Saqqara

This morning a small group of us got up to go to Saqqara to see the step pyramid and to Dahshur to see the red pyramid and the bent pyramid. In the afternoon I worked on getting all of my papers done, and then Katie and I went to the Khan to go shopping. it was crazy and really fun. I met my future husband (or so HE thought) at the shop where Katie was buying perfume bottles, the guys in the scarf shop showed us how to wrap a hiqjab, and we did some cutthroat haggling. Katie also bought some gag gifts like these great bedazzled pharaonic tunics. We were there for about 5 hours. Then we stayed up late finishing our papers and packing for Syria!!

1. Saqqara: The pyramids were really amazing because they're so old, but it was sad to see some of the reconstruction that's been going on. If they keep it up, eventually little to none of the original pyramid will be left, which really defeats the purpose of visiting them. It's unfortunate that they're crumbling, but I'd rather let them go than try to keep them artificially. I think that each generation will have plenty of history to see, and I'm sure that documentation will survive to show how great the pyramids (and other monuments) once were.

2. Going into a pyramid. We actually got to go into the red pyramid at Dahshur, which I was really excited about. We had to descend down this cramped little passage (as you can see in the video). It smelled awful and the rooms and passages were pretty small. I guess you have to remember that the only real purpose of a pyramid is to house a mummy, so it's not a bunch of chambers and passages like the movies make it seem. I still thought it was really amazing though.

3. Lines & Gimmicks: Today at the Khan I was looking at some turquoise necklaces, but they were trying to sell them to me at exorbitant prices. They would weigh the necklaces on their little pocket-scales and tell me that the turquoise was sold by weight, but then they would let me haggle. Some of them were clearly made out of plastic too. There was one guy to whom I insisted that the turquoise wasn't real, and he said "Oh, maybe you're right." Needless to say, I did not buy any turquoise. After being at the Khan for a few hours, you start to get really sick of the vendors yelling stupid things at you. One guy yelled at me, "You're breaking my heart!" So I yelled back "YOU'RE breaking MY heart!" Then he said surprisedly, "Really?" and I said "No." It felt like victory.