EGYPT!

Day 1: We first stopped at Tel Be'er Sheva where there lies a replica of an altar. We got to wear hard hats because we climbed down into this intense well from thousands of years ago. Then we went to a Kibbutz, which is a communal society where the people share everything. This Kibbutz does a ton of agriculture, and in the pic of me and Amie you can see the date palm trees in the background. I now know more about how to grow dates than I ever imagined...! I admire these people for living this way.

Welcome to Egypt! If you can't tell already, Amie and I are travel buddies. Just get used to a lot of pictures of her also b/c we're really good friends and we pretty much do everything together. She's awesome. Anyway, here we are at the Egyptian border and at the Great Pyramids of Giza! We saw them from the lookout point, from a camel ride, and also from the inside. I really don't know how the Egyptians built them because they are truly awesome. We weaseled our way through the narrow tunnels of Khafre's pyramid to get to the main tomb where the Pharoah would have been buried. It was sweet!

Here I am hanging out with the Sphinx! Then we took a trip to Zoser's step pyramid, which came before the great pyramids at Giza. After that, we went to the Ramses museum, where they have tons of statues from the time. It was cool. Lastly is the pita woman, for whom we're all grateful. At every restaurant they have a pita lady on the side making fresh pitas for us. I'm grateful for her because we couldn't eat any fresh fruits or vegetables, and I'm really picky about meat, so I this woman provided me with caloric intake. Bless her.

Welcome to Luxor! Luxor is a lot hotter than Giza, but really cool. We started at the Valley of the Kings where many pharoahs, including Tut Ankh Amun, have their tombs. We toured through those and saw wonderful things! Then we went to the Habu Temple, which was covered in huge pillars all carved out. My favorite Hieroglyph is one of a celebration, and the people in the picture are doing back handsprings. That afternoon, our whole group took a faluka boat ride on the Nile! Could it have been a better trip? I really don't think so!

A few pics from Luxor! The donkeys which they carry their goods don't seem too comfortable. They have cars, but I guess this is their transportation of choice. The children plead with us to give them money, and it breaks my heart that this is how they live. We watched the sunset across the Nile, which was beautiful. That night, we had dinner at the hotel, and there was a belly dancer. It was so much fun!

Our Mt. Sinai Hike! We woke up at 1 am and got back down the mountain at like 9am. It was awesome. Hiking in the moonlight, watching the sunrise, and then hiking down in heat is awesome. It was really cool to be there and think about all that happened up there!

So there's my trip to egypt! It's so great to be back here, though. I love Jerusalem!