I love Egypt!

I went to AFRICA! Well kind of. Egypt is such a magical place!

We started the trek to Egypt on a big bus and I loved every minute of it! The drivers in the middle East are a little wild though. They all joke that they grease their cars in the morning to slide through traffic. Im not sure if there is such thing as traffic laws here. At one point our driver was in the left hand lane trying to pass a semi to our right, and ofcourse right then another car was headed straight for us. Instead of slowing down our driver just kept going staight towards the car until the car comming at us pulled off to the side of the road onto the sand.

The bus ride was very entertaining. I sat in the back of the bus and felt like a little kid playing road trip games for hours with my friends.

When we first started to be out in the middle of no where the desolate desert I felt so vunerable not being able to see any civilization for miles. But the more we drove the more I began to see the beauty of the desert.

Our first night we went to the famous pyramids of Giza. They kind of intimidated me at first. It was all dark and the pyramids were lit up by lazers and a spot light showed the Spynx narrating in a really low voice, "Man fears time, but time fears the Pyramids". It was a little frightening but in the morning the pyramids appeared much more friendly.

Every morning they give out only 200 tickets on a first come first serve basis to get into the pyramids. Luckily most everyone was able to get a ticket. When you go into the pyramid you duck and walk through this tunnel thing for about 70 feet and then it opens up and you come to this black square chamber that feels like a sauna. Alot of people broke out in song and some people were even laying in the Sarcophagus. One of my friends was running around saying "someone kiss me!" People go wild in there maybe it was the heat. But they say the pyramids have been a tourist attraction since Abrahams time so they are something to be excited about.

Our tourguide Ahmed was the one of the nicest men I have ever met. To be a tour guide you have to study for 4 years at a University and know every monument, statue, and all of Egyptian history past to present. When we got back into Jerusalem I kept finding myself looking for him. Life is so simple when you have a guide.

When we entered Egypt we got these really nice armed guards traveling with us that made me feel so safe. They wore these really nice business suits with gel in their hair and had these machine guns strapped on underneath, which is kind of scary but they were very nice men.

This is in Memphis the ancient capital of lower Egypt (from around 2200 BC )

The Egyptians have so many wonderful works of art and acheivenements like the pyramids and hieroglyphics but the most impressive part of all was the kindness of the people. Everyone asked me if I was Egyptian. I wish kind of I was, they are so warm and welcoming.

We toured around and went to lots of the Egyptian temples. This one was at Queen Hatshepsuts temple. She was one of the first poweful woman who wore a fake beard and pretended to be a man.

This is the Goddess of Music and Dancing at Queen Hatshepsuts temple.

We rode in this little boat a Feluca, across the water and when we got to the other side of the Nile it was pure Africa. Fields of crops, animals grazing, and families out for strolls.

Our Feluca Captain was Captain Cat, he let me drive for half of the way, or steer. The Felucca is just powered by the wind, I loved it. Captain Cat seemed like such a peaceful man and he doesnt even have to wear shoes with his job. I feel such a kinship with Egypt. Being by the water kind of made me miss Hawaii a little bit. Egypt is incredible in that it is so dry but then immediately you get by the water and its lush and green and life is springs up from everywhere.
I love Luxor so much. It has a really great feeling about it. The people are so kind. They always ask you if you "have a wife" I think they mean if you are married. We rode these cute carriages everywhere. This is Mustafa our driver, he was kind to let me take the reins. The men wear these beautiful man gowns called Galabias I bought a few myself.

This trip we managed to travel on every form of transportation, on foot, on bus, airplane, train, camel, feluca, and carriage. I loved it!

I saw so many beautiful children on this trip. I saw whole families saddled upon donkeys and people working in their fields, harvesting wheat, just so much beauty all around me. It was incredible. People dont seem to have much but they seem happy. We got to take camel rides through their village just as the sun was just beginning to set.

My camel drivers name was Alex and it took a little while for me to gain his trust. The first few minutes into the ride he told me to take the reigns of the camel and walk alone for a little bit. When he came back I asked where he went and he said he needed to get a drink. I offered him my water but he said "No, I only drink beer."

I guess there is no drinking age in Egypt. After this I was a little nervous about him, so I started being a bit of a chatterbox. He told me I was the most talkative rider hes ever had. He was 17 years old and wanted to be a tour guide when he grew up. He sang me some arabic songs and I sang some Whitney Houston by the end of the ride I loved Alex!

We shopped in Egypt at a Bizarre and it was truly Bizarre! For some reason Im always a prime sales target in malls in the US as well as the Middle East markets. At one point these great salesman had me convinced I looked awesome in this outfit. Though I look like the palm reader Miss Cleo, this outfit made its way home in my luggage.

This is the symbol stands for the Nile River, the lifeline for all of Egypt.

Not being able to drink the water in Egypt made me realize how greatful I was for water so readily available from the tap.

The Muslim people are so wonderful. I feel I knew nothing about them before comming here. The more I learn about Islam the more I feel we are more alike than different.

Two beautiful things I learned on this trip: One of the Pilars of Islam is Zakat or giving of Alms and they belive that whatever they give in alms will be given back to them ten fold. So true!

Another thing I noticed was that alot of the men have these bruises on their foreheads. I asked the Feluca driver Captain Cat about it and he said its from praying several times a day. Touching their heads all the way to the ground over and over creates the bruise. What a beautiful thing to be so commited!

I found myself fascinated with the Bedouin people. They just live in the desert and are sometimes nomadic. I saw their houses all over the place driving through. Theses kids didnt speak any English like the kids in the city but you can tell they take really good care of eachother.



This little boy is Abrahim he was very sweet!

Our last day in Egypt we got up at 2:00 am to hiked Mt Sinai where Moses talked with God and came down the mountain with the Ten commandments. We started and it was pitch black but the feeling on the mountain was so alive. There were camels everywhere and Ive never seen stars so bright. It reminded me of what it must have looked like when Christ was born in Bethlehem. I tried to pretened I was one of the people going to visit him. It was kind of cool not being able to see what was up ahead, it made things less tiresome in a way.

Just as we came up to the top of the Mountain the sun came up with us. It was beautiful! The best part was the incredible amount of love I felt at the top. People came from all walks of faith and traveled from different lands to walk where Moses walked.

The night before the hike we stayed by a Bedouin village and I loved having dinner at this place! There were people from all over the world, it gave me an incredible feeling. There was a tour group from Kenya in the dinning room that I felt especially drawn to. One lady in particular was so kind, her name was Grace from Nairobi. We exchanged addresses and she invited me to stay with her in Kenya. She belonged to the Anglican church but I told her that I loved Jesus too and it seemed to turn on a switch in her that made her very happy.

I didnt expect to see her again so soon but when I got to the top of the mountain the next day there was Grace praising Jesus, and dancing with all her friends on the mountain!

When Grace saw me it was as if she had known me for much longer than one day. This Kenyan gentleman with the countenance of Santa Clause embraced me with the biggest smile and hug and said, "MY SISTA!" I love the people of Kenya. Their joy was contageous as they danced and sang African songs. Dancing with them filled me with a greater desire to love freely and instantly all my brothers and sisters like they do.

After Egypt I have so much more respect for Abraham and Sarah's family who wandered through the wilderness. It takes alot of faith to leave a beautiful place like Egpyt and walk into the unknown. I too was sad to leave, but I hope to return someday!

Hello holy land!

All through the night my first night here, I kept tip toeing to the window to make sure it wasnt a dream. I couldnt wait for the sun to rise and also I was very jet lagged and couldnt sleep past 3:30 for the first few days. When we first got here all the elderly couples were saying, "Welcome home!" I feel so blessed to have this be my home for the next little while. Walking through the Old city for the first time was so wild. Everyones rushing around and at the same time my head felt flooded with all this new information about culture and customs, for the first little while it was hard to grasp I was here. President Brown who is the President of our school here, said that its like, "trying to drink water from a fire hose". It all comes so fast but at the same time it all tastes wonderful! I thought these little girls were so cute talking to eachother through the window.

This is Esau we met him and his friends at the Orison Hyde Garden. They were so sweet and gave me a tree branch. The kids here are all so darling, I feel so silly I cant communicate that well, but I kind of want to be a teacher again!

I love my roommate Kathleen so much. She is such an angel. We have so much fun together. Tonight at dinner she told me about the power of positivity and how some people just don’t give up, they just keep trying and they don’t make excuses for themselves, but perhaps make excuses for circumstances.

She told me about this study done to rats. They train the rats to press a button that dispenses food. Then after awhile they only let the food come out after pressing for a few times. The positive rat presses the button every day, just says, "I will continue pressing this, it must have a short circuit somewhere0," but the pessimistic rat would says, "there is something wrong with me, food will never come" and they give up.


We have this Pomegranate tree on our Balcony and my roomate Kathleen and I are always binging on them as a late night snack. Somehow the ripest ones are always just out of our reach so we have to climb. Tonight there was such a pleasant surprise. I mounted the tree and as soon as I did fireworks started happening and I had a birds eye view of it all. It was awesome! After class last week I went out with a few kids to visit the Dome of the Rock. The Dome is one of the most magnificent buildings Ive ever seen. To get there you have to go through 3 security checks. This girl Kate who seems to know everything said that there has been lots of assasinations there before. We went in and it was just like a dimond in the rough, like just so much white limestone and then BOOM you turn the corner and see a ruby!

Women go in the dome of the rock to pray and then men pray in a seperate area in another mosque. You can only go in if you are muslim though. Its so interesteing that the Jews and the Muslims worship so close to eachother and yet they are so different, the jews cannot enter the Temple Mount and the Muslims dont pray to the Western Wall.

I met a Rabbi on the way to the Temple Mount who was 106 years old. I dont know why but I gave him money. I guess because he was so old, and I have never met anyone so old. But he kept saying "give me money" which was kind of weird.

I did it and then kind of regreted it. I know they say you will never regret any good things you do, but there is always tons of women with babies begging for money on the street and I am always very tempted to give them something, so this was the first time I gave someone something here and I kind of wish it would have been to one of women. I was thinking about him later and that he was wearing fancy clothes so maybe someone else could have done something else with it. Oh well, I just hope he uses it for good. It was kind of strange he blessed everyone that had blonde hair in my group and then passed over me. A boy in my group Nathan said it was because I am brunett.

One of my favorite things we have done so far is go to the Garden Tomb. People come from all around to walk around the grounds where they think our savior Jesus christ was risen.


The most peaceful feeling came over me when we were singing hymns in the garden. I know that Jesus is the Christ and I am so humbled to know that he died for me. I felt his spirit there very strongly, but it was surprising that it wasnt this huge feeling that happened when stepping into the tomb. As I was sitting there waiting for other people to go into the tomb a yellow leaf floated delicately down onto my hand. After I got up and went into the tomb I sat down with my class who was now singing. But this time just like the graceful leaf, a spirit of peace fluttered down and rested gently with us.

We walked around the garden and at the end you can look out and see what scholars think is Calvary, where Christ was crusified. They say it was just above "skull hill" which looks just like a face in the side of a mountain.

Also on our way out we saw these Figian people singing How Great Thou Art. It reminded me of Hawaii and even though we couldnt understand I know love knows no language or bounds. I was a first hand witness of this today. People all around want the same two things to love and to be loved.

I remember hearing that all men need something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. I know this is true.