So Long, Farewell...

Engraving Depiction of the Sun god: Ra

Hey guys!  Karl here to post my thoughts and impressions of my experience in Egypt for the past week.  I will say this right now, it's a great place to visit, but I would recommend everyone to wait until Egypt has a more, stable government.  Despite the coup d'etat and the cut on military aid, Egypt is a vibrant country to be in.  I knew for a long time that the U.S. had made many mistakes here and there, but their action here did make me change my view of the United States.  The U.S. seemed to be displeased all because democracy was taken down.  I understand that they have a fear of different forms of government, but they need to loosen up their views on foreign countries.  Before I went to Egypt, all I heard on the news about Egypt was just negativity and violence.  But after visiting the place for just a week, the social media in the U.S. definitely forgot to mention the positive aspects of Egypt.  In fact, I would consider this experience to be very similar to how Rick Steves first visited Iran.  With a vast history that challenges the minds of historians to the present day culture of Egypt, Egypt is a worthwhile place to be in.

Note: Unfortunately though, I didn't find any references to the Egyptian God Cards from the anime TV show: Yu-Gi-Oh!  But I did find multiple of carvings of Ra in ancient stone tablets, just saying...

Yu-Gi-Oh! Card of the Sun god: Ra

The 2nd World of Egypt

Various of Spices in the Market

          Hey guys!  Karl here to update on my one week trip in Egypt!  In my previous post, I may have been a downer, but that doesn't mean that the experience is all in the void.  Anyways today, I went to the shopping market.  For the past few days, I stayed at the hotel for the majority of the time.  Today however, I decided to vary out my experience by going shopping.  I went to Khan AL-Khalili, a shopping market in Cairo.  Just like back in the U.S., the mall's sound was very noisy and the mall's primary goods were clothes and jewelry.  However, these products were way to pricy for my taste, so I pretty much decided to window-shop for today.  The clothes were softer than what I had previously speculated and the perfume had a strong fragrance to it. From what I experienced, from a past vacationing trip with my parents, the key to shopping in these kinds of countries is bargaining.  I'm not a good bargainer or even a good haggler, but I am a keen observer.

Egyptian Clothing

Egyptian Perfume

          Not only were there brass instruments, clothes, and jewelry, but there was also food.  As I walked through the market, I noticed that there was a lot of spices for sale.  I decided to try a sample of Egypt's special curry.  I made a bad decision because I'm not very fond of spicy food.  I don't really know what I was thinking then, but I will say that it had a very strong scent to it.  At the end of the day, I will say that Egypt's market is just as lively as the U.S.' supermarket malls.  I was genuinely surprised that the market was not a shabby area as I thought it would be.  I guess that's what happens when stereotypes block one's paradigm of reality.

Note: When I saw the perfume,  it reminded me of the Nintendo Wii game: Wii Party.  One of the games required the players to navigate around the world in search for souvenirs.  One of them is Egypt's perfume.  This is just something i wanted to rub off my back, but I digress.

A Wonderful, Awful Idea...

          Hey guys!  Karl here, giving you an overall summary of my days in Egypt.  Today, I decided to play it safe and stay indoors for the majority of the day.  I didn't want to put myself in potential danger, so I decided to research Egypt's currently overthrown government and what the United States had done in response.  I recalled back in my International Studies class, back in Mercer Island High School, that Ms. Kattar gave us definitions of words.  I believe the word "coup d'etat" was one of them.  A coup d'etat means: a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government.  This can also come from the army itself.  To my surprise, I found out that the U.S. did not consider the overthrow of the Egyptian government an act of a coup d'etat.  In fact, the U.S. government supported the previous government because not only was it a democratic country, it was also an ally to the United States. As a result, the U.S. decided to cut their military aid to Egypt.

Egyptians that are for the Coup

          In my opinion, the U.S.' decision to cut military aid to Egypt might have been a bad idea.  I say this because this could potentially end a peaceful relationship between Egypt and the U.S.  Although I'm just speculating at this point, it is worth considering of what the new leader of Egypt would do.  U.S. president, Barack Obama, said, "I don’t think we would consider them an ally, but we don’t consider them an enemy."

Egyptians that are against the Coup

           Because of this news, I was baffled on what the future may hold for Egypt.  For now, I can only base my opinions from the news articles I read.  Due to the military aid cut, Egypt may have a hard time defending itself from terrorist attacks from other Middle Eastern countries.  For now, the civilians of Egypt can only await the unknown future.
 

Arriving to 'Sandopolis'

       Hey guys!  I finally made it to Cairo, Egypt!  The plane ticket was at a costly $1081, but it may be worth it to discover what life in Egypt is like and what its ancient culture was.  Today, I decided to take a tour around the museum in Egypt and view its famous monuments.  The pharaoh's artifacts are absolutely beautiful to the point where they seem to withstand the flow of time itself.  As I ventured through the museum, I read Egypt's old religious history.  In Crash Course World History on Youtube, they talk about how Egypt's religion can be a bit schizophrenic.  For instance, Egypt's religion contained over 2000 gods!

An Egyptian Artifact on Display at a Museum

The pyramids of Egypt was simply breathtaking and a huge wonder.  It does make me question the architecture of these monstrous structures.  Also, I recently learned, thanks to Crash Course World History, that the pyramids are one of the last standing pieces of architecture built by an ancient civilization. The real deal of info was Egypt's geography on Earth.  Although it may seem like the country is hard to settle in, the Nile river helped the Egyptians prosper in ancient times.  It astonishes me that one river can easily make the harsh environment of North Africa habitable.  This helped agriculture flourish throughout Egypt, which is essential if a nation wants to exist.
           At the end of the day, I arrived at my hotel room.  I was exhausted, but amazed from what I saw today.

Touring Around the Pyramids

I'm excited, but also concerned.  In one week, I'm going to visit Cairo, Egypt.  Ever since I watched the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! back as a child, which was based on Egypt's ancient culture, I was interested. 

The Sphinx, one of the famous landmarks in Egypt

Though now, I'm concerned on what had happened to Egypt's government.  Fortunately though, I was one of the few people who is allowed to travel there.  All I know so far is that Egypt's government is now a "streetocracy" and it is part of M.E.N.A. (Middle East, North Africa).  For now, I need to pack up and get ready for the following week.

Egypt is part of M.E.N.A.