Aswan...

... Beautiful Aswan...

Getting to Aswan is a whole story in itself... which began with getting into probably the only taxi in Cairo that didn't know its way to the bus station at 4:30 in the afternoon... and ended pulling into the Aswan bus station at 9:30 the next morning, heads floating from sleeplessness and tail bones numb and sore... Thankgoodness for ipods is all I have to say. And despite the monotony of endless sitting, looking out of the slimy windows into the night... seeing the stars- Scorpio, tarus, the false cross- constellations beckoning from the southern hemisphere, watching the contours of the shadowy landscape rise and fall was magical. The reality of the situation would hit me and just make me smile... "Am I really here?? An I really sitting crammed on this "luxury bus" driving from Cairo to Aswan in the middle of the night?? IN EGYPT? How can this all be?!"

At one rest stop- one of many- we got out... and the wind...!! I walked out behind the busses back toward the road- which got me a severe scolding from a sweet young Egyptian woman with beautiful english... but the wind drew me out anyhow. It wasn't a rhythmic wind-ebbing and flowing, or a gentle wind... it was a strong, constant blowing wind... as if you were standing in front of an industrial strength fan turned on high. You had to hold your ground... it was a desert wind... much like the winds of my childhood in northern Kenya.

I honestly didn't sleep at all... sometimes in such situations you doze in and out... but no, not that night... I was awake the entire time. Nothing was more welcome than the realization that the darkness of night was lifting with the grey light of the early morning.... watching a rosy blush spread across the sky with the warmth of the sun. And with the anticipation of the sun, the anticipation that this bus ride would soon come to an end... By the time we rolled into Aswan- several long and painful hours later, the sun was bright and hot and the air was clear- devoid of the cloud of smog that hangs over cairo. Ahhhh.... Aswan... the beautiful Nile, the swath of green on either side, and beyond the yellow sands of the desert....

We found our selves a sweet little hotel where we crashed for a couple hours before venturing out--

The day was low-key... with a long walk along the Nile... drinking lemondades... planning the following day, dinner at a little restaurant in the souk (market) and hanging out on the roof of our hotel.

Some mosques from the roof (would that I could add the soundtrack):


The following morning we went to the high dam and then the temple of Philae:








Later that afternoon we took the ferry over to Elephantine Island, which feels like coastal east africa to me... with its mango and palm trees, open air mosques, and a town much like an old Swahili stone town....





That evening we took a long faluca around the islands... it was gloriously peaceful and perfect. The perfect time of day--the end of the heat, the mellowing of the colors... feeling tired and sunkissed and happy to be moving, but not of ones own accord... The "captain" pulled out a little burner... and made us shai- sugary, black tea... and later pulled out his shisha pipe... adding the sweet smell of apple tobacco to the breeze. It was wholly good...



Oh to soak in moments like those and make them last forever...! To know that they will be the moments that will sustain you over the next months in places that seem so terribly far away...

At 9:00pm we boarded the train- the GLORIOUS, spacious train- for a three hour ride to Luxor...

Cairo Mandala 1

mandala is a sanskrit word meaning "circle" or "completion."



The structure of a circle is grounding, strong, complete. I start- sometimes loosely, sometimes much less loosely- with the form of a circle, letting my thoughts roam back through the experiences of the day, letting the remembering inform my mark making.... a fluid, organic sort of processing- stream of consciousness, using marks instead of words. It has become a way of centering and focusing myself as I process information and seek to understand my actions and reactions to experiences.

El-Qahira... (Cairo)

Six years ago I was in Cairo for my 21st birthday. It was the first weekend of MESP, everything was still new and I was bright eyed and eager. Six years later I was back for my 27th birthday-- still bright eyed and eager, but full of the sweet goodness of familiarity and return.

Mike and I walked around Zamalek- down familiar streets finding my old flat and numerous other landmarks... the ice cream shop, the book shop, the funny little itallian al dente place, coffee shops, the ruzz b'leben place...

looking up at my old flat...

We found several cool spots along the way to stop at for mango smoothies... books... pizza.... and ended up on a nice patch of grass at the Marriott- which was lovely spot just to chill and chat. Good conversations... We met up with the rest of the gang later at this crazy shisha place that was going strong into the wee hours of the morning... Ahhh Cairo- where it bustles at 1:00 in the morning like its 8 am rush hour. The city does not sleep!

So Cairo- hot- but heat thats infused with the grit of the city, the exhaust and dust- so that it coats you and makes you feel like a sticky, slobbery mess even though somehow you know its not as hot as all that... the flame trees were beautiful- striking red blooms against the bright and deep greens of the leaves, woven in between the dusty sandcolored buildings and framed by the Cairo blue sky...

Walking through the streets of Cairo is a full body experience... The side walks could qualify as an aerobic step class, stepping up, down, up, down down, up, around... into the street -HONK- swerve to miss getting plowed down by a car- back up onto the sidewalk...over a pile of this, skirting a puddle of that... up, up, down, around, and back again... nothing lines up, curbs are high, and every store front is at a different level. Air conditioners drip...The smells are thick- frying tamaia (falafel) fish, rotting fruit, exhaust... you can't get away from it... with Ramadan starting in a couple of days- the decorating process has begun- bright colored hafla cloths were hung... lights strung up... gaudy lanterns glinting in the sun... excitement building. Bodies bodies brushing as they bustle by... faces... eyes...

Some photos of Cairo:

Meeting up with Sandra for the day and going to the Khan el Khalili

A faluca ride on the Nile one evening... escaping the insanity...

Cramming into taxis going here and there...

And a few of the streets of Cairo wizzing by from the inside of a taxi...

Egypt. There and back again...

How it all began:

A couple of months ago I was on line chatting with a friend who was in the process of finishing up two years of peace corps service in Jordan. The subject of birthdays came up, as his was right around the corner, and I was asking what his plans for it were. He asked when mine was. September 7th. Ahh... I'm gonna be in the middle of trekking around Egypt at that time, he tells me. You lucky dog you, I reply. You're more than welcome to join me he says... Seriously?... Yeah! Wanna come?... Yeah I do!...

I think I surprised even myself and bought a ticket... September 5-15th... Watch out Egypt, watch out Mike... here I come!

Now I'm back... after a crazy fun week and a half of connecting and reconnecting in the land of the pharos. I have way too many pictures and as many fun stories. I'm going to blog a section at a time... to make it a little more manageable and to drag out the reliving... to make my week and a half stretch into to and three weeks... and keep the madness of reality at bay.

Three's a charm!

Anyone getting the feeling she loves the beach?

So this weekend my sister-Karaduck- and I went to the beach. We couldn't decide- Assateague (wild ponies, Black Beauty/ Maryland) or Henlopen (Delaware)... Assateague or Henlopen...? Hmmm... well... how to decide... "you've been to both, you know which is better..." (my sister to me) Well, but they're both about the same... Well, which one would I like better?... I don't know- they're both beaches... you decide... No, YOU decide, you ought to know. Ok, lets go to Assateague... Well, Henlopen is closer... ok, lets go to Henlopen then... Will I like Henlopen?... I DON't KNOOOOWW!... Ok, lets leave it up to fate, heads or tales?... Tales- tales takes Assateague... flip (the quarter goes flying into the back seat)... Hurry, Kara.. the turn off is coming up!... Ok, rummage, rummage got it. Shake, shake, slap... Heads.... Hmmm,...best out of three?... Tales... Quick- this is the turn off!!... Heads... Heads it is, SCREEEEECH (honk, honk, beeeep)... Henlopen here we come!

Three weeks in a row... sunshine, breezes, waves... what could be better?


You can't really tell from the photo, but it was super hazy...

These two women sat drinking their wine coolers stoically like this for hours. Very strange... I don't know if they could tell if I was taking the photo or not... Ha ha... I'm so sneaky.

It was also SUPER hot... supposed to be a heat index of 110... so we went into Lewes- the little town for some water and ice cream. We were also in search of a restroom. You pay $8 to get into the park, you'd THINK they could provide RESTROOMS. Whatever.

The quaint little restroom in town. How nice, ay? Didn't smell quite as lovely as it looked, but it worked.

After exploring the cute little town, we went back to make sure we got our full $8 worth... and it WAS worth it- we climbed up the look out for the lay of the land...

(And the classic shot...)

And then went for a hike down "Piney trail," Ok, maybe it was more of a walk. Or amble. And really, if we're going to be technical here, it should have been called mosquito pass... mosquito bites on sunburn. Nice.


But we came out on this beautiful expansive beach and in the setting 6 o'clock sun, with the cooling breeze it was just... the most glorious end to a beautiful day.




So we hit traffic on the way HOME this time... ARG... we took a bit of a scenic rout... stopped at a farmers stand and were tooling along, talking to Megan in Baltimore, where, she said, it was POURING... Really? We've got clear blue skies. Funny.
As it got dark though, we could see lightening in the distance, which we were essentially driving into. As it got darker and we got closer, the lightening became INTENSE... sometimes the whole sky lighting up... sometimes a bolt zig-ziagged through the darkness. Your eyes almost went strobe light buggy. Almost
It didn't start raining till we got to 50- not so many miles left to go to the bay bridge. "Warning, bay bridge restricted due to wind..." And then it really started pouring- sheets- WAVES even... we exit-ed, thought we'd wait it out, and just happened to pull into the parking lot of the Chesapeake Chicken... it wasn't going to let up any time soon. You hungry?... I don't know, you?... Well we're here. Well, alrighty then... So we went in for some local flavor and some Chesapeake Chicken... mmmmm... How should we describe it? Local fast food? Chicken? Chicken... Mashed potatoes... Sweet corn... Biscuits. BUTTER... but whacha gonna do?

So heres a video- it doesn't quite capture just how amazing it was, but you get a bit of an idea... (if this works).

We made it home at 11:30... and fell into bed... such a long hard day...

Beach... take two.

why not go again?? Fun fun!

What'd YOU do this weekend??

I drove to the beach. And yes I got to the beach and had a good deal of fun there... but I DROVE to the beach... As in, I got in the car at 8:20 AM and got to the beach at 3:00 PM (when it should only take one 3 hours to get there). Sometimes-- and I've had this experience before-- I feel like I get caught in this vortex of energy that is Baltimore and I CAN'T get out...! I just c a n ' t s e e m t o g et oooooouuuuuuttttt!!! It just takes so much energy to GET out of the city...
I got up at 6:30 to get myself together... Like I said, we left the house at 8:20 to take Kara to the china town bus for her own weekend adventures in NYC, which "is just off 95," won't take long. Yeah, just off 95... IN FREAKING DUNDALK- South EEEEEAST Baltimore mind you... Then I had to get back on the belt way and go all the way around and up to Owings Mills- way north WESSSSSST of the city to pick up a very specific 25 lb. bag of "silverado" grout for our visiting artist who is finishing up a project... bring it back down to Clayworks in North Baltimore... THEN stop at whole foods to pick up snacks and what not for the day. 10:00 am... Back down to smack-in-the-middle-Baltimore to pick up Megan and then down through the city once again, (hitting every red light there was), to get on 95, to 695 to 97 and head down to Annapolis and cross the Bay Bridge... 11:00 am. Ahhhh, finally... we made it... the open road....! Or... not so... I think everybody in the entire mid-atlantic region of this country was on their way to the freaking beach as well... Traffic... like I've NEVER seen it before...

The traffic stretched out for miles in front of us...

...and behind us... is this ridiculous or WHAT??? Can you imagine- on a Saturday morning on the way to the BEACH??

Megan had a long, lovely nap...

and I... I was just so happy with the state of affairs...!


But actually, I'm quite talented... I can do a LOT of things while driving.... talk on the phone, txt friends, eat a sandwich, operate my ipod, take photos, read maps, sing at the top of my lungs, have conversations with the driver next to me... so really, I had such an enjoyable time.

FINALLY we rolled in to Henlopen State park and onward to Herring Point just after 3:00 pm. The sun was out, it was warm and breezy, and the angst of the day smashed into the sand with the pounding surf...

The waves were MASSIVE!



Break dancing practice on the beach...



After a stop at the DQ, the DC gang (who'd made it there quite a bit earlier on account of NOT having to deal with the Baltimore vortex) headed back... Megan and I found a calmer beach and went for a long walk in the setting sun.

A pirate ship out in the distance...



Driving back through the farmland of the eastern shore at the end of of a long day in the sun is intensely satisfying. The sun goes down and the sky goes through its palette of pinks and yellows settling into deep blues and eventually night... the heat of the day radiates off of your skin, while coolness blows in the windows through your sandy, salty hair, the irrigation systems silently spray fields and the crickets pull our their fiddles and start to dance... You feel alive.

We stopped at a farmers stand and picked up fresh tomatoes, corn and a watermelon the size of texas... all of which will make the most fantastic dinner tonight. (With fresh basil from our own little garden...)

Was it worth it? Totally. Would I sit in the car for seven hours again for three hours of beach time? In a heart beat... Maybe work on a different driving strategy, but hey? What's the fun without a good story to tell?

Ahhhh.... life.

Weekend fun...

An hot, sticky Sunday afternoon spent in Georgetown...

...Kara and Emily got the memo...

And what's a Baltimore summer without a crabfest? AmeriCorps friends celebrating the END of AmeriCorps!! Woohoo.