing the full-covering burkahs, while others were wearing tank tops and shorts. There was no animosity between any of the groups of people, but the lines were very distinct. Kate was asked to take a picture with an older Turkish woman who was extremely interested in her, it was really cute.

On our walk back to the ship we stopped in a large park by the waterside for a while. It was filled with families enjoying picnics under the towering trees, couples taking in the day on benches, small children playing soccer in the pathways. Back out on the street we passed the restaraunts filled with low couches, the local women cooking fresh pitas on low grills in the store fronts, the sweet shops filled with huge towers of baklava and fruit and nut confections from the last time before boarding the ship to leave Istanbul and Turkei.

07.21.09

Istanbul Modern, Spice Bazaar, and Aya Sofya

In the morning we walked to Istanbul Modern, the modern art museum a short walk from our port, with Kate's drawing prof. There we got a free tour of the museum; it was therapeutic to be there and interesting to study Turkish modern art by both women and men. There were multiple intriguing paintings there, but I don't have pictures or the knowledge of art to describe them properly, so I won't try. One of Yoko Ono's works was displayed downstairs: piles of coffins with young olive trees growing out of their depths, the sound of bird song emanating from somewhere within the exhibit. My favorite work was the display outside the library downstairs, hundreds of books were hung from the ceiling, their covers facing down, to form a book "ceiling" that was meant to signify the closeness yet unavailability of knowledge from books in Turkei (you couldn't open the books to read them).

After lunch we were off across the Galata Bridge lined with local fishermen to the Spice Bazaar. Piles of Turkish Delight. Lemon, strawberry, pistachio flavors. Chocolate or powdered sugar covered. Heaps of tea with the aroma of apple, cinnamon, lemon, orange, and "love" hanging over them. Tables covered with pistachios, walnuts, and other nuts. The Turk's phallic obsession was shown with the large tubes of nuts contained in a fruity covering. Some of the signs labeled small figs stuffed with walnuts as "Turkish Viagra". The sweet-covered tables Spice Bazaar were exactly what I had imagined. We bought small bags of the local teas at one of the shops and the vendor gave us free samples of chocolate covered Turkish delight, it was delicious. He let us sample the perfume from the bottles filling one wall of his shop. While we were walking through the bazaar one of my friends snagged a free piece of Turkish delight from the sample plate in front of each of the shops. The storekeepers still used weird lines to try to sell their products ("Oh what is that on the ground? Ah, it's a piece of my heart", as we were walking away "You break my heart!") but they were much less pushy than their peers in the Grand Bazaar. I was a bit put off my fig and date ball covered with almonds when I noticed a small pink worm crawling across its surface; must remember not to buy perishable food at places like that.

Kate and I finally got to go into the Aya Sofya, it had been closed on Monday, a former mosque now converted into a museum. The original Aya Sofya (a church) of Theodosius burned down in 532 CE in the Nika Revolt fire. The church was rebuilt by Miletus and Aydin under Justinian's orders and opened in 537 CE to the public. When Mehmed the Conqueror took over Istanbul in 1453, the Aya Sofya was coverted into a mosque and worked on by the architect Sinan. The church's paintings and mosaics were whitewashed over due to Islamic principles and the four minarets were added to the building's exterior. In 1935 the mosque was turned into a museum and is a UNESCO World Heritage sight.
Although there is work being done on the interior of the Aya Sofya, the scaffolding doesn't completely cover the huge dome and the beautiful curling designs that cover the walls. The stone that makes the columns and decorates the railings is carved so carefully that it looks airy and light. There are HUGE green disks spread at regular intervals around the walls that are covered in gold Arabic writing that praises God. The Aya Sofya is famous for it's large dome on top of the square base; it was the first of its kind to be built in such a style. The large windows that ring the base of the dome are supposed to let in the light so that the dome looks like it's floating on top of the sunlight, but the scaffolding interfered with this famous view during our visit, so we just took the art history prof's word for it. Beautiful mosaics with gold and flowers adorned the undersides of the arches and parts of the walls still had remnants of the whitewash on them.

I liked the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque much more than St. Pauls Basilica in the Vatican. They were much more peaceful and beautiful; I found it much easier to relax without pictures or statues of strange men staring down from the walls.

We went out to see the sixth Harry Potter movie at a cinema across the street from the Grand Bazaar in the evening. It only took a few minutes for me to learn to ignore the Turkish subtitles rolling across the bottom of the screen.

The Grand Bazaar and Blue Mosque

07.20.09

Finally...Istanbul!

The Kapali Carsi (Grand Bazaar) was probably the most overwhelming shopping experience that I've ever had. The covered bazaar is so large that it's split into regions of jewelry, denim and leather, antiques, ceramics and lights, and textiles. It was built in the 1470s under Mehmet the conqueror. As my friends and I walked past the shops the shop keepers would say anything they thought would get us to look at their merchandise. They were all very friendly and not demanding at all, but we definitely got some really interesting entreaties. "So cheap...it's almost free!" "Come into my store and make me rich." "I'll help you spend all of your money." "Want scarves? Want boyfriends?" My favorite attempt to loosen our lyra (Turkish currency) came when we were in the Antiques section of the bazaar from a stringy Turkish man with grey-streaked hair. In a syrupy voice, that immediately called to mind the lamp-seller from Aladdin, he said "Come in please. I will help you make all of your dreams come true. Whatever you desire, I can help you find that." The bazaar was interesting because although it spans several blocks of the city, most of the goods were very similar. The ceramic tableware looked identical in every ceramic shop. The beautiful hanging glass light covers shone with similar multi-colored brilliance outside of the lighting shops, their storefronts covered with a virtual rainbow of light. None of the prices were posted on the merchandise filling this miniature shopping-city, all sales were made by friendly haggling between the customer and the seller. I must say, I am terrible at haggling; after my first attempt Megan took pity on me and haggled for me afterwards. I'm glad that we went for the experience, but I think I'll keep to my more peaceful shopping habits.

Leaving the Grand Bazaar we walked through one of the numerous gates leading back into the city to find ourselves in the Sahaflar Carsisi, the open-air book market. The stores were bursting with their literature, overflowing their books onto tables in the walking street. There were families of stray cats living in market and out on the streets, a nice change from the wild dogs that filled the streets of Greece. The kittens were so cute!

In the afternoon Kate and I put on our conservative clothing and went into the Old City to try to visit some famous Islamic religious sites. We found the Blue Mosque first, after removing our shoes and securing our headcoverings we entered the tall domed building. It was constructed in 1606 and was immediately surrounded in convtroversy over its six minarets which are considered to be more for decoration than for their functional purpose of announcing the call to worship. The inside of the mosque is covered in beautiful ceramic tiles in all shades of Blue. There are small lights hanging down from the tall ceiling. We spent some time relaxing on the floor of the mosque before returning to the street to buy some dondurma (Turkish ice cream) from a street vendor. We got chocolate, and it had the texture of taffy-marshmallow-pudding. It was definitely a cultural experience.

Ballikaya Hike

07.19.09

Ballikaya Hike
The hike today was definitely not what I expected from the description of it as a hike that mountaineers train on. I had pictured a steep mountain slope above a treeless valley; instead what we got was a long walk along a creekbed up a valley that was filled with thorny bushes, slippery rocks, and no shade from the relentless Turkish sunshine. It was very exciting to do a little impromptu rockclimbing and bouldering on some parts of the trail and there were also two very pretty small waterfalls. At one of the waterfalls there were small frogs lining the edge of the pool like miniature green sentinels. The valley actually reminded me of the Lolo Creek valley by Dad's house. There were large river rocks, bright green bushes, fluffy purple flowers, and the small creek bubbling along beside us. Our guides didn't speak English and didn't seem to know the best trail though the valley, which made it very exciting when they were helping our whole group pass the parts of the trail that were mostly vertical rock walls above the stream. By the time we got out of the valley we were lost and we had to hike all the way back on the ridge before finding our bus. But, overall, it was an interesting experience. It was definitely nice to do some easy rockclimbing in a wilderness area.

Mosques of Istanbul and Whirling Dervishes

07.18.09

The sun rose a blood red over the sea behind us this morning as we were pulling into the Istanbul harbor. The Aya Sofya and Blue Mosque created a magnificent forefront view with the rest of Istanbul spread out behind them. I'm going to see those in a few days, so I'll write more about them later. Istanbul is the largest city in Europe with 12 million people in it. The previously mentioned mosques are some of its most famous examples of Istanbul's architecture and are renowned in the Muslim world and among connoisseurs of beautiful, historical buildings.

After attending a lecture on Virginity Testing, Hymen Reconstruction, and Honor Killings this morning my girlfriends and I met up with some of Alex's friends from Ohio who took us to Taksum Square. The site of the terrible events of Bloody Sunday, Taksum Square is now a starting off point down a popular shopping street for young Turks. Among the clothing stores are shops filled with towers of honey-soaked baklava, colorful scarves, and ice cream shops with leaning towers of ice cream cones. Upbeat Turkish music fills the air of the wide walking street. It was nice to start off the country with a part of Istanbul that is less tourist-packed.

Tonight Kate and I saw a Sufi Dervish ceremony. The whirling dervishes were accompanied by calming Sufi musicians, creating an atmosphere that was tranquil and mesmerizing at the same time. The dervishes were dressed in all white with tall tan hats. They would spin in circles on the same spot for minutes at a time, only stopping for a small portion of the hour long ceremony. Their floor-length white skirts looked like large flowers as they all spun in unison, their arms lifted overhead and their eyes closed. They train for years to be able to spin like they do; I was very surprised by the age range of the whirling dervishes. I expected all older men, but some of them looked like they were in their late twenties. With their raised arms and swirling skirts, I was reminded of little girls spinning around in joy. With the traditional music filling the air, the ceremony was intensely spiritual and relaxing.

Olympics and Greece

07.12.09

Sea Olympics! Go Carribbean Sea!

Today was our ship-wide Olympics competition. I'm in the Carribbean Sea, our color is orange, and our mascot is the Pirates (cute, right?). My roommate was the mascot for our floor (and the only mascot on our ship, that's how much spirit we had) complete with eye patch, boots, and a light up sword that made clanging noises. We had so much fun finding a mascot costume for her. She was a really good Pirate, and there will be pictures! The opening ceremony was in the Union and EVERYONE was there wearing the colors of their hall. All of the teams were doing their chants/cheers/songs and waving their posters. We had a Pirates song to the tune of Baby Got Back, it fit really well actually. The Olympics were really intense competition actually, everyone got really into it, and we ended up getting second! I was on the pictionary team, and we definitely made the other teams walk the plank! I spent the rest of the day watching the other competitions: pool relay, lip syncing competition, tug of war, dodgeball, boat racing...it was an exhausting afternoon, but I met a lot of new people and was very entertained.

07.13.09

Athens by day, Piraeus by night

Walking through the Plaka (cheap marketplace in Athens) wasn't quite what I was expecting. Most of the shops were full-blown touristy, full of sports jersey, or normal American-style merch (skate shops!). There were a few tucked away Greek gems of art work and hemp clothing, but for the most part it was like shopping for cheap in America. After walking around a bit, and getting giros, we made our way to the National Archaelogical Museum. Much of where we spent our time was in the Mycanean grave collection (excavated by Heinrich Schliemann) which was filled with gold and bronze and at the "ancient" Greek sculptures. My favorite parts of the Mycanean section were the artifacts decorated with octupi- there were clay vases, golden jewelry, and other grave decorations covered with the friendly, multi-legged creatures. In the sculpture area we saw the free-standing bronze statue of Zeus posed to throw his lighting. (There's a bit of controversy, it could be Poseidon with his trident, but it's most likely Zeus.) In the Egyptian section we saw a sarcophagus with the real mummy still in it and hundreds of scarabs (good-luck beetle jewelry).

We made our way (via the very convenient and cheap Metro) to the Acropolis were, although it is mostly covered with construction, we saw the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Erechtheion. I was awed by the massiveness of the Parthenon, the people who lived when it was a temple were lucky to have such a grand place in which to worship, it must have been so peaceful to be up above Athens. The view of the city was amazing. We could look down past Hadrian's Arch into the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Past the Temple was the old Olympic Stadium. The white buildings of the city spread out around and beyond the ruins, a quiet metropolis broken only by the islands of deep green trees and park-covered hills.

We came back to Piraeus for dinner and by the time we got back out on the streets the only places open were fast-food joints...but Greek fast-food is DELICIOUS! We ate at one called Everest. Along with healthy whole-wheat roll sandwiches and numerous other savory pastries they have toss your own salad where I got a huge spinach salad with anything I wanted in it for really cheap. And all of the quick food stops here have real juice, all juice no added sugar, with tons of fruits. I was in heaven.

Last day of Croatia- En route to Greece

07.10.09

Mmmm. Breakfast Croatian style this morning at a small restaraunt along the marina was a filling muesli, yogurt, and fruit mix with a fruit and veggie smoothie. It was delicious. My friends and I took our time enjoying the morning sunshine coming through the leaves of the tree above us and the cheery atmosphere of the outdoor room. The tables around us were filled with Croatians enjoying the company of their friends: two women enjoying pancakes (crepes), a table of older men laughing deeply their own jokes, and a family spending some quality time together.

We spent the rest of our day on the beach sleeping in the sunshine and swimming in the warm water. Swimming out from the shore, I could see the ocean floor clearly all the way out to the 200 meteres that I swam. Dubrovnik was really nice because we could walk every where and it had a small town atmosphere. It was like being home in Orofino with everyone saying hello on the streets and honking and waving as they drove by their friends. None of us wanted to get back on the ship to leave this friendly Balkan state this evening.

07.11.09

Today I'm catching up on all my readings for classes and tonight we have a meeting for our sea (hall) to get ready for the Sea Olympics tomorrow. We're going to learn our Sea Song and sign up for any left over events. I'm going to be doing Pictionary! I'm really excited :) Megan's doing it with me and I tried to show her the Berkheiser/Crecelius method of drawing, hopefully she'll be able to tell what I'm drawing partially at least.

It's definitely easier to work out on the ship since we're in the calmer Mediterranean, so I don't almost fall off the machines every time I go up there. But I'm also getting tons of walking in, my friends and I don't like to waste money of public transportation if we can walk places, and when we're late for things the stroll turns into a power walk. It's nice to see things walking around that we would have missed otherwise. We get class off tomorrow for the Olympics so I'm going to have a work day around my events!