Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2009

Travel: Walk Like an Egyptian

Local Family Takes Trip Down the Nile

By Maddy Glenn

Guest Columnist

When my family first decided on Egypt for our spring break trip, we got a lot of comments like "where will you stay?" and looks that said "why would you ever want to go to such a place?"

But, I had a couple of friends in Cairo and they helped with travel arrangements.

We arrived at 1 a.m. and still battled crazy traffic. Drivers in Cairo use no lanes, speed limits or rules; the only goal is to not hit pedestrians, which often comes frighteningly close to happening.

Our days were filled with visits to temples, tombs, incense shops, pyramids and museums. We went on camel rides. We watched young villagers loom carpets and scarves, watched how papyrus paintings were made, and learned much about the ancient Egyptian deities and royals.

It was amazing to see how sophisticated the ancients’ lifestyle was without the help of modern technology. Our tour guide, Nibal, explained to us that the annual flooding of the Nile was a central part of their culture, not only because it was necessary for the harvest, but also because it brought the Egyptian people together and was the event around which many religious rituals and ceremonies were performed. The flooding of the Nile was seen as a gift from the gods.

However, while Nibal wanted to make sure we learned all about the history of Egypt, she was equally concerned with our understanding of Islam and its traditions, values and beliefs. "Look, it’s like this," she said "of course in Islam you have the good and the bad, just like with every religion. But we all want to live in peace like everyone else."

Nibal told us how the extremist groups behave like they do not because of Allah, but because they desire political power, an ambition present in all cultures.

"Muslims are peaceful people, especially here in Egypt," Nibal said.

Egypt is made up of about 90 percent Muslims, 10 percent Christians and about 300 Jewish people, and they all find a way to coexist, Nibal told us. One of my friends in Cairo is Muslim, and the other is Coptic Christian, and neither has ever felt targeted for their faith.

My favorite experience was getting to go inside a pyramid. Looking at pictures, I always figured there was some sort of a secret door you pushed that opened into a huge open room, but that was not the case. Entering into the pyramid is not for the weary; we had to climb up about a hundred steps, then pay a man sitting at a small opening, grab a flashlight, and turn around to go backwards down a long, narrow shaft.

The way to the bottom was about three feet on all sides, and about 100 feet down, and there were pieces of 2-by-4s nailed sporadically down the 60-degree slant.

Once my brother and I finally reached the bottom (it took my dad a while, and my mom would not even look inside the pitch black hole), there was a small room that had once been painted, with stairs leading up to more pitch black rooms.

Just being inside something so old and monumental was incredible in itself. I understood why it is one of the "seven wonders of the world."

During the nights, I was able to go out and walk around the city of Cairo with my friends.

I even got to go to a party at the home of a friend of one of my friends, Hossam, and it was just like our parties here, with loud music and lots of friends.

Cairo is the most unique city I have ever been to, and it was just as busy at night as it was during the day. My friends took me to a few different restaurants, and I noticed it was very customary for people to sit and smoke a hookah over a meal.

There were multiple cafés along every road, and each sidewalk was adorned with people sitting at small tables outside, most smoking colorful hookahs.

The difference with their cafés and ours is that everyone there ordered their own separate hookah, and people here share one; oh, and they call it shisha.

The last major site we visited was the Hen al-Khalili market that was bombed about a month before our trip.

Unfortunately, a part of the market was closed, and some stores had lost business, but the blow was fairly small, and the Egyptian government was cracking down on security to make it safe for the much-needed tourist income.

Hen al-Khalili was about as big as a small city, with a huge variety of hand-made goods ranging from shoes to spices, and tons and tons of scarves, at the cheapest prices imaginable.

Egypt was undoubtedly the most memorable trip I have ever taken, and a useful lesson in culture, history and human relations.

My entire family would agree that it is a trip well worth taking.

Maddy Glenn lives in Colleyville with her family, including her mother, Mary; her father, David and her brother, Jake. Maddy will be a senior this fall at Colleyville Heritage High School.