Cairo Chronicle, Issue #9, March 15th, 2000
February and March have seen temperatures and weather here that would make any Texas weatherman proud. There was the cold weather, then the warm weather, then the freezing weather, then the rainy weather, then the hot weather, then the cold weather again, mixed in with a sprinkle or two of rain for good measure. They say this week is supposed to be sunny -- I'm not sure that forecast can be entirely trusted.
Andrea Colfack, Barbara's mother, was here for a delightful two-week visit. Her husband, Neal, was unable to join her -- and from all accounts sorely wished otherwise. Andrea's first outing -- a trip to the pyramids of Giza -- proved she could hold her own. She was approached by a young child offering her some touristy souvenirs -- an auspicious begining to her stay. She haggled out a price, saying she didn't have any money (the prices, by the way, magically dropped each time she refused). She had left her wallet in the taxi we helped her attain for the purpose. The young boy followed her, as would seem only natural. Noticing the American tourist being followed to her taxi by one of their own, other vendors sent "ambassadors" to her taxi, asking her to purchase THEIR souvenirs. By the time all was said and done, Andrea had purchased more than she had intended, but loving every ounce of the experience.
Because we were in school, teaching, for most of the two weeks Andrea was here, our excursions were confined to the weekends. Our first weekend was spent in Dahab, a beautiful spot on the east coast of the Sinai peninsula. We decided to take the overnight bus, thinking we would get some sleep...NOT! All night long, music blared, movies played on a small video screen, and a hostess came by to sell us over-priced snacks. Todd and Andrea managed to get a little sleep, but all Barbara managed to do was finish an entire paperback. Completely worth the trip, though. Dahab was peaceful, sunny and relaxing. Andrea snorkeled, while Todd and Barbara laid in the sun, reading and napping. (The water was a bit cold, but Andrea said "I came all the way here, and I might not be back, so I'm going in, even if you aren't!) We wanted to go to the Monastery of St. Catherine's on Mt. Sinai the next day, but wouldn't you know it - the Pope's Egyptian visit was the same weekend, and he wanted to see the monastery. They closed ALL roads to the public. Sigh. The trip back was loud but uneventful, except that Barbara and Andrea almost got left in Suez (the restaurant promised we had 25 minutes)! One of the interesting features of the mountains of Sinai is the plethora of color in the strata. Some mountains are composed of brown, green and red rock strata, while others are white and gray, while yet others include other combinations of these colors. The mixtures are marvelous to view. The mountains near Dahab were not only breathtakingly beautiful, but magnificently multicolored. The wonders of nature never cease.
During the week Barbara and Andrea went to the Egyptian museum. It was Barbara's first time. Even though she'd heard that the place was very disorganized, it wasn't as bad as she thought. And there were so many beautiful and fascinating artifacts! We concentrated on the second floor, finally finding the King Tut exhibit. The golden mask is simply gorgeous! We only spent about 2 hours there, but could have spent many days, if we had taken time for each artifact.
Later that week, we went on a dinner cruise. It may have been only a cruise...in a taxi... if Barbara and I hadn't stopped what seemed at the time frustratingly farcical.
We had planned a dinner cruise with the Marriott hotel in Cairo with Andrea, when a travel agency, with which we were slightly acquainted, invites us all for a free dinner cruise, which we are required to postpone. Because of a slight mix-up the week of the cruise, we are offered a 60 LE cruise (about $15 for all three of us). A driver is to meet us, and take us to the boat. Would we still be interested? Of course. We leave our flat to meet the driver a little before 7 p.m. Barbara assumes the driver would be in a taxi. About twelve zillion taxis zoom down the main street, so Todd wonders how we would ever find the "right" taxi to use. After seeing a large taxi stop in front of us, we assume this must be the one. After enquiring, we hop in only to be asked.. "fayn?" -- "where?" At this point, Todd tells Barbara and Andrea to get out of the taxi. This is NOT the correct one. Good news, however, is to be had here. We do find our taxi driver-- on the other side of the four-lane divided roadway. Andrea -- who was deathly afraid of crossing the street to begin with -- nearly flees across the street in panic as we calmly try to encourage her across. As any expat here can tell you, crossing major streets in Egypt is an adventure in itself. The correct taxi driver picks us up, and drives us downtown in relatively obnoxious traffic. The taxi driver here cannot be blamed; the traffic this particular evening was just atypically congested. As we get downtown, the taxi driver takes a circuitous route to a still unknown location, where he asks our pardon and includes a fourth person to our cruise party. The addition was a young Japanese tourist, in his early twenties is our guess, who barely spoke English, let alone Arabic. Crammed into a three-seater taxi, all four of us go from this place to the Nile River. The driver has been dispatched by the travel agent, and has been given the name of a dinner cruise landing site. But when the driver attempts to locate the correct landing site of the cruise, he comes up short. The driver is now late. Our dinner cruise had been set for 8 p.m., and the time must be 8:30 p.m. when he finally stops to ask directions. Ever the dauntless driver, intent on finding a cruise that both Barbara and Todd are convinced was long gone, our taxi chauffer drives us through the streets of Cairo for an additional half hour. Luckily, Barbara remembers that the Marriott cruise reservations she had made had not been canceled. We are hungry. It is now 9 p.m. We hadn't eaten anything since about 10:45 a.m. or so. We ask the driver if he could take us to the Marriott, but he is reluctant because of the the Japanese tourist he has been asked to steward. We then are obliged to get out of the taxi (dissatisfied is hardly the word) and hail yet another taxi to take us to the Marriott in Zamaalek. The two-hour dinner cruise at the Marriott does not start until 10:30 p.m. So we wait, and arrive a little early to secure a table. Dare we say that the rest of the evening was spectacular?! Well, we will. It was. The food, the ambience, the aromas, the surprise wedding party, the belly dancer (Todd especially liked her!), and the musicians, were excellent finishes to a rough night. After the cruise, our ride back to Heliopolis was perhaps the most pleasant taxi ride Barbara and I can ever remember sharing. The cabbie played classical music (!!!!!) instead of the traditional Arabic fare, and took a very direct route at a comfortable pace. We arrived home in less than a half-hour after the cruise -- about 1 a.m. We paid the cabbie well, thank you.
Alexandria was our next weekend excursion. We went by train, and had very little trouble getting ourselves to the correct track and on the correct train. Our ability to read and speak Arabic helped immensely in this regard. Once in Alexandria, we checked into our hotel rooms. After putting our things away, we ate lunch in the hotel, hailed a cab, and were deposited in front of the Greek & Roman Museum. The exhibits were interesting, though not very well documented. Clothes with embroidery from pre-Christian times could be seen, as well as mummified humans and a mummified crocodile. The crocodile was found in a temple dedicated to a crocodile god. Very well preserved busts/heads of Roman emperors of the Christian era, clay jars and figurines depicting Alexandrian dress styles of the same era, and numerous household gods and trinkets were on display. After this, we opted to go to the Roman Amphitheater, located near the train station. The amphitheater was occupied by a raucus group of (we think) Italian students on holiday. They sang lewd songs in both Italian and English, and generally seemed to have fun. After watching and listening to them for about 30 minutes, they were obliged to leave with their tour guide. The amphitheater being empty, Barbara and Todd investigated the amphitheater for that one spot that has the best acoustical sound. It was marked with a circular stone. Once found, Andrea prompted Todd & Barbara to sing. Choosing a holiday favorite, "O Holy Night," they sang in that small amphitheater. Someone from the hill behind us surprised us with applause. After the amphitheater, we went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening there. Our dinner was less than exceptional. Not only was the service lousy (admitted so by the waitstaff), but many a food substitution was made that made the meal less than exquisite. For the price we paid, we could have gone elsewhere and received much more. The next day, we spent the morning at Pompeii's Pillar, a massive single-stone pillar with two noseless sphinxes guarding it. While it seems unimpressive in pictures, the opposite is true in reality. After this quick stop, we were shuttled to the Catacombs. By this time, Todd was out of disks for the digital camera, and they were going to make him pay the camera fee anyway. So he sat outside, while Barbara and Andrea explored the crypts under the ground. There were statues and carvings along the walls of several of the tombs, while others were just slots in the wall, like a modern mausoleum.
Folks around here are getting ready for Spring Break, and the week-long Islamic feast of Eid Al-Adha. The feast reportedly commemorates Abraham's sacrifice of a ram/sheep in the place of his son, Ishmael, as recorded in the Koran. Some of you Bible and Torah readers will note a big difference: Abraham is asked by God to sacrifice Isaac, not Ishamel, in the Genesis account. The differences aside, at least for now, lead us to a stark reality. Sheep have invaded our neighborhood by the truckload. And, yes, we mean TRUCKload. In fact, there is an apartment being built on the corner of our street that has sheep grazing(?) and penned in on its street entry level. It's quite a sight, actually. Imagine a shell of a high-rise with sheep inhabiting the ground floor uninhibited by glass and walls, with construction equipment (brinks, mortar, saws, concrete sacks, sand, etc.) within spitting distance. The bleating of the sheep can be heard as well, though the incessant honk of horns and roar of traffic muffles them somewhat. During the feast, the sheep are ritually slaughtered. Devout Muslims will then place their hands in the sheep's blood, and mark their possessions (cars, family members, houses, etc.) with the blood. We have come to understand that the odor of blood will be smelled for days after the feast, and to expect to see blood-stained handprints on almost anything we see. The meat of the slaughtered sheep is then taken home and eaten by the devout. The custom during this time is also to share the meat with the less fortunate, or those who cannot afford to purchase and slaughter a sheep themselves.
We're off to Singapore today, to visit with Todd's aunt Rosemary and uncle Mel. We'll tell you all about that visit in the next letter.
Love,
Todd and Barbara Thomas
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