I Have To Hurry It Up!!

I will be leaving for more journeys soon so I need to wrap up Egypt!  I am going to try to get one of those smaller computers and blog as I go while enjoying Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Bahrain and Jordon!  I am so excited!  I wanted to see Damascus in Syria but refused to pay the $550.00 for a visa for 12 hours in the city :(

We finished our cruise in Luxor and visited many great temples as previously described.  The Tombs of the Nobles and the Workers was fantastic!!  The tombs were very well embellished and the colors so well preserved.  I guess that is the advantage to not being exposed to the elements...no sunshine, no wind, no rain.  It was all so remarkably well preserved!  Each tomb was a treasure!  We even went into King Tuts tomb though all his stuff is in the Egyptian National Museum or traveling around the world.

On the last day in Luxor we took a hot air balloon ride over the Nile.  I was a little leary of going as I do have a fear of heights but the lift was so gentle it wasn't bad at all.  As we floated over the Nile we could see the banks dotted with many of the temples we had seen as well as the tombs.  It was stunningly gorgeous to be up there as the sun was rising.  We finally came down after a while...landed in a tree (OK it was only two feet tall but it was a tree) and then tradition dictated we do a happy dance in appreciation for the safe landing!


We then had to board our flights.  Diane and her sister went home to California and Shelly and I flew to Sharm El Sheik for our birthday celebration..climbing Moses Mountain and visiting St. Katherine's Monastery where we touched the descendant of the Burning Bush!  Will finish this weekend..I promise :)

Beit Eddine, Tyre and Sidon

Up bright and early this morning for another full day.  Tourism is the number 2 industry in Lebanon so they make it a full value day!  I have had Lebanese lunch everyday :)  We start with the Mezza (Lebanese appetizers) which consists of bread with hummus, babaganouche (sp?), moujjanat and different salads.  For main courses we have had chicken, fish, shishkabob.  I think it is funny now to watch people struggle with their eating utensils.  I just pick the food up and dig in like a real Arab. (I think it may be difficult using all those utensils again).

Today we journyed to southern Lebanon.  it's a little tricky because that is where the hezbollah stronghold is but we had a very pleasant day with no difficulties whatsoever.

Our first adventure was to the palace Beit Eddine.  It is high in the mountains and I confess our driver made me feel a litttle anxious as he just zoomed around all those hairpin curves.  I guess he is used to it and we are not....  The palace is beautiful!  Some prince built it in the early 19th century and it is now used as the summer residence of the Lebanese president (sort of like Camp David I guess).  The architecture was fabulous and the basement of this palace contains many beautiful mosaics.  When you stand away from the mosaics you cannot see the individual tiles.  As you get closer you see the teenie tiny tiles.  Someone put a lot of time and effort into those projects!  There was a rose garden and other nice lawns..all this on top of a mountain!

We then decended the mountain and drove to Tyre which is called Sour by the Arabs.  On the way we passed the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the world.  Looks like a terrible place.  There were Hezbollah flags everywhere.  We came to the ancient Roman ruins which were interesting.  It was in the familiar Roman  cross shape dividing the city into quarters.  Apparently Alexander the Great had been there first in 300 BC and then the Romans came and made their own embellishments.  The largest Hippodrome that the Romans ever built was made there.  We then drove to Sidon and had a nice lunch right beside the sea.

Sidon has a wonderful Crusader castle.  It was built on an old Roman site.  It looks as if some Crusaders came, decided this was a good place, oh and there are some old Roman columns we can use to build a fort...and we have to make it so the men are protected.  When you see the pictures of it on facebook you will see these round things on the walls.  Those are the old Roman columns the Crusaders used to shore up the castle!  It was a very pleasant day!

These last two cities I mentioned are in the Bible.  When I go to Turkey I will see Ephesus and the Isle of Patmos.  It ended up being a good thing I didn't get a visa to Syria.  One American woman did.  The Syrians stopped the tour group at the border and the Syrians pulled her off the bus and grilled her for half an hour.  Then they had a police car follow the bus for the entire tour so they could report any unusual activity by that American!  I think I will skip Damascus.....

Tripoli tomorrow (Tripoli, Lebanon...not Libya) then off to istanbul on Tuesday.

Love to all!

Christine

Jeita, Byblos and Harissa

Today was a good day though we had a really big tour group!  I met a lot of nice fellow travelers!

Our first stop was at the Jeota Grottos.  You will need to lookthese up on Wikipedia because they would not let us take pictures.  There was an upper cave that we had to reach by cable car and an underground cave that we did by boat. These caves were pretty spectacular!  They were HUGE inside.  I thought of a caveman apartment complex!  There were lots of stalactites and stalagmites.  The water was natural spring water and was so so clear!  Even blue!

After the caves we went to Byblos.  Now Byblos had a temple that was turned into a church that was turned into a Crusader castle.  I think that was its last job.  There are many crusader castles in the Middle East and I will get to see about four of them before I leave :)  See the pictures on facebook!

We had a nice lunch of fish and traditional Lebanese food at a local eatery and then went to Harissa.

Harrisa is at the top of a very tall mountain (by Lebanese standards).  The Virgin Mary is revered by both Christians and Muslims.  While Muslims do not recognize Christ as the Messiah  they do revere him as a very importent prophet.Many Lebanese make pilgrimages to Harissa.  What struck me was Christians and Muslims were there together today.  Everyone enjoying the moment and the view.  So this is a beautiful statue of Mary high on the mountain. 

Tomorrow Beittidine, Sidon and Tyre. Llooking forward to this as Sidon and Tyre are places mentioned in the new Testament.  AND another Crusader castle!

Love to all!

Christine

Baalbeck, Anjara and Ksara

Yesterday we went to these three places.  Just a note...yes I am here alone but I don't feel alone.  Everyday I meet fellow travelers and we band together and make friends.  I will never see these people again but for that moment we enjoy each other's company!  I have met many interesting people from many different countries.  I am loveing that part of traveling!

We started our day at Anjar.  This is a ancient archeological site discovered by accident.  Because there was conflict going on in Lebanon at the time they could not get any professional archeologists to excavate it so it was excavated by students at the university.  There are some obvious mistakes but it doesn't take away from the fact it is history and a great example of Roman ingenuity.  They had drainage systems.  They had Roman baths with cold, tepid and hot pools.  There was a harem that even though we couldn't see the true beauty of it we could see from what was left how beautiful it must have been!  The entire site was a square shape and in the center were walkways that went from east to west and from north to south.  Each quarter had a different function from living quarters of the Caliph to the harem, the souks and so on.  I keep wanting to touch these ruins hoping some dna from the past has been left that I can connect to.  It is an amazing feeling!

From Anjara we went to Baalbeck.  Here the Temple of Jupiter at Heliopolis along with the Temple of Venus and Temple of Bacchus were built be the Romans.  The Temple of Venus has a very feminine feel to it.  It was made in the shape of a horseshoe with tall columns and you can tell it was beautiful in its time.  The Temple of Jupiter is HUGE!!  I guess since he was king of the Roman gods he had to have the biggest!  When you look at my pictures on facebook you can see what the temple in its entirety looked like.  It is still very huge and I confess I had a bit of vertigo being so high and no railing to hold onto :(  Got a little weak in the knees.  The Temple of Bacchus is in a corner of the same grounds.  Apparently after the rituals and sacrifices they enjoyed (quite a lot) of the fruit of the vine!

We went to the winery of Ksara.  The intersting thing about this is the Romans found it and made a winery of it.  That is how old it is!  It is a labyrinth of caves and it goes very deep into the mountain.  Apparently because of this it is an ideal temperature and climate for making and preserving wine.

I am taking today off from outside tours today to rest up for the next three days.  Very busy days before I leave on Tuesday for Istanbul!  I will go out and explore more of Beirut this afternoon. 

Christine

Beautiful Lebanon!

Lebanon is an amazing country.  It is so beautiful!!  It has certainly had its challenges but like a Phoenix it keeps rising from the ashes!  It is heart wrenching to think of how much has been destroyed by war.  I think now the purpose of war is to destoy the soul....to take away the old and ancient things that have been so much of a country's heritage.  Still the Lebanese people love their country and continue to rebuild.  Beirut was especially hit hard and you can see the remains of conflict though contrustion is taking place everywhere!


My first day here we went to Cedars, Becherrah and Kozhaya.  It was very tricky getting through town because the president of Iran was visiting.  Once out of Beirut it was a pleasant drive along the coast and into the mountains.  I was impressed by the houses and buidings built on the mountains.  They really are living on the edge!!  Each place has a view of something beautiful so I see why they do it...as well as there doesn't seem to be any flat land except along the coast!  The Kahlil Gibran museum was amazing!  They had many of his books there as well as his art.  It is said that he stated "Had I not been born in Lebanon I would have chosen it" and he is buried here at his request even though he did much of his writing while he lived in the US.  It was a beautiful and peaceful place to visit.  The churches on the mountain tops reminded me of Europe a little.  There is a strong French influence here and French is another language spoken fluently in Lebanon.  Many of the street names are French as well a stores etc.  We found more French influence when we went to the Cedars as the French contributed greatly to the preservation and rebuilding of the Cedar forest.  The cedars were fabulous!  It was overwhelmingly gorgeous there!!  So peaceful and quiet.  I could only imagine what these >1000 year old trees might have seen.  They have planted more but we were told it would be at least 700 years before they were as tall as the others!  There was an early Christian church at the top of a hill we hiked.  It was all made of stone and the inside very rustic but it was great to sit in a church over 1000 years old!  A little father on we cam to a place where there were carvings in the trees near the top.  One was of the Crucifixion.  There were imagesof monks and a face in the center that may have represented Christ.  The French were very instrumental in preserving this project.  We then visited a couple of old monasteries!  We were told about the Hermits that lived in the caves in the mountains.  It is amazing to me that anyone would want to be a Hermit.  We visited a hermitage.  Many of these monasteries could only be accessed by foot!  I'll bet the monks were very fit!  The mountains are very steep!  At the monastery of St. Antoine (a Maronite monk) I could see the buildings were built incorporating the local caves.  In one cave we saw the place where many miracles have ocurred.  On one side there were upside-down pots.  We were told women who have trouble becoming pregnant bring their pots and place them there then walk around three times and pray so they might have a child.  It is still an operting monastery and many weddings and baptisms are performed there.  Again...it is built right on the edge of the mountain!  This has been a great opportunity to learn more about the early Christian church and its struggles and eventual triumph!

The Lebanese people have been very friendly!  I feel well taken care of!  My hotel is very comfy and I can see the harbor from my window. It is nice to watch the ships coming in in the morning.  My friend, Judy, was amazed at how inexpensive this leg of the trip is! 

More later!

Christine

FINALLY!! Abidos and Dendara!

Our guide encouraged us to see these two temples.  He said they were very beautiful and though not as old as the others we had seen they were very well preserved.  One of the really nice things was driving in the Nile river valley countryside.  It was beautiful, lush and green.  We saw the real Egyptian country people.  We warily went through small towns.  Apparently there had been some trouble and each small town had its militia in full force (including weapons) at the entrance to the cities.  No one bothered us and I felt very safe with Abdul with us.

Now the story of Isis and Osiris is a very romantic and sad tale.  Osiris' brother plotted to get rid of him and managed to kill him.  Isis being a clever woman with magic and potions was able to bring Osiris to life for one last romantic night.  Pictures on the wall of the temples showed Osiris prepared and "completely" anticipating Isis' visit.  Impressive!  When you view the pictures in my Facebook album you will see Isis comes to him in the form of a bird and uh "lands" on him.  This somehow produces Horace.  Abdul insisted all along that the Egyptians invented everything  and we discovered they did invent the X rated heiroglyphs.  The first one we saw at Abidos.  It was very nice and new enough that the carvings were very distinct.  We then trekked to Dandara.  This was also a newer temple and the best pictures were there!  There were more pictures of Isis and Osiris doing the deed and the early Christians tried to make a monastery out of Dandara and of course you can't have  pictures like that hanging around so they tried to carve it out and just made it bigger!!!  We were able to do our Indiana Jones impersonations again and had to crawl down a very tight shaft, make a left and crawl into another very tight shaft and there we discovered heiroglyphs that had not been touched by any elements so were near perfect!  The pictures we took don't do them justice!  The detail was incredible!  I felt so privileged to be there and see these things.  Abdul told us not many people see these temples because they are out of the way so I am really glad we made the extra effort! 

We were exhausted by the time we got back to the boat and we had a Galabia party to get ready for.  This is a party where you wear Egyptian dress.  We were into it but the German tourists on our boat were not so much.  We also went up on deck and watched our boat go through the locks on the Nile on the way to Luxor.

Great temples there and a hot air balloon ride coming up!

Christine xx

The Temple of Queen Hatsepshut and Edfu

Our Guide had an interesting true story to tell us.  Back in about 1997 several groups of tourists were attacked here (at Queen Hatshepsut Temple) by forces under the command of Osama bin-Laden.  About 67 people were killed.  Our guide was there with two tourists.  Apparently bin Laden got word that there was to be a group of Israeli tourists visiting the temple and scheduled an attack.  Massad got wind of it and canceled the Israeli tour unbeknownst to the terrorists.  According to Abdul the tourist groups there were Japanese, German and northern European.  Abdul  hid in terror in a cave near the temple with the young man he was touring with.  The young woman who was with them was one of the casualties.  It was a very sad tale , one that Abdul says helps him when he relates it to his tour groups at Hatshepsut.  Apparently that Egyptian queen had quite a story ruling Egypt over the objections of her stepson.  He managed to get rid of her under suspicious circumstances and then worked really hard to destroy her temple and any memory of her!  We then saw the Colossi of Memnon.  I always thought they were huge (at least in pictures) but they did not seem all that colossal in person......

We went to Edfu where we saw the temple of Horus.  Horus is Shelly's favorite Egyptian god and  Abdul was raised near the temple.  He told us how this temple was the one that inspired him to become an Egyptologist!  It was a lovely temple with great carvings!  One word of caution...we were taken to the temple by horse drawn carriage.  Our guide warned us that the drivers (in fact the people in Edfu) could be quite aggressive in a hostile way.  We gave him our tip money for the drivers so we would not have to be involved in the negotiations.  It was a good thing because one of the drivers became quite hostile when he found out he would not get more money out of us!

We are still on the boat at night.  It is so pleasant to sail while you are sleeping in bed.  Nice gentle rocking.

Next the fabulous temples of Abidos and Dendara.

Christine xx

Das Boot! and the Temple of Isis at Philae

Today was the day we boarded our boat.  We had been upgraded to the Dolce Vita.  I had never been on a cruise ship before so was really impressed with this.  Looked a little ghetto to me at first with huge pictures of musicians painted on the sides but the rooms were very nice.  On the agenda for today was the Temple of Isis at Philae, Agha Khan Mauseleum and Elephantin Island as well as a ride on a felucca boat.  I am amazed at all the different modes of transportation we have been on (as well as the many number of ways to flush a toilet...ask Shelly about that!).  We sailed to the Temple of Isis which was very impressive.  I could just imagine how beautiful it was in its day.  Again many of the temples had to be moved when the high dam was built but they are no less impressive in their new locations.  Some new islands were created when the lake filled as mountains were covered with water and only the tops are visible.  Our boat ran out of gas on the way back to the mainland so we were towed in by another boat!  The Mausoleum of Agha Khan was impressive and there was a very romantic love story surrounding it.  Apparently his wife went every morning to the mausoleum after he had died and left a red rose there.  After her death (some 30-40 years later) the caretakers of the mausoleum continued the tradition, leaving two roses to represent the true and eternal love of the couple.  The felucca ride was nice and we took pictures of ourselves putting our hands in the Nile (and then another picture to prove we used hand sanitizer afterward).  There wasn't much wind though so it was slow going.  We went to the Nubian Village on Elephatine Island.  As we disembarked we were met with a herd of the cutest little goats I had ever seen.  It was like they were thinking "oh joy!  more people!"  We walked into the village where the people were very poor...yet very happy people!  We visited a museum of various flora and fauna of the area.  Shelly and I got henna tatoos on our arms (they wear off after 10 or so days).  It was very pleasant sitting on the roof of a house in a quiet village...so peaceful and beautiful as we could look out over the gardens.  We then visited another woman in her home and had tea while visiting with her family.  It was interesting to see the contrast of village life with the more lively city life.  Our guide explained that the people of Nubia were displaced after the high dam was built and Nubia was submerged under the water.  The government moved the people, some to Egypt and some to Darhfur.  Interestingly an entire gold mine was submerged! (We were also told that at one time silver had more value than gold because it was more scarce.)

When we arrived back at the boat we discovered the crew was very gifted at arranging our bath towels to look like a swan!  In fact every night on the boat we were met with a new arrangement! (The funniest one was the monkey hanging from the ceiling!)

We hve decided to go the extra gauntlet and visit two temples not on our itinerary but very worth seeing according to Abdul.  The next couple of days re going to be crazy busy!!!

Christine xx

Abu Simbel and The Camel Incident

After a rather late night flying to Aswan, a beautiful little resort town, we were up bright and early for a flight to Abu Simbel.  There we were privileged to see the Temple of Ramses II and the Temple of his favorite wife, Nefertary.  These two  temples had to be moved back from the Nile River after they built the high dam and created Lake Nasser.  This was to reduce the damage caused by the flooding of the Nile River four months out of the year!  Some very skilled engineers cut each temple into blocks, marked them according to their position, and then re-assembled them on higher ground.  There was already some damage to the structure from the flooding and from a huge earthquake that occurred a couple thousand years ago.  This was the first of our "Indiana Jones" adventures when for severl days we were climbing in and out of tombs and temples.  We truly felt like explorers and even though there had been others before us the feeling was like we had discovered them ourselves.  Unlocking history and secrets from the past was great fun and we frequently overwhelmed our Egyptologist with our questions and observations.  Both temples had beautiful hieroglyphs and even though some had lost their colors others were brilliantly colored and covered in gold!  There were huge statues guarding the way and when you went behind the statues you would find the smaller rooms that were so carefully and beautifully decorated.  The alters!  The carvings!!  The art!!  A miracle they had survived for thousands of years!!  We had to be careful with picture taking as flash from the cameras of thousands of visitors every year is damaging the color on the hieroglyphs so we took what we could and then bought the postcards that went with the temples.  It was a lovely morning and then we caught a flight back to Aswan.

We hd barely knocked the dust off of ourselves when it was time to visit St. Simon Monastery.   I thought I would dress up a little for the occasion and wore a skirt.  We were also visiting a Nubian Village on Elephantin Island and then the Nubian Museum in town.  We took a little boat over to the island where the monastery was and we made another discovery....we were going up the mountain by CAMEL!!!!  We were totally unprepared for this and did not receive any instruction o how to do this.  I wanted to interview the camels and find the cleanest, sweetest one, preferring two humps where I could securely ride in between them but those camels do not live in Egypt (or the Middle East for that matter!).  Camels smell really bad and I wondered why they didn't give them a bath before we got there as we re woman after all AND nurses.  Next thing I know some strong guy has PICKED ME UP and just put me on a camel!!!  Then they whacked her on the bum to make her stand up!  Now sitting on a camel in the process of standing up is a tricky one.  When the camel stands up the front parts you are supposed to lean back.  When she is standing up the hind parts you lean forward.  This is supposed to help you keep from being pitched out of the saddle.  There are no stirrups so no place to put your feet.  If your legs are long enough (mine are not) you can wrap one around the saddle horn or rest your feet at the base of the camel's neck.  Mine were pretty much sticking straight from both sides :( So up the mountain we proceed.  Another thing about camels is they move both legs on one side then both legs on the other.  It is a very jostling sort of ride!  and the saddle sits on top of the hump and it isn't all that comfortable either!  Anyway my handler kept telling me to relax (how can I relax when I constantly feel like I am a moment away from falling off the beast!).  After  a little while I could relax a bit and just move with the camel...well as much as I could when I realized the path was about two feet wide and camel looked about 3-4 feet wide and how were we going to manage this!?!  We made it up to the monastery and it was great to see something from the early Christian church that was an active monastery for almost 1000 years.  We explored and imagined what life there would be like.  Then it was the end of the day and we had to come back down the mountain.......by CAMEL!  Now the camels were tired as they had been hauling people up and down to the monastery all day!  My handler would flick his whip at her and she would trot for a little while then stop.  He did it again and same thing.  He then really gave her a flick and she took off.  I asked him to please not make my camel mad before we got down from the mountain.  My camel was sweet but Shelly's camel growled a lot at her handler.  We had to recover a bit before we could decide it was a good experience!!  Camel definitely was not going to be our preferred mode of travel!  The trip to the Nubian Village was postponed as it was so late but we still went to the Nubian Museum that evening.  I NEVER tired of looking at all of the discoveries and learning the meaning of it all!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Christine xx

The Cairo Tour

Following Alexandria we did a tour of Cairo, a very lively, very colorful and very NOISY city.  It is an interesting mix of the very modern with the old and the ancient.  We visited the citadel of Saladin and the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali, both impressive structures.  We were allowed to go into the mosque after removing our shoes and covering our heads.  It was prayer time and we observed the men in the central part of the mosque through a very ornate divider.  The art and architecture were amazing and there were interesting light fixtures and stained glass windows.  Our guide spoke to us about the history of Islam and gently touched on current politics without one word of animosity but with an eye toward mutual understanding and respect.  We then traveled to Coptic Cairo to see where the early Christian church took root in Egypt.  There we saw the crypt where it is traditionally held Joseph and Mary with the young Jesus hid after fleeing Pharoah's massacre.  We also saw the Hanging Church ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hanging_Church) and lit a candle there.  We went to the Church of Saint Sergius where bones of some of the religious leaders are still kept.  Afterward we went to the Ben Ezra Jewish Synagogue spending some thoughtful time there.  It was interesting trekking about the very narrow streets of old Cairo and finding out how much stuff one can cram into a tiny space!  We learned to eat good big breakfasts before leaving for the day because it was usually late afternoon when we were starving (and whining to our guide) and wanted food!  The ultimate visit of the day was the Egyptian National Museum!  There we saw all the things from King Tut's tomb that didn't go on national tours and it was truly spectacular!!  There were a bajillion ancient artifacts and the museum had them sorted according to time frame.  It was a stunning display!  We paid a little extra to go see the mummies and we were glad we did.  Ramses the II is how old?!?!?!  Doesn't look a day over 30 ;) !  We also didn't realize that animals were mummified and there were two crocodile mummies!!  Apparently if you were poor a piece of a critter will suffice as your sacrifice so they mummified cats, birds or pieces thereof....or made fakes if you couldn't find any pieces!!  After that very long day we were on a 2215 flight to Aswan to continue our adventure with another early morning flight to catch to Abu Simbel.  We had to leave our very nice guide, Waleed. (In all Shelly and I had seven flights during the entire trip!)  We checked into the Movenpick in Aswan a little after midnight.  Great hotel and a nice bed to fall into!  Tomorrow...Abu Simbel and Aswan.

Christine xx

Alexandria

We were up at the crack of dawn to drive to Alexandria from Cairo which takes about two hours.  I was excited to see the library and the ancient writings.  Of course the library had been destroyed many times (Julius Caesar burned it down and many ancient writings were lost) but some of the writings were still preserved.  When we arrived it was a gorgeous day!  The sea was so beautiful!  I now understand what "Mediterranean blue" looks like.  It is a wonderful color!  The sea was a bit rough as it was very windy.  That did not stop people from gathering and walking along shore.  It felt a bit chilly.  We first went to the Catacombs, another ancient treasure threatened by the water.  I could not believe how many spaces were there for people who had died.  The lower level is underwater but we were able to take the spiral staircase to see the remaining areas.  We then went to see Pompey's Pillar and the Roman Amphitheater, both great places.  We could see the ruins of a Roman bath and there was an active archeological dig and preservation project in process.  At the amphitheater we ran into some school children on  a day trip.  They asked if they could have pictures with us.   Shelly and I said sure and sat among them.  One little boy put his head on my chest and said "I feel like a rockstar!"  It was a fun little extra that had us all smiling!  The remains of the library was a very quiet place.  There was no Dewey Decimal system but I will bet you the scribes and librarians in charge knew where every document was....exactly!  Lunch was at another local eatery where we tried a selection of Egyptian foods.  We then visited THE library at Alexandria!  It is a massive library with many rooms and mini-museums.  There was quite a nice art collection and of course the antiquity writings.  Writings from all over the world are preserved there. It was on to Montazah Royal Gardens afterward!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montaza_Palace While enjoying the garden we came across a gazebo where some teens were having a birthday party.  They invited us for a treat and since it was a birthday we sand Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!  Well we ended up singing it several more times because each person had to get their cell phone video recording of the event!  FUN!  We went to the palace  to see if we could get a picture.  There was a guard there and we asked Waleed if he would ask the guard to have a picture with us.  He doubted he would but the guard said YES!!  World leaders stay at this palace for various conferences so it was nice to get a picture of it.  It is an interesting place.  Another long day and we journeyed home tired but very happy.  The next day is the tour of Cairo.


Christine xx

Egypt...The Excellent Adventure! (Part One)

Well....our plane was an hour late arriving which is excruciating for three people wanting to get the adventure started!!  My traveling companions were Diane Lee, my room mate who was going home for good after the trip, Michelle Arnell (Shelly), an Australian friend who came here the same time I did and then Diane's sister, Karen Hanna from California who joined us later in the evening.  It was a 2.5 hour flight to Cairo but very pleasant.  When we got to Cairo it was very easy to get our visa stamp and clear customs.  It was also very easy to exchange money.  If anyone doubts the power of the dollar let me tell you no matter how badly the dollar may be doing in the markets it is still the most readily accepted currency anywhere!  As we came out of the gate we were met by our travel representative and placed in a mini-van to be taken to our hotel in Giza.  We drove through Cairo which is a very colorful, very busy, very NOISY city  We saw them...we saw the pyramids!  While driving through Cairo to Giza we saw them silhouetted against the sky...black on black and we could still see them.  Our excitement and anticipation mounted as we knew we were going to see them the next day.  We arrived at our hotel, The Sofitel La Sphynx, and saw that we could see the pyramids from the lobby!!!!  We went straight to bed as we had an early morning ahead of us!

The next morning we got up bright and early!  The hotel provided a full breakfast.  We met our guide, Waleed, and off we went!  The pyramids were amazing!  The famous pyramids we saw first.  Now we know the names as well*.  Do you?  We touched them, took pictures, sat on them, climbed down in them (tricky).  We were all just in AWE!! and total WONDER!!!  Waleed saw what came to be known as "that look".  I get sort of dreamy and imaginative, eliminate all the moderness from my vision and try to imagine what it was like when the pyramids were being built, the people who built them, the degree of difficulty, the engineers who designed them, how did they know it would work?, how did they know that a little moisture between the stones would create a suction that would seal them together?  It was absolutely amazing!  We went to The Step pyramid and Titi Pyramid, the Necropolis of Saqqara and the Great Sphynx!  We also saw the Valley temple of King Chefron.  I can only imagine the skill and precision of these people who were so artistic and creative!  We then went to a papyrus shop where they showed us the plant and how it is processed for use. Afterward we had lunch at a local restaurant which was good because we were starving!  Then Waleed took us to a perfume factory (watch out for "Secret of the Desert no. 29".  Then it was to the gold manufacturers where Shelly and I got a cartouche with our names.  We then went to another local eatery where we were drummed in as welcome and a little elder lady was sitting outside making bread.  Bread is a revered food in Egypt and you will get LOTS of it!  Afterward we visited one of the carpet making schools.  I was aloud to work on a carpet!  No wonder those things are so expensive!  They are made by hand and with great precision!  Not easy!!  We were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel.  A full and happy day!!  Tomorrow:  Alexandria.

Christine xx

* Cheops, Chefron, Mycerinos or in Egyptian: Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure

One More Week!!

I am so excited about my trip to Egypt!  It's a dream come true!  Everything is ready to go...the day needs to get here quickly!!!

I have made friends with a little Azerbajani man at the carpet souks.  He has been teaching me about carpet, silks and wools, weaves, dyes, design, regions where the carpet comes from.  I have to say the carpets are absolutely beautiful!  He was teaching me about pomegranate and saffron dyes as well as indigo.  The colors are fabulous and so rich looking.  A great carpet will have the design look the same on the back as on the front except for the pile.  Sometimes it is hard to decide on one they are all so beautiful!  The man's cousin sells pashmina and there are tons of beautiful scarves and shawls!  The designs and colors are so intricate and rich!  I guess you can tell I love going there!

The rainy season passed unnoticed by me.  I asked someone when it started and she said we already had it ?!?!  I just remember a couple of days when it sprinkled a little bit!  Looking forward to the long hot summer (not).....

Who Knew Camels Were So Friendly?!?

I looked today and saw it has been a while since I updated this blog.  Not too much going on at the moment.  I am really looking forward to my trip to Egypt!

We visited the camel souks and other points of interest a week or so ago.  We went to Old Riyadh and Dirriyah which are being restored.  Sand, wind and sun take a toll on structures that are hundreds of years old and made of sand bricks!  We went too a flower farm where there were huge greenhouses!  Inside there were many different colors of roses and they were already blooming!  The MOST fun part of the day was going to the camel souks!  I learned a couple of things about camels.  First they come in different colors.  I thought all camels were...well...camel colored (sort of tan/beige/brown).  At the souk there were white ones and black ones as well as a beautiful golden one.  We saw a new mother camel with her three day old baby that still had a bit of umbilical cord and we watched as she nursed from her mom (I got a picture!).  Camels seem pretty gentle and were as curious about us as we were about them.  We just stood by the fence and they came to us!  One even got really close to me...a camel KISS!  We then went to a large open fruit and vegetable market.  It was like a huge farmer's market back home.  It was a very pleasant day shared with two of my co-workers.  I swear we were like little kids we were so excited!!  The finale was eating chicken shwarmas at the restaurant ....delicious!

Looking forward to my trip to Egypt in two weeks.  I will be off line for a couple of weeks at that time.  I am sure I will have many more adventures to share!

Christine xx

Let Me Tell You How This Works.......

Whenever we have gone to the nicer malls in Riyadh I have noticed the fancy expensive stores and the lingerie stores and wondered "Why do they have these here?  Who are they getting dressed up for?"  My friend at work, Hessa, who is Saudi and Muslim explained it to me.

Yes marriages are arranged here but the process is this:  The women get together, mothers and sisters with potential women to espouse with the son/brothers.  The women get all dressed up for each other!  Then the mothers/sisters bring names to the father to consider for possible marriage.  The father contacts the father of the potential bride to arrange the meeting with the object a potential marriage if all the requirements and details are met.  It's a lot more complicated then boy meets girl I'm telling you!

There is also a huge genetic counseling department .  Because of the desire to keep property within the family first cousins are allowed to marry.  This has produced many genetic problems among the children. Women have many many miscarriages . Many children do not live beyond a tender age.  Many live with horrible deformity and chronic illness.  Heart breaking was the girl I took care of that had a bilateral lung transplant when she was 17 and died at 21.  In addition the wealthier families wish to breed tall offspring and will have their children treated with growth hormone to ensure this.  There are some very tall, lanky people here among the wealthy that almost look like they have Marfans.

Anyway...it is very interesting working here.......

Christine xx

All God's Children....

My brother, Mark, had told me before I left that the Filipino were the slave class in Saudi Arabia.  I didn't take that very seriously until I have seen it for myself here.

First, just after I arrived here, my friend, Moni, and I had gone to the IKEA store to pick up a few "creature comforts" to feather our new nests.  While we sat out front waiting for our driver we saw a Saudi man being helped by a Filipino store worker.  Now this Saudi had purchased a lot of things and they were big things like bookcases and such.  After the worker had spent quite a lot of time lifting all of those heavy boxes into the back of the fancy SUV, arranging and re-arranging, the Saudi man just drove off.  He never acknowledged the worker,looked at him,  offered a tip or even thanked him.  The working man just stood there looking so .....I don't know...dejected.  It was very sad.  If Moni and I could have figured out a way to give him a tip we would have.  I don't remember ever seeing that before.

At the hospital there are many Filipino sitters with the patients.  The families hire them to be company and care for the "loved" one.  I was caring for a patient the past two days who had such a sitter, named Esther.  I asked Esther how often she went home and what kinds of things she did her on her days off.  She shared with me that she doesn't get days off even if she is ill and hasn't been home in four years.  She told me she was a widow and had four children back home she was trying to support.  She had not seen them for four years.  She started to cry at that point.  She is exhausted.  She stays with this woman who has been in the hospital more than a year.  Other than for food and hygiene purposes Esther never leaves her.  She is terrified of being fired.

At work you hear the Saudi female physicians talk about their nanny and maid problems.  One doctor admitted to locking her nanny in the house and demanding she carry a cell phone that she must answer by the second ring.  The nanny escaped through a window and hasn't been seen since.  I hope they never catch her because the punishment will be terrible! There are stories about physical and sexual abuse toward these woman.

OK I realize America has had it's share of these kinds of crimes but I didn't grow up during that era and had never witnessed it.  I can say I have never seen a more dejected, hopeless, whipped people in my life and it is heart wrenching.

Christine xx

Queen of Za Dezert!

I know it has been a whie since I blogged.  I think the 7th of January was the last time but nothing new or interesting has been going on.  I have found my routine and have settled in it.

The exciting new news is: I AM GOING TO EGYPT FOR 16 DAYS IN MARCH!  When I was in the 8th grade I wrote a paper on Egyptology and have always had an interest in ancient cultures and mythology.Who knew I would lay my own eyes on the Pyramids, Sphynx, the library in Alexandria, St. Catherine's Monastery and climb Moses mountain (the one where he got the 10 Commandments.  We do it in the middle of the night and watch the sun come up). WOW!  We are celebrating my (and Shelly's, a friend from Australia) birthday in Sharm El-Sheik.  I have the leave, I have the travel package and finished booking my flight from Riyadh to Cairo and back so it's definitely going to happen now! WOOHOO!  Cruise down the Nile, felucca boat excursions, a camel ride in the desert, light show at the Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings (and Queens)...

Work is good.  I have applied for my Saudi nursing license pending receiving my employment verification from CCMH. I have to have it to work more than one year here.  My boss seems to like me OK and I get along well with the doctors and residents.  My co-workers have become like family and we look forward to working together.  Everyone tells me the hospital is based on the American system but I can tell you it is the American system 20-25 years ago.  We are just now moving in to computerized charting and will institute the bar code method of giving medications in the next year or so.  I am on the safety committee for Critical Care. Some people still struggle but when I talk to them the struggle is about the culture in which we work.  I don't struggle.  I quickly learned to accept things the way they are and gently nudge and hint at another, possibly better way.  One of the things I pointed out to my head nurse is that while the hospital is run on a Western system of some kind we run into problems when we forget to accommodate the population and culture that we serve.  I completely believe in the body, mind, spirit connection to promote healing.  When we tell people that their customs have no use in the hospital we are taking away from them an important part of the healing process.  I think I see another committee membership in my future.

Anyway things are going well and I am still enjoying it here. Looking forward to a little belly dancing in Cairo and Sharm El-Sheik!

Christine xx

Warm? Cool? Cold?

When you have so many people coming in from different parts of the world you get to see many different perspectives on the weather.  It is in the 70's here.  I feel just right coolish, no need for a jacket or sweater...very comfortable.  The northern Europeans are out in their bikini's, shorts and tank tops.  The South Afrikans and Saudi's are in heavy weight jackets, knit caps and heavy sweaters.  It is quite the conglomeration of fashion statements I'm telling you!

Not much to report this week.  We did go to the top of the Kingdom Tower at night.  As soon as I can find out what the computer did with my pictures I will show you Riyadh at night!

Having some friends over for dinner tonight.   I found an Arabic Monopoly game! :)

Christine xx

Happy New Year!!

I've been really busy mostly with working.  Sometimes I have to admit I struggle a bit with some of the cultural aspects of living here.  There are differences in medical practice (and nursing) that are sometimes very frustrating for me.  STAT at home means STAT!  Here it means we will get to it sometime today which is a real pain if you have a very sick patient.  No amount of pleading will get it to you any sooner.  I can advocate for my patient all I want but when I talk to the doctor and he is unwilling to advocate with me then it will not be done anytime sooner.  I have learned that if they end the conversation with inshalla (which means god willing) there isn't any hope for it to be done in a timely fashion.  An unusual thing that I have been counseled about is not taking breaks!!  I have never had so many breaks ever!!  We are supposed to take half hour in the morning, an hour for lunch, and another half hour in the afternoon.  If I have a sick patient I am not leaving him!  This has caused some to remark that if I don't take MY breaks then THEY will LOSE getting breaks .  IMHO I feel the nurse taking care of a critical patient should stay at the bedside and communicate with the doctor.  Who knows better than the one who has cared for the patient since the beginning?  Also I don't want to be lost on what happened while I was gone!  Now mind you...there are not that many real ICU patients in that unit but I get one and I want to stay with him!  I will just have to remember why I came here and do the best I can.

The weather here is beautiful!!  I love snow and I am sorry I am missing the blizzard in Oklahoma.  In the summer here everything burns up like at home so in the fall they plant all kinds of flowers and shrubs.  It is funny to me to see petunias and cannas blooming this time of year!  I think I am going to have a quiet day today and read a book and watch TV.

Take care!

Christine xx