Sunday, January 3

With just two days left in Cairo, we all started doing our last-minute tasks. Reid wanted to see the AUC campus, and Nancy hadn’t been there yet, so they took off with Andrew & Miriam on a little adventure. Since it’s a secure campus, they weren’t sure anyone but Andrew could get in, but they did it and had a great time. Jacob had no interest in going; he just wanted to wander down to Road 9 for some final souvenir shopping. I would have gone, but Rachel just seemed too out of sorts to want to travel anywhere. I think she could sense a big change coming, and she didn’t really like talking about Grandma going back to America without her.

I had been trying for weeks to prepare her for my departure by talking about going on an airplane to America and telling her about Utah and Grandma’s house. Whenever she told me she wanted to come with me, I would tell her she could come to my house in June and that would satisfy her for a while. So Rachel and I just spent some precious time by ourselves, and we both had a nice late-afternoon nap.

After we all ran some errands (including a visit to the House’s to use their clothes dryer) and another shopping trip to Seoudi’s, we sent Andrew to our favorite Egyptian Mexican restaurant, La Sombra, to pick up dinner.

Rachel had a particularly rough evening; I don’t think she liked seeing everyone starting to gather belongings and pack suitcases. Reid and Jacob each brought a suitcase full of food and Christmas presents to Cairo, so now we had two empty suitcases for Andrew & Nancy to pack with their stuff to send back with us (in anticipation of returning to the U.S. in June). Poor Rachel didn’t like the fact that Grandma was leaving without her, and she was just antsy about everything. Bedtime was difficult, but she did ask me to “sing at her” again. I crawled into her mosquito net so I could lay by her side and proceeded to sing our favorite Primary songs. The more I tried to sing, the more the tears flowed. It’s a good thing it was dark, because I didn’t want to upset Rachel, so I just whispered the songs and kept crying. This was the last night with my sweet Rachel, and my heart was breaking. You’d think I could be stronger, but all my emotions just turned to mush. After I left Rachel’s room, I think everyone could sense my sadness, but I tried not to let it affect the rest of the family (I really did try!).

Saturday, January 2

Again, I’m going to defer to Nancy for details on the day’s activities.

The Nilometer

Andrew & Jacob at the bottom of the Nilometer

ceiling over the Nilometer

ceiling over the Nilometer

Gayer-Anderson Museum

alabaster table top

Rachel: “Can I go under here?”

comfy-looking bed

looking from the museum to Ibn Tulun mosque

minaret at Ibn Tulun

view from Ibn Tulun roof

on the roof at Ibn Tulun

Friday, January 1

Since we’d been so busy during the week, we decided to do a whole lot of nothing today. Attending church was very emotional for me because it was my last time in Egypt. I was glad for the opportunity to bear my testimony and thank the wonderful Cairo Branch for their friendship and support. What a great group of LDS church members! I’m happy I had the chance to serve in the branch by playing the piano for their small Primary; I’ll miss those cute kids.

After lunch and a little bit of rest, we started making potato pancakes for dinner. Now, this is fairly simple when you have a big kitchen and a Bosch mixer with a grater attachment. Not so easy in a small Egyptian kitchen. But I put everyone to work with a couple of peelers and one small grater, and before long we were busy frying up some delicious German potato pancakes. For the stew, we made do with beef bouillon, carrot slices, dehydrated potatoes, and spices. No beef; no celery; no onions. Oh, well, it still tasted fairly good.

Andrew’s friend Joseph came over after dinner to enjoy a game of Risk (the Arabic version) with all the guys. Andrew lost big time, followed by Jacob and then Reid. Joseph was thrilled to be the victor, and we all enjoyed our relaxing evening.

Thursday, December 31

When will the madness end? We just had to get in another day of being tourists, but this time Nancy and Miriam wisely chose to stay home and get some sleep. The rest of us, however, were just crazy enough to go back out into the streets of Cairo. This time we headed up to the Citadel, probably the most recognizable site in Cairo’s skyline. The Mohammed Aly Mosque there is fairly new (1820s) and is quite stunning. There is also an old palace which has been nicely preserved.

The Citadel

courtyard of the mosque

ceiling in the mosque

gorgeous stairs

Down the hill from the Citadel is the Mosque & School of Sultan Hasan—very old (1300s) and one of my favorite spots.

The greatest Islamic building in the world

courtyard

prayer area

Next door to Hasan’s mosque is the Mosque of Al Rifa’i, a much newer structure (early 1900s).

beautiful woodwork

inside the mosque

To celebrate New Year’s Eve, we watched Harry Potter #6 and endured the loud sounds of a neighbor’s party (which didn’t end until 3 a.m.). Basically, we’re boring people, but we do enjoy one another’s company.

Wednesday, December 30

One more time, off in a van to be tourists. This time we headed east to the city of Suez, which just happens to be the southern entrance to a famous canal by the same name. It was cool to see the Red Sea and to see all the ships in the distance awaiting their turn to use the canal.

Then we drove on to the resort town of Ain Sokhna where we were able to play in the Red Sea for a while. Nancy said the water was awfully cold, but I thought it was warmer than the water we experienced in San Diego last June. Rachel was more than thrilled to be out of the van and free to play. She loves to be in the water and sand.

Red Sea at Ain Sokhna

“Mom, this is not my wet suit!”

Wading in the Red Sea

Chillin’

Since we were home by 3:30, we decided to let Rachel get wet again by going to Maadi House. She loves the warm water of their swimming pools. We then enjoyed a nice American dinner in the restaurant before heading home. What a wonderful day!

Family fun

Tuesday, December 29

Pyramids, pyramids, pyramids, and more pyramids! Again, go to Nancy’s blog for more details. We visited three separate sites: Dashur, Saqqara, and Giza. Each site has different types of pyramids, built in different styles and centuries, but all fascinating.

Dashur - Red Pyramid, steps to entrance

Dashur – Red Pyramid

Dashur – Red Pyramid

Dashur – Red Pyramid, Jacob at base

Dashur – camels are cool, weird creatures

Dashur – Bent Pyramid (not allowed any closer)

Saqqara – Step Pyramid, Reid

Saqqara – Step Pyramid

Saqqara – Step Pyramid renovations

view of Giza pyramids from Saqqara

view of Dashur pyramids from Saqqara

Giza – Great Pyramid, Jacob on left

Giza – Great Pyramid

Giza – Great Pyramid, Jacob & Rachel

Giza – Jacob’s camel ride

Giza – the second pyramid

Giza – Sphinx and pyramids

Whew! What a day! It was so good to get back to the apartment and relax. Reid made the day even better by making his famous homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner. Some of the best times we’ve had here have been just sitting down to eat together or playing games in the evenings. More than being tourists, it’s just fun to be with Andrew, Nancy, Rachel, and Miriam and being part of their lives.

Monday, December 28

Nancy has written much more detail about our day on her blog, so you can go there if you’re interested. We began by visiting Quaitbay’s Citadel, a very old fort that protected the harbor of Alexandria. Rachel kept calling it a castle, because it just has that look to it.

small mosque inside the Citadel

mosaic floor

Alexandria Library

Pompey’s Pillar

Jacob standing at bottom right