Hey everyone, so this weekend my friend Luke and I did a quick power trip to Luxor Egypt. I have to say, I was a little hesitant to do it at first due to cost, temperature, and time (We only had a day there) but now that I am back I am very thank full I did. Although the pyramids where impressive and amazing when I went, Luxor and the monuments there are what make of the heart of what remains of the ancient Egyptians. In short, it was incredible.
Luke and I left Thursday night on the over night train from Cairo at 10pm and got into Luxor about 7:45 am on Friday. The train was alright; we were in a harry potter style cabin with six seats. Also in the cabin with us was a group of three guys from France (also students in Cairo at the French University) and a tourist from Germany. We talked for a good portion of the evening before all finally falling asleep on the train. We got into Luxor about 7:45am, stepped off the train and had roughly several thousand years worth of Egyptian history amongst temples, tombs and museums to see before our rerun train left for Cairo at 10:30 that night. We didn't see it all.
We then (all 6 of us) bought our return train tickets to Cairo for when we where respectively going. The Europeans where staying longer, Luke and I got ours for night. The first thing we did was find a hotel. Turns out that Felix, the German was going to be staying at a hotel near buy and although we would not actually be staying the night there we wanted to get a room also (for only 25 pounds) to store extra stuff in for the day and have a shower available before we left. After talking with Felix and having breakfast on the roof of the hotel the three of us then rented bicycles from the hotel for 10 pounds each. Felix decided to join Luke and I for our morning adventures on the east side of the Nile.
We got on our bikes and set off towards the Temple or Karnak. After cycling around the outside of it for a little bit finally came across the entrance and went inside after locking up the bikes. They had a giant scale map of the temple which was cool to see and near by was a tour group guide talking about the model in German which Felix quietly translated into English for Luke and I. We then entered the temple. Because we only had a single day in Luxor we kept the amount of time we stayed at karnak to two hours but we could have easily stayed much longer. I think as far as the historical/cultural aspects of this trip so far Karnak easily takes the cake. It was amazing. Imagine if you can a giant room composed of enormous sandstone pillars, 15 pillars wide, 20 pillars deep, spaced about 15 feet from each other, each ten feet wide, 60 feet tall and weighing several tons. It was amazing. In some areas the paint was still present on the hieroglyphics carved into he stone. If was something to take it all in and try to think about what all of it looked like in its prime.
In addition to karnak, we biked around Luxor temple and saw all of it from the outside. The three of us then stoped at a restaurant type place called snack time and got some food for lunch. After lunch we parted from Felix (He was going to go to the west bank the following day) and rode down towards the Nile. We took a ferry across with our bicycles and after a little riding around by the water we started off towards the direction of the Vally of the Kings. It was a lot of fun, we where the only people really on bicycles (maybe because it was 45 degrees C, about 113 F) but we where able to stop and take a lot of photos. We biked through the lush greens of the Nile river Vally, Banana fields and sugar cane farms. About 9 kilometers later we got to the end of the green area (it ends abruptly) and biked along the desert edge several more kilometers until we got to the temple of Hatshepsut. After Hatshepsut's temple we took a taxi from there another 8 kilometers (and up hill the whole way) into the Vally of the Kings. We actually got there 20 minutes after they had closed and with a little begging, saying we where only there one day, a little use of Arabic and a small Baksheesh (tip) they let us in. Unfortunately because we where late we only had about 20 minutes before they closed everything and kicked people out. We boguht our tickets to look three tombs. You got to pick any ones you wanted so we just went in the first three we came to. (That is with a few exceptions. You have to pay extra for Tuts tomb as an example) We went in Ramesses the seventh, then Ramesses the ninth and lastly Ramesses the third. As with Hatshepsut's temple I think I am going to leave most of the descriptions and stuff off of here, that way when I talk to you back home it will be new. I have a ton of photos over everything except the Vally of the Kings. They did not allow any cameras in there.
our taxi driver took us back down to the ferry and we headed back over to the east bank and then to our hotel where we sat around a bit and rested. We both washed off and did a little reading. (we both had homework to do) After we went to lunch/dinner and rode around Luxor on our bikes for bit in the evening. We got dinner at the same place we had lunch because honestly off all the places it looked the most legitimate and the food was pretty good. We returned to the hotel, took showers to rinse off the effects of biking around outside in 45 degree heat and changed into some clean clothes. After that we had about an hour to kill so we took a short little stroll down to a large open area kinda in front of luxor Temple and just sat around there. It was cool because we right by the temple and it was all lit up with lights but more then that the court year area is where ton of locals had gone to hang out. Lots of dads and children playing soccer, and children riding bicycles/learning how to. It was just a nice area. One guy who looked to be about our age even came up and sat on the bench with us. Although he didn't speak much English and we where having a hard time understanding his Arabic we still managed to have a extensive conversation. Luke and I then returned the bicycles to the hotel and walked to the train station. We got on and returned to Cairo about 8:30 this morning. All in all, although very fast, it was a wonderful trip.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
long delay
hello again, I am really sorry it has been so long since I have written. As a wrote last time my computer crashed so getting on line and being productive has been a lot harder. Getting pictures posted has been a bit of a task too. Not to much has been going on...I returned to Dahab last weekend with a friend and we spent three days snorkeling the coral reefs and doing a bit of scuba diving. I was lucky enough to be able to dive twice and see all kinds of stuff from lion fish to sting rays, very colorful fish and even an octopus.
This past week and the following few to come are going to be able about the academics. I had a geology exam today that I got a 94 percent on so I was very happy about that. I have a couple more exams coming up soon, a role play mock trial for Sayyid Qutb and a ten page report due on the Geology of Egypt.
I only have four weeks left in the semester and then my dad will be here in Egypt for two weeks. We have a pretty good idea of what it is we are going to do but I am going to wait to post the plan first just because we are not 100% on it yet and second just to keep you all on the edge of your seats.
I am sorry to cut this off here but I am short on time. I will try to write again soon and maybe even get some photos up.
This past week and the following few to come are going to be able about the academics. I had a geology exam today that I got a 94 percent on so I was very happy about that. I have a couple more exams coming up soon, a role play mock trial for Sayyid Qutb and a ten page report due on the Geology of Egypt.
I only have four weeks left in the semester and then my dad will be here in Egypt for two weeks. We have a pretty good idea of what it is we are going to do but I am going to wait to post the plan first just because we are not 100% on it yet and second just to keep you all on the edge of your seats.
I am sorry to cut this off here but I am short on time. I will try to write again soon and maybe even get some photos up.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Spring break
So you all know this post and the next will be long.
I am sorry I have not written for awhile. My laptop crashed and in addition to losing all my log in information and thing saved on it as well as Internet access for a short time I have also been very busy this last week with school. I have been in the midst of a large role play interactive project in my history class and I have a midterm on Thursday.
I am sorry I have not written for awhile. My laptop crashed and in addition to losing all my log in information and thing saved on it as well as Internet access for a short time I have also been very busy this last week with school. I have been in the midst of a large role play interactive project in my history class and I have a midterm on Thursday.
To start off before I get into details I had a really great spring break and feel very fortunate that I was able to do as much I did. I spend the first half of Holiday in Istanbul Turkey and the second half in Dahab Egypt with about three quarters of a day in Cairo between my flight back from Istanbul and catching the bus to Dahab.
Istanbul was beautiful. I went there with my friend sheehan and other then a couple main tourist stops we did not have a formal plan for what we wanted to do. We primarily ate doners (A street vendor type sand which with chicken, lettuce and some other stuff that I am not sure what it was called) and bread off of guys selling it on the street. We where able to see the great Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia Museum, Istanbul's Museum of modern art, Galata tower, The Basilica Cistern and Asia. It rained for two days while we where there but we didn't mind much, it was a nice change from being in the desert.
My favorite site was the Basillica Cistern. It is a large opening under the city and is supported by large columns about every 16 feet. The entrance is just a small building on the side of the road and you descend stairs into the cistern and then are in this huge open room under the city. The buildings and roads above you, it had been hidden and unknown to anyone for a long time. It was made that much cooler by the two days of rain because while we where there the water crept through the roof and fell from the ceiling giving the Cistern a little bit of life. I posted some long exposure pictures of it because it was pretty low lit inside.
We also took the ferry from the European continent side of Istanbul across the Bosphorous Straits to The Asia Continent side. I actually made a video blog while we where on the ferry. (as well as when we where in the Cistern and at Galata tower but I regret to inform I lost them when my Laptop crashed)
We walked around the Asian side for a few hours not really knowing where we where going or what we where doing. We stumbled across a group of people singing and doing some kind of Turkish traditional dance so that was pretty cool. We bought some fruit for lunch at one point, found a Gelato ice cream place and of course indulged in that, how can you pass up ice cream? One of the more interesting stops was down by the waters edge where we came across a guy with several guns and balloons set up; we paid him a few Lira and he let us get our John Wayne on for a short bit. I must say, Sheehan looks pretty intimidating with a hand gun.
We flew back to Cairo the afternoon of the 31st and had the evening there to relax, do laundry and chill. The morning of the first we met up with our Friend Hans at the bus station around 7:00 am to catch the 8 hour bus to Dahab Egypt.
Dahab is a relaxed and nicer way to experience Egypt. There are still Egyptian aspects in Dahab but it is much more secular, more relaxed and the air is clean. It is located on the far side of the Sinai Peninsula on the bay of Aquaba (part of the Red Sea) from main Egypt. I snorkeled on the Coral reefs there everyday and it was amazing. One of the days I was there I took a day trip up to the blue hole and snorkeled there for a little while, then our group (Sheehan and Hans where not with for this) rode Camels north along the shore for about an hour to a Bedouin Village where we did more snorkeling and had a very good Bedouin lunch. I named my camel Steve, he was awesome. He liked to lead the group so we spent most of the time up in front. We where pretty much the tip of the spear.
Because of its location and overall level of awesomeness a lot of students from AUC ended up going to Dahab at the end of spring break. That being said the third evening Sheehan and Hans left me and headed to Amman Jordan. Although the people I went with left I was able to hang out with Rachael, Harmony, Chris and Brendon as well as a few others the last couple days. The 4Th I was there I actually did not stay in Dahab. Doing this trip again on my own, I boarded a bus in Dahab around 11pm and rode it for two hours into the Sinai mountains. Several check points later myself and the others aboard the bus arrived at St. Catherine's Monastery. After a short rest we began hiking around 1 am. After four hours of hiking and a 2.6 kilometer elevation change I found myself perched on top of Mt. Sinai watching the sun rise over the barren eastern mountains. I have to say that although it was freezing and exhausting, it was well worth it.
I rode the bus back to Dahab that morning and spent the day relaxing. Although I tried to keep the day pretty low activity level I did do some more snorkeling and free diving on the reef. At 10 pm Harmony and I took the over night bus back to Cairo. As I had pulled a very physically demanding all nighter the previous evening I slept pretty much the entire bus ride. Harmony was even nice enough to hold my passport so I didn't have to wake up at the check points.
Again I apologize it took me a week to write and I know that this does not do the trip justice in full. If you have an questions of comments message me! I figured out that I do have all of my photos from Egypt stored on two memory cards so at some point I will figure out a way to post my pictures from Dahab but all the videos are gone. I will be taking my laptop to the tech services people on campus tomorrow and maybe they can take the hard drive out and recover the information on it but I think its a long shot.
until next time, Phil
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Videos!!!
Ok so because of Egypt's crappy Internet I have been having trouble posting Videos. I was able to get some onto facebook (short ones) at the start at the semester but since then results ahve been null. Since that is no longer working and blogspot can not handle uploads either I am using youtube. Youtube is sketchy, sometimes it works, sometimes not but I did get a few out. Below are the links to my youtube account as well as the videos them selves. Instead of writing new blogs each time I will just add them to this one and put dates next to each link so you can see which ones are new. Everytime I edit this post (add a video link) I will message you all and let you know. Hope that works out for everyone. I know it is a bit of a hassel, but it is the best I can manage.
My YouTube Channel link: http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhw4
Video- At the Pyramids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmhMLJY_hIg
posted 3/25/10
A video I made while we where out in the western desert Sand Boarding!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbRr9Q9o-m4 Posted 3/25/10
This is a 360 degree shot from Wadi Hitan, The Vally of the Whales:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DqDTcF_9Ls Posted 3/25/10
This is a short little video of a couple adorable young boys dancing on the side walk next to our coach bus in Alexandria while we where on our way to the catacombs. They know we where tourists. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5epsA0b5Ch4 Posted 3/25/10
A view of the Cairo skyline from the citadel. Note the smog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81vUCK2zebA Posted 3/25/10
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My YouTube Channel link: http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhw4
Video- At the Pyramids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmhMLJY_hIg
posted 3/25/10
A video I made while we where out in the western desert Sand Boarding!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbRr9Q9o-m4 Posted 3/25/10
This is a 360 degree shot from Wadi Hitan, The Vally of the Whales:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DqDTcF_9Ls Posted 3/25/10
This is a short little video of a couple adorable young boys dancing on the side walk next to our coach bus in Alexandria while we where on our way to the catacombs. They know we where tourists. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5epsA0b5Ch4 Posted 3/25/10
A view of the Cairo skyline from the citadel. Note the smog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81vUCK2zebA Posted 3/25/10
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A small Hiatus from Egypt
Hello readers!
I wanted to write a small post here to let all of you know that I am going to be gone for a bit. Tomorrow is Friday and is the kick off to my gloriously planned spring break. Tomorrow morning I will be flying from Cairo Egypt to Istanbul Turkey with Sheehan to spend 5 days there. We will be staying in the city for the most part and hopefully not getting to cold since its about 10 degrees C colder there than it is here.
I will be flying back to Cairo on the 31st and sticking around here for that evening. I have a friend from Eau Claire who is studying abroad in Greece right now coming to Egypt for her spring break so I am going to try to meet up with her and some of the people she is traveling with for a little bit. I think that will be a lot of fun. On the first we will be meeting up with our friend Hans (A Norwegian study abroad student-who is awesome) and catching the bus to Dahab. Dahab is on Egypt on the far side of the Sinai on the Red Sea. More or less we are going to hang out on the beach for 4 days and chill. I think it is going to be fantastic.
I will be taking tons of pictures, probably a few videos and hopefully I will be able to write some blogs here and there. It may be difficult to get computer/Internet access.
Also, the word Hiatus in the title of this blog is dedicated to Megan Djerf.
Look forward to pictures and several detailed blog posts to come.
-Smile like you mean it.
I wanted to write a small post here to let all of you know that I am going to be gone for a bit. Tomorrow is Friday and is the kick off to my gloriously planned spring break. Tomorrow morning I will be flying from Cairo Egypt to Istanbul Turkey with Sheehan to spend 5 days there. We will be staying in the city for the most part and hopefully not getting to cold since its about 10 degrees C colder there than it is here.
I will be flying back to Cairo on the 31st and sticking around here for that evening. I have a friend from Eau Claire who is studying abroad in Greece right now coming to Egypt for her spring break so I am going to try to meet up with her and some of the people she is traveling with for a little bit. I think that will be a lot of fun. On the first we will be meeting up with our friend Hans (A Norwegian study abroad student-who is awesome) and catching the bus to Dahab. Dahab is on Egypt on the far side of the Sinai on the Red Sea. More or less we are going to hang out on the beach for 4 days and chill. I think it is going to be fantastic.
I will be taking tons of pictures, probably a few videos and hopefully I will be able to write some blogs here and there. It may be difficult to get computer/Internet access.
Also, the word Hiatus in the title of this blog is dedicated to Megan Djerf.
Look forward to pictures and several detailed blog posts to come.
-Smile like you mean it.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Wadi Hitan
Hello again,
So in my last post I wrote that that this weekend I would be going on a geology field trip and although I did do that the plans got changed again. Instead of making the trip and over night adventure my professor decided that we would do it all in a single day. This new travel plan meant meeting at the old campus in Tarhir square at 5:30am and return to Cairo around 11pm. With that all in mind, on Wednesday I came up with a plan. For those of you who know me, you know I am not a morning person and I am not friends with Mr. 5am. So, I decided that since I was done with classes at noon on Thursday I would take the 1pm bus back to campus, take a nap,(which gloriously lasted 5 hours) then do homework through the night and just not go to bed. That way I would have made up for not sleeping the day before and I would not have to get up at 4:30am to make it to the bus on time. I thought it was brilliant. It worked out mostly, but I was pretty exhausted when I finally went to bed last night.
Thursday evening was a little bit of failed execution on my part. After I got up from my wonderful nap I went to Harrys pub in the Marriot hotel with Erin and Katie for a little bit of Saint Patricks day fun. They had a live Irish band playing and while they only played one Irish song (and only because of a request) their music was really good. It was interesting to note that first we where about the only people in there under 35 and second it was and Irish band, in an Irish pub, playing American music, to am American crowd, with all Egyptian workers, in Egypt. It was an elixure of culture.
We came back to the Residence hall a little after 1am. Katie decided to head to bed and Erin stayed down in the lobby with me for a little bit. She was picking rooms and since we are 7 hours ahead now that mean late for us. She left about an hour later which left me chilling alone in the study lounge. I ended talking to my dad on skype for an hour or so which helped the time go by a lot faster. All in all, the goal to get homework done and study for midterms did not happen. That just means that today I really need to be on the ball.
The field trip itself was...long. We went to a desert camp site near Fayoum next to a man made lake and then went off to Wadi Al-Hitan, The Vally of the Whales. (The lake is fed by underground aquifers which in turn are fed by the Nile) It is a large expanse for desert with fossilized whales. What makes it impressive is the number and concentration of them and the species of whales that are present. There are over 100 whale fossils known/uncovered and they are continuously finding new ones. It is thought that the area may have at one point been a shallow inlet bay and when the whales did for what ever reason the winds and currents blew their corpses to the area and they accumulated over thousands of years.
This link is the Egypt Tourist link of you want more details about the area then I am going to give you. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/valleyofwhales.htm
Another important note is that the species of whales found, such as Basilosaurus, provide the evolutionary link between mammals on land and those at sea. In some of the skeletons you can see their stubby little arms such as in the photo to the left. I really recommend the link if you didn't do so already.
After a lot of walking around the area looking at dried up dead things we had some time to just chill and hang out. Since the protected area was the Vally basin, myself and a couple other students decide to climb the sandstone deposits and get a better view. In short, it was awesome. Yes the whales where cool but the geology and topography of the area was what impressed me. Once we finally reached the top of the Plataea the view was amazing. (the wind was impressive too) For as far as you could see in every direction it was just an arid waste land full of nothing. Sand dunes and limestone/sandstone pillars and mounds scattered about everywhere.
I was amazed by it and how cool it was. I was talking with one of the Egyptians about it and he explained to me that he and all of the other Egyptians hate the desert and that he did not understand why I thought it was so neat. As he said it, "Fuck the Desert because it was hot and dry and sand blows in your eyes." I proceeded to ask if he had ever seen snow before. He said no so I asked if he would want to come to Minnesota and spend a day out in a field walking around the snow drifts. He actually said "Yes that would be so cool." I said no, fuck snow, its cold and its wet and also blows in your eyes. He then understood my point.
We boarded the bus and started heading back to Cairo. May note that the trip took 5 hours both ways. It only took 3 hours to get to Fayoum and from Fayoum its only another 30 kilometers but we where driving a couch bus on a "road" designed for large SUV desert going vehicles. Kudos to the driver though.
I will be posting more pictures of the trip to my facebook group page and am still trying to get the videos posted, sorry about that.
So in my last post I wrote that that this weekend I would be going on a geology field trip and although I did do that the plans got changed again. Instead of making the trip and over night adventure my professor decided that we would do it all in a single day. This new travel plan meant meeting at the old campus in Tarhir square at 5:30am and return to Cairo around 11pm. With that all in mind, on Wednesday I came up with a plan. For those of you who know me, you know I am not a morning person and I am not friends with Mr. 5am. So, I decided that since I was done with classes at noon on Thursday I would take the 1pm bus back to campus, take a nap,(which gloriously lasted 5 hours) then do homework through the night and just not go to bed. That way I would have made up for not sleeping the day before and I would not have to get up at 4:30am to make it to the bus on time. I thought it was brilliant. It worked out mostly, but I was pretty exhausted when I finally went to bed last night.
Thursday evening was a little bit of failed execution on my part. After I got up from my wonderful nap I went to Harrys pub in the Marriot hotel with Erin and Katie for a little bit of Saint Patricks day fun. They had a live Irish band playing and while they only played one Irish song (and only because of a request) their music was really good. It was interesting to note that first we where about the only people in there under 35 and second it was and Irish band, in an Irish pub, playing American music, to am American crowd, with all Egyptian workers, in Egypt. It was an elixure of culture.
We came back to the Residence hall a little after 1am. Katie decided to head to bed and Erin stayed down in the lobby with me for a little bit. She was picking rooms and since we are 7 hours ahead now that mean late for us. She left about an hour later which left me chilling alone in the study lounge. I ended talking to my dad on skype for an hour or so which helped the time go by a lot faster. All in all, the goal to get homework done and study for midterms did not happen. That just means that today I really need to be on the ball.
The field trip itself was...long. We went to a desert camp site near Fayoum next to a man made lake and then went off to Wadi Al-Hitan, The Vally of the Whales. (The lake is fed by underground aquifers which in turn are fed by the Nile) It is a large expanse for desert with fossilized whales. What makes it impressive is the number and concentration of them and the species of whales that are present. There are over 100 whale fossils known/uncovered and they are continuously finding new ones. It is thought that the area may have at one point been a shallow inlet bay and when the whales did for what ever reason the winds and currents blew their corpses to the area and they accumulated over thousands of years.
This link is the Egypt Tourist link of you want more details about the area then I am going to give you. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/valleyofwhales.htm
Another important note is that the species of whales found, such as Basilosaurus, provide the evolutionary link between mammals on land and those at sea. In some of the skeletons you can see their stubby little arms such as in the photo to the left. I really recommend the link if you didn't do so already.
After a lot of walking around the area looking at dried up dead things we had some time to just chill and hang out. Since the protected area was the Vally basin, myself and a couple other students decide to climb the sandstone deposits and get a better view. In short, it was awesome. Yes the whales where cool but the geology and topography of the area was what impressed me. Once we finally reached the top of the Plataea the view was amazing. (the wind was impressive too) For as far as you could see in every direction it was just an arid waste land full of nothing. Sand dunes and limestone/sandstone pillars and mounds scattered about everywhere.
I was amazed by it and how cool it was. I was talking with one of the Egyptians about it and he explained to me that he and all of the other Egyptians hate the desert and that he did not understand why I thought it was so neat. As he said it, "Fuck the Desert because it was hot and dry and sand blows in your eyes." I proceeded to ask if he had ever seen snow before. He said no so I asked if he would want to come to Minnesota and spend a day out in a field walking around the snow drifts. He actually said "Yes that would be so cool." I said no, fuck snow, its cold and its wet and also blows in your eyes. He then understood my point.
We boarded the bus and started heading back to Cairo. May note that the trip took 5 hours both ways. It only took 3 hours to get to Fayoum and from Fayoum its only another 30 kilometers but we where driving a couch bus on a "road" designed for large SUV desert going vehicles. Kudos to the driver though.
I will be posting more pictures of the trip to my facebook group page and am still trying to get the videos posted, sorry about that.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Going to the Mall
Hello again, I do not have a lot to write about in this post. About the most exciting thing I have done recently is going to the Mall. That sounds pretty bland at surface level and for those of you who know me you know that I am not a mall person however this mall is special. The trip today took several hours (although I was enformed it was "quick") because I had the privilage to go to the largest mall in all of Africa or the Middle East. Yes, I went to City Stars in Cairo (in Nasr city) and actualy had a pretty good time. The mall is enormous, while it takes up less space physical space than the mall of america it actually contains more stores.
From Wikipedia:
From Wikipedia:"City Stars consists of:[1]
Three international hotels that provide over 1,500 rooms and suites.
Shopping and entertainment centre.
Medical centre.
Residential Towers; offering 266 apartments, duplexes and penthouses.
Office Towers; offering 70,000 m2 of office space.
An International Exhibition Centre (20,000 m2).[2] "
Three international hotels that provide over 1,500 rooms and suites.
Shopping and entertainment centre.
Medical centre.
Residential Towers; offering 266 apartments, duplexes and penthouses.
Office Towers; offering 70,000 m2 of office space.
An International Exhibition Centre (20,000 m2).[2] "
(The pictures are off wikipedia too because I forgot to bring my camera with)
It was a lot of fun to go and see the mall not so much because of the mall itself but because of what it really represents on plateform for Cairo and for Egypt. There are so many areas of Cairo that are bum broken crap holes and places that are labeled as "nice" or "upscale" that it really speaks to the modernization that Cairo and Egypt is trying to attain to continue to be competitive with the western world. Now obviously this also opens the door for questions like "should'nt they work on development in the broken down areas before they build super malls thing" but I am hoping not to get into that. I just throught that it was a really cool mall with tons and tons of stuff.
So for now that is about all I have. This coming weekend I have a geology field trip out into the desert somewhere so be looking forward to a new blog and more photos. I also have some more videos to post but I have not been able to get them uploaded yet, but I will keep trying.
Friday, March 5, 2010
surgeon general warning: This may be hazardous to your health
One of the things that I really love about Cairo is the beauty of everything. Sure a majority of the buildings are falling apart and the word maintenance really does mean that much here whether you apply it to buildings, sidewalks or vehicles; yet everything here is full of character. The walls may not all be strait but they have their own life, it makes for a lot more uniqueness in everything. It also helps me to really realize the luxuries that we so often take for granted back home. I find myself extremely excited when I go to dinner and they serve you water and don't charge you for it or even more so that when you order it at a place that does charge they actually give you an option for which size you want as opposed to just giving you the most expensive one on the menu. I find myself thankful that now having been here and getting to know places with friends and those places getting to know us that they no longer give us a "white" tax with our meal. (Cairo sunset below)
However to get back to the first point, what I find most beautiful here is the sunset; which even that as with everything else here you have to take with a grain of salt. The sunset here is incredible and practically everyday. My favorite place on earth to watch the sun go down is atop Brockway mountain in Copper Harbor Michigan yet dusk here gives Copper Harbor a good run for its money. Copper Harbor is wonderful especially in Autumn because the sun drops all the way down until it is swallowed by the lake and the brilliant colors seem to ping pong off of the lake, the clouds and the ever changing leaves on the trees covering the rolling landscape for miles.
Cairo's sunset on the other hand has the most brilliant and rich colors of red yellow and orange I have ever seen. They ricochet of the windows of several million cars and the rubble of so many deteriorating buildings. It really is its own kind of beauty and takes its own form of appreciation. Where the grain of salt comes in is that here in Cairo the sun literally sets before it actually hits the horizon. Why? Not due to buildings, its due to smog. The smog and pollution here is so bad that it actually blocks out the light of the sun before it hits the horizon. However the CO2 paste in the air does lend its hand to colors that would make some of the great artists of the world cry.
(Somg at right)
In addition to making those great artists cry it would also drastically increase their potential for lung cancer. I have heard several people mention different statistics so don't quote me on the following but I have more or less extrapolated that living here in Cairo for a year is roughly the same as smoking a pack a day for about two years. No matter where you go in the city you are always breathing second hand smoke. 99.9 percent of the locals here smoke and they do so a lot. They are like walking chimneys. That has been one of the hardest aspects to adapt to.
On the health note, in my last blog post I wrote that I got sick and had suspected the water. While I have so far avoided the water on tap since then, unfortunately I was the victim of some very unpleasant sickness again this morning. Last time it caused me to miss a class but this time it caused me to miss my camping trip out into the black and white desert this weekend. I am pretty bumbed about that because I was really looking forward to it. I hope that at some point down the road I will be able to get out there though.
Although I did miss out on the desert this weekend, today Katie, Sheehan and I decided to head on over to the Cairo museum. The Museum itself is a pretty neat building and the stuff is pretty cool however it is not exactly organized very well and a lot of displays are not labeled well...if at all. I did enjoy it though. There really are some impressive displays of large stone works and lots of ancient Egyptian artifacts.
The three of us and a couple other people capped of the evening with dinner at an Indian food place a couple blocks from the dorm. The food was really good but I still find myself fishing for the cheapest options on menus here even with the wonderful exchange rate. I come some kind of rice, almond and raisin dish for an expensive by my standards 20 pounds. Honestly that actually is the higher end of an average meal when it comes to price but realistically when you convert it to dollars it cost me about $3.80. I feel like I am spending way to much money when I put down 50 pounds or more a day between food, taxis and buying things at the store but I constantly have to remind myself that all in all everything here is cheaper. I have a feeling its going to be hard when I return home. I am going to go to the store and see something listed for 10 dollars and say to myself, "yea right, I wouldn't pay 10 pounds for that." All the while keeping in mind that the dollars is worth over five times as much as a pound. My degree of value has changed a little bit and it is going to be a rough struggle to change it back. Until that time I just keep reminding myself that I can two full meals a day and groceries for less then 10 usd a day, and I love it.
However to get back to the first point, what I find most beautiful here is the sunset; which even that as with everything else here you have to take with a grain of salt. The sunset here is incredible and practically everyday. My favorite place on earth to watch the sun go down is atop Brockway mountain in Copper Harbor Michigan yet dusk here gives Copper Harbor a good run for its money. Copper Harbor is wonderful especially in Autumn because the sun drops all the way down until it is swallowed by the lake and the brilliant colors seem to ping pong off of the lake, the clouds and the ever changing leaves on the trees covering the rolling landscape for miles.
Cairo's sunset on the other hand has the most brilliant and rich colors of red yellow and orange I have ever seen. They ricochet of the windows of several million cars and the rubble of so many deteriorating buildings. It really is its own kind of beauty and takes its own form of appreciation. Where the grain of salt comes in is that here in Cairo the sun literally sets before it actually hits the horizon. Why? Not due to buildings, its due to smog. The smog and pollution here is so bad that it actually blocks out the light of the sun before it hits the horizon. However the CO2 paste in the air does lend its hand to colors that would make some of the great artists of the world cry.
(Somg at right)
In addition to making those great artists cry it would also drastically increase their potential for lung cancer. I have heard several people mention different statistics so don't quote me on the following but I have more or less extrapolated that living here in Cairo for a year is roughly the same as smoking a pack a day for about two years. No matter where you go in the city you are always breathing second hand smoke. 99.9 percent of the locals here smoke and they do so a lot. They are like walking chimneys. That has been one of the hardest aspects to adapt to.
On the health note, in my last blog post I wrote that I got sick and had suspected the water. While I have so far avoided the water on tap since then, unfortunately I was the victim of some very unpleasant sickness again this morning. Last time it caused me to miss a class but this time it caused me to miss my camping trip out into the black and white desert this weekend. I am pretty bumbed about that because I was really looking forward to it. I hope that at some point down the road I will be able to get out there though.
Although I did miss out on the desert this weekend, today Katie, Sheehan and I decided to head on over to the Cairo museum. The Museum itself is a pretty neat building and the stuff is pretty cool however it is not exactly organized very well and a lot of displays are not labeled well...if at all. I did enjoy it though. There really are some impressive displays of large stone works and lots of ancient Egyptian artifacts.
The three of us and a couple other people capped of the evening with dinner at an Indian food place a couple blocks from the dorm. The food was really good but I still find myself fishing for the cheapest options on menus here even with the wonderful exchange rate. I come some kind of rice, almond and raisin dish for an expensive by my standards 20 pounds. Honestly that actually is the higher end of an average meal when it comes to price but realistically when you convert it to dollars it cost me about $3.80. I feel like I am spending way to much money when I put down 50 pounds or more a day between food, taxis and buying things at the store but I constantly have to remind myself that all in all everything here is cheaper. I have a feeling its going to be hard when I return home. I am going to go to the store and see something listed for 10 dollars and say to myself, "yea right, I wouldn't pay 10 pounds for that." All the while keeping in mind that the dollars is worth over five times as much as a pound. My degree of value has changed a little bit and it is going to be a rough struggle to change it back. Until that time I just keep reminding myself that I can two full meals a day and groceries for less then 10 usd a day, and I love it.
(I did not take the pictures of the sunsets, I got them offof google images because I dont actualyl have any pictures of it yet but I thought the pictures of it would be a nice aid.)
Monday, March 1, 2010
when it rains it pours
On Feb 25th something happened here in Cairo that is typically very rare and it happened to a degree that is unheard of. Firstly it rained, a lot. Granted I did fly here from the arctic of Minnesota so it has been a little while since I had seen rain but even to that it had been awhile sine I had seen rain as hard as it poured here. Now I am sure some of you are thinking that perhaps it rained but did it last? The answer is yes. In fact, it lasted pretty much all day. It was a lot of fun to watch the mixed reactions from the Egyptians on campus during the day while it was coming down. A lot of them just stood out enjoying while others did everything they could to avoid getting wet. I guess its not very different from any ones reactions at home, just my perception of it is different. At home we get winter storms and traffic goes to hell, a little bit of the rain here and the bus took forever to get back to the dorms. A lot of the cars here simply just don't have windshield wipers and yet people would go out driving anyways. Headlights, if you feel like it.
I went to dinner with a group of people to our favorite cheep local place Alex Top during the down pour. I am pretty sure it is a family run place because the same guys are working in there all the time regardless of the time of day. The server, Tarek, explained to me that he is not a fa of the rain itself but does like that it brings more people to his place for food. Tarek does not speak English hardly at all so that explanation involved a lot of hand gestures and some fill in the blank guessing. Rain is uncommon here but it does happen, usually about twice a year. What made that evening slightly extra ordinary is that we also had hail. The hail was about the size of chick peas. It didn't last long but the locals had a pretty neat mixture of excitement and disgust for it.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there is no drainage system of any kind here so when it does rain (pour) the roads turn into rivers and the parking garages turn into lakes. It was really nice in Cairo the two days or so after the thunderstorm because all the rain cleared a ton of crap out of the air. One of my friends here was wearing a white shirt while out in the rain and when she got back into the residence hall she noticed that ever where the rain hit her shirt it left gray and dark streaks on here from all the dirt and shit the water picked up. Fun stuff, I know.
I did not personally take any pictures of any of it however I did "steal" some off of a face book group made in honor of the event that other people posted. I will post those to the photos in my face book group Phil goes to Egypt so you can get a visual image of it all.
On a different note last night was the men's hockey gold metal game between Canada and the United States. It took me about an hour of searching on google and a couple downloaded programs later and I was able to watch it live on my laptop. It...was...awesome. I love hockey and that game did not disappoint. The game was really intense and very fast paced. I was amazed at how fast paced the game was. It really took it to a new level, the way the Olympic final should be. Canada was up 2-1 in the final minute of the game; in most situations a golden clutch however with 27 seconds left the US rallied back and put one between the pipes to tie it up. I really wish I could express in words how worked up am i am feeling about it now some 12 hours later and after a really long night. (I explain that next) The game went into overtime sudden death and 7 min the 22 year old Canadian Crosby ended his 3 game slump with a light flick of the puck and hung gold around Canada to cap of the Olympics and put down another mark for the country that has now won more gold metals in a single Olympics than any other in history. I love Hockey, I love the Olympics and I loved that game.
After the game and the metals ceremony I was pretty tired (remember the game didn't start until 10:15pm for me) so I decided to head to bed. I got ready, drank a little bit of water and lay ed down. You know how they say that you shouldn't drink the water...well mostly that is not a problem however "mostly" leaves room for sometimes it is. Long story short, I spent all night in the bathroom throwing up and didn't go to class today. I was still up when my roommate go up this morning to head to the bus to go to class. I was feeling better, mostly because I had nothing left in me, and eventually did fall asleep for about 4 or 5 hours. I am fine now, I think I just got a bug or something...who knows. At least now I have the rest of the day to chill out here and get homework done.
I love the schedule here and I am going to miss it when I come back to the states. It is Monday and I only have two days of classes let this week and then I am going camping in the black and white desert. We have classes on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays. Mondays and Thursdays I only have one class also so that is pretty cool. Tuesdays are really nice to catch up on homework or explore around Cairo. The Pyramids and Cairo Zoo where both made possible by Tuesday, my new favorite day of the week.
I went to dinner with a group of people to our favorite cheep local place Alex Top during the down pour. I am pretty sure it is a family run place because the same guys are working in there all the time regardless of the time of day. The server, Tarek, explained to me that he is not a fa of the rain itself but does like that it brings more people to his place for food. Tarek does not speak English hardly at all so that explanation involved a lot of hand gestures and some fill in the blank guessing. Rain is uncommon here but it does happen, usually about twice a year. What made that evening slightly extra ordinary is that we also had hail. The hail was about the size of chick peas. It didn't last long but the locals had a pretty neat mixture of excitement and disgust for it.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there is no drainage system of any kind here so when it does rain (pour) the roads turn into rivers and the parking garages turn into lakes. It was really nice in Cairo the two days or so after the thunderstorm because all the rain cleared a ton of crap out of the air. One of my friends here was wearing a white shirt while out in the rain and when she got back into the residence hall she noticed that ever where the rain hit her shirt it left gray and dark streaks on here from all the dirt and shit the water picked up. Fun stuff, I know.
I did not personally take any pictures of any of it however I did "steal" some off of a face book group made in honor of the event that other people posted. I will post those to the photos in my face book group Phil goes to Egypt so you can get a visual image of it all.
On a different note last night was the men's hockey gold metal game between Canada and the United States. It took me about an hour of searching on google and a couple downloaded programs later and I was able to watch it live on my laptop. It...was...awesome. I love hockey and that game did not disappoint. The game was really intense and very fast paced. I was amazed at how fast paced the game was. It really took it to a new level, the way the Olympic final should be. Canada was up 2-1 in the final minute of the game; in most situations a golden clutch however with 27 seconds left the US rallied back and put one between the pipes to tie it up. I really wish I could express in words how worked up am i am feeling about it now some 12 hours later and after a really long night. (I explain that next) The game went into overtime sudden death and 7 min the 22 year old Canadian Crosby ended his 3 game slump with a light flick of the puck and hung gold around Canada to cap of the Olympics and put down another mark for the country that has now won more gold metals in a single Olympics than any other in history. I love Hockey, I love the Olympics and I loved that game.
After the game and the metals ceremony I was pretty tired (remember the game didn't start until 10:15pm for me) so I decided to head to bed. I got ready, drank a little bit of water and lay ed down. You know how they say that you shouldn't drink the water...well mostly that is not a problem however "mostly" leaves room for sometimes it is. Long story short, I spent all night in the bathroom throwing up and didn't go to class today. I was still up when my roommate go up this morning to head to the bus to go to class. I was feeling better, mostly because I had nothing left in me, and eventually did fall asleep for about 4 or 5 hours. I am fine now, I think I just got a bug or something...who knows. At least now I have the rest of the day to chill out here and get homework done.
I love the schedule here and I am going to miss it when I come back to the states. It is Monday and I only have two days of classes let this week and then I am going camping in the black and white desert. We have classes on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays. Mondays and Thursdays I only have one class also so that is pretty cool. Tuesdays are really nice to catch up on homework or explore around Cairo. The Pyramids and Cairo Zoo where both made possible by Tuesday, my new favorite day of the week.
Monday, February 15, 2010
the good and the bad
Hello again,
I am sorry that I have let a while go bye since I wrote last but I had a stretch there where I was pretty much just going to class. I know its weird, that I spend a week and the main focus is class but I feel that it is important for everyone to know I pulled through.
This past week so far has been very bitter sweet. I will start with the awesome part. This last Saturday myself, my adventuring partner in crime Sheehan and about 28 other people headed off into the desert about 80 kilometers west of Cairo to do some sand boarding. Plainly, it was awesome. We drove a little over and hour out on the desert road and then eventually just turned off the road into the open desert and drove for about another half or so. It is mostly flat however there is a single line of dunes. They are I would guess upwards of 100 feet high and probably close to 1000 feet wide and the line of them extends as far as you can see. It took about ten minutes while our legs where still good to climb up them with boards. Once we got to the top literally there was nothing, nothing but sand in every direction for as far as you could see. We where out in the desert.
I am sorry that I have let a while go bye since I wrote last but I had a stretch there where I was pretty much just going to class. I know its weird, that I spend a week and the main focus is class but I feel that it is important for everyone to know I pulled through.
This past week so far has been very bitter sweet. I will start with the awesome part. This last Saturday myself, my adventuring partner in crime Sheehan and about 28 other people headed off into the desert about 80 kilometers west of Cairo to do some sand boarding. Plainly, it was awesome. We drove a little over and hour out on the desert road and then eventually just turned off the road into the open desert and drove for about another half or so. It is mostly flat however there is a single line of dunes. They are I would guess upwards of 100 feet high and probably close to 1000 feet wide and the line of them extends as far as you can see. It took about ten minutes while our legs where still good to climb up them with boards. Once we got to the top literally there was nothing, nothing but sand in every direction for as far as you could see. We where out in the desert.
The boarding was a lot of fun and I was doing really well considering I have never tried snowboarding back home. (I think now I would like to) There was even a ledge on one of the dunes that we where able to use as a jump. I was pretty confident (or stupid) and went off of it several times. I never landed it but I got a lot of air each time and one of the guys took a video of that. (that will probably get posted to my personal fb page- not the group)
The guides we where with also provided tons of water for everyone which was really good because between the 90+ heat and the effort of climbing the dunes I drank about 7 liters of water. In addition to the water they also made lunch for everyone which was really good. There where burgers and also the things on a stick (meat vegetables and such) that for all your sakes I am not even going to try to spell. Everyone got along great with it except Sheehan because she is a vegetarian, so she just removed the chicken and I ate it. All in all it was a ton of fun but it did leave me pretty sore, very tired and a little bit behind on some homework. Totally worth it though.
On a less exciting note; I found out some bad news last night while working on Arabic homework. A friend of mine from high school, Patrick Freeberg, was killed on Friday. I didn't find out about it until kinda late and it disrupted me pretty good. Pat was a pretty cool guy. I had a small group of friends that while not super close; we hung out a lot. After high school he went into the Navy and the last I had heard was stationed at Norfolk VA. I do not yet know any details of what happened or why. I honestly had not talked with him for a long time; you lose contact with people when you go separate ways and even more so with Pat due to his long absences thanks to the US Navy. I can remember him crystal clear though, hanging out with him. I couldn't sleep last night at all so I ended up calling a friend here, someone I have gotten pretty close to and the two of us just went for a walk and talked. That helped a lot. It had been a long time since I had seen or talked to Pat but it still through me off pretty bad; we got back from the walk about 4 am and it was nearly 6 before I finally went to bed. At that, I didn't sleep much. There is already a tribute group to him on facebook with nearly 400 members. Also I do not know who made it but this video was made and posted on youtube; never forget.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcN5klu8Uzk
"Those who are dead are not dead there just living in my head." -42
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Alexandria
This last weekend I traveled to the fantastic city of Alexandria on the northern mediteranean coast of Egypt. Although we really did not have enough time to really savor the flavor of the city it was a wonderful trip. We left Cairo friday morning and and about three hours on the bus we arrived in Alexandria. Our first stop was a castle fortress type thing sitting out on the end to a point that divides the harbor into two main port areas. Where the fortress is located used to be an island but there is now a manmade concection one mile long and two hundred meters wide thanks to the efforts of Alexander the Great. After spending two weeks in Cairo where just breathing here is on par to smoking a pack a day the fresh air and cool breeze coming of the gloriously beautiful mediteranean was very much enjoyed. Standing on the ancient fortress wall watching the waves crash onto the rocks, feeling the wind gusts accross my face and the incredible blues of the water made the whole situation one of those "whoa" moments. I have several awesome pictures that will be posted to the facebook group.
After a little over an hour of enjoying the fortress we left for the Roman Catabombs. Unfortunatly they did not allow cameras in so I do not have any pictures of them however they where very cool. We entered the park area and preceded to decend a spiral staircase roughly 120 feet strait down. These catacombs have been slightly frustrating to archaeologists thus far becase no bodys have been discovered inside. As it is understood the catacombs where in use for some period of time (due to non-natural wear on the floors and walls as well of remanents of fires and trash deposits) yet it is believe that although they contain many burial tombs (all empty) they where used as a hiding place. Another unique thing about them is there is a very apperent mixture and blending of the three main cultures of the time influencing that area in its design; Roman, Greek and Egyptian.
The second day we went to the Library at alexandria. It was awesome, it was very cool and the programs they run through their livrary are very cool and world renownd. We did'nt get to stay there very long but the time spent was very much enjoyed. After two weeks in cairo breathing the smog and the sand it was very refreshing to enjoy some beautiful mediteranean air.
After a little over an hour of enjoying the fortress we left for the Roman Catabombs. Unfortunatly they did not allow cameras in so I do not have any pictures of them however they where very cool. We entered the park area and preceded to decend a spiral staircase roughly 120 feet strait down. These catacombs have been slightly frustrating to archaeologists thus far becase no bodys have been discovered inside. As it is understood the catacombs where in use for some period of time (due to non-natural wear on the floors and walls as well of remanents of fires and trash deposits) yet it is believe that although they contain many burial tombs (all empty) they where used as a hiding place. Another unique thing about them is there is a very apperent mixture and blending of the three main cultures of the time influencing that area in its design; Roman, Greek and Egyptian.
The second day we went to the Library at alexandria. It was awesome, it was very cool and the programs they run through their livrary are very cool and world renownd. We did'nt get to stay there very long but the time spent was very much enjoyed. After two weeks in cairo breathing the smog and the sand it was very refreshing to enjoy some beautiful mediteranean air.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Pyramids
Before I start writing this blog I just want to say right out that mom and dad, I didn't get mugged, ripped off, taken advantage of or into trouble. The pyramids where amazing and although it took a lot to get to them it was worth it.
The other day myself and a friend decided that we wanted to take a early afternoon trip out on our own and check out the Great Pyramids at Giza. We got out backpacks and water and I asked the front desk worker to write down in Arabic where we wanted to go on a piece of paper for the cab driver and he also gave me the desk phone number. We caught a taxi and told him we wanted to go to Giza, to the pyramids. We agreed on 30 pounds and he took us to Giza. The problem is he took us to a different part of Cairo also known as Giza. After some back and forth banter and some translating by the front desk worker we got it figured out.
This is where it gets interesting. After about ten min of driving from that point the driver started making a bunch of phone calls. We didn't think anything of it at the time. A few min after that his taxi broke down. Ironically though, there just happen to be another taxi waiting right where ours broke down and the driver took the liberty to inform the next taxi driver where we where going and what we wanted. We paid the first driver and agreed on a price with the second driver for the rest of the distance. We where in the second taxi on our way to the pyramids and although so far we had had a small problem we where feeling pretty good.
The two of us where both sitting in the back seat of the taxi. The person I was with was a female and I wanted to sit in back so I could talk to her, otherwise I would have had to sit in the front. (It is culturally not acceptable for women to sit in the front with men in the back-the taxi drivers get pissed.) The taxi pulled over and a guy waiting on a street corner quickly got in the taxi with us and the taxi took off again before we had a chance to try and ask what he was doing or who the guy was.
The guy then turned around to us and asked us who we where, what we were doing and where we where from. I asked us if we had been to the pyramids before and if we where excited to see them. At the time, it did not even occur to us that we had not even told him we where going to the pyramids. He was talking to us about how to go about seeing them, as in what gate to use and such to avoid excess fines. All in all he was very nice, and seemed genuine. We got with in visual range of the pyramids and that was pretty cool to see them at first out the window but they where mostly blocked by buildings. The taxi drove around some buildings and then went up a really sketchy looking ally and along some stables for awhile and took us to stable where a guy was standing outside waiting for us. They had us get out of the taxi and while the driver waited outside they took us into a room, sat us down and explained several different viewing options that involved paying them a lot of money. We knew that a ticket in was 60 pounds (30 for students) but they where telling us that that was for each thing if you walked in. That we would have to pay 150 pounds at least and we would keep getting stopped and asked for our tickets. They where very persistent and very aggressive towards us. At one point they agreed to tell us the prices if we got on their camels. We where talking to each other also and decided we where not going to give them any money until they provided us with a legit looking ticked which they failed to do; so I got a free camel ride. (it was really short, but still) We just walked away even though they where yelling and screaming at us and we eventually found the main gate. (the entire area is surrounded by a 10 concrete wall with a 10 foot chain link fence on it) We got out tickets for 30 pounds instead of the 150-300 pounds the schemers where trying to sell them to us for and we walked right in. We went all around the Sphinx, the pyramids as well as some ruins around them.
There are tourists everywhere, tourist police everywhere, and guys riding camels everywhere. They vendors are very aggressive and pushy. One guy took my camera and took some pretty cool pictures of me using angles and I was going to tip him 5 pounds for it but he demanded 50 pounds. As we walked around the Sphinx and the grand tomb entrance he continued to follow me, push me and grab me demanding 50 pounds. He even went up to the tourist police at one point trying to scare me into giving him the money. We where followed by creepy guys on camels all over trying to give us "Egyptian" prices to ride their camels and they would follow you around also. I have a bunch of pictures to post as well as a video. At the end of the video you can actually hear Sheehan telling a guy on a camel who came up behind me while I was making the video that we didn't want to ride it. That conversation is in Arabic, mostly its us just telling him no.
The pyramids themselves where very cool. I was able to walk right up to them and touch them. Standing there touching something that is so old, Carries so much history was really awesome. I was more or less standing beside myself.
We left the pyramid area and decided to walk a few kilometers down the road so we wouldn't get charged 400% percent for the taxi ride back. When you hear about people saying that the locals there rip off and take advantage of the tourists, its and understatement. We where going down the road and it became apparent after awhile that we where no longer in a "tourist" area. I don't mean to insult anyone, but it became very apparent we where no longer in a "white person" area. In the ten minutes of walking the buildings had fallen apart and the road had turned to animal shit covered rubble. We where very thankful to find and hail a taxi (and a nice taxi at that) to get us back to the inner city. We ended up going back to Giza but this time it was intentional. We met up with another friend of mine here and walked around for awhile, went to a juice bar and really appreciated the quality of Giza and Zamalek. We got back to the dorms with a bunch of pictures, the ability to say we have been to the pyramids, an acceptable amount of money spent and a huge cultural experience. Although it was about the most cliche trip to take while I am here, so far it has been the most interested and culturally shocking so far.
If you have any questions or comments write them on my face book group wall. I will post the pictures and the video of this as soon as I can. I also have pictures to post of the Citadel, Azhar park and some other stuff. I am sorry I am behind on the pictures, the Internet here sucks pretty bad.
The other day myself and a friend decided that we wanted to take a early afternoon trip out on our own and check out the Great Pyramids at Giza. We got out backpacks and water and I asked the front desk worker to write down in Arabic where we wanted to go on a piece of paper for the cab driver and he also gave me the desk phone number. We caught a taxi and told him we wanted to go to Giza, to the pyramids. We agreed on 30 pounds and he took us to Giza. The problem is he took us to a different part of Cairo also known as Giza. After some back and forth banter and some translating by the front desk worker we got it figured out.
This is where it gets interesting. After about ten min of driving from that point the driver started making a bunch of phone calls. We didn't think anything of it at the time. A few min after that his taxi broke down. Ironically though, there just happen to be another taxi waiting right where ours broke down and the driver took the liberty to inform the next taxi driver where we where going and what we wanted. We paid the first driver and agreed on a price with the second driver for the rest of the distance. We where in the second taxi on our way to the pyramids and although so far we had had a small problem we where feeling pretty good.
The two of us where both sitting in the back seat of the taxi. The person I was with was a female and I wanted to sit in back so I could talk to her, otherwise I would have had to sit in the front. (It is culturally not acceptable for women to sit in the front with men in the back-the taxi drivers get pissed.) The taxi pulled over and a guy waiting on a street corner quickly got in the taxi with us and the taxi took off again before we had a chance to try and ask what he was doing or who the guy was.
The guy then turned around to us and asked us who we where, what we were doing and where we where from. I asked us if we had been to the pyramids before and if we where excited to see them. At the time, it did not even occur to us that we had not even told him we where going to the pyramids. He was talking to us about how to go about seeing them, as in what gate to use and such to avoid excess fines. All in all he was very nice, and seemed genuine. We got with in visual range of the pyramids and that was pretty cool to see them at first out the window but they where mostly blocked by buildings. The taxi drove around some buildings and then went up a really sketchy looking ally and along some stables for awhile and took us to stable where a guy was standing outside waiting for us. They had us get out of the taxi and while the driver waited outside they took us into a room, sat us down and explained several different viewing options that involved paying them a lot of money. We knew that a ticket in was 60 pounds (30 for students) but they where telling us that that was for each thing if you walked in. That we would have to pay 150 pounds at least and we would keep getting stopped and asked for our tickets. They where very persistent and very aggressive towards us. At one point they agreed to tell us the prices if we got on their camels. We where talking to each other also and decided we where not going to give them any money until they provided us with a legit looking ticked which they failed to do; so I got a free camel ride. (it was really short, but still) We just walked away even though they where yelling and screaming at us and we eventually found the main gate. (the entire area is surrounded by a 10 concrete wall with a 10 foot chain link fence on it) We got out tickets for 30 pounds instead of the 150-300 pounds the schemers where trying to sell them to us for and we walked right in. We went all around the Sphinx, the pyramids as well as some ruins around them.
There are tourists everywhere, tourist police everywhere, and guys riding camels everywhere. They vendors are very aggressive and pushy. One guy took my camera and took some pretty cool pictures of me using angles and I was going to tip him 5 pounds for it but he demanded 50 pounds. As we walked around the Sphinx and the grand tomb entrance he continued to follow me, push me and grab me demanding 50 pounds. He even went up to the tourist police at one point trying to scare me into giving him the money. We where followed by creepy guys on camels all over trying to give us "Egyptian" prices to ride their camels and they would follow you around also. I have a bunch of pictures to post as well as a video. At the end of the video you can actually hear Sheehan telling a guy on a camel who came up behind me while I was making the video that we didn't want to ride it. That conversation is in Arabic, mostly its us just telling him no.
The pyramids themselves where very cool. I was able to walk right up to them and touch them. Standing there touching something that is so old, Carries so much history was really awesome. I was more or less standing beside myself.
We left the pyramid area and decided to walk a few kilometers down the road so we wouldn't get charged 400% percent for the taxi ride back. When you hear about people saying that the locals there rip off and take advantage of the tourists, its and understatement. We where going down the road and it became apparent after awhile that we where no longer in a "tourist" area. I don't mean to insult anyone, but it became very apparent we where no longer in a "white person" area. In the ten minutes of walking the buildings had fallen apart and the road had turned to animal shit covered rubble. We where very thankful to find and hail a taxi (and a nice taxi at that) to get us back to the inner city. We ended up going back to Giza but this time it was intentional. We met up with another friend of mine here and walked around for awhile, went to a juice bar and really appreciated the quality of Giza and Zamalek. We got back to the dorms with a bunch of pictures, the ability to say we have been to the pyramids, an acceptable amount of money spent and a huge cultural experience. Although it was about the most cliche trip to take while I am here, so far it has been the most interested and culturally shocking so far.
If you have any questions or comments write them on my face book group wall. I will post the pictures and the video of this as soon as I can. I also have pictures to post of the Citadel, Azhar park and some other stuff. I am sorry I am behind on the pictures, the Internet here sucks pretty bad.
Friday, January 29, 2010
4-0
For those of you that are not aware Egypt is currently playing in the African Cup of Nations. It is similar to the World Cup except just countries of Africa. The Egyptian football team (soccer for you Americans) destroyed Algeria last night in the semi-final match to win 4 to 0. This city went crazy. The love for football here is unlike anything I have ever seen. That passion mixed in with a total disregard or enforcement of traffic laws made last nights win and the hours that followed very exciting. Riots would be the wring term to use because there was no violence, yet it is the only word I can think of to describe it. It is as if the entire city poured out into the streets along with their Egypt gear and flags. Nearly every taxi has an Egyptian flag mounted on it and hundreds of individuals where hanging out of windows waving flags and cheering as if to let all of Africa know that Egypt had won. Eventually the honking and the hollering had stopped but the city is only recharging until the finals with Ghana. If Egypt wins they will become the first county to win the cup 3 times in a row. I have a couple pictures of everything and I make a couple videos.
Today I got up and went to breakfast with a friend here at a place called Cafe Noir. It is about 3 blocks of the Res hall and is more along the tourist lines of places here on the Island. We both got a bottle of water and a full breakfast for a total of 40LE. Long story short is it cost us both a little less then 4 dollars. It is odd getting wrapping my head around the idea that I can spend upwards of 40 pounds on a single meal and understanding its only about 5 dollars worth. I still have the "its 40" thing stuck in my head. One this that is different here is that although they do have a form of currency that divides the pound into 100, similar to cents in American currency, they are hardly used so almost everyplace gives you change rounded to the lowest pound. That part kind of bugs me but I feel bad wanting my 34 piastres (.34 of 1 pound) when I think about it and realize its only like 3 cents.
Two days later...
Citadel and azhar park
Last night was the finals of the African cup of nations and Egypt beat Ghana 1-0. This city went crazy. If it was not enough that Egypt defended their title from last year, they have not established a winning streak as this was the third year in a row they have won the cup and therefore will permanently keep it. (A new cup will be made) The streets where packed and there was rioting and celebrating everywhere. Again constant horns until 3am and flags everywhere. I have never seen any group of people express such a passion for something as the Egyptians do for their football.
classes and what I am taking
I got my class schedule set and as of right now I am in alng 111 accelerated Arabic, anthro 247 making of the modern Arab world and peng 301 petroleum geology and exploration. Mondays and Thursdays I only have Arabic but Sundays and Wednesdays I start at 8:30 (which means catching the 7am bus) and I finish as 3:15. For a my full class schedule go to my schedule link on my face book page.
any questions or comments post them on the face book group "phil goes to Egypt" wall. I will try to get more pictures up tomorrow.
Today I got up and went to breakfast with a friend here at a place called Cafe Noir. It is about 3 blocks of the Res hall and is more along the tourist lines of places here on the Island. We both got a bottle of water and a full breakfast for a total of 40LE. Long story short is it cost us both a little less then 4 dollars. It is odd getting wrapping my head around the idea that I can spend upwards of 40 pounds on a single meal and understanding its only about 5 dollars worth. I still have the "its 40" thing stuck in my head. One this that is different here is that although they do have a form of currency that divides the pound into 100, similar to cents in American currency, they are hardly used so almost everyplace gives you change rounded to the lowest pound. That part kind of bugs me but I feel bad wanting my 34 piastres (.34 of 1 pound) when I think about it and realize its only like 3 cents.
Two days later...
Citadel and azhar park
We took a trip to the Citadel in Cairo yesterday. More or less is the site was two large mosques (one of the the White Mosque from your Cairo travel guide books) and a fortress wall. It was pretty cool to see the epic scale of architecture and the "view" of the city. It would have been an awesome view but the smog was so bad that day we really couldn't see very far. I posted a video of it to give a better idea of how bad the visibility actually was. It may actually make you at home want to hold your breath. (sorry mom) After the Citadel we went to Azhar park and enjoyed a little over an hour there. It is a very large open green area with a man made pond/lake and a bunch of fountains. We hung out, ate felafell and some of us got ice cream for two pounds from a cart vendor.
Last night was the finals of the African cup of nations and Egypt beat Ghana 1-0. This city went crazy. If it was not enough that Egypt defended their title from last year, they have not established a winning streak as this was the third year in a row they have won the cup and therefore will permanently keep it. (A new cup will be made) The streets where packed and there was rioting and celebrating everywhere. Again constant horns until 3am and flags everywhere. I have never seen any group of people express such a passion for something as the Egyptians do for their football.
classes and what I am taking
I got my class schedule set and as of right now I am in alng 111 accelerated Arabic, anthro 247 making of the modern Arab world and peng 301 petroleum geology and exploration. Mondays and Thursdays I only have Arabic but Sundays and Wednesdays I start at 8:30 (which means catching the 7am bus) and I finish as 3:15. For a my full class schedule go to my schedule link on my face book page.
any questions or comments post them on the face book group "phil goes to Egypt" wall. I will try to get more pictures up tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The rush to the lazy
Hello again.
I really feel like I have been as busy as the city is and it has been tough to find nice relaxing free time to sit and do some blogging. For the most part everything has been go go go but on a "o ill do it later" type attitude. I have found that its very common to try to get to where you want to be here so that you can be there and not have to do anything. The rush to the lazy. For those of you who don't know, I am not a morning person. So far I have been hitting the sack around 12:30 and getting up about 6:50. I don't have class this semester until 10am but I will have to make the 8am bus everyday to make sure to be there on time. The traffic is really unpredictable and the trip can take between 40min and an hour and 40 min. Religion is way more prevalent here and I think it is rooted in the traffic. The deeper your religion, your faith perhaps you will be able to cross the street with out getting clipped by any of the speeding taxi's or the moped with 4 guys on swerving in between cars, trucks and buses honking non-stop to let others know he is coming up fast. That all being said, the morning this is a pain because unless you want to wait two hours to eat on campus at the half-Egyptian half Americanized places or the over prised cooperate America franchises you have to give yourself enough to hit up a deli or sidewalk shop before making the bus. At least its not cold here- at least respectively to home. We are running about 17 degrees average. For you crazy Americans and your F, that's about 60 or so. It would actually be really nice and most of my clothes are dressed to match the high winds on campus where not a variable I accounted for. The campus is out in the desert therefore there is nothing to stop the wind from gusting pretty hard.
Old Cairo
The other day we took a trip to Old Cairo and got to see some pretty cool looking buildings that where really important at one point or another and have lots of "history." I took some pictures. It was cool to look at, I gave out some ohs and ah's but that was about it. It was neat to stand next to walls that where 1,000 years old but honesty It wasn't super impressive. It was a wall, an old wall, but a wall. I see walls all the time. ( I do not want to hear any reference to these comments in reference to the pyramids- I have not seen pyramids before. I have seen walls)
We also saw some large and very cool churches. Church's here definitely wear the pants when it comes to churches in the States. or at least southern Minnesota. (That being said, the Mosques put the Churches to shame-architecturally) Overall it was cool but I didn't really care to much. I know this may surprise some of you but I didn't get a ton out of it. I did get some Molto though, nom nom nom. (its a bread treat wth some chocolate in it)
The campus- koshery el-omda
So far i have been on campus a couple of days and I am still lost. For the number of students the university has the campus is enormous. The buildings are all very nice and there a lot of water fountains around the grounds. It also has random patches of grass next to patches of irrigated sand with flowers and those are usually just next to sand. I still have no idea what buildings are what because they all have names that are hard to say and remember not to mention things are not labeled well. I should expect that though cause I'm in Egypt. On the way back from campus a group of about six of us got off the bus a little early in Zamalek and went to restaurant near the main road but a street back. It was a really cool place. When we open the door it was if a cloud of Sheesha smoke had just escaped. My meal was stuffed Pigeon with rice. The full meal was 25LE, about 5 dollars.
Horse back riding
Last night I got to go on a trip out to Giza to go horse back riding near the pyramids. It sounded like a really good idea and under a normal situation would have been a fantastic time however I discovered something about myself; I am allergic to horses. Honestly I am not all together sure that is what it was because I have been around horses before but I had a wicked reaction which made the trip rather un-enjoyable. Given that I am still glad I went because I got to See the Pyramids-sorta. It was more of a high class tease. Where we were riding was a little over a half mile from them and although we could see them, it was dark and they where in silhouette. It was still very cool to see their outlines and know that if nothing else so far had slapped me in the face with giant red, white and black Egypt first that moment was it.
-----------------
Today I went to the Campus again to get some more stuff done. I set an appointment to change my class schedule. If i get what i ant I will be in Arabic, a class on ancient Egypt and General chemistry 1 for 12 credits. There was another class I wanted to take but it is at the same time as my Arabic class. I also pulled out enough money to get by for food the next week or two, pay the dues for the Alexandria trip (Future blog and photos to come) as well has to have a opening amount for opening a bank account here. I really am in love with the Egyptian pound. Well at that most things Egyptian. With an exchange rate of 1-5.4 whats not to love.
The Nile trip
Tonight a bunch of us went on a Nile Dinner cruise. We where on a very large boat and they served a meal plus dessert and then had culturally appropriate live entertainment for the rest of the night. Some of the acts included but where not limited too a belly dancer as well as a guy with a Sufi like skirt that did a heck of a lot of spinning. They played music with it and the performers would walk around for everyone to take pictures with. Those who where lucky enough to have the Camera guy on board take their picture with the performer where also lucky enough to get suckered into paying the 30LE for a print of it; and they brought them out full size printed and in a nice "to go" folder so how could you really say no?
Hope your enjoying the posts- and questions or comments write on my face book group wall.
I also will have more pictures and videos ( videos are mostly of the performers) up as soon as I can.
Phil
I really feel like I have been as busy as the city is and it has been tough to find nice relaxing free time to sit and do some blogging. For the most part everything has been go go go but on a "o ill do it later" type attitude. I have found that its very common to try to get to where you want to be here so that you can be there and not have to do anything. The rush to the lazy. For those of you who don't know, I am not a morning person. So far I have been hitting the sack around 12:30 and getting up about 6:50. I don't have class this semester until 10am but I will have to make the 8am bus everyday to make sure to be there on time. The traffic is really unpredictable and the trip can take between 40min and an hour and 40 min. Religion is way more prevalent here and I think it is rooted in the traffic. The deeper your religion, your faith perhaps you will be able to cross the street with out getting clipped by any of the speeding taxi's or the moped with 4 guys on swerving in between cars, trucks and buses honking non-stop to let others know he is coming up fast. That all being said, the morning this is a pain because unless you want to wait two hours to eat on campus at the half-Egyptian half Americanized places or the over prised cooperate America franchises you have to give yourself enough to hit up a deli or sidewalk shop before making the bus. At least its not cold here- at least respectively to home. We are running about 17 degrees average. For you crazy Americans and your F, that's about 60 or so. It would actually be really nice and most of my clothes are dressed to match the high winds on campus where not a variable I accounted for. The campus is out in the desert therefore there is nothing to stop the wind from gusting pretty hard.
Old Cairo
The other day we took a trip to Old Cairo and got to see some pretty cool looking buildings that where really important at one point or another and have lots of "history." I took some pictures. It was cool to look at, I gave out some ohs and ah's but that was about it. It was neat to stand next to walls that where 1,000 years old but honesty It wasn't super impressive. It was a wall, an old wall, but a wall. I see walls all the time. ( I do not want to hear any reference to these comments in reference to the pyramids- I have not seen pyramids before. I have seen walls)
We also saw some large and very cool churches. Church's here definitely wear the pants when it comes to churches in the States. or at least southern Minnesota. (That being said, the Mosques put the Churches to shame-architecturally) Overall it was cool but I didn't really care to much. I know this may surprise some of you but I didn't get a ton out of it. I did get some Molto though, nom nom nom. (its a bread treat wth some chocolate in it)
The campus- koshery el-omda
So far i have been on campus a couple of days and I am still lost. For the number of students the university has the campus is enormous. The buildings are all very nice and there a lot of water fountains around the grounds. It also has random patches of grass next to patches of irrigated sand with flowers and those are usually just next to sand. I still have no idea what buildings are what because they all have names that are hard to say and remember not to mention things are not labeled well. I should expect that though cause I'm in Egypt. On the way back from campus a group of about six of us got off the bus a little early in Zamalek and went to restaurant near the main road but a street back. It was a really cool place. When we open the door it was if a cloud of Sheesha smoke had just escaped. My meal was stuffed Pigeon with rice. The full meal was 25LE, about 5 dollars.
Horse back riding
Last night I got to go on a trip out to Giza to go horse back riding near the pyramids. It sounded like a really good idea and under a normal situation would have been a fantastic time however I discovered something about myself; I am allergic to horses. Honestly I am not all together sure that is what it was because I have been around horses before but I had a wicked reaction which made the trip rather un-enjoyable. Given that I am still glad I went because I got to See the Pyramids-sorta. It was more of a high class tease. Where we were riding was a little over a half mile from them and although we could see them, it was dark and they where in silhouette. It was still very cool to see their outlines and know that if nothing else so far had slapped me in the face with giant red, white and black Egypt first that moment was it.
-----------------
Today I went to the Campus again to get some more stuff done. I set an appointment to change my class schedule. If i get what i ant I will be in Arabic, a class on ancient Egypt and General chemistry 1 for 12 credits. There was another class I wanted to take but it is at the same time as my Arabic class. I also pulled out enough money to get by for food the next week or two, pay the dues for the Alexandria trip (Future blog and photos to come) as well has to have a opening amount for opening a bank account here. I really am in love with the Egyptian pound. Well at that most things Egyptian. With an exchange rate of 1-5.4 whats not to love.
The Nile trip
Tonight a bunch of us went on a Nile Dinner cruise. We where on a very large boat and they served a meal plus dessert and then had culturally appropriate live entertainment for the rest of the night. Some of the acts included but where not limited too a belly dancer as well as a guy with a Sufi like skirt that did a heck of a lot of spinning. They played music with it and the performers would walk around for everyone to take pictures with. Those who where lucky enough to have the Camera guy on board take their picture with the performer where also lucky enough to get suckered into paying the 30LE for a print of it; and they brought them out full size printed and in a nice "to go" folder so how could you really say no?
Hope your enjoying the posts- and questions or comments write on my face book group wall.
I also will have more pictures and videos ( videos are mostly of the performers) up as soon as I can.
Phil
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Hello everyone. Thanks for the interest in my trip and I think it is a good idea that this marks not only my first adventure abroad but also my first adventure into the world of blogging, so it may be a little rough. As this is my first post, it might be a little long.
My plan for Amsterdam was to take the train out of the city and take a boat tour and fun stuff like that. That was only a plan though. Unfortunately I really didn't know where I was going or what I was doing. I did manage to get a train ticket (thank you Megan for telling me what to get) however I couldn't understand what I bought or where to go because it printed in Dutch. So basically I just picked a random platform, got on the train and road it till I thought the word on the screen sounded kinda like the name of the place I thought I was going. Long story short I got lost in Amsterdam for a couple hours, got on the wrong train twice but eventually (and luckily) got back to the airport. I did manage to find a large our door mall thing with tons of people- see pictures.
Amsterdam
I left Minneapolis Friday night at 7:45 and fly to Amsterdam. Leaving my mom, dad and sister honestly was really bitter sweet. The flight was long and I didn't sleep. I do have to say though that the movie selection was really good and Matt Damon's "The Informant" is hilarious if you like dry humor. I had a window seat and I was really lucky because the seat next to me was empty so I could stretch out a little more. Once we got out over the Atlantic most people where sleeping and the cabin lights where off. I was able to look out the window and see the stars from a whole new perspective. That was very very cool. I got to Amsterdam at 11am local time and had a 10 hour layover there.
My plan for Amsterdam was to take the train out of the city and take a boat tour and fun stuff like that. That was only a plan though. Unfortunately I really didn't know where I was going or what I was doing. I did manage to get a train ticket (thank you Megan for telling me what to get) however I couldn't understand what I bought or where to go because it printed in Dutch. So basically I just picked a random platform, got on the train and road it till I thought the word on the screen sounded kinda like the name of the place I thought I was going. Long story short I got lost in Amsterdam for a couple hours, got on the wrong train twice but eventually (and luckily) got back to the airport. I did manage to find a large our door mall thing with tons of people- see pictures.
Cairo
I got to Cairo this morning at 2:45 am local time. Driving in Cairo is ridiculous. We litterally almost got into 3 accidents on the way to the dorm. After check-in and security ( the res hall has baggage check and a metal detector-the metal detector doesn't work- to get into the dorm) I was in my dorm room and in bed about 5am. I woke up this morning at 7:30 am when one of my two roommates arrived. (the other roommate Jason was already here).
The day has been packed. I went to breakfast with Jason and another girl we met at a deli a few blocks down the street. Jason and I spent a little over an hour walking around the island of zamalek taking pictures, getting to know each other and attempting not to get hit by speeding cars or micro-buses. The only traffic law that applies on the roads here is the horn. It is the request to cross, the blinker, the confirmation of a taxi pick-up and naturally the get the f&@K out of my way.
later that Afternoon we where able to ride the bus out to the university campus and explore it for a while. The bus was 1.5 hours (which sucks) but it was nice to have the time to talk to the other students. It was pretty funny because as you head towards the New Cairo district the buildings go from moderate to nice, to really shitty, to not finished skeletons, to really nice again. I got my student ID while out there (which now makes this trip legit) and got my taste of the falafel and koshery. Both where pretty good although.
We hurried to catch the bus back to Zamalek for the student meeting and following that was just a large gathering with everyone. Tomorrow a large group is going to go explore old town Cairo. Hopefully the bus will be big enough for everyone to fit. We walked around some market and shops tonight and bought some personal goods, had street corner made swarmas for dinner and the ress hall staff told us where to go to get our cell phones and how to do so. Everyone here has the same kind of phone, a super cheep and very basic little cell phone and everyone has a pay as you go plan. Its should work pretty well.
I hope that this is enough for everyone for a start. I am going on about 3 hours of sleep since Friday morning so I am going to call it a night. I will post the pictures I have taken so far on the face book group.
If you have any questions or comments write them on the wall for the group!
Shokrun and massalaima (thank you and goodbye)
-Phil
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