donderdag 26 november 2009
23 to 26/11 : illness and paradise
Good meurning!
The Fayum trip was awesome and terrible at the same time. I'll give a day to day account :
23/11 I woke up, very excited and happy to go to the Fayum. I went to the bathroom, and I fell ill again. Not as hard as a couple of weeks ago, but still... I decided I wouldn't be bullied around by these stupid bacteria, so I took a whole bunch of immodium and motilium, and off we went on adventure !
The bus had to stop twice for me... Haven't got any pleasant memories about the first 2 hours in the bus.
Then we arrived in Deir el-Naqlun. I felt nauseous. Kaz stepped out of the bus and dissapeared into the toilets. Then, Mr "I never get ill in Egypt" Muijlwijk came out again, and fainted. We both felt terrible, and we decided to stay and rest in the bus, while the others visited the hermitages in the Naqlun-mountains. Then we went to Hawara, and the bus had to stop twice for Kaz.
In Hawara we both got out to see the pyramid of Amenemhat III, the necropolis around it. But then Kaz was very ill again, so he went back to the bus. I stayed, but I didn't make it to the famous Labyrinth, because i felt like fainting. I didn't miss much though, the famous Labyrinth was just a pile of stones.
We stayed in a hotel at Medinet el-Fayum. I felt a bit better when we arrived there, so I went with the others to a pharmacy for Kaz, to get him the same medicines I had used a couple of weeks ago. I also brought him some rice to eat, and Flopsy (a blue little bunny my friend Isabelle sent me in her fun packet).
The I went to bed at 8:30 pm, and slept until 7:30 the next morning!
24/11 I felt a bit better, but still weak, for having eaten so little. Kaz felt better as well, but very drowsy because of the antibiotics (which you can get here in any pharmacy without prescription). We went by bus to Narmouthis. On our way we had an adventure : the bus was driving between 2 canals on a small patch of land. I was sitting on the right side, and when i looked down, I saw that the bus was driving only 2 cm from the side of the road! For 5 agonizing minutes I feared for my life. Then I realised to see the humour in it, so I put on some adventurous music (Pirates of the Carribean) and tried to relax. Kaz slept through it all.
Narmouthis was a great place. The Greek city was extremely well preserved, with a temple, dromos, houses, Roman villa, etc. My Graeco-Roman heart was pounding heavily. I rested a bit and went back to the bus a bit earlier than the rest, because my presentation was coming closer and I still felt weak and trembling. Then we went the same dangerous way back, and Mohamed, the driver, was under the impression that he could drive faster now, since we didn't have any accident before. Ilona squeeked a lot. Then we arrived at Dionysias, the town where I had to give a presentation. It was a bit dissapointing. I had expected that the Roman fort, bathhouse and houses were still intact, but there were just piles of unrecognisable stones. The temple was pretty cool, though. Completely intact, with a lot of tiny rooms and windy stairs, and a beautiful relief of Sobek and a Ptolemaic king. My presentation went well, I think. I wasn't nervous, and I didn't faint, which was quite incredible!
Then we drove to Tunis, a small pottery village, and we spent the rest of the evening in Paradise! We stayed in some huts, made of wood and reed and mud, and the surroundings were very idyllic! The Fayum is such a green place. We talked all evening, hitting each other every now and then to kill the million mosquitoes that tried to sting us. I learned a great new dutch word : potloodventer (salesman of pencils). It doesn't really mean a man selling pencils, but it means an exhibitionist. I was a bit confused, because I didn't know the word and I thought that Kenny was telling a story about a pencil salesman near the woods!
25/11 : I felt completely cured the next morning, despite my lack of sleep, because of the local minaret at 5 o'clock yelling Allahu Akhbar for half an hour!
We left early to go to Karanis. Everyone was tired of the trip, so Karanis was a bit too much. It was mostly a talk about prehistoric pottery, which frankly doesn't interest me that much, and a tour around the Graeco-Roman remains. I like the Romans and the Greeks, but 3 days in a row was a bit too much. We are egyptologists after all, and we were craving for some pharaonic remains. On top of that, Amy felt weak and Kenny nearly fainted! Even Kenny, whom I always thought was the toughest of us all! We were all just very tired and warm I think.
Then we went back to Cairo, and I spent the evening with Quentin, Amy and Koos, watching the Pixar film Up and the film Small Soldiers, while eating chocolate ice cream and Rotato chips.
Today I'm just in the library working and typing, and I'm really nervous, because Guillaume is coming this evening with Egypt Air, and I can't wait to see him!
The Fayum trip was awesome and terrible at the same time. I'll give a day to day account :
23/11 I woke up, very excited and happy to go to the Fayum. I went to the bathroom, and I fell ill again. Not as hard as a couple of weeks ago, but still... I decided I wouldn't be bullied around by these stupid bacteria, so I took a whole bunch of immodium and motilium, and off we went on adventure !
The bus had to stop twice for me... Haven't got any pleasant memories about the first 2 hours in the bus.
Then we arrived in Deir el-Naqlun. I felt nauseous. Kaz stepped out of the bus and dissapeared into the toilets. Then, Mr "I never get ill in Egypt" Muijlwijk came out again, and fainted. We both felt terrible, and we decided to stay and rest in the bus, while the others visited the hermitages in the Naqlun-mountains. Then we went to Hawara, and the bus had to stop twice for Kaz.
In Hawara we both got out to see the pyramid of Amenemhat III, the necropolis around it. But then Kaz was very ill again, so he went back to the bus. I stayed, but I didn't make it to the famous Labyrinth, because i felt like fainting. I didn't miss much though, the famous Labyrinth was just a pile of stones.
We stayed in a hotel at Medinet el-Fayum. I felt a bit better when we arrived there, so I went with the others to a pharmacy for Kaz, to get him the same medicines I had used a couple of weeks ago. I also brought him some rice to eat, and Flopsy (a blue little bunny my friend Isabelle sent me in her fun packet).
The I went to bed at 8:30 pm, and slept until 7:30 the next morning!
24/11 I felt a bit better, but still weak, for having eaten so little. Kaz felt better as well, but very drowsy because of the antibiotics (which you can get here in any pharmacy without prescription). We went by bus to Narmouthis. On our way we had an adventure : the bus was driving between 2 canals on a small patch of land. I was sitting on the right side, and when i looked down, I saw that the bus was driving only 2 cm from the side of the road! For 5 agonizing minutes I feared for my life. Then I realised to see the humour in it, so I put on some adventurous music (Pirates of the Carribean) and tried to relax. Kaz slept through it all.
Narmouthis was a great place. The Greek city was extremely well preserved, with a temple, dromos, houses, Roman villa, etc. My Graeco-Roman heart was pounding heavily. I rested a bit and went back to the bus a bit earlier than the rest, because my presentation was coming closer and I still felt weak and trembling. Then we went the same dangerous way back, and Mohamed, the driver, was under the impression that he could drive faster now, since we didn't have any accident before. Ilona squeeked a lot. Then we arrived at Dionysias, the town where I had to give a presentation. It was a bit dissapointing. I had expected that the Roman fort, bathhouse and houses were still intact, but there were just piles of unrecognisable stones. The temple was pretty cool, though. Completely intact, with a lot of tiny rooms and windy stairs, and a beautiful relief of Sobek and a Ptolemaic king. My presentation went well, I think. I wasn't nervous, and I didn't faint, which was quite incredible!
Then we drove to Tunis, a small pottery village, and we spent the rest of the evening in Paradise! We stayed in some huts, made of wood and reed and mud, and the surroundings were very idyllic! The Fayum is such a green place. We talked all evening, hitting each other every now and then to kill the million mosquitoes that tried to sting us. I learned a great new dutch word : potloodventer (salesman of pencils). It doesn't really mean a man selling pencils, but it means an exhibitionist. I was a bit confused, because I didn't know the word and I thought that Kenny was telling a story about a pencil salesman near the woods!
25/11 : I felt completely cured the next morning, despite my lack of sleep, because of the local minaret at 5 o'clock yelling Allahu Akhbar for half an hour!
We left early to go to Karanis. Everyone was tired of the trip, so Karanis was a bit too much. It was mostly a talk about prehistoric pottery, which frankly doesn't interest me that much, and a tour around the Graeco-Roman remains. I like the Romans and the Greeks, but 3 days in a row was a bit too much. We are egyptologists after all, and we were craving for some pharaonic remains. On top of that, Amy felt weak and Kenny nearly fainted! Even Kenny, whom I always thought was the toughest of us all! We were all just very tired and warm I think.
Then we went back to Cairo, and I spent the evening with Quentin, Amy and Koos, watching the Pixar film Up and the film Small Soldiers, while eating chocolate ice cream and Rotato chips.
Today I'm just in the library working and typing, and I'm really nervous, because Guillaume is coming this evening with Egypt Air, and I can't wait to see him!
zondag 22 november 2009
19 to 21/11 : Hooligans, Santa Claus and Coptic Cairo
On 19/11 I woke up at noon, went to the Alphamarket with Quentin and had breakfast at 13h30. Then to the NVIC, to have a lecture from Ilona about Archaeology in the Sudan, and to watch a BBC documentary on the Black Pharaohs. It was interesting to learn a bit more about ancient Nubia and its inhabitants. We ate very quickly at Beano’s, and then another lecture from Kento Zenihiro about funerary cones, and how we can use them to reconstruct the social hierarchy in the New Kingdom. He was very sweet, because after the lecture, he offered us a copy of his thesis on the subject. We gave it to Ilona, so that she can use it in the Institute.
Then we went to the Belgian night in La Bodega, a bar 2 minutes from my appartment, sponsored by the Belgian Embassy in Cairo. There were mostly Wallonians there. I talked all evening with Ilona, Quentin and Kaz on various subjects, and we met with a friend of Ilona, an Egyptian lady married to a Belgian man from Hasselt!
When we came out of the bar to go back home, there was a lot of turmoil in the streets : all the roads were blocked with tooting cars, screaming people and men all running towards the same direction : the west of Zamalek. It was a bit scary to see them run and shout like that. We asked an Egyptian what was going on, and he explained that there were fights at the Algerian Embassy, because of the aggressive football match from yesterday. I don’t really get it, because the Algerians won! So why would they make a fuss? The last thing I wanted was to get stuck in the middle of a hooligan fight in Cairo, so Quentin and I walked quickly home, where I tried to get some sleep, despite the incredible noise coming from the streets all night.
20/11 : More chaos in the streets today. The roads on Zamalek were all entirely blocked, and apparently there were riots at the Algerian Embassy all day. Luckily I didn’t need to get far away, so I didn’t notice a lot.
In the morning I went to work in NVIC, and I met some students from Leuven, doing their Cairosemester in Arab studies. We exchanged phone numbers. Then Amy, Quentin, Sandra, Kaz and I went to the Christmass bazaar in my street. Almost right in front of our appartment there is the All Saint’s Cathedral, where the Christian community of Zamalek gathers. They had a Christmass bazaar for charity. There were some nice kitschy things for sale, and also scarfs and bags with strange combinations, like Santa Claus feeding a camel. We talked briefly with Mike, the priest. He’s British, but he ended up being a priest in Cairo and doing charity at the cathedral. He was such a nice man. He said to me : “Ah, Belgian? Congratulations for Van Rompuy!” He also invited us for the Bible study on Sunday, but I don’t think I’ll go there :p
Then we went back to my appartment and Koos came as well, and we talked a bit, and Kaz and I popped bubble plastic, and then everyone went home, Quentin and I cooked and ate, and I worked on my kashkoul and watched Blackadder all evening.
21/11 : We visited Helwan this morning. There is a necropolis from pre- and early dynastic period. Two women, Christiana and Jane, gave us a tour around their excavations. We got to touch some ancient pottery, and we came to the conclusion that women are much more suited to work with pottery than men, because they have better eyes.
Then we went to visit the Coptic museum, which had some beautiful art and scary portraits of people with large eyes. Then Ilona went home again, and we, the students, visited some shops and the Coptic area of Cairo. It had small streets, very windy, and a beautiful but scary Christian cemetery, packed with angel statues smiling down upon us. It was a vampire-like place, and if it would have been night, I would have freaked out.
Then we took the metro back to Zamalek (the metro in Cairo is, surprisingly, very clean!), and we ate in McDonalds (I know, like real tourists).
Then I went to Amy’s appartment to chat with everybody. Quentin went home and I stayed to watch some television. Because it was already late and the streets were still in a bit of a riot because of the football hooligans, I stayed at their appartment. I watched television with Kaz until we just nearly fell asleep. The poor guy had to sleep on the couch, so that I could use his bed. Moehaha.
Now I’m one day further, and this morning, guess what I did? Yes, I watched some more television with Kaz. I’m starting to get addicted to the Arab soaps, because one of them has got really funny English subtitles! Some quotes from a Romantic conversation between a sjeikh and a woman :
S : I’ve written a poem for you! (Reads the poem)... You gave me a complete mutton barbecue!
W : I feel like in a family environment.
Now,... I don’t know whether the English subtitles of this conversation were all wrong, or whether the Egyptians have a very VERY strange way of being romantic.
Tomorrow I’ll go on a 3-day excursion to the Fayum oasis, where I have to give a presentation in the site Dionysias, so today I’ve finished my presentation in the library. I’ll write again once I’m back!
Then we went to the Belgian night in La Bodega, a bar 2 minutes from my appartment, sponsored by the Belgian Embassy in Cairo. There were mostly Wallonians there. I talked all evening with Ilona, Quentin and Kaz on various subjects, and we met with a friend of Ilona, an Egyptian lady married to a Belgian man from Hasselt!
When we came out of the bar to go back home, there was a lot of turmoil in the streets : all the roads were blocked with tooting cars, screaming people and men all running towards the same direction : the west of Zamalek. It was a bit scary to see them run and shout like that. We asked an Egyptian what was going on, and he explained that there were fights at the Algerian Embassy, because of the aggressive football match from yesterday. I don’t really get it, because the Algerians won! So why would they make a fuss? The last thing I wanted was to get stuck in the middle of a hooligan fight in Cairo, so Quentin and I walked quickly home, where I tried to get some sleep, despite the incredible noise coming from the streets all night.
20/11 : More chaos in the streets today. The roads on Zamalek were all entirely blocked, and apparently there were riots at the Algerian Embassy all day. Luckily I didn’t need to get far away, so I didn’t notice a lot.
In the morning I went to work in NVIC, and I met some students from Leuven, doing their Cairosemester in Arab studies. We exchanged phone numbers. Then Amy, Quentin, Sandra, Kaz and I went to the Christmass bazaar in my street. Almost right in front of our appartment there is the All Saint’s Cathedral, where the Christian community of Zamalek gathers. They had a Christmass bazaar for charity. There were some nice kitschy things for sale, and also scarfs and bags with strange combinations, like Santa Claus feeding a camel. We talked briefly with Mike, the priest. He’s British, but he ended up being a priest in Cairo and doing charity at the cathedral. He was such a nice man. He said to me : “Ah, Belgian? Congratulations for Van Rompuy!” He also invited us for the Bible study on Sunday, but I don’t think I’ll go there :p
Then we went back to my appartment and Koos came as well, and we talked a bit, and Kaz and I popped bubble plastic, and then everyone went home, Quentin and I cooked and ate, and I worked on my kashkoul and watched Blackadder all evening.
21/11 : We visited Helwan this morning. There is a necropolis from pre- and early dynastic period. Two women, Christiana and Jane, gave us a tour around their excavations. We got to touch some ancient pottery, and we came to the conclusion that women are much more suited to work with pottery than men, because they have better eyes.
Then we went to visit the Coptic museum, which had some beautiful art and scary portraits of people with large eyes. Then Ilona went home again, and we, the students, visited some shops and the Coptic area of Cairo. It had small streets, very windy, and a beautiful but scary Christian cemetery, packed with angel statues smiling down upon us. It was a vampire-like place, and if it would have been night, I would have freaked out.
Then we took the metro back to Zamalek (the metro in Cairo is, surprisingly, very clean!), and we ate in McDonalds (I know, like real tourists).
Then I went to Amy’s appartment to chat with everybody. Quentin went home and I stayed to watch some television. Because it was already late and the streets were still in a bit of a riot because of the football hooligans, I stayed at their appartment. I watched television with Kaz until we just nearly fell asleep. The poor guy had to sleep on the couch, so that I could use his bed. Moehaha.
Now I’m one day further, and this morning, guess what I did? Yes, I watched some more television with Kaz. I’m starting to get addicted to the Arab soaps, because one of them has got really funny English subtitles! Some quotes from a Romantic conversation between a sjeikh and a woman :
S : I’ve written a poem for you! (Reads the poem)... You gave me a complete mutton barbecue!
W : I feel like in a family environment.
Now,... I don’t know whether the English subtitles of this conversation were all wrong, or whether the Egyptians have a very VERY strange way of being romantic.
Tomorrow I’ll go on a 3-day excursion to the Fayum oasis, where I have to give a presentation in the site Dionysias, so today I’ve finished my presentation in the library. I’ll write again once I’m back!
16 to 18/11 : Candy, Fame and Red Tape
16/11 was a study day. In the morning I went to the NVIC with my laptop, I talked to Guillaume, wrote on my blog and worked on my museum assignment. After eating pancakes at Beano’s, I started reading an article for tomorrow, when we have a workshop on Early Egypt at Cairo University. My article was clear and interesting (about royal mastabas from the 1st Dynasty in Saqqara, by Stan Hendrickx), but Amy’s (who sat in the same room) was sheer disaster. She had some real difficulties with the blurry contents.
I had received a package by my philosophical friend Isabelle (thank you, Isa!), containing, amongst many other hilarious things, a bag of candy! To motivate ourselves reading our articles, Quentin, Amy and I rewarded ourselves with a bit of candy every time we read a certain amount of pages.
In the evening we ate and watched the Big Bang theory, and I felt a bit nauseous because of all the candy.
On 17/11 we had a workshop on Early Egypt at Cairo University. We were welcomed by Dr. Tarek Tawfik, who teaches there. In Egypt egyptology is a very popular study, Dr. Tawfik said he teaches about 1500 students a year! Most of them end up as an inspector at sites or working for the SCA.
Then we took a look at their small museum collection (which had a lot of English mistakes again, and even an amulet of Sarapis being shown uside down!). All the time a photographer was flashing our eyes blind. 8 students from Cairo University joined us, and several group pictures were taken. Then we walked to an aula for 2 lectures from Ilona and Dr. Tawfik, and on our way the students outside looked at us with awe : foreigners on their campus! Lectures done, door opened again : HUNDREDS of students were gathered in front of the door! Tawfik cried to make way for us, so they formed some sort of honorary lawn. When we walked through, all eyes were on us, and they were fighting each other to have a better look. I felt famous. After lunch and a nice chat with some of the 8 Egyptian students (Ahmed and Ghaida were very sweet), we had discussions about some very egyptological things, that wouldn’t interest you readers.
On 18/11 Quentin, Steffie, Cathelijne, Kenny and I had to go through some red tape : renew our visas. We went to the Mugamma (Department for visas & residence etc) at Midan Tahrir. There’s only one word to describe what was going on in this building : CHAOS ! People were fighting to get in front of a guichet, then downstairs, then another guichet, down again, back to guichet number 1,... It all felt like in the movie of Astérix et les 12 travaux. Finally we had everything we needed, the woman took our form and passports and said : ‘Come back in 2 hours’. I thought : ‘I’ll never see my passport again’.
To kill the time, Cathelijne, Steffie and I went to the Egyptian museum, where each of us watched our favourite period (Old Kingdom for me, of course). Once more I felt famous. A group of school girls ran to us, wanting to take pictures. I think I posed with at least 5 completely unknown Arab girls. They also asked our e-mail adress, although I fail to see how they will contact us, because they barely spoke English. One girl asked whether Steffie and I were twins, because apparently we look so much alike! Steffie is a head shorter than me, has red hair and bright blue eyes.
Back at Mugamma, we fought our way to guichet 38, and our passports were ready. Renewed not for one month, as I asked, but for 5 months! Oh well, it only cost me 11 pounds (about 1,20 euros).
Then at our appartment Sanaa Khalil came and we paid the rent for the 2nd month. I worked the entire afternoon on my kashkoul. In the evening I went for the first time to Steffie, Cathelijne and Kenny’s appartment to watch TV. Everyone was there (except for Quentin), including Amy’s boyfriend Koos, who arrived on Tuesday morning. Koos is South-African, and his name’s pronounced Kwez (or something). He talks this really funny South-African Dutch. We can understand each other, but only if we speak slowly, so mostly we just talk English.
We watched a very aggressive football match (Egypt-Algeria rematch) : 9 yellow cards and 3 really hurt players taken off the field. Then a boring golf movie with Kevin Costner and a part of the Stepford Wives, all with Arab subtitles (luckily they don’t dub here).
Then Amy and Koos walked me home, bless their hearts!
I had received a package by my philosophical friend Isabelle (thank you, Isa!), containing, amongst many other hilarious things, a bag of candy! To motivate ourselves reading our articles, Quentin, Amy and I rewarded ourselves with a bit of candy every time we read a certain amount of pages.
In the evening we ate and watched the Big Bang theory, and I felt a bit nauseous because of all the candy.
On 17/11 we had a workshop on Early Egypt at Cairo University. We were welcomed by Dr. Tarek Tawfik, who teaches there. In Egypt egyptology is a very popular study, Dr. Tawfik said he teaches about 1500 students a year! Most of them end up as an inspector at sites or working for the SCA.
Then we took a look at their small museum collection (which had a lot of English mistakes again, and even an amulet of Sarapis being shown uside down!). All the time a photographer was flashing our eyes blind. 8 students from Cairo University joined us, and several group pictures were taken. Then we walked to an aula for 2 lectures from Ilona and Dr. Tawfik, and on our way the students outside looked at us with awe : foreigners on their campus! Lectures done, door opened again : HUNDREDS of students were gathered in front of the door! Tawfik cried to make way for us, so they formed some sort of honorary lawn. When we walked through, all eyes were on us, and they were fighting each other to have a better look. I felt famous. After lunch and a nice chat with some of the 8 Egyptian students (Ahmed and Ghaida were very sweet), we had discussions about some very egyptological things, that wouldn’t interest you readers.
On 18/11 Quentin, Steffie, Cathelijne, Kenny and I had to go through some red tape : renew our visas. We went to the Mugamma (Department for visas & residence etc) at Midan Tahrir. There’s only one word to describe what was going on in this building : CHAOS ! People were fighting to get in front of a guichet, then downstairs, then another guichet, down again, back to guichet number 1,... It all felt like in the movie of Astérix et les 12 travaux. Finally we had everything we needed, the woman took our form and passports and said : ‘Come back in 2 hours’. I thought : ‘I’ll never see my passport again’.
To kill the time, Cathelijne, Steffie and I went to the Egyptian museum, where each of us watched our favourite period (Old Kingdom for me, of course). Once more I felt famous. A group of school girls ran to us, wanting to take pictures. I think I posed with at least 5 completely unknown Arab girls. They also asked our e-mail adress, although I fail to see how they will contact us, because they barely spoke English. One girl asked whether Steffie and I were twins, because apparently we look so much alike! Steffie is a head shorter than me, has red hair and bright blue eyes.
Back at Mugamma, we fought our way to guichet 38, and our passports were ready. Renewed not for one month, as I asked, but for 5 months! Oh well, it only cost me 11 pounds (about 1,20 euros).
Then at our appartment Sanaa Khalil came and we paid the rent for the 2nd month. I worked the entire afternoon on my kashkoul. In the evening I went for the first time to Steffie, Cathelijne and Kenny’s appartment to watch TV. Everyone was there (except for Quentin), including Amy’s boyfriend Koos, who arrived on Tuesday morning. Koos is South-African, and his name’s pronounced Kwez (or something). He talks this really funny South-African Dutch. We can understand each other, but only if we speak slowly, so mostly we just talk English.
We watched a very aggressive football match (Egypt-Algeria rematch) : 9 yellow cards and 3 really hurt players taken off the field. Then a boring golf movie with Kevin Costner and a part of the Stepford Wives, all with Arab subtitles (luckily they don’t dub here).
Then Amy and Koos walked me home, bless their hearts!
maandag 16 november 2009
15/11 and 16/11 : Olé olé olé olééé
Masr! Masr! Masr! This was the cry in the streets ALL NIGHT LONG after the Egyptians won from Algeria with 2-0. Actually it was quite a boring game, but the outburst of the Egyptians in bar Picasso was just hilarious! I made a film of it. The men were crying! It was nice to notice that, instead of cursing when something went wrong, they clapped their hands. How polite!
Yesterday we went to Abusir. We got a tour by a Czech egyptologist, whom all the girls were listening to with much attention, because he was just a very beautiful man. We visited the piramids of Niuserre, Neferirkare and the tomb of Ptahshepses. Extremely beautiful, but hey, what can I say... I have a crush on the Old Kingdom tombs! My collegues all climbed a pyramid, and Sandra and I stood downstairs to take pictures of them waving very happily! I meditated a bit in the sand. There was a lot of wind that day, and it felt great to sit still in the sound of the wind, and imagine an ancient civilization on those grounds. I guess I get a bit new age-y when I'm near piramids.
Then we visted Memphis, but there isn't a lot left of it, except for some huge statues of Ramses II, an alabaster sphinx, a sarcophagus and some stones. Still it was interesting. We got a nice idea of how big the city must have been. We visited the remains of the palace of Apries, and I very elegantly fell on my buttocks when trying to descend a steep hill.
Back home I talked to Guillaume, and I met up with the Dutch people (without Quentin) in Pottery's café, then had a takeway pizza and went to Kaz's appartment to eat it. I spent the rest of the night with Sandra, Amy and Kaz, zapping on their TV, dubbing Arabic soaps (who has a lot of camera zoomings, it made us nauseous), and watching a depressive Korean short story (spoken Korean, subtitled Arabic, and still we understood more or less what was going on... we rock!).
Yesterday we went to Abusir. We got a tour by a Czech egyptologist, whom all the girls were listening to with much attention, because he was just a very beautiful man. We visited the piramids of Niuserre, Neferirkare and the tomb of Ptahshepses. Extremely beautiful, but hey, what can I say... I have a crush on the Old Kingdom tombs! My collegues all climbed a pyramid, and Sandra and I stood downstairs to take pictures of them waving very happily! I meditated a bit in the sand. There was a lot of wind that day, and it felt great to sit still in the sound of the wind, and imagine an ancient civilization on those grounds. I guess I get a bit new age-y when I'm near piramids.
Then we visted Memphis, but there isn't a lot left of it, except for some huge statues of Ramses II, an alabaster sphinx, a sarcophagus and some stones. Still it was interesting. We got a nice idea of how big the city must have been. We visited the remains of the palace of Apries, and I very elegantly fell on my buttocks when trying to descend a steep hill.
Back home I talked to Guillaume, and I met up with the Dutch people (without Quentin) in Pottery's café, then had a takeway pizza and went to Kaz's appartment to eat it. I spent the rest of the night with Sandra, Amy and Kaz, zapping on their TV, dubbing Arabic soaps (who has a lot of camera zoomings, it made us nauseous), and watching a depressive Korean short story (spoken Korean, subtitled Arabic, and still we understood more or less what was going on... we rock!).
13/11 to 14/11 : Lazy days
I finally had a real weekend! Friday I wanted to work on my presentation in the library, but I ended up talking with Guillaume on msn and writing on my blog almost the entire morning. In the afternoon I went shopping with Amy. We past by amazing little shops, where we bought some souvenirs and gifts for our families. The shops had a lot of tiny things that were funny and never too kitschy. I had a really good time with Amy, we get alon very well. She's such a funny, open-hearted and witty American girl. I think that the word 'yippie' describes her best (I don't know why, it's just a sound that suits her).
In the evening she ate at my appartment (as a well trained fiancé, Quentin cooked for us, extremely good!). Then we talked the evening away with Amy, Sandra and Kaz, about many things, like Pokemon, whether Hatsjepsut was a good ruler or not (the girls said yes, the boys no), and horror movies. All this over a glass of wine. We tend to get very silly when we talk.
Saturday I woke up at noon. Hmmm lazy day. I first talked a lot to Guillaume on th phone. It feels so good every time to hear his voice. The distance is hard, even though we are a bit used to it. I'll be so happy when he comes (on the 26th of november, I'm counting the days!).
Then I started working on my presentation, but I was tired and my head was full of everything I've seen the past month, that I have some difficulties to concentrate on my work. Luckily next week will be a bit less busy than the past weeks, so I'll be able to breathe and start working on my paper and presentation.
Yesterday Quentin and I met Sanaa Khalil on the ground floor of our appartment block. Remember her? The woman who helped us find an appartment. She stood there waving with an Egyptian flag, because tonight (14/11) there is a very important football game : Egypt - Algeria. The outcome will sort of decide whether Egypt will be qualified for the World Cup. When Amy and I did some shopping yesterday, we saw many people already tooting in their cars with flags. The Egyptiands love football. I once got inside a taxi with some Dutch people and this is how the conversation went :
Driver : "Welcome to Egypt! Where are you from?"
Kaz : "We're from Holland, and she's from Belgium."
Driver : "Aah, Holland : Ajax! Belgium : Anderlecht!"
It is very funny to see the people here getting all excited about it. Normally I don't like all the football craziness in Belgium, but here I can understand it. Most Egyptians are way too poor to spend a night (or day) out, like theatre, concert, go dancing, even go and see the piramids. It is too expensive. Watching football wth your friends on TV in a bar is free, so I can understand very well that for them it is a great occasion to go out and have fun. We decided to go and watch the game tonight in a local bar. Get some couleur locale, as they say!
Well, so far for my lazy weekend. Tomorrow we're going on an excursion again, and I'm sure I will have a lot to say again once I'm back!
In the evening she ate at my appartment (as a well trained fiancé, Quentin cooked for us, extremely good!). Then we talked the evening away with Amy, Sandra and Kaz, about many things, like Pokemon, whether Hatsjepsut was a good ruler or not (the girls said yes, the boys no), and horror movies. All this over a glass of wine. We tend to get very silly when we talk.
Saturday I woke up at noon. Hmmm lazy day. I first talked a lot to Guillaume on th phone. It feels so good every time to hear his voice. The distance is hard, even though we are a bit used to it. I'll be so happy when he comes (on the 26th of november, I'm counting the days!).
Then I started working on my presentation, but I was tired and my head was full of everything I've seen the past month, that I have some difficulties to concentrate on my work. Luckily next week will be a bit less busy than the past weeks, so I'll be able to breathe and start working on my paper and presentation.
Yesterday Quentin and I met Sanaa Khalil on the ground floor of our appartment block. Remember her? The woman who helped us find an appartment. She stood there waving with an Egyptian flag, because tonight (14/11) there is a very important football game : Egypt - Algeria. The outcome will sort of decide whether Egypt will be qualified for the World Cup. When Amy and I did some shopping yesterday, we saw many people already tooting in their cars with flags. The Egyptiands love football. I once got inside a taxi with some Dutch people and this is how the conversation went :
Driver : "Welcome to Egypt! Where are you from?"
Kaz : "We're from Holland, and she's from Belgium."
Driver : "Aah, Holland : Ajax! Belgium : Anderlecht!"
It is very funny to see the people here getting all excited about it. Normally I don't like all the football craziness in Belgium, but here I can understand it. Most Egyptians are way too poor to spend a night (or day) out, like theatre, concert, go dancing, even go and see the piramids. It is too expensive. Watching football wth your friends on TV in a bar is free, so I can understand very well that for them it is a great occasion to go out and have fun. We decided to go and watch the game tonight in a local bar. Get some couleur locale, as they say!
Well, so far for my lazy weekend. Tomorrow we're going on an excursion again, and I'm sure I will have a lot to say again once I'm back!
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