HOLY LAND TOUR - EGYPT

EGYPT

Unlike my other Holy Land posts, I've decided that my take on Egypt would be a little more focused on something more instead of just the sites we've visited.

At St. Catherine's

It was a 4 hour ride from Israel to the Taba border. ( The border between Israel and Egypt ) Then another long trip to St. Catherine's where we checked in for our first night. The water was dirty, the place smelled bad, the showers weren’t working, the place had low maintenance yet this was the BEST the Asian section of Egypt had to offer. I couldn’t complain though. It was just such a lovely feeling to be back and I only had an hour of sleep because at 11:30 pm, I’d have to wake up to climb Mt. Sinai.

Climbing Mt. Sinai consisted of a 10 minute walk to part A, the Camel station then a 1 hour and 30 minute camel ride to part B, where you will be brought down to take a good 750 steps to the mountain’s peak. This is where the Bible states Moses had received the 10 commandments. I did not try to reach it though, because the last time I did, I almost killed myself due to loss of oxygen and negative blah degree temperature.

Me and my camel, Affa at Mt. Sinai

We were supposed to be waiting for the sunrise as which all other tourists usually do. But It was so cold- Eventually, too cold for us to handle. We had 3 hours of waiting inside a Bedouin camp for the sun to shine. Rather, it felt as if we were waiting to freeze to death. An hour before it was time, we had forced our guide, Mahmud to take us down because we couldn’t handle it any longer. 

To our surprise, it happened to be the best part. -Arm in arm, we went down. (We were sharing each other’s body heat.) Telling our stories about love, relationships, friends and other things about our everyday life. We sang songs and laughed to even after our very last step. In every way, Mt. Sinai brought us together. Us kids, I mean.- Five 20+ year olds and 3 teens. Regardless of our age gaps, we shared the same struggles, the same joy and the same hearts. We realized, we weren’t any different from one another. Shall we call it “part D”? 

I realized, we’ve all gone through these kinds of trips were the view or attractions take your breathe away but we fail to acknowledge the presence of the people we’re with. The only time we actually do is when the trip is over and they’re gone.  

Two of the wonderful friends I've met - Renz and Tin at Mt. Sinai

Tired and sleepless after the climb, we were headed for Cairo. The place I call home. I’ve never lived there but there’s a saying-“Home is where the heart is.” I strongly agree because I’ve left my heart there since the first time I came way back in 2008.

To get to Cairo was a 12 hour drive because the easiest, fastest routes were closed due to protesters. This had driven everyone insane. Almost everyone complained about how they couldn’t take it any longer but I sat there and enjoyed every minute of the ride. All I could ever do was smile. The whole trip was just good vibes to me. In fact, I wish it had lasted longer.

I finally got to catch up with Max and Marco, our tour guides from the last time. I’m much closer to Max so I was much more open to him and had already grown attached. He’s such a wonderful person. He’s funny and caring. He stands as my father figure in the middle east. In fact, the night before we left for Cairo, he promised my grandmother he would take good care of me and because I reminded him of his daughter, he’d treat me like one as well.

He really is such a blessing. He and Marco are such beautiful souls. They are so fun to be with. It was a wonderful journey. We got to share stories, look at our old pictures and laugh and tease each other. When we came across my picture in the Nile back at `08, they both examined the picture and my face carefully. Max told Marco “She was very young then. Now she’s beautiful.” 

Marco, on the other hand, you could say is the Egyptian Ryan Gosling. I’d have to say. He’s hard working-Probably the most hard working person I’ve ever met.He’d get down in the middle of the road and run to the nearest convenience store if you needed batteries. He’d buy you gum even if you just asked him if by any chance, he had a piece. He’d spend sleepless nights for his job. He’s passionate and creative. Above all, he respected me as a woman. He respected everyone, actually! 

And by the way, He’s got the most beautiful eyes.

A sleeping brother Jun and tita Ludy during the 12 hour ride. How cute are they!

We had pitstops every two hours. What’s funny is that sometimes, the women’s bathroom would be so full so some of us would go ahead and use the men’s even if there are men inside. It was the silliest thing I’ve ever done and experienced in the Holy Land.

We took lunch at a seafood restaurant in a place called Sharm El’ Shiek. (Yum!)  Afterwhich, Peter and I went to buy some treats from a small grocery store in a strip of shops right across the street wherein a guy tried getting us into taking a look at his music store. He asked “Do you like hop-hop?” ( He meant hiphop ) and started dancing in the street. For the first few seconds, we held our laughter in but I gave up and bursted out laughing my head off. A few minutes later after, we thought we had lost him but  as we were heading back, we came across his store. It caught my attention that he was playing his music awfully loud and he was sitting there dancing like a freak. 

With Kayla by the Sphinx

We visited the Pyramids, the Sphinx, cotton, oil and the Papyrus store. I do not have a good solo picture with the Sphinx. Why? Because I spent the whole time avoiding this street vendor who kept  following me around. First he kept telling me I was beautiful. If you think that’s bad, he started blowing kisses. But the worst part is when he asks me   bugs me into marrying him. And finally, after declining his proposal, begs me to go home with him. This is the silliest thing ever done to me in Holy Land.

Throughout the stay, people often talked about the bad condition of Egypt. They say it’s really dirty and hard to live in but the truth is, until they explained it to me, I never actually saw that. The worst thing I can say about Egypt is that the traffic is really bad in a really funny way because the drivers are much more reckless there and  all cars have dents because umping into one another happened as if it was an everyday thing. And anyone could stand in the street and enforce traffic because they don’t have any enforcers there. 

But amidst all this, I would love to live there. My heart pours out to my fellow Egyptians. I hope and pray that the Lord will raise up a good and wise leader to bring peace to their land.

The people of Egypt are very nice. I love being with them and am honored that my guide now introduces me to other Egyptians as his “friend”. The ladies are kind and friendly-they’re always bubbly and up for anything and men, though some are insane flirty maniacs, are still very appreciative and happy.

One time we were parked somewhere and I was waiting in the bus. Marco and I were sitting beside each other. He had just became friends with me on facebook and said I had “beautiful pictures.” ( Wowowee, Egyptian Ryan gosling is encouraging ) and we started talking about ourselves. Whenever I’d say something about me, he’d cut me off and say “I know. I saw your facebook/pictures.” I checked my notifs and found that he had been on my page last 2 am! I laughed and told him he was scary but appreciated that he actually cared. Our conversation came to the point where we even talked about tattoos we would get if we had the chance. Oh, and, before I could say, he already knew what I wanted. 
It made me realize that Egyptians and Filipinos don't really differ in culture. They have facebook, they make friends too, they make jokes, they care and in fact, they've even treated me better than some Filipinos I know.

Brother Jun had been listening to our conversation and decided to join in. It was all laughs and he told him that I had been planning to move to Egypt in a few years. Marco said he wanted to come to the Philippines because of Egypt’s current condition. Brother Jun joked him about how he could move in with me and said that he would bring him into showbusiness.

I said, “You let me know when you’re coming, okay?” He replied and nodded, “Of course.“ 

Hey, I actually look forward to the day he arrives. I’m counting on it. I’m soooooooo excited. 

That night, we took a dinner cruise. There was dancing and laughter. I could stay lost in that moment forever and It saddened me being there knowing time was limited. ( I can't go detailed on the events or things that happened because my grandma would kill me! haha! )

That night I asked for a picture with Marco. Let's just say, things started heating up a little.
My grandmother had grounded me that night because brother Jun told her about him and I and started getting overprotective and paranoid. Hahah! 

Now this made gramma mad!

The next day was just really depressing knowing I had a flight to catch in the afternoon. We visited some churches in the morning. One lady approached me as I was walking with Max curious about who I was. He told her about me and that I was his friend from the Philippines. She seemed to be very pleased. She called me “Habibi” ( “My Darling ) and placed an Egyptian headress on me as a gift. I asked Max why she had to and he told me it was because I was his friend. It was a token of friendship.

Kayla, the woman who gave me my headress , Mabi and I

Again, I have to say. I LOVE THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT. Their hospitality, their kindness, their love and support are overwhelming.

All the while I was there, I realized, suddenly, I didn’t feel so insecure. The company the Lord surrounded me with saw all the good in me. They believed in me. They thought I had potential to do all sorts of things. For once, I felt like beautiful.

Our last attraction was the Pharoanic village wherein you sail through the Nile river while being showcased with a presentation of how ancient Egypt must have been. I did not chose to go. Instead, I decided to stay in the coffee shop and hang. Max was supposed to take me out with them to get hot drinks across the street but Marco didn’t want to because he was afraid that the maniacs who roam around would do something bad to me. ( Let me explain-Filipinas are very appealing to the Arabians. ) This disappointed me but all he said was “I just care for you.” I acted like it didn’t matter but he stood and stared with piercing eyes and I couldn’t look at him longer. I felt so weird inside when he said it so passionately. Then I thought, "Wow. Egyptians are such big hearted people."

The last thing we did together was eat lunch. I had been wearing the headress because I figured, it was my last day anyway. It wouldn’t be weird. ( Though people I pass by would pretend to worship me. ) Everyone kept going on an referred to me as “Cleopatra” ( thus why I take that name seriously now ) so I decided to take a look. After seeing myself, I felt a little insecure. I told Max and he replied, “Why? You are very beautiful.” - This he needed to say only once for me to feel better because his words were so heartfelt. He immediately lightened up my mood. Oh how I really wish he was my dad too. ( Aside from the one I have now )

After lunch, I bought myself an Egyptian flag. I was waving it around in the streets talking about how much I love Egypt and that I wish I could stay longer. Max approached me from a distance. He stopped and said that this was goodbye. I dropped my flag and said ‘No’.

He just gave me that sad and pitiful look as I went on about how I didn’t want to leave yet. He tried to comfort me but I didn’t listen to everything he said because I had already started tearing up. 

When I had silenced myself, he gave me a hug. I didn’t want to let go. I looked around trying to capture every moment I had left. - Every second, every minute my eyes were lain on the Egyptian environment, every breathe I took and every feeling I felt.

We walked back to the bus together because he was going to say his goodbye to the rest of the group. After he did, I sat in the back and just cried. 

Me with Max

Maybe I appear to be really shallow but honestly, it’s been a while since I felt this happy. All the Philippines had left for me were heartaches. I wasn’t looking forward to going back to pain again. It felt as if I was saying goodbye to happiness.

We were running really late for our flight because of traffic. I kept praying we would miss our flight. So when we arrived at the airport, we were all so busy and rushing. Marco and I talked but I never said “goodbye” because I couldn’t handle another one. I kept telling myself I’d do it later. I tried all sorts of stuff to delay us. I’d even throw my lip balm to far places quite a few times just so I could get us to go slower. None of my antics worked.

When all hope was gone, I had no choice. I took that plane ride home with a broken heart. 

Often, I am asked what the reason is that I love Egypt so much when all there is to see are Pyramids and sand. 

I guess the answer is that I have grown fond of the people, the culture and the feeling of just being there. I don’t come back for the sites but for the memories I get to relive so realistically. Everything comes alive. The ones you can never get back, you get to feel once more. And If that is a glimpse of heaven, what more when I’m really there? and that encourages me in a way to bring people to God. 

Camels inside a truck

Bus 2's tour guide - Michael

Brother Joe

The best ever - "Pepeter"

Renz and Jaja

My Egyptian mirror

Before going on this pilgrimage, I felt so discouraged. I was in a state of loneliness from the day I arrived to Manila from Hong Kong till I arrived to Jordan then Israel. I couldn't feel God in my life because I lost faith in His plans for me. 

I just couldn't understand what He was doing in my life so I hesitated to listen. Before all this, God took a lot of things away from me. I wanted to back out of this trip so badly but there was no way I could. But I praise God because if I had backed out, I would have never experienced His presence in my life this way. 

I've learned to trust Him. I can't keep myself in a shell and think that that was how life was for me. I needed to align my mind with God. Seeing Egypt made me see the bigger picture and gave me purpose.

Maybe there are days we feel so small, alone and worthless but the world is so much bigger and so are His plans. I know that my God has something great in store for me.

Now that I am home again I can only wait for the day of my return. I am on fire and excited to be able to come again and reach out.

God-willing.

I will forever be thankful that the Lord has given me the opportunity to experience such beautiful trips like these not just once but twice. God is good.

Cleopatra

Then and Now