I saw the Pyramids!!!

     I saw the pyramids today and had an amazing time!!! It was unbelievable to be at the site or the great pyramids.  It was nothing like what I had ever imagined and I felt so lucky to have such an incredible experience. The Pyramid complex was surrounded on three sides by the city of Cairo butted up against the fence. The peddlers were the worst out of the places in the world that I have ever been and sadly, like at every other historic place I’ve been to around the world, there was a KFC right outside of the main gate.

   But at the end of the day, standing next to the great pyramids, I couldn’t help but wonder about the how, the why, and the who of that place. How sands over time have slowly buried this place and how all we have are these bits and pieces to conceptualize what it might have been like. Ahhhh, but how cool.

  We ended up not staying for the famed, light and sound show at the Pyramids, but we did go out on a Faluka ride with Lemise and Mohamed on the Nile river. It was so relaxing and beautiful. After that we went and got these amazing local meal which was unique. We drove up and honked and this young man, no older than 14 came rushing out to take our order. Then we stood outside our car and talked and talked while we waited for our food. When our food came, it was laid out on the hood of the car and we just enjoyed it.  Then we dropped off Lemise, and headed home. We then got back to our hostel around 2:oo Am only to wake extremely late, right at 12 o’clock to the hostel keeper calling our room phone telling us we had 15 minutes to get out!!

     For a few hours we joined Mohamed at a local country club where we played soccer and basketball and enjoyed more Cairo life.  Then we went back to the hostel, caught our shuttle and headed to the airport.

   Our time in Cairo was amazing, and we were so blessed to have connected with Mohamed, his mom Maha, and Lemise, his fiancé. They were so amazing, and really showed us a side to Cairo that you couldn’t get if you were just a plain old tourist.  I learned to appreciate the city and its people so much more than I ever had before and what an incredible gift to be able to walk away with.