القاهرة - Day 4! - Beeramids!!

So today after the super fun Christmas party we went to the one and only Pyramids in Giza! Rana, Amira, and I all left early in afternoon/late morning and we drove to Giza and it was seriously sooo much fun. Although very very touristy, I had such a blast. We had a really great tour guide named Ahmed (of course - like almost every other man in Egypt) and he was really nice took loads of fun pictures of us and told us neats things along the way.

I'm uploading the pictures to facebook as we speak (or as I type) so if we're not friends add me and you can see pictures not just from today's adventures at the Pyramids but also pictures from the past few days :)

We saw all 9 of the pyramids - 3 big ones and 6 little ones. We also saw the tombs for the workers who helped build the pyramids, too. It was so much fun though because we rode on horses and camels the whole way. On the way through everything I rode the camel whose name, very non-coincidentally was Ali Baaba lol (and apparently he loves the ladies), and Amira and Rana rode horses. On the way back, Rana and I switched and I rode a horse back and her name was Mish-Mish (aka the cutest thing ever). Amira's horse's name was Ghazelle and she was hilarious because she just did whatever the heck she felt like doing. I don't know if I liked the horse or the camel better, maybe the horse a little bit more since it didn't hurt as much haha, but they were both a ton of fun and soo adorable. We also got to see the Sphinx, a place that sold "original" Papyrus haha, and a lotus flower perfume place. The best part of our way back though had to have been the store that was called "Ankel Sam Store for Berfoume" hahaha :P

After the Pyramids, we were starving so we drove back and tried to go eat at this restaurant on the Nile but that didn't work because it was a military place and I was American and no foreigners were allowed so we ended up eating at Fridays on the Nile and it was really gorgeous. We got there around Maghrib so the sun was setting and it was just beautiful to be so close to the water, watching the sunset, and eating tons of food because Rana and I were literally starving since that was the first time we had eaten all day.

Afterwards we came home, I took a quick nap, and then Efo and Ranya picked me up and we were originally going to go to Khan el-Khalili but it ended up being later than we thought and it was going to close soon so we went to this rooftop place to just hangout and even though it had the shadiest elevator probably in the world (it had no door at all ahaha) it was really a great view of the Nile and the Cairo skyline.

Well tomorrow is actually my birthday :) and I'm both excited to celebrate it in Cairo and also slightly homesick and missing all my loves back in the States. If any of you are reading this - I am sending lots of love your way and hope you're doing the same :) At the same time, on a much sadder note, the 27th of December also commemorates the day that Israel began attacking Gaza last year and its been a really difficult year for the people of Gaza and there are no signs of anything improving at all right now either.

I know there are going to be several solidarity actions around Cairo tomorrow (I posted a press release of one earlier tonight) where 1400 candles will be lit and placed on the Nile to remember each one of the people that were killed during the invasion. We recently received some (cross your fingers) good news that Egypt *MIGHT* be opening the borders, of course nothing is confirmed and this just might be a rumor, but that means that we are going to try and bus over to al-Arish on Monday morning, the 28th, to see if we can get in.

These past few days in Cairo have been downright amazing, and I've got to make some amazing friends and see really beautiful things ranging from everything to funny signs in English to the grandeur of the pyramids - Cairo really has a unique essence and I doubt any other city could imitate it. It really is beautiful. With that said though, I'm really anxious to see Gaza and really do what I came here to do. I know that it might not be possible and I might have to stay in Cairo, which is perfectly fine because the people, the culture, and the city are absolutely great but this trip would really feel incomplete without setting foot in Gaza, without raising my voice, without taking a stand, and without showing the world that one year later we remember, and we still stand with the Palestinian people.

Please send all of your positive energy, prayers, thoughts, love, and wishes our way the next few days. We really need them, and the people of Gaza and Palestine really need them.

Inshallah Inshallah Inshallah Inshallah Inshallah Inshallah Inshallah Inshallah Inshallah Inshallah Inshallah I will be in Gaza in 2 days. Now that, would be the best birthday present. ever.

In struggle,

Sana