I have trod on the ground where Harrison Ford and Sean Connery have trodden. Watch and see

Scenes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Because I like posting. And procrastinating, I found this indisputable video evidence of how amazing Petra is, and Harrison Ford, and Sean Connery, and all of that, and that I HAVE BEEN HERE.

OH! and I forgot, another cool picture/factoid from Petra. The people selling souvenirs and being guides in Petra, like the Pyramids and Wadi Rum and Dahab and many sites in the Middle East are generally part of Bedouin tribes, and many inhabit the caves and mountains in Petra itself, and try to make a living off of tourism. Here's a picture of Muhammad, who came to us asking for candy. Our guides for the donkeys were younger boys, one of whom said that his mother was one of 4 wives, and he was one of 15 children, and he lives in a cave with his friends. . . . I'm still trying to get my head around this, and figure out how I feel about the way Bedouins are today, but it's a cool picture and food for thought.

I love you all, thanks for reading, and watching!

In other news . . .

I completetely forgot to write about my birthday. I've been bitter for a while that, although my 21ST birthday was theday before St. Patrick's day, when the kids back on Campus, drinking and being merry, and it would have been a spectacular time to turn 21. I still had an unforgettable birthday, and best of all, I still remember *almost all * of what happened.

The night before my birthday, we took a Felucca, a kind of Egyptian boat out on the Nile, with a few bottles of wine and a bunch of my new friends and some of my old ones. It was a GORGEOUS night, and I had a great time, got quite tipsy, and then they took me to Hard Rock Cafe. Unfortunately, I was quite quickly too far gone, so had to be taken home before I got my special birthday treat. It was a 21st Birthday American-Style, only in Egypt, and I am so grateful for my friends here who made it sweet. My family did the coolest thing possible: I have a YouTube video in my name (if you're bored, search "Birthday Wishes for Laura"), and it was a little taste of being at home with them, even if we were thousands of miles away.

Also, for all my ND friends (Mom, DON'T READ THIS) I purchased a sheesha/hookah pipe for personal use next semester, and AJ was nice enough to take it home for me so I don't have to deal with it at the end of the semester. I am actually quite fond of it already, because it's so pretty, but all I have left are pictures, so my feelings towards it are like those for an adopted child from China that I only have pictures from for the time being. I plan on having sheesha nights at my apartment, perhaps accompanied by Egyptian food, and you are all invited. I am also contemplating the idea of sheesha tailgates, if only for the strange satisfaction I'll get out of explaining to the Indiana State Police that I am, in fact, only smoking tobacco (Here, Officer, try it, it's great, no seriously. Try it, I mean it.) Be there.

OK, enough for now. I have to write the longest paper I've written in 4 months today, and I'm not liking that idea at all. I should get on that.

Thanks for reading, questions and comments welcome!!

Laura

Indiana University Joneses: Easter Weekend in Jordan!

So I just need to give up on the whole up-to-date blog thing, and just do my best, in between hanging out and school and an extracurricular or two. I should summarize my weekend in Jordan, though, although the best summary are my pictures posted on Picasa. Also, some of this is a rehash from my previous entry, but please bear with. I was on a roll.

Getting to Jordan was a little complicated. A group went ahead of us, but since AJ was coming from Notre Dame at 10:30 PM, it was too late for the 10:00 bus, so myself, my friend Kyle and AJ left on the 6 AM bus to Taba, Egypt, where we crossed the border into Israel without too much trouble, just interesting questions at the border. . . My friend Ayesha, a Pakistani-American who was a part of the first group was detained for 3 hours, though only interrogated for about 10 minutes of that. I’ll post a link to her blog soon so you can get her side of things. It’s an interesting and enlightening story.

We took a Taxi ride through Israel for all of 20 minutes to the Jordanian border (Born and raised in America, the idea of being able to be in 3 countries in the span of an hour is absolutely beyond my imagination). Our taxi driver gave us an earful of Israeli nationalism, which was an interesting side of things. We paid a 70 shekel ($23) departure tax, and crossed into Aqaba, Jordan, where we took another taxi to our hostel, the glorious “Bedouin Garden Village.” When we arrived, we were surprised to discover that our accommodations were none other than a bamboo hut, without doors, without an actual roof, a light bulb for electricity. See the picture for details. It was roughing it, and that was fun for a while, but when we started waking up to progressively more and more bug bites (we suspect flies), I came to understand why my parents never took me camping. Once again, when you pay $8 a night, you get what you pay for. The bathrooms were also quite sketchy, but alas, it was an experience and ON THE OTHER HAND, through our doorway I could wake up in the morning and see the light hitting the mountains across the Red Sea, so the view and the 5-minute beach access made it worthwhile.

The beach was SWEET. The Red Sea is bright blue and perfectly clear, so if I went out like 50 feet into the water, I could see beautiful coral reefs and fish I’d only seen in aquariums or books I also found a dead blowfish, who I named Hootie, and had a lot of fun chasing the boys with him, since apparently I was more of a 3rd grade boy than they were. There’s nothing like seeing things with your own eyes that you only could imagine as a child, yet it’s right there in front of you, to be experienced and photographed, you could hold it in your hands and avoid the stings of jelly fish and sea urchins. Amazing.

The first full day there we went to Petra, which is an amazing ancient Arab city, full of Greco-Roman architecture but carved into the red rock of this canyon. It’s now one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, so I can add another to my short list of 2. You have to see it to believe it, and if you’ve seen Indiana Jones, the Last Crusade, you HAVE seen it, since that’s where they ride to in order to find the Holy Grail. AJ, Ayesha and I got separated from the larger group, and took a donkey ride up to find the Monastery, which is another feat of architecture (I promised my mountain climbing days were over but I lied, mostly because donkeys are awesome and so surefooted), and sang the theme song all the way up, except when AJ was freaking out. Trust me, I have video. Petra is huge, and it’s hard to imagine what it was like in its prime, at the height of a very unique and sophisticated civilization, but it would have been sweet to see. You MUST go to Petra. Also, check it out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra. Then we saw another gorgeous sunset.
That evening in Aqaba, I saw the WORLD’S TALLEST FLAGPOLE, bearing the Jordanian flag, of course. Also, I spent the best 1 dinar of my life on an INFLATABLE PENGUIN, which has since been dubbed “Bad Bat the Bedouin Benguin,” based on too many inside jokes to explain. He’s going to be my new best friend, photographed in every country I ever visit. Stay tuned. On a side note, Jordan is very interesting in that every establishment, hostel or restaurant or tourist destination, has pictures of the royal family, especially the Prince and his wife posted. They seem to love the prince. It was a reminder that monarchies are alive and well in the 21st century.

The next day we bummed on the beach in the morning, then went to Wadi Rum, a famous desert in Jordan where Lawrence of Arabia once had his stronghold. We saw the amazing scenery that I couldn’t photograph enough because my camera was dying, but I saw another amazing sunset, had a great time with my friends, saw ancient rock carvings and climbed rocks, which my childhood prepared me well for. Amazing.

The next day was Easter Sunday, and since we needed to get into Israel ASAP in case Ayesha was detained again, there wasn’t time to go to Church. Ayesha was only questioned for like 15 minutes this time, so we went to a shopping mall in Elyat Jordan to pass the time till our bus came, and unfortunately shopping in the Holy Land is about as close as I got to being religious, given the circumstances of traveling and national security and all that jazz. Being in Israel is very strange. I couldn’t speak Arabic anywhere near the border for fear of drawing suspicion, and it’s being back in the first world again, with rather nice bathrooms and a ton of infrastructure, and Europeans everywhere. Having spent 2 months in Egypt, I felt very out of place in the first world, and looked forward to being back in Egypt. It’s definitely starting to feel like a second home.

Then we crossed the border, decided not to take the bus and found a Minibus driver who would take us for 40 pounds each. After much delay (and arguing with him) we headed back from Taba to Cairo, and our driver Hassan was going literally 90-100 mph almost the whole way, when converted from kilometers. It was terrifying and crazy and awesome. I was glad to make it home alive, but exhilarated at the same time. "Travel Young" is my new motto, because I’m experiencing this so much differently than I ever will in 10 years or more.

And then we applied lots of cortisone cream and slept, then woke up for 8 AM class. Life goes on. And Life is good.
New Vocabulary word: Alhamdulillah, Praise be to God

Especially this time, you need to totally check my other pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/CrazyDaisyLady/Jordan. It's the next best thing to being there, and obviously, looking it up on Wikipedia. Also, AJ's awesome and I miss her already. Anyone else bored and have a few hundred bucks lying around, COME VISIT, I promise I'll make it worth your while.

In Peace, Laura

Under the Jordanian moon (an entry on the run!)

Since I am once again behind, I thought I would write a quick entry from Jordan itself. I've been in 3 different countries today, which for someone from the United States is incredible, since in North America that would take DAYS. today, it was a matter of hours.

My friend AJ from Notre Dame is here and we're having a great time. She arrived at 11 PM last night, and today, we took a 6 hour bus from Cairo to Taba at 6 AM, crossed into Israel and dealt with border security and silly questions there, took a 20 minute taxi ride across the very bottom tip of Israel along the Red Sea, then crossed into Jordan. We are staying in Aqaba on the Red Sea, home to the world's tallest flagpole (pictures when I make it back to Egypt!!), and today altogether I bought an inflatable penguin (see 2 previous entries), watched the sun set over the red sea, swam a little bit, dealt with 3 different currencies in a matter of hours. the Jordanian dinar is actually worth MORE than the dollar ($1=~.8 dinars), so, still thinking in pounds, I'm spending way more money than I think. Alas, this is life. Also, our hostel is a camp, and our room for the evening consists of a bamboo hut without a door, but at least it won't rain!!!! I'm still young, and traveling on the fly, sleeping in unique conditions, living every day like an adventure, this is being alive. Of course, ask me that in 3 days. . . . Whatever, i could potentially tell any potential children in the very distant future some very interesting stories, as soon as they reach an appropriate age, say 25. And the red sea is 5 minutes away. Here's to the Bedouin Garden village, in all its wonders. Tomorrow we go to Petra (google it!!!!) where the 3rd Indiana Jones was filmed, there will be pictures in abundance soon enough. We leave at like 630 AM and will spend all day there, so I should probably "yalla" along and get ready to crash. Especially as I'm going on like 4 hours of sleep. More when I get back!!!

Salaam,
Laura

I may have photographed the Apocalypse. . .

While waiting for the Sunrise on Mount Sinai, I took this awesome picture that deserves an entry of its own. . . Somehow a flash was going off at the same time and I got this couple in the corner holding each other like the world was going to end. I don't know how it turned out this way, but I like it. A lot. And I hope you do to, for what little time we have left on this earth. Here's to Egypt.

About that time we climbed a mountain in the dark singing Savage Garden

I’m about a week behind on the whole blogging thing, but I’ll just skip ahead to this weekend (the exciting part) and maybe do a rewind later on if I have time. Insha’Allah, if God wills. This weekend was crazy, unbelievable and so much of it can’t quite be summed up into words, English, Arabic or otherwise. Team Penguin, this one’s for you.

My new friends Teresa from Georgetown, Pat from Indiana, Kyle from New Jersey (the school is escaping me, my apologies) and Matt from Georgia Tech and I ventured to Dahab, which is on the Red Sea. The bus ride to get there lasted from 5:30 PM to 3 AM due to all the stops, going through Sharm Al-Sheikh etc. It was a big bus full of Arab men. And us. But we made it, and learned quickly there are no actual taxis in Dahab, only men that drive pickup trucks, and call them taxis. So Kyle and Teresa got to ride in the back of the truck to our hostel, the name of which is actually the Penguin Village.
Yet there are no penguins, and this was disappointing. It was cozy and only 30 L.E. a night, which is less than 6 bucks. Not exactly the 4 Seasons, but it was home. And when we got there, I went to sit in the reception era, heard the sound of waves and realized that we were right on the water. And across the water, we could see lights from SAUDI ARABIA . . . how insane is that? I waved to the Wahhabis and probably incurred surveillance from the US government for it.

Then the next day we went to the beach, and this time we ALL got to ride in the back of the truck. Then the beach. The water is bright blue, perfectly clear, cool but swimmable. We laid on the beach, ate Boers ( you guessed it, the 50 piaster Egyptian equivalent of Oreos), , and mostly enjoyed being in the sun, relaxing, BSing about everything, getting hassled by Bedouin ladies and their children trying to sell us things. The water was really salty so it was easy to float; we could see the Sinai Mountains rimming the water. In short, it was AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, RELAXING, and just PERFECT. I love this country, and every once in a while it is nice to live the expatriate life, just as long as I don’t take it for granted. That night we smoked sheesha and drank wine and listened to the sea, even went wading with some adorable Egyptian children. Life is sweet. That’s all. And Mom, I thought of Oregon with the whole Mountain-Ocean thing. . . Frankly, Egypt is better. No running necessary.

We left the Penguin Village at midnight for the mountain. Our driver raced around short and steep mountain curves in the dark, and out our window we could see the silhouettes of the mountains against the stars. We got to the mountain at 2 or 230, got our belongings stored away with a guy for the ride home, and got ready to climb a mountain.

We were assigned a Bedouin guide, but we manage to, um, somehow lose track of him. I.E. we used the cover of darkness and the abundance of tourists to make our own way. Climbing the mountain I can’t really describe, but I’ll do my best. First of all, Mount Sinai is really really big, and we didn’t even realize how big it was, except that you keep expecting to be at the end shortly, but an hour and a half later, you’re still climbing steadily, still thinking you’ll be done soon, and 30 minutes later you’re still at the last, and most difficult leg of the journey, the “Steps of Repentance”. If we could have seen and understood its enormity, we might have turned back. Ignorance was bliss, leading to periodic frustration. And trust me, I repented. We took the “camel path” up, which meant we spent most of it looking at a camel’s hind end, and Teresa even got somewhat trampled by one. It was dusty, slippery, hard to find footing and physically strenuous, but WE CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN, I’ve been to the mountain top, I have been like Moses and something I’m really proud of and bewildered by. And that my friends and I are still speaking. Altogether, this weekend can be summed up by the quote from which I named my blog. . . everything I’ve done is beyond my imagination.
And it gets so much better. For starters, I saw more stars in Sinai than I had ever seen before. It was like a book of the constellations, only so incredibly real. I could see Scorpio, the Big Dipper, and others. No light pollution, no air pollution, just stars, all around me. You can really feel like you were looking at “the heavens.” While we were climbing, we could see a line of the glow of flashlights stretching out for miles behind us, more pilgrims to Sinai making the ascent. It was a steady stream of people, most often 3 or 4 abreast, plus a camel or two thrown in for good measure. The line of light kept us realizing how far we had come . . . and how far we still had to go.

As for the sunrise over the Sinai Mountains . . . there’s nothing like it in the world. I won’t try to describe it; I will only let you see pictures so that you might, almost understand what it was like to be there. It was quite crowded and hard to find a vantage point, there were people speaking in tongues (someone commented it was like Borat), Africans singing religious songs, and a lot of tourists with cameras at the ready. I had no idea what to expect, but it definitely wasn’ tthat.

Ba’da Kidda—After that, we climbed down, another 2 or 3 hours, which was almost worse, dustier and we slipped a lot, but at least we could see where we were going. We decided against hitting the monastery, St. Catherine’s where supposedly the “Burning Bush” is because we were far too tired. We grabbed food, found our driver and returned to Cairo dirty, smelly, and exhausted but on a high that you can only get from seeing truly unforgettable things.
Then we came back, but that was long, hot and boring, so I’ll stop here and write again as soon as I can. It’s going to be a relaxed weekend, celebrating my 21st birthday, getting work done, since the next weekend for Easter Break my friend AJ from Notre Dame is coming and we are going to Jordan! Because we can, and because it's cool.
I climbed a mountain this weekend. In case you didn't get that.
Sincerely,
Laura

Cubist Cairo: the Puzzles of Egypt

I can say it with pride. I have never regarded painting as an art merely for the purpose of entertainment and amusement. As my pen and my paint do happen to be my weapons, I wanted to use them to penetrate deeper and deeper into a knowledge of the world and of people so that this knowledge might set all of us more and more free each day.
--Pablo Picasso

I am trying to be a little more up-to date with this, and I have a lot to write about, not merely a list of things I’ve done since I last wrote, but some of the things I’m experiencing, reflecting on and trying to interpret as much as possible. I want to tell you all about the pyramids and the Sphinx and my travels, but this also my space to try to make meaning of the barrage of sights and sounds that surround me in Cairo, and share this with you, to “penetrate deeper into the knowledge of the world and of people,” although I’m not sure about setting us free. I don’t really think that’s up to me.

Last Sunday I went with my roommate Sandy to a movie about Islam called The Fog is Lifting. It was a video introduction to Islam, and given that I’ve been studying Islam in one form or another since high school, I knew many of the basics, although there are many different ways to interpret and explain the tradition. The movie was targeted at non-Muslims, and an international audience although, if anything, it seemed to direct itself to Americans, trying to correct common misconceptions about the faith. It was strange to watch an introductory video about Islam to a roomful of faithful Muslims, but it was standing room only by the time we arrived.

Cairo continually challenges my own assumptions that I am not yet aware of, and this was a case in point. I understand intellectually that, as professor Omar from Notre Dame said, there are almost as many Islams as there are Muslims, though all share the same centers of gravity. Yet going in, I did not expect there to be such a lively discussion afterwards. I assumed that, among Muslims, the basics would not inspire that much debate. Yet the foreigners in the audience asked about the usual hot topics, women’s rights, polygamy, jihad, how Islam can be reconciled with “acknowledging faith in Jesus alone,” etc, and the film’s director and former Imam at American University in Washington, provided answers and food for thought. And in response, many Muslim members of the audience offered their own interpretations, explanations and ideas about their faith to the non-believing members of the audience. They also asked their own questions, seeking greater understanding of their faith. It was lively, thought-provoking and one of the continual reminders that I cannot assume consensus or uniformity when there is none. Cairo has far too much to teach me, but if I let my implicit assumptions go unchallenged, I will return home with only a caricature of what the city really is. Its people, its faiths, its politics are dynamic and too complicated to comprehend, but I must continue to struggle with it.

There was more fuel for thought at the movie screening. As I said, when we got there, it was standing room only, but while we were standing, I saw people who were already seated ahead of us suddenly stand up. Sandy and a couple of the ushers told me that they were clearing seats for foreigners, and I was welcome to take a seat. I decided I would rather stand. I was tired, I wanted to sit. But I didn’t, because I would rather stand by my roommate than sit among strangers; there were many there who deserved to sit much more than I. And it was my act of rebellion against the special treatment of foreigners in Cairo. Don’t call me Rosa Parks; I wouldn’t even call this solidarity. I just have a strange relationship with all this special treatment. In Cairo, English is the language of money. Foreigners get taxis and tables at restaurants, get into clubs and behave much differently than the locals can simply because they are foreigners. It’s not right, and it’s not fair, but it’s how it works. I can’t avoid the advantages all the time, but I found it important to make a stand. I can’t quite reconcile in my mind how I feel about being an American in Cairo. We do a lot of good. For example, half of AUC’s equipment has the USAID sticker on it and most of the buildings have plaques declaring themselves “A Gift from the American People.” But what are the costs of this much American influence? I am grateful for what my country does to Egypt and for my opportunities. But because of us, in some contexts, Egyptians are second class citizens of their own country. It’s about as much of a puzzle as a Picasso painting.

And more food for thought. The other day I tried to get some reading done on the top floor of the library. There’s a nice sitting area in the open, on the roof. I looked down and saw something I couldn’t have expected. There’s an empty lot across the street from campus surrounded by high walls; I often pass it by when going off in pursuit of lunch. But from high up, I saw that the lot isn’t at all empty. There are 3 or 4 shacks there, made out of whatever materials were available. I observed laundry hung out to dry, and then a mother and two little boys, maybe 3 and 5 years old playing in the stony, empty ground. Who are they? Why are they allowed to remain? Have I witnessed the world’s most sparsely populated slum? I really don’t know, but I can’t get over the presence of these makeshift houses, hidden from view yet so close to downtown Cairo, with its banks, universities. Yet they have not been forced out even though they occupy prime property, and this is a blessing to them; the US can be all too willing to relocate the poor for convenience or progress, as I saw clearly in Chicago. Since I cannot really provide much knowledge or insight here, I will use my camera as my weapon to penetrate into the knowledge of the world, or at least crack it a bit. Thank you for listening, I hope this makes at least a little sense to you.

In constant pursuit of understanding,
Laura