The Desert in December

It's been one week since I arrived in Tel Aviv, and at the same time it feels like so much more and so much less. Just yesterday I was studying for exams (shudder), but we've also managed to do so much here in just a short period of time.

Our first day of Cairo was one of rest. We slept in, then walked from Pauline's apartment to the Egyptian museum. The museum can best be described as a giant warehouse of ancient artifacts, unceremoniously placed without labels in tall glass display cabinets. Everything is so nifty, like all of the items found in Tutankhamen's tomb, but you have a hard time appreciating it because the museum doesn't elevate it on a pedastel in a room with a lot of velvet ropes and guided paths.

The next day we woke up early because Pauline put together a great package trip to the white desert. Now that was incredible. Just follow the link, I'll post pictures of us later. Truly like walking on the surface of the moon. No matter that our jeep lost the capacity to start on a sand dune, since there was another jeep that could pull us until the engine jumped. We climbed a black mountain and a crystal mountain before stopping for the night. There, our guides put together a great camp fire dinner and protective shelter so we could sleep under the stars. Unbelievable. And unbelievably cold. But after all, it is still December even in the desert.

And then, on to Alexandria. Just a short trip by train this time. Somewhat of a relief not to be in a car, where the drivers (bus ones included) feel the need to turn off their lights several times as other cars approach at night for no clear reason. The sea is beautiful, and the new library with its nifty interior architecture and spacious desks for reading makes you forget how crowded the streets are outside.

Overall things have been smooth as butter, thanks largely to Pauline's amazing Arabic. She's saved several other tourists from defeat, reinstilled some small faith in the world's view on Americans, and only publicly shamed three people for being inappropriate to us on the streets. Not bad.