did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded?

I think I can safely say that all of the trials and tribulations I've experienced in Egypt are completely validated by the sheer beauty of the night sky in the desert. I know I already gushed about it after I camped in the Sahara, but climbing Mount Sinai this past weekend was both just as amazing and somehow better. We were not only stargazing, but climbing ever higher up an ancient mountain, into those stars. It was pitch-dark, but for a few bobbing flashlights from hikers outside our group; we felt our way along the path, concentrating on putting one foot in front of another, until we emerged out onto a ledge about two hours up the mountain. There it was: the Milky Way. The light pollution is so bad at home (and, of course, in Cairo) that I can't remember if I've ever even seen it naturally in the U.S. But it was unmistakable here, a smoky ribbon of nebula twisting across the sky. Everything on the mountain-- us, the camels, the myriad other hikers all vying to reach the summit before sunrise-- was dark and faceless in the light of the brilliant stars and the waxing moon. Sinai wasn't easy, but it was absolutely worth it.

My traveling companions (three Matts, Zak, Laura, and Ryan) and I weren't in the best shape to be climbing a mountain that night. We had taken an overnight bus to Dahab, a little backpacker-friendly town on the Sinai peninsula in the Red Sea, on Thursday night (this was a quasi-five-day weekend because Sunday, April 25, was Sinai Liberation Day, the anniversary of Israel's return of the Sinai to Egypt in 1982), and had only gotten a few hours of napping in that day before striking out for the mountain. Dahab was too amazing for us to stay asleep all day. Let me say that if Sharm el-Sheikh was exactly what an Egyptian beach town shouldn't be, Dahab is everything it should. It's small enough that we constantly saw all of our other friends from AUC who were visiting, but big enough to have lots of options for dining and having fun. It's all situated directly on the water; you can see Saudi Arabia right across the Sea!

View from the Corniche in Dahab!

So, we spent the day hanging out in the sun and playing with the precious family of kittens who lived at one of our favorite restaurants there. We had fun, but didn't exactly rest or warm up for the three-hour climb to come later. Our convoy left our hotel (Seven Heaven hostel-- it was really nice, considering it was only $8 USD/night, if you're planning a trip to Dahab soon!) around 11 pm, and when we got to the base of Mount Sinai (where St. Catherine monastery is located) at 1 am, it was very, very cold. I was excited to be able to use my Marmot parka again (second time all trip, haha). But not 20 minutes after we started climbing, we all started to shed layers.

Kitten family :)

The first two-thirds of the Sinai climb are relatively easy; the incline is gentle, but problems arise if (like us) you forgo flashlights to try to get an authentic experience of climbing under moonlight. The paths are so loose and rocky that you are liable to fall or trip often if you can't see what you're doing. I advise you to bring a flashlight if you climb it, and a walking stick if you have any joint issues (even feet or ankles). Our guide wasn't too helpful; I hear that many other people's guides weren't either. However, he did alert us when we reached the most difficult part of the climb: you spend the last 30 minutes or so on a very rocky, very dangerous Lord of the Rings-style "stairway" (I use that term loosely, as it was more like a jagged, life-threatening pile of boulders). Thankfully, we couldn't see quite how vicious the "stairs" were, so we hoofed our way up and made it to the summit about 45 minutes before sunrise.

The stairs (from below in the morning, after our descent)

Laura and me at the summit at sunrise!

It was very nice, if a little surreal; the peak was packed, and many of the people were singing Romanian hymns as the sun rose. I felt a little sad because I was too cold and tired (going on 48 hours without legitimate sleep) to really enjoy the sunrise. We rented blankets and mattresses, which were worth the $6 USD or so we each spent, because it was once again freezing cold at the summit. We picked our way back down the stairs of doom in the sunlight, then skidded back down the main, gravelly trail. Within the next few hours, we were on our way back to Dahab to enjoy the rest of our Saturday!

Beautiful views of the surrounding mountains from the Elijah Plateau at the base of the stairs.

My climbing group went back to Cairo on Saturday night, but I decided to get a single at our hostel and stay another night so that I could spend some time with my other friends from AUC who were in Dahab for the weekend. I felt like so far, all I had done was be tired and hike; I expect a little more than that out of a vacation! (Matt from Baylor also said I was a high-maintenance traveler because I brought a neck pillow. No, that's called being pragmatic and ergonomic. And I was sleeping more comfortably on the nine-hour bus rides back and forth to Cairo. So there.) I had an amazing time eating out and just having fun with the other study abroad kids, and I continue to marvel at my ability to stay in hostels by myself and actually be independent. Since the Zamalek dorms are as strict and overprotective as my sorority house was at USC, I'm always surprised by the level of freedom I can have when I just step outside those walls.

I'm back at school for the next week, but I only have six short days until I leave for D.C.! Those will, of course, be filled with presentations (one today, one tomorrow), papers, and quizzes, but that's life at AUC. We joke that every single exam that's not actually a final is considered a midterm. There's also a very strange policy here: namely, if a professor misses class for personal reasons (i.e. sickness or family needs), the students are expected to make it up. One of my professors has been in Europe for the past three weeks, so I'm going to be spending a lot of extra time at school. It will definitely be nice to step out of my routine here for five days or so as I visit America next week!