I've never felt as small as I did two nights ago, standing alone with my bare feet in the white sand of the Sahara Desert and an infinite number of unadulterated stars above me. Having your own insignificance driven home to you somehow lifts many of life's small and petty burdens. Things that seemed urgent or devastating a few hours before are washed away. The stars and the desert were there before I or anyone I know were born, and they'll still be here long after we're gone. It was one of those moments when the future you've been anticipating crashes into your present. Am I really here? I thought. And how long can I hold on to this moment?
The Sahara was absolutely one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I wish a picture could do its otherworldly nighttime vistas justice, but I will have to make do with photos taken during the days I visited. I was there with seven of my friends from AUC visiting the Bahariya Oasis and the Black and White Deserts, sections of the Sahara that are, respectively, blackened with ancient volcanic ash and whipped into impossible shapes with bright white limestone. It's one of the most popular tourist areas in Egypt, although it's so huge that contact with other visitors is pretty minimal. It is breathtaking, and even more amazing when you think about the fact that this entire portion of the Sahara was once the floor of the ocean. Driving along the ancient ocean floor made me wonder what mysteries and wonders still lie at the depths of our modern seas, miles down, where we're still exploring and discovering new life forms.
The White Desert was the closest I'll (probably!) ever get to being on another planet.
The Black Desert, covered in volcanic ash.
We left by tour bus early on Friday morning and drove five hours through less interesting parts of the Sahara to reach Bahariya. Even in its most boring stretches of sand, though, it was still mind-boggling to me to sit back and think "I'm in the Sahara Desert!" Bahariya was a little less interesting; it's a small, dusty oasis town, with the main hotel (from which our tour into the desert departed) situated right next to a restaurant called "Popular Restaurant" that is one of the oasis' top eateries. We split into two groups of four (Rosie, Toby, Emily from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and I in one group, Chelsea, John from UF, Amy from Wheaton, and Laura from Baylor in the other) to board the ramshackle 4-wheeling Land Cruisers we would take to the desert. Driven by our Bedouin tour guides (Ahmed, Ahmed, Ahmed, and Hamdi), these trucks were up for anything, from mountainous sand dunes to brittle limestone plateaus. It was pretty great to veer offroad for the first time, only to discover that my seat was only bolted down in one out of its four corners (obviously there were no seat belts-- who needs those?). We spent the rest of that adventure with Toby and Rosie holding my seat down so I wouldn't fly out of the car. Fun!
Bahariya Oasis (that's "Popular Restaurant" on the right)
One of our Land Cruisers!
Really, though, our time in the desert was amazing. We climbed a mountain in the Black Desert, played on Crystal Mountain (a hill-sized rock of quartz), explored the completely alien landscapes formed by limestone erosion in the White Desert (we remarked more than once that it looked like something out of Star Wars), and finally set up camp far off of the beaten path. Our guides built a pretty cushy sitting/sleeping area for us, then cooked a ridiculously good meal (chicken, rice, vegetables... the usual) over an open fire. Not looking to get caught in the desert without dessert, we brought marshmallows and roasted s'mores! I wandered away and got completely caught up in the sheer beauty of the desert stars. I just have never seen that many before; without mountains and trees to obscure the constellations, I felt like I was looking at the entire zodiac. We slept out in the open under them, cuddled up together for warmth (it gets very cold in the desert at night!). I was pretty excited to prove to everyone that yes, I actually can camp, and I enjoy the outdoors (they didn't believe me before the trip). Thanks to growing up in the South and attending a Montessori elementary school, I could cook everything from tofu to eggs to ground beef over an open fire, determine the time by the sun's height in the sky, and dig an eco-safe latrine in the woods (or, in this case, in the Sahara) by the time I was ten years old. Even though school keeps me pretty busy in Columbia, I camp for fun all the time at Red Top Mountain in Georgia. Few people who have met me here thought I would be one of the most experienced campers on this trip, but I was :)
Our whole group in the Aghrabat, an especially beautiful and alien part of the White Desert. (From left: Laura, John, Chelsea, Emily, me, Rosie, Amy, and Toby.)
Rosie and me in front of one of the crazily-shaped limestone formations!
The next morning, we packed up camp (after recovering the half of our group that had ventured out to see the sunrise and actually gotten lost in the Sahara-- pretty scary) and went sandboarding! We had heard so much about this from our friends who had already been to the desert, and were really excited to try it out. It's closest to snowboarding; the boards look similar, with little straps for feet. With some effort, the Ahmeds and Hamdi got us to the top of a pristine sand dune, where we could sail down with ease (the walking back up was the hard part). I was a little scared after watching my more intrepid friends wipe out in the sand, but I actually boarded the furthest out of anyone and came to a nice stop without falling. Success! We ended the trip with a visit to the cool springs between Bahariya and the deserts, which have been a source of water and life for the region for thousands of years. Since our shoes were completely full of sand at this point, it was the perfect final stop. Our five-hour trip back to Cairo was a little less fun, but we had some great discussions in the group (everything from women's rights in the Middle East to public education in the States). I should probably get used to lengthy bus rides, since they are the easiest, most affordable, and sometimes the only way to get from place to place here. (I'm already spending at least 3 hours on a bus every day to get to and from the AUC campus).
Me sandboarding! It was a lot more thrilling than it looks, haha.
The cool springs at Ain Della.
The little Bedouin house where we had lunch on Saturday (held up by palm tree trunks!).
Speaking of traveling the Middle East, I'll be doing just that over my 13-day spring break at the end of March. Those of my friends whose families aren't coming to visit over the break are almost all touring the nearby states of the Middle East, and of course I can't wait to do the same! My friends Leo, Chelsea, and John and I are going to be visiting Lebanon and Jordan, and ending our break with some decompression time on the European resort-style beaches of Sharm el-Sheikh. We've been planning this for several weeks, and finally bought our plane tickets to Beirut last night! For those of you concerned about my safety, let me assure you that I'm not going to Syria (which is between Lebanon and Jordan; however, the State Department did recently lift the tourism warning on Syria), the Palestinian territories, or the portions of Lebanon that remain under Hezbollah's control. And yes, we'll be careful!
I can't believe how fast my time here is passing. I've only got ten weeks left now. But I'm trying to make the most of it! I didn't travel the weekend before last (it's exhausting and a little costly to go somewhere every weekend), but I did visit the City Stars mall in the Heliopolis section of Cairo. This is seriously the biggest mall I've ever seen (granted, I've never been to the Mall of America, but still!). Someone could get lost in it so easily, and its eight-plus floors of shopping and food just go up and up and never seem to end. There are grocery stores, a movie theater, and (most importantly) a huge H&M, and it's all as clean and sparkling as anything you'd find in the West. I'm actually going back there tonight, for two reasons: it holds one of the main movie theaters in Cairo, and I want to see Alice in Wonderland; and the restaurants there are the only ones in the whole city (as far as I know) that serve fountain diet soda with free refills. Those of you who know me or have been reading this blog can guess how excited I am about this. Maybe it won't be so easy to quit Diet Coke after all.
Chelsea, John and I at City Stars! This is not even close to capturing how huge it is.
Outside of that, I've been having a great time with my friends, and getting closer to new people every day. This experience has shown me how important it is to be outgoing and friendly; even people who might not seem like they want to meet anyone new usually do, and someone who initially seems standoffish could be your new best friend. I know that sounds cheesy, but in a study abroad environment, especially when you arrive as the only person from your school and state (as I did), it pays to just put yourself out there, even when it seems like it might be weird. As my friend Sarah Hudson says (and she's right!), "It's only awkward if you make it awkward." There's not nearly enough Southern hospitality here, so I always try to bring more than my fair share to the table.
Class and school are kind of rough, not because the material is necessarily difficult, but because I have to wake up at 6 am, and there's always a good deal of homework (plus that awesome 1-2 hour bus ride). But I'm finding time to volunteer: yesterday, I taught my first English class at the Better World Foundation! It was an amazing experience and I can't wait for next week. I was a little afraid that I would ruin these poor students' education forever, but it was so much easier and more fun than I expected. I have about fifteen students, most of whom are twenty-somethings studying commerce at one of Cairo's largest universities (the largest, aptly named Cairo University, has 200,000 students. Yes, you read that right). They're pretty advanced English speakers, so most of our drills have to do with helping them practice and fixing small pronunciation or grammar issues. They seem to like me and Chelsea (my co-teacher!) so far, and we like them too. They were really encouraging of our somewhat shaky teaching skills.
Beautiful view from Chelsea's balcony! I live right next door and have no balcony :( As we say here, oh well, TIE (this is Egypt)!
This is super-long (I really need to post shorter entries more frequently-- sorry!). But I hope y'all are enjoying reading! I wish I was already on spring break like my friends at South Carolina, but I know the next two weeks will just fly by. The thing I'm actually looking forward to the most right now is that 50 CENT will be coming to Cairo next week! I can't wait! Cross your fingers that I can get a ticket :)
