Goin' to Egypt

Dear Friends....

Congratulations, Kaye...we'll be thinking of you on February 23rd and can't wait to hear "where!" Your leaving is a doubly good reason for this blog.



Ray and I just returned last week from taking 80 students, including our own granddaughter, to Egypt. We went last summer so it was more interesting to return, knowing what we would be seeing--the pyramids, temples and museums. Going through border control was a 3 hr experience--- they even checked the students scriptures.

Our group hiked up to the top of Mt. Sinai at 2 am in the morning to see the sunrise. Of course we went with them---it was a 4 mile, killer hike for us but I'm so glad we did it. It was terribly cold, we nearly froze to death---even the girls were getting adema in their fingers and frozen tear ducts. It was so cold they had to forego the planned testimony meeting.

But it was everything you imagine---the mountains, I mean----rugged, dramatic, austere and elegant---7,000 ft high---worthy of the sacred experiences that happened there. The stars were incredible. The last part of the hike is 900+ stairs straight up, built by a catholic priest 700 years ago. We didn't make it that far but we went to the summit and saw the sunrise from there. We arrived there an hour before sunrise. It was so cold that we rented heavy woolen sheep blankets ($4.) and waited in a Bedouin store (large stone room), visiting with a few other tourists and Bedouins---fascinating. Our own guide who helped us up the mountain was the kindest man, a 27 yr old who spoke 5 languages. His wife was from Cairo and they have two children----they've chosen the Bedouin lifestyle because it's so peaceful and quiet.

Our guide explained that in the old days there were eight tribes in the Sinai area---now they're all one tribe with about 50,000 people. Bedouins originate from Romania---maybe cousins to the gypsys? Many of them don't live in tents anymore. Now they live in "four rooms and a kitchen" (cinderblock houses). As he gave that description of their house, I could tell he was disappointed and missed the romance of living in tents---even though they now have "hot water too."

The whole week was so wonderful, sharing it with Whitney, who will be getting married this summer. She's never lived near us so it's been doubly fun to see her almost every day.

Two more pictures to share...it's amazing to see the arrogance of these three pharaohs.

"Perception is everything. Don't trust your eyes if your nose is as big as a Sphinx."

In all it was an amazing experience. I hope you get there before you die---you'd love it too.

p.s. I noticed when I post pictures that they always get put at the top of the blog. It's easy to put them where you want them in your entry. Put the cursor on your picture, then right click---when the list comes up, click "cut". Then put your cursor to where you want the picture to go and under "Edit"---top left, click "paste". You can then type around the picture and work it into your story.