Haven’t updated in WAY too long, and I’m sorry. This will be a looooong entry because SO much has gone on. I’m gonna record it all, mostly for myself, so feel free to skip around. I’ll make the important stuff bold.
Monday 23.Nov.09
Headed out to the Fayum for another 3 day trip. The first stop was another Coptic monastery (Deir el-Malak Ghubrail or Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel) which totally wins as far as Coptic stuff goes. The Polish have been doing excavations in the hills behind the monastery and found a few hermitages (houses for hermit monks) from the 5th century. So, as usual, we went to see the ruins of some old church and then the archaeologist said “Feel free to climb stuff” so we ran off into the hills.
Important Bit 1: This was one of the most peaceful trips of my life. We climbed the yellow hills into the desert and climbed around in the hermitages of the monks. From up there you could see the green fields and palm trees end suddenly in desert, and the monastery, far below. We went high into the mountains. Quentin and I decided to climb the highest peak, and when he descended again, I stayed.
Silence and peace and nothing else but the wind. Incredible. I really didn’t want to climb down ever again. Once in the desert mountains you understand completely why the monks wanted to live there in isolation and peace. Not really because they somehow hated other people, but because the silence is just so incredible. If you’re a monk and want to hang out with God, the desert is a great place to start.
Next we went to Hawara. There wasn’t a lot left to see at this site, but it used to be a very important site for travelers. The famed Labyrnth was once here, though nothing now remains. I was happy to be there because the site also has the pyramid of Amenemhet III, which is to say 12th Dynasty, which is to say, interesting to me.
Then it was off to our hotel in Medinat al-Fayum. Swank place. Ilona warned us not to go into town because the people there are, in her opinion, very unfriendly. Not dangerous, she said we’d just be hassled quite a bit. However, Kaz had finally been hit by the Ick and was miserable, so we mounted an expedition to brave the streets to find a pharmacy. Naturally, the pharmacist was one of the friendliest people we’ve met in Egypt so far. :-p
For dinner I had a plate of spaghetti piled so high with noodles that it literally fed four of us. Cost me about $2.
Then we all sat in the lobby and ate chocolate chip cookies and gossiped about our fellow Egyptologists.
Tuesday 24.Nov.09
After a very nice breakfast (coffee!) we headed off to Narmouthis. Another site that was entirely too modern, but also very very cool. Had a beautiful spinx lined main road that led to a nice temple of the crocodile god, Sobek. After our tour, we got to climb around the ruins of the temple and of the city. Couldn’t take photos, which is a pity.
Then off to the ruins of Dionisius, which is another Greco-Roman town with a really nice temple. One of the few temples with its original roof still intact. The temple itself (also to Sobek) was very cool, and we got to explore it a bit on our own. Steffie and I walked past a dark corridor and heard scritching and squeaks. When we investigated we found the whole place to be covered in bats! Little black bodies flying around. Love it!
This was the site where Brenda did her presentation, and she was a great tour guide. I hope my presentation goes as well.
Important Bit 2: If you ever go to the Fayum, stay at Zad Al Mosaref. Trust me on this. This place is beyond amazing. One of the top 5 coolest hotels I’ve ever stayed in. The place is sort of a compound of little houses (“chalets” as they call them) all made out of mud. They have electricity and running water, but they are literally made of mud, with thatched roofs. The others ran off to see the lake and I stayed on the little terrace and wrote in my journal, and just sort of let it all go. The terrace is brushed dirt, with wicker chairs and a thatched roof (held down by bags filled with water) and the entire compound is filled with brightly colored or sweet smelling flowers.
The others returned and we went into the pottery village (Tunis) and found a potter who showed us how to make a pot. Then we all descended upon his shop and bought many beautiful things. Then it was back to the terrace to wait for dinner.
Kenny and Quentin got a hookah (apple) and Brenda and I cuddled up with a blanket, and the others had books and we all chilled and watched the stars on the terrace. Dinner was good, and then we relaxed on cushions on the floor and talked well into the night. There was also a mini dance lesson. ;-)
I slept for the first time ever under mosquito netting. Because otherwise, I would have been carried off. Check out Facebook for many many pictures of this awesome place. And then go stay there!
Wednesday 25.Nov.09
None of us wanted to leave, but in the end we had to. Off to another Greco-Roman site, Karanis. Brenda and I were having a hard time getting motivated to see yet another not-so-ancient site, so we promised ourselves that we’d watch Up and eat chocolate ice cream.
Then we met Tony, the pre-historic pottery expert, and our opinion of the whole site changed. :-p
An American researcher, Beth, showed us around the place. Very cool site, though very very big. We got to crawl around on two more temples (Quentin and I even got to crawl under the alter of the crocodile god) and in and out of a ton of old houses. Beth and I bonded over the lack of ham for Thanksgiving (“I’m from Boston, and I know you can’t have turnip greens without bacon.!”) Then it was back to Cairo.
As promised, Brenda and I watched Up (with Quentin and Koos.) If you haven’t seen this movie, you probably should. Very strange, but very cute. Then we watched Small Soldiers. If you haven’t seen this movie, well, that’s ok, I guess. It’s pretty hilarious, but, well, hmm.
Thursday 26.Nov.09
Ok, had to happen. Back to work. I spent the morning at the DAIK researching for my presentation. Koos was hit by the Ick, but since it’s the African Ick, he got over it quicker than any of us. (We’ve decided it was probably Pizza Hut. Three of us ate at Pizza Hut and were sick the next day.) After making sure he wasn’t dying, I headed to the Egyptian museum to work on a project.
We have to look at the text on a stele and two drawings of the text by different scholars and see if the scholars made any mistakes. This doesn’t sound hard, but trust me, it is. First of all, the stele we had to look at was huge. Like, twice my height. Which means the first half of it was VERY difficult to see. Secondly, the stele was damaged, which made reading it even more difficult. I stayed at the museum for four hours and only got a third of the way through!
I then grabbed a Twix and headed home. We went shopping, and then watched a bit of Fantastic Four. I called my family and, thanks to Skype, watched the glory (read: chaos) that is a Southern Thanksgiving.
Friday 27.Nov.09
Back to the museum to finish up the stele. Took Koos with me since he hadn’t seen anything ancient yet. He helped me figure out the rest of the text and then we wandered around the museum.
Headed home and Quentin came over to start cooking. We had a Thanksgiving dinner with the entire group. Koos made bobotie, Quentin made chicken, I made mashed potatoes and sweet (iced) tea and Steffie made a cheese cake. We also had salad and bread. It was a great night of eating and laughing, and all the good Thanksgiving type things.
Ok, now I’m mostly caught up. I will make another entry for the (western) weekend tomorrow. Because I’m too tired now, and I have another early morning.
Stay tuned for: Pyramids pyramids pyramids, tomb exploration, adventures in Cairo taxi Arabic, rock climbing, quick sand, and discovery in the desert…
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