Moo Milkshakes and Camel Toes

Camels have huge feet. You see, we would know because today we rode on camels through the Egyptian desert near the pyramids and sphinx at Giza . So there. My camel was named Mickey Mouse and Sanjay rode on Michael Jackson. Our cute little guide was Kushi . . . he was 13 and no longer in school. Michael Jackson was evil and tried to bite Mickey.

Fortunately, Michael was neither as evil nor as lucky as the little Egyptian man who copped a feel when he forcibly grabbed me to take a photo with him and his camel while we were visiting the earlier pyramids at Memphis and Saqqara . I was manhandled but learned an important lesson about totally ignoring the harassment of strangers. My friend Diane would be proud.

The pyramids were incredible, immense and incredibly intact with beautifully, minutely detailed carvings on the interiors that you simply cannot imagine. I am not certain how they could have built such things. Their magnitude is unbelievable, as is their proximity to the city. These structures stand mere feet from the local KFC and Pizza Hut, somewhat disappointingly. Visitors have also taken the liberty to adorn these treasures with litter and graffiti.

As impressive as the pyramids have been so far, the food at the restaurant where we ate today was perhaps even more so. It was called FelFella, and they had the best baba ghanoush, Egyptian falafel (made with fava beans instead of chick peas), tahini and pita bread I have ever tasted. Sanjay also had this totally yummy juice from the hibiscus flower. I would tell you everywhere else we stopped, but it would give away some of your gifts, so I will refrain and keep that for a surprise. We did hit a local mall last night to get Sanjay some clothes, which was an interesting experience. Everyone thinks he is Egyptian and speaks to him in Arabic, which is both confusing and helpful when negotiating taxi fares and other prices.

The Four Seasons Hotel at Nile Plaza is insane. Our room is on the 24th floor overlooking a view of the entire city. I truly feel like royalty. Everyone (waiters, doormen, valets, etc.) knows our name, a dog sniffs our car for bombs every time we drive up, they cut the crusts off of all our breads and serve us peeled pomegranates for breakfast with fresh honeycomb. The flower arrangements in the lobby are the most beautiful I have ever seen. Coming from the CCS house to here has been extreme culture shock to say the least. More confusing, however, has been our transformation from village guests to pure tourists. I must say I miss being so close to the locals. Our Egyptologist, Ameer, is awesome and we had lunch with her today, but it is quite difficult to interact with other Egyptians given our tourist status and, in many cases, the language barrier.

Our amazing time thus far in Egypt did come at a steep price, as we had to say goodbye to all of our volunteer friends, especially my two favorite roommates and moos, Diane and Connie. They sent us off with a nice dinner party and an evening at the casino and, most importantly, as we pulled off in our car from the compound, they waved, cried, blew kisses and even shook their cute moo hineys in our direction. Connie even offered to lift her shirt for Sanjay again. (Did I fail to mention that he has previously seen the moo without her top on . . . I suppose that is a longer story, so I will let him explain later for himself =)

Anywho . . . Sorry this is so short, but our flight to Abu Simbel to catch our cruise boat departs at 2am, so I need to get packed. We will be offline while we float down the Nile , but we will check in when we return on Saturday. Hope all is well!