The Taj Mahal

Awe: a sense of wonder, amazement, surprise, and/or reverence.  I worry a little that we will overuse the term when describing the sights, sounds and experiences of our first week in India.  But really, how can one describe a visit to the Taj Mahal without using the word awe?

            Our visit to the Taj was on Monday, October 12. We had just completed two whirlwind days in Delhi, only to wake early on our third day in country and board a bus for a four and a half hour drive to Agra. Upon our arrival we checked into a four-star hotel (much appreciated after our slightly less comfortable, slightly more aromatic stay at the Delhi YMCA).  A leisurely lunch was followed by a visit to the Agra Fort.  The fort is both historically and architecturally interesting, but it was hard to ignore the magnificent view of the Taj, just across the river.

            At about 4:30 pm we started the transition to the Taj Mahal.  Our hope was to get some daylight time and also experience the sunset while on the grounds.  But getting tot eh Taj was more complicated than we’d envisioned. Buses are not allowed near the site, so we unladed on a busy street and walked down a side street for about 500 meters.  It is hard enough to be inconspicuous walking as a group of 22 foreigners, but it was even more difficult when we felt the need to inform each other of upcoming obstacles (“Hole in the sidewalk!” “Watch out for the motorcycle.” “Stay to the left. The LEFT!” “Whoa, camel coming this way!”). We finally arrived at the gates and started the security process.  Our guide had warned us that we could not bring along anything other than money, a camera, and a phone (no pens, no food, no sharps, no cosmetics, etc.).  We suffered a small panic when Grace revealed that she’d brought along her epi-pens, but thankfully the guard let us through.  Armed with security-provided water bottles and shoe-covering booties, we approached the entrance with just enough daylight to spare.

            This is the part where we return to awe.  While the photos Greg took are fantastic, they do not do it justice.  For example, the red sandstone entrance gate looks like many other gates we’ve seen, but what you can’t really see is how the inner arch is a reflection of the outer arch, and how it perfectly frames the same arch on the actual mausoleum.  The floral designs around the arches – and throughout the whole structure of the Taj Mahal (including the tombs on the inside) – are inlaid gems, a beautiful contrast to the white marble.  And the reflecting pool allows for even more of the designs and shapes to repeat.  The whole space is, in a word, breathtaking.

zoom in on this picture to see the many arches...

            James and Grace did a quick video with some historical facts:

            We watched the sun set over the mosque on the west side of the grounds, then traversed the long route back to our bus (“Watch out for the hole in the sidewalk.” “Did you see those bats?? Those things are HUGE!!”).  Ahhh, India.

Contrasts

Time and place are funny things.  When we jumped from Cairo to Delhi, we knew that our seven hours on two flights would not be that bad.  Even arriving at 3:30AM would not be that bad.  We were anticipating horrid air quality, a crush of 1.3 billion people and a country that was rumored to “smell like everything”.  Yes, there was a long line at immigration but beyond that our expectations were a little off.  Warm greetings, fresh breezes and colorful flower necklaces all made us realize that we truly had been transported from our desert oasis to a new and different place.

There was still the presence of a security guard at the YMCA hotel, but instead of the armed para-military type, we found a smiling Sikh in a starched white British-style uniform sporting a festively colored headpiece.  Instead of preventing our entry, he held the door wide and welcomed us to our new home.

We felt immediately at home in New Delhi.  Perhaps it was the traffic (a little more predictable) or the greenery (parks, grass, trees!) or the presence of courting couples, laughing children and people enjoying themselves in public.  Regardless, our tour of New Delhi was quite relaxing.  But as always, things change.

The plan was to take our bus to Jama Masjid a 17^th century mosque built by Shah Jahan but after sitting in traffic three blocks from the mosque for an hour we decided that foot may be superior.  Our guide had us abandon ship and dive headfirst into the chaos that is an Old Delhi street in full glory.  Cycles, cows, people, tuk-tuks, people, cars, vans, people, chickens, vendors all vying for a piece of pavement to get through to their destination.  Now throw in a herd of camera totin’ Americans and we have a circus of delights.  Personally I thought it was a rush.  We ducked and wove and dodged and gagged a little but we made it safely to the steps of the mosque with very little incident.  Whew!

The serenity of the mosque was a pleasant welcome from the street but out of the frying pan back into the fire as we jumped aboard cycle rickshaws to tour the narrow twisting alleys of Chandi Chawk the heart of the Old Delhi marketplace.  We were bathed in a sensory delight of sights (colorful sarees contrasted with filthy streets), smells (fresh fried doughy goodness with “oh God what is that?!?”) and emotions (the thrill of exploration with the guilt of entitlement).

But I think this is what the next phase of our journey is all about: contrasts.  We have the ability to compare (hopefully without judging) our experience in Egypt with our experiences in India.  We can compare traffic, air quality, food, communication and customs.  So far the contrasts are most striking and easy to see.  But as we move forward I anticipate that there will be more similarities and common ground between these very different places.

On Location The Pyramids

"Everyday Adventures" in Egypt

By James Muth

Egypt has been full of lots of adventures that may seem out of the ordinary but they actually have become routine for us. For example we have gotten in a rhythm of touring in 100+ degree heat. We have gotten in a routine of going to pyramids, walking a mile just to go buy some cereal, not getting a haircut because we are living in the middle of nowhere and other semi-ordinary things like that. This blog post will be about three things that wouldn’t be normal in the states but has become pretty normal here.

For the groups one month-aversary we all got a free day to enjoy Cairo and explore into Cairo proper. I had been dying to get a haircut because I hadn’t gotten one since the middle of August, back in the US. There weren’t too many opportunities because we haven’t had time to do things like get haircuts. After getting some pictures printed in Cairo proper, we asked the nice family that were running the shop to direct us to the nearest barber shop. A young girl in that family took us to a barber shop that was a block away from the printing store. There were two shops, one for women, one for men. We walked into the men’s shop, and we were greeted by a man who looked like he was in his late twenties. He sat me down in the chair, and without asking what hairstyle I wanted, he started cutting my hair. Now, no big deal because when he had shaved off most of the hair on the sides and had trimmed some of the hair on top, he showed me some pictures on his phone that he had. I chose one with everyone's approval, and he went back to trimming. The whole family was sitting there and the barber seemed to enjoy having an audience because whenever he needed a tool that wasn’t dangerous, like a brush, instead of taking it off the table like a normal barber would, he would toss it up in the air and catch it after a couple of flips. He was super nice about not really being able to communicate with us but after paying him 50 pounds we walked out of the shop and I felt like a different person. I definitely enjoyed searching hard for a barber and I can’t wait to in India.

Along with visiting the Pyramids of Giza, we also visited the Step Pyramid, which is the first pyramid ever built. We visited several tombs but the highlight of the day was when we went into the pyramid of King Titi. We climbed down a set of “stairs” and were in a long hallway that branched out into two rooms. One room had a massive - and partially open - sarcophagus and the other room had stone blocks that we used as seats and some very good acoustics. This next thing I’m going to write about is sort of naughty but I’ll write about it anyway. After a few people took their turns taking pictures in the sarcophagus I slipped into it and was able to take a few pictures inside of King Titi’s sarcophagus. Being in there was very weird but it definitely makes for a good story and some very funny pictures.

ResLife is the group of people that have been helping us on campus and off campus with our housing. They are very nice people, no doubt, but when I found out that they were treating us to a Nile River cruise, they became some of the best people on campus. We took a bus into Cairo proper and boarded a massive cruise boat. There were a couple other large tourist groups and otherwise a few small families. There was a show going on that was a Belly Dancing/Whirling Dervish show. The belly dancer had way too much skin showing, so I didn’t really like it, but I definitely did enjoy the whirling dervish. He did lots of tricks including the fact that his skirt lit up and he lifted it over his head and looked like a carnival ride. He also did some tricks like pouring a glass of water while spinning and spun his skirt like you see chefs spin pizza dough. He also walked over to me and said “I do what you do” so I did some funny faces and then I did my monkey face. My monkey face is where I inflate my cheeks and then I raise my eyebrows and pull on both ears. The whirling dervish saw me do it and got a worried look on his face, he was still spinning his skirt over his head, he then tossed the skirt in the air, did my monkey face and then caught his skirt and kept spinning it. He then said “you do what I do”. He grabbed a  fork off the table in front of him, he took it and hit it against the table to demonstrate that is was solid, I did the same. Then he took it and he started to bend the fork in half with one hand, because he was still spinning his skirt over his head with the other hand! Of course I was not able to do that so I laughed and said “you win”. That guy was hilarious and made the whole room laugh.

Egypt is different in many ways from the States. There are also some similarities, but when a routine starts to form, that’s when you know, this has been lots of fun. Routines control us and make sure we stay mostly on track, but when little adventures like these happen, you know that straying from the track is sometimes the right thing to do.

Hurghada Highlight Reel

By James Muth

After six brutal days of touring ancient archeological sites in the blistering hot Egyptian sun, we were rewarded with four days of an all inclusive resort on the Red Sea.

Day 1: Highlight: Water Slides

The first day in Hurghada was overwhelming. Everyone was extremely tired but there was an upside, slides! There were 7 different water slides at the water park that we found. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the water park.

Day 2: Highlight: Thai Food

Mom and Dad got a date night so the college students took care of us. We went on the water slides again and then… Thai food. There was a bit of confusion with the reservation when we got to the restaurant but everyone ended up eating. The meal started out with soup and salad. There were beef or chicken salads and either a Thai curry soup or chicken and mushroom soup. Then the main dish came. It came on sizzling pans and boy was it good. Stir fried chicken seemed to be a favorite at our table. The Thai food was to die for.

 

Day 3: Highlight: Snorkeling

After bargaining for two days with the Octopus Diving Center, we landed a deal: $15 per person with two boats, a mask, a snorkel and flippers for 16 people. They were going to take us out for about two hours. We stopped at the first reef and got out to a start. It was really amazing to pop my head under the water and still be able to breathe. After my first try at going under the water to point out a fish to Sydney, I inhaled a ton of saltwater into my mask so Mom and I swam back to the boat and switched masks. That was when the real magic happened. Sydney and I went back out to explore some more of the coral reefs. We saw some fish that had the face of a seahorse but the body of an eel. We also saw a flounder, a sea bass and what looked like a pufferfish. Along with zebra fish, parrotfish and many other species of fish, we were bombarded by a balanced world of color and scales. We then went to a second reef and saw many of the same fish, but the part that I really enjoyed was going off a drop off and feeling the difference in temperature. The whole group agreed that snorkeling was the best $15 that we all spent.

 

 

Day 4: Highlight: Water Aerobics

We started the day out in the water. We saw and official looking woman walk into the water. She told us all to line up in a single line and that was where the fun began. We stretched, lifted our legs, danced in circles, and gave each other massages. It was definitely an interesting experience. We then ran off the beach and by the pool. We were dancing for close to five minutes. Let me tell you it was the weirdest dance ever. It involved loud music, clapping and lots of hip shaking. It was fun and weird at the same time, but definitely a good memory. Thankfully there were no pictures - so no embarrassment here!

Hurghada was great and should be enjoyed for long periods of time.

Life in New Cairo

When we first learned that we would not be staying in the same residential area of Cairo that past Global groups have stayed in, I was both disappointed and somewhat relieved.  Looking at a map of Cairo I could tell that the new campus of the American University in Cairo (AUC) was well on the outskirts – away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Cairo.  But I also figured that it would likely be a safer, more collegiate atmosphere.  I expected it to feel a little less authentic, but to be easier than living right in the heart of the city.  I was so grateful that this arrangement was deemed safe enough to allow our group to still go to Egypt at all, that I was willing to set aside any preconceived, romantic notions of what Cairo was going to be and just arrive without any expectations.

Consequently, I’ve been pretty shocked at just how hard this experience has been. It is a study in contrasts, and it has been like nothing I could have imagined.  To begin with, New Cairo is not just on the outskirts of Cairo. It is actually called the 5^th settlement, and is like an entirely new city being built out in the Sahara Desert (but close enough to Cairo proper that water can be pumped out here for those who can afford it).  According to one professor, New Cairo is being built for the top 10% of income earners in Cairo.  This makes the endeavor seem utterly ridiculous, until you understand that 10% of the population of Cairo is around 2 million people!  This new settlement will be big enough to be considered a large metropolis in the US. Second, the AUC campus is enormous, but faculty are not actually housed on campus.  And contrary to the description we were given, faculty housing is more than a five minute walk from campus.

Building on the edge of the Sahara Desert

Row upon row of new housing

Our balcony, as viewed from the roof.

What does all of this mean for us on a day to day basis?  It means that we are living in a rapidly developing, but still undeveloped area, designed for well-to-do Egyptians with access to means.  As a family, we are living in the faculty housing owned by AUC that is about a kilometer from one of the five gates around the perimeter of campus.  We have a beautiful 3-bedroom apartment with 2 ½ baths, a reasonable kitchen, an office and living room, and access to laundry facilities in the basement. We have a 24 hour guard, a generator that keeps our refrigerator running when the power goes out (frequently), and excellent wifi.  When we walk out our front door (away from the lovely entryway complete with marble wall and running fountain),  there are multiple unfinished buildings all around.  The street is still dirt (well, it’s really Sahara sand).  The few sidewalks that exist have been torn up (even though they can’t be more than a year old), and the street is regularly flooded by the irrigation system in place to keep the plants watered.  The irrigation system appears to be far better than the drainage system.  If you didn't know that the rubble was from construction, you might mistake it for a war zone.

Construction zone

Gate 4 of the AUC campus

The stray dogs

On our walk to campus each day, we pass construction workers and stray dogs, but no other families. As far as I can tell, other than the few faculty members we’ve met who also live in our building, no one lives out here yet.  It feels like a desert town in more sense than one. There is a shuttle run by AUC that will take us to campus (and Greg often catches that when he’s going to teach class), but we usually just walk so we can go on our own schedule.  Campus itself is probably at least a full kilometer in length. It is a long, narrow campus with most buildings lining a central walkway. There is a lovely garden around one edge, and a great sports facility at the end of campus near the dorms. The entire campus is surrounded by a wall with 5 heavily guarded gates.  At the far end of campus from our gate (known as the Pepsi gate), you can go out gate #1 and walk another kilometer down the road (and by road I mean a five lane highway with traffic suggestions as opposed to traffic laws) to find a collection of shopping plazas.  These all contain many American restaurants (KFC, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Fuddruckers, etc.) along with other high-end shops and gyms (e.g. Gold’s Gym).  There’s one grocery store in the whole area – the 5-story Oscar that Greg wrote about in a previous blog.  After attempting a walking trip to the store with the children one time, and then getting lost with a taxi on the ride home, we’ve decided to stick with the AUC shuttle for all grocery trips! We don’t venture into this area unless we have to.  It is also still under construction, is very expensive, and is really hard to navigate on foot. 

The Americana Plaza featuring KFC and Hardees

So a typical day for us when we aren’t out on an excursion with the group, usually includes breakfast at home, some studying, and then a walk to campus.  Once on campus we use the computers in the library for math, sometimes attend a class with the Oles, and maybe get in a swim in the campus pool.  Lunch on campus is either more American food (Cinnabon and Subway), something from the bakery, or a cheap bowl of koshary (rice, pasta and lentils). Sometimes we swing into the little convenience store on campus to grab a necessity (like milk in a box, or bread) so we won’t have to go out anywhere later. After walking back to our apartment, we try to dump as much of the Sahara out of our shoes before entering as possible.  Then we figure out if we have enough food to make dinner, only go out if we have to, and head to bed.  It isn’t glamorous, or particularly exciting, but it has become our comfortable routine.

As we move into our last week here in Egypt, I am trying hard to keep my head in this experience and not jump ahead to the next one.  It would be easy to just “tread water” for the last week – survive a less than ideal living situation without savoring any of it.  But I’m trying to make a conscious effort to notice new things, enjoy the fact that something so foreign has become a routine, and appreciate the opportunity to experience this odd little place in the desert we call “New Cairo”.

New Cairo