Egypt

I'm back from my trip to Egypt. It was amazing! I really enjoyed the entire trip. I'll break it down by day and post pictures.

DAY 1
I arrived in Alexandria with Ghaith (Rotaractor from the Amman-Cosmopolitan club) where his friend Mona picked us up. She was very nice and helpful and coordinated everything. If you read this: THANKS MONA!!! We had Tamiyya (the Egyptian falafel) then later their famous dish "Koshery" which is a mixture of noodles, lentils, rice, tomato sauce, crispy onions and I had mine with liver per their suggestion (which wasn't too bad); I also put the garlic and hot sauce on it for the final touch. During the day we went to see the famous library and the fort Qait Bey(a citadel that was built by the Pharos during the 15th Century).














DAY 2
I took the train to Cairo and got a quick tour of the 'essentials of Cairo' in the limited time. Another huge thanks to Mona for coordinating and Ahmad and Sara Naida for showing me around. I went to the National Museum which is just spectacular. There are countless artifacts, statues, tombs and much more from the ancient Egyptian civilization. While I had learned about the history briefly in college, seeing the artifacts made it so much more 'real' and amazing. Then I went to the Giza Pyramids (and Sphinx)...one of the sites I had hoped for most to see during my year in the Middle East. Afterwards we took a bus to the Souk Khan al-Khalili...2 1/2 hours due to traffic. That is Cairo for you! After eating Faniya we went to the train station. The 10:30pm train ended up showing up around 12:15am...and not leaving until 1:30am.














DAY 3
We left early for the RYLA by bus. In addition to the few sessions (mostly focused on Egyptian History) we had a Galabeya party; a Galabeya is a Middle Eastern robe worn by men and women.












DAY4
More sessions, a visit to an ancient Greco-Roman temple called the Karoun, more sessions and then a scavenger hunt.

DAY5
Other than sessions we went on a desert safari by jeep which was enjoyable and went to an area called "the Valley of Whales". There were fossilized whale bones from around 40-42 million years ago. The sea used to cover that area and the guide showed us where the coastline used to be (which was evident from a line in the silt). Some of the whale skeletons also show their existence on land at one point. We then went to the sand dunes and went sand surfing/boarding (like snow boarding which I had never previously tried). Despite my lack of experience I actually did quite well. It was exhausting to climb up the dunes, so I only made 3 runs, but they were all good. Afterwards we had a karaoke night which was a load of fun! There was a visiting German rotaractor, and we really busted it out on Hey Jude and New York, New York.









































DAY6
We finished up the conference with a photo contest (which I won 3rd place). Our trip back to Alexandria took quite a while, which was partly due to a 30 minute break that lasted 1 1/2 hours!

I had a great time and really fell in love with Alexandria. While I only saw a small piece of it, I think it would be a city I would not mind living/working in for at least a few years. I also met a ton of really nice people with which I had unforgettable good times. The rich history of Egypt is a must see for everyone. My tips for anyone traveling there is to know an Egyptian who can help you out with buying things, especially souvenirs, since Egyptians are known to try and get as much money as they can, especially out of tourists/foreigners.