The Pyramids of Giza...Hurghada, Thanksgiving in Jordan.... and more....

It's been a while since my last update. We finally saw the great Pyramids. The GREAT Pyramid and the "lesser" ones.  How those aliens managed to put those things together is beyond me.  It surely must have been the aliens because it's inconceivable that those monstrous edifices could have been so perfectly put together by humans. Almost 500 feet high. Perfectly square (four inches off.... sorry). Perfect alignment with magnetic compass directions. Each block weighing two tons. Over two million blocks. The Pyramids are awe inspiring. However when a member of your party is bending over painting the rocks with her own brand of internal paint it takes the luster off of the proceedings. The worst of it was her sudden attack of “Mummy Tummy”  forced her to visit the Pyramid toilets. She was humbled in a way that she had never been when faced with the quality of those toilets. Somehow she and we managed to get home before she had any more “painting” to do. So….. a brief visit and when Stephanie is healthy we will hopefully have a triumphant return.

Matt and Stephanie going up Giza plateau

The mysterious Sphinx in line with Khafre's Pyramid (not the Great one but only 50 ft shorter...)

The Sphinx and its paws from side

Looking up from the base of the Great Pyramid

http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_2.htm

Our diving group decided to go the Hurghada for a weekend to dive. On a good day it is about a five hour drive to Hurghada, a resort town on the Red Sea that is renowned for it’s weather and coral reefs. We had a seven hour trip and got there about 11. So far so good. (If you like seven hour car rides…. Egyptian ones at that). The diving at Hurghada was as advertised and in contrast to Dahab we did boat diving. It was all great as long as you didn’t get a “Sinus squeeze”. I had one. Not fun. Makes ones head feel like the top half is ripping off. Quite painful. Luckily I was exempt from another one. It does make one wonder however if snorkeling with it’s thirty second prep time vs an hour with climbing into a tight wet suit, putting on an awkward BCD (Boyancy control device), carrying a 50 pound air tank, getting on a weight belt, not to mention ones mask and flippers, is a better option. Sure you go deeper diving. But the fish are the same. The coral is the same, and one floats along blissfully buoyant. The jury is out.

Optical illusion... two dolphins or strange new sea creature

Thanksgiving coincided with a U16 (under 16 years of age) soccer tourney that I volunteered to help with in Jordan. We took 14 boys to Amman Jordan to compete with five other teams. It’s always interesting to go to other countries so this was fun. At least some of it was. Jordan is one of the “stars” of the Mideast. The country is modern, stable, has good roads, is clean, and doing well. Petra is the biggest tourist attraction but we were confined to trips to Kings Academy, the hotel, the mall, and back and forth for five days. Thanksgiving was in the middle of this trip. I was the only American along so it was no concern to the others but I am used to my “feast” on Thanksgiving. 

On our first night we were given “Chuckwagon” sandwiches to eat with fries and cole slaw. Not exactly what I lean towards for dinner on any night but I am a team player. Chuckwagons are the name that my old college roommates coined at McElroy dorm in Mankato Minnesota. I digress but when we started at the dorm and had the “All you can eat plan”, we were in heaven as 19 year old young men. A heavily breaded patty that was a chicken based substance deep fried called Chuckwagon, was our first meal at the dorm. And our second. And third. After a week of Chuckwagon sandwiches (maybe it was two weeks….. or two months)we had had enough. Heavy on sodium, flavorings, and deep fried crust. So…. Back to the Ocean Hotel in Amman. Chuckwagon, no problem. At least we were promised a nice buffet meal the next night. Thanksgiving. So after a good first day of games we sat down for dinner. No buffet seemed to be there. (we had missed the buffet at lunch at Kings Academy so were HUNGRY) They told us the food was on it’s way. Thanksgiving in Jordan! Drum roll…… Chuckwagon with fries and cole slaw. AGAIN . Even the teenage boys couldn’t eat it. They all ordered KFC to be delivered to the hotel. Humbles a person. 

Anyway we finished the tourney. We tie or win our last game and we are in the championship game. We were scoreless and time expires. But it doesn’t. Ric (head coach and our new housemate) tells me it should have ended but it goes on even after extra time has finished. So with five seconds to go we get called for a handball in the goal area. A penalty kick ensues. They make it. We drop down from being in the championship game to fourth. The kids are shattered. The team from Lebanon that was seconds from not going to the championship game wins the game and goes on to win the title. Life is hard. We win the sportsmanship award and they rebound. By the way try chaperoning 14 boys for five nights in a hotel. Ric was amazing to be able to keep those boys together. I did what I could to support him. We somehow did it. Combat pay should be coming to us. Not. At least we finally were able to return to Cairo.  Or so we thought. Have you ever heard of a Sandstorm? Perfect timing. On the way to the airport the wind came hard, the sky got dark, a dirty “Brownout” took place. One couldn’t see ten feet in front. The flight of course was delayed. Canceled. Eight hours later we sit here waiting to get back to Cairo. Everyone that goes to the Middle East must experience a sandstorm. Now instead of chaperoning 14 boys in the hotel for five days we chaperone them in the airport for ten hours. They are good kids but if one knows anything about Egyptian kids they are “High Energy”. A Thanksgiving weekend to remember.

The team in front of the Roman Amphitheater

We are the orange team... the Lynx

Is this what we've come to? Having to use one's Smartphone while on the bottle!

A pleasant journey with a sandstorm? Not pleasant....

So that is the end of this blog with one footnote... Minnesota where I bode from jokes that the mosquito is the state bird. Now I am in Egypt. I can truly say that the Egyptian mosquito is the foulest bug I have yet encountered. It buzzes the same way, it looks similar, yet it differs in certain respects. First of all the Minnesota mozzie lazily flies along until destroyed by a slap from a hand. No problem. The Egyptian mosquito is like a house fly. Quick and fast and hard to hit. When they do sting however it hurts something fierce only matched by the severe itching that comes after. We thought our mozzies were the king. They are nothing. These guys can't be slapped or found sitting for more than a nano second. They sting fiercely and itch like hell. Our slaps out of frustration are harder too which can hurt when slapping ones cheek. 

It is 5 degrees back home right now.... 85 here... Ok, I'll stop complaining... till next time.