Salaam aleichem

Well, we've returned from Egypt! I managed to pick up a few phrases (salaam aleichem among them) and only drop Hebrew once (nothing like a little "todah" to thank the passport agent for stamping my passport to let me into the country. Oops)

Ethan's parents treated us to an incredible vacation. Over the course of our week away, we spent three nights in Cairo, one in Luxor, and three on a cruise from Luxor to Aswan. Cairo is the craziest city I've ever been to. The driving is really as described--horrendous! There are no traffic lanes, hardly any stop lights (the few we saw seemed "optional" at best), and no crosswalks. The one pedestrian crossing signal we saw literally had the green "walkman" running. It was hysterical. People cross the street in front of traffic. We successfully did so twice and each time felt very accomplished. The first time we crossed the street, I took Ethan's hand without resisting and he valiantly led us. However, the second time, I took the lead and you wouldn't believe the resistance I got as I dragged him in front of traffic. Unbelievable. I recommend camp-style trust games move to the Cairo streets if you really want to test your partner's trust. Beyond the traffic, Cairo is really fascinating. We visited the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, the Khan el-Khalili market, Sakkara with step pyramid, Giza with the pyramids and sphynix (including a climb inside the Great Pyramid), Memphis, and the Cairo Museum (cataloged like the old Natural History Museum with typewriter written notes and handwritten ones on index cards and post-in notes. Also with King Tut's tomb exhibit!)

In Luxor, we visited the Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple and took a day trip to Dendara to see the Temple of Hathor and to Abydos to see the Temple of Seti. We also visited the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Deir al-Bahri (Funeray Temple of Hatshepsut), and Colossi of Memnon. Heading south (though technically north on the Nile--it flows from north to south so Aswan and Luxor are part of Upper Egypt and Cairo and Alexandria are part of Lower Egypt), we came to a floating market on the Nile! Suddenly, we heard screaming from below and when we peered over the railing to see what all the commotion was, we encountered numerous rowboats with men selling all sorts of goods. They started throwing things--shirts, dresses, and linens up to the top deck where we could take a look to see if we liked anything and bargain with them for an item. Out of nowhere, a tablecloth and napkins set got thrown up to us. After some serious bargaining, we became proud owners of a white and blue duck and lotus blossom tablecloth. Pretty cool. Soon after, we went through the Esna lock, my first lock, and onto Edfu where we docked overnight before visiting the Temple of Horus. Sailing further up the Nile, we visited Kom Ombo and then Aswan. We had such an incredible vacation but it has been really nice to come back to Israel.

Finally, I have a new favorite Egyptian goddess. Her name is Nut (pronounced "newt") and she is the goddess of the sky. The story goes that the sun passes along her body during the day until she swallows it (signifying the start to the evening). The moon passes the other away along her body until it is sunny again (ie morning). We saw an amazing drawing of this legend in the Temple of Hathor.

Oh, and one final, final note...I'm currently accepting bids higher than 5,000,000 camels as my brideprice since that's what was offered for me at the Step Pyramid.

Photos to come!