Day 42...Egypt, say what?

Day 42/C13, July 26th:

Today has been a great day onboard the MV Explorer!  My sea played the game of Mafia after our sea meeting tonight!  It was so entertaining!  I can’t believe how exciting it was and how much we all got worked up over the game.  I don’t want to explain how to play it here, but those of you that know what it is understands why it is so much fun.  Daniel was the narrator for our second game and he was just too funny and definitely an awesome moderator.  We will have to play this game back in Charleston!!! 

Anyways, my Art History test this morning turned out to be okay.  It definitely could be a lot worse, but I don’t know how I feel about it, as I have never taken Art History before to judge my knowledge for the test.  Global Studies was interesting because we talked a lot about the culture and statistics of Egypt.  We discussed its political, economical, social, and citizen satisfaction levels, as well as general and more specific history of the four topics mentioned.  It was really shocking to find out that Egypt, out of the Mediterranean countries we are visiting, has the lowest longevity, second to lowest literacy rate (at 70%), most wars since 1945, lowest percent of women in the legislature (1.82%), and is the poorest country per person (average of $1,729 per person per year).  Egypt is currently challenged with its poverty level, high unemployment rate, high inflation level, high corruption, large gap in inequality, and is a very volatile neighborhood.  It was very shocking to hear some of this today.  I never thought of Egypt as being a super poor country or that they would have a pretty low literacy rate.  I guess that is why Global Studies is mandatory on the ship! 

I finally got my Jeep Safari and Camel Trip!  This means that Danielle, Heather, Molly, her friend I haven’t yet met, and I will all be on the same trip and we are going to spend the night in Cairo after our activities.   Yeah!  So you may find this interesting, but we made reservations at the “American Hostel” in Cairo for the night.  Is that not weird?  I am unsure how I feel about that, but it may be really nice.  All of the hotels are like $10 per night so this will be a very inexpensive trip (minus the $110 ticket for the SAS trip).  I also really really really want to go on a hot air balloon ride over the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids in the early morning of the second day in Cairo.  I hope it works out and I need to start researching that pretty soon, since it is only three mornings away.

Pre-port was also the longest pre-port ever!!!!  I understand that there is a lot to talk about for Egypt, but it went on way too long.  As you know, we can’t drink any of the water or eat any uncooked fruit or vegetables (unless, if applicable, we peel them ourselves).  We also can’t even brush our teeth with the tap water, so we will be using a lot of bottled water on this trip.  We also were advised not to eat any dairy products or deli meats.  Basically, we should take a lot of snacks from the ship and eat them as our meals while in Cairo; otherwise, eat every meal on the ship.  It should be an interesting port!!!  I really don’t know what to expect.  We also have to take taxis everywhere because we can’t read Arabic to know where to go!  It is pretty ridiculous, but have you tried to read Arabic?  It is impossible!  I am glad that we are traveling as a large group and that we are taking a SAS trip for the things we really wanted to do. 

So here is a basic itinerary for Egypt:

Day 1: Explore Alexandria

Day 2: SAS trip leaves at 07:30 for Cairo by bus, see Great Pyramids, Jeep Safari and Camel Ride, leave SAS trip and spend the night in Cairo

Day 3: (Hopefully hot air balloon ride)  Explore Cairo and go see the Nile River, train back to Alexandria (but don’t know when)

Day 4: Orphanage Service Visit in Alexandria from 13:00-17:00, Explore Alexandria

Day 5: Explore Alexandria even more

I will keep you all posted on my schedule for Egypt!  It is hard to plan with very limited Internet and you don’t even know where you are or what to expect until you get there.  It is almost 1am so I need to get to bed!  I can’t believe that I will wake up to EGYPT in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!  As you read this, try to think about what you will wake up and see in the morning.  I bet mine is better…