My sightseeing that week included a trip to the Natroun

Summary:       My sightseeing that week included a trip to the Natroun Valley to see a few of the Christian Monasteries and Lake Natroun a salt water lake in the desert Another interesting area was located in Cairo and called the City of the Dead It is an area homeless people have been relocated into a cemetery for a place to live I saw it at night and it was eerie but I was fortunate to have an Egyptian friend drive me through Otherwise I d definitely recommend only visiting during the day Also from the Mena House I walked up the road to the Pyramids and took a camel ride after dickering over the price My camel driver later arranged for a ride to see the light show at the Sphinx from the desert Afterwards we attended a local wedding We watched the celebration the bellydancers and the local Egyptians dancing alike I felt truly immersed in the culture and safe the entire time The Egyptians are a very peaceful people and once they befriend you they watch over you carefully You have more of a chance of getting hit by a car in Cairo then anything bad happening to you The traffic was the most terrifying thing The Egyptians drive as fast as they can as aggressively as they can It s just the way it is but it didn t prevent me from covering my eyes at times The drivers will stop for pedestrians granted they see them This is a good thing because there s hardly a crosswalk to be found in Cairo There are tourist police on nearly every corner as they take their tourism business very seriously There were a few times when I inquired about any existing threat or violence but the Egyptians always gave me the same quizzical response But this is Egypt   There were many instructors to choose from including Dina Asmahan Sorraya Randa Kamel Momo Kadous Amir Thaleb Zaza Hassan Faten Salema Dr Mo Geddawy and Mahmoud Reda again I believe he was the only instructor who taught at both of the festivals There were other instructors from various places around the world including the U S However my intent was to study from the Egyptians and a few others who you simply cannot otherwise get My classes included the Matrooh Group Hagallah Khariya Maazin Ghawazee Sema Yildiz Turkish Raqia Hassan Modern Oriental choreography and Hamada Hossam Nubian choreography I learned something from all of my teachers They were all knowledgeable within their area of expertise The Matrooh Group and Khariya Maazin s classes did not have much structure per se but I knew that ahead of time As a rule the more popular the teacher the more packed the class was with no cap on the number of attendees The teachers had individual CD s for sale too and allowed for photos at the end Some videotaping of the class was allowed but usually not of the instructor During classes and at the hotels I was in workout clothes However when I was elsewhere I dressed conservatively in a galabeya or in a long skirt or loose slacks with a long sleeved tunic The lighter the material was the better in order to keep cool I usually made an attempt to cover my hair with a scarf but I never could get the nice snug wrap that the Muslim women achieved One of my Egyptian friends told me You know you don t have to cover your hair We do have Christians here But the scarf kept the sun off my head and I felt less conspicuous despite my botched wrap job The Egyptians by nature are curious and are always watching other people whether a foreigner or not The people of Cairo are constantly outside on the street walking working or watching life go by Men mostly keep company with other men Women are almost certainly with another woman friend or with their family They are reserved but not unfriendly especially if you make a sincere effort to speak to them The children are playful and often ask for your name However if they begin to follow you or ask for money it s best to you re your bag in front of you and ignore them There is always at least one person around who understands English although learning a little Arabic doesn t hurt Because I often took taxis and not all the drivers knew English I began to learn how to give directions shiMELL left yiMEEN right HIna here and hiNEK there for example       My sightseeing that week included a trip to the Natroun Valley to see a few of the Christian Monasteries and Lake Natroun a salt water lake in the desert Another interesting area was located in Cairo and called the City of the Dead It is an area homeless people have been relocated into a cemetery for a place to live I saw it at night and it was eerie but I was fortunate to have an Egyptian friend drive me through Otherwise I d definitely recommend only visiting during the day Also from the Mena House I walked up the road to the Pyramids and took a camel ride after dickering over the price My camel driver later arranged for a ride to see the light show at the Sphinx from the desert Afterwards we attended a local wedding We watched the celebration the bellydancers and the local Egyptians dancing alike I felt truly immersed in the culture and safe the entire time The Egyptians are a very peaceful people and once they befriend you they watch over you carefully You have more of a chance of getting hit by a car in Cairo then anything bad happening to you The traffic was the most terrifying thing The Egyptians drive as fast as they can as aggressively as they can It s just the way it is but it didn t prevent me from covering my eyes at times The drivers will stop for pedestrians granted they see them This is a good thing because there s hardly a crosswalk to be found in Cairo There are tourist police on nearly every corner as they take their tourism business very seriously There were a few times when I inquired about any existing threat or violence but the Egyptians always gave me the same quizzical response But this is Egypt   There were many instructors to choose from including Dina Asmahan Sorraya Randa Kamel Momo Kadous Amir Thaleb Zaza Hassan Faten Salema Dr Mo Geddawy and Mahmoud Reda again I believe he was the only instructor who taught at both of the festivals There were other instructors from various places around the world including the U S However my intent was to study from the Egyptians and a few others who you simply cannot otherwise get My classes included the Matrooh Group Hagallah Khariya Maazin Ghawazee Sema Yildiz Turkish Raqia Hassan Modern Oriental choreography and Hamada Hossam Nubian choreography I learned something from all of my teachers They were all knowledgeable within their area of expertise The Matrooh Group and Khariya Maazin s classes did not have much structure per se but I knew that ahead of time As a rule the more popular the teacher the more packed the class was with no cap on the number of attendees The teachers had individual CD s for sale too and allowed for photos at the end Some videotaping of the class was allowed but usually not of the instructor During classes and at the hotels I was in workout clothes However when I was elsewhere I dressed conservatively in a galabeya or in a long skirt or loose slacks with a long sleeved tunic The lighter the material was the better in order to keep cool I usually made an attempt to cover my hair with a scarf but I never could get the nice snug wrap that the Muslim women achieved One of my Egyptian friends told me You know you don t have to cover your hair We do have Christians here But the scarf kept the sun off my head and I felt less conspicuous despite my botched wrap job The Egyptians by nature are curious and are always watching other people whether a foreigner or not The people of Cairo are constantly outside on the street walking working or watching life go by Men mostly keep company with other men Women are almost certainly with another woman friend or with their family They are reserved but not unfriendly especially if you make a sincere effort to speak to them The children are playful and often ask for your name However if they begin to follow you or ask for money it s best to you re your bag in front of you and ignore them There is always at least one person around who understands English although learning a little Arabic doesn t hurt Because I often took taxis and not all the drivers knew English I began to learn how to give directions shiMELL left yiMEEN right HIna here and hiNEK there for example

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