Dear sweetpea,
I am sort of under the impression that a blog is essentially another name for a journal, albeit one that is online and visible for anyone interested. However, as you know, I am not very crafty at talking to myself. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this blog to you, because I know that I can tell you everything :)
Well, I want to tell you about my trip to see the Pyramids, but first I may as well summarize my day today. I woke up around 6:30am, tiptoeing out of bed so as not to wake up Matt, my roommate. Usually I walk over to the bathroom and do mah thang, and then I come back, make sure everything is packed and get changed. This morning I had an apple and some peanuts for breakfast. I know, it doesn't sound like a lot, but I was kind of rushed this morning since I had woken up later than I typically do. Plus, I wanted to make a lunch for myself (peanut butter sandwich) so that took a little bit of time. Anyways, I then walked over to the bus stop, which is a few blocks away. One of the more annoying things about Egypt is the taxi drivers, and how they insist on honking their horns everything half a second! Ugh! Then they always assume that because I look American I always want a taxi.
*Hun, be careful in Italy, because if they're even half as bad as Egypt is, they will try to rip you off like no one's business!
Anyways, I got on the bus and I was finally able to listen to some music from my iPod! Lol, I listened to The Cab for the first time in a long time. It brought back some good memories :) The bus ride typically takes around an hour, and I got to campus with a refreshing and optimistic outlook for the day. I went through the metal detector and bag x-ray machine (Yes, it feels like walking through an airport terminal!) and walked over to class. The teacher I have for Colloquial Arabic, which starts at 8:30am, is soo nice. She has a bit of an accent, but she is very encouraging and makes learning fun. We call her Ustaza Safaa, which means Professor(female) Safaa. Haha, this morning was actually sort of awkward, because I told her I almost got ripped off at the Pyramids over the weekend (this story comes later), and she told us a story about how she had gotten mugged once. Needless to say that totally trumped my story and I felt very silly! Class went well, we learned about the definite article "el" and some vocab. After class I went to check out the pool with a classmate and even went for a swim! It literally feels like I am at a resort and not a college campus! I forgot to take pictures today, but I promise I will take pictures of most of campus tomorrow :) After I had dried off I went to Cultural Anthropology, and I spoke up a lot in class, which is good because the other guys who refuse to speak English never talk! And when they do they say a few words in Arabic, to which the teacher replies in English, which I think is very nice of her. After that I rode the bus home (another hour) and got 2 falafels with Moe for only 3 pounds. They were good, except there is something about falafels that kind of throws me off. Maybe it's the texture, although they taste funky too :\
Okay, Pyramids trip: The Zamalek dorm RAs plan different events for the residents, and one of these trips was for the Pyramids. For 140LE (~$25) you could go to see the pyramids and the Sphinx and get lunch. Well, Nathan (you know, the kid next door to me), Matt and I wanted to do our own thing and see if we could have more fun whilst paying less money. We had gotten ready and were out the door by 1130am, whereas the other group hadn't even left yet! So that was a big moral boost for us :) We stopped to get some food and drink before the pyramids, because we knew that the prices would be much higher when we were stuck in the desert. Afterwards, we hailed a taxi and went to the Cairo Opera House, where there is a Metro Station. We bought a ticket to Giza for only 1 pound!!! That's like 17 cents! The Metro wasn't half bad either; very clean and quick. I think we arrived in Giza in 15 minutes.
When we arrived, we planned to walk decently far from the station so that taxi drivers who waited for unsuspecting tourists didn't try to rip us off. The first man to offer us a taxi to the Pyramids we denied at the drop of a hat. However, he offered to take us for 10 pounds, which is very reasonable. Well, needless to say, we went along! He took us to his car, and was very nice, showing us pictures and telling us he would take us to the Student Office so that we could get a discount to get in. Okay, I know this sounds sketchy, but it was us 3 guys vs him, so we didn't worry. Anyways, he takes us to this building in the ghetto next to the Pyramids with a big tent outside of it. It kind of looked like a stereotypical old fashioned Arabian tent, with cushions and an Arabesque feel to it. We were greeted by a squat Egyptian man who had one of the smoothest and sneakiest ways of talking I have ever met. He wanted us to buy these package deals to go in to see the Pyramids, the cheapest costing 170 pounds and the most 350 pounds. Nathan and I were immediately like, hellll no! Because the other group only paid 140 pounds! He kept getting mad at me because I was telling Nathan that we should just do our own thing and skip what he wanted us to do. Matt agreed to pay for the package after talking it down to 300, and so after we tried to dissuade him, we bade him good luck (and good ridden!) As Nathan and I were walking away, the guy approached us, look at me with daggers in his eyes, and said "If I see you ride past here on a camel or a horse, I am going to be very angry with you. I sit here and talk to you for half an hour and this is how you pay me!" At that we just laughed and went on our merry way. The taxi driver, who was definitely in on the scam, followed us and offered to take us somewhere else, but we refused, to which he yelled at us in Arabic from his taxi and drove off. Okay, so, the situation now is that Nathan and I are in the middle of the Giza ghetto, and yet the Pyramids are like right there! Blocked off by a very tall wall, yes, but right there! Well after only 5 minutes of walking we got to the main gate! A sight for sore eyes I can tell you! We paid only 30LE to get in because we are students, and we essentially did everything you see in the pictures! We met up with the Zamalek group at the Sphinx and mooched off of their tour guide for a little bit before they had to leave, as they had already been to the Pyramids. We found out that their tour wasn't very good at all, because they only got to see each pyramid for only 10 minutes, and then their tour guide said that the ancient Egyptians used to put the brains in a canopic jar, which is wrong, because they used to believe the brains were useless and so they threw them away! Sheesh, the nerves of some people! Well we explored the pyramids, and then we wanted a picture on a camel, so we stopped a man and asked to simply get on a camel so we could take some pictures. Well...everything went wrong when Nathan couldn't work my camera and then handed it to one of the guys who owned the camel. Big mistake. One thing led to another and Nathan got on another camel and we were taken for a short ride around part of a pyramid. Yes, it was pretty cool, but I knew they were going to try and rip me off. When we had finished, the man said he would let me down when I paid him 100LE. 100LE my patootie! I told him sure, and then when he let me down and I safely got my camera from him, I gave him 20LE because I told him that I had only asked for a picture and nothing else, and so everything else was his own fault. Poor Nathan though ended up paying his guy around 100LE just to let him down. Heh, I felt bad, but at the same time I felt like I was able to deal better under pressure than he was :) So, sort of dismayed that he had been ripped off, we decided to try and find a way to climb on the Pyramid of Khafre. Well, halfway around it who do we bump in to? Matt! Haha, it figures that he didn't get the elaborate package deal he had been promised, but just went on an hour long camel ride! (I was the only one who ended up paying less than 100LE for the entire trip!) We found a section of the Pyramid that wasn't roped off, and after we had paid a tourist police officer to let us on (Yea, nice to see corruption at its finest) we did our thing and went on to find a way inside the Pyramid. Well I think I told you mostly about going in, except that it was very close quarters and very steep going down into it. And very, very hot inside! We were sweating raindrops after only 10 minutes in there! The rest of our trip went very smoothly, and we made it back to the dorms in one piece. Every time I was nervous, or scared, all I could think about was you. I know it sounds kind of morbid and scary, but if anything very bad did happen, which I wouldn't allow because I had my wits about me, but if anything had happened, I wanted you to be my last thought :) I know that sounds worrisome, but you would be proud of me, since I always found the least troublesome and problematic solution to get us out of the situations!
The days here go by quickly, especially because of classes. I am having a good time, but I feel like the type of people that do these trips are single people who don't really care about the culture but instead want to just have stories to tell. I feel very secure with you, and my life as well, and so I don't feel the need to go out and party every night, or get drunk and do stupid things. I want so badly to enjoy things with you, and I am proud to say that I am happy time is going by. I am making the most of it, though, so as not to waste the opportunity of a life time! But having my other half here, well, that would really make everything worth while. I miss you, honey. I go to sleep at night, imagining us together in Rome, London, everywhere.
I hope everything is going well on your side of the Ocean :) I can't wait to hear about your Roman adventures!!! Gosh, that even sounds cool to say!
I am so looking forward to talking to you soon.
- - -, sweetpea :D
Yours Always and Forever,
Joe
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