~THE ENERGIES~

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During our temple visits, and in fact five times over the course of every day, Muslims are called to prayer over loudspeakers installed in every mosque.  In the more populated areas, the sound becomes a cacophony of disharmony as multiple voices scream as if competing with each other, out of time and out of tune. We found ourselves experiencing culture shock every time that this occurred.  The Religious Endowments Ministry of Egypt is actually considering changing the current state of this tradition by having the same call to prayer simultaneously broadcast from every mosque, particularly in populated areas, and at a lower than current volume.  It would certainly reduce the din in the city.

The perfectly polished casement stones of the great Pyramids themselves have actually been harvested in modern times to build palaces and mosques. At first I refused to believe this.  Only the tip of the Pyramid of Khafre still remains capped by some of its original, highly polished stones. Learning of the desecration of these wondrous structures dismayed me. Why were they not protected?

I had assumed that the ravages of time had stripped the original stones from the surface of the pyramids.  It left me feeling upset and terribly disappointed that the world could no longer see the original splendor of these structures that had withstood the test of time, nor feel the energy created by the ancients, because others had stolen away some of the most precious and valued stones.  I found it unbelievable that these great treasures of the world had not been honored and preserved.

Another assault to our senses occurred when we witnessed that even the littlest of children had an assortment of scripts to separate unsuspecting tourists from their money. The kid's energy was ingratiating and false, and they would not stop their harassment even when repeatedly asked to do so. A boy took my hand and pretended to help me across a dock only to attempt to sell me a cheap necklace for 20 times more than it was worth. His obvious act and dishonest energy reduced me to a haggling session with him.  He said “no” to my final price and let me walk away before running up to complete the sale with me.  I eventually felt badly about not just giving him the few extra dollars that he was asking for.  The system just wasn't for me.  Give me little stickers with final prices any day.

It was hard to stay open when three children, the youngest of them about 3, once followed us all the way back to our hotel in Luxor.  They would not give us any peace.  We were enjoying a lovely walk along the Nile when the oldest boy rowed the kids and his small boat over to us. The little one parroted “hello’ over and over and over again, trying to take my hand, the others blocked our way demanding hand-outs.  The children appeared to have a decent lifestyle, there was no need or hunger apparent.  We asked them to leave us alone repeatedly, but they would not.  They knew better than to enter the hotel grounds, so we found refuge there.  It felt like an assualt.

EGYPT, FOUR LEGGED TAXI

We were without the insulation that comes with traveling in a group, so we dealt with this sort of thing constantly. Even our precious time on the Giza plateau was marred by constant interruptions from kids and adults trying to sell us things or offer us rides on their pitifully thin donkeys, horses or camels. It was nearly impossible to even have a few moments to pray outdoors.  It wore both of us down over time.

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