WhereSheGoes

Getting Bugged - Luxor, Egypt

My last day in Egypt was spent at the Karnak Temple admiring the sheer size and detail of it all. The area this complex covers is massive and it took me half the day just to get my head around it.

The Hypostyle Hall is architecturally amazing and I just sat there for an hour staring up at monster columns trying to interpret the scenes displayed. I wandered around the site climbing over rocks and exploring the hundreds of random rooms. I tried to imagine how magnificent the place would have been back in its day, full splendor. I gazed up at the markings and was completely overwhelmed at how much information is contained within these walls. Continue Reading…

Leisurely Luxor - Luxor, Egypt

I visited the Egyptian Museum which seems to be the other major thing to do in Cairo but then I remembered that I am not too much of a museum kinda girl. So I did the basics which included seeing mummies, shrines, ancient jewellery, tombs and lots of rocks. I ended up sitting and writing for sometime.

As I was meandering through, I saw a beautiful woman cleaning the display cases. I couldn`t take my eyes off her. She had the most amazing eyes and I was transfixed. Then the weirdest thing happened. She walked over to me and a little shy told me in broken English that she thought I was beautiful. Continue Reading…

Pyramids - Giza, Egypt

After a really emotional sendoff from my students (who saw me crying in the van and started singing me all the songs we had sung together over the last few months, including the alphabet), I boarded my plane.

I had a really nice chat with a Sudanese girl sitting beside me who reassured me that Sudan is not so dangerous as everyone thinks. Infact, she said its really quite the opposite which makes it pretty boring for a young person to grow up in. Then I met Christine who works in Cairo at the American embassy. She invited me to come visit her family and turns out they were celebrating Thanksgiving! So I got to enjoy a traditional dinner (They even let me carve the turkey!) complete with the bird (Gilbert, her husband is African and kept calling it the “animal”), stuffing and pumpkin pie. Continue Reading…

I`ll be back - Cairo, Egypt

I am not sure when I started feeling bad but as I got progressively worse throughout the morning. The sun was beating down and it was hot and dusty. I chatted with two new friends, one Israeli and one Egyptian, on either side of me about how it was to grow up in this part of the world.

After the climb back down (I opted for the Camel Trail for a change), we visited the monastery where you could look at the burning bush. Lots of people were grabbing at a branch and getting their picture taken. I was surprised at how huge this bush was but then I guess its had quite a long time to grow. Continue Reading…

Scaling Mount Sinai - Sinai, Egypt

After our charming dinner, I headed off to make some last minute travel inquiries before we had to shove off at 11pm. Kelly and I armed with our frozen (doesn`t stay frozen long even at night) water and hiking shoes, jumped into the van for the two hour drive to Mt Sinai. I tried to sleep but my head kept bouncing off Kelly`s shoulder and hitting the window as the kamikaze driver barreled around the tight turns.
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Looking over the sea at Saudi Arabia - Dahab, Egypt

I was having great fun hanging around just soaking up the thick loungyness of Sinai. Even tho everyone was going snorkeling and diving I really didn`t feel the need. The conditions weren`t optimal and I am pretty sure I will be back. This was just a quick stop on the way to Cairo but I could see how some can get stuck here for weeks or months.
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Doin Diddlysquat in Dahab - Dahab, Egypt

After about an hour of nothing but desolate desert terrain dotted with the occasional seaside development, we pulled into Dahab. My first taste of Egypt was very stereotypical with landscapes of neverending sand and dust with the heat rippling up distorting the lines into something from a sci-fi movie. And it wasn’t even 9am yet.
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Bus ride banter - Eilat, Israel

The bus left at 1230am and I found myself seated next to a Israeli soldier who was tucking his gun into the handle of the seat in front of him. We chatted for awhile and I discovered he was from a town called Carmel. Haha. I asked him if he knew why the bus driver and some of the surrounding passengers had laughed at me when I said my name was Carmella. He told me this may be because my name is an Iraqi name.
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History and Hope - Jerusalem, Israel

Sitting on the bus to the Tel Aviv central bus station while I watched the lively streets being to pick up momentum gearing up for a busy Thursday. Tomorrow is Jewish New Years Eve. I arrived at the station and after a cheerful talk with the security guard that checked my pack I made my way to my platform. I tried not to ingest the secondhand smoke that was hanging about as I just people watched to pass the hour before I had to board.
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Just breathe, man - Haifa, Israel

Ok I really can`t write much at the moment. This mosquito is going to get it bad when I can catch him…grrrr….anyway, I just wanted to check in quick. Everyone is insanely worried about me being in Israel but relax, calm down, no worries, chill. It`s ok. Things are fine and I am not being kidnapped, bombed, tortured or threatened in any way. It`s very normal here save for all the uniform wearing, rifle toting, sunglasses wearing (and not bad looking, I might add) soldiers everywhere. You wouldn’t even know you were in a “politically sensitive” country. Continue Reading…