The past week has been what I would term "normal" in the sense that class and a service project was all I did. But, it wasn't normal by most standards. A curious man named Ed White came to be our guest speaker. He works at the US Embassy in Cairo, and I think that he wished he never had left the Embassy. After giving a short talk on what he does, my class spent an hour or so roasting him on just about every Middle East topic there is. He was took the totally typical "government employee" line, which was frustrating but also insightful. Islamic Thought and Practice classes officially began, and that means even more reading and more homework. I was assigned a very curious research paper topic by the teacher- it wasn't in English so I am trying to figure out how to actually research it...mostly by hoping Arabic lessons will enlighten me sooner rather than later.
Our group took off on Thursday night and took a night train to Luxor (south)...Luxor is the sight of the most famous Ancient Egyptian monuments (save the Pyramids). After recooperating yesterday pool side on the hotel roof over looking the Luxor Temple, the team set out for the Valley of the Kings to tour 3 tombs and then went to the Habu Temple. All very impressive. It was really hot, but I got a lot of good pictures, that I promise I am trying to work out a better system for posting them. We are about to head the the Karnak (spl?) Temple....which is the biggest one around here...so I am pumped. And then we get back on a train tonight and head back to Cairo.
I am still in disbelief about the life I am living here....it is insane.
Oh yeah, RAMADAN IS OVER :)
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