So, I had a chance to blog in the Library of Alexandria a few days ago. That would have been a good story, but I decided to explore the library instead. It's a pretty sweet library! 30 minutes certainly isn't enough time to explore it though. And thanks for the advice about the pyramid climbing! I guess next time I'm there I'll have to attempt the bribery.
At the moment I'm in Luxor, Egypt. We visited the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hachepsut's temple and a few other places today. The day before that we were in Lower(northern) Egypt exploring Coptic Monestaries. The day before that we were able to relax in Anafora, a Coptic retreat center. The day before that we saw the sights of Alexandria. And the day before that we had lunch on the Nile and dinner overlooking the Mediterranean Sea! That was amazing! The day before that we were all still in Cairo seeing 3500 year old hair on mummies and King Tut's 110kg coffin of pure gold. That was one of 3 coffins inside each other in 4 wooden rooms built inside each other as well. I think his body was quite safe!
Highlights so far have mostly involved singing. Our group sang on the stage of a ancient Roman theater in Alexandria, hopefully to the delight of the other tourists. We also had the chance to sing in a Coptic chapel from the 6th century. And we also sang from the rooftop of the church in Anafora. I know I'm missing one more place that we sang that I thought was really neat. I journaled about it but I don't have my journal with me. Oh well.
We were given an extra 2 hours to sleep in the morning we were in Alexandria and a bunch of us took that chance to walk along the Mediterranean Sea! It was beautiful! The boats and the fishermen and the cats and the scuba divers and the cement blocks and the wonderful friends--everything was amazing!
I've also greatly enjoyed the many bus rides talking with friends, singing and trying to grasp the logic of Egypt. I've had a bunch of songs from Spirit stuck in my head and I'm sad to say I didn't get that soundtrack on my mp3 player. I can survive without that though. At least I got my luggage back! I think it's safe to say that Josh loves his snowflake!
A lot of my journaling has been about choices. The choices here are completely different from the choices back at home! We have to choose what to see and do with our time. We have to choose who to spend our time with and how much to spend resting. We have to decide how bold we want to be with food and where to use the bathroom and when to just hold it. It's been incrdible! I'm happy to say that it has just begun!
8 comments:
This all sounds amazing, brother! And I can tell you're excited just based on the ratio of exclamation marks to periods in your posts :-)
Thanks for being my courier!
Good to hear from you. I'm glad you took the time to explore the library. I googled some of the places you were. They all sound like places you could spend a lot of time exploring.
Glad you got your things back. Keep singing and enjoying.
...I'm sure the other tourists enjoyed your music...
Kate explained the "Lotus, Attack" thing and i find it hilarious- i can so imagine some random Arab guy saying that. =-) I love the middle east and i'm glad you all seem to be loving it too! Singing sounds like fun! You're missed here but it's awesome you're out and seeing stuff!
This is Sara Beachy. I am rather jealous of your trip, so far. I just want to tell you that we are praying for you, the group,and of course my brother :). And yes...I think the tourists would appreciate good 'ole Mennonite harmonization...if that is a word.
It was nice that you could update this on a Saturday, because then I could tell people at church current things when they asked about you. :)
Singing all over Egypt sounds like a lot of fun! You should record yourselves sometime.
hey it is good to hear that you are having a great time man. if you want me to email you the Spirit Soundtrack, I would be happy to do so, just let me know.
Keep having fun!
So you're getting more from these months than 15 credits and a series of MidEast adventures: you're getting wisdom through reflecting on and journaling about choices. I would say that you chose well when you explored the Alexandria library rather than blogged to us. After all, this was a library! The most famous one in the ancient world! Did you subconsciously plot how to come back on your IT and bribe or outrun the guards and spend the night?! But know that while you explored rather than blogged, we continued to fruitlessly check the WAAG! bookmark. We love you!
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