August 24

My watch alarm woke us up at 8 am. We ate breakfast in the room and hurried to get ready to meet our tour guide, Eman, on time at 9 am.
Eman and the van picked us up from where we are staying. She was a very friendly and knowledgable. She told us all about Egyptian history as we rode along through sprawling Cairo to “Memphis” – the ancient capital of Egypt.
At our first stop of the day we saw a huge statue of Ramses II and other old Egyptian artifacts. This was my first experience with the Egyptian custom of “baksheesh” or tipping. I had to use the restroom, which I was told was free, but on my way out a lady “working” there insisted that I give her some money. The smallest bill I had was 10 Egyptian Pounds (L.E.), so I think I was slightly ripped off, but now I know to try to keep smaller change on me.
Our next stop was to see the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. It is a smaller pyramid and I believe the oldest tomb built. We were able to walk down into the burial area, which was thankfully not too narrow, although we did have to bend at the waist to get there. Eman was great, she would give us some information and then tell us we had 10-15 minutes to see things for ourselves, “don’t talk to anyone,” and then meet her back when we were through.
Next we went to see an Egyptian Carpet factory. We were able to watch them hand weave these beautiful carpets and rugs. Children as young as 9 or 10 were working there and when I asked Eman about this, she said they are the lucky ones that are talented enough not to have to work out in the fields. At the carpet gallery a nice Egyptian man tried to see us his carpets, but he wasn’t too pushy- “no pressure”. We did learn how to distinguish between handmade and machine-made carpets, a skill I hope to test next time I’m at someone’s home (just kidding). Honestly though, the silk, hand made carpets were incredible!
From there we went to a Papyrus Factory/Store. We saw how papyrus is made (from lotus plants) and some paintings done on them. Eman told us there would be a special discount for us if we wanted one, but we politely declined. She then took us upstairs to a jewelry store where a man started to show us how he could engrave our names on a cartouche in hieroglyphics (no thanks again).
For lunch we went to an Egyptian fast food place and had some yummy falafel. We ate our “Egyptian hamburger” on the way to the pyramids in Giza (pronounce the “g” like a “j”). The Pyramids- our reason for visiting Cairo- they were incredible and huge, but not too different from what I expected. We rode a camel and got tons of pictures. We also went to see the Sphinx, which is just down the street from the pyramids. There were people around, but it wasn’t just overflowing with tourists. There was probably an equal ratio of Egyptian peddlers and foreigners.
On our way back to the seminary we stopped at an Egyptian cotton store. When we got home I read through the part of Exodus involving Egypt, Pharaoh, and Moses. Relating the plagues to places we have now seen with our own eyes was really neat and made it “come to life” for me.
Some side notes about Cairo so far:
*the driving is just as crazy and chaotic as we had heard
*the Nile is prettier than I expected
*this city is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life: palm trees, desert, dusty, hazy skies, tan and brick buildings, half with unfinished roofs, donkeys carrying carts, people, and crops, right along with the cars, mosques, all the Arabic