The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities

I still find it hard to believe that I am actually in Egypt. I vividly remember learning about the Egyptian dynasties during grade school and dreaming about how amazing it would be to one day see the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Now that dream is a reality but it still doesn't seem real! Today was a very interesting day. I saw so much and learned even more. 

First, we went to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. The museum was my first real look at the ancient Egyptian culture. It holds artifacts from the 30 dynasties of Egypt. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum but it was one of the coolest places I have ever seen.

Perhaps most famously, the museum is home to King Tutankhamon’s treasure. It was unbelievable to see the treasure this young king had. The golden mask was just as cool as I thought it would be. The coffin was equally as impressive. There was so much gold! It is hard to believe that these artifacts were truly thousands of years old. Many of them still bear astonishingly bright paints. I was shocked to learn that King Tut's tomb is relatively small compared to those of other rulers. His life was cut short when he died at the age of 20 from malaria. The cause of his death was just discovered in 2010. Previously, it was believed that he died from falling off of his chariot and hitting his head (not sure how that "rumor" got started). If this treasure and tomb are considered “small”, I am extremely excited to see what the large tombs are like.

In the museum, there is an exhibit containing many mummies. Queen Hatshpust’s mummy was there, a queen that was originally mistaken by Egyptologists as a nurse due to her bad dental work and obesity. Another notable king in the exhibit is King Ramses II. He is well known because he ruled for the longest period of time out of all the kings. He ruled for 67 years. There were many more mummies but I do not remember all of their names. My brain is on information overload right now.

These two exhibits are simply the two that I found to be most intriguing. However, the museum was absolutely huge and contained more artifacts that I ever thought one building could hold. Currently, there are plans in the works to create an even larger museum to hold these incredible pieces of Egyptian history. 

Lunch today was delicious. We had a traditional Egyptian meal called Koshary. It is made of rice, macaroni, tomato sauce, lentils, and many other things. I was slightly nervous about trying it but it was delicious As Hannah and Jen put it, it tastes like “Chipotle on crack”.  I actually ate almost the entire thing. My first big meal of the trip, to be honest.

After lunch, we went to a sweet shop and had traditional Egyptian deserts. Oddly, they were not as sweet as I expected them to be. I was surprised because I would describe a lot of the basic lunch and dinner as having a fairly sweet taste. They were still good, but not my favorite. At this time, we also sent groups into a tiny shop to look for souvenirs. The shop is one of our professors favorites. I purchased a jewelry box (at least it is a box that I plan on using for my jewelry). I also got a gift for my brother (but I can’t put what that is on here because he reads my blog!).

This is only the first half of the day when we focused on Egyptian history, the rest of the day centered on the revolution (the topic that I am honestly the most intrigued by). We came back to the hotel and had a discussion, “The Role of the Ordinary Egyptian in the Revolution”. Unfortunately, I am getting very tired (it is past midnight here!) and I have to wake up very early tomorrow to see the step pyramids. Therefore, I will save my comments regarding this discussion for tomorrow because believe me, I have a lot to say. It was a great discussion and really illustrated the power of the revolution and the involvement of “ordinary” people in its organization and success. Very powerful stuff. Tomorrow I will discuss some of what I have learned regarding why the revolution occurred, how it did, what is going on politically now with the upcoming elections, and what we can truly expect from the elections that occur next week.

I have arrived...

I have officially arrived in Egypt. We flew into Cairo at about 2:00am last night! I am so happy to be here! I am having fun and learning new things already!

The trip here was actually pretty easy. The flight to Istanbul was about 11 hours long but it wasn't bad at all. Turkish Airlines is fantastic. I never want to fly American again! The food was great. We were fed dinner and breakfast because we flew overnight. It was absolutely awesome. Besides dinner and a quick movie (V for Vendetta- my favorite), I slept though most of the flight. 

Istanbul airport was a very interesting experience. We had a 7-hour layover so a few of us decided to go to one of the nice lounges that had food, clean restrooms, showers, and comfortable chairs. I didn't actually shower but the rest of it was nice. We also wandered around the airport for a little bit. It was an odd experience. I went to Starbucks with a friend (Karly) and the cashier told Karly that he loved her. Then, Karly and I went to Sbarro. The man working there told us that he loved us and proceeded to give us free teas. It was pretty fun. Our flight for Cairo left at 12:30am. Thankfully, that one was only 2 hours.

When we arrived at Egypt, everything went very smoothly. Customs took about a minute. It was great. Both of my bags arrived. A few other students weren't as lucky. Fortunately, their bags will be here tomorrow. 

Our hotel is great. We are staying at the Sheraton Dreamland in Giza. Although it is annoying to be at a Sheraton when I am suppose to be on vacation (for those of you that don't know, I work at a Sheraton in Des Moines), it is still very nice. I just try to ignore the Sheraton logos everywhere. We can see the pyramids from the window, very cool. 

Before lunch today, we were able to talk with an employee of the hotel. She was pretty young and asked us about our opinions regarding the revolution and the upcoming election. She then told us a few of her opinions. Surprisingly, she seemed very upset about the revolution. She spoke of how the tourism industry has been negatively affected. She expressed a fear that it would not get better for a very long time. At one point, she explained, that she believes Egypt use to be a great and powerful country but now it is in a state of chaos. She is very skeptical of an eventual positive outcome of the revolution.  This was quite shocking to me. Until this point, I had heard very few individuals speak negatively about the revolution. Most Egyptians I have talked to have been very excited about it and optimistic about the future. However, I realize now that these Egyptians are individuals that are slightly separated from the country in the sense that they either live or go to school in the United States. I find it interesting that one of the first locals I met while here has such strong opinions in the opposite manner than I am use to. I am curious as to what other opinions I will encounter in the weeks to come.

Today was a very relaxing today as we are all trying to adjust to the time difference. Right now it is 11:00pm here but 4:00pm in Iowa. Additionally, the flight was very draining and at odd times. I think the majority of us are a little confused about what time it is and even what day it is (at least, we definitely were this morning). We played water polo and smoked hookah. We also had a speaker who talked about micro financing. 

Just a few pictures so far:

Tired from traveling.

Hannah smoking hookah

WATER!

Leaving Soon!

I am currently at Jen's house, counting down the hours until it is time to leave for the airport. The first flight is from O'Hare to Istanbul, Turkey. We leave from Chicago at 10:20pm but we are going to the airport at about 3:30 to ensure we make it on time because of Chicago traffic and security. The first flight is suppose to take about 11 hours. It is going to be a long flight but I am sure it will be manageable because it is overnight, meaning I will probably sleep. Also, I plan on sitting next to Jen. That means endless entertainment. Once we arrive in Turkey at 5pm (their time, of course), we have about a 7 hour layover. Supposedly they have WiFi, I really hope that's true. Otherwise, that is going to be a very long wait. Our flight for Cairo leaves at 12:25am and arrives at 1:40am. It should be an interesting and long journey but I am so excited!