pianos, pizza, and pyramids

I had to wake up at 4:30 this morning. I was on a train that was about to reach it's destination and I did not want to get up. "Lauren, wake up!" says my friend. "Today is pyramids and pizza!"
That got me out of bed.
And it was a very, very good day to get out of bed. This might be one of the best days I've had over here. We got up, got into Cairo, checked into the hotel. We had an hour to kill so I found a deserted piano in a back corner of the lobby and played it. Cooks came out of the kitchen nearby to listen/clap and a lot of tourists crowded around. Meena and Niyar, our tour guides, got coffee and listened. I was in the midst of an instrumental version of "Join the Army of The Living Dead" when a guy in a suit came out and started yelling at Meena in Arabic. Apparently pianos in Egypt are for decoration only, but Meena told me he was talking nonsense, that my playing was beautiful and that I should play again when the guy wasn't around. I didn't though, because Meena left us this afternoon and I'm not a fan of getting yelled at in Arabic.
We visited the great pyramids today, along with the Spinx, Memphis, and Saqqara. I got to go inside the Great Pyramid of Giza (as mentioned in my earlier ecstatic blogpost). It was a steep climb up a claustrophobicy tunnel up to the main burial chamber, but it was way worth it. Definitely one of the most amazing things I have ever done. The pyramids were unbelievable. I think part of what makes them so cool is that no one actually knows how the Egyptians managed to build them. The Spinx was pretty sweet too. There were a million tourists there, all from around the world and all doing some ridiculous Egyptian-esque pose in front of it. It was great.
Here's a moment that no one on the group could really appreciate but I know a lot of you guys will: I was walking down some steps to get a better look at the Saqqara step pyramid and a hoard of European tourists passed me. There was a man wearing headphones and singing along with the song. When he passed me, all I heard was "Istanbul, not Constantinople." Hehehe. It was the cherry on top of an already brilliant day.
The whip cream on top of the cherry was going to Pizza Hut for dinner. Though I've acquired a taste for lamb shish kabobs and baba ganoosh, nothing sounded better than pizza today. I don't think I've ever looked forward to eating at Pizza Hut that much ever. It was good too. I had this fear that it wouldn't be right, like when I got a milkshake from McDonalds (and a chicken burger that had unprocessed pieces of chicken in it...*barfs*). But it was legit pizza. And they were playing Etype inside the restaurant, which made me giddy.
Tommorrow is a day of travelling. We go on a long long bus ride, crash at a hotel, then get up at about 2am to get on camels and ride up Mount Sinai. I am so excited about that. We're going to sit at the top and watch the sunrise.
I probably won't have internet for at least a few days. I might not have it till I get back in Cairo next weekend. It's honestly really nice to go without Internet (though whenever I get on it I seem to want to use it three times as long as everyone else...). I don't even have a phone or ipod over here. All my technology is left in the states, along with my stress. This is the most un-stressed out I've been in a long time. Hopefully I can just stay that way when I get back. But I don't have to think about that for about two more weeks. :)