As you may or may not have known, I left Morocco in January for the first time since September 2009 to visit my friend in Egypt and travel all around the country. Or so I thought. Great timing, if you enjoy being in the midst of protests and a government upheaval. Now that I'm back in B-town, I'm amazed how spectacular, emotional, and intense my travel experiences seemed at the time. This blog entry and my +500 photos on Snapfish can't do justice to the amazing things I saw and experienced in Egypt and Istanbul (yeah, the Istanbul trip was a surprise to me too). Now, warm welcomes, overdue reports, and mandatory visits/guests are making me trivialize everything I felt from the moment I checked in at Casablanca airport. Regardless, I owe everyone who cared about me during this time some form of news...so please read on.
I felt a lot of ups and downs during the three weeks. I cried at the Casablanca airport when I bumped into Mauritanians heading to Nouakchott and tried to talk to them in Hassaniya. What started as a friendly conversation turned into let's-get-away-from-the-unstable-girl-who-started-bawling-as-conversation-went-on. Transportation problems and scams plagued my whole trip. My canceled flights to and from Cairo, paying bribes to taxi/train workers and tour guides, and fending off offers for camel/horse/feluca rides were more than annoying at the time. One night in Suez, I teared up thinking that this would be the end of me, even if I gave away my gold ring and finger it was on. Everyone in town was riled up and furious with the American-backed president, high food prices, and gang street violence. Yet, I made it out safely (post-bribing drivers, post-many roadblocks, and post-sleeping next to a tank) and got to spend time with an old PC friend and see some pretty amazing sites before the protests and curfew started. Thankfully, even while waiting at the airport for my evacuation flight (God bless being an American), we were able to joke around and have fun. Now that Mubarak stepped down, I wonder if the country will regain stability and I'll be able to return this year. I definitely want to.
In less than a week, I saw the remains of pyramids and temples over 4000 years old, toured parts of Islamic Cairo and Khan, walked over ancient sites in Luxor, feluca-ed in Aswan, joined a tour group to Abu Simbel, ate my heart out in Hurghada, almost spent a night on the streets of Suez, experienced house arrest/forced chill-out time in Zagazig, and perhaps walked a thousand miles (slight exaggeration). Seeing my first mummy made my heart race, hieroglyphics in color made my heart skip a beat, and trying to climb the mountain at the Valley of the Kings literally took my breath away. I had to sit and wait for my friends to scale to the top and come back. I hated my once-athletic body for being out of shape, I hated being branded as a rich/privileged foreigner, I hated that my Darija and vagina made me nonsensical, and I hated recognizing that these things were true in Egypt. Not to sound like a self-centered, corny downer, I want these realizations to force me to change things I don't like about myself and, at the same time, just enjoy whatever path life throws me.
On a submarine ride in the Red Sea, I unexpectedly saw a sunken seahorse across the aisle. In hindsight, I liken noticing that site to this trip to Egypt and my stopover in Istanbul. Most things didn't turn out as I expected, but I enjoyed myself tremendously and expanded my mind. Yah, I glossed over the trip details....If you're interested in hearing more, we can go over my photos and stories in person in AMERICA this winter. Just treat this poor volunteer to a pizza and red wine first :)
As you may or may not have known, I left Morocco in January for the first time since September 2009 to visit my friend in Egypt and travel all around the country. Or so I thought. Great timing, if you enjoy being in the midst of protests and a government upheaval. Now that I'm back in B-town, I'm amazed how spectacular, emotional, and intense my travel experiences seemed at the time. This blog entry and my +500 photos on Snapfish can't do justice to the amazing things I saw and experienced in Egypt and Istanbul (yeah, the Istanbul trip was a surprise to me too). Now, warm welcomes, overdue reports, and mandatory visits/guests are making me trivialize everything I felt from the moment I checked in at Casablanca airport. Regardless, I owe everyone who cared about me during this time some form of news...so please read on.
I felt a lot of ups and downs during the three weeks. I cried at the Casablanca airport when I bumped into Mauritanians heading to Nouakchott and tried to talk to them in Hassaniya. What started as a friendly conversation turned into let's-get-away-from-the-unstable-girl-who-started-bawling-as-conversation-went-on. Transportation problems and scams plagued my whole trip. My canceled flights to and from Cairo, paying bribes to taxi/train workers and tour guides, and fending off offers for camel/horse/feluca rides were more than annoying at the time. One night in Suez, I teared up thinking that this would be the end of me, even if I gave away my gold ring and finger it was on. Everyone in town was riled up and furious with the American-backed president, high food prices, and gang street violence. Yet, I made it out safely (post-bribing drivers, post-many roadblocks, and post-sleeping next to a tank) and got to spend time with an old PC friend and see some pretty amazing sites before the protests and curfew started. Thankfully, even while waiting at the airport for my evacuation flight (God bless being an American), we were able to joke around and have fun. Now that Mubarak stepped down, I wonder if the country will regain stability and I'll be able to return this year. I definitely want to.
In less than a week, I saw the remains of pyramids and temples over 4000 years old, toured parts of Islamic Cairo and Khan, walked over ancient sites in Luxor, feluca-ed in Aswan, joined a tour group to Abu Simbel, ate my heart out in Hurghada, almost spent a night on the streets of Suez, experienced house arrest/forced chill-out time in Zagazig, and perhaps walked a thousand miles (slight exaggeration). Seeing my first mummy made my heart race, hieroglyphics in color made my heart skip a beat, and trying to climb the mountain at the Valley of the Kings literally took my breath away. I had to sit and wait for my friends to scale to the top and come back. I hated my once-athletic body for being out of shape, I hated being branded as a rich/privileged foreigner, I hated that my Darija and vagina made me nonsensical, and I hated recognizing that these things were true in Egypt. Not to sound like a self-centered, corny downer, I want these realizations to force me to change things I don't like about myself and, at the same time, just enjoy whatever path life throws me.
On a submarine ride in the Red Sea, I unexpectedly saw a sunken seahorse across the aisle. In hindsight, I liken noticing that site to this trip to Egypt and my stopover in Istanbul. Most things didn't turn out as I expected, but I enjoyed myself tremendously and expanded my mind. Yah, I glossed over the trip details....If you're interested in hearing more, we can go over my photos and stories in person in AMERICA this winter. Just treat this poor volunteer to a pizza and red wine first :)
to my wonderful and talented and adventurous musume - happy valentines day, sweetie! much love and hugs!
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