Trip to Egypt!

Egypt was so much fun and I saw so many amazing things. It was amazing how much we packed into a week. After a lot of warm bottled water, no fruits or vegetables, and every person getting sick, I think we were all glad to see the Jerusalem Center again. With everything that we did it would take me hours to share all of it but I will just give you a sample of a few of the things we saw and did.

On our way to the border on the first day we stopped at a Kibbutz in Israel for a tour. Stepping off the bus was like stepping into the sauna. I was amazed that they have been able to keep anything alive. And just my luck...they took us for a tour of their dairy operation. I don't know if I have been on a vacation where we have not visited a dairy along the way,the streak continues. They milk about 600 cows three times a day and produce 60-70% of the milk in Israel. They give the cows showers 6 times a day where they shower them for 1 minute and then turn on the fans for 2 minutes. It was quite interesting.

The Great Pyramids! The pyramids were amazing and it was so wonderful to drive into Cairo and see them in the distance. The night that we arrived we went to the light and sound show at the pyramids. If you look closely you can see the outline of one behind our heads. Kristen, Me, and CathrineThey switch which pyramid they allow tourists to enter and we were lucky enough to go into the "Great Pyramid" which is the largest one. It was a long climb into the center and inside I thought we might run out of oxygen with all of us in there. Tomb area is about the side of a large living room with a tall ceiling in the center of the pyramid. The size of the blocks of stone are amazing and the size of the pyramid even more impressive. It was quite the sight! Below you can see us sitting on the bottom layer.After a day in Cairo we took a flight to Luxor which is south of Cairo. We all got on and found our assigned seats. After taking my place in the second row I found out that I was sitting first class! The flight attendant came and pulled the curtain behind my head and the six of us in front of the curtain just started laughing. We were brought a hot towel, warm drinks, and a meal while the rest of our classmates and teachers were out of our sight and received a small drink. We could not stop laughing! Who would have guessed I would sit first class on Egyptian Air. I am guessing that will be my first and last time sitting first class but we lived it up and got a lot of laughs out of it. Traveling the Nile River. We were in Luxor for two days and in that time took almost every form of transportation available. This included: airplane, bus, taxi, sail boat, camel, motorboat, horse carriage, and train. My favorite was the camel but I had some fun experience on all of them. Karnak Temple. The oldest parts of the Karnak Temple date to about 2000 BC. The temple is mostly the product of the New Kingdom pharaohs and each pharaoh added on to the temple. The pillars are huge as you can see in the picture and every wall and pillar has engravings on it and many depictions of important ceremonies. Always a time for firsts! We went to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was my first time in Egypt, my first time at the Hard Rock, so I thought it might as well be my first time for a hamburger. It only took 21 years and a trip to Luxor, Egypt to try a hamburger! On our final day we woke up at 2 am to climb Mt. Sinai. The sky was beautiful and it was difficult to have to look where I was walking. I have never seen so many stars in the sky. We made it to the top after about 2 hours and waited for the sun to rise. It was freezing cold on top so we huddled together for warmth as we waited. It was a beautiful sunrise! After spending a week looking at some of the greatest creations of man there was nothing that matched the creations of God. After seeing what Moses had grown up seeing, I understand better Moses 1:10 where he says, "Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed. But now mine own eyes have beheld God." He had been surrounded by the greatness of man but found out as I did when I sat on top Mt. Sinai that man is nothing.