Walk like an Egyptian

(Jan. 24-Feb. 21, 2007) As Matt and I were snaking through the Khan Al-Khalili market in Cairo a tout told me that I, "walk like an Egyptian." I can thank the Bangles for that whooper of a pick up line. If only the band could figure out a way to collect royalties everytime a vendor in the market used that line on a foreigner and they would be obscenely rich. Maybe the Bangles were trying to tell me something in the last verse of the song, "all the cops in the donut shops say: ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh, walk like an Egyptian, walk like an Egyptian." Twenty years later and that song is still a riddle to me.

When Matt and I weren't busy fighting crime we managed to see some of Egypts extraordinary sights. My new Mommy and Daddy, aka Matt's parents, were gracious enough to come half way around the world to join us in our travels. On our itinerary was a four day cruise down the Nile from Luxor to Aswan, a brief flight over to the temple of Abu Simbel with a couple of days at the beginning and end of their visit to get a taste of Cairo. The sting operation meant we had to send his parents off to the Egyptian Museum alone on their first day in town. We practically pinned a letter to each one of their chests with instructions as to how they could reach us in an emergency and directions back to our hotel. It's not that we underestimated their ability to navigate in a foreign city we just knew that Cairo was such a behemoth place we didn't want them to get devoured on their solo voyage through town. Since we've been on the road for so long we don't take for granted how difficult it can be stepping into a new place and not having a clue how things work. Not having seen family in over six months we weren't about to lose them on the first day.

On our first real family outing we hired a cabby by the name Patience to take us out to the Step Pyramid of Saqqara, the Bent Pyramid of Dahshur and the Great Pyramids of Giza. Patience lived up to his name and drove with composure which is a major feat considering how treacherous the roads are in Cairo. The drivers in Egypt are clinically insane. Lanes are totally disregarded as are all rules related to the road. It is every car, bus, donkey and pedestrian to himself out there. The cars all look as though they just finished a crash derby competition. Patience may have been a drifter and he may have been a tad senile but he got us to every destination safely and that's the best we could have asked for.

The first time I laid eyes on the pyramids I'll admit that I wasn't as blown away by them as I thought I would be. I was a bit turned off by the circus atmosphere of camel and horse jockeys hounding you for a ride around the site. There was no real signage and the grounds were littered with rubbish. Dismayed, I thought I would reserve final judgement until I finished the trip and I am glad that I may that pact with myself. When we returned a week later to the see a laser light show at the pyramids I was humbled by their magnificence. All lit up against the fading sky they just seemed even larger than life. After visiting all the temples and tombs on our cruise it gave me better perspective of the engineering mastery it took to complete such a geometrically sound structure. It was really something magical to sit there with family in the dark and watch the light dance on the pyramids. No family trip to Disneyland could ever compete with that.

It was a maiden voyage for all of us on the cruise so we were all thrilled and a smidge apprehensive at the prospect. Our rooms were larger and more modern than I expected them to be with bathrooms nearly as large as the sleeping quarters. Every time we returned from and outing off the boat we'd find some animal or object cleverly created out of our towels and bedsheets as a gift from our quirky house keeper. The food was copious and delicious and the staff was exemplary with their service. It didn't take long for Matt and I to forgot our days roughing it on the road. It was glorious to sit on the upper deck of the boat and watch the date palms pass by as we played cards, sipped tea and munched on cakes.

Even though I've been an official Zibilich for four years now I still can't manage to beat them at their own card games and it kills me to lose repeatedly. I thought that all my practice with Matt over the last 10 months would ensure me total domination over the rest of the family but together they form a formidable foe with their "lingo" and obvious table talk that I didn't stand a chance at denting their armour. I'd try to get them off their game by trash talking but they were skilled in that department as well. They throw a game here and there for me to boost my confidence but I knew what they are doing, I was on to them. Even though I'm not the best loser, some would even say a sore loser, it was refreshing to have someone else to play with especially when those somebodies were family. Matt and I had exhausted all the two-handed card games we could think of during our travels and wanted nothing more to try our luck with other people.

With so many sights to see from Luxor to Aswan it was great to leave it in the hands of the cruise operators to decide for us. We'd eat our meals on the boat and then would shuttle off via bus or on foot to the nearest temple or tomb before sailing off again to the next destination. The only real draw back was that they gave you plenty of time on board the boat to spend your money on their goods, be it booze or trinkets, but you'd get limited time at the sights to wander around on your own. Sure after the third temple you get alittle overloaded with hieroglyphics but since I didn't come to Egypt to shop I'd much rather spend time absorbing all the sights.
It occured to me that I must have slept through all my history classes because I just had no idea that Egypt had so many brilliantly carved temples and tombs. The sheer quantity, the magnitude and the craftsmanship really blew me away. To my surprise the biggest part of the trip as a whole has not been in the temples or pyramids themselves, rather the grand picture of being in the very place where these monuments stand and getting lay of the surrounding land. It just gives you so much more perspective and for that I am in awe of man's accomplishments that transcend time.

Time zipped by in Egypt and next thing we knew his parents were in a taxi heading to the airport and it was just the two of us alone again. We've been blessed with having friends to stay with during our trip but nothing beats being with family. It's a great time in all of our lives where we truly enjoy each others company and look forward to family get togethers. We didn't need to travel around the world to realize how much we love our families.