Looks like recovery is going to take longer than I expected...

The doctor told me to spend another week eating yogurt and Pepto Bismal.
*sigh*

Ah well. Might as well kill time by posting some more pictures.

The Pyramids:

Mount Sinai:







The Red Sea:

Still in Recovery Mode...

So I've been back in America for almost a week now and am still pretty sick. What I thought was probably just my stomach re-adjusting to American food has turned into me not really being able to eat much of anything. It's frustrating because I want to get my summer in the states rolling, but haven't felt well enough to leave my house much. I'm going to the doctor today though, and hopefully they'll give me some sort of super-sonic antibiotic, or at least something that will make eating a lightly buttered piece of toast more enjoyable.

Reasons why I should get better really soon?

- Camp Hope is in two weeks (my camp name this year is "Papyrus." Watch Lauren become obsessed with all things Egyptian...)
- My band (Original Sound Trash - the non-metal one) has a show in July and needs to practice! (We're rockin Portland's Ash Street Saloon, I'm stoked!)
- My band also has a new drummer on the horizon that needs to be debriefed/examined
- Unofficial rumor has it that I will be returning to my old job at the Boring fruit stand soon (hey, as the Egyptians say, "No money no honey no money no funny!")
- My dad is a brilliant cook and it's killing me to be in a house full of really good food and only eat strawberry yogurt

And that's just the short list.

Ah well. I'm sure I'll be better soon enough. I guess I should have known that 3 weeks in a country with few health and safety regulations would catch up to me.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Egypt, but it's kinda gross how stray cats just hang out in the restaurants and occasionally try to jump on you...

No wonder I'm sick.

Pictures: Temple Time! (And an Arabic-speaking Cheeseburger)

Philae Temple!






More Temples:




The High Priests used to sneak into this room and project their voices to the people praying in the next room so that they would think god was telling them to give money to the temple...


Hieroglyphic Calender


Arabic-speaking Cheeseburger

Pictures: The First Few Days

Weird Times in Amsterdam:

Mosque of Mohammad Ali


Neon Jesus and a Cool Alleyway:


Giant chicken that was delicious (but made everyone sick):

The market in Cairo!

Traditional Egyptian Breakfast on the Train (Bread, Bread, Bread, and...more Bread!):

Abu Simbel!

The Nubian Village We Visited:



"I will play music and you will dance!"


This kid latched onto our boat and sang "Hey Macarena" until we gave him money




Will upload more pictures soon :)

The Journey Home, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Lamps that Look Like Bombs

So I got back from Egypt Tuesday night and have been in recovery mode ever since. Apparently there IS such a thing as too much hummus. I think this morning is the first time I've really had an appetite since I've been back.

Yes, it is before 9 am and I've been up for a couple of hours. Still not quite used to this time zone yet. In Egypt, it's almost 11 at night right now.

The last day in Cairo was very memorable. We visited an orphanage in "garbage city," which was kind of overwhelming. I held a little girl the whole time we were there. I say I don't really like little kids, but she was adorable, and it broke my heart when I had to leave and she started crying.

We went to a big church in garbage city that was carved into the side of a mountain. It was beautiful. A limping Egyptian man gave us a tour, speaking in Arabic that was translated by the wonderful Niyar. "There are three words that are the same in every language," he says. "Amen, Hallelujah, and...does anyone know the third one?" We don't. He smiles. "Coca cola!" He says. We laugh. It's true. Everyone knows how to say "coca cola."

The last night in Cairo was bittersweet. We sailed on the Nile in little falucca boats (see picture), watching the sunset over the city and mentally preparing ourselves for our oncoming return to reality. After the boat ride, we had an amazing dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. We had been there on the first day to eat hummus and kofta, but this time they actually let us order hamburgers. I lived on the edge and ate a tomato on mine (tomatos are on the list of things you aren't supposed to eat in Egypt). It seemed like every American tourist in Cairo was at Hard Rock. It was a lot of fun. Our waiter even pulled me up on stage to do some stupid chereographed dance with a bunch of other people (seems to be an unfortunate reoccuring theme in the trip...I blame my hair...oh well, I had fun).

After Hard Rock, my friend Shereen and I rushed back to the hotel to get ready for a night at the discoteque. Sadly, the one night we were actually awake enough to go to the discoteque, it was closed. So we had our own personal packing/dancing party in our hotel room (after blowing the last of our Egyptian pounds in the hotel's gift shop, of course) and met the rest of the group in the lobby at 1 am. The time to go to the airport was upon us.

Niyar was all dressed up for the occasion. I am going to miss that man. He had us all crying with his "You guys are family now and I hope to get Visa and come to Amrika someday" speech on the bus.

Getting into the airport was thrilling. We had to put our bags through security scanners first thing, and the infamous lamp I bought in Dahab was packed in my carry-on. I had put it in there without even thinking about the fact that it's small, round, wirey, and looks exactly like a bomb. So that was awkward. The security guy pulled my bag aside and started yelling at me in Arabic. Niyar saw what was happening and came over to help me immediately, which was awesome. I might still be in Cairo if it weren't for him. The security guard had to careful inspect my lamp while everyone waited. He argued with Niyar in Arabic for a few minutes, then Niyar told me to put the lamp in my luggage that I was going to check. Of course, my luggage was stuffed full, so I had to do some frantic shuffling/repacking. Like I said, it was thrilling.

We got on the plane around 3am. I made the mistake of giving the man next to me a piece of gum when he asked for one and ended up getting to hear his whole life story while everyone else slept (I'm kidding about it being a mistake - it was quite the hilarious conversation and will probably make it into a screenplay someday). He was Egyptian/Dutch and was attempting to figure out what astrological sign I am by telling me he is "ze balance scale!" It was past 4 in the morning at that point and I was beyond confused. Then came the screenplay worthy part of the conversation:

Him: Do you smoke?
Me: No.
Him: Good.
Me: Do you smoke?
Him: Yes. I like Egyptian water pipe.

I give him a courtesy laugh and there is an awkward pause before he smiles and fires his next question.

Him: You have boyfriend?
Me: Yes!
Egyptian man: Does he smoke?
Me: No.
Egyptian man: Good.

I put on my headphones before he can ask if I've ever been to a Turkish prison. I fall asleep listening to a Sash album they had available in the in-flight music library.

Woke up in Amsterdam (which, according to my little Egyptian balance scale friend, is "freedom and paradise"...sketch). Paid too much for a little cup of coffee and got on another plane. Soon I would be back in the states. Back where there are stoplights, flushing toilets, clean water, edible fruit, and animal control. Back where you can walk into a store, touch everything that's for sale, and be completely ignored. Back where being red-head is normal and not a reason for people to treat you like a celebrity. Back in "Amrika."

It's nice to be back, but I loved Egypt more than I ever thought I would. And hopefully, someday, I'll be able to go back there.

Osama the Bus Driver

Oh Cairo. I think I just lived through a comedy routine trying to find my hotel room in the hotel we just checked into. My friend and I thought it was a good idea to take a "secret elevator" to get to our room faster and ended up wandering around with our giant bags, a lamp, and a couple pieces of chocolate cake. Once we figured out we were lost, we piled everything into the elevator, and I got in it just in time for the door to close. Egyptian elevators don't open back up right away when you tell them to, so I rode it down a few floors, with about 5 bags, and I could hear my friend yelling at me to come back the whole way. Hilarious.
Okay, maybe it's not that funny, but I spent 9 hours on a bus today to get from Siwa to Cairo. Everything is funny.
Siwa was yet another highlight of my trip. It's a small town built around an oasis in the middle of the desert, and is beautiful (despite the cockroaches). Yesterday was one of my favourite days ever. Got up early and went on a bike ride to the natural spring of Cleopatra and swam a little. Egyptian pizza for lunch (which isn't really like American pizza but is amazing), then onto jeeps for an epic six hour safari through the sand dunes. It was like a roller coaster ride, but scarier. Occasionally a jeep would get stuck in the sand and the drivers would run out with shovels and dig them out. It was unlike anything I've ever done before.
We stopped at multiple natural lakes and springs to swim, then stopped on the top of a big dune to drink tea and watch the sunset. It was great. After sunset, we drove over to a small camp where we ate yet another meal of chicken, rice, and potatoes (though this one was especially good) and sat around a bon fire looking at the stars, dancing, and listening to some Egyptian men playing drums. That was really fun. Our bus driver, Osama, wanted to dance but no one would dance with him. He got down on his knees and begged me to dance, and so I danced barefoot around the fire with our old, hairy bus driver named Osama (and he was wearing his pants like Steve Urcle). Hahahaha
Tommorrow is my last day in Egypt. Though I look forward to showing off my tan at home, I'm going to miss this country a lot.

So much has happened since my last post

Snorkeled in the Red Sea in Dehab - amazing

Had a couple of hysterical moments in the market - shopping with my friend Shareen, attempting to buy a lamp from a cartoony Egyptian man with terrible English who tried to sell me a bulb in a box with a string of uncut wire. Shareen yelled at him so he went in the back and tried to fix the bulb onto the wire. We thought he was going to electricute himself.
Then I went jewelry shopping with Niyar, our awesome tour guide. That was fun. He would take me to a shop, I would look around, then point to what I wanted and he would take it to the store owner and yell about the price in Arabic for about 5 minutes, then calmly look at me and say, in broken English, "You need the necklace? It is __ pounds for you." Like I said, it was fun.

Now I am in Alexandria (after several loooong bus rides). It's a very European city, but still Egyptian to the core. Women are very conservative here, and men hit on me left and right because I have no head covering, it's awkward.

Today I ate fish that still had it's head attached (it didn't wear a sweater, it didn't play drums...)
Then I went to Starbucks!

Overall, I'm still having a great time here in Egypt :)
Sadly, my Internet time is ticking
till next time

- Lauren of Arabia