Long overdue - Oliver Twist, and Best Vacation Ever

Apologies to all who have been following my blog for not posting in a while. Well here is a catch up of the past…

My class’s production of Oliver Twist was on December 3rd, and was a culmination of almost of a month of practicing lines, songs, stage direction, and a healthy dose of yelling my head off at the children for completely taking advantage of me and not listening while on stage. Within it though, I had a great time putting on British accents, creating exciting stage direction, and teaching the kids some fun acting techniques. On the day of the production the kids were nervous and excited and as a whole, I was incredibly proud of them. Of course they forgot lines, and some were talking back stage, but those students who were strong actors were able to shine. It felt really good to hear compliments from parents like “we all talked about it, and decided that this was the best production that blue has ever done.” After the English play, I played drums with Samir (who played piano for Oliver) for the German play which is on the same day.

Then starting on the 4th there was a week vacation and Michaela came to visit from Dublin, and I can assuredly say that this was my best vacation yet. For me it was great because it was an absolute joy to play tour guide with something specially catered, and be able to show a side of me in my environment. Although we were only in Cairo for less than 48 hours, we were able to cram in a lot of things that gave a lively picture of the city. I’ll try to keep it short… but this is Egypt: by Chris Jospe

Day 1. Starting with a delectable lunch at the Ceramic Café across the street from me (where you can make ceramic objects at the restaurant – I am currently sipping Umbrian wine from a goblet we made..), to going to explore Khan Khalily (the area of old Islamic Cairo where there are lots of people trying to sell you things) via public transportation (tram, subway, microbus), to catching a smoggy sunset in Azhar park, to dinner at Sequoia with David, Fatem, and Rhonda (a restaurant on an Island on the tip of the Nile which has amazing sushi/shisha/a large inflatable slide), to a folklore/belly dancing show at the Ramses Hilton, where Michaela got pulled up to belly dance, and David got pulled up by the same people who had grabbed me at Azhar park!
The next day, we headed off to the Pyramids, which are always mind boggling of course. And after shoeing away the countless people who more than happy to take your money for any number of services, we settled on Aly and Charlie Brown (his camel) to take a trip up to see the pyramids from the perspective where you can see all 7 in a line. Down to the sphinx in the midst of tourists who come to the closest spot, take a picture, inspect the camera, and spend less than 10 seconds actually taking in the beauty of what they came to see. This is the definition of “checklist tourism” (or tourist checklism) – visiting a country to say that you have seen whatever the country is famous for, and on some level, missing the entire point. Then down to Giza, grabbed some shwarma and ta’mayya before meeting up with David for a sunset horse ride galumphing the other side of the pyramids. That night Michaela and I hopped on the overnight train, waking up deeper in Africa on the way to Aswan.
In Aswan, the first thing to do was to find a felucca captain willing to sail north, which we easily found for $30 a person, including two days, two nights on the felucca (a small sail boat), food, and transport to Luxor. I had a pretty fun time haggling with the people in the Souq, the old market, and we got some good fish and shisha by the sunset. The next day we took off on the ship with our captain, Youssef, and helper Ibrahim. We docked on some island, and as a whole, the day was just “intensely pleasant.” Relaxing and singing on the boat, shooting the breeze with Youssef, watching the Egrets, the Water Buffalo, the Goats, and the Africa dogs zig-zagging up the Nile. I got to sail for a good kilometer of the trip, which was good, but I think I’ll have to practice a bit more before I have my own ship… On the third morning, we were picked up by a bus with other tourists going north to Luxor with some temple stops. Kom Ombo temple was first, then Edfu temple. I remember both of these temples from the trip I took in January with Hany, and my family, and they were no less magnificent. Hieroglyphics everywhere, stories of battles and Gods engraved in time. In the afternoon we got into Luxor with time to walk around, meet some interesting people, and avoid those who are trying to get you to ride a carriage.
The next day was probably the most epic. After trying to sell us a number of different deals that we weren’t interested in, our hostel worker suggested the idea of renting a motor bike with a full tank of gas for 100 pounds for the day (less than 20$). So I haven’t exactly ever ridden a motorcycle before, but I felt I could pull it off… After stalling a couple times in the streets of Luxor, I figured out how to change gears, and we took off across the Nile to the west bank where there are temples and the valley of the kings (where all of the Pharaohs were buried). I would recommend doing this to absolutely anyone. Riding through Africa with Michaela behind me, we were able to go at our pace, waving at farmers on donkeys, soaking in the fields, avoiding the places where tour buses are destined to go, and explore Nubian towns, feel absolutely free. After seeing the tombs, we headed by to an alabaster shop – actually the same one I went to with my family in January. I wasn’t against buying things, but I told the guys outside that I was hungry, and asked if there were any good restaurants outside. After buying some glasses and a necklace for a solid haggle, the guy who sold it to us, Ahmed was ready to take us to a nearby restaurant that he knew. Except my battery had died! So here we went, Ahmed in his Galibayya, me, and Michaela, all riding his motor bike to a restaurant that is not used to seeing westerners. The food was dank, and then Ahmed took us back, and by pushing the bike down the hill we were able to get it sparked, he gave me some gas because I was running low, and we took back off towards Luxor in the late afternoon. About 4 km south of Luxor, my bike started to sputter with the out of gas type of sound, and coincidentally ran out of gas right at a coffee shop. Two cokes and apple shisha’s later, and some guys graciously going on a gas run for me we finally made it back to Luxor.
The last day in Luxor we went and explored Karnak temple. I am pretty sure that this is the biggest temple in the world. There are so many monuments in it, it is cluttered with hieroglyphiced pillars, statues, obelisks, large walls and stories of gods everywhere. My favorite things about it are the worlds oldest peace treaty on one of the southern walls, the big hall with all the pillars, and the Obelisk (the other one is in place de concorde in Paris). Our day ended perfectly, chilled on a felucca with a captain who works only 10 days a month and spends the rest in the army, we left the Cornish after hearing “goodbye Miss Lucky” from a small shop where we had bought water (everywhere in Luxor I heard “you are a lucky man” – a standard thing to say to a guy with a girl, but very true!), caught a carriage to our hotel, and then the train station for a third of the price others were asking, bought some Egyptian sweets, and woke up in Cairo. Last day with time to visit Coptic Cairo, explore downtown, a favorite gallery of mine (townhouse), and make dinner before Michaela’s flight back.

Black and White Desert

The trip to the black and white desert was an incredible 36 hour escape from Cairo. After taking a 4 hour bus ride to Baharriya, the oasis which is the jumping off point for visiting this desert, we (a solidly international group with representation from Norway, Sweden, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and America) took off with two four wheel drives into the desert. Driving from one of the largest cities into this vast expanse of nothingness but sand and more sand is a shock in itself, and it was so calming not to hear the constant honking and mayhem that comes along with Cairo. We puttered around with the cars, stopping at one point to climb “crystal mountain” in the black desert, which afforded views of absolutely no civilization other than a road, and lots of sand. This was the first time that I could really feel the silence, which was almost painful. The drivers were a bit crazy too, and at one point, they tore off the road and were driving on the sand, drifting around in it just like snow. By evening, we arrived to a part of the white desert just in time to catch the sunset. I have never been in a place where I truly felt like I was on another planet. The rocks were chalk white, and between their animal-like formations and large shadows cast over the desert, it was a surreal experience. The guys who took us into the desert then cooked us dinner, and it was so cool to sleep under the stars, which we shining extraordinarily bright – especially because there was no moon. It’s really hard to describe this place with words, pictures can do better.

Pictures coming soon.. check my facebook album for now..