the day of the great pyramids.

my trip to egypt in may of 2014 effected me in so many different ways.  some of them were devastating...i think i've mentioned that a few times before, haha.  but it was also an amazing trip.  and i need to document it because i had the privilege of tasting another culture, of breathing different air, seeing in a different light.  i got to live a little bit in the local way and i experienced kindness from people who were totally different than me, but also totally the same.  ...not to mention seeing one of the ancient wonders of the world!  oh yeah that.  pfff.  :)

i stayed in giza for a week. giza is also where the great pyramids are. i stayed with b's aunt nadia and cousin merfat.  they lived in an apartment building just off the busy king faisal street.  the roads were narrow and dirt and impossibly packed with people and cars and animals and shops and micro buses, scooters, atvs, donkey carts, cars, food stands and garbage.  one of the first things i noticed was the teeming life of the streets.  even after 1am, which was my first introduction to them, they were full of people and vehicles and sellers and buyers.  the streets of cairo and giza never ceased to fascinate me the whole time i was in egypt.  you never knew what you would see.  my eyes took a thousand pictures that my camera never got the chance to take.

anyways aunt nadia's flat was on the fith floor of her building.  you entered the building through a metal gate...well it had bars like a gate but it was tall like a door...my memory is vague.  i just remember that i would be dropped off there and would wait just inside, in the darkness and trying to see all i could see.  sometimes i would see children playing, sometimes flies circling broken down piles of garbage, sometimes street vendors preparing their carts...  it was dark inside and the stairs were uneven and cement. there was a low--below waist hight cement wall along the stairs.  each floor had two apartments i think.  people hung various matts over the stairs and many shoes sat outside the doors.  often i ferral street cat would skitter away as we approached.  the stray cats were everywhere.  egyptians usually will say they love cats.  it's in their blood i guess.  :)  anyways there is no elevator so one must huff and puff and climb the stairs to the 5th floor.  by the end of the week i was much better at this, and didn't need to stop and gain my breath anymore.

i wish i took more pictures inside the apartment.  but aunt nadia and merfat didn't like their pictures taken so i tried to respect their privacy.  when you come in, there is a big open area covered by a eastern style rug.  exactly to the left was my room, which was merfat's room. and beside that room was aunt nadia's room.  her door opened closer to the dining room which was at the end of the long open area.  it was a long table and there was a fridge in the far corner beside the curtained window.  the kitchen was on the right side of the large area.  it was a small square area with a stove and a sink and that's all i remember of that.  the bathroom is directly off of the kitchen.  like you open the door and step into the kitchen.  the door has a wide gap between floor and door bottom.  there is not much privacy in egyptian homes, i think.  there was a small tub and a hand held shower head but no shower curtain.  one just squeegies the water towards the drain after one has a shower.  there are always plastic slippers to wear in the bathroom, slipped on and kicked off just at the entrance. there were many containers full of water.  the water was often off.  so when it was on, you filled the tub, and filled all the containers to have at the ready for the off times.  which is a life saver when you really have to poo and the only way to flush the toilet is to dump water into the toilet until it manually flushes.  there is no toilet paper.  egyptians think it is weird and dirty that we only clean ourselves with toilet paper. their toilets have a handy little spray that hits you right where you want it, if you know what i mean. i was provided with some toilet paper just for me.  i took it with me every time i went to the washroom just to check to make sure the water cleaned up everything,but it always did.  i know many people ask about the water leaving you too wet on your bum3.  well all i can say is that wow, things dry fast in egypt.  

often we lost electricity too.  it was no big deal.  battery lamps were taken out and life continued on as before.

ok.  so i just wanted those things recorded.  this post is about my second full day.  the day we went the pyramids.  may 4th 2014.  i kept a point form travel log daily with little details and i'm going to use that as well as a vast amount of pics... i kept out any of b because 1. he wishes it so and 2. i want to be able to look back on this no matter who i'm with in the future.  it was a little bit of a difficult decision because i had to sacrifice some good pics.  but so be it.

i fell asleep at about 1am the night before and woke up at 5am.  everyone was asleep but i ventured out and had a bath in the cool water.  cool water baths in egypt were a delicious thing.  i knelt in the cool water of the tub and used a small container to dump the water over my head.  people here have showers morning and night.  and i understand it--it's so dusty and hot and sweaty.  just going outside can make you dirty.  because dust and sand is always flowing in the air and sticking to you.  that's the way it seemed to me anyways.

after my shower i went back to my room and did my hair and make-up and sunscreen.  my hair has never dried so fast.  i didn't ever need my blow dryer.  everyone was still asleep so i dozed for a while on my bed.  i probably also took these clicks then.

this is my bedroom window.  there was no air conditioning, but i had a fan and a window.

here is a taste of what the buildings look like and how close together they are.  people hang their clothes to dry out their windows like that.  one time i saw some goats on a roof part. that's just where they kept them. much is made from brick.

this was taken from either the living room (which i forgot to mention...full of over stuffed couches.  it's where b slept. and it was on the other side of the dining room) or the dining room window.

merfat made me an omelette every day.  i think b told her that's what i like for breakfast.  she also

made b what i call an egyptian salad, for every meal.  and i ate it too.  the egyptian salad is chunky chopped cucumber, onion and tomato..sometimes some peppers or lettuce shredded in it too.  always parsley and cumin and vinegar.  sometimes some other herbs and some lemon maybe.  there was always aish, the egyptian kind of pita bread, in a stack on the corner of the table.  everything is eaten with bread.  you rip off a piece of the bread and you smear some of merfat's strawbery preserves on it, or some soft white cheese or wrap it around some french fries (which merfat usually made every morning as well) i thought wrapping french fries in bread was a little weird.  there was also usually halva which they call halawa.  by the end of the week i was good at getting out all the breakfast things from the fridge and learned the arabic word for cheese--gibnah, just from hearing it flying about every morning.  sometimes we ate alone and sometimes with aunt and merfat.  at first i didn't know how things were done--comunally kind of,  no one really had their own plate except me. but i got the hang of things after a while.

since we were going to the most touristy place ever--the pyramids, i decided to wear my canada flag shirt.  i also wore my new squishy flip flops for the first time.  i remember merfat and aunt approved of them when i came out of my room ready to go.  aunt nadia was always so sweet to me.  she didn't speak any english.  but she was always calling me habibty which means dear, or love depending on how you say it, and i learned the words for pretty just because she was always saying them about me, with a beaming face.  she said i should always stay there with them.  and she forced me to drink some green pop before we left for our day's adventure.  no one ever lets you get away with just drinking water no matter how much you just want water.

i thought we were leaving late--like 10 or 11 but really it was 8am.  my clock was still off.  there were children and parents everywhere.  as we drove i was instructed not to talk to anyone at the pyramids.  specifically people trying to sell me stuff/tours etc.  as we were approaching the pyramids we were stopped by some guys selling camel rides around the pyramids.  the guy says his name is youssary.  b agrees with him and soon i find myself standing next to a camel getting my picture taken.

they love doing this kind of pic.

when it was time to get on a camel (gamel in arabic.  go figure) i was a bit scared.  this was the first of many times i heard the command "hang on tight and lean back".  the camel jolts severely forward and back when standing up.  he's got long legs, man.  at first i was put on a camel that youssary said was named mickey mouse.  he had tattoos all down his neck, in an interesting way.  and even a crude little heart.  but later i was changed to the larger one that youssary said was named michael jackson.  i didn't really believe youssary on the names. i figured he thought it was a funny thing to tell tourists, but whatevs.  they were mickey and mj to me.  mickey was 7 years old and mj was 12.

me on mickey mouse

mickey's neck tattoos...

i thought youssary was going to be our guide but he handed us of to 'abdul' who he said was his brother.  'abdul' didn't speak as much english as youssary.  usually he would say something in arabic and then b would tell me in english.  and so we started.  kind of unbelievable and surreal that i was there...at the pyramids...in egypt....on a camel....named michael jackson. lol

me and michael and 'abdul'.

camel's head view.

abdul said it used to be covered in a smooth casing of alabaster, but there was an earthquake or something and most of it fell off and it was then carried away by order of a king to use on a mosque.

camel shadow...

this donkey guy waved at me so i waved back.

then he jumped on his donkey and trotted after us.  nice panoramic of the 3 giants hey?

'abdul' said the 3rd pyramid was made from back granite.  i asked what about the first one.  the answer came back to me that it was made from 'normal' stone.  this amused and confused me.  how could it be normal?  what is normal stone??  i realized then that 'abdul' didn't really know that much.  later i learned that a normal...in this way is like a direct translation of the word 3adi which is used when something is usual/average/everyday...i don't know.  anyways there's the three beauts.

the donkey guy offered me an orange fresca in a glass bottle.  i declined but i later wished that i hadn't.  it was so hot and windy and i got super thirsty.

here i am convinced to do some silly things...

just chillin like a villian with khufu.

 'abdul'...leads and guides...walks beside...

 it wasn't long before i abandoned my flip flops for bare foot ridin'.

 here, michael and i are enjoying a private joke just between the two of us.  he may have been old, but he was a witty camel.

 me doing what i like to do. mj  deeming it only proper that i do.

 'abdul' telling me things like hey that pyramid is made from 3adi stone...mj dreaming of the next hill to cross.. the next valley... and i...i...justting out my hips in a very flattering photographer stance that i have made my own.

 we stopped at these tombs that i had these hyrogliphics on them.  but we didn't get to explore long because there were guards there who didn't like camels because they might poop.  mj exceedinly offended by said guards.

 please note the wild haired shadow of myself.

hieroglyphics that the guard would have us believe said "camel poopers will be prosectued".  it's so cool to think that ancient people's hands chiseled this stone and i was here and i saw it many eons later.  we're all connected and language connects us....and so do camels interjects mj, and then spits.

 what's in the hand?  is it a lotus?

mj's ears and his cute pink fluff.  real men embrace pink sniffed mj with a toss of head.

another of mickey mouse's neck.

does this camel make me look like a babe??? basically yes.

 mj and i care more about a selfi than the sphinx behind my hip.

 there we go. notice my lopsided sitting style.  that's the way i roll.

it's pretty amazing and beautiful isn't it?

so then we went inside one of the small ones.  you aren't allowed to take your camera.  but  small one was smuggled in and that's why i'm so luck to have this shot of my butt as i descended the steep climb down.

it is soooo humid inside the pyramid.  like i was instantly drenched in sweat.  which is super flattering and i'm so thrilled to share it with you today.  mj would have never stood for it but i don't put on airs like him.  i'm just 3adi.  not a diva camel king of pop like mj.  and that's ok.

note my slick arms.  

 naturally i layed myself down in the final resting place.

 the russians (all the western tourists i saw in egypt were basicaly russian) enjoyed this very much and did the same as me after i got out.

 so this may not look very high to you, but it freaked me out.  it was a sheer drop and there was nothing to hang on to.  but i was forced up there and perched there for many shots, much to a russian lady's judgy consternation.  maybe you can see my discomfort on my face...

 while perched here in giddy fear a man comes in bum first like us all, and exclaims over me that i am like a sunflower.  i had to get down these stairs on my butt because i was too scared to stand. so that was dignified and cool...my heart was litterally beating so fast.  it's not even that high.  fear isn't rational ok?

on the way up and out of the pyramid my sweaty foot slipped and slid in my flip flop and they broke.  'abdul' fixed them with a saftey pin.

then it was our time to climb a couple of levels up the pyramid.  the blocks are huge.  you can't just step them.  you need to climb.  there are no pics of this because they were all together and also 'abdul' did a terrible job of it.

i asked if i could take 'abdul's' photo.  here he is with mickey and mj king of pop.

 'abdul' conned b into paying him again.  he also said he would like a canadian wife.  calm like me.  he asked me if i could find one.  i said "sure" because i felt like he was joking.  it turned out that he wasn't really joking.  'abdul' is from the south.  by aswan and luxor.  and he has a wife and 2 kids already.  i told him most canadians don't like an already married man, but he seemed undeterred.  b made plans for him to take us somewhere that night as well.

 poor flip flop.  you lived only one day.  but it was a pretty cool day.

we went to the mall to exchange my money but they didn't do canadian dollars. the ac of the mall was such a relief after the heat and the wind of the giza plateau. i was surprised to see many of the same stores in the mall.  like wuuuut.

 next we headed to this store.  it was kind of like walmart.  it had groceries but also everything else.  like a new pair of flip flops.  and gel for my hair.  this is what mulukhiya, a yummy green soup is made from.  i've read that it's jute or mallow.  anyways there it is.

 we bought some groceries to contribute to the family meals and then went back home.  when we got there, there was this box of chicks in the living room.  aunt nadia has this other flat that will be mohammed's (her only son who worked night shift so i hardly saw him) when he marries.  meanwhile it houses their chickens naturally.

 aunt nadia has a daughter named omayma (her and b hit each other a lot)  and omayma has a son and here he is:

 he really didn't understand why i couldn't understand what he was saying.  all i knew was he picked the chickens up by their necks and thought it was quite funny.  we hung out for a while.  until the mahshi party started.

 from what i understand mahshi is this herbed tomato parsley onion rice that is stuffed into some veggies.  like eggplant and zucchini, okra? and wrapped in grape leaves.  all the women sat on the carpet and stuffed the veggies.  they had a chair for me, but i joined them on the floor which surprised them i think.  the ladies showed me how to do it and i understood from their motions not to fill it all the way to the top, to leave room for expansion.

as i was stuffing with my hands as you see them...my leg slowly falls asleep.  all the way from my toes up past my knee into my thigh.  i wonder how i will ever get up with my hands like that and my leg dead asleep.  omayma notices and calls b to come.  i tell him my leg is asleep and he tells merfat who rubs the blood back into my leg so i can get up.  i wash up and come back and sit with the ladies on the floor.  there is also a neighbour lady there at that point.  after a while of sitting and listening to arabic i felt sleepy and i'm told to go have a nap.  3 hours later i'm awoken for the feast.

merfat and aunt never think i am eating enough.  there is a theme of me continually disappointing them on this matter.  however i feel like i'm eating a lot.  there is also some kind of meat in tomato sauce and okra.  the power went out during dinner.    after dinner the ladies made me watermelon juice and sat on the floor eating chunks of watermelon.  then it is time to go meet 'abdul' who will take us to see the pyramid light show.

we pick him up on the street.  he was wearing a white galabaya.   (you'll see it below).  this is when i discover that his real name is ali.  but he tells the tourists it's abdul in case anyone complains.  because then the complaint goes for an abdul of which none exists.  tricky egyptian.

a little boy tells us that the power is out so there is no pyramid light show.  the same little boy chased off another guy who wanted to sell us a horse ride.  we decided to go out into the desert to this place ali knows.  ali wanted to buy us drinks. i only wanted water but forced to chose guava juice.  :)  so to get to the desert place we drove through this old muslim graveyard that lies beside the pyramids.  there are platic bags blowing in the wind everywhere.  the desert place is on a hill where you can see the silhouettes of all three pyramids. 

 it is a covered area with couches and chairs and pillows and a carpet.  we sit and talk.

 here is ali in his galabaya.  he wanted the photos as an aid for me to find his future wife.

 a picture taken with flash shows just how many dust particles are in the desert air.

 after a few hours the mosquitoes were biting me so much on my feet and ankles.  we decided to leave.  ali wanted to take us to a cafe in giza that is in the middle of the road.  so we went.  he smoked the shisha and this guy came.  ali was getting me a necklace with my name in hieroglyphics and the guy was his contact.  he came and we chose what we wanted.

  everyone spoke arabic and i sat and watched what was going on.  little children tried to sell packages of kleenex.  it's like a kind of begging.  a girl and her bf were together.  she looked ticked off.  two men played a board game.  little kids ran about.  it was past midnight and they seemed to be out without any adults.  they order me a fahkfahina without my consent.  it's a fruit salad served with ice cream and rose mint syrup.  (pictured last) i wasn't remotely hungry but i ate it anyways.  periodically ali would ask me if i was tired.  i didn't know why he was asking me, but this picture might explain it.  i didn't feel tired until all of a sudden a wave of exhaustion rolled over me and i began to nod off.

 when the men noticed it, it was a sign for us all to go home.  which we did.

 and that was day 2.  the day of the great pyramids.