Postcard Puzzle

Friday night on my way to MV to see Casey & Kaylynn's new purchase! (land....so envious) I called my Mom to chat and she said that on my way through to stop by and see what Caleb, my brother, got in the mail today.  I just thought it was something from a college or something like that...boy was I mistaken.  So when I walked in my Mom through a little yellow envelope down in front of me and it was addressed to my brother but the return address was from an APO which is a military post. 

I asked Mom who it was from because I didn't think Caleb new anyone else at an APO, other than me when I was overseas.  She said just open it so it did.  I pulled out two pieces of cardboard and this was the message. "Found this in a geocache and thought you'd need this.  Tell your brother he's cheap!! :) Al Burke Cairo, Egypt"

Then I removed the top cardboard piece and was dumbfounded as to what I found inside!

 

 

A post card!  And I recognized it immediately it was a post card that I had bought...I turned it over and on the back of the post card was this. "I was going to send this to my brother but never made it to the post. Ha Ha Ha :)"

 Ok so now I'm really confused!  The writing is mine and I couldn't remember why I would have written this on the post card.  I obviously had never made it to the post office or I would have written something else and there's no postage.  I figured I had maybe left it at my hotel or something and some nice person found it and sent it to my bro.

I racked my brain with my Mom and couldn't come up with anything.  She said it was a mystery.  We laughed and I had to be on my way before it got completely dark so I headed out. 

I drove and still thought about what I had done but couldn't come up with anything.  I thought that if I didn't come up with the answer soon I was going to have to write back to the sender and find out more of the story because this was bugging me...WHY WOULD I WRITE THAT? 

 

I got to Kaylynn's and was telling them the story and showing them the pictures I had taken of the thing with my phone and Autumn couldn't make out a word. I said that the word was geocache but I didn't know what that meant.  Kaylynn shed some light on this and told us it was like a treasure and that they have like GPS geocaches where its like a treasure hunt and they go around digging things up and stuff.  This struck a memory and it all made sense!

 

While I visited Egypt I went to the Valley of the Whales and while hiking the park I went to the top of this really tall sand mountain thing and found a box half buried in the ground.  I opened it up and there were other people's items in it...it's like a time capsule or in this guys vocabulary a geocache!  I had a postcard in my bag that I had intended on mailing to my brother but never did so I wrote on the back and put it in the box, locked the lid, and continued on my marry way totally forgetting about what I'd done.

at the Valley of the Whales January 2011

 

Apparently Al Burke found the box and saw my postcard and mailed it to my brother assuming that I, was Caleb's brother and was too cheap to mail it myself. LOL  I think its awesome and an amazing story and what an adventure has this little postcard had. I hope my Mom keeps this little package in a safe spot because its really neat and I would really love for Caleb to keep it.

 

I think I might pen Al Burke a letter and send it off just because you never know.....stuff like this never happens to me... I mean really what are the odds.

 

NOW THAT'S A GOOD STORY! LOL I still can't believe it.

Tid Bits from Egypt

Egypt was truly amazing and nothing like I have ever experienced.  I came away from there truly appreciative for all my own blessings and also appreciative for the Egyptian people and their outlook on life.

Here are a few pictures that didn't really fit into any post but gives you more of an idea of how it is.

This is the normal transportation in Egypt.  There are a few newer cars scattered around here and there but mainly they are really really old.  Our EPA would have a field day there I tell you.

Not only are there old cars but old fashion types of living mixed right in with the new.

Even in the third world you can still find beauty and the people are even happier than the ones who live in mansions.

Apparently with my blonde hair, fair skin, and blue eyes the people found me to be some sort of celebrity.  These girls passed me then called out to Mustafa in Arabic and asked him if he would ask me to take a pic with them. LOL

They still use REAL keys for everything!

Dogs are considered filthy animals and the people don't touch them but cats on the other hand are ok.  SO there are cats EVERY WHERE in Egypt.  Mostly wild but still hang out around the streets, in front of shops and cafes, and pretty much anywhere else too.

Egypt Day 6

Sunday January 16, 2011

 I loved sightseeing around Alexandria.  I had a bunch of little sites throughout the day and then a drive back to Cairo.   First I went to see the some catacombs and you weren’t allowed to take your camera underground for pictures but it was very interesting.  I can’t believe that cultures used these mass underground graves for their dead like a big underground cemetery. My 21^st century brain immediately thinks “what about all that decomp soaking into the ground”!  They never thought of that until everyone started getting sick. LOL I not only saw the little cuts in the walls were the bodies were laid but there were still some skeletons there to see NOT TOUCH!

 After the catacombs we visited the ruins of what is called the Pompeii Pillar.  I can’t remember a lot of the details of this historical site but I do remember that it had to do with Cleopatra and I’m pretty sure that one of the men that were in love with her had this built in her honor.  But don’t take that to the bank because I’m not sure.  Speaking of Cleopatra I did learn that she wasn’t as pretty as she is made out to be and apparently most people don’t like here.  According to Mustafa, who knows his history, she was queen b**ch and very manipulative and pretty much destroyed everything she came into contact with from men to cities. 

Next we went down town to see the remains of the Roman theatre.  Alexandria played a big part in Roman history and their influence is all over and it is very surprising seeing that mixed in with the Middle Eastern culture. 

 

I also got to see another citadel or castle.  This one was more of what I would imagine or relate to the movies.  It was crazy thinking how you would stay warm, though because everything was concrete and there were huge open spaces.  I wouldn’t want to be on the bad list. LOL 

The afternoon call of prayer was put over the speakers like in every city that I had been too so far and my driver asked if I minded if we made a quick stop at a nearby mosque so he could pray.  I of course said that was fine because Mustafa had already explained to me so of the religion and told me how my driver was very religious.  When a Muslim misses one call to prayer that they must make it up later that day so my driver had been making up a day’s worth of prayer all at night when he got home or to the hotel.  I was glad for him to stop and go pray because first I got some great pictures of the architecture and I also got to talk more about their religion, which has a lot of the same foundations as Christianity.  While I was waiting a man who gives out copies of the Quran gave me a version that had been translated into English for me to read.  I was/am excited about this because it is always nice to remain open minded about other’s lives and also just to learn about something so different. 

The original Alexandria Library was destroyed by fire years and years ago which is so sad because I have heard so much about it and it was so old so it would have been really something awesome to see.  Besides just the library its self the scrolls and books that it contained would have been awesome to see.  We are talking back from the Roman days!  Anyways it was gone but they have a wonderful new modern museum which is equally cool.  The design of the library was so neat and was designed with all the readers and studiers in mind.  I would love to not just tour it but actually be a lucky student or patron that got to use the library.

When I left the library a smarter woman it was lunch time.  Instead of sitting in another restaurant we got take out from Pizza Hut and went to eat on the beach.  It wasn’t really bathing suit weather seeing it was January, clouding, and quit cool but this was my first trip to the Mediterranean and I was determined to make the most of it given the circumstances since I have no idea when I would be back.  The pizza was a nice change from the Egyptian food that I had been eating the past week and the water was FREEZING.  I would have loved to submerse myself but ankle deep was all that I was doing.  LOL I was so excited to say that I touched the Mediterranean Sea.

That afternoon I sadly had to leave Alexandria and make the trek back to Cairo and get everything together since I was flying out the next morning.  I enjoyed my stay in Egypt so much but I can’t say that I was glad to go.  The pollution and filth was weighing on me and I still was battling some sort of badass cold.  I was ready to get back to Dubai which compared to other places that I had been the past 3 years felt familiar, like home.  J 

Egypt Day 5

Saturday January 15, 2011

A good part of day five was spend making the drive to Alexandria.  Now the parts of Egypt that I have seen are just dessert and city.  The cities are built near the rivers because there isn’t enough rain to sustain life out in the middle of no where.  Alexandria is at the top of the country it is a Mediterranean coast city.  It is so beautiful and a neat place.  I wish I would have had more time there to explore and relax but my schedule didn’t allow it.  On the way up to Alexandria we stopped to visit a World War II museum and it was neat.  They had machines and uniforms that were wore during the war on display but overall it was a nice leg stretcher and a break in the dessert drive.

We also stopped at the Common Wealth Cemetery and for a cemetery it was really pretty.  That sounds weird to say but it was.  The cemetery is in a town called Marina which is on the North coast of Egypt overlooking the Mediterranean before you get to Alexandria. 

When we got into Alexandria before checking into the hotel we ate a really neat seafood restaurant and it was the best fish I had ever ate.  It was stuffed with something and man there was so much good food that I couldn’t even begin to eat it all and I left way to full. 

After getting my belly full I was dropped off to check into a historic hotel right on the ocean wall called the Windsor Palace.  It was for real old and even had one of those cable elevators that you could see all the moving parts and the door was pretty fabricated metal.  I got settled into my room and met Mustafa down for a walk along the sea wall.  It was so pretty and so many people were out.  The only thing that I remember being a hassle was the dang wind coming off the Med.  We walked all the way to the end of the strip and got some AWESOME ice cream.  As we walked back we had a very cultural talk and then I headed to bed.    

the is the elevator

Egypt Day 4

Friday January 14, 2011

Friday was an eventful day but by my travel itinerary it should have been a slow day with an afternoon of free time and rest before my next few days of travel.  Mid morning on Friday after checking out of my hotel I visited a local village that was so empty in Tayoum.  This little village is known for its natural spring and the water that it supplies but they little canals and waterways were so polluted with trash it wasn’t much of a site.  We did run into a local man who lives in the village and he invited us in to see how him and his family live.  It was so neat, this family lives purely off their own little 5 acres of land, and 5 acres is really an exaggeration it’s probably more like 2 but I’m not sure.  It is small.  They have a cow and a chicken coop for their milk and meat then they have fruit trees and a small garden for all other things.  The man and his family farm this small plot of land all by hand and it sustains them!!  Amazing that people still live like this and so pure to me they don’t know the hassle of cell phones and technology I was very impressed by them.  After walking around and listening to the farmer’s tales of living off the land he invited us to sit under this pavilion and drink tea.  It was really nice and his kids were so cute.  The little girl was so shy and it took her almost the whole visit to warm up to me. 

After the visit with the farmer we headed to see yet another pyramid, the Maygum pyramid, named after the area it was built in.  This pyramid was built tower style.

By mid-afternoon we were done with our scheduled activities and then I was off to roam.  The night before Mustafa had invited me to an Egyptian wedding in his hometown of Memphis, right outside Cairo.  I happily accepted and was very excited to see even more of the Egyptian culture.  Since I only brought jeans and sweaters and traveling clothes I didn’t have anything appropriate for a WEDDING!  Have no fear my stylist Mustafa was there to save the day.  We went into, what they call, they new part of town to find a dress and to have a late lunch.  A traditional Egyptian dish that is cheap to make and a favorite is a dish called kushari.  Mustafa new of the best place to get this and took me.  It was so good and at the end there was tapioca.  Apparently that is another Egyptian favorite and Mustafa was so surprised that I actually knew what it was and liked it. LOL My mom had been fixing tapioca for us for years and most people don’t really like it but I love it.  I was SO EXCITED that I got something familiar. LOL After eating we headed out to shop and OMG!! Egyptian style is NOT up-to-date and isn’t really my thing but Mustafa lives there and knows what’s appropriate so I let him pick something out for me.  I think I gave the dress and things to Goodwill as soon as I got home and unpacked but apparently I fit in because everyone was complimenting me later in the night. LOL J I went back to the hotel to get ready and take a short nap before Mustafa picked me up to head to Memphis.  Little did I know I was in a huge learning experience!

Cairo Tower

Downtown Cairo

Memphis

Memphis isn’t much different from Cairo in looks but its just way smaller.  The trash, dirt roads and lack of modern amenities is the same.  We arrived safely and went to Mustafa’s house so he could get ready for the wedding.  As he was getting ready I was introduces and visited with his family and of course drank more tea.  Tea is an all day event in Egypt and by the time I left I had gotten use to it.  I also unknowingly witnessed another family there asking Mustafa’s parents for his sister’s hand in marriage.  Later on Mustafa told me what had been happening while I was in the room and also explained why his sister was so upset.  See in Egypt arranged marriage is still normal and this boy’s family wanted Mustafa’s sister as a wife for him.  They had come to arrange the marriage with Mustafa’s parents.  Her father hadn’t made a final decision yet but it was looking like she would be set to marry this boy whom she knows only from around town but really doesn’t even like.  See she has a boy that she likes and in America would be a boyfriend but seeing she isn’t allowed to date it isn’t that.  The problem with this is that Mustafa’s parent’s don’t approve of this boy because he isn’t going to college and only works as a mechanic and they don’t think he could provide for their daughter and their future family.  So she is forbidden to even talk to him and for sure not see him but Mustafa and their brother help the sister talk to the forbidden lover.  I felt so bad for her when I heard this and even though I love learning about other’s cultures and being open minded I knew right then I wouldn’t ever make it there with such conservative and old fashion methods.  Anyways after Mustafa dressed we said goodbye and he took me to a “salon” to get my hair and makeup did.  Ya’ll I walked out of there looking like I came out of 1989 and not in a good way.  Plus I looked to be about 14 since I had just cut my bangs.  I walked out of there looking like a low rent hooker only in a more conservative dress LOL.  I had a head full of curls and blue eye shadow on.  YES you read that right. 

At the salon...wait til you see the finished product I looked hideous!!!

There are no words....all I have to say is that I am way too nice to change anything about my appearance so I just go with it. LOL

We met up with a load of Mustafa’s friends and headed out to the wedding which to get there we had to take a fairy ride.  The wedding was ok but seeing I don’t speak Arabic and didn’t know a soul it got old quick.  It was fun to see the wedding and how they are similar to ours but this was also a Christian wedding and so the only differences where the cultural traditions. 

The lovely bride and groom.  I didn't know them and they didn't know me. LOL

It was an experience to say the least and I am sure my mom about had a heart attack when I told her where I had gone and most of you think I’m too trusting and all that but I experience the culture in a whole new way.  In Egypt I was an official traveler and not tourist because most things about this trip were not tourist activities.