We've been a bit busy and the internet has been a bit slow, so I've already been here over a week. Egypt is hot in the summer. I knew that, but somehow the actuality of it never really sunk. I've been hot before, and it sucks. Okay. The discomfort really hasn't been so bad. But the sheer effort involved in keeping body and soul together while wandering around outdoors in 105 degree weather never really occurred to me. And to top it off the Pharoahs had the lack of consideration to build all of their monuments outdoors, without any shade. We've been drinking what seems like 30 bottles of water a day, but somehow it's never enought. I swear they sell them to us with big holes in the bottom and our heat-curdled brains aren't able to notice.
Otherwise, things have been lovely. The heat means that a lot of the attractions are nearly empty, especially early in morning before the package tours can stumble out of their hotels. We try to see as much as we can before we have to retreat to somewhere dark with cold beverages. The pyramids are really impressive. Nothing I build is going to last 3000 years. I built a rack for the VCR that has lasted almost three, but I'm not hoping for much more, really. At the same time, I have to say, I'm much more impressed with the temples. They show some aesthetic judgement at least as opposed to just building the largest possible pile of stone on the backs of thousands of laborers. The pyramids seem like pre-modern brutalist architecture.
The mosques have also been quite impressive. Mostly the girls have not had to wear head scarves even there, although almost(but not quite) all of the women on the street wear them. They're an essential part of every outfit it seems, and many of them are quite stylish. We also saw a woman in a burka which completely covered her face(quite uncommon) sporting gold-rimmed Dolce & Gabana sunglasses over it. We had a lovely tour of the Blue Mosque and adjoining palace all to ourselves. Our guide even let us into the work site, which he claimed he wasn't supposed to do. Apparently Obama and Mubarak opened it to the public during his recent visit and our guide new precisely where he had been and how long. "Obama, he sat here 11 MINUTES and he drank coffee!" The whole visit seems to have lasted either 18 or 25 minutes, but he's a busy fellow. Obama seems incredibly popular, especially among salespeople who are trying to win us over. Some people do seem to be generally very happy about him though. "Obama #1. Clinton, Good. Bush, no." They're also not fans of Bush the Elder, whom they call "Abu Bush" or "father of Bush."
Another thing I've learned is that I don't speak nearly as much Arabic as I thought. I can say a lot of lovely impressive phrases like "I dislike Cairo due to the humidity and overcrowding." and "I sometimes have feelings of loneliness." But when it comes to asking when lunch is, I'm out of luck. Or counting above 100. Also the dialect is taking some getting used to. Luckily almost everyone speaks some English. Mostly they employ the language to tell that(since I'm travelling with two women) I am a very lucky man to have two wives. At first I thought they were joking, but it's becoming harder to believe. The jeweller assured me that although I might say they were my friends, they were surely my wives.
After 4 days in Cairo we took the night train down to Aswan, which used to be just below the first cataract, until the falls were removed. Being far south, it is much hotter, but not nearly so humid. Mostly this means that we don't notice how much we're sweating until we start getting dizzy. The city is right on the river, which is full of traditional sailboats which tack picturesquesly across the water in front of palm trees. The captains of these boats would be happy to take you for a ride. In fact they insist. Good price though, Egyptian price. Our hotel was fairly nice, if noisy and had an adorable pool with a decent view of the island and the minarets of the city(outnumbered only by cell towers. I suppose there must be some kind of moratorium on putting cell receptors on the minarets, but I think it's a brilliant plan.
From Aswan we went even further south through the totally barren Sahara to Abu Simbel, which happens be on the shores of the world's largest manmade lake in the middle of the world's largest (arguably) manmade desert. The temple has been moved uphill 200 ft to prevent it being submerged. Unfortunately it has to be visited as part of a police convoy(to make us feel safer, which it does not) and means that it's incredibly crowded as everyone who wants to see it has to do so between 7:30 and 9 am each day. Time running out, more later. Eventually.