Back Home!

I've been back home for over a week now... first visiting my parents and some friends from high school, then heading south to move in to a new apartment.

Getting home was no easy task, though. Since I visited Egypt on my way back to Uganda this last January, I had to go through Cairo once again. So, this is how the trip went...
Uganda to Kenya to Sudan to Egypt (for an 8 hour layover beginning at midnight!?!) to London to San Francisco

It took an insane number of hours and two missed nights of sleep before I arrived in SF. BUT, I arrived WITH all my luggage, so all was well.

Now I'm settling back into Orange County. I spent my first night at my new apartment last night. I go to sign my new teaching contract tomorrow...hooray! Things will be back into full swing before I know it!

Goodbye Teacher Beth

Today was my last day of school. I leave on a plane tomorrow. But, before I left, the school surprised me with a going away presentation. Most of the classes had a song or poem to present as a farewell wish. Despite the challenges teaching in Uganda, I was sad to see my time with the kids end. They drive me crazy, but I love 'em just the same...


A special song from P1:


I was also given a number of gifts before I left. How sweet are they!! They are always so appreciative of everything you do.


It was a great feeling to be appreciated, but it makes it that much harder to leave. I'm excited to go home to the US, but I'll miss all the relationships that I built here.

Maranatha Christian School...part 2

It can be slightly embarrassing having your mom walk around with you taking photos of all the "normal sights" I see and the people I have to walk by or work with on a daily basis. However, I'm definitely glad she did now that it's all over because I have some great photos to remember what life is like here in Uganda! This is a typical shop along the road to school.
A day is not complete without walking past the boda drivers and being propositioned in one way or another.

I'm winding up my last few days at school, and thought I'd post a few extra pics of Maranatha Christian School. This is where I spent a lot of my time over the last year... thanks mom for the pictures!
This is the upper primary school building and admin offices. This is the school kitchen!!

A few of the P3 kids after a reading lesson. This is at Christopher House Ministries, where the kids learn music, drama, art, and sports.

Two Weeks with Mom and Lois

I've been MIA for a while, but with good reason- my mom and aunt came to visit! We were able to squeeze a lot in during the short two weeks that we had...

Day 1: Mom and Lois stepped off the plane Friday AM and were ready to get started, so, we took off running! Breakfast, ATM, visit the Lutheran Missionaries in Kabalagala, grocery shopping...

Day 2-3: We left early in the morning for Soroti to visit Pastor Julius' church, mom's sponsor child, and a "cousin." When we arrived, the kids were already waiting for us at their Saturday program...they were ready to greet us, sing for us, and play with us :) On Sunday, we visited the family of my mom's sponsor child. Below is the picture she took with the whole family, who by the way, live in a tiny 2 bedroom house! They were so excited we came to visit them, though.
 

Day 4: We left Soroti and headed back to Kampala, stopping in Jinja to visit the Nile (and Bujagali Falls) and the Jinja YMCA (for Lois).

Day 5: Shopping Day! It was a public holiday, so we took advantage and went downtown to do all the souvenir shopping mom and Lois could manage!

Day 6: Maranatha Christian School...I took mom and Lois to school with me. Below is a picture of my P3 class. We read a story and made the paper hats to go with!
 




Day 7-11: Safari!! We got to go to both Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls...both are amazing! Of course, we had a few bumps, bruises, and mishaps along the way, but we still enjoyed ourselves, the food, and the animals... Here's a picture of mom and me hanging out near the pool...behind us in the Kazinga channel, which connects Lake Edward and Lake Alfred.
 

We saw lots of wildlife...giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, antelopes, chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, birds, and LIONS! This lion nearly walked right up to our van. Seriously, he was like 10-15 feet away!
 

Day 12: Back to Maranatha Christian School and Christopher House. Several of the classes from Maranatha go to Christopher House Ministries once a week...it's a place they learn art, music, dance, sports, and character. The kids love it and it's something they definitely crave and need.

Day 13: Once again, we had to wake up early to back out to the Entebbe airport to drop off mom and Lois. Time flew by! I guess we were having fun :)

Teaching the Teachers

After a short stint away from teaching, I finally got back on the horse, so to speak. Sometimes it felt like the holiday break had been going on forever. Not that I hated working at GBI, because I actually did enjoy using my admin gifts even if it sounds totally nerdy, but it is not where my passion lies.

For me, I love the look of excitement on a student's face when they are learning something new, when they really GET IT for the first time. I love being a part of that, even if it is the faces of teachers learning new ways of teaching a subject they had, for the most part, ignored in the past.

The latter of the two is what I got to experience this last week. I was the teacher of teachers. A friend had asked me a of couple weeks ago if I would come to the school he worked at to do a training on teaching reading. I was more than happy to do it.

There were about 25 teachers at the training from all levels, pre-school to 7th grade. Fortunately, it wasn't too big of a stretch to tell them that they could use most of the strategies I was teaching in any level, especially since kids are currently leaving primary school without basic reading skills. I got a lot of great feedback from the training, and I actually really enjoyed myself while doing it. One teacher was nodding at everything I said like it was the most genious thing anyone had ever told him, and then he came to ask more questions during the break and at the end(and I'm pretty sure it wasn't because he was looking for a mzungu wife!). I figure it's a good sign when teachers ask additional questions...it shows they were listening and want to know more.

Now, the kids will be returning on Monday for the second term of school. My time is running out quick, but I'm excited to work with them for at least a few more weeks and I'm hoping that the teachers will continue to use some of the reading strategies I've shown them.

Facing a Fear

I faced my fear today...it only took 10 months of living here to do it.

I was afraid to get my hair cut in Uganda. I've heard some bad stories...seen some bad pictures.

But, we went to a "nice place" and I was quite impressed. I like the cut...pretty much looks like it would if I had done it in the US, but for half the cost.

There's nothing much to fear hear...as long as you go to the right place :)

Girls' Weekend

Sometimes a girl just needs to get away from home for a few days with other girl friends and have a slumber party. That's exactly what I did this last weekend...

A friend of mine, Sydney, invited me along on this girls' weekend to Suubi, one of Watoto's orphanage villages (www.watoto.com). I had gone out there with Sydney one other time and met the headmistress of the primary school, Winnie, who invited us out for a girls' weekend the next time we came.

The weekend got off to a rough start trying to leave Kampala. With horrendous Friday-night-traffic and irritated police officers, there was one point that I really believed our weekend was going to end before it even got started. After talking sense back into the officer who took Sydney's license away, we were back on the road again!

The weekend didn't consist of anything particularly spectacular, but overall it was exactly what we were looking for! We stayed up late, watched numerous episodes of Flight of the Conchords, slept-in, and played games. On Saturday afternoon, Sydney and I walked down to Suubi 2, a new part of the Watoto village where teens from Gulu now live. We brought a volleyball with us and played with them most of the afternoon. These young adults from Gulu have extraordinary stories, former child soldiers and abductees now living in a place where they are accepted as God's children and learning how God can change the future of their lives.

We also attended the village church service on Sunday morning. It was a nice way to wrap up our time at Suubi...hearing about how we are not good on our own, but through Christ, who works in us, we become good.

Chess Anyone?

Every few days I walk over to the primary school to check in and to make sure they don't forget I'm still around (since I've been working over at the Bible Institute the last 2 1/2 weeks). Today, I found three of the guy teachers huddled around one of the new computers.

"Beth! Oh Good! You came at the perfect time!"

Huh? This was not the quiet, yet respectful, greeting I typically received when arriving.

Well, the guys had discovered Chess on the new computer and had no idea how to really play. They were just clicking on pieces and making moves blindly...and thus, kept losing.

"Do you know how to play?"
"Sure."

So, with my limited expertise, I spent a few minutes going over the moves each piece can make, some strategies, the goal of the game, etc. We played a "practice game" while I was there, and they started to catch on, a little, but I could definitely see the wonder growing in their eyes. It's that look kids get when they get a new video game and end up playing for hours...mouth open, eyes wide. I imagine those guys may still be there 8 hours later playing away! I think I successfully managed to give the teachers an excuse not to get any work done this week as they become more and more addicted to the wonders of computer games.

Didi's World

Uganda has an amusement park...yep, an amusement park, and it happens to be just down the street from where I live. So, why not take a trip down to Didi's World on a nice Saturday afternoon?

We pulled in to an empty lot...ah, the first ones here! We paid the Sh5,000 ($2.50) entrance fee and walked into the eerily quiet amusement park.

Nothing was working yet and it was already after 10am, so Kadin and Noah killed some time on the playground. What we soon found out was that we just needed to go get on a ride and wait for one of the workers to come over and turn it on for us. The ride was over when the boys were bored and wanted off. Here's the boys on their first ride...the Orient Express.

Most of the rides were county fair type rides for little kids, but there were a few that they let the adults on: teacups (which the conductor hand-spun as you passed by him), bumper cars (with only 4 them working), and the pirate ship (which made weird creaking noises and safety bars that didn't lock). I tried to get on the motorcycle ride, but they kicked me off before they actually got started.

Half the rides weren't working and the other half looked like they had seen better days, but it was a fun way to kill some hours on a Saturday afternoon. There was even an arcade, which cost Sh1,000 per game, so we just sat and pretended to ride those (we weren't going to pay the Sh1,000 per game on the principle that we only paid Sh5,000 for unlimited rides on everything else).

Cheap Labor

Hiring labor around here is pretty cheap...

Jeff and Christine hired three men to dig a plot of land today...I'm talking like 8 hours of over-your-head, swinging a hoe kind of digging...not easy.

They've been hired at a wage of 8,000 shillings per day...that's equivalent to about $4 for an entire day of work.

Doesn't seem like much to me...but they're willing to take the work.

At dinner, I made a comment about the cheap labor and Jeff so kindly calculated my own wages for the week...

I started working at the Gaba Bible Institute this past Wednesday, since the kids are on holiday from school, and I'm currently working on a project to "fix" student files from the last 3 years, which is necessary as GBI moves toward national accreditation. I worked about 18 hours...I was paid today with a trip to Ciao Ciao to get ice cream ($0.50). That comes to less than $.03 per hour!!

Now, THAT'S cheap labor!

Maranatha Christian School...part 1

Recently, I realized that I didn't really have any pictures from school...the students, teachers, etc. that I work with. So, I took my camera to school and started taking pictures like crazy...first in P2, then both P3 classes. Before I could even make it to the P4 class, which I also work with, my battery died...I guess I'll have to take my camera to school again another time!

Here's a picture of the lower primary section (Primary 1-3 classes), where I tend to spend most of my day...construction is always ongoing down here.

I taught the P2 class "The Ants Go Marching" song, to work on rhyming, number sequence, and animal habitats...hoorah, hoorah!

Teacher Peninah and her P3 class...where I usually can be found, even when I'm not teaching.

Teacher Olivia: the head P3 teacher, who works mainly with the struggling students of P3.

Nussula (the middle, back student) is an example of when retaining a student can work. Last year, Nussula was in the bottom 5 students in her P3 class of about 70 students. She was in one of my reading groups and started to make progress, but not enough to move her on to P4. This year, she is at the top of her class and raises her hand confidently! She's constantly helping the other students in her class as well.

Azuukidde! He is Risen!

Happy Easter! Azuukidde! He is risen!

Despite the rain today, I made my way to Gaba Community Church's outdoor Easter service.

There were three large, white tents to sit under, but the musicians stuck it out in the rain...Yep, electrical equipment, wires, speakers, and microphones were all left out in the rain! (Ok, some of the speakers were covered with blue tarps, as you can see in the picture, and the cameramen had umbrellas, but still!?) Even the tents began to leak. The picture below is of the church choir. Note the white skirts...these Ugandans just don't think about rain!

The service was filled with special music and dance performances. I think it lasted the first hour and a half of the service. All the while, in true African style, people showed up as much as an hour late. Then, Pastor Peter gave a short Easter message, to be followed by what?...yep, more special musical performances. They did have prayers and offering somewhere in there, but there was always a song being sung at the same time. Africans love their music!

In all, it took about two and a half hours, and that was cutting off the last few performances. People were shouting for the last ones, but they decided to wrap it up anyway. Thank goodness!

This picture is of the Mwangaza children's choir...they were definitely the best performance of the morning!

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

Uganda's rhinos became extinct nearly 30 years ago, during the time of Ida Amin, due to civil unrest and heavy poaching...

BUT, a few years ago Rhino Fund Uganda started a rhino sanctuary that can eventually house up to 50 rhinos! They started with 4 in 2005, and then received 2 more from Disney's Wild Kingdom last year. They are expecting the first baby rhinos to be born later this year!

Eventually, the rhinos will be re-introduced to Uganda's national parks...

The rhino sanctuary is surrounded by an electric fence to keep the rhinos in while keeping poachers out...and there are rangers who monitor the rhinos 24-7. Visitors are welcome to see the white rhinos from as close as 30-50 meters away.

So, we piled in the car and headed to the rhino sanctuary in Nakasangola district...arriving a few hours later...

Our guide met us at the gate and we headed toward where the rhinos were...driving part way but then walking the rest of the way away from the road.

Just then, we could see the first rhino...laying in the shade of some trees. As we got a little closer we noticed the other three rhinos that were also there. You can just see in the background how close I am to the rhinos!

A couple times a rhino would stand up and we were able to see how large these animals really are...they can reach up to 2.5 tons! They seemed to look right at us...but never came toward us.

The guides know them each by name and call their names to calm them down when they appear to be agitated. After getting our fill of pictures, we headed back to the cars, to lunch, and then back to Kampala.

Something I learned at school this week:

What is soil?
Soil is were you find plants, roots, and nutrients.

Nutrients are small animals that live in soil.

(This was the science lesson in P3 this week...not even kidding!)

They sing like angels...

Why is it that music, art, and sports seem to be the first things that get cut in schools? Because they aren't seen as essential...they are not a part of the fundamental skills needed in basic education...they are extra...for fun.

It's true, they are fun, but they can also be huge motivators in getting students to like school...not to mention that they help develop well-rounded students and have been scientifically proven to help develop mathematics concepts and specific brain functions.

Plus, look at many of the highest paid people in the world...actors, athletes, and musicians!

What does this all look like here in Uganda? You can often walk by a typical school here in Uganda and here singing. They've got that one for sure! But a lack of resources and creative teachers make any other type of performing art/athletics virtually non-existent.

BUT...Christopher House Ministries is a local ministry that teaches students about character and the arts. The students at Maranatha Christian School (the school I'm teaching at) have been going to Christopher House once a week since the beginning of the term in Feb. Students committed themselves, for the duration of the term, to the area of focus they were most interested in: Arts & Crafts, Music & Dance, or Sports.

Each week they are excited to go...although most of the teachers gripe about the 30 minute walk there and then back during school hours. The students practically run the entire distance to make the most of their time...they are focused on their task for the whole of the hour spent there, something rarely seen in the classrooms back at school.

Today Christopher House Ministries had their Easter Celebration. Today was their day to show off what the students have learned, although most of the performances were by children who attend the Saturday Program.

I must say...I was impressed. They performed songs, dances, and skits. Even fairly young children were not timid in front of the crowd of parents. Their voices were beautiful...and man were those young girls good at twisting their hips!

Without a doubt Christopher House Ministries is doing something positive for the children in this community...and here in Uganda.

Intensive Trip

One of my favorite things to do here in Uganda is to visit the church plant in Soroti. Why? There's just something about Soroti that has made me fall in love with the people. Perhaps it is the passion that Pastor Julius exudes along with his huge smile, or the hospitality of the pastor's wife and the church members, or that the children know my name and want to spend time with me with nothing else expected.

So, when I found out a team from Mariners was coming, and planning a trip up to Soroti, I knew I had to tag along...plus, I would be able to hang out with people from "back home."

We certainly packed a lot of work into a quick trip. As Pastor Julius addressed the team and announced our schedule on the first afternoon, he referred to it as an "intensive" couple of days. He wasn't kidding!

Day 1: After 5 hours of driving, we arrived at Soroti Hotel for lunch. We then drove over to the church to pack 100 bags of food (posho, beans, and cooking oil). Some of the kids began to gather at the church while we did this, so we took the opportunity to give each of them a polaroid picture of themselves.

Jackson, one of the kids I met my first trip to Soroti, came and asked if I would be in his picture with him. Of course! All the other kids took their picture individually, but Jackson wanted me to be in his. I look forward to seeing him each time I return to Soroti. Here's a pic I took with Jackson and his youngest sister, Grace. The first time I met "Gracie" she wouldn't smile or talk to anyone, yet she was always intently watching or quietly sitting on someones lap. Now, she talks and laughs with me :)


We then left to distribute the bags of food at two different IDP camp locations...The families gathered and listened to the pastors explain who we were and why we were bringing the food. By the time we finished, it was already dark. So, we returned to the hotel for dinner.

Day2: Wednesday morning we visited the new ARM sponsorship office. Then we headed to Amuria county to distribute wheelchairs. I personally had the chance to record three stories of people receiving a wheelchair for the first time. Just from this one gift, their life had hope again. In a society where crippled people are shunned and hidden, we let them know that they are not fogotten...that they are loved by a big God.

After lunch at Pastor Julius' house and a quick training on malaria & mosquito net use, we drove out to the surrounding villages to distribute the nets. I, somehow, ended up in a group with me being the only "mzungu"(white person), which was fine except that it automatically made me the spokesperson of the group! I hate being the center of attention like that!

Each time I've gone out into the villages, I am amazed by the Ugandan people's hospitality. They rush to find chairs/stools for us to sit on as they see us approaching. Each family is grateful for the net that they receive because they understand the reality of death...and malaria is the number one killer in Uganda.
Again, we were out until dark...so back to the hotel for dinner and rest. The heat of the day drained our energy and we were exhausted!

Day 3: Early the next morning we were back on the road to Kampala.

Nutrition 101

I've heard some interesting theories about nutrition from the Ugandans I work with and come in contact with...here are just a few:

1)There's a little boy in the P3 class whose belly is slightly bloated. In Africa, this is a sign of Kwashiorkor, a protein deficiency common among malnourished children. So, I asked one of the teachers if Douglas eats lunch as school (a meal of posho and beans, which would provide a good source of protein). The teacher said yes and then asked me why I was asking. I told her that I noticed his belly was a little bloated, which is a sign of malnutrition. SHE SAID...children get bloated stomachs from eating too much cold food. Yep, cold food. She even gave an example...too much juice. Be careful out there...don't drink too much juice!

2)A guest speaker came to our school and talked about nutrition. He said high blood pressure comes from eating food that is not made by God, which is not completely wrong but does discount all the other factors involved. He included the local chickens as food that is man-made, not God-made, because of what man has done to change them. I was sitting there thinking...does this mean I should stop taking my vitamins and drinking filtered water so I won't get high blood pressure? He also mentioned that Americans don't get high blood pressure because they eat right and exercise...he obviously has never been to America!

How do you know when you're making a difference?

Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing here...am I really being effective in my teaching...am I helping to promote positive change in the school...are the teachers learning something when I teach or just using me to do less work themselves...will the teachers use any of the strategies I'm teaching them once I'm gone?

Who really knows? Ok, I guess God does...and I just have to trust that God's plans are working out through my life. I believe God sent me here and wants me to be here, so I often remind myself of a verse in Proverbs that says, "Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD."(Prov.16:20)

I admit, at times, I want to jump on a plane and head home! A lesson goes bad... the kids don't seem to be listening or getting the questions I'm asking them. Or the teachers ask me to do something totally menial or say something that gives me an uncomfortable twinge throughout my body that tells me they are taking advantage of me.

BUT, at other times, the kids or teachers will surprise me with a question that shows their deep interest or they'll do something that shows they are learning/changing. There are several kids I started working with last September who couldn't read one word out of a simple book...now they are sounding out words and READING! Kids get excited when I walk through the door with a stack of books in my arms, because they know what's coming. These are the moments that make me smile and know I am supposed to be here.

Seriously?!

A container came in...

A container came from the U.S. with donated supplies, which costs at least a few thousand dollars to ship across the ocean. So, you would THINK that it would make sense to ship things that would actually be helpful and beneficial to the people who you are sending it to, who are picking it up, and paying the steep taxes for, but...

The other day the school secretary comes in to the staff room and places a pair of pink, LA Dodgers, fuzzy slippers next to me. What's this?

She says it's from a donation and each female teacher received a pair. At first I was surprised they included me...then, I figured they must have gotten so many pairs of slippers they didn't know what to do with them.

I mean...pink, fuzzy slippers...in Uganda...where it's constantly HOT, and dusty throughout the year. Come on, even during rainy season, it's HOT!

Then, I stopped by the library...there were boxes and boxes piled up all around. Several workers were sifting through the boxes to divide the supplies. Although, some of the supplies had them stumped. They asked me, What's this? What do you use this for?

There were totally random things like luggage tags and orange construction paper...there were totally useless things like Thomas Guides for Los Angeles and 2008 calendars... and then the things we Americans think are nice, like an electric stapler, but the Ugandans don't know what they are at first and then probably think are impractical because electricity is expensive, if it isn't out.

Many of the supplies had me questioning...Seriously? Seriously?!

Farm Life

Ok, so I don't actually live on a farm, but this is as close as I've ever gotten. The animal count at this moment...I think...

10 layer hens (whose purpose is to keep farm-fresh eggs available at all times...and who enjoy digging/hanging-out in the sandbox...you can also see one of the 2 former turkeys in the background)

85 broiler chicks (who are being raised to sell and/or be cooked for dinner).



3 dogs (there were 4, but Christine found a home for one of the two puppies she rescued from the side of the road).


10 rabbits (the newest addition and partly an experiment to see what the market is like for rabbits).

Plus, the occasional monkey, plenty of geckos, one sneaky rat that we can't seem to get rid of, and two rambunctious little boys.

What's Your Name?

I've lived with the Atherstones for a total of about 5 months now. Wednesday nights, I babysit the two boys, Noah and Kadin, while Jeff and Christine go out to Small Group. This past Wednesday, Kadin (almost 4yrs) looked up at me and said, "Hey! What's your name?" Not that he never talked to me before or hadn't heard my name be said by the others in the house, but he didn't REALLY know my name.

Now, he hasn't stopped saying my name since Wednesday...which, according to Kadin, is Beff. He has this funny habit of saying people's names quite often when he talks to them.

So, today went something like this...
After lunch, Kadin brought over a stack of Diego books to read, which he pretty much has memorized. With each book he picked up he said, "Beff, that's a humpback whale Beff...Beff, Beff, that's a crab Beff...Beff, what's that Beff?"

Later in the afternoon, I was playing with both the boys, chasing them around the house. Kadin decided to take sides with me to chase Noah. "Beff! Beff, let's get Noah, Beff...Beff, where's Noah Beff?...Beff, let's go this way Beff!"

I guess he's catching up on not saying my name in the last 5 months.


A picture of Kadin in his "work" outfit.

Back to Work!

Although attendance was sparse, two weeks ago marked the beginning of a new school year for the children of Uganda. I'm still teaching English Reading, but in a slightly different capacity...rather than pulling reading groups (10 students at a time) to work in the library with me, I am teaching whole class reading lessons (to 40-60 students at a time).

Why do this instead? Because ALL the students desperately need to learn basic reading skills, as well as it allows the teachers to actually see what I am doing with the students. They can then adopt some of the strategies as their own, brilliant, eh?! I do have to admit, teaching to such large groups at a time present new challenges...especially when there is a lack of teaching materials to use and little to no classroom management presently in place. I'm sure the stories will begin to flow soon enough...

Following in Moses' footsteps?

The first night in Sharm, Christina and I were approached by a young man who worked for a travel agency. Perfect. We had wanted to go to Mt. Sinai, but we didn't know how we were going to get there, and for about 35 bucks, which included transportation, a guide, and breakfast, it wasn't a bad deal.

Two days later, we checked out of our hotel at the required deadline of noon, but our trip to Mt. Sinai didn't begin until 10pm, so we were forced to kill some time, lounging by the Red Sea and going snorkeling. I know, poor us!

10pm- We were picked up in the lobby of our hotel to start on our 3hour journey to the mountain base. Here's a picture of us when we first entered the mini-bus, still warm and excited...

1:30am- After three and a half hours of sitting next to the most obnoxiously drunk Russian and getting virtually no sleep, we arrived at St. Catherine's Monastary, where we would start the trek up the mountain by foot. We stayed in the bus until the very last moment, knowing that it was going to be cold and steep up to the peak of Mt. Sinai.

We had been warned that it would be cold, and we even put on our warmest layers of clothes we could find, but we were not prepared for the freezing climate we were going to face. Our fingers and toes became painfully stiff and numb at the same time. Our bodies shivered uncontrollably and our legs burned going up the last 700 stone-stairs to the peak. As long as we kept moving, it was semi-bearable...

We arrived at the top an hour before sunrise. We huddled together, hoping that would bring us the tiniest bit of warmth. We willed the sun to rise quicker and the rays to hit our red noses. It was the slowest, most miserable hour I could think of. Then, our guide came up from behind and placed a blanket around our shoulders...I think he felt sorry for us as we danced around to keep our blood flowing...but even this didn't help much at all.


At 6:30am the sun finally peeked up above the horizon. The crowd of people cheered at that first sight of the sun's rays. The beautiful scene set before us was difficult to enjoy under the conditions, but we were hopeful for the warmth that we believed would come soon.


Down the mountain we went, much quicker than we had ascended. With each step the warmth from the sun hit my face and gave me a sense of relief.
We basked in the sun for a few minutes at the bottom of the mountain and stared up at the daunting cliffs, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.

Would I do it again? Insanely, probably yes, but only if I had gloves and a proper jacket...or it was the middle of the summer!

Egyptian Adventures

So, here are a few more pics from my trip to Egypt. This one is taken looking up at one of the pyramids... not quite as smooth as it looks from far away. We climbed up a few of the rocks to take this one:

Christina and I took a day trip from Luxor to Abydos and Dendara. This is a pic inside one of the temples:

Ok, totally cheezy but kinda cool at the same time, the Sound and Light Show at the Karnak Temple in Luxor lets you walk around the temple at night:

Four Cups of Tea

I recently finished reading the book Three Cups of Tea and wondered if Mortenson had exaggerated about how much tea he drank while in Pakistan. Now, after traveling to Egypt, I've gotten a taste of what he was talking about, literally. It was not uncommon for me to drink 3, 4, or 5 cups of tea in a day because of what locals called "Egyptian hospitality."

Christina and I could not walk down the street without some shopkeeper practically forcing us to come into their shop and have a cup of tea, all the while telling us about the wonderful products they had to purchase, or some local man walking down the street wanting to invite us to a nearby coffee shop or to their home for drinks (having drinks means drinking tea in Egypt- a virtually dry country) just to talk. Saying "no" was not an option in most cases. Whether it was a ploy or a genuine interest in the two American girls, I can't really say. Perhaps it was a little of both.

Despite the constant bombardment of pushy shopkeepers and leering men, we had a great time visiting the ancient sites of Cairo and Luxor and enjoying the beauty of the Sinai peninsula.
Yes, we did the cliche camel ride to the pyramids in Giza- never again...on one hand you are grossed out by the smell and noises coming from the camels, and on the other you feel bad for how they are mistreated.

Kissing the Sphinx- also a "touristy" thing to do...

Sunset in Luxor: looking from a felluca (sailboat) toward Banana Island

Snorkeling in the Red Sea- so many beautiful fish!