Survival Mode: Egypt Impoverished

Surviving in impoverished Egypt:
Vendor at a fruit stand; taking tourists closer to the pyramids; collecting trash; a guard at the Luxor Temple.

The guard at the Luxor Temple caught me hiding behind a beautiful hieroglyphic-inscribed papyrus column, crying. I was thinking of my brother Loren, wishing he could be here, sharing his vast knowledge of the history of Egypt, wanting to hear his voice again. The guard asked if I was okay, in halting English; I smiled and said yes, and thanked him. I was embarrassed. 

He took me by the hand to another corner of the temple and said this is where he and other Egyptians pray for good health and loved ones. "Put your forehead on this spot," he said, pointing to a well-worn shiny round spot on a marble panel, and pray. It looked a bit like the round lumps on the foreheads of devout men who have prayed five times a day for years and years, only indented. I did what the guard suggested, and I felt better. He held out his hand, and I gave him 5 pounds. He had helped me, and now he asked that I help him. I realized, as much as I disliked the hustling, haggling, and begging, that poverty and survival dictated the behavior as much as anything. If someone found it annoying and reprehensible, well, okay, so be it; the vendor, trader or hustler would just go on to the next tourist, give it a try, and keep going. All day, every day.

One of the things you can't help but notice when walking the streets of Cairo and other towns and cities is how difficult daily life is for the majority of people. They collect trash, plastic and cans for a few pounds. They work as vendors and at day jobs, in hotels, in restaurants, in hospitals, for businesses if they are lucky. They try to get as much money as they can from tourists. It's survival.

Half of Egypt's 80 million people live in poverty. Unemployment is rampant and seemingly intractible. Certainly the Mubarsk government, with its $1.5 BILLION in annual aide from the U.S., never used a penny of it to help the people. Our Egyptian guides sniggered at the huge statues of Mubarak we passed along our way to the temples, and said that's where the money goes, and into Mubarak's pockets. There was an underlying animosity at US foreign policy, but I didn't sense any anti-American sentiment. Egyptians liked Americans, and enjoyed the bartering and the bantering. What they could not abide, and it was beginning to show then, was the persistent daily endless struggle for survival.

That's what American foreign policy has done to the people of Egypt. It has caused untold anquish and suffering, and the people have had it.

Now they have taken their destiny into their own hands, and the status quo governments in Egypt and abroad be damned. Time for a change. The Tunisia effect. "Tunisia is the solution," one news report quoted a protestor as saying.

Journalist Roger Cohen, in a thoughtful NYT opinion piece, interprets the protests as Arabs finding their voice at last, moving "from a culture of victimization to one of self-empowerment." What a difference this could make in the world. That's why Mubarak should just leave, now, so an interim coalition can take over. Why prolong the struggle and the agony? Make way for hope!

Where will all this lead? Who knows. I've heard lots of concerns, lots of fears. But honestly, for the people of Eqypt, it can't be any worse than 30 years of Mubarek's US-supported dictatorship.

Musuems and Tanks

Now and Then

The Egyptian Museum is a national treasure, a journey through 5000 years of history, a vast warehouse of artifacts from ancient times. It's Egypt evocative. The Egypt we dream about.

This is why in the midst of the chaos of protest on Cairo's city streets, citizens formed a human chain around the Museum to prevent looting and damage to the building and its fantastic collections from the tombs of the pharoahs.

Where we stood on the main side of the rose-colored Museum, coming out of our Hostel; where we contemplated the best way to get to the other side of the busy street; where we stood to take photos, now there are tanks. It is such an unreal juxtaposition.

Jud and I consider ourselves lucky to have been there in more tranquil times. But even then, I realized the tranquility was more mirage than reality, more a patina on deep discontent than a reflection of people's true state of mind.

Ideas were stirring. I felt it on my tour to the Pyramids and especially to the Valley of the Kings and Queens, and Hasheptut's tomb. Those soft sarcastic voices, the jokes, the feigned laughter, have now become shouts of outrage and protest. The widespread discontent underlying Mubarak's Egypt, a pseudo "stability" that underpins the US's support, at $1.5 billion a year, of a dictator, has erupted into the streets. The genie is out of the bottle. Let's hope someone like ElBaradei will carry the day.

If contemporary Egyptians honor their past, they will protect it, use it as a foundation to build a brighter future for new generations. They will coalesce around an inclusive democratic regime of many voices, find common ground to work toward common goals, whatever their differences. Then the U.S. can put its money where it's principles are, and reverse a foreign policy that has caused widespread hunger, poverty and devastation. Then the need for tanks in the streets of Cairo will also be a thing of the past.

Egypt Unplugged

Egyptians protest in Cairo; a protest in Boston/Cambridge area supports the pro-democracy protests in Egypt and questions American policy (fickr photos, gaelic nielson and others).

I’ve written about Egypt Evocative, Egypt Provcative, Egypt Seductive, and Egypt Unveiled, about the country along the Nile’s awesome antiquity and beauty, but I never thought I’d write about Egypt Unplugged.

Imagine having the power to shut down internet access to a whole country. The government asked all four internet providers to unplug Egypt, and all four complied. That action alone reveals the extent to which Hosni Mubarak’s totalitarian regime will go to stay in power, and the depth of the oppression the people have suffered for so long.

Is it any wonder that protests still rage in Egypt? Is it any wonder America has been forced, by crisis and under pressure, to reconsider its foreign policy? President Obama said that review will include the $1.5 billion we give to Egypt, too. What? We give $1.5 BILLION to Egypt? Why? To line the pockets of the dictator? Certainly the people never see a dime of that money, and we know it. Even a casual tourist can see that.

American foreign policy exposed. We have supported and kept in power an oppressive dictatorship for 30 years. We are complicit in the people’s oppression. It raises a lot of questions, and doubts, about the kinds of regimes we support in the Middle East and around the world. It has echoes of Haiti written all over it.

But look what it took. Only after the Mubarak government shut down the internet in the entire country, an “unprecedented” action the press has called it. Only after the use of excessive force against peaceful protestors, and more than 60 people dead. Only after the president for-life dug in his heels to stay in power. Good heavens. Of course the U.S. has no choice but to review it’s overall policy toward Egypt, and indeed, the entire Middle East and Northern Africa. And where is our Secretary of State in all of this? Where is Hilary?

It’s now evident to a broad public what perhaps the experts have known for a long time: that our foreign policies have been a boiling cauldron of misguided self-interest for too long.

There are broad principles at stake as well, principles we preach to others incessantly: freedom, equal opportunity, equal justice under the law, the right to protest, consent of the governed, the search for common ground in a democracy. It’s hypocritical to preach these principles then undermine them. It’s the kind of inconsistencies in our foreign policy that infuriate the rest of the world and undermine our credibility. I would go so far as to say it’s the kind of foreign policy that encourages terrorism. At least let’s practice what we preach in this ever-shrinking world. Let’s put our money where our principles are. That’s the only way to make the world safe for democracy.
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Time to make a new beginning in Egypt, across the board. That’s the message we’re hearing from Egypt now. And let’s pray it happens sooner rather than later, that more lives are spared, more hope restored.

We pray as well that Nobel laureate Mohammed ElBaradei, the articulate long-time challenger to Mubarak who just returned to Cairo, is safe and can remain a voice of reason and change. Many fear for his life. What a sorry state of affairs the protests are unveiling and revealing.

How lucky I was to visit Egypt before the inevitable turmoil erupted. The people yearn for freedom and opportunity. They want the dictator out. They want real change. I hope the young leaders and visionaries like ElBarade can find common ground for bringing Egypt into the modern world with the same granduer it bequeathed to us from its glorious ancient past.

The Tunisia Effect

Maps of Egypt, Tunisia and Ukraine to right

What do these three countries--Tunisia, Egypt and Ukraine--so different from one another, with such different histories and cultures, have in common?

In all three countries, long-simmering discontent with political intransigence, corruption, persistent unemployment and poverty is erupting into public protest. Other nations with similar long-standing problems are also lining up, on the verge of unrest. Yemen's an example

The human need for self-determination cannot be held down forever. It will break out in time, a tiny spark enough to cause a giant conflagration on top of years of mounting discontent and rage. It's like a volcano that smoulders for years and then finally erupts.

The anti-government protests now rocking Cairo, Egypt, Suez and other cities, echo the protest phenomenon in Tunisia, where the people came together to overthow an oppressive totalitarian regime. The people of Egypt, like the Tunisians, are fed up with the one-man rule that has dominated their country with an iron fist for over 30 years. They are fed up with corruption, lack of basic freedoms, police brutality, and the daily struggle for survival.

Egypt has 80 million people, almost half of whom live below the poverty level. They are finding their voice. They are speaking out. And they are making no bones about it: they are inspired and emboldened by the example of Tunisia.

I wasn’t surprised, because when I was in Egypt at year-end I regularly heard quiet complaints, more in the form of jokes or sarcasm or a feigned resignation, about their “president for life” and his self-promoting monuments throughout the capital city and in other cities along the Nile. The criticsm was muted but persistent. It seemed only a matter of time that people’s discontent would find an outlet. The 10,000 protesters in Tahnir Square, waving Egyptian and Tunisian flags, called for the president's outster and for the formation of a new government.

An AP article by Maggie Michael (1/25/2011) and journalists from Egypt quoted a 24-year-old hotel worker who lives on a salary of $50 a month as saying: “This is the first time I am protesting, but we have been a cowardly nation. We have to finally say no.” Another protestor proclaimed, “We want to see change, just like in Tunisia. ”

"Just like in Tunisia." Something similar I think is happening in Ukraine. Thousands of protesters, for example, turned out in Kyiv's Independence Square to call for changes in the tax codes, which they say favor the rich and hurt small businesses and working people. I heard supporters in Starobelsk cheering them on. They also called for new elections and a new national government.

Protests are erupting in towns and villages, too, in outraged response to local governments adopting Comprehensive City Plans without public input, as called for by law. In Lugansk, protestors urged more transparent, accessible and responsive city governments. This in far-eastern Ukraine, not in the west where it might be expected. The Tunisia Effect.

Revolts against oppression have taken place around the world throughout time. They are often slow in coming. They often reflect decades of unhappiness, simmering rage, pent-up disgust with things as they are.

Today, the communications revolution may be speeding things up. Like in Tunisia, the calls for rallies in Egypt went out on Facebook and Twitter, with 90,000 expressing support. Same thing is happening in Ukraine, where reformers are taking to the internet and social networks to keep people informed and to call for support.

Vovo and Yulia, of the NGO East Lugansk Center for Civil Initiatives, whom I've written about in my blogs about change from the bottom up, are out there leading the actions for honesty and open government. I'm no seer, but I've long sensed the yearning for change in Ukraine, and I've long noted signs of it at the grassroots level.

This is where human agency--the people's will, the people's voice--comes powerfully into play. It is human nature, I think, to struggle against oppression. It is human nature to fight for freedom and self-determination. This doesn’t mean all governments must be alike, or like the US government or any other government. There are many models of political governance. It simply means people want a say in how they are governed. They want opportunity. They want transparency and honesty. They want the chance to shape their own destinies.

The means to the end may vary, but the human need for freedom and autonomy will win out in the long run. Simmering outrage eventually becomes outright protest. If only dictators understood this basic human need they might not dig in their heels and use violence to stay in power. They might bend like willow trees in the face of the inevitable gusts of change that blow across the paths of time.

The human need for freedom, economic opportunity, justice, and self-determination will triumph. It's just a matter of time. The Tunisia effect.

Survival Mode: Egypt Improverised

   

Surviving in impoverished Egypt:
Vendor at a fruit stand; taking tourists closer to the pyramids; collecting trash; a guard at the Luxor Temple.

The guard at the Luxor Temple caught me hiding behind a beautiful hieroglyphic-inscribed papyrus column, crying. I was thinking of my brother Loren, wishing he could be here, sharing his vast knowledge of the history of Egypt, wanting to hear his voice again. The guard asked if I was okay, in halting English; I smiled and said yes, and thanked him. I was embarrassed. 

He took me by the hand to another corner of the temple and said this is where he and other Egyptians pray for good health and loved ones. "Put your forehead on this spot," he said, pointing to a well-worn shiny round spot on a marble panel, and pray. It looked a bit like the round lumps on the foreheads of devout men who have prayed five times a day for years and years, only indented. I did what the guard suggested, and I felt better. He held out his hand, and I gave him 5 pounds. He had helped me, and now he asked that I help him. I realized, as much as I disliked the hustling, haggling, and begging, that poverty and survival dictated the behavior as much as anything. If someone found it annoying and reprehensible, well, okay, so be it; the vendor, trader or hustler would just go on to the next tourist, give it a try, and keep going. All day, every day.

One of the things you can't help but notice when walking the streets of Cairo and other towns and cities is how difficult daily life is for the majority of people. They collect trash, plastic and cans for a few pounds. They work as vendors and at day jobs, in hotels, in restaurants, in hospitals, for businesses if they are lucky. They try to get as much money as they can from tourists. It's survival.

Half of Egypt's 80 million people live in poverty. Unemployment is rampant and seemingly intractible. Certainly the Mubarsk government, with its $1.5 BILLION in annual aide from the U.S., never used a penny of it to help the people. Our Egyptian guides sniggered at the huge statues of Mubarak we passed along our way to the temples, and said that's where the money goes, and into Mubarak's pockets. There was an underlying animosity at US foreign policy, but I didn't sense any anti-American sentiment. Egyptians liked Americans, and enjoyed the bartering and the bantering. What they could not abide, and it was beginning to show then, was the persistent daily endless struggle for survival.

That's what American foreign policy has done to the people of Egypt. It has caused untold anquish and suffering, and the people have had it.

Now they have taken their destiny into their own hands, and the status quo governments in Egypt and abroad be damned. Time for a change. The Tunisia effect. "Tunisia is the solution," one news report quoted a protestor as saying.

Journalist Roger Cohen, in a thoughtful NYT opinion piece, interprets the protests as Arabs finding their voice at last, moving "from a culture of victimization to one of self-empowerment." What a difference this could make in the world. That's why Mubarak should just leave, now, so an interim coalition can take over. Why prolong the struggle and the agony? Make way for hope!

Where will all this lead? Who knows. I've heard lots of concerns, lots of fears. But honestly, for the people of Eqypt, it can't be any worse than 30 years of Mubarek's US-supported dictatorship.

Egypt Unveiled: From Cairo to Luxor

Scenes from train windows, Cairo to Luxor, along the Nile. 

We were up at 6:00 am to catch the 8:00 am train from Cairo to Luxor. We chose a day train because we wanted to see the Egyptian countryside. We wanted to see Egypt unveiled. And we did.

The train station is behind a lot of rubble, I think because it's under construction. Lots of things are hidden from Western eyes, like the veiled women in burkas. We stood bewildered, bogged down by baggage and void of our morning coffee fix. Fortunately an elderly man offered to help carry our luggage and get us to the station. There was no path but the one he made. It was good enough. We tipped him 5 pounds and agreed that it was the most worthwhile tip we'd given so far. Sometimes Egypt provocative is just what we needed!

We met a lovely couple as we boarded the train, Leo, from Austria, and Lucia, from Melbourne, Australia. They were a 50ish couple who had known each other 25 years ago, met up again in Cairo, and are on their way to Ethiopia. How wonderful is that?! We chatted off and on during the train ride. I hope I hear from them again. We also met some friendly English-speaking travelers who were curious and helpful. One woman asked where we were going and when we said Luxor she told us how beautiful it is. "You should go to Aswan, too," she said. "We're thinking of a day-trip," Jud said. "You should make it a 2-day trip!" Ah boy, we don't have enough time to do all we'd like to do.

The train was clean and comfortable; a waiter or steward came through our first class car from time to time offering tea and coffee and biscuits. The whistle, however, never stopped blowing, so if sleep came it was interrupted by the constant announcement of the train going through one Nile river town after another. I caught a name every once in a while, first in Arabic, which is such a beautiful script, and then in English. A darkening sky and gray haze followed us for several hours from a small town called Matti to another larger city called Assuit. And then the heavens opened up and the rain fell.

People on donkeys, which are still the predominant beasts of burden and main source of transport in rural Egypt it seems, rushed hither and thither. A man stood with his hands outstretched, as if welcoming the rain. At one point it hailed, large stones almost the size of golf balls, falling hard on the dry ground. How odd to see hail, or rain for that matter, in the desert! At one point it rained so hard water came pouring through my window and I had to move.

We were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow in the Eastern sky as the rain subsided and the sun set. It seemed to start in Cairo and end in Luxor, the end of the rainbow! The eastern landscape glowed in stunning golden light. Oh how I tried to capture the magic, but rain-streaked windows on the moving train made it difficult!

From the windows of a train, the Cairo countryside along the river and canals looks very green and pretty, miles of fertile fields, of what I'm not sure. Fields of wild grasses, some corn, alfalfa, other vegetables, herbs maybe, some sugarcane. The means of farming looks pretty traditional, sythe and sickle, but the irrigation systems, canals and ditches carrying water from the river to fields seem to be effective. We learned only later that some of the canals are polluted and we were warned not to put even a finger in the water. Except for the donkeys and minarets, the Egyptian countryside looks a lot like Florida, with many varieties of palm trees.

After being in the bustling and chaotic city of Cairo, the rural scenes seem calm and serene. The palms compete with the minarets in reaching for the sky, lovely pastoral scenes in pastel.

Stacks of hay are bundled into humps with stalks reaching out from them, making them look like camels sitting in the desert.

And yet poverty is evident too. People live in stick huts, dank hovels and crumbling buildings along the canals and the railroad tracks. Donkeys, cows, goats, and chickens run around muddy yards. There's little to no protection against the elements, or the harsh sun. Nothing in the way of material possessions, which seems ridiculous even to note. Material possessions? For people living in huts, tents and stick structures with only a few palm fronds for a roof? It's survival.

Still, women did laundry and hung it out to dry on posts and falling fences. Boys kicked a soccer ball around a muddy field. Young children in ramshackle buildings next to the train tracks smiled broadly and waved as the train passed, so close to windows without glass that I could almost touch them.

Sometlmes Jud's side of the train had the prettier views, while mine filled with the gray-brown of poverty and slum dwellings. Sometimes I had brilliant green fields on my side, with swaying palms, while Jud had row upon row of brown brick dwellings surrounded by brown dirt paths and fields.

You have to look out of both sides of the train to get the whole picture, to process all the images, the conflicting views and visions, the beautiful and the ugly, the rich cultural overlays and the gray-brown underbelly.

On the train from Cairo to Luxor I could see both sides of Egypt.

The train was almost three hours late and we arrived in Luxor in the dark, the lights of the city shining brightly after the unusual rainstorm. We found that out later: how rare the rain and how welcome, no matter the damage it may have caused or the activities it slowed down. Rain in the desert is a gift, like the huge clear rainbow we saw over the landscape of Egypt, a sign of good luck I thought.

The train ride from Cairo to Luxor shows daily life over the patina of antiquity. It’s Egypt in the now, an unfolding panorama of rural and urban landscapes, grace and poverty, green and brown, palms and minarets reaching for the sky, people going about their business, farming, buying and selling, seeking tips and advantages wherever they can, heeding the Call to Prayer, heeding the call to survival and daily life. It's Egypt unveiled.

Egypt Seductive: Our Whimsical Hostels

For me, staying at funky hostels or B&Bs is always a fun part of any travel adventure. Jud and I tried one night at a more upscale place in Luxor, which had a beautiful view of the hills, all lit up, and the river. We decided it wasn't for us! For one-quarter of the price we could stay at a unique, modish, idiosyncratic hostel that was more our type, and usually more interesting. So the next morning we got situated at The New Everest Hostel.

There were some glitches, but they soon got straightened out. People who stay at hostels are friendly, from all over the world, the staff is helpful, the places are clean and tidy. We usually run into Peace Corps Volunteers, as we did in Cairo. And Jud is good at checking the hostels out online at Trip Advisor and www.hostelworld.com. This is a wise thing to do, and these internet sites are reliable. The hostels usually give recommendations and make arrangements for tours, restaurants, and things to do. It's a good thing to make sure your tour guide speaks English, which we learned from experience on our way to the Pyramids at Gize. Check Jud's blog for more advice!

The top photos are of the rooftop cafe at the New Everest Hostel in Luxor, where we had a hearty breakfast of eggs, rolls and coffee every morning. Mohammed, our young cook, made me feel special and I have a soft spot in my heart for him. He is from a poor rural family, trying to make it in the big city. May God go with him. It was also nice to listen to the music of Bob Marley, a favorite of our hosts at New Everest. The collage shows the location and the lobby, decked out in New Year's holiday finery. It is on an alley off of an alley, the real city. Once inside it is clean and cozy, and its smack in the middle between the Train Station and the Luxor Temple. Can't beat the location.

Our Cairo Hostel, Egyptian Nights, was also off an alley. We could see the Egyptian Museum across the street out of our window, a beautiful sight, day and night. It is also near the heart of downtown. The building seems in bad shape at first sight, but on second and third look you can see the beauty, in the entrance way, the high ceilings, the large doors and windows. It's not for everyone, but it was fine for Jud and me. Very clean, with a staff that wanted to please. And wi-fi, which was great.

Egyptian Nights. The name alone evokes dreamy images of the golden, magical and sometimes mysterious Egyptian past. Sergey Prokofiev's "Egyptian Nights" suite came to mind, and the hundreds of films set in Egypt, from Cleopatra movies to Mummy movies, Agatha Christie and James Bond movies, Death on the Nile and The Valley of the Kings. A swirl of images and sounds, like the poster in the photo collage (right). Now I want to listen to all the music and see all the movies inspired by and set in the Egyptian landscape.

Egypt seductive!

Egypt Provactive

These 3 little girls wrangled 20 pounds out of me for soda and chips (but they were so cute!). Women traditional and modern. The Alabaster factory and shop: hard to resist, right? A Brazilian woman from our Valley of the Kings and
Queens tour group with young Egyptian women at Queen Hatshepsut's temple.

The architecture of ancient Egypt evokes powerful images of a gilded past. We see

fantastic, almost surreal, monuments to Kings and nobles. We see craftsmanship and

exquisite beauty. We learn how ancient Egyptians viewed themselves and the world,

all in beautifully graphic ways. As one scholar said of the ancients, “They thought graphically,” in images and pictures, not intellectually, not in words. I'm no expert, but the art of tombs, temples and pyramids support this view.

Contemporary Egypt is something else. It is more provocative than evocative; mostly in the hustle and bustle of daily life. From art for the dead, to the art of the deal, Egypt has come a long way!

Egypt is a Moslem country with a mixture of Islamic conservatism and modern practices. Terrorist threats are also an unfortunate reality, reflected for example in the recent threats and attacks on Coptics, Egyptian Christians. A recent suicide bombing killed 21 Christians, I believe at a church service. Jud and I passed a large Coptic demonstration on our last evening in Cairo, with the police out in force. It’s a sad commentary on lack of tolerance, although educated and thoughtful Egyptians bemoan the trend. I also do not understand the role of women, but it seems patriarchy rules. Some women are totally covered in burkas, head to toe, some with only a tiny slit for their eyes, a vision that seems mysterious and eerie to me. Many cover their heads only, including young teenage girls. Others dress in jeans and tee shirts, contemporary and upbeat, some with and some without head scarfs. It is, moreover, customary to have many wives, and thus many children, and to treat wives without much regard for their person. Why do women accept this? Aladdin, our guide through the Valley of the Kings, expressed concern about this and the resultant over-population. "It's big problem," he said. Again, more modern practices are emerging, driven by water shortages and related problems, the influence of the internet and the global economy, and the press of modernity, but the mixture of old and new and evolving is provocative.

Architecture for the dead. Artifice for the living. This is a central contradiction or dichotomy of Egyptian life. No matter where one goes, but especially in large cities like Cairo, there are scam artists, hustlers, and vendors waiting to make a deal, to up the ante, to get as much tourist money as they can for everything from magnets to papyrus to perfume and trinkets. I found it difficult. I am one of those “soft” tourists, as Steve Ricks calls us, who is not good at negotiating deals on every little thing. We stick out like sore thumbs and draw vendors like magnets! Most distressing are the hustlers, those who accompany you on the streets as you are walking along admiring the scenery. Charming and articulate, they befriend you, gain your confidence, say things like “don’t worry, I’m not after your money,” and then take you to a family or friend’s business. I ended up at three perfume shops in this way. The first turned out to be rather pleasant, but the perfume is so watered down that it hardly has a scent now. The second one made me mad, and you would have thought by the third time I would have been wiser. Jud was. He saw through the scam immediately and continued on to the museum, while I was seduced and sidetracked by a hustler who told me about an art gallery right up the street. HAH! Turned out to be a friend’s perfume shop. Then the perfume vendor couldn’t understand why I wasn’t a happy camper. Smile, he said. Don’t worry, be happy. Full of cheer, he continued selling me perfume all the while, aggressive, persistent, insistent, relentless.

Same thing happened when Aladdin made one tourist stop at an Alabaster shop. He said it was to learn how alabaster is mined and shaped into beautiful vases and other objects. And there was a little demonstration of this, before being led into a huge warehouse of a store where we were to buy some of the products. The lead vender stopped me along the way several times to pry me with objects, and at one point even asked for “baksheesh,” a tip. Such encounters always left me flummoxed and feeling bad. Just ignore all vendors, advised Kundar and James, the professors at the American University in Afghanistan, and yell at them if they don’t stop. It’s okay to yell at them? Well, sure, you must say no very firmly.

So it’s in our hands, the tourist’s hands, to resist such efforts, to say no. The vendor’s job, the hustler’s job, is to trick us into buying, in whatever way they can. I’m not sure how to explain this, but it is always a “no-win” situation for the tourist! Vendors and hustlers do not take “no” for an answer. Some will even chase you down the street, yelling every trick in the book about the deal they have for you. Young kids learn it from their elders, by the way, and are also very adept at this art. This is the side of Egypt that makes it a challenge, and I must admit by the end of our stay in Cairo I felt comfortable enjoying tea in our hostel! On the other hand, if you are wise and firm, you can avoid being entrapped, misled, and otherwise taken advantage of for the sake of a few pounds. And there is so much history and astonishing art and beauty and adventure just being in this ancient land.

This is Egypt provocative.

Egypt Evocative: Art and Architecture for the Dead

Couldn't take photos at Valley of Kings, but here are some of the incredible

Queen Hatshepsut's temple and tomb, on Luxor's west bank. Just amazing.





I'm back in Starobelsk via a few days in Kyiv with lots of Peace Corps stuff, mid-term medical exams, trying to close grants (unsuccessfully because I didn’t have the right receipts and have to go back and get them), and then the long overnight train ride to Lugansk, and the two-hour bus ride through the snow and ice of eastern Ukraine. I'm unpacking and getting organized, and I welcome a rest, but Egypt is on my mind.

It’s the Nile River calling, for tourists almost like the Call to Prayer, almost like it called the Pharoahs from about the 18th to 11th centuries BC.

Today, the Nile River valley is a huge amazing archeological site, one of the largest in the world (it’s a World Heritage Site) and this is what fascinates and dazzles. It includes, among many others, the Valley of the Queens; Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb, carved dramatically into a limestone hillside; and the larger and renowned Valley of the Kings, the pharoahs’ burial sites, all on the West bank of Luxor. Digs are still going on and new tombs are still being unearthed. It's a never-ending archaeological feast.

The sun rises in the East: LIFE. The sun sets in the West: DEATH. So the pharaohs built their tombs in the setting sun, “the Necropolis of Thebes," now called Luxor. Mind-boggling art and architecture for the dead.

I toured these sites with an informative and funny guide, Aladdin (another Aladdin), along with his excellent driver Mohammed, and 14 other people.  We were from all over the world: Japan, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, England and America. Among them was a former Peace Corps Volunteer, James Hunt, who served in Kazakhstan several years ago, and his wife Kundar, a former Muskie fellow who studied at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Small world, especially since I just finished reading 54 Ukrainian applications for the Muskie Program, and discovered how many talented people apply and how extraordinary it is to be accepted. They both now teach at the American University in Afghanistan, something else I’d like to learn more about. Imagine, we are fighting a war there, and James and Kundar are teaching at the university as if nothing extraordinary is going on around them.

So here we were in the desert on the west bank of Luxor, new friends and strangers from around the world. We stood together in the rising sun, surrounded by the undulating brown hills of the Valley that holds so much history, so many legends from the Old and Middle Kingdoms, united in our amazement at the fantastic findings that the royal tombs reveal, some 63 of them, all built, sometimes buried, deep underground, some 30 or more meters under the sand. Archaeologists must have had a field day discovering these tombs, and still do! The tombs range from small to very large with over 100 chambers. Some have been raided beyond recognition, and some are nearly in tact, decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology that tell stories in elaborate details that are works of art. Egypt evocative.

We weren’t in search of a magic lantern with Aladdin, but he showed us the power of ancient funeral arts in the elaborate designs, paintings, bas reliefs and carvings of the entrances, corridors, columns, walls and ceilings of the tombs of Ramses I, II, VI, and IX. We asked about King Tut's tomb (probably the most famous), but Aladdin said there wasn't much to see because all the furnishings and art were at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and in other museums around the world. After seeing the Egyptian Museum I could understand that, not to mention all the Egyptian artifacts, mummies, papyrus, gold and silver items, jewelry, and art in just about every museum I've ever visited, including gems like the Rosetta stone in the British Museum in London. Egyptian obelisks adorn the world too, like the twin of the Luxor temple obelisk that is in Paris, or "Cleopatra's Needle" in Central Park in New York City, now the cause of concern for Egypt's Director of Antiquities (NYT, 7 January), who threatens to bring it home to preserve and care for it.

Also, the west bank "Necropolis" is so huge that it's impossible to see all the royal tombs in a day. It's a lot of walking in the hot sun from one tomb to another. We just scratched the surface.

Aladdin took us to four of the best, all awesome in their own way. The tomb of Ramses VI was especially beautiful, because it's almost fully restored to its original splendor. The gloriously painted walls and ceilings graphically tell the story of creation and death, of sunrise and sunset, in bold blue and gold with many images and hieroglyphics, packed with exquisite paintings, carvings and artisanal flourishes. Cameras are not allowed in the tombs, not even on the grounds, but I have vivid mental images that will last a lifetime.

We could take photos of Queen Hatshepsut's grand tomb and temple, however, and for me this was among the most impressive sites of all in the Valley of the Kings and Queens. Queen Hatshepsut is considered the most powerful of the queens who ruled Egypt. More an arts patron than a warrior, Hatshepsut, who dressed like a man, had her architect built the most expansive structure imaginable, an incredible work of art, for herself and for her father, Thutmose I. It is set in a limestone hillside, built on 3 floors, a sweeping set of stairs leading up to the temple, the ochre color rocks fanning out behind it, the carvings and reliefs bountiful, clear and colorful on walls and columns, statues and obelisks, astonishing detail, a story in pictures, graphic, haunting. Hatshepsut's temple and tomb are all that's left of her legacy, which was wiped out, intentionally it seems, after her death, and replaced with other stories. For a while, Hatshepsut's temple even became a Christian church, which some scholars think protected it from destruction. It remains one of the most glorious structures of ancient Egypt, truly a wonder to behold, an architectural feast, an archaeologist's dream.

Discoveries continue in the Valley, with a recent dig in 2008 being worked on now, and more on the way. There’s an underside to these fantastic finds: in one small village an enormous new site has been discovered and the government is forcing people to move out, without any compensation whatsoever, so archaeological work can begin. Some residents are holding out, but Aladdin thinks it's a losing battle. He was sad about it. Perhaps if people were paid for the cost of their homes, the situation might be better, he suggested. We understood, and sympathized. Aladdin pointed out a dramatic yellow house against the desert sky, informing us that a photo of this very house had served as the cover of the 2008 Lonely Planet Guide to Egypt. It now stands empty, it's inhabitants forced to leave, a forlorn presence in the Valley of the Kings and Queens.

Egypt evocative. Evocative of hopes for eternity and warriors' triumphs, mythology and reality, culture and craftsmanship, awesome architecture rivaling anything that came after, and the complexities of archaeological discoveries and people's daily lives. It's all part of the complex mosaic that is ancient and modern Egypt.

Karnak temple, a few miles across from the Luxor Temple

Karnak temple, a few miles across from the Luxor Temple, connected by that sphinx-lined road that is now being reconstructed, is one of the oldest and largest temples of ancient Egypt, which is saying something. It's a sprawling elegant behemouth,first described by Diodorus of Sicily (whose name comes up a lot in Egyptian historiography). The Greeks called it Hermonthis.

It was January 1 and Jud and I wanted to do different things. He went to the Luxor Museum (not the Temple) and I went to Karnak, getting a taxi from our hostel and then picking up a guide once I got my ticket. My guide was Aladden, which seemed so fitting, because his magic lantern for me was his knowledge and reverence for the site. He had a quiet demeanor, and a generous view of the Temple built for the god Amon and his wife, the goddess Mut, often symbolically portrayed in the form of a vulture (I don't know why, but it may not have the rather negative connotations we associate with it).

Older than the Luxor temple, it astounds with beautiful columns in many styles, statues, the sphinx-lined avenue, a sacred lake, obelisks, and intricate carvings. A successive line of Pharoahs added halls and chapels to the original temple, as happened at the Luxor temple. The influence of trade with Ethiopia is reflected in what's called the "Ethiopian Courtyard," where extraordinary columns, carvings and hieroglypics tell the story of this interesting connection.

Noted for its "stylistic complexity," one guide said the Karnak Temple could serve as a base to study the evolution of architecture and art from the XVIII Dynasty to the end of the Ramses era. Part of this temple was also a Christian church at one time, much later of course.

For Aladdin, a sacred site at Karnak was the base and sculpture of a gigantic granite scarab, a symbol of eternal life, dedicated to the god Knepr by Amon-Ofis. Aladdin positioned me in front of the scarab and took a photo. "It is special to have this photo," he told me. Yes, and actually it was special to spend time with Aladdin among this sprawling Temple to the gods and goddesses of the great Egyptian past.

The Magnificent Luxor Temple Desert

 







I thought I had seen the ultimate in the 5000-year history of Egypt at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but that was before I toured The Luxor Temple. I have seldom in my life been so entranced and fascinated by a museum, really an outdoor archaeological site still being excavated and reconstructed, still evolving and rebirthing, stone by stone, hieroglyphic by hieroglyphic, column by column, statue by statue, bas relief by bas relief, piece by piece. It is magnificent, this temple built to honor Amon-Ra, king of the gods of ancient Eqypt. It is among the most amazing sites I have ever seen. I went twice, once during the day, and again in the evening, when the temple is lit up and looks golden and magical (photos above). Day or night, it is a majestic monument.

Pharoah Amon-Ofis II started the temple in the 14th century BC. King Tut added to it, and Ramses II finished it. A long processional avenue flanked by sphinxes with rams' heads since replaced with human heads connects the Luxor Temple and that of Karnak, about 3 miles away. This avenue of the gods is also under reconstruction, like much of the Temple itself. So is the temple at Karnak, another amazing site. It's extraordinary.

Luxor is the ancient city of Thebes, celebrated in Homer's Iliad (8th century BC) and by scholars thereafter up to the present. Thebes evolved into Luxor overtime, way before the Christian era, as ancient dynasties and kingdoms competed for power and riches. Today the temple is all that remains of the legendary Thebes.

The entrance features an elegant obelisk, which at one time had a twin but it is now in the city of Paris (on the Place de Concorde), and colossal statues of Ramses. Of the four statues of Queen Nefertari and her daughter that were created, in pink marble, only one remains, and it's in bad shape. No matter. The ideas and spirit remain. Multi-columned courtyards, rows upon rows of closed and open papyrus-crowned columns, like forests, statues of Osiris, and of kings, queens and warriors, and a constant stream of carved images and hieroglyphics on every wall, ceiling and column, tell the stories of those times, of the pharoahs, the priests and the gods, of creation and the journey to the afterlife (so rich in symbolism and so significant to the pharoahs), of wars and triumphs.

The colors have faded, but every once in a while you catch a glimpse of blue, red and gold, and can imagine what the Amon-Ra Temple must have looked like in full resplendent color. As it is, the splendor of the Temple awes and delights. I think of all the incredible monuments built to the gods by the pharaohs, the Luxor Temple is my favorite!

Greeting the New Year in the Luxor Desert

January 1, 2011, Luxor, Egypt, in the desert (Jud, moonscapes, a sunset, the fire with our waterpipes). The sky brilliant with stars (Wikipedia photo, but it was this beautiful).Kolysena winta-tayeeb, a rough transliteration of the Arabic for Happy New Year!

I greeted the first day of the New Year with a memorable dinner and stargazing evening in the Egyptian desert. It was incredible, fantastic. A Belgium couple now living in Luxor organizes these special tours, and they are beyond belief. After driving away from the city and into the open desert, the lights of humanity fading behind us, we arrived at our site, a barren-looking stony brown landscape of hills in every direction, the only patch of green a thin line along the horizon closer to the Nile River.

We began our new year’s adventure with a hike up the rocky desert moonscape that used to be a body of water, up to the tops of hills, to watch a stunning sunset. Stunning! We took our time, small groups of people, wandering apart, then together, then apart, dancing in different configurations, looking like Martians exploring a new planet against the setting sun. I couldn’t capture the essence of it in words, or in photos. How do you capture a mirage?

After the sun descended slowly into the desert, leaving behind an orange-red glow, we meandered back to tables beautifully set and glowing in candelight to share an authentic Egyptian dinner that was a gastronomical feast. It was an astronomical feast, too. We ate in the open air, the heavens for our roof, with a group of interesting people from around the world as the stars popped out one by one by one. I sat with a couple from England, Jane and Edward, who travel the world with their three sons, now ages 14, 10 and 8. I talked a bit with two beautifully dressed young women from South Africa. A thoughtful Frenchman, his lovely 9-year-old daughter Moon in hand, waxed philosophical about the meaning of life, the universality of humankind, the limits of religious beliefs. The night sky was brilliant, colorful, sparkling, clear. No moon. Ingrid, our leader and astronomer, green lazer beam in hand, led us through the mysteries and vastness and endless variations of the heavens, billions of stars, millions of light years away, the constellations, the planets.

She and her husband, with the help of experienced Arab helpers, set up two huge telescopes and we all took turns viewing various wonders: Andromeda, the pleidies, the North star and nearby star clusters, Jupiter, a favorite planet after Venus (Saturn won’t be visible for about 6 months, Ingrid said), and betelgeuse in the constellation Orion, my favorite star this night because it looked like an effervescent ruby through the powerful telescope. It was utterly thrilling. Loren would have loved every minute of it. It was his night. I wanted to believe I felt his presence, soaring among the stars and the planets, his every curiosity and hope fulfilled.

We then went back to the tables for dessert, more tea, and the hookahs, the waterpipes (these with apple-flavored water) that you breath into, blow bubbles, and relax. The ever-attentive Egyptian helpers met our every need. These Renaissance men prepared a fantastic dinner, the best we’ve had in Egypt. They brought water and tea. They showered us with Egyptian hospitality. And as the night grew chilly in the desert air, they built a wonderful fire for us. We all gathered round in gratitude, enjoying the richness and beauty of the moment, the joys and wonders of Egypt.

What a fantastic way to begin a new year! The heavens and the earth conjoined. One of the best New Year’s days I can remember. The memories and images will take me to the ends of the earth on my journey through time, to the great beyond. Kolysena winta-tyeeb.