It’s rough to get out of bed at 6 AM when your body thinks it is 9 PM (for our Salt Lake friends), you’ve been homeless for two days, and let’s be honest…you probably smell a bit! Wake up calls included the holiday favorite Kenny G’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The beautiful fruit at breakfast was tempting, but unless you wanted to have possible stomach upset you chose from the following: Egyptian style waffles, eggs, omelets, some sort of bean dish, couscous, yogurt, a variety of breads, or cold cereal. Some of our group even enjoyed hot chocolate despite the heat. Bringing your own bottled water is a must everywhere you go as the Nile water has the potential of creating a colony of your very own bacterial friends!
We held Sacrament meeting at Concorde El Salam Hotel. Brother Gunnerson told us that we had special permission from the First Presidency to have two sacrament meetings on our own. We had one of the shortest sacrament meetings that was quick yet effective. We also had formal introductions as this was the first time our entire group was together. The lesson for the morning was all about Egyptian temples and the Egyptian Endowment.
The bus traveling began shortly after 8 AM. Our local guide, whose name is Gabriel, reminds us of a well fed Gandhi. He has a degree in Egyptology and thus is very knowledgeable. At the Muhammad Ali Alabaster Mosque we were required to remove our shoes as we were entering a sacred edifice. We learned about the basic beliefs and practices of Islam. A great view of the city was also seen from the heights of the mosque. Brother Gunnerson also commented on how the 5 pillars of Islam are very similar to our beliefs.
Cairo Museum was our next stop. It was hot and stuffy! We loved the air conditioned rooms for jewelry and lingered as long as we could. King Tutankhamen was the main attraction. Over 5, 000 artifacts that were found in his tomb were on display. Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to see his actual tomb. One stone described Pharaoh “kicking” Israel out of Egypt. The Bible is true! We had the grand opportunity of using the little girls and boys rooms (aka the toilets) at the Cairo Museum. To our surprise we were handed some toilet paper from the toilet paper lady. It was free, but the TP lady expected a tip…just for handing us a couple of squares! We have a new title from our local guide Gabriel…Holy Family. Anytime he wants to get our attention to start moving he uses this new term of endearment.
We were happy lunch eaters at the Happy Dolphin, a restaurant on the Nile’s edge. Cool river.
A quick stop at a local Jewelry store filled the need for those who wanted to purchase a Cartouche with their name inscribed in Egyptian. While some were purchasing their jewelry others were taking pictures and talking to the store employees. The best pick up line we’ve heard thus far from an Egyptian male friend was “Wanna kiss a live statue?” This gave us a good chuckle!
On our way to the airport we stopped at the Anwar Sadat memorial. He was the President of Egypt who back in the 1970’s made peace with Israel. It cost him his life. He was assassinated by militants as he sat watching a parade. The memorial sits across the street from bleachers, the scene of his death, and consists of a hollowed out pyramid guarded by six soldiers. As you walk towards the tomb, each pair of soldiers you pass wears different uniform, starting with more modern and ending with the garb of ancient pharaoh’s guards. Sadat’s favorite scripture was Isaiah 2:4. Check it out.
Quick stop at a store for Charlie and Terrilyn who joined us in Cairo as their luggage has still not arrived.
We took a one hour flight to Luxor and just ate dinner at our hotel. One of the waiters said “Enjoy your meal” as he cleared the plate from the table. Was that a greeting, salutation, or question? Funny.
No comments:
Post a Comment