3 day weekend in October -Sharm El Sheik

Egypt is a great place to plan a beach vacation- very little chance to be rained out! 

Cheers to a great vacation in a great location.  

Lazy River, a two story water slide, gorgeous landscaping and at least 5 different pools.  The reef starts within 6 inches of shore - perfect snorkeling.  We did one day of scuba diving - then decided to spend the other two days enjoying this luxurious location.  

A bowl of fruit, fresh flower arrangement, and bowls of candies greeted us in our suite.

The living room area of our suite.  A teacher-friend hooked us up with a wonderful upgrade with his Diamond member perks.  Thanks, Jeff!  We were in heaven!

 We were given access to this private pool for elite members only. 

Our day of diving (8am-5pm) on the Red Sea with Ocean College

The tourist industry is really hurting in Egypt.  This beautiful hotel and the two beautiful beaches were all ours - very few other guests.

This private club for elite members a short walk from our suite served us free drinks and appetizers every day from 4-7pm.

A super deluxe dive boat - not a bad way to spend a whole day!  There were some fun people on this boat. One Asian man wore a Sumo wrestler bathing suit - it was a g-string with just a little flap in the front.  He kept posing for his group to take pictures and they were all laughing and having a great time.  I wish I had been brave enough to take a picture of him for you all!

A dive boat very similar to the one we were on.

I decided to get a facial while I was there.  This was the most painful facial I have ever experienced.  The guy used a string to take off every hair on my face - even those in my nose!  OUCH!

The flowers were extraordinary!  I wish I could add the smells to this blog!

These two newlyweds have become our travel buddies!  The guy between them is a Sufi whirling dancer who was our entertainment for the night.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufi_whirling

The snorkeling right from shore was equal to the scuba diving in the area.  Amazing.  This was the entrance to the private beach that we were given access to because of the elite status of our friend.

This guy whirled around for almost 10 minutes.  This is a type of spiritual meditation where they believe the whirling allows their soul to float free.  Afterwards, he had all of us come up on stage and try on his skirt - which was weighted and very heavy - and try spinning. None of us could spin for even a minute before becoming very dizzy.  The poor guy had to perform for only about 10 of us since the resort was so empty.  Come visit Egypt!  If you like Cancun - you will LOVE Sharm!

Another view of our resort.  We ran into about 10 US Servicemen who are stationed in the Sinai as part of the UN Peacekeeprs who are making sure that the Camp David Treaty is followed.  They said this is the only resort in Egypt approved by the USA for them to stay.  They are not allowed to go to Cairo due to security concerns - yet they patrol the Gaza strip about every other day.

They were so excited to talk to other Americans - and we were so excited to be able to thank them for their service and wish them a wonderful weekend furlough.  They said that Sharm and the road to Dahab are safe and that they patrol the road between the two every day.

This was a very relaxing three day weekend!  

A Simple Fall Day on the Town

It is a completely unique and thrilling adventure to go for a walk around Alexandria.  The "blocks" are not square, like you might imagine city blocks to be.  In some ways, all the streets look alike, so it is easy to get turned around - but the Mediterranean is always basically north and eventually you run in to the tram line that runs parallel to the ocean, or you run into the Corniche, the main road that follows the Ocean, or you get surprised by blocks upon blocks of outdoor markets. It is usually easier to walk down the road than to try to use the sidewalks. It appears that every developer is allowed to decide what they want to do about a sidewalk in front of their building - some are wide and quite nice, other sidewalks are barely wide enough for two people to pass. You never know when a sidewalk might have missing or out-of-place paving squares, or parts of metal posts that once existed, but now just a 3 inch piece of metal sticks up, begging you to trip over it.  So, the majority of people just walk in the streets, dodging cars, sewer caps, garbage, mud puddles, and the street dogs and cats.  Sidewalks or streets - the choice of adventure is yours!

It is now November 12.  In October, the flies arrived.  They are not biting flies - just really annoying sticky flies.  In October, we first saw clouds, too.  Cumulus clouds, then more often stratus clouds.  The winds started in October, too.  We saw our first couple of rain storms since arriving.  The temperatures fell from the 80's and 90's into the 70's - even dropping into the 50's and 60's at night.  It is amazing how quickly our bodies have adjusted and how chilly we are starting to feel just sitting in our apartment!  However, it is glorious weather to go for a walk during the day now.  

This still scares me - but it is not unusual to see teenaged boys hanging off the back of the trollies as they pass by - sometimes as many as 7 or 8!

The beaches are now mostly deserted, but much prettier than they looked when every inch was occupied by beach-goers.  Almost all beaches are private and charge a fee to enter.  

Blocks upon blocks of fruits and vegetables in this location.  You can find almost anything you could possibly want in this area if you know where to look - around the corner there might be fifteen shoe stores in a row, followed by ten stores selling towels and sheets, then another area where every single vendor is selling fish, or rabbits.  Diversifying ones inventory??  Not in this location!

We "discovered" Sol today.  Yummy!  We got to eat on a pier that extends almost to the Stanley Bridge.  We were served curry shrimp with rice and fresh squeezed mango and strawberry juice.  They didn't think it would be enough for us to eat - but I was so stuffed I could not possibly eat it all.  Before they brought out our "meal" - they brought a plate of fresh veggies - tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and lettuce.  They also brought a huge basket with three different kinds of hot breads.  They brought out 4 different kinds of hummus for the bread, along with fresh beets.

That's the Stanley Bridge behind us.  It is the most iconic bridge in Alexandria.  It is only about 2 miles from where we live.

Here is a look at the pier where we ate.  This is the restaurant "Sol".  All around this area are little cabins - they look more like motel rooms - that people own or rent so they can enjoy this beach.

There are street dogs everywhere, but usually you don't see them in packs, like we did here.  They all look pretty much the same.  And yes, the garbage around here is a real problem.  They have been working on improving the situation - but some places are still disgusting.  It would help if the city actually provided public garbage cans.

We'd sure love to have a little boat like this to pass the time!

Interesting architecture

Gary thought our Kenyan family members would get a kick out of the toys on this beach!

It is getting close to Thanksgiving!  This is the first time we have seen turkeys on the street.  I didn't know Egyptians celebrate Thanksgiving - but these two were spotted just around the corner from the American School - so maybe these two are for us?!! 

Street cat taking a nap on the cement pegs that are used to hold the ocean back.  Egypt needs to spends thousands of dollars they do not have to put in a system designed to hold back the effects of climate change and rising ocean levels.  While we were in Hurghada, we experienced a hail storm on the Red Sea.  This had NEVER happened before.  The crew on the dive boat literally thought they might not survive.  Nine people north of us on the Red Sea that day DID lose their lives.  In our area, roofs caved in and the road became flooded - in some places it was impassable.  You will never convince an Egyptian that Global Warming/Climate Change is a hoax - they see it first-hand.

These cement pegs are everywhere.

About to be served the first course at Sol restaurant.  He's a happy man.  I guess this is his birthday dinner - a day early!

An Egyptian Halloween, in creepy photos

This was supposed to be published on Halloween Day - BUT, life happened.  My apologies - I got to wear the scariest Halloween costume ever and no one wanted to be around me - I wore the costume of a very sick person!  Over two weeks later and I am feeling enough like myself to finally get this blog posted!  BOO!

By far the weirdest thing we saw at the Monasteries

Vertically challenged crisis or solution?

Riding on the tram at night - these severed arms and legs looked quite realistic!

Not sure why the kids are not worthy of faces? (I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture of the child mannequin who literally had its face punched in!)

A legitimate "fish and bird" museum that has seen MUCH better days - as half of these featherless mounts looked like an avian zombie apocalypse.

Body-less lions and headless statues abound

Along with the (fake) bloody human limbs that hang everywhere - there are some real bloody carcasses around as well.

Schutz got into the Halloween spirit with these paper mache
jack-0-lanterns made by the kids 

Fall Festival happened a week or two after Halloween.  I was still sick, so I missed most of the festivities - but Gary got a few pictures of some of the fun.

Our awesome Middle School math/science teacher, right from her assignment at Hogwarts - helped with the donut challenge

Head of school has a go at the donut challenge!

I wasn't sure if these were Halloween costumes or legitimate "outfits"

Hundreds - if not thousands - of Faceless men and women lined every single street in this market area.  Wouldn't this be a fun place to return to after dark??

Wadi El Natrun Monasteries

 Today, Friday, October 14 we were invited to visit the Monasteries at Wadi El Natrun, which is halfway between Cairo and Alexandria, in the desert.  I understand that it is 21 miles long containing various monasteries.  We visited 2 main ones, and stopped at 2 more, mostly to check out the gift shops.  The gift shops were packed. Some had some nice nativities that I may have to buy some day.  My Catholic friends were checking out the variety of rosaries. According to Wikipedia, the Natrun Valley is so named due to the natron salt that comes from there, used in ancient days to preserve corpses. It is the location of the "desert fathers" - a holy Christian site where in 330 AD St. Marcarius of Egypt wandered out into the desert to live the life of a hermit.  Desert monks believed that in the solitude of the desert, they could deny themselves all worldly pleasures in order to focus on God.  The earliest monks only ate bread and salt, they dug caves in the sand, and they worked on such labors as rope making and weaving.  They came together to build a chapel, where they would gather once a week while they ate in silence and the high priest would read from the Bible.  They then would gather provisions like water and food and walk back to their solitary caves.  Some of the buildings we were in dated back to the 6th century, and though many now have rounded roofs or light fixtures, they are relatively unchanged from their early days.

For this outing, 14 of us, a diverse group from Egypt, England, Mexico, Canada, and various part of the US, as well as Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Coptic Orthodox, and agnostics packed ourselves into one of the school's vans, and off we went for what was to be a very informative day.

The entrance to the first monastery we visited

One of the many monks who greeted visitors and blessed the faithful

The people are gathered around the uncorrupted body of the Saint.  They spontaneously break out in song.  The monk told us that they sing the Saint's biography.

The original well that led the first desert fathers to this location

Due to some heavy rains last year, the building is in need of some repairs.  During the renovation, they discovered windows they never knew existed.  Note the shape of the windows - probably meant to look like angels

The monk explained that the sun ring behind all of their heads has to do with the fact that at this time many Egyptians still worshipped "Rah" the god of the sun.  Mary and the early popes and other icons were given sun rings to symbolize that their God was more powerful than Rah in order to convert people to Christianity.  He also told us that there are two words on the picture of Mary and baby Jesus which indicate that Christ was fully human, born from a human, but also the Son of God, so he was fully divine as well.  This was an early argument in the church - was he fully a man, the Son of God or was he God in a man's body?

This is an ancient flour mill that is still operational.  The monk holds the large branch and walks it around and around in the circular building.

The water jugs ancient monks would carry back to their dessert caves filled with water for the
week

This is the recipe for Holy Oil.  We were given some small bottles of Holy Oil upon entering.

Monks making holy oil

This is where the ancient monks would gather to eat their bread and salt, once a week (or less for some).  When they joined the monastery, they were to lie prone on the ground while the prayer of the dead was recited above them.  This was to symbolize that they were dead to the.  They were to take a new name, to eat as little as possible.  (Most of this ceremony is still true today. The monk who talked to us said he did not want to come up with his own name and the elder monks refused to give him one, so he remembered a comment a professor had made to him in seminary, so he took that name) They felt that when man tries to interpret God's messages using his own brain, mistakes are made, so they were taught to pray and meditate, but not to question the leader.  Anyhow, because they believed they were dead to the world, they sat on the ground to eat.  The leader would sit at one end and read the Bible to the group and pray and they would all eat in silence.  After the meal was over, they would gather their provisions such as water and walk back to their caves in the desert.  For some, this was their only meal of the week.  One of the saints that was mentioned several times also tried to deny his body sleep and would sit up and tie his hair to the ceiling so that if he nodded off, his hair would be pulled so he would be woken up.  This guide also mentioned one of his mentors that he met in the 1970s.  The monk is still at the same monastery, but he has not left his two room domicile for 30 years! He said back in the 1970's, when he first came to the monastery, this particular monk would sit in front of his apartment from 9am-10am in order to get some sunshine.  He said he wondered if he was a little crazy or if something was wrong with him, but one day the monk rose to his feet and walked with a very straight stance right to the chapel.  This guide obviously admired this man and he said that he knew that he himself would likely go crazy if he did not interact with people.

This guy also told us an interesting story about why they keep the body of the Saints where the people can not touch them.  He said Egyptians like to take things that are meaningful to them - even monks.  He said one time they had the body of a Saint laid out in a Monastery.  The body had already turned black and was dried out, and the monks were praying over it.  One of the monks broke off a finger and put it in his pocket to have it with him!  When the Pope found out about it, he ordered the doors of the Monastery locked and everyone had to remain inside and pray continuously until the guilty party returned the finger.  Four days later it was returned - so now none of the monks want to chance that someone will steal a part of the bodies, so they are always covered up and out of reach!  

Another thing that he told us what about "uncorrupted bodies" - those that do not decompose and have a very sweet smell.  I am not sure I totally believe that this is possible, but I do have to say as I walked by the wooden casket of a Saint, next to where they claim John the Baptist's bones were discovered, I actually had to press my nose up closer to the casket as it had a wonderful smell radiating from it.

 This fresco is part of the most recently built building in the monastery.  It is a museum for the well-loved Pope who died in 2010. These are the garments that he wore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Shenouda_III_of_Alexandria

This is the supposed location of John the Baptist. It was near here where there was the delightful smell.

This is a bowl of ful and bread that was served to us (for free) at one of the monasteries.  They also served us tea and coffee.http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2014/05/ful-mudammas-recipe/

Beautiful artwork adorned many of the ceilings

This is a Coptic Book of Readings.  On the left of each page is the Coptic Language, on the right is the Arabic words.  I believe they said the Arabic words are said when the Priest is facing East, with his back to the people in the congregation - the Coptic words are said to the West, facing the congregation.  The monk below read the words in Coptic for us so we could hear the language.  We were all drawn in my this man's mannerisms and charm.  He was a hoot!

After the monks moved inside the walls, they built a row of very small "cave-like" rooms where they lived. They are each divided into two rooms - one for greeting guests and the other for sleeping and praying. This is how the caves in the desert were designed - two rooms. Today they have apartments with electricity and modern conveniences, but they are still just two rooms, laid out in the same fashion. Notice the size of the doors.  They basically had to crawl in.

The Coptic Christians are known for the many, many ways they represent the cross.

Some of the artwork was hundreds or even thousands of years old - and was barely recognizable as paintings. Here is a look inside one altar room that has not been changed in hundreds of years - maybe longer.  It seems to me that they said the ceiling in this particular altar room dates back to 1500 or so.

 

If you look closely, you can see the faint outlines of murals from days gone by.  This is an altar room. Only the priest/monk is allowed to enter the altar room.  They face towards the East wall, of the rising sun, to give the sermon, first in one language, then turn to the congregation in the west to give it again in another language. The altar rooms were surprisingly large, with relatively narrow doors so not everyone can see the Priest in the altar room.  There are no benches or places for the congregation to sit or kneel - instead just a counter to stand behind that holds the Bibles and readings.  There were more than one altar rooms in each place.  I never thought to ask why.  Do they each have a special purpose, or do they have 3 or so sermons going on at one time?  The door openings to the altar room are covered with various curtains that people were continuously touching and kissing.

Finally, a look at our really amazing guides who told us so many interesting stories. By the way, ALL of these men were doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, or other professionals BEFORE becoming monks.  This man had a spiritual experience his 2nd year of college that convinced him to become a monk.  He told us stories about women who lived as monks their whole life and were only found out they were not upon their death! He then said they have no nuns in the desert because the conditions are considered too harsh for them! lol

This last one is a video of how loud the church bells are here.  Everything is louder in Egypt - it is just a LOUD country!  At the end, I also got a picture of our first guide.