Thanksgiving in Cairo- the pilgrims would never want to be here but I do.

After the whirlwind trip to the USA I returned back to Cairo to keep working at Square Cube Communications and keep living in Heliopolis. Well, those two things are over! I have moved down to Maadi and in with Ayman. Life simplified a great deal with one cross-town move.  I am now closer to most of my friends, closer to Ayman, across the street from one of the best restaurants in Cairo (Cellar Door Bistro), two blocks away from the metro and living in an incredibly pleasant home.

Then at the beginning of October Anastasia came to visit. Luckily I had a vacation and we went out to the Sinai. Of all the people I have wanted to show the Sinia to Anastasia was number one. We stayed at the Good Life, got a little tan and chilled out.  Then we went back to Cairo and I went back to work. Ana did some epic tourist activities with the help of Chrissie and a few solo.  We went out together at night. Not everyone I wanted her to meet was around and I was stuck at work during the day, but she caught a glimpse of my life here.  One of the best things about sister visits is that Anastasia takes amazing pictures, all the photos below were taken by her.

 Red wall at the Good Life :)

 Daily Nescafe 

 Side street downtown on the way to check out the Townhouse Gallery

 A gaggle of ladies alongside the Nile 

 How many dirty kitties can you see?

Anastasia walking through Khan El Khalili alley ways

While Anastasia was here I interviewed and was hired for a new job. Yes, another new job. Why you may ask? Despite the correct job title and initial interest in the work my daily activity had slowed to a standstill. The account I was hired for was drying up and there was little English work to be done. In short I was being wasted and was so board I wanted to cry everyday.

I now work at Rania’s Corner, a concept boutique. We sell high-end furniture, clothing knick-knacks, jewelry and other fun things. I manage the shop and assist Rania with what ever comes up. So far I love it. We had a fun event this week, a jewelry showcase. Plus, the customers are amazing people, the environment is fun, I get to wear better clothes and I am actually being used.  Even if all that was not true my new commute would make the change worthwhile. 

Compare:

Old work: 30 plus pounds in cab rides daily, wait at a gross gas station, drive through around two hours of nasty traffic both ways, and arrive at workplace in a not so developed new development.

New work: Two pounds daily-plus coffee, nice walk to nearby metro station, about an hour and half both ways,  metro allows for ipod listening and reading, exercise in the form of walking to and from stations, pleasant scenery and necessities nearby.  WINNER!!!!

 Winning at life-Anastasia and Faye.

In other news Chrissie and I launched a business. Cairo Cocktails, please become our friend on facebook. After being here for a while the two of us noticed a real gap in the service and quality of bartending at events and parties. Either you pay a ton to import fancy shmancy folks from Europe or you are stuck with cheap local bartenders who do not drink and make martinis with Martini and Rossi over ice. We are somewhere inbetween. We have great experience in customer service, bartending, are professional and passionate about bringing real cocktails to Cairo. We work with a host to prepare a specialized cocktail menu, make our own syrup infusions and have gotten a few gigs so far. 

Plus, Chrissie is a networking queen and has found a few other excellent Americans with bartending experience to help us out. Hopefully we can really get things going and have more fun.  People in general are enthusiastic about the idea and really supportive. We got a great write up in Quintessentially,  a concierge service found in almost every major city around the world.

 Jimmy and Ramez at their camp.

So life in Cairo goes well and I am fairly happy. We just had a big long vacation. I went back to the Sinai with Cairo friends and Fran (from UW-Madison), who was teaching in Tanzania and now traveling with her friend Jeffrey. They will be eating Thanksgiving Day dinner with us tonight.  Yeah, life sounds pretty good right?

Far far away in the Middle East/North Africa there is a girl…

Faye, who has very many things, people and places to be thankful for.  She is thankful for a family who makes her feel loved enough to do crazy stuff and takes their time and money to come visit (all of them now!), thankful for friends in Cairo who make this crazy city feel like home, thankful for business partners/best friends who put up with her, thankful for a new roommate who made his house her home and thankful for this big crazy beautiful, strange and loving world. 

Re-entry

I feel as if I start many posts with "Yes, I am still here," but I am still in Cairo. I wake up many days and have no idea how two years (more really) went past.  The fact that I have been here for two years was made more apparent and also less obvious when I went home.

Home, Seattle, was an occasion filled event.

Occasion number one, Burning Man. There are many things to be said, I don't think there are any pictures of me so I can't post them and this experience has no doubt changed my life for the better. Absolute inspiration and creativity does not even begin to give justice to what people (horribly normal people and amazingly freaky people) create for this extravaganza. I am still in awe. Ayman and Chrissie could not have been better first time Burn Buddies and if I did not love them for any other reason (which of course I love them for many reasons) those days in the desert would be reason enough to love them forever. Yes, Burning man inspires that sort of love. It is worth it, everyone needs another reason to love something, someplace or something.

I "borrowed" the pictures below from a facebook album Ayman made of various people's photos. I can take no credit.

 The actual layout of the Playa.

I don't know her name, but she was a few stories tall, lit up at night and made me happy to be human.

Occasion number two, Maya's wedding. The first of my best buddies from high school and life in general to get married and she did it right. The ceremony and wedding were filled with tradition, friends, family and crazy Jewish folk dancing. Maya altered her grandmother's wedding dress into something timeless and perfectly Maya (somehow delicate, unique and yet strikingly traditional). I met the groom, Ben, for the first time and was impressed in many ways. All of the ladies showed up, traveling from Paris, SF and Portland.

 Quill, me, Becca and Caitlin.

 Nan, Becca, Besty, me, Caitlin, Sarah and Emily waiting for the ceremony to start outside the newly remodeled Husky boat house.

Occasion number three, Ana was in town. Sister time is always a good time. Family times are also good times.

Occasions four and five, September family birthdays. I was not around for the actual date of my dad's b-day but close as I could get. For mom's actual date I was there and she hosted a wonderful ladies only brunch with lots new friends from the new neighborhood (finally got to put some faces to the names) and old friends from all around town. A delicious way to spend what turned out to be a sunny day. Also, later at a Georgetown bar I figured out spicy chai tea tastes amazing when steamed with a little bit of soy milk and enhanced with a generous shot of dark rum. If it was ever winter in Cairo it would be my drink of choice.

The trip home was also incredibly stressful. Lots of travel time in planes and airports, I got sick and I realized just how absent I have been from America. Expired driver's license, not able to get a doctors appointment, dentist check ins, forgotten street names and  lots of new buildings. I have also grown used to how hard simple things are to get done (for me) in Cairo and this attitude transferred to America. Where, things can be hard to get done but ultimately I know how to do them in my native country and I should have calmed down and relaxed. Lesson learned.

The return to Cairo was rough. I got a bad head cold and had I hoped my time in Seattle would shed light on where I really want to be at this moment, it did not shed much light at all.  I did find out Seattle can still be a new city for me. My friends there have managed to discover  unknown aspects of the city and get involved in different things. Their actions have assuaged my fear about going back to Seattle and finding it to be the same as it was for the first 22 years of my life or not as exciting.

A couple weeks after landing life is smoothing out and Cairo, as ever, is proving to be an amazing host. Just when you think the whole country is silly a tiny phone call proves you wrong, you meet someone who blows all expectations out of the water or a good conversation reminds you are really just having a bad day and your mood has very little to do with Egypt.

The best news is that Anastasia is coming to visit. More words of excitement to come about this later, Boom! Wham! Whoo Hoo! Awesome! Those are all I got for now.

Onward towards the promised land

As I pack and get ready to leave for my oh-so-exciting vacation to the West Coast I have to admit that the America I see in the headlines is horribly pathetic.

Let's take a sampling of the headlines from right now...

-Idiots protesting the "Three Blocks Away From Ground Zero and Within Walking Distance of  Strip Club Mosque" are making the entire USA look like bigots and hate filled Islamaphobic uneducated twits. What a surprise the whole debate and  is actually fueling Jihadist rhetoric and during Ramadan when everyone with a minaret has a particularly captive audience.

-An even bigger idiot in Florida is attempting to turn 9/11 into  "International Burn A Koran Day," wow Nazi!

-Politicians from New Hampshire are denying Global Climate Change. Really, in New Hampshire?

-Sarah Palin is still getting press, if you ignore her she will go away!

-Idiot Republicans are actually trying to get rid of the 14th Amendment, Anchor Babies? Democrats-you are horrible at thinking up witty phrases, get a new copy writer!

-People actually believe Obama is a Muslim. Really? Didn't he write a book about his faith? Can these people read?

Not so good. This depresses me. Two years later people still hate George Bush Jr, they still like Clinton (ha!), and they are beginning to see Obama as a fraud and no better than the rest. When you live abroad you get a lot of crap still for being an American and I have to respond. I used to be able to say things were changing, the mood of the country seemed to be happier and more intelligent. Now, I am scared I was dead wrong. I am scared that we are ignoring everything that is really important and focusing on stupid anchor baby inspired debates on the Right and on the Left the every present battle of who is the most liberal without actually supporting liberal policies because somehow they allowed the Right to call everything Socialist.  On the other hand my Canada jokes now have a twinge of sadness behind them because not so secretly I am jealous of my old Northern neighbor and I think the sadness adds another layer to the humor.

On this trip back I know I will see friends, attend a wedding of a best friend, and stare at mountains. I hope I find something else, something that will make me want to be in America.

Ramadan! Let's Go!

This is my third Ramadan in Cairo, only my second in a real workplace. Although, in the spirit of the season and honesty let's not call the school a real workplace, so this is really my first in a real workplace. What does Ramadan mean for me? People get sleepy and slow. My working hours shift from 10-6pm to 10-4pm. Daylight life hours are few and far between. Anyone who can swing shifts their work to night and sleeps all day. Anyone who is not into fasting, hates the vibe and can afford it leaves the country. Tons and tons of dates are consumed. Families have large meals and spend time together. The local networks compete for ratings with hours of movies. Finally, Ramadan like most religious festivals does not resonate deeply with me, but it does affect my daily life and if I had family close by it would be the perfect reason to sit around and do nothing with them.

The most exciting thing about this Ramadan? I am leaving for part of it! That's right, headed back to Seattle and the glorious West Coast for the first time in two years. Who knows how much I miss it. I have no idea so you have no idea. I leave Cairo on the 25th and stick around Seattle until September 15th. During that time I will attend the wedding of Maya Newman, the first one of my Seattle Ladies to get married, celebrate mom's b-day and celebrate dad's b-day (if a few days early). Otherwise I plan on walking up and down hills, maybe riding my bike around, drinking coffee, eating Paseo, staring at mountains, taking note of how many buildings have been torn down and replaced with condos, losing my tan, chilling in the rain, renewing my driver's license, hugging people I have not seen for two years, if I am lucky eating some Pacific Salmon and watching sun sets over the Olympics.


At this very moment the thought of packing and spending a horrendous amount of time on a plane makes me feel queasy, but in a few days I will be very excited. Cell phone is the same and if you are around Seattle let's hang out.

May through June = CRAZY

My oh my the fun times I have had recently. Sorry for no posts since forever, but this is how life goes.

First we should start with Suzie's crazy, whirlwind, non-stop three day visit to Cairo. She is crazy and I love her for it. What an honor to have someone come all the way here for only three days! She was picked up from the airport in the most amazing fashion ever with new friends and old. From then on it was non-stop. Highlights include a one day trip to Alexandria, delicious quail dinner/lunch at Andrea's (new to me), riding a camel for the first time by the Pyramids, plenty of girl chat, dominating Khan el Khalili and Suzie being her fantastic sunny self!

Our camels

After Suzie's departure I had about a week to prepare for my first trip back to America in nearly two years. The entire Ehrich family gathered in New York for the wedding of Nate and Vicky on Saturday June 12th in Bryant Park. They hosted a truly beautiful, thoughtfully planned, and delicious weekend. Outings included the most outrageous burger I have ever eaten, jazz, William's graduation luncheon, a trip up the Empire State Building, a very tasteful rehearsal dinner with drinks after and plenty of walking around. The wedding was gorgeous, bride and groom were impeccable, my champagne glass was never empty, the steak was perfectly pink, everyone danced all night, and they had a Polaroid photo booth. Please everyone who is getting married copy the photo booth idea. 

Stepping foot on American soil was not quite the shock I thought it would be. Still, chilling in Brooklyn with Ana and mom, plus friends was a good break. I also got some much needed daddy daughter time, mommy daughter time, sister time, a haircut, and over all family time.The weather was rainy (nice break really), I could wear shorts in the streets, caught a football match with Dad, had the option of an alcoholic drink at every meal, quality window shopping, phone to calls to the girls around the country (it has been years since I have talked on the phone with some of these ladies) and pork products!

Can't complain about the trip at all. Then back to Cairo where I was immediately taken to the beach for an amazing weekend. Then back to work and the beach every weekend since. Think I am sticking around Cairo this weekend, but who really knows. In the meantime I am planning a trip back in the fall to Seattle and life will move forward from there. What the past almost two months have taught me is that just when you really think you can't stand a place someone or something will flip it on its head and make you love it all over again if you are open to this action. Being open and receptive to new opportunities and people is the biggest lesson I learned while away from America. I have finely tuned my douche bag radar, which aids in knowing who and what to be open with. So, while I could see happily going back to the states anytime, I can't really see leaving Cairo just yet. Conundrum I know. Cairo has a momentum I like right now, I feel like jumping and and saying hello to all of it.

We went to the Empire State Building, such a touristy activity, but actually pretty cool. 

Note the shorts in a very public place, so awesome.

Here are some facts about Cairo and Egypt

Egypt has 81,527,172 people as of 2008.

Cairo has over 20,000,000 residents, I would say it is safe to add on another 2-5 million to that number.

Donkey carts have been outlawed in downtown Cairo in an effort to improve traffic.

The new "Ring Road" is 100 kilometers (62 miles) and as the name implies goes around the Cairo/Giza metropolis.

Cairo is considered a "Mega City," joining the likes of Mumbai, Mexico City, New York, Tokyo, and others.

One half of all hospital beds are found in Cairo

One half of all university desks are found in Cairo




If Cairo were a sovereign nation it would be the 5th largest Arab country

Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, in only 30 percent the size of Cairo.

Cairo is home to Al Azhar University, the world's oldest surviving degree granting university.

There are over 2,000,000 cars in the streets of Cairo, 60 percent of which are over ten years old.

The Great Pyramids of Giza, sort of Cairo, are the only remaining  monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

An estimated 9,351 under-age marriages take place in Egypt, with the vast majority of them taking place in Cairo.

A Greek papyrus from 163 B.C. mentions girls in Egypt undergoing female circumcision and the practice is widely accepted to have originated in Egypt and the Nile valley at the time of the Pharaohs. Although both Al Azhar religious officials and Coptic Pope state it has no basis in religious scripture, practice, or law and it should be not practiced.

The average Egyptian spends 110 Egyptian pounds on cigarettes, that's about 20 dollars, a month.

Mohsen Reda, an Egyptian Member of Parliament, was asked about the prevalence of sexual harassment against women in Egypt and was quoted as as saying that women should be dressed more modestly as “a lot of our youth can’t afford marriage so it is only normal for some harassment to take place.”

The minimum monthly salary of an Egyptian government employee is just LE 289 (53 US dollars).

Other people's blogs, which may or may not be about Egypt.

One of the most useful and annoying tools I have found in Cairo is a list serve called Cairo Scholars. With over 2,000 members who can email the entire group at any time you can imagine the absolute stupidity and absolute usefulness of the group.

I asked for a collection of blogs because when I was traveling here I found it very hard to find up to date information about living in modern Cairo. The guide books are for tourists and most Google searches turn up information about all the old stone stuff.

Here are the blogs if you are interested in what some other ex-pat type people living in Cairo get up to. I don't know these people and the blogs were not vetted. Many of them are more political, have way better photos, and not nearly as snarky as mine.

www.omraneya.net

Aggregation of blogs on Egypt/by Egyptians in English and Arabic.

http://equivocus.livejournal.com

Written in Armenian or  Russian.

Have you ever seen Armenian written? It looks so cool. There are also English posts.

www.ericincairo.blogspot.com 

Chronicles adventures both in and outside of Egypt.

http://transhumancity.wordpress.com/

http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

www.theshepherdsguild.blogspot.com

www.adewegypt.wordpress.com

http://bloggingegypt.blogspot.com

http://www.IncendiaryImage.com

PS. I'm starting a new blog, in the near future. Stay tuned.

PPS This article is funny, click here.

Apartment peek

This is my balcony. 

If you keep walking forward the balcony wraps around the side of the building. 

One of the best things about the building is none of our neighbors are more than one story taller than us. One of the worst things about the building is the horribly loud mosque directly behind our balcony and the other mosque somewhere close. They cannot get their call to prayer times together, seriously it is supposed to all happen at one time and not 30 minutes apart.

Looking out from the living room. 
We are not responsible for the curtains or furniture. If either Jasmin or I were planning on being here more than 1-2 years we might change something, but this is not the case.

The Egyptian version of The Onion

Let is be said that the vast majority of Egyptians have truly wonderful sense of humor. The proof, if you doubt, can be found in the website El Koshary.

The actual dish Koshary is the delicious carbohydrate filled street food made out two types of pasta, brown lentils, rice, chickpeas, fried onions, tomato sauce, garlic sauce, and a really hot sauce. Koshary is incredibly cheap and comes in massive servings.

I once got in a friendly argument about the root of the name Koshary. My friend held that it was derived from the Jewish/Hebrew tradition/word "Kosher." I claimed it was derived from the Arabic word meaning "random" or something similar to "grab bag."  Like most people do these days we Googled it and my claim had the greater number of Google hits. If we had been betting money I would have walked away richer. We were not betting money and no one in Egypt I have met can give me a 100 percent translation. The recipe is said to have been created by ancient followers of the Coptic faith (Egyptian Orthodox Christians) to eat during their fasts, when they do not eat dairy, meat, or animal products.I don't think Koshary is Kosher. Not many Rabbi's on the street corners selling food in Cairo.

The actual food is not the point, but knowing Koshary means roughly "a jumble" and that it is dirt cheap street food gives the website's title a little more depth. Read and laugh.
 

Crossing the street

This video is really accurate, thanks CNN. Although I never find it that dangerous. If you are curious this is also what many of the veiled women in Cairo look like, the anchor speaks really bad Arabic, and the streets are filled with crappy cars.

To watch the CNN video on Cairo Street Crossing click here please.

Jesus was reborn and the Jews fled Egypt so I....

...went to the Sinai.

Which, if you think about it, is a pretty holy stomping ground. Moses hung out here, found the commandments on a "mountain" top (I use quotes because I walked up it and it is barely a mountain), he also parted the Red Sea (I am guessing near the Taba Hilton, its the thinnest part), and various other holy figures spent who knows how much time here.

But, what really matters is that I chilled on the beach for a nice long weekend. Our small group went to Kumkum 3 aka Bakraj 3 aka Three Tea pots in Hebrew and Arabic. The days were hot and sunny, the nights were breezy and filled with random guitars and songs, and the sea was calm and cool. There are more adjectives to use and better ways to describe it, but ass usual I am at a loss. I was lazy about photos too because...
a) I tried really hard to use film 
b) I have been to Kumkum 3  before, pictorial evidence here

The whole Sinai was full. Every camp was booked with Israelis, Egyptians, and a random spattering of Western and European foreigners. America was horribly underrepresented! Come on USA get it together and get to the Sinai. Its like Mexico only slightly more awesome (this is my personal and uninformed opinion I have only been to Mexico once and speak no Spanish). I was trying to celebrate the re-birthday of Jesus, wrong crowd for that humor I guess. Not my fault few people have a religious sense of humor.

The completely ironic thing is that I spent the weekend chilling, serious chilling, deep deep sea chilling, with all kinds of people. Then I wake up to go to work on Tuesday, flip on BBC news (mistake maybe?) and see that Israeli is blowing up Gaza, Palestine is thinking about declaring a state, more floods are happening, Egypt is cracking down on hash (everyone in the city is a little on edge-seriously), and generally the world is falling apart.

Ahh, I whine, I complain, I say the same stuff over and over. But man, the same problems keep happening and no solutions. Maybe the time is ripe for new chat about it all. Specifically, I am looking for people who want to chat about investing in a submarine You think I am joking. I am not. Dead serious. I believe in all 2012 hype. I can't tell you why or the logic behind it all. I like to think that I don't seem like a wacko up in the mountains who is scared of cell phones and sees green men, but to much stuff is happening and not far enough apart for something to not be going on.

Call if you want to build a submarine.

Oprah inspiration

Never thought I would ever say this, but I have been inspired by Oprah. Yes, I blame this on Egypt and the lack of readily available intelligent cultural material in English. I feel like I live in a small town and Oprah is actually "opening my eyes to the world around me and introducing me to so many different people and thoughts." I have never watched a full episode of Oprah except once on a treadmill and that was because the woman next to me there really wanted to watch it, she won.

On this episode, which I caught ten minutes of, Oprah had a guest who reunites long lost family members. The reuniting man said something which struck a cord and encapsulated why I feel so comfortable here 90 percent of the time. This absolutely, epic, heart wrenching, inspiration, intelligent line is......

"Your family is who loves you when you need to be loved."

BAMMMM are you crying yet? I think the line was in reference to a foster mother who had a foster daughter who was adopted and then they did not get to see each other for 20 something years. You crying now?

No? Well I did not cry either, but I was still inspired. I think Oprah cried, or at least teared up. I completely agree with the idea that blood is not thicker than water. Nothing will ever even come close to how I feel about my family, but when I really think about it, my family includes many people who are not at all genetically related to me.

Living in a foreign country has made me cheesy, but really when you are gone for a long time you realize how much you love some people and how much they love you. Absence makes the heart grow, blah blah blah. Plus,  when you are in weird country for so long you realize how valuable being able to love people and have any sort of affection returned is.  I got a lot of love to give and I get more than I could really ask for.

Thanks for inspiration Oprah.

She takes a good shot

Katie Hollamby is my friend, she traveled with the crew to Israel, and works in Taba Heights. She also takes gorgeous photos of Egypt and the places she travels.

I do enjoy her work and if anyone is interested in checking out the photos please click here.

Connections

Minimum fives times a day I wonder why  I came to Egypt and why I am still here. Then small connections show themselves. An old neighbor and good friend, who grew up across the street moves to Egypt. You run into a girl who went to your high school when your dad taught there, lived a few blocks away from you, was on the GHS volleyball team your dad coached, and who's brother gave you rides to school in the morning. You meet people from Seattle, a lot of people at friend's parties and random nights out. One of them comes to check out the room you have for rent in your apartment.

So, why I am here? Why are all these people here too, what was it that made us think "I know I'll move to Egypt!" To many King Tut books as a child? Could be. I know I read a few of them and was mildly obsessed, in fact the obsession was only matched by my interest in the Titanic and whales. Politics of the time? The thought that the only person hiring in America is the Foreign Service Office so we all better learn Arabic fast? Was it the water in the Fremont area? All of the above? Who knows, I suppose Egypt has always been a multicultural crossroads and only recently has that slowed down.

These days I have been dealing with a new job, some serious apartment drama, and generally growing up and feeling like my life should be on a track when it is not. Then throw in the whole "I live in Cairo and can't really give anyone a clear reason why," dilemma and I have started to feel a little anxious. Part of my anxiety has been calmed by finally signing a six month lease at a great apartment in Heliopolis with a roommate who seems really relaxed, committed to living in Cairo for a while, and kind. Importantly, again friends here have stepped up far and above what they need to do and really helped me handle all the apartment drama. The rest of the anxiety will go away when I feel like I have a handle on the job and some security.

Here is what I tell people when they ask why I am here. Initially Egypt was a good excuse to travel and a golden opportunity that fell in my lap. Then some travels in Europe and the chance to live in a castle kept me around. Now I feel like I have a job, for the meantime, that would be about ten times harder to find in the states. International work experience can't be bad and I swear I am going to seriously start studying Arabic. Add in the Sinai beaches, amazing friends, an odd ease in getting some things done, and no chance of snow ever unless the world really is ending and some 2012 crap starts happening and you have the canned answer. The snow thing is serious though, I am over cold weather. But, still working on the candid answer. Maybe the canned and the candid are the same and I have just repeated the story so many times it feels likes fiction and not a reality.

Stay tuned for apartment pictures, we need to decorate, and maybe one day I'll figure out a candid answer as to why I am in Cairo.

Bethlehem with Dad and Ted

This is how you walk into Bethlehem, unless you take a tour bus. 

We are not the tourist bus types so we walked in. Talk about another world, night and day behind the wall and in front of it. You can instantly tell there must be no economy because we were hassled by cabbies to the tenth degree. I consider myself someone who has been hassled by cabbies, but this was outrageous. Then you can walk, long walk, or take a cab into the area with all the churches and Jesus sites. We walked some of the way and took photos of the crazy amounts of graffiti on the Palestinian side. There is no graffiti on the Israeli side. 

You may recognize this woman from an earlier post.

Raaarrrrrrrrrr.

Corner piece.

Best ever.

Lots of the artwork was done by visitors and peace groups. 

Well I am making that assumption because the names were not Arab at all.

Many of the pieces were huge.

The wall does not cut straight, it curves and, sometimes even seeming to cut into a house or building. 

Very weird, what's wrong with straight lines?

I realized my photos from Bethlehem and Israel seem as if  I could care less about the historical and religious importance of the area. The truth is I don't really attach much importance to a church/mosque/synagogue where someone, supposedly walked, left a foot print, carried something, or ascended to heaven. Call me a heathen. 

Although I don't subscribe to a church or single religion a heartfelt display of faith, in a loving and peaceful manner does cast a shimmering ray of hope into your soul. Dad pointed out a group of visitors walking the stations of the cross route and as he did they began to sing a hymnal. Gorgeous. The groups of young soldiers, families, and students singing  as they passed us walking home for the Sabbath dinner. Beautiful. The glow in dark crucifixes, endless Koran verses on metal plating, and the Stars of Davids seemed paltry and pathetic in comparison to the real life expressions of faith and love. 

Israel with Dad and Ted

I cannot say anything that has not been said about Israel, so I won't try. It is a trip though, the call to prayer goes off, at the same time church bells ring, and an Orthodox Jew walks past with the big furry hat on. Religion overload really. But the old city is beautiful and the new part reminded me of a futuristic kids book I had titled something like Dinosaur Utopia, weird right? 

The best part about Israel was that I was not supposed to go. I was supposed to be working, but work stopped working out, the heavens above favored me with perfect timing, and I joined the itinerary of Dad and Ted, bringing Katie along for the ride. We wandered around the old city most days gawking at the hoards, trying to remember religious history, struggling to find beer on the Sabbath, and everyone but me took a lot of photos. Katie is a photographer and was on a mission, Dad and Ted were fresh tourists ready to capture it all, and I was tired of the "get camera out and put away" routine pictures require. 

In my mind the weirdest part of Israel is how drastically different country is from the neighbors. Crossing from the Sinai into Israel is like stepping from a donkey cart to a Mercedes. That analogy sounds favorable and I do love the first world, but it was also unnerving. I have been told the Jerusalem is its own world and the rest of Israel is far different, I will go back and see more, inshallah.

What follows are the few pictures I took. Also if anyone knows the names of all the clothes that Orthodox Jews wear I am really interested and I could look it up on the internet, but this way could be more fun. Do the women have to wear skirts, or is the skirt/boot combo just all the rage in Jerusalem? 

Old wall, in the Jewish quarter in the old city.

Tiny kid, love the look, seriously all the kids were super cute.

From the building that once played host to Jesus' last supper, I bring you rock and roll.

Obligatory wailing wall shot, I will admit a very bad shot.

This was a tranquil place to sit and relax and on Friday all roads led there.

 I felt like a salmon swimming upstream sometimes. 

Dome of the Rock, where everyone flew to the heavens for a quick minute.

Dome of the Rock, Israel's hottest property.

View of the brand new wall around the West Bank.

Small kiddies in a park where Jesus supposedly walked. 

Jordon with Dad and Ted

This is Jordon and I loved it.

After a successful tour of the Sinai the awesome trio went to Jordon. The most annoying part of Jordon was getting there. The ferries from Taba and Nuweiba don't seem worth the hassle and when you go overland from Israel you still have to pay to leave Israel even though you are only there for about 45 minutes. Lame.

Ignore that though and let's move to the positives. Jordon is home to Petra which is far and away the coolest ancient site I have ever see. I will go on record saying it kicks the pyramid's ass and is a close tie with the hundreds of ancient things found near Luxor and Aswan. I barely even cared about the hoards of tourists (which I will admit I am only adding to most of my time out here) and the hassle of Bedouins wanting you to buy things. 

The mind blowing gigantic buildings carved into mountain sides, ancient Roman roads still guiding you through the site, and even the hour long climb up a staircase mountain to the sacrificial rock are worth the crowds, dust in your face, and almost getting hit by one to many horse carriages. Checking out the sites is exhausting, the guide books are right on this. We stayed in a decent hostel (by decent please read really cheap) and typical hostel fashion ran into other travelers. Hostels have not really been a serious part of any traveling I have done so I still think they are fun. There are good bars and restaurants in the small city of Petra and  tourists shops too. 

The first view of the Treasury, after you walk down a path that feels like one km long. 

The beginning of our one hour stair climb.

Good for the butt and spirits. 

Side note: there were lots of Bedouin women selling wares on the way up who were willing to makes deals so that they did not miss you when you went down the other side. Also, Dad was a pro at drinking tea, making small talk, and deals.

The whole place looks like this. You think you are done then you look up or around a corner and there are more amazing structures carved into red stone. 

Still wishing I remembered anything from Rocks for Jocks.

After one night and two days in Petra we went up North to the Dead Sea. For budget travelers getting around Jordon is not cheap and I had a really hard time finding public bus routes or anything, but the upside of  private car is that they stop at view points like the shots below. 

I am Northwest girl at heart and really miss my mountains, so being up high with clean air and epic views is good for my soul. The views sort of remind me of Bryce Canyon, only I think  you could see the Red Sea on a really clear day.

Me and Dad.

Our final stop in Jordon was the Dead Sea. When at the Dead Sea one covers one's body in mud and chills until it dries. I think we were supposed to let it dry, hmmm. Instead we posed and inspired the Japanese tourists wearing socks with their sandals to loosen up a little and enjoy the place. We even did some serious not-so-synchronized swimming and Japanese bro nearby joined in, good times.

Speaking of good times I will say that the lasting feelings from the whole trip are "good times," and there is much more to say. If anyone ever gets the chance to travel like this with your parents take it, I am so glad I did.