The Inside Photos

I managed to screenshot these from the video I bought. Is this breaking the copyright law? (It was a long video). Anyway...on with the history lesson. Don't forget to click on a photo to get a better view of it. Some of the detail is incredible.

The museum was built around this gigantic limestone statue of Akhenaten’s parents and believed to be grandparents of Tutankhamun. Forgot their names.

Chephren, builder of the second Pyramid and Sphinx at Giza. Found in a hole in the Temple at the foot of the Sphinx.

 

The Meidum Geese is a water colour wall painting from 2500 bc.

 

 Rahotep and Nofret. From the old Kingdom, 5000 years ago. Chephren’s younger brother and his wife. Made of limestone & original colour.

                                  


Akhenaten worshipped only one God. Believed to be Tutankhamun’s father. Nefertiti’s husband.

 Queen Hatshepsut , the first female Pharaoh. She ruled for 23 years

The Golden Mask weighs 11 kg. Amazing  to look at!

                                        

One of the 3 Sarcophaguses. This was the smallest of the 3 and the one the mummy was in.

Canopic jars that stored his organs

Liver, Lungs, Stomach and Intestines were first stored in these then inserted into the Canopic jars. (above)

The largest Shrine of 3 the Canopic Jars were placed in.

His mobile camping bed with the 4 hinges made of metal.

 

3 of the 4 Shrines the Sarcogaphuses were placed in, just like Babushka Dolls. Note the 3^rd one is in top photo at the back, and there is one bigger again.

 

Didn't add any mummy photos as they are a bit gruesome...

 

Day At The Museum

Well it was really a half day but trying to do a full day would have been very, very tiring. The museum was outstanding, everything I thought it would be and more. You can't really compare it to Auckland Museum or Smithsonian or the British Museum because this museum is only about Egyptian history dating back from 5,000 to 3,000 years ago. There was so much to see and learn! We are so pleased to have Memo as our guide, he also showed us the pyramids, as he is so knowledgeable and answers all our questions even when they relate to something he has already told us (can't remember everything!) He showed us the main pieces from the different dynasties which helped us understand the story of Egypt and its pharaohs even more. The idea of placing the pharaoh's mummy inside a gold painted wooden sarcophagus, inside another and then a third gold painted sarcophagus is incredible but when you see the enormity of the 3 or 4 large wooden shrines that the sarcophaguses then fit into like Babushka dolls you have to be in awe of the craftsmen of the time and the engineering genius of these people. We saw Tutankhamun's bed he used when camping in the desert. It had 4 metal hinges, yes hinges, so it could fold into thirds and be transported. 5,000 years ago they used glass in the eyes of their statues and there are painted limestone figures that have maintained their colour - just incredible.
Cameras were not allowed inside the museum so unfortunately all my photos are of the outside. The Ritz was burnt down during the revolution to oust Mubarak and is now being rebuilt across the road. I wonder if they will eventually knock down the old one. There are still burnt out cars parked in the car park.
As I've mentioned before there are tanks everywhere in Cairo. It was quite funny to see more than 20 on the roadside outside the museum though. Hate to see them try and leave in a hurry as the road could only fit 2 across.
I will try and upload photos of the inside of the museum if I can find some on a CD we bought in the meantime you will have to make do with mine.... and no there are no photos of Iti. I forgot to take him so he's sitting sulking on the shelf. Next time when we do Islamic Cairo and the Citadel.

                                          
 

 
                      

 

Day Out at Zamalek

If you google map Zamalek you will see it is an island in the middle of the Nile, about 45 minutes north of Maadi. We had a great day out with Tim and Laurie, a couple of teachers from school, who showed us around the area. The island has quite a few embassies on it (note the Irish Embassy signage for Orla) and has some amazing architecture and a lot of history to it. The photos are as follows:

First stop Sufi's Bookstore for a browse, coffee & cheesecake.

 The Irish Embassy's very shiny plaque outside their big white wall.

 My romantic husband bought me a rose from a vendor on the street. Smelt amazing! First roses we've seen here...

... and just along the road look what he found. He was like a kid in a toy shop.

 The price of the new Fat Bob is cheaper than NZ with no on road costs and no insurance. I still wouldn't buy it for him. 

 

 After a few hours wandering around we decided to stop for a beer at the Marriot Hotel. These 2 photos were taken in the Royal Lounge. We got lost looking for the bar :-)

The lounge was twice the size of this photo filled with ornate furnishings fit for a queen. You can see the huge chandelier, reflected in the mirror, that I was standing below.

Finally found Harry's Bar and had our beers along with a mezze before catching the cab home.

Our First Protest March

Our usual Friday afternoon siesta was rudely interrupted by a very large group of protestors chanting and singing and beeping truck horns. I have to say their exuberance puts the NZEI Union marches to shame. These people were peaceful but passionate and there would have only been a couple of thousand which is pretty small compared to the marches and sit ins in the central city.
It was a little off putting though when the crowd stopped and started looking up at our building. Someone above us was chanting with them on a megaphone and when he eventually appeared on the street they picked him up and carried him down the street with them. Amazing scene to watch from behind our windows... and a really good reason for us to stay at home on Friday after prayers.
The photos are a little blurry but that's because the windows were closed.

It's now been 10 minutes since they passed through and we've just heard the first tooting of cars. There's a few more tags on the walls of the building across the street and the blue container outside our place otherwise you wouldn't know the protestors were even here. I wonder how many were pro Morsi marchers and how many were pro democracy marchers.

 

For The Dog Lovers

Cairo is known for its stray cats and dogs. The cats are pretty good unless they get into your building and leave a smelly deposit on your doorstep. (Yes it has happened and Tony picked it up). They are everywhere! You can't walk out to the street without passing 2 - 3 lazing in the grass or on the steps at the front of our building :-) Goodness knows where they find their food. I guess they go through he rubbish like the dogs do. And speaking of dogs...

this morning I thought I'd stop and take a photo of this group who were sound asleep ...

on this empty lot, not a worry in the world, with a main road full of cars buzzing past them.

You can see our building on the far side of the empty lot, in the centre. It's a pretty big block of desert sand and is just full of old building debris and rubbish (with the odd dead cat and sleeping dog).

This last photo is the outside of our building with the front door below our sparkly clean lounge window. The tyre shop is on the right and the jeweller is on the left. As you can see everyone has air conditioning and it's not unusual to see wiring hanging down the fronts of buildings.

 

 

Hard Day at the Office

Today, being Tuesday, means we are over halfway through the week. We left school at 2pm, stopped in at Grand Mall for a falafel sandwich and ended up with foul, eggplant & egg. Not sure what happened there ... lost in translation I suppose. Anyway we made it home and plonked ourselves on the sofas and haven't moved since. Tony is now snoozing away, with his tablet on his tummy, spread out on the sofa. I think I might have worked him too hard today :-) It's very easy to just collapse on the sofa in this climate.

The last couple of days have tested my patience with "the Egyptian way". The man from the bank came to sign us up for bank accounts yesterday so our pay can be direct debited at the end of the month. As usual we needed 2 copies of our passports, which no one had because the HR department has had our passports since last week, so we all had to line up at the photocopier and wait while they copied them for us. Tony isn't able to get a joint account with me because he doesn't have a work visa neither do I yet) so I had to fill out the 3 page form which in the end only allows me to have a debit card - no cheque book or Visa because I am not Egyptian. To add to the experience we were then told it would take up to 20 days before the accounts open ... inshallah.
Today we had a full staff meeting at 9:30am which went til 10:15am. The meetings we've had so far have been very short but I'm not going to expect them to stay that way. The rest of the day was spent talking to people about inventories, lining up for blood tests (they check for Aids), lining up to sign off IT equipment that I use in my room, and making resources with Tony. The best part of the day was finally meeting Katie who is the other Grade 3 teacher. I'm sure she's slot straight into
Gladstone really easily. She reminds me of the Americans you have on staff - great attitude!
No lining up tomorrow and no red tape ... hopefully. Am off to get some more passport sized photos just in case.

7 September Update

Oops ... had to be reminded to update my blog by 3 different people ... sorry!

These first 2 photos are of school. I snapped them on the way out at 2pm on Thursday.

The corridor outside my room looking towards the junior library. The desks and chairs are for the "naughty kids". Imagine a corridor of naughty kids :-) 

Leaving school to catch a cab home. Check the rubbish on the sidewalk by the car - there is much, much worse. One day I will build up enough courage to take a photo of further up the street the school is on.

This morning Tony & I took a cab to Shara (Road) 7 which is a market area where we bought cheap vegetables. The place was bustling with stalls everywhere along the sides of the street. The stalls that took me by surprise were the butchers. There were sides of beef and chunks of meat (maybe sheep or goat) hanging out in the open and at other butchers there were wooden cages of live chickens, ducks and rabbits. Next time I go I will take my camera. I am a little wary of taking photos with the locals in them because some expect a baksheesh (tip). Found some great falafels, 5 for 2 pound, much bigger and moister than at home. Deep fried and put in a newsprint cone by the very friendly vendor.

This afternoon we went to dinner at another teacher's place - very nice apartment about 20 minutes walk from here, which overlooks the prison and the city of the dead.

This is the prison where Mubarak was put after he was ousted in 2011. The rows of olive trees are a barrier between the prison and the outside. There is a large brick wall on the other side of the road you can see in the foreground. On the horizon what looks like mountains is actually a granite quarry.

The area of low buildings is called the city of the dead which is an area of tombs that people live on top of. The people that live there look after the tombs which, mostly, belong to their ancestors. It's not a tourist area to visit but apparently there is another one in Cairo which you can go to.

Back to work tomorrow, a day of meetings and finding out where all the missing books from my class inventory are. Next weekend we might head into the museum.