This next post will be so long that it requires a little outline in the beginning for one—to help me collect my thoughts and two—so you can see what you want to read. This past weekend’s trip (Thursday through Sunday) ranged in emotions and experiences from a spiritual journey to relaxation and liberation. This post will range from desert monasteries to loving every minute of lavish beaches and must include today’s Fourth of July excitement and academic challenges that made me realize reality after this most awesome five days!

Order:

Day 1 of Trip: Bus Ride to St. Katherine’s
Day 2: Climbing Mount Sinai
Day 3: Beaches of Sharm al Sheikh
Day 4: Snorkelling in the Red Sea and Bus Trip Back
Day 5: Class and Fourth of July
Little College Republican Note

On Thursday a bunch of us high-tailed it out of Arabic class as early as possible to grab our overstuffed bagged lunches and get cozy on the bus for the forthcoming six hour drive. Complaining about the journey ahead, I had no idea how worth it is was going to be or how much appreciation I would gain for the rich history of Egypt outside of the pharaohs.

One of the interesting things to note is how we roll at AUC. I’m not sure that I ever mentioned the police escort our bus had on our Alexandria trip, but on this trip we actually had an armed guard on the bus. I’m not sure what he was packing—but it was huge. The armed guard was nice reassurance as we had to go through so many road side stops, especially near the Suez Canal.

I knew I needed to sleep because we were to arrive in St. Katherine’s (on the Sinai Peninsula) around 9 or 10pm and were going to promptly eat and then wake up at 2am to climb Mount Sinai for the sunrise. However, the last thing I could do was fall asleep and after joyfully escaping part of Arabic class for the day it was the last thing on my mind! So I just kind of listened to my IShuffle and stared out the window at the never ending sand, got excited when I saw the Suez Canal sign, and then never even realized when we were near the Canal because we went in a tunnel under the water and it didn’t dawn on me that that was the Canal! I tell you I can be so “blond” sometimes.

On a random note, my IShuffle was still filled with the music from the plane ride to Egypt—loaded with Arabic music when I was way too excited and ready to be surrounded by Arabic! However, on this bus ride I definitely skipped the Arabic songs for the 80’s music and country !

I never fell asleep, our bus got a flat tire and added an hour to our trip, and we ate as soon as we got to the hotel so I could not fall asleep after eating. I wish I could add so many more details but with five days worth to write about it’s just not possible!

At about 1am I finally fell asleep in our dingy hostel (the only thing near Mount Sinai) and woke up at 2am to throw on some pants, hiking shoes, tank top, tshirt, and sweatshirt because of the change in temperature with elevation! At about 2:30am we met our Bedouin guides who were to lead us up the mountain. We were in groups of ten; my guide was Mostafa. However a lot of the American students with us brough flashlights which ruined the beautiful sight of stars—which I haven’t seen since I left home—and which made the climb actually harder by casting shadows and by bouncing up and down. Therefore Tim, Ivan, and I made an excellent decision to run up the Mount until we got away from the all the AUC kids! After about ten minutes of running we lost everyone and our breaths! It wasn’t even 3am and we were going strong down to our tank tops!

Random Note:
Mount Sinai called “Jabal Horeb” and the part we climbed the Mount of Moses is called “Jabel Musa”.

After our great feat of passing all the AUC students we walked at a normal pace because the harder climb was coming when we ran into the Asian tour group on camels. If you don’t already know, camels move slowly and a large congregation of tourists shouting on camels are loud (think North Campus Library !!), therefore “the boys” and I had no choice but to dodge the camels and run ahead of them. After a few minutes of running I was about to die because the cliff got steeper, I have short legs, we saw a scorpion and I had to do my best to not act like a sorority girl but like a yooper girl, and I fell flat on my face into camel dung trying to dodge a camel’s head that nudged me. This is where the “brother at your shoulder” analogy was fully realized.

On this trip I’ve realized that everytime I’m on a cliff of some sort I’m just waiting for someone to come up behind me and grab me and say “Don’t fall!”. It’s really funny that once I realized that in Alexandria I’ve realized how many things I do not because I want to but I just picture my brother behind me being “Do it Ally!”. It’s why I’ve done half of the things I brag about doing! Also it’s why I can’t resist a “Do Not Enter” sign. Well, at this point, after falling in camel poop, cutting my foot on a rock, and trying to climb some sharp edges to keep ahead of everyone I realized that my brother was pushing me. I could not let the boys write me off as some silly girl so even when I was exhausted I kept going! I moved so quickly that when I got the the top of the Mount I actually had to change shirts because I was so soaking in sweat! However, our speed was not rewarded—rather we were punished.

While it should take about two and a half hours to get up the Mount it took us about two. I was warned by a law student to take the walk up slow because if you get up too early you’ll sit and freeze to death until the sun comes up. While we were busy proving ourselves to everyone, we forgot how ridiculously cold it would be at the top. At this point I took off my sweaty shirt, put on a different one with my sweatshirt, tied a hankerchief around my neck to keep it warm and tried to huddle on the cliff. Of course the brother analogy lived again! Tim and Ivan climbed on top of the dilapidated old church on top of the Mount and claimed it was less windy. While I was not so thrilled about already sitting on the edge of a cliff for two hours, I was less thrilled by sitting on the roof of a church on the edge of a cliff for two hours until the sun came up. But before I knew it, Bryan was yelling at me in my mind and the boys were hoisting me on the roof. The one catch was I got to be a girl and borrow Tim’s sweater while he froze to death. I felt slightly bad, but after all that I still deserved to be a girl !

Sitting on the roof of Mount Sinai—where God revealed the Ten Commandments to Moses—was a time for quiet reflection for a good hour. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of calm as I appreciated the amazing history of the Sinai Peninsula—where Moses led the Israelites—and where I could cherish the foundations of my faith after having spent a month in a city full of unbelievers. To imagine Moses spending fourty days on the Mount with God in the barren desert really made me meditate on sacrifice and purpose.

Sitting on the roof of the church was amazing! The wind was calm, I could view the mountains for miles and miles to come, and I was the first to see the sun pop out of the clouds to bring light to all of God’s creation. At this time the Asian group had reached the top and were singing hymns, Germans on the roof top with me were reading the Bible in their own tounge, and people all around were sobered with the awe and wonder of the Lord.

After the sunrise and the pictures (will be posted soon), we made our way down the mountain the longer “back” way. This time was trying because of the desert heat once the sun rose, but it was amazing to see another side of the Mount and to not have camels in one’s way. On a random note, there were a few shops along the way up the front of the mountain for water, etc., which I refused to go near, but on the back there was nothing but peace.

We finally made it back down the Mount by 9am, headed to the hotel and attempted to clean up for a few minutes before breakfast and our visit to St. Katherine’s monastery at the bottom of Mount Sinai.

Saint Katherine’s monastery is the oldest, always inhabited/in use monastery in the world. There exists a library with some of the original Greek and Arabic translations of the Bible, many theological first sources, and writings from as far back as the second century (maybe more, but that’s what I remember!)! Right now they are just updating them as needed onto digital photographs and many documents are on original photos in the Library of Congress—but still many works are untouched or unused for research as the library still serves it’s primary purpose of education and reflection for the monks at the monastery.

We walked through the facility and into the Orthodox Church—a small room rather elaborately ornated in gold chandeliers, colorful murals, and ancient artifacts of St. Katherine. They hold about multiple services a day but for the monks and open services on the feast of the Saint.

After visiting the beautiful sanctuary we visited the museum and learned the history of Katherine. She was martyred in Alexandria in 310 C.E., but her remains were said to be found at the top of Sinai in the 9th century. The Museum is filled with beautiful paintings and relics from every Orthodox ruler from Justinian to the last Czar oF Russia. In addition it is one of the only places in the world with icons of the early centuries of the Church—as many were destroyed during the eight and ninth century during the Islamic Conquests but Sinai was never affected.

At this point the peak of the visit occurred: the monastery was built around the original Burning Bush of Moses. After a few hundred years the original bush was dying from being cut off from sunlight so the monks replanted some of the offshoots and the Bush is on display today above the heads of tourists so it will not be touched or destroyed. To see the history of the Bible and to practically touch faith from the visit to Mount Sinai count heal any “doubting Thomas”.

A smelly two hour bus ride later we entered a whole different world. Sharm al Sheikh—the land of the rich Gulf Arabs, even richer Americans (since it’s much cheaper to head south), and Eurotrash. We stayed at a five-star hotel—the Swiss Movenpick. While the facilities, food, location, service, etc. were immaculate, the rooms were simple but top-notch clean. There was no comparing this to the disgusting hotels of Alexandria and and St. Katherine’s by far, and how AUC got us the rooms at such a cheap rate we are yet to find out!

My sore “climbing” legs were rejuvenated by a quick shower and the excitement of wearing a tanktop and mascara (since we were at a resort!)! I bounced out the door to the most amazing dinner buffet ever! Complete with fresh fruit, salads, pastas, meats, the largest desert table I’ve seen thus far in Egypt, AND a Movenpick icecream cart (all included!). We ate to our heart’s content after climbing Mount Sinai for hours that day and then went out to explore the sights of the developing strip of Sharm.

Sharm has the feel of a developing Cancun on the strip of nightclubs but with the class of a Greek isle. There are no shady hotels, and the Egyptian “marriage-proposal” men were somehow swept away from the town by tourist police. The souvenier shops charge 50 pounds for items that are 5 pounds in Khan al-Khalili and women wear little—amount of clothing that would get them either raped or covered with a robe in Cairo. However, the walk along the beach was exhilarating to finally feel the wind on my arms and to feel little fear. We didn’t stay out too late that night because our bodies were not used to the humidity and were exhausted from the climb, but I could barely fall asleep with excitement for the breakfast buffet and for a whole two days ahead of me on the beach!

We woke up moderately early to sign up for a snorkeling trip for Sunday morning and to grab food and hit the beach. I gained a new addiction: Egyptian pancakes! They are similar to the natellas that Kase and I get for desert at Rendevous but even more amazing! Not sure what they are made of or what they do, but I ate about four of them with chocolate on top and fresh fruit juice!

We headed to the beach where I had to learn to overcome a new fear: jelly fish. The beaches of Sharm remind me of the beaches in Maui or Cancun—a never-ending strip of hotels—but all with the same problem: jellyfish. For some reason the salt content of the Red Sea near the Sinai is quite high and the jellyfish are made up of such a high salt content that only the very large ones sting. But that didn’t stop me from freaking out! I’m not talking about an occasional jellyfish—I’m practically a fish in water that would never bother me! I’m talking about swimming in jellyfish in shallow water and about one every yard in the deeper water. After the first few touched me I pretended to get over my fear, but I never really will!

We spent the whole day swimming, laying on the beach, laying by the pool, writing postcards, and falling asleep in the sun to wake up to raccoon eyes and a sore kneck! After a month in the pollution of Cairo and after slight homesickness this is totally what I needed! Add the fact that we had spent seven hours on a mountain the day before and no one felt guilty about doing nothing! It was beautiful! I would go back any day I could!

That night we had the wonders of experiencing another buffet—this time seafood! My other longing since arriving in Cairo! I will honestly be able to make it the only 20 more days until I get home because of this past weekend! Also, I got to wear my white capris and pretend I was in a country where it didn’t matter what I wore—it was beautiful!

On an exciting educational note, when speaking to the waiters at the resteraunt they were so well trained they spoke back in fusha (the written form of Arabic that is the same across the Arab world). One, I was excited that I recognized that they did that. Two, I was excited that since I’ve been studying “fuus-ha” at school for the past year I know much more vocab than in Egyptian colloquial. And Three, I was overall impressed at how well they accommodate the Arab tourists not from Egypt!

That night we walked around then sat at an outside “Bedouin Bar” and Tim and Rebecca smoked more sheeshaw than physically possible, Ivan drank the strongest Turkish coffee I’ve ever seen, and I drank enough strong tea to help me get over the fact that random rich dudes were capitalizing on the fact that many, many generations ago their families might have been in tribes, that Bedouins didn’t smoke sheeshaq as it originated in the Far East, and that the puffy pillows we were sitting on on the ground might have fleas. After we spoke to “our” Bedouin in Arabic for long enough we were able to get him to turn off the American movement and put on Amr Diab for me ! Finally, I could settle into the “Bar” and relax for the good portion of the night we spent there!

Funny things in Sharm:
-Just now being built up so random mix of nighclubs from different countries and type such as a Salsa Club, Little Buddha, and the Back in the USSR Club, the Sounds of Detroit place, and the Bedouin bars and Arabic coffee shops
-Lights of Vegas, cleanliness of America (not big enough to have dirtiness of Cairo yet), and one strip contrary to the built up “spring break” places of the West
-random contrasts of Europeans in little clothing and Gulf Arabs in full facial/body garb

On Sunday, I woke up celebrating the fact that many of my friends who didn’t go on this trip were going to be sitting in Arabic class when I was going snorkeling in the Red Sea! We left the hotel early that morning after some serious confusions about the bureaucracy of where to pick up snorkels with the receipt and where to meet everyone; the night before we also had to get government clearance because we would be snorkeling in a national park—Raz Muhammad. Finally we were on our way on a narrow, windy road through the desert—the last thing that you’d expect to take to get to the Sea.

We stopped at some amazing places along the way such as a fault line in the middle of the desert that you could look into and see sea water, an area with mangroves trees (trees that take in salt water and leave the water fresh and actually fight pollution, they have sadly been dying off in all tropical areas because of development), and a “magic lake” so entitled because there is an element in it that prevents the lake from being seen on satellite images. Finally we made it to the water!

To snorkel in beautiful coral reefs and look up to see the sand dunes of the desert was one of the most fascinating experiences I’ve had. While I have been to some amazing places for snorkeling, this was definatley at the top of my list! I saw so many fish I had never seen before: a species which moved its fins up and down, orange fish with brown and blue poka dots, many rainbow colored fish, the list goes on and on. The spot is suppose to be the third best in the world—only behind the Great Barrier Reef and Belize. After exhaustion from the chilly deep water Chris and I gave up and laid on the desert beach. It was absolutely perfect in the middle of nowhere!

However, as soon as we got back to the hotel we had to shower, hurry up and make the bus home, and sit for an uneventful seven hours! I got back at about midnight that night and stayed up quite late working on Political Science, fell asleep at some point, and woke-up to my first Fourth of July in Egypt.

I now must get back to working on my Arabic presentation for today, but today after class I will contine with details of the Fourth in Egypt, of MFCR/CR exciting developments, and of my crazy week of midterms.

Just wanted to make sure I got this posted so people stop freaking out and thinking I’m dead since I didn’t post while on vacation to the Sinai!