Day 13

Our day in Cairo started off at the Mohammad Ali Mosque. It was strange to be in the largest Muslim worship center and have to remove my shoes to enter in. Our guide is Muslim and he told us of the five pillars of Islam and all about Muslim life. I thought it was interesting that we had to set our shoes side-to-side so that the soles do not touch the ground. Here are a few pictures.

Later we saw the well that Moses used in Egypt. There is a tradition of sites that the “Holy Family” used when they fled to Egypt, from Moses, to Jacob, to Jesus. It is interesting to find this in a 80% Muslim community. Christians in this area are mostly orthodox and they are called Coptic. We visited a Coptic church and a Coptic Synagogue, neither were we allowed to take photos of.

We have seen so many giant statues that are between 4000 – 5000 years old. Many are of different pharaohs that rules Egypt over the centuries. Here a a couple of photos.

Farming is a main job in Egypt, other than tourism. They farm alfalfa. Here is a picture that is common all around Egypt…the donkeys carrying the alfalfa through the streets.

The food is different here. They do a lot of grilling, they call it barbeque. They also serve hummus at every meal, a mix of chickpeas and spices that you dip the hot homemade pita bread in.

Here is a photo of Jenny and I at the step pyramids

We also went to a carpet school to see how they make their carpets. Boys and girls start at about age 10 and learn a trade they can support their families on. Many of the carpets take up to 4 months to complete. Every knot is done by hand…truly amazing.

We rode the overnight train to Luxor and it was an experience I never want to repeat. It was like a coffin and the food was tough to swallow. But we made it. Tomorrow we will see this 2nd capitol of Egypt and a poorer community than Cairo.