What the...

That doesn't look like Taiwan. What is she standing on? Wait a second...?

My friends, the above picture is but one example of the many faceted ways that blogs can be trouble. Or more correctly, what comes of it when I read them. Last October, I was innocently reading the blog of a friend of mine, Jay, who is working in Egypt this year. I'll reference his blog since it explains much better than I can what exactly he's doing there this year (see the entry "Care With Love: The Overview" for the specifics of his work; read the rest just because it's interesting). That day's account especially caught my attention as it went something like "So, I went to Mt. Sinai for the weekend and it was incredible..."

Well.

That was so cool I could hardly stand it. "I wanna go to Egypt!" I whined to my unsympathetic computer screen. As I finished reading that particular entry, I shook my head, green with envy. "Egypt. Hrumph. Now that would be quite the adventure. *pause* I wonder..."

Like space cowboys in the mindless sci-fi novels I enjoy now and then who skirt the edges of black holes for fun, I found myself flying dangerously close to the edges of my own curiosity. There were two weeks of vacation over Chinese New Year that I had no specific plans for, other than a vague notion that I would find a beach somewhere in Thailand on which to sun myself. Suddenly, without knowing quite how, I found myself on Expedia, doing a little harmless research.

Danger, Will Robinson.

I pointedly ignored the flashing red light on the console of my common sense. Hmmm, it was too expensive to fly from Taipei to Cairo. Way too expensive. But wait, all the flights connected through Bangkok. I knew there were cheap flights to Bangkok. I wondered what the price was from there... After some clever maneuvering and a couple of quick calculations in my head, I felt something happening to my face. The gravity of my curiosity was pulling my face into a small smile. Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

Too late. I felt myself slipping over the event horizon as the face of Anna Horkey turned into something else entirely: the Face of Anticipation. For those of you who don't know or haven't witnessed the phenomenon, the Face of Anticipation is something that comes over me when I am irrationally, irrevocably excited about something. Beyond reason or control, it has a life of its own that can emerge with the mere thought of an upcoming event. While something as small as the promise of a good plate of curry or a game of ultimate frisbee could bring on a less severe version, the full blown Face of Anticipation manifests itself only in the face of something truly exciting. Usually, that means a trip to some exotic locale that I have been throwing around the back of my mind for a while. The last documented Face of Anticipation was on the way to Tibet. The picture below will give you some idea of the phenomenon, but can in no way convey the full effect of experiencing it first or even second hand.



Three months later, I found myself hopping on some poor Bedouin’s camel at the pyramids of Saqqara, hopelessly delighted at my own ridiculousness, shaking my head in bewildered wonder at God’s blessing, at His ridiculousness. Like all of God’s gifts, it was inexpressibly amazing, undeserved, and above all, good. I hope to write more on the whole experience a little later, but for now I’ll just leave you all with some eye candy.

Salem,
Anna



The obligatory photo proving I was there.

Another obligatory photo proving I was there.

Here's Jay, walking Lonely Planet and good friend, standing on the bluffs overlooking the Nile Valley. Notice that where the water stops, so does the green.

Here we are at Benni Hassan, where we looked at some 4000 year old paintings in the tombs built into the bluffs. The colors and scenes from everyday Egyptian life so long ago were amazing! And we had the trusty tourist police with us the whole time--there for our security, of course.

Here's some tomb paintings/carvings we probably weren't supposed to take pictures of...ooops.

Here I am, perched upon my noble steed.

You hear that? She called me a "noble steed."

After Jay explained for the 500th time that I was neither his wife nor girlfriend, this man took the opportunity to propose to me. I just couldn't see living the rest of my life in the desert though (or converting to Islam , for that matter), so I politely declined. I did, however, agree to have my picture taken with him. And then his friend gave me bunny ears! Punk.

The Africa cup happened to be in Cairo, Egypt this year. Jay happened to have a friend who got us tickets to the Congo vs. Cameroon game. Jay's friend was from Congo, so we cheered for them. They lost, but no one really cared because the Congo fans had a great beat going on the drums the whole game.

This Congo fan was even decked out in his tribal gear. He was dancing the whole game. I've subsequently decided that African soccer matches are the best.

The roof tops of Cairo. Jay said it was the clearest day he'd ever seen there. Usually the pollution and dust make it impossible to see most of the city. I thanked God for that incredible blessing and for the equally incredible view--if you look closely, you can see the pyramids in the distance.

Ah, kids. In the background is a horse and cart, a sight not uncommon on the streets of Cairo where people come in from the rural areas to hawk their wares, whatever they may be.

Street food...it's the only way to dine.

Here's an interesting picture of Cairo. Start at the bottom with a littered, unpaved street, work your way up to the banner in Arabit, top it off with a mosque and a blue sky.

Sunset over Cairo, and my vacation. This one's going to be hard to top...but I'll probably find a way. :-) Salem, Egypt.