Alexandria

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Yesterday we got back from our first school sponsored trip, it was to Alexandria. The bus ride was about 3 hours, most of which was through the dessert therefore there was not much to see; surprisingly, there is a lot of real estate...who would want to live in the middle of the desert!? when we made a rest stop as "Masters"- toilet, convenient store, restaurant, gas station, clothing store, ect.- I was going to buy a little hazelnut chocolate bar until the cashier, Wadgy, told me it was LE 7...no go. i found something to satisfy my sweet tooth for a mere LE2 (about 50 cents) it was a deal. Wadgy chatted with the girls and I in some Arabic and Enlish, showing us his passport saying "my name Wadgy, see Egyptian"- which we later decided was so he could marry one of us and get a green card- he then insisted in getting a picture on his mobile. Asking him for an explanation resulted in no response so i awkwardly smiled...add Wadgy to the list of Egyptian friends.

the first stop in Alexandria was the library. it was different then how i pictured it; i was imagining a grand, rich looking building not the modern 'sun rising' disc that it was. the inside was HUGE and mostly lit by natural light, big plus. we were shuffled through some exhibits, one of which contained a piece of the Kabba and one of the oldest Korans in the world. after the library we were herded back onto the buses and departed for the Marriott Renaissance. When we arrived at the hotel the crew- about 100 students- gathered in "The Library" one of the bars in the hotel. The room assignment process was less then efficient, no surprise there. after about 195 names called my roommate Taylor and I were up, room 1003. after trying to get on the elevator for about 15 minutes we finally made it to our SUITE!!!!! the best room out of all our friends for sure. the view was to die for and the room was beautiful. our room became the hangout for the rest of the trip if we weren't on the beach. after a delicious buffet feast (one of six) we relaxed for a while and headed down to the jazz club for a drink during happy hour, which quickly turned into the AUC party. after that we went down to the beach to put our feet in the Mediterranean!!! so nice.

The next morning was spent site seeing for everyone but me. at the first site, Qaitbay's Citadel i took a bit of a tumble down a few steps and pulled or tore some muscles in my foot. the Citadel was very cool though, it was a giant stone fortress of winding hallways and airy rooms. Taylor and I decided that we are going to live there one day. the rest of my day was spent on the bus which would have been tolerable until i got an awful migraine that accompanied by nausea.

we returned to the hotel after another buffet feast and promptly ran (I gimped) to put on our swimsuits and head to the beach for the afternoon. the next morning we woke early to do the same thing until we were pushed back onto the bus to go to the palace grounds to look at the beautiful garden and have yet another buffet. then back to Cairo we went for another exciting week of classes.

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Photos

half the crew
taylor, kelly, sonya, wes

other half
dan, jason, amanda, whitney

giza
giza in the distance from the bus

hallway
long hallway at the citadel

outside the library
the library is in the shape of the rising sun. this is the lowest part of the 'sun' coming over the horizon.

lib
looking up the exterior

our view!!!
good morning Mediterranean

floor of the mosque
this is the floor of the mosque in the citadel...i think taylor and i will make this the living room

Comments

[Dad]

Nice View
Well it looks as the week-end trips are nice and good to hear that the classes are going well, keep us informed and have a great time.

[Dad]

Where's my daughter?