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This is most definitley the longest Monday ever. We woke up at 2:00 a.m. Monday morning Egypt time. That means its actually 4:00 pm on Sunday, Fresno time. We have a long time of travel ahead of us! Despite a really tight connection in Germany, that included running to our gate only to be stopped by a security check again, we made it. But it was ridiculous. One thing about America that I am really thankful for is our ability to use lines. People in other countries just don't get that-- it can be very frustrating! I had to get over my feelings of being rude, and just started cutting in line along with the rest of them! From Frankfurt, we had a straight flight to LAX, then on home. We flew Lufthansa most the way, which was HORRIBLE. Their seats recline so far that the person in front of you is LITERALLY on your lap. Awful. I don't know who designed them, but he obviously only flew first class. But, finally, at 6 pm Monday Fresno time, we made it home. (Which was actually 4 a.m. Tuesday, Egypt time!) Its good to be home, but I really miss being in Cairo with mom and dad! Our friend Jordan did a great time taking care of our house... I feel really bad for him, too because one of our kitties got really sick (with the big D) and had messes he had to clean up 3 different times. Ick. But he also planted a veggie garden for us and cleaned up our back yard, something we haven't gotten to. What a great housesitter! !Thanks Jordan!!

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Mom's dining room, from the kitchen... I really like their place! I don't want to leave!

Today is our last full day in Egypt. :-( It has been such a great trip. We just did a few last minute things today... we went back to Road 9 to pick up some more things and really just hung out with mom. We went to mom's favorite copper store to order a few Christmas gifts for family, and we also went to the jewelry store to pick up a necklace I had made... its my name written in Arabic! I love it- it is so pretty!!! I am so sad to leave mom and dad, but I'm happy to know that they'll be back in August. Mom's friend Avis had us over for dinner tonight. It was so sweet of her and her husband! They cooked brats, (which is a sacrifice in a muslim country) and served yummy margaritas and all the fixin's. Avis's house is a treasure trove of collectibles and wonders! It was so fun to hang out with them on our last night. Mom has made some really good friends in Egypt, and I hope she continues to meet more fun people!

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Well, today we had to go home. But not until later in the afternoon. So once again, we hit the beach!! I finished my book and got to start a new one, "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane." So far, I'm really liking it! Mom, Dad and Sean went snorkeling again... they were out for more than an hour!! They saw all kinds of neat fish again, and Sean even spotted a blue spotted ray! We also saw a lion fish that was right by the beach... we later learned they were really poisonous. For a second, before we knew they were poisonous, I almost jumped in next to the thing to get a better look at it... glad I didn't do that!! We had lunch at a yummy outdoor restaurant, then headed home, relaxed and tanned. Cairo even welcomed us home with a beautiful sunset. Tomorrow is our last day here in Egypt... I really don't want to leave!!

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Another great day in paradise!! We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel today-- a yummy buffet! Then it was time for our swimsuits! We headed out to the beach and got some snorkel gear. I had never been snorkeling before, and this was incredible. Sharm El Sheikh is famous for its beautiful snorkeling and diving... and it did not disappoint! The water itself is a perfect, see-through teal color. And there were bright orange and pink and purple and yellow and green coral... and the FISH!!! Oh, my-- the fish! All kinds!! Clown fish, sting rays, pipe fish, and all other kinds of fish I don't even know! There was a kid who was snorkeling around us that was feeding the fish with bread. He would throw some pieces in our direction and the fish swarmed all around us!! As in, they were touching my legs!!! An absolutely incredible expereince! I spent more time today just laying out and reading my book, "The Heretic Queen." This is perfect relaxation!

After a day on the beach, we set out along the boardwalk again. Before dinner, we had drinks and hookah at a bedouin bar. This was so fun and surprisingly relaxing!! They just throw rugs and pillows on the floor and cover the perimeter of the outdoor bar in bright lights and stars... it was great! We all tried hookah... it was interesting. I couldn't quite get it down though... I would swallow when I wasn't supposed to and would start coughing! It was pretty funny. But dad and Sean were pretty good at it too. I wish we had something like this at home... it was the perfect relaxing, social hang out. So much in other cultures is geared toward being social... why can't we have things like this in America!!? :-) For dinner, we went to a yummy teppanyaki place in our hotel. I got to be the "guest chef" complete with kimono and head band thingy. It was fun! I love this place and definitely want to go back!!!

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We woke up pretty early this morning and headed to the airport once again to catch a flight to Sharm El Sheikh!!! Cairo was ushering in a nasty dust storm, so it was nice to be getting out of town for a few days. Sharm is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and I am so looking forward to just chilling on the beach!! After another wonderful EgyptAir flight, we landed in Sharm. It is stunningly gorgeous... clean, sparkly, beautiful! We got to our Marriot Beachside hotel aroun 10 in the morning, and had a little while to wait before we could get in our room. We had drinks at the piano bar (with an overly friendly waiter guy who liked to take my picture with my own camera) then got into one of our rooms to change into our swimsuits!! Then we headed to the beach! It was warm- over 100- but the beach and water was fantastic. There are beautiful fish and coral right by the shore! Tomorrow we are going to snorkel!! For dinner, we walked along the boardwalk up to Naama bay, where all the stuff was going on. We ate at a delicious restaurant called "Little Buddah." It was so yummy and a really cool place! We walked along the shops and outdoor bedouin bars, too... this is a really cool place. Can't wait for tomorrow!

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Today was a great day! We went to the Cairo museum and the Khan El Khalili! Once again I had more dreams come true. We went to the Cairo museum! Of course, pictures aren't allowed, so I don't have pics of any of the cool stuff we saw... but trust me, we saw it! Of course there was the King Tut treasures.... when people speak of the gold and decadence of the ancient Egyptians, I now know what they. King tut's coffin was encased in THREE huge golden boxes, taller than most rooms in your house. The jewels he was wearing-- indescribable! And then... the mask. That famous burial mask. Took my breath away. The Cairo museum is home to so many ancient treasures. But did you know that there is also a basement full of ancient artifacts that they have yet to get to?? We explored a little of this basement, and its incredible all the stones and artifacts that are just laying around in there! I have a few favorite things that we saw, and of course one of them was the King Tut mask. Another favorite was this portion of a floor that they had... it is from the ancient city of Amarna. Amarna is where Pharoah Amunhotep (who later became Ahkenaten, and was King Tut's father) moved the kingdom of Egypt during his reign. He was married to Nefertiti (and Queen Kiya, who was Tut's mother) and was seen by subsequent generations as a heretic because he delared Aten to be the only god. He tried to change Egypt from a polytheistic culture to a monotheistic one. The people didn't like this. Eventually, he was killed, as was Nefertiti and the magnificent city of Amarna was completely destroyed. Today, there is almost nothing left in the city of Amarna that would even hint to the glory that once was there. (I read a great book about this... its an historical fiction called "Nefertiti" by Michelle Moran and is the first in a series of books by this author.) So when we saw the floor that was salvaged from temple of Aten in Amarna, I was thrilled!! It was beautiful and covered in gorgeous paintings!

Finally, my favorite part was the mummies. Ah, the mummies. There were two different rooms full of royal mummies. Like Sean said, I was kind of afraid to look at them too closely... their features are so perfectly preserved! Most of the mummies were smaller than I thought they'd be. I guess Egyptians at that time were of smaller build than I initially imagined them to be. As we were going into the second room of royal mummies, there were three glass boxes, each containing a mummy sitting out in the hall. We walked by them and quickly glanced at the names, and then I stopped in my tracks.... these were the ACTUAL mummies of Ahkenaten, Queen Kiya and King Ay----- the decendants of King Tut and the people I'd been reading about in my book!!!! Talk about a treat! Mom said these weren't on display last time she was at the museum. The reason?? They'd been doing a lot of reserach lately to find who King Tut's parents were... there's even a big Discovery Channel special on it. But their research was done, and they were back on display- albeit in the hallway! (My guess is they're making a special place for these guys!) This was by far the greatest thing!! I was so excited, it bordered on geeky. :-) They are building a new museum, and I hope they are able to display all the artifacts better. There is just so much to see!!!

All along I have been really looking forward to shopping at the world-famous Khan El Khalili, and we actually got to do that today!!! Zaki (who is now by far our favorite driver!) dropped us off at one of the entrances and we met up with MOm's friend, Avis. Avis has lived in Egypt several years and knows a lot of the great shops in the Khan. We bought a lot of great stuff!! Avis took us to some off-the-beaten-path shops, and my favorite was the Copper! Oh. My. Goodness. I could fill my house with this stuff! Every inch of the crowded little stores were filled with treasures, some new, some old. I found an awesome bronze genie lamp (not old, but ornate and cool nonetheless) and two old bronze kohl bottles! (These really are treasures!) We also saw a guy who does beautiful in-lay work with mother of pearl and wood. Mom may have a game table made in this fashion, which I think would be incredible!! The guy at this store gave us a free bronze camel. Pretty good bartering, huh? :-) The shop owners wanted their pictures with us because they were happy about the deals they'd made. We had lunch at a famous fancy restaurant right in the heart of the Khan... the tables were shiny copper and intricately carved! We enjoyed some delicious traditional food. Before we left, we stopped for cokes at an outdoor restaurant. The guy tried to charge us 20 LE per coke!!! That's $4 a piece!! He was trying to rip us off, but Avis wouldn't have it. Afterall, we weren't tourists, we were locals! One of the many things I love about Egypt is the kindness of the people. They would ask mom where she's from and she would tell them she lives in Cairo now, and every time their response was, "Oh! You are Egyptian now!" How welcoming and cool is that!?? Oh, and the LOVE Americans. For some reason, they think we're nice. :-) The Khan was an amazing success!

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Today we got up and had a great breakfast, then Zaki came to pick us up and drive us to Mokattum. This is the area also known as Garbage City, and is a slum settlement on the outskirts of the city of Cairo whose economy revolves around the collection and recycling of the city's garbage. Although the area has streets, shops, and apartments like any other area of the city, it lacks infrastructure and often has no running water, sewage or electricity. Coptic Christians were originally the predominant inhabitants of Garbage City, though in recent decades the area's Muslim population has grown. The entire first floors of the high rise apartments are filled with garbage, waiting to be sorted through. Entire families work at sorting the trash. The Christians were once well known for herding swine within the city, which are fed edible pieces of garbage and marketed across Cairo to Coptic Christian establishments. However in the spring of 2009 the Egyptian government, in response to the worldwide threat of swine flu (and as a greater means of further persecuting Christians), embarked on a massive program to extinguish the herds of pigs being raised here. All the pigs were killed and thousands of Christians lost their livelihood.

The rooftops at Garbage City are also filled with trash.

The first floor of all the apartments house trash, not families.

Despite all this persecution, the Christians are thriving. In fact, at the top of Garbage City lies a pleasant surprise... churches. Three of them, in fact. They are sometimes called the "cave churches" becuase they are all carved into the side of the mountain. They are absolutely beautiful and breathtaking-- An incredible testament to the faithfulness of these persecuted people, and the goodness of God to bring such beauty out of ashes (or more appropriately in this case, garbage). The largest church can hold several thousand people.... can you imagine how beautiful their praises sound as they resonate off the stone surrounding them?? Beautiful carvings have recently been carved into the mountains, depicting various scenes from the Bible. An artist who visited the city saw that many of the Christians living here could not read the Bible, so he began carving the stories into the rock. They're huge and absolutely stunning.

Beautiful church at the top of the Garbage City.

Carving in the sanctuary at one of the churches...

This church seats several thousands!

After spending the morning in Mokattam, we went to a place where the people of the city create and sell crafts from things they've recycled. We saw how they separate fabrics and create beautiful bags and rugs. They also recycle paper and make beauitful paper products. It was pretty neat! To be honest, I have never really seen a nation that has such religious persecution of Christians. But here it was, right in front of me, plain as day. We'd just spent the previous three days exploring ancient temples that had been built for the false gods of the ancient Egyptians, and now, back in present-day Egypt, we are surrounded mausks and people praying every few hours again to a false god. It breaks my heart, and the hostility is visible between the Christians and Muslims. Zaki was a wealth of information about the subject. He is a Christian, and he knows all too well the differences that exist between the two groups. As a young boy, he received a tattoo of a cross on his inner forearm. All the Christians get them at a very young age. In fact, in Mokattam, we saw a tattoo booth where these are done. Christian men wear gold wedding rings, but Muslim men wear silver. There are huge splits between the two religions. If a Muslim were to kill a Christian convert, he would not be held accountable. He could kill him on the steps of the courthouse, and no action would be taken against him. I have never given much thought to that happening in other countries... afterall, this is 2010... isn't that a little archaic? This trip has opened my eyes to the truths that lie in worlds other than my own.

Supplies for making paper from recycled stuff

Tattoo booth where the Christians get tattoos.

Zaki took us to his favorite spot for lunch. It was a little hole in the wall restaurant and they serve a dish called Koshry. It was sooooooo good!!! Sean and I are going to have to try to make this when we get home! After lunch, Zaki took us to a church where the Holy Family is said to have stayed when they came to Egypt after Jesus was born. Not sure how they know this, but it was a pretty church, right on the Nile. After this, we went home for a little bit, then went shopping at Road 9. This is the main shopping area by where Mom and Dad live. It was really neat! A lot of the shop owners knew mom and gave us some deals on the goods we bought! Anything you want, they probably sell it on Road 9. There's even a guy who sell black market DVDs. :-) (They're hidden under the 3rd stack of rugs!) it was so much fun!! Sean also ate at the McDonald's there... and McD's even delivers here!!

Eating Koshary!

Candles lit at the church of the Holy Family.

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Some of the excavation work going on on the Avenue of Sphinxes.

Our cruise is over, but our plane back to Cairo doesn't leave until after lunch. So we had the morning to explore Luxor on our own. We walked all around, and even got a better look at some of the excavation work going on at the Avenue of the Sphinxes. It is just amazing to me that so many ancient Egyptian wonders are still being discovered today-- some 4,000 years later!! I can only imagine the treasures that are buried beneath modern-day Cairo, lost forever. We walked around some great shopping areas (and I bought some scarves, an AWESOME camel-skin purse! and a cute smoking camel T-shirt). We also had a drink at a cute little outdoor cafe. It was really nice and relaxing. We had an uneventful flight back to Cairo, and by the time we got home, we were pretty pooped!

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Cool statues in Luxor.

Nefertari's tomb in Valley of the Queens.

Alabaster factory and a coke.

Today is our last day of the cruise. We sailed early this morning to Luxor, where we will be exploring so many of the great things here! We started on the West Bank, with the Valley of the Queens. Talk about another dream come true!! We went inside a temple for a young boy-king, QV55 Prince Amun-her-khepeshef, son of Ramesses III (It was in the Queen's Valley because he was still a child when he died.) It had been so beautifully preserved... the color on the walls were incredible! The drawings depicted the incredible short life of this young king. All together, the Queens' Valley holds more than 70 burial tombs, including that of Queen Nefertari. I was really bummed that her tomb was closed for restoration. I've been readingand historical fiction book called, "The Heretic Queen" that is all about Nefertari's rise to the Queen of Pharoah Ramesses. (Its an excellent book, and we got to see in person so many of the places in the book!) We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the tombs, so I took one outside, by Nefertari's tomb. Just knowing that the ancient royal families walked amongst these rocks and tombs, as they came to bury their loved ones was incredible.

After that, we headed to the Valley of the Kings. Again, a dream come true to be in this place. Here, we weren't even allowed to take our cameras off the bus. A definite bummer, but necessary to preserve the amazing ancient wonders in this place. We visited 4 tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Though this is where King Tut's tomb is, we did not visit that one... it was an extra cost, and didn't really have much to see-- all the treasures had been moved to the Cairo museum. So we opted to pay to see a different tomb, the tomb of King Ramesses IV/V. It was originally began for RIV, but he died before it was finished so ultimately, it was the burial tomb for RV. It has been deemed the "Egyptian Sistine Chapel." When our guide told us this, I was skeptical. I've seen the Sistine Chapel, and while the Egyptian art is incredible, I have always been unwaveringly dedicated to Michelango-era Italian art. So I was interested to see how this would compare. Let me tell you... I was BLOWN AWAY. This tomb was beyond words. Every inch was covered in brilliant drawings, including the ceiling! Heres a link to a video I found of it-- no clue how this guy took video as the prohibition of it was enforced by GUNS, but click HERE to see it anyways. :-) In the video, the parts that look just grey between the colored drawings are actually hieroglyphics, detailing every moment of the King's life. They did this so that the gods would know who he was, and what he had done in his life.

Burial temple of Queen/Pharoah Hatshepsut.

After ooh-ing and aaah-ing over the tombs of Ramesses II, III, IV, V/VI, we headed to the burial temple of Queen Hatshepsut. She was one of the only female pharoahs in ancient Egypt. In fact, she dressed herself so that she looked like a man. Most of the temple was destroyed, but it has been magnificently restored. The scale of this place was just huge. Our next stop was at an alabaster factory, where we saw how they created beautiful things with alabaster. After lunch, we headed to Karnak Temple, the greatest temple in all of Egypt, dedicated to their greatest god, Amun. This place was huge! It is more than just a temple... its an actual complex that covers more than 200 acres!! The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that the cathedrals of Notre Dame, St. Peter's and Milan would be lost inside of it!! The Hypostyle hall alone is 54,000 square feet and has 134 columns, making this still the largest religious building of any kind in the world. The heiroglyphics here were bigger than any we'd seen anywhere else. There's even a scared lake located within the temple!

Our tour guide, Ismael outside of Karnak.

Dad and Sean in front of Karnak and the ram-headed sphinxes there.

These columns were huge!

We took pictures of heirpglyphics that spell out Whitney's name!

Three miles away from Karnak is the Luxor Temple, also dedicated to Amun and his wife, Mut. She is the goddess of fertility and about a million other things. There is a 3-mile stretch called the "Avenue of the Sphinxes" taht actually connects the two temples. They are still uncovering this, and its not proving to be an easy task... entire high rise apartments were built on top of them and had just recently been demolished (and the families living htere relocated) in order to excavate the thousands of sphinxes buried beneath. To be honest, I don't remember much of this temple... we'd just seen so much in the past few days! It was ... incredible. I know I keep using that word, but there's no other way to describe it!! It was back on board for one more dinner and sleep on our cruise. What a day. We got really lucky in that the weather wasn't too terribly hot and the whole thing was just a super enjoyable experience!!

Avenue of Sphinxes by Luxor temple.

Really big stuff.