Egypt

1

Feb

Photo Essay: Faces of Egypt

by Lisa

With Egypt in the news, I wanted to share some photos of friendly faces I encountered there during my visit there in January 2009. To bring you up to speed on recent events: Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Protests started weeks after similar protests in [...]

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11

Jan

Ferry, Ferry Nice

by Lisa

The difference between the fast ferry and the slow car/truck ferry was just $10, but about 3 more hours of travel time across the Gulf of Aqaba to Jordan.  And hanging out on the slow ferry with all the truck drivers on a Saturday morning was not something I really wanted to do. One guidebook said that the fast ferry [...]

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10

Jan

Alone Again

by Lisa

Tears welled up in my eyes as we hugged and said our final goodbyes. I stood alone on a small hill of rocks and sand with both arms in the air waving as their minibus drove out of sight. I was alone again.  And it was bittersweet.  I felt a tug of sadness to say farewell to my new wonderful [...]

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8

Jan

Holy Moses!

by Lisa

The Sinai Peninsula’s strategic position between Asia and Africa has always made it a highly contested spot in the world.  This rocky moonscape-like area is home to famous Mount Sinai. The 2285 meter-high mountain (about 7500 feet) is the often-contested but supposed location where the Big man himself gave a couple tablets (stone ones, not aspirin) to a cool dude [...]

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7

Jan

Down on the Suez Canal

by Lisa

The Egyptians built the pyramids and all these other amazing temples and tombs…surely they can sail ships through the desert. Why, yes, they can. The Suez Canal is a culmination of hundreds of years of attempts to enrich trade and connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. A digging of the canal in one form or another was literally started [...]

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6

Jan

A City of Garbage

by Lisa

Cairo is a thriving city with a rich history and amazing sights. The longer I was there, the more I grew accustomed to the noise and air pollution and the more I appreciated the interesting layers of the city that I was just starting to peel away. By the title you may be thinking I mean Cairo is full of [...]

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2

Jan

Terrorism in Modern Egypt

by Lisa

There were more than one thousand deaths as a result of Islamic insurgency in Upper Egypt during the early to mid 1990s. Most were militants or policeman, but sometimes a few tourists got caught up in this mess. Egypt’s extreme Islamic groups’ anger is more of a response to the current bad economic times the citizens face here on a [...]

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29

Dec

Cairo Chaos

by Lisa

The streets and crumbling sidewalks are strewn with litter. The unimaginative concrete buildings are coated with blackish stains from years of pollution. The air is thick with dust and car exhaust fumes. The sounds of horns and bus engines fill the air. I walked alone down the cracked and potholed sidewalks of downtown Cairo forcing myself to go against my [...]

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