The Nubian Village

Our motorboat gets us to this mountain of sand that we are told is the Nubian Village. I think to myself, "oh lovely, only a 100 steps up to the top of this village." (Back and legs still hurting from pyramid and remember I have had little sleep at this point--the overnight train was just the night before.)

So we make our way up to this village. I know nothing about the Nubian people so it sounds to be exciting....we are invited to have dinner with a family. Can you imagine inviting 33 plus two tour guides so 35 people to your home and feeding them? It really is supposed to be our lunch, but because the train got all crazy with timing it is much later in the day about 4:00.

We walk through another market on our way to the home of our Nubian friend. As we make our way, we have to make way for the camels to pass through. Again, the men are very vocal to women (particularly me). We go to the entrance of this home which is completely amazing in color. The door was this vibrant turquoise/green color..we enter and there are no ceilings and no floors. The floor is this lush carpet of sand that we are told by the owner is changed (or brought in) twice a year. I took my shoes off to let my toes play in the sand of this place and believe me it is probably the most amazing sand I put my bare feet on ever. It felt light and fluffy--and yes it is all perception, but that is how it felt. There were really hardly and walls and yes I mentioned there are no ceilings hence no roofs really except for a couple. It is completely open to the earth this home. They don't normally have lights in their homes they use the light of the sun as their lighting and the light of the moon. The only reason they have lights now is because of our tourists that come to their village.

They have benches and seating in an area that looks to me to be a living room and that is where all 35 of us gather to eat. They put on a feast of food for us...yep more bread! Rice and carrots and green beans in a tomato sauce and chicken too. The food was actually quite good and one of the best meals thus far. Or it could be just that I was really hungry. As we ate the owner of the home, came and spoke to us about the Nubian people. He was really kind and open to us, but you could tell that he has done this so many times and it gets really old for him, but my thought is that he keeps doing it because of the money. I feel bad that this is the way they make their money because they have to have all these strangers come in to their home and take pictures and really disrupt their way of life. My only wish inside me as he spoke was that they find other ways to make money because while this may be educational for some people, I just feel like we "outsiders" (not particularly our spiritual group of beings) take advantage and do not fully appreciate their culture and history. I felt like there was so much more he could impart to us...but didn't. I didn't ask because the truth was I wanted to get up and walk around because my back was hurting sitting on that hard wood bench.

The one thing I did take from his talking was they in the village live as a cooperative community. One person grows one thing and shares with everyone else and it goes on and on that way. I think that it is so beautiful that they are truly a community caring for one another and taking care of one another with no expectations other than that is how it is. This family opened their home to us and when I saw how they did their dishes I felt for them....

We are also told that they keep baby crocodiles until they grow big enough and then they use them for food. It becomes their meat (makes me rethink the chicken hmmmm?). They are in a separate tank upstairs near the bathroom which by the way is a room with a door and a stone with a hole cut out as an opening for you to sit in...talk about primitive bathrooms...and I thought the "nasty train" was primitive. :) It was not where I wanted to go to the bathroom so I opted to wait until we got back to the bus...(I know I preferred a moving bus to a bathroom that was stationery.)

They really are cute little buggers...not my cup of tea if you will, but they are cute.

I walked around and saw that really the only rooms with a ceiling were the bedrooms and they were very low ceilings even me at 5'5 had to duck my head down to walk inside. As I walked back to the door to leave, I looked up at the beautiful night sky. IT was completely incredible the view of the stars...I took my camera up and looked at the ceiling and saw this amazing picture of orbs....

How amazing this culture is to have so many orbs above them at all times? You can feel the love, honor and respect for earth with these people...and so the universe rewards them by watching over them...

1.11.11

Felucca Ride on the Nile

Our mid afternoon sail became a late afternoon sail. Because our train from the night before arrived much later than the predicted 11 hours, we had to push our lunch up to about 2:30 in the afternoon.

There was some question as to whether the wind would push us where we needed to go to the Nubian Village, but we still got to ride on the Felucca which I have to say that if we didn't I would have been disappointed. It was truly a pleasant ride on the Nile. Who knew just how beautiful the Nile River was.

You would have to see it in person to know. We were sailing around the Elephantine Islands. I was tired, believe me, but the air did us all a lot of good in preparation for our journey tomorrow to The Island of Philae (The Isis Temple). I really enjoyed everyone on the boat. The sailors got us out into the middle of the water and took out some instruments and started playing us music. Who knew, live entertainment on the Nile. It was fun. They taught us a song and we all started to sing, clap and really get into it. The continuation of spirit growing on this trip each person each day became more and more connected to one another and love began to flow from one heart to the next. It is mighty powerful to get a bunch of "lights" together and carry out a mission of love.

The one downside of this trip was we had to walk through the market where the men are trying to sell you something at every step. It has been happening right along, but this day it got to me. The men kept coming up to me and many ladies on this trip and saying. Beautiful eyes! You want an Egyptian husband? They literally follow you onto the bus. It was way too much. It kind of drove me a little batty today with little sleep...everything would drive anyone a little batty.

Oh and the funny thing is they are always trying to make a buck (literally a US Dollar is what they would like). At the end of our "live entertainment" the felucca, they were looking for tips and then when they have you out in the middle of the Nile--they pull out things for you to purchase, scarves, beads, jewelry, bags. You can shop everywhere...you can spend money everywhere...it really is that simple to spend. So if you are a shopaholic, I don't advise a trip to Egypt you will come home with no money...good for me that I am grounded in the money area and do not shop like crazy...sometimes I wonder if I am woman because I don't typically enjoy shopping too much. Yes, there are moments that I get bit by the shopping bug, but overall, I am plenty okay most of the time without shopping.

The trip on the Felucca literally ended in the middle of the Nile River when a motorboat arrived and met us there. We had to switch boats in the middle of the River...imagine that? The talent and skill of walking is a must when climbing from a sailboat onto a motorboat in the middle of the Nile--I did it! I did it! I thought to myself as I stepped down on the motorboat--aching back, legs and all. Now on our way to the Nubian Village....
1.11.11

Finally at the Hotel in Aswan

We arrive at our new hotel by bus, feeling dirty and gross from the train the night before. So here we are sitting in the hotel lobby for a half hour now while waiting for the hotel to get our rooms ready. They greet us with this red juice which I think was pomegranate, but I am not sure...it was really good since it was the first thing I had besides water. Now when we first arrived here at the hotel, the only thing I wanted to do was pee and shower (sorry for the directness of my words, but really that is all I wanted.)

While waiting in the lobby, a bunch of us find the bathroom and we think thank goodness...three bathrooms in the ladies room! Then we quickly find out, one door doesn't even open so we can't use that bathroom, another bathroom the toilet does not flush and thank goodness there is one that works. Really? Welcome to Aswan, I hear in the back of my mind.

Finally, we make our way up to the room. I'm excited because we are told that we (the hotel is right on the Nile) We get to our room and the view is the bus that will pick us up along with construction off to the right that obstructs our view of the Nile. Oh well. I can't wait to shower, but quickly find that is it dirty (It was probably the dirtiest hotel, but found comfort in the fact that it was cleaner than the train.) I mean dirty enough for me to have to clean it before I can shower. Now mind you, after the train anything is uphill from there so I quickly clean it up the best I can because I need to shower and so does my roommie.

I finally get in the shower and it feels good to have hot water run over me and mind you after injuring my back at the pyramid my body is a little achy so the hot water feels great. But then it is time to shut off the water. Oh my God, the water won't shut off and the worst part is the hot water wouldn't shut off. It was scalding, but so was the handle to shut it off. I can't get it to turn off and my hands are wet and slippery so I reach for the towel which by the way is the size of a handkerchief. I cover my front parts and yell out the door to DebRa and ask her to come help. She burns her hand on the faucet to rescue me from the hot water that doesn't shut off. (Just a thought on the side...what is it with me and showers I turn on the shower--The shower hose thing that is supposed to be one of those massage type of shower hoses, I turn the water on and the hose jumps off the wall and promptly floods my bathroom. I call the front desk to ask for more towels to be sent to my room and housekeeping comes to my room with toilet paper. I have to motion with hands and body that I need a bath towel. Yes he finally understands and brings me more. Now this hotel, the water won't stop and we can't even call the front desk because the phone in our room doesn't have any information as to how to call out and it is regular phone you would find at home. hmmm)

Oh what a nightmare, wake me up...am I just back on the "nasty train" dreaming? (That would mean I was able to sleep on the nasty train. And the funny thing is that I think this would all be worse if I had gotten some sleep and thought more clearly. Anyway, I don't have time to fuss we only had an 1 1/2 hours to get back downstairs to the lobby for our bus to the Felucca Boat Ride down the Nile. Which, I really want to do and really don't want to do at the same time. Okay heading down....will write more later.

When we got to the lobby we had to wait some more....really? I could have taken longer in the icky room....

1.11.11

Eleven Hours and Counting

OMG! The train ride. I am not sure where to begin so I will just begin. So we wait on the cold platform for our train to arrive ( I now wonder why the heck I had to take two suitcases with me...that was because I was too cheap to pay an extra $150.00 for going 12 pounds over the 50 pound limit. ) We seem to have a little time so I run over to the little convenient stand selling water and snacks. I walk over and purchased a large bottle of water and two chocolate bars that had cranberries and hazelnuts (some fruit and protein) for the morning since I didn't know what the breakfast box would contain.

So here we are 6 people crammed into a compartment with luggage.

This picture depicts 5 minutes on the train. I don't think at this point it had begun moving. Here we are three people on one side and three people across from us and all our luggage on the floor in the middle. Just for reference in case you could not see by the photo, but it is not my idea of luxury and first class. The seats do not move up for the legs and it is pretty dirty in there.

Mind you, by this time we are all really exhausted from waking at 2 a.m. for the Great Pyramids all that happened nearly 12 hours ago at this point. They just passed out our breakfast boxes and guess what ? It is all Bread! I mean really all bread! Muffin, Croissant, Sweetbread, some kind of cake and an orange juice drink box. Really? Thank heavens for the chocolate bars I brought along...they will be breakfast. Oh there was butter and honey in there as well..forgot to mention that.

Now, we are all a little fearful of going to the bathroom because if this part of the train that is known as first class looks like this then how can the bathroom be any good? Oy Vey--were we right! We called going to the bathroom the walk of shame. I brought along a box of tissue when I left CT because before I left I had the flu and thought I would need to blow my nose--surprisingly, there wasn't any symptoms of being sick after I arrived, but that box of tissue came in handy. It became our compartment's bathroom tissue because there wasn't any in the bathroom and the toilet did not flush. It was so gross....I was told. Finally it was my turn to go...and thank God I brought anti-bacterial hand wash with me (being sick you would think I forgot those things, but apparently my OCD traveler came out and for a good thing too!).

We all sat down wrapped in scarves, hats, gloves and blankets. The only saving grace for me is earplugs and sleep mask...both of which looked elegant, but not at all working. So we all talk and laugh and laugh. The train is hideous, but the people are amazing and so much fun. It was probably the best opportunity to get to know some of the people so far. I loved it--that is until the bathroom.

It was my turn to go to the bathroom..several hours into the trip...I walked down the hall slowly as I was really tired, a little achy from the fall at the pyramid and stiff from sitting crammed with a suitcase under my feet. I open the door and have to lift the seat up and it comes completely off...really, icky, dirty and stinky. Let's suffice it to say that we have now deemed this the "nasty train" and our concept that is the American/European concept of First Class is very different than ours. Our tour guides were on this journey with us and they really didn't find it too bad. That is when we realized our concept of First Class is very different and it reminded us that we were in a third world country.

When I got back to my compartment, everyone was still awake. Someone came by and brought us incense. So we lit incense, I offered my phone for music...I didn't have much on there, but I have Deva Premal who if you know who she is...has phenomenal music....they are chants. So, we made the best of it and put the music on till my phone battery died and we fell sleep. We probably each got about 2-3 hours of sleep on this train ride that took 13 not 11 hours. Time is all relative there...which is why a 10:00 p.m. train didn't arrive at the station till 10:45 p.m.

Periodically, we would wake up freezing and just begin laughing. It was so much fun. I have a lot of time on my hands to write and read, but couldn't do much of either. Instead, I thought about home. I thought about the fact that I am here in Egypt. How is that possible? I mean a year ago, I put out to the universe that I wanted to manifest a trip to Egypt and here I am in Egypt. How quickly it happened. I was thinking about the people at home who would laugh at my trip on this train.

A spiritual journey so it shouldn't be lush lush right? hahaha Perhaps a little more lush like having a clean and functioning bathroom? hahaha Morning breakfast is the orange from the night before and the chocolate candy bar. Mmmm something I can eat! So the guy comes around asking if we want coffee or tea. He comes in and starts to speaking with my new friend Kamala in Arabic. It is wonderful to know someone who speaks Arabic on this trip. Interesting, the coffee/tea guys speaks with Kamala and then looks at me and starts to speak in Arabic to me and all smiley. I must have looked at him like he had five heads. I had no idea what he was saying. Kamala spoke to him and he went to get the tea that was ordered. (I opted out for the tea because I opted not to go to the bathroom till the hotel.) I asked my friend what he wanted and she said he thought I too spoke Arabic. I said really? She said yes you could pass for an Arabic woman...perhaps Assyrian? Hmmm...I thought to myself. By the way, we find out how to turn the heat on in our compartment 2 hours before we arrive at the Aswan station....all night we froze.

It is afternoon when we arrive a lot later in the day than expected because as I mentioned time is irrelevant. The sun is shining bright and the temperature is much warmer than Cairo. This looks more like what I imagine Egypt to look like...not so much green.

1.10.11 & 1.11.11

Back on the Ranch...

So what a full day; I don't think everything had an opportunity to sink in. We are now back at the Hotel Oasis (which was our best hotel by far now that I am back I can say that) packing for our 11 hour train ride to Aswan later tonight. I stopped in an had a bowl of lentil soup. By the way, I love lentil soup, and this really wasn't too bad with the exception of I thought to myself...where are the lentils? The soup was a deep yellow-green and no lentils my guess is that they cooked them until they were mushy. Now, I am not complaining because I really enjoyed the soup--it was just different.

All packed and we are supposed to meet in the hotel lobby for tea while we wait for the bus to arrive to take us to a group dinner at a local Restaurant on our way to the train station. Gosh, I pray the meal is good and that there are more options than bread. This is the night that we are supposed to go on the overnight train to Aswan. I was excited about sleeping on the train. I have never been on a a sleeper train before. My dad always talks about going across America on a train. He loves trains and believes it would be the most amazing sightseeing adventure and I am thinking this may be too.

Okay, as I write this in the background is music, but not like music you would want to listen to. It is a very poor, male singing voice singing Elvis songs with an Arabic accent. The only way that I recognize the song is because I have always loved Elvis--growing up I never hid that I loved Elvis. I guess now I am a closet Elvis lover. I liked his music and; therefore, often recognize his songs. I remember I was in high school and signing an Elvis song in my car and my friends laughed and said to me, "you know he is dead right?" I laughed back and said, "No he is not. He lives in my basement." I laugh, but energetically I always had a connection to Elvis. I could feel his sadness and longing for his twin. (hmmm interesting, huh? I think to myself now.)

So people are asking about dinner and the train. The bus is running late because of traffic and we are not sure we are going to have time for dinner. Be right back, ears are needed now...

Okay so here is the scoop... We are booked in first class on the train. This is not the "sleeping train with beds"; instead they are luxurious seats. We are told the seats are more comfortable and luxurious than the bus. The legs area on the seat come up and the compartment is large enough for 6 people and their luggage
to fit comfortably. Boy, I sure look forward to sleep tonight. We are heading to the restaurant for dinner.

Okay dinner for vegetarians was, yep BREAD! And potatoes and carrots in tomato sauce on top of white rice. And for dessert was an orange, that I took home for sunrise on the train just in case our breakfast box doesn't have enough for us to eat...now we wait for the train...
1.10.11

Yankee Doodle

Yes, Yankee Doodle was his name, the camel that is. My Camel Guide whose name escapes me now because it wasn't as outstanding as having a camel named Yankee Doodle. To get on a camel is easy so people say who have not been up since 2:00 a.m. in the morning, performing mini-miracles at the Pyramid and the Sphinx and then the bright sun of the Giza Desert in your eyes. Well, I am up there, now Yankee Doodle must stand up. Lean back says my guide, I lean and then he shouts lean forward. Wow I am up here. Now I have a moment to breathe while he helps others up on their camel. And don't you know all I hear in my head is the song I learned when I was a child. Yes, before we started out on our tour by camel, before I mastered how to sit on Yankee Doodle...this is what played in my head, a childhood favorite they say...
Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni.
Yankee Doodle, keep it up
Yankee Doodle dandy
Mind the music and the step
And with the girls be handy.

And yes, by now you too have that playing in your head. No need to thank me. hahaha Really? A childhood favorite? Perhaps it was only a favorite because the lyrics were so easy and rhyming for a child....not a favorite of mine and out on that camel that day...I was trying to come up with my own lyrics to the tune like pony changed to Camel, stuck pom poms on his head and walked with his guide Tony and with Ra'chel be handy. You get the drift....

Then we start to move, which really from this high up you can see so many things. Very cool view of the pyramids. This is why this is done on this part of the trip. I really did enjoy the jaunt; that is until we had to go uphill and downhill. And well, it is not really flat terrain as you can see.

It makes you feel like you are going to fall off. All you can hold onto is the moving camel's saddle...really safe. I mean it, really! hahaha So as we continued on, our camel guide had three camels, mine in the middle, one in front and one behind they are all attached by a single rope that I was told to place on my camels saddle. Really? I am qualified to do this, I think to myself. But hey, I am here writing about it so I guess I am.

I find out that Janna's camel's name is Michael Douglas. I am so jealous...I totally have always loved Michael Douglas since the 80's and Romancing the Stone. I was barely a pre-teen when that movie came out. Yes, everyone that is where my affinity for old-er men began. (Okay that is a whole other blog that I can write about....and who knows someday maybe I will...let's suffice it to say that I like older men...there is only one in particular that I love though.) Now Michael Douglas was the Camel in front and Charlie Brown was the camel in back. Yep, really catering to the Americans here. I mean I think I would have liked if my camel's name was Sayid or Babu or Amenotep, but whatever.

Now did I mention there were 33 of us on this journey to Egypt from all over the world? For example Janna was from Holland and Carole from Belgium. Amazing. Well all 33 of us with the exception of 2 people went out on the camel ride. So at any given moment there were several of us walking around each other...well Yankee Doodle kept up to his name and schmoozed with each camel as it passed by. Pulling me this way and that way. He was quite the stud (don't know if that is the correct word to describe him, but it works for the purposes of my story), but he made sure we collided with the other camels as we passed by. Yes, me and only me had that experience and my guide was too busy walking Michael Douglas that he wasn't aware that Yankee Doodle wasn't "minding his step".

Anyway, Yankee Doodle and I continued along that is until our Camel Guide decided to stop us (thankfully on a more flattened terrain at least for the moment) for a photo opportunity. He took our pictures. He took many pictures. He instructed us to lift our arms...I did one and then he said both. Meanwhile, I am thinking Yankee Doodle isn't going to find a Yankee Doodelette while I am not holding on, is he? Here is the final confirmation picture ...I did it! I did it! I wrote a camel and survived the jaunt.

The truth is we had a little ways to go before getting off the camel. When we arrived at the end of the camel ride, we had to give them a tip. Which as I may have mentioned earlier in my blog, everyone gets a tip, it is expected by them. So they help you off the camel, Camel Guide helps me safely off Yankee Doodle who by now is so non-plused to be around humans (he does this too often) and waits for me to open my purse to take out money. Hovers over me is more of the word. So I take out my money and tip him and he says come one more. He wants American Money and I tell him I only have pounds which is the truth as I traded my American dollars for pounds when I arrived. Then he does the same to Carole as well.

Then a police officer on a camel trots his way over to me and wants a picture with me. I say no (hadn't learned no in Arabic yet, but after this I learned!) and put my camera away. He comes closer to me and I see a machine gun at his side and think to myself okay better take picture. I stand by the camel and he reaches his hand on my shoulder (not the camel, the police man). And someone nearby ( I even forget who) used their camera to take the picture. Now, I didn't want the picture and I didn't even use my camera and I had to pay for the picture. I said thank you and walked away...he followed me and asked for a tip. I gave him a tip and he left very disappointed that I didn't give him more. (Money people--that is what I am talking about!) Really? The police are in on this whole bachsheesh (tip) thing. Now, it is 11:30 a.m. and time to head back to the hotel...all in a day's work I guess...
1.10.11

A Portal Perhaps?

Still between the paws of the Sphinx for another meditation (yes still sitting on the sand well there is a paper thing blanket between my butt and the sand...get the picture? It is like having my butt directly on the sand anyway with the coldness of it.)

Now, I am not sure you can grasp the enormity of this statue and just how large those paws are so I will throw this extra picture of me trying to squeeze in between the paws to get warm (yea right, stone paws to keep me warm. hey the pyramid held a lot of heat?)

Then, Armukara Angel (another beautiful soul who supported Solara An Ra on this journey with her Sirian Channelings) guided us all into a beautiful meditation integrating the energies of The Sphinx and the all too surreal experience of the Great Pyramid. It was incredible--I could feel my body expanding (my light body that is); it felt like we we filled that space with all our lightbodies. The Sirians really do pack a punch when it comes to meditation...incredible experience. It actually warmed me up so much physically too.

Then we had a little more time to walk around and view the grounds around the Sphinx. There were ruins.

Then as we walked back up the steps and out there was an area with doorways which looked like it may have been a building at some point, but it didn't have a roof of any sort and no one seemed to mention it, but I saw a doorway that really seemed to pull me over to it. Others of us were viewing this area too.

This doorway felt to me to be a portal of something. You can see by my picture, "Sol" felt the same thing, he was feeling the energy of this gateway. My intuitive impression is that we were viewing it backwards. This is another picture from someone else's album hopefully it helps to convey what I am about to say.

It appears to me where you see the wood door that was the entrance into this complex at the Sphinx. I think people entered from the "road" there and walked down through (where you see Sol touching the door facing out, I believe he was facing the wrong way). I believe when people entered through this "door" it was a portal into a higher dimension. It was like people (priest, high priestesses, humans) entered through this gateway to "worship" into this sacred place through a different dimension. It is like as soon as they crossed the threshold of that doorway they moved into higher awareness, energy and the like. I will try to explain humanly--sometimes it is hard for me to convey what I am feeling in words on paper...at least in person I get to use my hands, motion my body, draw pictures. hahaha So here it goes, it is kind of like when you go to a Catholic Church, a Jewish Synagogue or any place of worship really, if you are sensitive you can feel the energy of prayer and healing by walking in because in these places of worship much love and light is located in there...so you are transformed by just being present. Even if people who attend do not "follow" they are uplifted by those who do. Not sure that is clear as I don't attend church any longer, but I do go to Temple (Synagogue) from time to time and I can uplifted and "high" feel alive when the prayers are being recited. It is mighty powerful. By the way, I was Jewish in many past lifetimes and particularly several times in Egypt (as a female I was named Ra'chel and as a male I was name "Ari" that just came to me)...this is a story for another time, but promise to tell you that one day. Though, I do believe one of the lifetimes will come out on this journey...onto the Camel ride...all of this happening before 10:00 a.m. Imagine that...
1.10.11