Hi friends!
It has been another
loooong while since I have posted anything…sorry about that. I honestly feel
like I could do multiple blog posts every day here since we do SO MUCH every
single day, but that would obviously cut into my ‘activity’ time ;)
The best piece of
blogging advice that I have ever received is to make sure that blogging never
gets in the way of living. I am truly taking that to heart these days. And it
feels awesome!
We have actually
calmed down on the activities for the past couple of days, but every day still
seems so full since everything is so different here – I find myself reaching
for my camera while doing relatively basic things like grocery shopping since I
am constantly noticing things that are still so new to me. Loves it :)
ATVing to the Abu Seer Pyramids
We went ATVing in the
desert again, obvi.
It was one of the last
days that Sherri’s son, Ryan, was going to be in Egypt, so we decided to see
ourselves some pyramids.
We jumped at the
opportunity to go ripping around in the sand dunes, with Ryan as our fearless
leader. We went hella fast and were happy to go fast through the random garbage
patch that surrounds the Abu Seer pyramids.
We arrived at the Abu
Seer pyramids, happily covered in dust. They are a collection of three pyramids
from the 5th dynasty, which is the Old Kingdom as our guide
explained.
He also explained that
archaeologists have not found any remains of Kings other than King Tut, which
was found in the Royal Ontario Museum randomly. The rest of the mummies that have
been found are all nobles since grave robbers have wiped out the pyramids over
the centuries.
The Kings of Egypt
made the pyramids first in this area and then created their tombs in the Valley
of the Kings, which is located in ‘Upper Egypt’ which counterintuitively
located in the South.
Pyramid of Imhotep in Saqqara
We then moved on to
Saqqara, which was built during the 3rd dynasty.
Our guide explained
that the first tombs in Egypt were first mastalas, which is more like a tomb stone similar to what you would find in the Western world, and then pyramids
became the go-to way to enshrine Kings and nobles.
The Pyramid of Imhotep
was the first step pyramid to be built in Egypt. It was also the first to use
limestone.
There is only one real
entrance, with many other ‘fake’ ones. It was built to look like the Nile River,
with vegetation and then desert surrounding it.
We had some fun taking
pictures in front of the pyramids.
We were the only
tourists in sight, as per usual. The tourism industry has taken a major beating
since the revolution. It is crazy to think that the sights that we have been
seeing are usually crawling with tourists. I feel privileged to have the
opportunity to take in such amazing locations without having to fight off
crowds of people, but it also makes me very sad to think of the large amount of
people that the lack of tourists affects. Many people rely on the tourist
industry as their livelihoods in Egypt, and have been forced to look to other
ways of making a living since the revolution.
We thought that we
were going to also see the Pyramids of Giza during this trip, but we were
mistaken. Instead, we went four-wheeling through some of the local villages,
which was amazing. It was just a tiny view into the daily lives of people who
live in this area, and something I will never forget.
Cave Church in Garbage City
It is called that
since the people who live in this area of Cairo are all garbage collectors who
sort through about 40% of Cairo’s garbage in order to recycle it by hand into
other things that they can then sell.
The area is Coptic Christian,
and has been ostracized in the past due to their profession.
However, since there
is minimal formal garbage collecting methods in Cairo, I see it as a blessing
that these people are able to make a living off of the recycled material and
also help reduce the amount of waste on the streets of Cairo.
The roads are crazy
narrow and windy, but our driver drove through like a boss. We made our way to
the Cave Church, which has been carved into the side of a mountain.
Initially, there were
no organized schools, clinics or churches in Garbage City. In the 1980s, a
Minister was sent there by the Coptic Pope in order to preach the word of God
to the people. Soon afterwards, he was able to bring some ‘order’ to the area,
after which these institutions were established.
They decided to make
use of the space starting in the 1990s, which was crowded enough as it is, to
build a church right into the mountain behind the area that houses the garbage
collector’s community. A Polish artist moved to the area at around the same time
to start carving huge images into the walls surrounding the church, which
continues to this day.
As we were sitting
listening to someone explain the history of the area, he actually passed by. I
had a bit of a star-struck moment ;)
It was a huge day, and
we were all pretty pooped afterwards.
