18-20 Jun 2010 - سيوة

Siwa - 18 – 20 Jun 2010

So sorry for the ridiculous delay in posts.  I’m gonna try to catch up with everything by the end of this week.  It’s funny, because the program is nearing its end, and I haven’t written anything about it, despite my promises.  I’ve been really busy and really distracted by all of the amazing people here.  So, here’s my schpiel on Siwa, 18 – 20 Jun 2010:

Siwa was our first real trip on the program.  And it was incredible.  I have to say, though, that in all my years I never thought I would actually visit  BFE, but there I was, in the middle of the goddamn  desert.  And it was sick.  I implore you to observe the pictures. 

The first day we relaxed a bit and visited some ancient temples and the like.  It was pretty cool to see a temple I’d read about in history: the Temple of Amun where Alexander the Great claimed he was the son of Amun.  Or something like that.  So here’s the skinny on Siwa: in the middle of the desert is this impressive oasis.  Naturally, for people wandering in the desert, this would be a major safe haven.  So all sorts of people built towns and forts and temples around this place, and it became very important.

That night, we ate in a tent on the hotel grounds (the hotel, by the way, was amazingly gorgeous).  Some local Arabs sang and danced for us while we ate a fucking goat that they cooked in the ground.  I can’t even begin to explain this.  Read: awesome.  Then shisha and tea and swimming.  Good night.

Next day, we visited some more temples and what not, and after that, we saw the date factory.  Okay, so Siwa is extremely famous for dates.  Supposedly, they have the best dates in the world.  I got some, stuffed with almonds, and they’re pretty fucking awesome, but I dunno.  I’m not the biggest fan of the moist dry ones—I’m kind of partial to the hard crunchy ones.  There’s too much sugar in the candied ones: makes my teeth hurt.  So after this came the real fun of the trip: the safari into the desert.

Let me start by saying that modern Bedouins are awesome.  So they use these hardcore 4X4 jeeps to travel through the desert, and they have this whole system of navigation and communication out in the middle of BFE (literally, har).  They somehow “know” the desert: they can find their way no matter what, even though it’s just miles and miles of nothingness and sand.  I felt like I was on Tattooine—it was just an absolutely incredible experience.  After jumping sand dunes and flying at mad speeds through the desert, we stopped at the top of a massive dune to strap on snowboards and fly down to the bottom.  This needs to be made a sport; in my opinion, sand boarding is way more badass than snowboarding.  However, falling is not pleasant. 

I’ve decided to elaborate on one particular favorite memory for each entry, and for this trip I know exactly what to talk about.  So a friend of mine, Ahmed, who is the husband of one of my teachers, has two children, one of which is his daughter Camellia, whom he calls “Kooki.”  At one point, Kooki was begging that we go to the top of the biggest dune and ride down it.  When the Bedouin driver asked her if she was serious, she yelled, “tab3an!” which means of course.  The 3 is a guttural consonant called an 3in; I can’t explain it unless you speak Arabic, but she emphasized this letter, and it was absolutely adorable.  Brooke, one of the girls in my jeep, says to Ahmed, “heeya bt7ib 7eeyaa!” which means “She loves life!”  And Ahmed turns around and says in English, “We all do.”  This is my most favorite memory from Siwa because it perfectly explains why I love Egypt so much.  Every person I’ve met has just been so incredibly friendly and so full of love and life.

At the bottom awaited another, much smaller oasis.  It was this little lake fed by underground water that went who knows how deep.  The water was ice cold and so, so pleasant in the 125F desert weather.  I’m gonna be frank: never in my entire life did I think I would be having the most enjoyable and relaxing swim in the middle of the desert.  I kept asking myself, “How did I go from being a little Georgia boy playing in the street to swimming in an oasis in the middle of the Great Sea of Sand in Egypt?”  I still ask myself how I got here, and I know that 95% of it is because of the love and dedication and support of my mother.  I love you, Mom!

Naturally, after all of that fun, we were starving, but the Bedouins provide—we had a traditional meal under a tent safe from the scorching sun, and all was well.  Probably my closest friend here, we’ll call him C henceforth to protect his identity, did this hilarious schpiel in fusHa (formal) Arabic mocking a newscaster.  C is from Tennessee and he and I have a lot in common and a lot of shared experiences.  I feel like I’ve bonded closely with him, and I hope that we can remain in contact.

The desert was amazing.  At midday it blurred into an endless, indiscernible sea of brown, but afterwards, beautiful shadows cascaded down the sand dunes and created scenes words can’t possibly describe.

There are some things I’ve probably left out.  The well of Cleopatra and the oceanic fossil field comes\ to mind.  But it’s not important: the best parts of the trip have been elaborated.  There is more to come, no worries.  Till then; take care.