After touring Reynolda, we made a quick stop at one of the most memorable places from my childhood: Krispie Kreme. 
Sure it looks like any old Krispie Kreme doughnut shop in any old place, but it isn’t. It’s one of the original stores from before you could get a Krispie Kreme doughnut in Arizona or Oregon or Hong Kong, for that matter. I actually have lots of memories of riding in the family van to this place filled with hope that the “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign would be illuminated. Unfortunately on this hot summer day… it was not. But for old time’s sake, we had to get a box to go.
Category : Family, Food, in America and Elsewhere
warning… sincere superlatives abound below.
Hello, America — you beautiful, magnificent, awesome, beloved country, you! It is so good to be home.
I have been enjoying the splendors of the Pacific Northwest, complete with chilly temperatures, misty sunrises, beautiful rainforests, tree frogs, hoot owls, yellow finches, rabbits (both domestic and wild!), serene pastoral vistas, rain, rolling dark clouds, and the joy of fleeting sunlight and blue skies. The best part though was spending time with my delightful twin sister and her husband. We had a lot of fun catching up (surprising how much catching up can be done between two people who typically talk at least once a day), making and eating really good food, sewing, baking, and lots of laughing, storytelling, and smiling.
Meredith put together this little montage from my week in beautiful Washington.
Category : Current Favorites, Family, Mom and Dad's Visit, Ryan's Visit, Travel & Sightseeing
This past week has been a whirlwind! After seeing some sights around Cairo with Ryan, my parents arrived and we left for Luxor. We arrived in Luxor around midday and decided to check out Luxor Temple in the afternoon sunlight. It was incredible. The city of Luxor creeps right up to the edges of these ancient sites, making the experience very surreal.
Ryan arrived in Cairo on Saturday, and by Sunday morning we were at the pyramids! It has been about 48 hours since he landed and we have already been to Giza, Saqqara, and the Red Pyramid.
We decided to ride horses out in the desert in Giza to enjoy the view of the three main pyramids from afar. I forgot we would have to ride through garbage alley to get to the desert, but we managed. And hey, it appeared that we must have just missed the carnival.
My horse, which happened to be named “George Michael,” was a wiley one. For some reason I always seem to get put on wiley horses! He spent most of the time ignoring my attempt at direction and instead opted to careen into Ryan’s horse whenever possible. Apologies to Ryan and his horse on behalf of George Michael.
Anyhow… here’s Ryan on his horse with Cairo in the background.
It is a busy time of the year for us. Final exams are next week (and I actually have one early final in a few days!), projects are due, Brandon has lots of grading and work to get done preparing for the summer term, we have summer travel to plan, and unfortunately for everyone around me, my patience seems to be in a little shorter supply than usual (sorry everybody!). I think I must be suffering from some serious “grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” syndrome. I am really ready for summer and can’t wait to see family and friends and enjoy all of the wonderful, wonderful comforts of home. I am sure by the end of summer I will be getting excited about returning to Cairo, but for now, I can’t stop daydreaming about all the things I want to do and places I want to go and food I want to eat back in the States.
Anyhow… we just got home after a relaxing weekend at the beach in Ain Soukhna. It was really nice to get out of city, enjoy a little fresher air, and swim in the ocean. We saw about a million sea urchins, but fortunately avoided getting pricked. I did hold one in my hand, which after overcoming my initial fear of the spikey little creatures, was pretty neat. They can crawl! Who knew!?
There were lots of shells and coral washed up on the beaches. Kids were finding teeny tiny hermit crabs, urchins, fish, and harmless purple jellyfish. Brandon found several strange shells that looked something like a cross between a sand dollar and a horseshoe crab. We went out with our snorkels and fins and found some live ones which were covered in strange, flexible, moving spines. They were really bizarre! After looking online, we think they are Lovenia Elongata which I think is like a significantly more animated and really bizarre type of sea urchin.
All in all, we had a great time. Now it’s time to wrap up all my studying and finish the semester!
Last weekend we went on a faculty trip to Mount Sinai. After a 9 hour bus ride through barren, empty, desert, along the eastern coast of Egypt and across the Sinai Peninsula, we made it to Dahab where the best thing about our hotel was the coral reef meters from our room. Another 2 hour bus ride through a forbidding landscape of rocky terrain and craggy mountains and we arrived at St. Catherine’s Monastery which is located at the base of Mt. Sinai.
Climbing Mt. Sinai was an amazing experience. We began climbing in the afternoon. Most visitors make the journey in the middle of night, climb in the dark, and reach the peak at dawn. While that sounds lovely and majestic, I can’t imagine how I would have kept my footing in the dark. However, with the path ahead visible in the blinding midday sun, I can understand how climbing in the dark might have its benefits. Regardless, the views were incredible in the afternoon sun.
Once we got to Aswan and after a crazy taxi experience that entailed some serious driver rivalry, keys stolen from the ignition, a chase involving a tire iron, and a group of tourists, ahem, us, quietly unloading our luggage and finding another cab… (yeah, I know, OH EGYPT!)
Anyhow once we got to Aswan, we decided to pay a visit to the unfinished obelisk. Let’s take a magical visit to antiquity together, shall we?
Now I know everyone experiences frustration and disappointment in life. But please try to imagine you are working in the scorching hot desert thousands of years ago with no promise of an air conditioned home awaiting you after a hard day’s labor quarrying stone with ancient tools and no SPF. Think about it. You’ve just chipped and chiseled away at the granite bedrock for who knows how long. The giant obelisk is coming along nicely, you at least have the satisfaction of knowing it is going to be the largest obelisk ever, hooray for human endeavor! And then what’s that? A crack? Surely not. And just like that, all of your hard work has to be completely abandoned.
Ugh, heartbreaking.
But at least it still attracts interest and awe thousands of years later.
Yikes.
Take a look at these chisel marks. I can’t even imagine how you’d quarry, hoist, and haul something like that. 
Amazing.
I thought I would get started catching up on posting some photos from Robin and Betty’s visit in Egypt. While they were here, we saw the pyramids in Giza, five temples, four tombs, a whole lot of Nile, one giant museum, did some serious haggling at the Khan Al Kalili, had a few extraordinarily eventful taxi rides, and even made two apple pies. Delightful, yes! Busy, indeed! So I will do my best to get caught up soon… Here we go…
Ah, the pyramids. Has man made anything in recent history that will be visited by millions of tourists in 4,000 years? Anything anyone is going to marvel at? The pyramids are incredible. If you can look past the hecklers and discarded chipsy bags and imagine what it would have been like to stumble across this place after nothing but a flat sea of desert, it is truly awe-inspiring. Truly amazing.
Here are a few photos from our excursion…
Category : Family, My Life in Cairo, Robin & Grandma's Visit, Sightseeing in Cairo
Robin and Grandma are visiting us in Cairo! A trip to the pyramids is on the agenda for tomorrow, but here are a few photos from the past two days:
Here’s Robin, Betty, and Brandon at a fruit stand in Maadi. We picked up some grapefruits, local bananas, and melons before heading out to dinner.
This afternoon we did a little shopping around the neighborhood and then went to Al-Azhar Park to see the Cairo skyline at sunset. The sun almost beat us down. Here is a cow on the freeway. Just in case you needed to see that.
Category : Art, My Life in Cairo, Sightseeing in Cairo, Travel & Sightseeing
I have long admired a beautiful woven tapestry hanging in the faculty lounge at AUC, so when the opportunity arose to visit the art center where it was made, I was thrilled! The Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Center is a remarkable establishment. It was founded in 1952 by Ramses Wissa Wassef and is renown for wool and cotton weavings, batik, and stoneware pottery. There are two generations of weavers at the center, most of whom are women. The first generation of weavers began working at the art center as children in the 1950s, and the second group began in the 1970s. These remarkably talented weavers continue to weave elaborate, original scenes and designs. The center seems very committed to fostering creativity and therefore the works produced by the many artists are unique and never repeated. Check out the Wissa Wassef website for more information.
Category : Food, My Life in Cairo, Sightseeing in Cairo, Travel & Sightseeing
Today we packed a picnic and went to Al-Azhar Park. It was absolutely delightful!
The park is beautifully landscaped and has truly incredible views of the city. I had no idea exactly how wonderful the park was until today. I first heard about it when I watched a documentary about an urban development/renovation project in Cairo this summer. The park is located near the Citadel (I still haven’t been there yet, by the way) on the site of what used to be a “500-year-old mound of rubble in the inner city, between the eastern edge of the 12th Century Ayyubid city and the 15th Century Mamluk ‘City of the Dead’,” to quote the park’s website.
That’s the citadel.
And here’s our lunch…
On Tuesday Brandon and I went to the Wadi Degla, a dry riverbed near Maadi. It was a great place to hike, look at fossils, and fear wild dogs. Here are some photos:
Fortunately we didn’t meet any dogs in the park. However we did meet some on the long walk to find a taxi in the middle of nowhere after we left the park. There is really nothing quite like a long walk in the middle of nowhere looking for nonexistent taxis surrounded by wild dogs. Nothing like it.
Category : Family, Food, in America and Elsewhere, Travel & Sightseeing
I went back to America in December. It felt so good to be home! But now it feels good to be home in Cairo. Funny how that works. I blame wanderlust.
I really enjoyed seeing family and friends and eating salads without a care in the world. It was delightful! I also got to spend ten days or so with my Mimi in Oklahoma. We had lots of fun together.
What a beautiful country…
We were lucky that the rest of my family arrived when they did, because a huge blizzard hit the midwest on Christmas Eve.
That’s the view on Christmas morning. The snow was incredible. Good thing we were all together!
Back in the day when Meredith was visiting, the three of us decided to get out of Cairo and visit Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. We stayed at the Sofitel right on the Corniche (the street that follows the coastline), and enjoyed the semi-fresh sea air and semi-break from Cairo life. Here is our hotel. It was relatively old and had lots of charm. I take that back. It had lots of charm, but there is nothing “relatively old” in this whole region that isn’t about 5,000 years old. Nevermind.
Here is the view from our hotel.
Love that landscaping. Love it. I love when cities go the extra mile. Thanks, Alexandria. Plus, look how tidy everything looks! I was loving it!!
Category : Meredith's Visit, Travel & Sightseeing, Travel within Egypt
When Meredith was visiting we took a day trip to Saqqara and the Red Pyramid. Here are some shots from the car.
Yep, that’s a truck full of eggs.
After driving through agricultural areas and more small towns lining a canal, and going through vast, dense forests of date palms, the lush greenery abruptly ended and all of a sudden we were in the desert.
The step pyramid at Saqqara is the oldest stone pyramid in the world. Meredith and I really enjoyed the tremendously informative museum at the site. It pointed out interesting details that I might not have even considered, such as the oldest stone frieze known to man and the oldest stone ceiling. It was incredible and I enjoyed being able to see things like pottery and jewelry on site, rather than seeing everything from everywhere all together at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It was also a great refresher on some of the basic iconography.
Here are some photos from our visit…
As you may have noticed, I am trying to catch up. I have about two million pictures I want to post, so I am just going to do it. They may be out of order, fair warning.
So here are a few from around Maadi. This is one of my favorites.
The Khan was amazing! Built in the 14th century, there was plenty of amazing architecture, interesting carved buildings, and huge old doors. Emily snapped a few photos on her cell phone after it got dark. It was stunning!
