walk like an EGYPTIAN. no really. do it. :)

Hey guys!! Back on the ship after an AMAZING time in EGYPT!! Yay! Now I have a few sailing days before Morocco.  Hopefully that means I will be able to get a good chunk of days updated on my blog! Though I also have a test as well as a paper for global studies due before morocco so we will see how much I can accomplish!

So without further ado here is Egypt day one!!

Tuesday: Day 43
EGYPT: Alexandria
After the longest preport of our lives, we went to bed ready to wake up to EGYPT!! Kyle, Kylee, Molly, David, and I planned on meeting and exploring Alexandria in the morning, but we soon discovered that getting off the ship in Egypt was a lot more complicated than the rest of the ports had been.  Each of our passports had to be stamped with a “quick stamp” and then handed out to every one on the ship… while in Italy, most of us had to get our passports, so they called us up to collect them sea by sea. However, this time they were not as organized.  It was weird.  They called a few groups up, but then it was just mass chaos as they called the ENTIRE ship up to get passports.  Needless to say, that took a little while.  By the time the whole group was ready to go, we looked at our watches and it was 1100.  So, we decided to just hang out for another half hour and play it safe by eating lunch on the ship. 

In pre port, we were heavily warned of the wonders of E Coli. And basically determined that there was little to no Egyptian food worth the “side effects” of eating.  They told us to stay away from all veggies and fruit, all forms of dairy, and even the meats are up for skepticism in any of the restaurants. (and trust me. By the end of our stay in Egypt, we knew why they had warned us of each and every one of those.)
Also during preport, they discussed Egyptian Dress codes.  Like Turkey, men can wear normal shirts and shorts while women are advised to pay even more attention to wearing long pants and long shirts that fully cover all cleavage, stomachs and backs.  This time they meant business.  All throughout our stay women were fully clothed, and most wore the traditional Habibs (not sure exact spelling).  Even to swim at the public beaches women wear special bathing outfits that cover their full arms and legs.  It was intense.  All these clothing restrictions also meant that we stood out even more as a shipboard community.

So with full bellies from yet another shipboard meal of repetitive fashion, we finally headed down to the gangway to step onto North African Land: ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT. Also during preport, they told us that we would need to rely on taxis to take us everywhere during our stay.  As soon as we got off the ship and went through security, we saw a whole line of shops down the port as well as a whole bunch of taxis ready to take us away.  We met a man named Rafti who offered to be our personal chuffer around Alexandria for the day for 50 pounds each (that is equivalent to a little less than 10 dollars for an ENTIRE day of taxi service. 1 Egyptian pound=5.56 US dollars.) We decided to take him up on his offer and hopped into his 1973 Peugeot (complete with a furry dashboard, roll up windows, and no AC) ready for a full day of adventure.

Our first stop was the Citadel of Qaitbay.  The castle was so cool! It was located right along the coast line with the water splashing against the rocks beside it.  I got some pretty cool water pictures there.  We got to go inside the castle for 15 Egyptian pounds (about 3 bucks) and it was totally worth it.  It was fun to see all the Egyptian tourists also there.  We got a group to take our picture and then tried to return the favor! Was pretty hysterical. They got so excited over us! Especially Molly. Hahaha  They all wanted pictures with us!! We took a few, learned some names, and continued on our way back to the taxi who was waiting right outside for us as promised!

We hopped back in the cab and headed to the Mosque of Abu El Abbas.  Rafti dropped us off right at the entrance of the Mosque so that we could get a few pictures.  As we were taking pictures, a tourist police man came up to us.  We had been warned in preport to be careful taking pictures, but they had said that mosques were ok.  Slightly confused by his motions to come towards him as well as the gun wrapped around him, we followed his orders and followed him to the back of the mosque.  Turns out he wanted to take us to spots for good pictures and then try and take our money as payment for showing us these spots… he was NOT happy when we did not have any change. Kylee gave him a pound and a half, but he was still not happy.  That was all the change we had, so we fled as fast as possible back to the safety of our taxi.  It was actually one of the scariest moments for me yet this trip.  We had been warned about the corruption among Egyptian policemen, but to actually witness it was really unsettling in a way.  As Americans, we are used to being able to go straight to a policeman for safety, and here if anything I think it is the opposite.  Almost all of the tourist policemen we ran into were trying to trick us into giving them money, and the other policemen did not look any safer.  That’s a scary concept to think about.

Back in our safe taxi, Rafti had bought Kylee, Molly, and I each a flower from a man walking around. Haha he was so nice.  Then he took us to the Bibliotheca Alexandria. One of the coolest libraries ever!! The place was massive.  It is shaped like a tilted hemisphere and has millions of books as well as a cool exhibit of old manuscripts.  We did not have time to go see the manuscripts, but I heard they were really awesome.

Next up in our grand Alexandria tour was the Alexandria Museum.  The museum was interesting, but really not that big. Within 30 or 45 minutes we had seen the whole place and were ready to go. 

Rafti took us to a small shopping area near the huge mall (that is very Americanized. More details later about that one) where we all got a nice cold Coke-a-cola for a few minutes.  We then walked around a jewelry store and a papyrus store for a little bit before heading to our final stop: a market.  Picked up a few snacks for the ship, and then headed back to the ship for dinner. 

Back at port, we thanked Rafti for the ride and the awesome tour and gave him 60 pounds each to add a little tip in appreciation.  He actually passed us a journal he uses as a “guest book” of sorts.  We saw a whole BUNCH of SASers throughout it!! They ranged from last summers voyage to summer of 05! Was sooooooo cool to read. We were happy to know we picked a great, reliable taxi driver and told him so as we added our names to the guest book.  Maybe future SASers will see our names :)

Ate another safe meal on the ship, and then I headed to bed really early after packing for Cairo the next day.  I cringed as I set the alarm clock for 6 am, but knew it was totally going to be worth it, and it DEFINITELY WAS. :)

but you will have to wait to hear about that until tomorrow.  Now I have to pack up my laundry because it is LAUNDRY DAY finally for deck two!!! Thank goodness because I am down to about 2 pairs of underwear and 1 t-shirt!!!