Egypt

What can I say?  As a young girl in Elementary school, I remember doing a project on the pyramids of Egypt.  Egypt seemed so mystical and far away.  Never, in my wildest dreams did I ever think that some day I would actually go to Egypt and not only touch the pyramids, but walk inside one of them.  We have all seen pictures of Egypt, the pyramids, and the Sphinx, but those pictures do not do any of them justice!  I think I walked around most of the time with my jaw dragging on the ground.  It is just so unreal.  

The trip down the Nile was incredibly relaxing.  The waters of the Nile flow so gently and there is always something to see on shore.  We stopped at 3 different temples on the way from Luxor to Aswan, but I am sure there were several other places we could have stopped.  I would definitely go back to Egypt and yes, Egypt still has a certain mystical quality that I tried to drink up as much as I could.

I will only include some of the 814 pictures of my trip and label those that I think require an explanation. 

     

First night in Cairo.  I am standing on the balcony that overlooks the Nile.  The two pictures below are taken the next morning from our balcony.  I was pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. 

 

 

 

I was not allowed to take my camera inside the pyramid, but when I came back out, one of the guards was willing to take this picture of me.  What you can't see is how sweaty I was from being inside the pyramid.

KW was my travelling companion.  Here she is checking out one of the camels.  I think that the camel is enjoying the scratch.

Just to give you an idea of just how big the pyramids are.  This is just a tiny part of one side of the pyramid and it dwarfs the people.

 

 

From atop my camel.

 

Shawki, our taxi driver.  He was such a gentle man and we were so lucky to have him to take us around.  I never once felt uncomfortable in my surroundings.  Having Shawki to show us around and accompany us during our time in Cairo was truly a blessing.


I just couldn't resist taking these next few pictures.  I must admit that I have never seen this much garlic all in one place.  If we had wanted, I am sure we could have driven by all these vendors and bought supper on the way back from the pyramids to the hotel.  I said could have not that we did.  

Fish any one?

Motorcycles are a way of life in many of the places that I have travelled this year.  This picture is truly one of my favourites.  In Cairo, we regularly saw 3 people on one bike.  These guys are a fine example of what we saw.  I will leave it at that.

This is the front of  "The Egyptian Museum is situated at Tahrir square in Cairo. It was built during the reign of Khedive Abbass Helmi II in 1897, and opened on November 15, 1902. It has 107 halls. At the ground floor there are the huge statues.  (And they do mean HUGE).  The upper floor houses small statues, jewels, Tutankhamon treasures and the mummies.

The Egyptian museum comprises many sections arranged in chronological order

• The first section houses Tutankhamon's treasures.
  

• The second section houses the pre-dynasty and the Old Kingdom monuments.
  

• The third section houses the first intermediate period and the Middle Kingdom monuments.
  

• The forth section houses the monuments of the Modern Kingdom.
  

• The fifth section houses the monuments of the late period and the Greek and Roman periods.
  

• The sixth section houses coins and papyrus.
  

• The seventh section houses sarcophagi and scrabs.
  

A hall for the royal mummies was opened at the museum, housing eleven kings and queens. More than a million and half tourists visit the museum annually, in addition to half a million Egyptians."
http://www.touregypt.net/egyptmuseum/egyptian_museum.htm

This is one of the sphinx's that are sitting in front of the Egyptian Museum.  No one is allowed to take a camera into the museum, so I don't have any pictures from inside.  All I can say is that the museum is stuffed with artifacts and of course Tutankhamon's display was mind boggling.  I would go back to the museum just to see that part again and then to try to look at some of the other rooms that I didn't even make it into.  I realize that I have not really been to a big, well known museum before, but I have to say, I was overwhelmed with the sheer number of artifacts that are housed here.

International Day at AIS Kuwait

Each year at our school we have an International Day.  This year's was on March 15th.  The purpose of the day is to showcase the various countries and cultures that are represented at AIS.  It was incredible to see the costumes, taste the food and watch the various dances and demonstrations.  I was able to help out the Canadian booth by sharing my Canadian toque and T-shirt. I will definitely be looking at bringing more Canadian things back with me this summer.  

The picture below shows the tennis courtyard which is in the center of the Middle/High School area.  Following that picture are individual pictures of some of the booths as they are setting up.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the diwaniya that was set up in the auditorium.  The two dancers are students at the school dressed in the traditional Dishdasha. It was fascinating to listen to the music and also to watch the men/boys dance.

The Elementary school paraded through the Middle school area so that everyone could see them in their traditional dress and/or clothes in their country's' colours.  I would like to show more of the students, but I do not want to intrude on the students' privacy.  I have to say though, that the little kids were so sweet all dressed up.  Makes me want to teach Elementary at times.  (That feeling soon passes though when I think of the runny noses and teaching ALL the subjects.  I will stick to High School, thank you kindly.)

 

Okay.  You have heard of the term whirling dervish - well I have actually seen one.  I wished that I had a video camera this day.  I have lots of pictures, but they don't capture the full experience of seeing a whirling dervish.  In doing some research on this custom I found out the following.  It is more correctly called  Sufi whirling (or Sufi spinning).  It is a form of Sama or physically active meditation.  I was mesmerized, as were most of the people who watched the whirling dervish.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

A group of boys doing a traditional Kuwaiti dance.

A small selection of the food that was available to try out. 

My small contribution to International Day.  Teachers at AIS were to send me pictures of where they had traveled.   Only 3 teachers sent me pictures.  You may notice that there seems to be several of me on the board and you would be correct.  I had to fill the empty spaces up some way.   

Arab Fund Building - Outside Kuwait City in Shuwaik

On March 3, MW took us to the Arab Organizations Headquarters Building.  It is considered to be one of the most acclaimed buildings in the Middle East.  I certainly can't remember all the names of the various rooms that we were taken to.  What I do remember is the incredibly beautiful craftsmanship.  I am including a link if you are interested in taking a virtual tour of the building.  This building has to be one of the most beautiful buildings that I have seen to date.  I would definitely go again given the chance.  At the start of the webpage it states:

 

From the cool tranquillity of the Moroccan water wall to the intricate woodwork of the majestic Egyptian Mashrabiya, the building represents a celebration of traditional Arabic artisan skills.

http://www.arabfund.org/aohq/tour.htm

The pictures that I am including here I will label if I know what they are.  Otherwise please just enjoy the beauty of the building.

Front Doors of the building.  The pieces are fit together without the benefit of metal nails.

One of the centers of the door panels.

The Moroccan waterfall in the entrance of the building.  The tile work is just incredible.

 

Art work in main foyer

Above and Below:  Spiral staircase and chandler in Library. 

The next pictures, the one above and the two below, are taken in the Tunisian Room.The picture above is a carving in the wall.  The picture below is the same design, carved in wood, that is used as a window covering. 

The Atrium

The Prayer Room

A glass table that was in one of the meeting rooms.  I couldn't get over the designs that were on the bottom of the table, and the table legs.  It was a unique piece of art work in a building full of unbelievable examples of art.

One of many butterflies on the table legs.

 

These next few pictures are from the Al Sabah collection.  The Al Sabah's are the Royal Family.  Some of these pieces are the original items, but I believe that some of them are replicas of the originals since the originals were damaged and/or destroyed when Kuwait was invaded by Iraq.  

 

 

In one of the rooms the door had beveled crystal inserts.  I was playing around and took these shots through the crystals.  I think they made for an interesting end to the tour.