Hey everyone-
It is about 9pm here and in just 6 short hours (yes, that's 3am) we're boarding our bus to go to the airport to fly down to Luxor.
The Last couple of days we have spent visiting sites around Cairo. We went to Memphis to see the step pyramid which was really cool. That was the first place I've been in Egypt where it really looks like those barren desert vistas that you see in movies. We also went to see the tombs of the nobles in Sakkara. Inside the tombs the relief and painting was so intact that it looked like a movie set. The tour guide explained a lot of the scenes to us and I think I really learned a lot.
We also went to the Coptic section of Cairo the other day. We visited several churches that had icons and paintings just like you see slides of in art history class. We also visited the oldest Jewish temple left in the country. There used to be a large Jewish population in egypt, but now there are said to be less than 100 people left.
Yesterday, we were given a tour of the Islamic section of Cairo by some people from the American Research Center in Egypt. They are the organization that figures out how to spend most of the funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development. They are currently running about 10 restoration and conservation projects all over Egypt.
I'm off to get ready for Luxor; I'll write more when I get back.
-Colin
