The night is winding down and it is around 8:00 p.m. here, 1:04 p.m. in Michigan. As mentioned in previous entries, today I went to the Cairo Museum. It actually wasn't too bad today, it was a little crowded in certain areas, but for the most part since I was just with one other person it was pretty easy to get through. They had a lot of tour groups going on though, all speaking different languages which was a little bit of a distraction, but everything was just so eye catching and unbelievable that the tourists and their guides easily faded into the background.
I have had my fair share of museum browsing experiences but I wouldn't even know where to start describing everything I saw today. The museum is just loaded with so much stuff, had most of these Egyptian tombs and areas not been looted from I don't know what they would do with it all...not that I encourage looting for the sake of cataloging convenience by any means. The museum is divided into Old, Middle, and New Kingdom stuff, as well as a huge exhibit on King Tut. Everything is so extravagant. I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the museum, and even if I could have, I assure you photo's would never do the collections justice. There were statues, stelae, chariots, beds, royal mummies, sickle blades, projectiles, dice, mummified animals, jewelry...the museum is 2 stories and is fairly large. It really needs to be renovated and more extensive measures to preserve the artifacts really need to be implemented, but I am grateful that I was able to see everything now. Some of my favorite things were the Mummy portraits from the Fayum, wooden models which depicted everyday work life in fishing, bread making, animal slaughtering, beer making, and granary movement from the Middle Kingdom. Also, the exhibit on Ahkenaten was something I particularly enjoyed. The exhibit on King Tut was "brilliant" haha for lack of a better American idiom...again extravagance to an unbelieveable degree. The exhibit on King Tut, for those that do not know, is of particular significance because it was buried under another Pharoah's tomb and therefore was not looted. In other words, it is one of the most complete collection for an Egyptian King that we have, though it is not indicative of him being more powerful than other dynastic rulers.
I was rather surprised at how much I really enjoyed looking at the jewlery throughout the museum. I myself have never been a girl in high demand for lavish things...I wear one necklace from time to time, though I think here I've worn it every day, and even then it is a simple one that I made. I also wear my class ring which I have had now for about 7 years, the only ring I have really ever worn, simple, with an aquamarine center (yay march!) . I own one pair of earrings which I'm pretty sure cost no more than 4 dollars, and actually broke in my back pack on my trip here, go figure. Tiffanys is a place to have breakfast, and diamonds are a fun suit to order up in Euchre...a slight window into my regard and appreciation for jewelry...but maybe if I were alive during dynastic Egypt my feelings would have been different. The craftsmanshift, the colors, its all gorgeous. I say we bring back the days of Cleopatra! In fact, if I ever get married or engaged, forget diamonds, I think lapis lazuli or turquois are beautiful. What can i say...I'm a cheap date. Also the faience beads and necklaces were gorgeous...but maybe I was just some sort of Egyptian queen in a past life....perhaps Hatshepsut, the woman Pharaoh herself! One can daydream..
After my trip in the museum, Richard and I went to eat at the Nile Hilton...it was definitely a nice break from the dirt-under-my-fingernails lunches that interrupt my work days here at the Villa. We didn't have Egyptian cuisine though, it was an Italian restaurant. I had risotto for the first time, and I loved it...you know I tell you what, rice is really starting to grow on me..and not because I work near our ethnobotany collection in the lab...but the actual taste for it has (even I have to admit that was terrible...I'm sure none of you even questioned for a second what I meant by "rice is starting to grow on me"). Anyways, moving on...I am always one to admit when I'm wrong- even if I really really despise doing so, and I have always maintained that rice is incredibly unnecessary, that is has zero flavor and just doesn't belong on my plate...but recently I have ventured out in to taste testing the different varieties of rice available here and some of them are, in fact, loaded with flavor. True to my health nut nature though, I am partial to the whole grain and borwn, and still say that white rice is pretty unnecessary- except the sweetend sticky kind surrounding sushi. I really miss sushi...not really something I trust to dine on here.
I am already thinking about of list of things I would like immediately available for me when I get back to the states (Marcia get your pen ready!) They include:
Tuna Salad
Peanut Butter M&Ms
A Big Cup of Coffee (their cups here are so little! Curse you American Portion Distortion!)
Tropical Twist Trident Gum
Kirk- though I know this will be harder to get since he is working hard at Cedar Point
Thanks in advance!
I'm sure there will be more things I will come to miss by the end of my stay, but those are it for now.
My phone started doing an "Inactivated Smart Chip" thing today, which I fixed by just turning it on and off today, but when it was in that mode I was unable to receive text messages...but once I fixed it I got ones I had missed all day so I don't think I missed any...so if it seems like I don't respond to your text message, chances are I didn't get them, I will always respond to them. Also, in the case of emergency, my cell phone does work here...but international rates are really expensive, so unless I really think it will be an emergency I probably wont pick up. E-mail is always good and still welcome (I still owe you a reply Michele! I didn't forget).
The rest of my day today was pretty laid back...I finally was able to just relax,..I took a 2 hour nap and it was very comforting..though I'm unsure of what that will do for my sleeping schedule now. Thursday Night I was up until midnight, which is indicative of a few things, one that I am finally getting comfortable enough here, and social enough with the people around me that I don't prefer sleeping as opposed to being awake, and two, I am out of melatonin. Funny story, not to be fully elaborated on here, but maybe to some of you a bit closer to me, particular atypical things led me to some googling where I wound up stumbling across some effects of melatonin that I had no idea about. they aren't negative ones or anything, just perplexing ones...well, hopefully they are actually attributed to the melatonin, otherwise they are still perplexing until further notice.
Another loooonnng day of el worko tomorrow, so I'm off for now. Good night everyone, and warm thoughts to those who may need it in these days.
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