Black and White Desert-Bedouin Style

So this past weekend I went to the Black and White Desert in Bahariya, Egypt. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever. The AUC group consisted of me and four other girls, a family of three people and five Arab men who were our drivers/ “tour guides.”. I use the word tour guide loosely because it wasn’t a very touristy experience—but I liked that about the trip.

 

We left around 7:30 in the morning for a long 5ish hour bus ride to the Golden Valley Hotel where we then ate a nice lunch and relaxed and waited to leave for the desert. After the guys finally packed up the jeeps we were on our way down the long, never ending road in search of the perfect end to our day. We passed by tons of “black” mountains in the black desert and stopped to climb one of them. The sun was blazing, and the climb was amazing, but tiring.

 

After we made our way back down the mountain we got back in the jeeps and were back on the road on our way to the white desert area. Once we got there we did the touristy thing and took pictures while the men “made” our camp and dinner, etc. We were finally ready to go to our campsite, away from all of civilization when one of the five men, general manager of the travel agency we used, asked us if we wanted to walk or drive. Feeling adventurous, and being told it wasn’t too far away we decided to walk.

 

After about an hour it was clear that we were lost. As our tour guide stood in the middle of the dessert climbing a limestone mountainous hill for cell phone reception yelling feen (where in Arabic) the other girls started to look concerned. This interaction proceeded for a while, I’m not sure exactly how long, but our tour guide insisted he wasn’t lost. After all, he said he’s been working at this desert for the past 25 years.

 

On the way we ran into a car which we thought was ours, but soon it drove away and the rest of the girls looked confused as we continued to search for our campsite. We finally made it to our campsite without view of any other people. We chilled out a bit, used the bathroom in the desert (which by the way was quite the experience) and sat by the campfire while we watched our chicken dinner being cooked.

 

Then we all gathered around, sat on the floor and ate some delicious rice, chicken and vegetables. We just spent the evening in the dark underneath the stars listening to the Bedouin-esque men (I’m not sure if they really were Bedouins, or if they just considered themselves to be) play their instruments and sing and dance. Later they told us riddles to stump us and I’ll have you know some of them did.

 

We finally were ready to sleep and had some mattresses set up outside. We slept outside in the desert while it was pitch black. Looking at the stars was amazing; cheesy as it may sound. I was able to see the Orion’s belt stars and I think I may have even seen a shooting star out of the corner of my eye!

 

The next morning we woke and ate a delicious breakfast and just chilled out a while. It was super cold during the night that I had to curl up in a ball. I had many layers of clothes on plus two gigantic blankets but was still shivering. I finally put the blankets over my face, and I guess the blocked out the sun because when I woke up the sun had already came up L I didn’t get to see it…but that’s okay.

 

Anyways, we made our way back to the hotel where we met….but not before making a few stops a long the way. We stopped at many places, one of which we saw crystal and black mountains—the sparkly mountains were pretty awesome.

 

Funny story: we were driving super fast in the jeeps through the sand. Because there were so many of us we were spit into two jeeps. My driver gunned the car and we made our way up the sand dune…the other driver. Well, let’s just say he had some troubles. His car didn’t want to make it all the way up…the car kept on going backwards down the hill; sometimes it seemed to be going out of control. At one point the car even seemed like it was going to tip over. It was quite interesting to watch, though I suppose if I was in the car it would have been quite frightening.

 

Anyways, I just got distracted by me roommate…GR I lost my train of thought…

 

Ok, so we just kept on doing the desert thing out in the middle of nowhere and enjoyed ourselves. I took plenty of pictures which I will post later, but the place was just so amazing and vast that I’m not sure if the pictures will do it justice.

 

Anyways, we finally made it back to the hotel where we stopped for lunch and headed back home. I wish we could have stayed at the desert longer instead of just one night; but that one night was amazing. We finally made it back after a long 4 to 5ish hour long drive to Cairo…and I took a MUCH needed shower.

 

I feel like so much happened that I couldn’t possibly write it all down, but that’s the jest of my Black and White Desert experience…..

 

I’ve got a research paper and midterm this week…but pictures coming soon, inshAllah J

It’s been a while…and it will be.

So I’m dead in the middle of midterm season, and besides procrastinating on Facebook and going out with friends I haven’t had much time for anything…aka blogging. Sorry! I will try to write another longer perhaps intersting post next week like Wed??? Maybe…

Anyways, I miss all my friends and family back home!!! I can’t  wait to get back, but I am definitley going to miss Egypt…I can’t believe I’ve already been here a two months and that I have less than two months left in Egypt :(

Just in case you care, many of you know I am going to London from December 23-January 8 (woot! spending the new year there!) I also have another trip planned to Saudi Arabia, inshAllah for December 5-13!!! I really hope I am able to go!

Ok, well I’ve got an 11 page paper due on Monday…which I haven’t exactly started…and I’m not sure I will now, but still I just had a BUSY week and now that it’s the weekend here I think I deserve some lazy time :p

adios.

Hi :] It’s been exactly a month.

Hi! So…it’s been a while since I’ve written in this thing…everything has been going great so far. I’m definitely still enjoying Egypt.

New about the hostages in Egypt kind of ruined my Eid break…Eid is next week and we have a 6 or 7 day holiday. Most of the AUC’ers are going to Jordan, Turkey, Israel…well, all over the Middle East but I have decided to stay in Egypt….bad news I wanted to plan a trip to Aswan/Luxor during Eid break but I’m guessing that’s not really an option anymore. SOOO who knows that I’m going to do for the break. Hopefully I can find some people who are going to stay in Zamalek so I have someone to hang out with. If nothing else I know I’ve got the first section of my research paper due after the break is over so I can work on that.

Hmmm, what else is new. So, it’s the third week of school and I still can’t help but fall asleep on the bus there and back…seems like the 3 hour bus ride (there and back) had turned into uncomfortable nap time for just about everyone…I’m sure once I start getting unbearable amounts of homework I might start studying on the bus…but then again, that kind of stuff puts me to sleep so who knows.

Again, most people here don’t seem to be worried about the classes being hard, but it seems like the grades for all of my classes are mostly dependent on the midterm and final–I don’t really like that too much because as of now I’m not sure how hard the teachers will make their tests, but inshAllah it’ll all turn out good.

Some words that EVERYONE here says all the time include:
InshAllah-God willing
Alhamdulillah-thank God
ya3ney-like of like, it means or you know what I mean.
bizupt-exactly
and a whole bunch of words that I can’t think of at the moment, but I’m pretty sure once I go back to the US I will be using them a lot and nobody will know what I’m saying.

So, speaking of Arabic–I’m a little convinced that my Arabic teacher hates me, but with that sad I’ve got to do a whole lot of studying for that class because I can already tell that it’s going to be really hard. Bad news: Arabic class is extremely hard it’s insane…Good news: That means inshAllah I will learn a lot of Arabic!!!

I wish I would use the Arabic I know more here, but it seems like everytime I try to use my Arabic the people I’m talking to go off and assume I’m fluent and then I’m like…I don’t know what you’re saying!!!

OK, what else is there to say about school/Egypt/Auc. Oh there’s this hilarious petition going around that a couple of the international students (AKA stingy/cheap/tight-waded Americans) are putting out demanding that they get some of their tuition money back…the whole thing is kind of hilarious. Some of the stuff in the letter includes:

“Inability to communicate with family and loved ones is generating concern amongst the students and the family members of the students.”—umm, pick up a phone and call you parents. They have phones here you know…

Which brings me to poing two:

“Desperate students have resorted to paying hundreds of pounds for Vodafone and other internet attachments. Those unable to afford such devices continue to fall behind.”–I personally bought a Vodafone which in American dollars cost $30 dollars, the fact that it was 165 pounds makes it seems a lot, but seriously. Where in the US are you going to find a cell phone for less than $30??

And what does this have to do with you….??

Maintenance of water fountains and grass in the middle of the desert is not environmentally friendly.

 

These are just a few of the ridiculous complaints…The complaint petition is at least 10 pages long, so you could just imagine how ridiculous it gets, but I have to save the best for last:

“Students have overheard staff profiling the international students as ‘babies and complainers’.”

 

Hmmmm, maybe that’s because it’s true…? Mumkin? (maybe in Arabic) I think they just kind of need to get over themselves and stop with the complaining!

Ok, again, my blogs always end up waaaay longer than I expect, and there’s not even about anything interesting….maybe next time I can catch your attention more!!!

About the Dorms…

SO, I never described what this place is like—I mean the dorms.

 

The dorms here are interesting—top security. Before we go into the dorms there are numerous security guards outside that randomly question people about whether or not they live in the dorms. Then as you enter the dorms, you must go through a metal detector at which time you must open all of your bags for the guards to peek in (as far as I know they’re looking for alcohol). After that there are more guards sitting down, that usually don’t say anything but will randomly as if you live there, and what room number. Finally after those three things, you’re home free.

                                 

But, even though you are free to go to your dorms, there are more restrictions, and the place is swarming with security guards. Every entrance of the building, even entrances within the building have security guards ensuring that there is no mixing of men and women in the dorms.

 

At the entrance of the actual dorm area, there is a security guard making sure that no boys go into the girl’s side, and vise versa. Besides the lobby area and cafeteria, we are completely segregated—which I don’t mind.

 

Also, something else that a lot of the girls on my hall find funny is that every time there is a man on the floor, it must be announced. After we were told that they would announce it we assumed it would be through loud speakers in some kind of system—but no. The security guard escorts the male, who is usually doing maintenance or carrying large objects of luggage, and literally announces by yelling, “Man on ze floor! Man on ze floor!”

 

It was quite interesting the first time we heard them say that—but it’s a nice warning I suppose.

 

Hmm, what else is there to say about the dorms. Unlike most dorms which usually consist of rooms that are all the same size and style, AUC dorms aren’t. I think my roommate and I got a rather crummy dorm compared to the rest. Some of them have long corridors and others with balconies, and the other dorms are way larger than our rooms. But, with all that said I would love a balcony, but I think I’ll live. J

 

What else. Oh yeah, the bathroom is like a million light years away. I timed it one day and with me walking fast, it is 44 seconds just to get there. Those minutes add up. LOL. The bathrooms are okay. I think our floor is better than most because we almost always have toilet paper, but most floors are lucky if they do. The showers are like typical dorm showers, same with the bathroom. So it was expected to be a little irky.

 

There is also a beautiful garden area, which I will eventually take pictures of, and also a computer lab downstairs, as well as a workout room (which I imagine I will be too lazy and exhausted to use).

 

And, I guess that’s all about the dorms for now.

SO Not Over It–Just Taking a Breaky Break.

I hope I’m not over Egypt. I don’t think I am, but I no longer feel it necessary to go out every night. Maybe I’m just feeling a little “anti-social,” but now that classes have started, I want to try my best and keep up with them. I’ve heard a lot of people talking about how classes here are really easy, but to me they don’t appear that way. I mean, it’s only been a week, so who knows.

 

Anyways, I guess when I first got here I was all excited and always walking around Zamalek, taking trips to other parts of Cairo and going on events with the school to horseback riding, shopping, etc. But, I feel like now that I have to plan these events on my own, I don’t have a solid schedule to go by and I’m fine just chilling at the dorms and going out to grab a bite to eat somewhere nearby.

 

I guess  I’m over the phase of having to go out and see something amazing everyday. I’m perfectly content just seeing life in Zamalek. I have a huge list of places I want to go: Sharm el-Sheik, the Pyramids, Alexandria, Mt. Sinai, etc. But, now that classes have started, I am going to have to plan my trips for the weekends. And even then, I’ll probably have homework, studying and research projects to work on on the weekends, so I may not have too much time for travel.

 

Good news is I’m only taking 15 hours, and hopefully I will be able to keep up with my schoolwork and have plenty of playtime. For now though the weekend plans are to study today. Then tonight go to some thing (I’m not exactly sure) and volunteer to teach English to Arabic speakers.

 

Then tomorrow, I am meeting up with my friend from Baylor who is vacationing here. We are meeting at City Stars mall and then taking a trip to the Citadel. So that should be fun.

 

As far as other plans of being social go–I feel like it’s freshman year all over again. I gotta make friends so I can have plans for the weekend and people to hang out with. I’m only here for a semester though, and I’m too lazy for that–but here’s to trying to be more social.

 

Well, I’m talking to Sadaf on AIM, and multitasking by reading/studying. SO, that’s it for this blog!