Our bus from Cairo to Nuweiba took about, well I don’t remember how long it took, but we left sometime Wednesday night and got to the beach in Nuweiba just before sunrise Thursday morning, just in time to watch the sunrise over the Saudi Arabian mountains. I read and spent some much needed time centering myself with God while laying back on a hammock.

We ate an amazing breakfast (I ate two =) and then a nap was enjoyed by all… except me, I couldn’t sleep so I read part of “Life from the Battlefield: the autobiogrpahy of Peter Arnett”, which I’ve been working my way through most of this semester. Reading about his travels and reporting (and photographing) of places like Vietnam has all but completley entranced me (which is probably why I haven’t given up reading this massive book). I imagine only a reporter could so accuratley account so many details of his life, it makes for interesting and informative reading.

Eventually I fell asleep in the sun, by mid-afternoon (which felt like an entirely new day than the one we started) I was a nice shade of red, just before burnt, but balmily tan (I know that isn’t a real word but thinking back on the feeling it’s how I want to describe it =). We took off in the back of a pickup truck to Nuwieba port authority docks for our ferry ride to Aqaba. I took a picture on the boat of myself: tired and burnt…

Over the course of the trip I would learn that very few things could be expected in the Middle East. My first such experiance was aboard the “fast boat” to Aqaba. Seated in a plush seat, being waited on, served a cheeseburger, and enjoying a comfortable atmosphere, the ferry was pleasant and surreal, watching the other occupants dressed in middle-eastern clothing enjoying the pleasantries of the boat starkly contrasted the normally dirty, dusty, “unrefined” scenery of Egypt I had been used to. I knew it was a stereotype and so it was a gentle reminder to me that things were definitley not always how I percieve them. Jordan would confirm this and man if I had a “jay-dee” for every time someone in our group said “Jordan is soooo much nicer than Egypt” I would be very rich (1.4 USD = 1 JD Jordian Dinar).

We arrived in Aqaba and found that 1) things were much more expensive (as we expected) 2) there were no rooms at the 3 hostels we had pre-planned to stay at. So we slept on the roof of one of them for 2 jd a person. It was gorgeous! The cool breeze from the Aqaba Channel made the night so relaxing.

Alexandria was the school sponsored orientation trip. Thus, all 200 of us new students (for this semester) hopped on 5 busses and drove the 3 hours up to “Alex”. Everything was super fancy and it is clear where at least a portion of my tuition is go towards:

We saw the major tourist sites in Alex: the rebuilt Library of Alexandria, the spot where the Lighthouse of Alexandria would have been standing (it’s underwater now), an ancient Roman amphitheatre, some Roman catacombs, and the old king’s Palace (which was the building adjacent to the 5 star hotel we stayed in.)

This is a picture of the fort that was built in place of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. You see, the lighthouse was built around the 3rd century B.C. and was at the time (and for many centuries) the tallest man-made building at about 400ft! It stood at the mouth of the habor of Alexandria and wasn’t used as a lighthouse until about the 1st century A.D (it was called the Pharos [after the name of the island it was built on] and served as a navigational landmark prior). It was said that the mirrors on the top of the lighthouse were so strong that they could reflect enough light to burn holes in the sails of incoming ships if so desired. While this was probably a little bit of an exaggeration, it was able to see ships “2 days out”; that is, from the top of the lighthouse they could spot an enemy ship 2 days before it would get to Alexandria if it traveled at maximum speed, and was a clear advantage in the many skirmishes fought in the area. It was built in the perfect place for a lighthouse due to the many visible approaches it covered. When it eventually fell down because of an earthquake sometime in the 1100s the fort was built and it was deemed a highly idiotic choice to build a fortress instead of another lighthouse.  None the less the fort is still there and it was fun to climb.  The view from the walls looking out to the sea was so peaceful…

John

The Group Picture taken at the Roman Amphitheatre is here:

http://www.ahumbledream.com/grouppicture/ 

I came back from the orientations today around 4pm and took my first nap while in Egypt. It was sorely needed. After I woke up, I spoke with my charming girlfriend and headed out to find somewhere to cash a travelers cheque. It turns out the Marriot Hotel will cash it, but I need my passport and the reciept of purchase. So we will see if I can find that. Otherwise, I will have to find somewhere else.

I ate at probably the most-expensive-non-fancy-restaurant place in town tonight on the walk home. It is called Thomas and I guess it’s been around in Egypt since 1922. Anyways, the service was wonderful and the food even better. I got a pizza with double mozzarella, pork (!), onions, and oreganno. Wow, it was huge, and it was amazing. But it cost 32LE! That’s like $5.60USD, outrageously expensive. Oh well, I will only eat there as a treat.

Alright, tommorrow we leave for Alexandria for 3 days. It should be a wonderful trip. I leave you with this picture from the first day I was here. I’m smoking “shisha”. It is a tobacco-like water pipe. The claim is that it is not nearly as harmful as cigarettes and contains very little nicotine. Who knows? Anyways, it was a great way to meet new people and practice my Arabic. (It’s practically a national pasttime here =) I doubt I’ll be doing it again any time soon though, my throat hurt afterwards =) (It only cost like $0.50USD though!)

I succumb to it today. I ate at a western food chain: Pizza Hut. As I sat there, I felt like a prisoner. I kept looking out the window, seeing if anyone was going to spot me. You see it was shame. 2 days in and already I caved. Me, the guy who had extolled the values of putting money into the local economy. I guess the Pizza Hut employees are Egyptian, right?