Groundhog Day: Egyptian Style

The last week and some has felt like one day on repeat.

The train ride wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, based on what I had heard from those who had taken it before. It was longer than we'd all expected, but I slept through most of it, after watching half of Aladdin. What better movie to watch while Egypt. Aswan was very nice. Our hotel had a nice pool, and was right on the Nile, but the power went out a bunch of times, and the food was very expensive. It was nice to spend some time by the pool, though.

During our time in Aswan, we saw more temples that I can count, the Aswan High Dam, the unfinished Obelisk, and took an amazing boat ride down the Nile to a Nubian village. Everything was beautiful, and fascinating and highly impressive, but the boat ride was for sure my favorite activity. We spent about an hour and a half sailing to the village, admiring the scenery and everything around us. The village wasn't exactly what I expected, mostly because once they noticed our group, we were swarmed by women and children trying to sell us things. I guess I should have expected it, since it's the same way everywhere we go, but I wasn't really ready for it. I enjoyed that night a lot, though.

I wasn't too sad to leave Aswan, although if I had explored maybe a little more I might have been a little sadder to leave. We left earlier than I had woken up since high school to join a caravan of buses for the trip to Luxor. We stopped at two temples on the way there, and both looked pretty much the same to me as the other ones we visited in Aswan. Equally large, storied, ruined, etc.. I liked Luxor a little better than Aswan. Karnak temple and the Valley of the Kings and the Colossi of Memnon were all awe-inspiring. I've never seen anything like them.

I enjoyed the time we spent in Luxor and Aswan, and appreciate all of the things we saw and learned there, but I'm glad to be back in Cairo, and to be getting into a routine.

Class started yesterday, and I think it's going to go really well. Our class seems to be catching on pretty quickly, and Syonara is very helpful with pronunciation and exlplaining everything. We have a lot of fun in class also, which makes everything seem easier. She's started to speak to us in all Arabic. I think it will help us learn the language faster, and get used to listening to it and deciphering what is being said to us.