Day 6: Egyptian Museum, Hard Rock Cafe, and Bazaar

Happy Birthday my incredible father! Don't get too old on me =)

Today was a sleepy day. It started too early and we even got the call to prayer! I don't think i'll miss that call every morning around 4-5. I thought I was adventurous and loved doing crazy things, but the nights sleep proved to me I wasn't. I'll work on it though!

We came back to back to the Oasis for breakfast and headed a couple local synagogues. It was sabbath so we weren't allowed in all the synagogues we were hoping for, but we did get to see one service! There was a man singing towards the front of the room the ancient Egyptian language. We were told that the Coptic church here in Cairo was one of the only places we'd ever hear the ancient Egyptian language spoken. We all filed in and you could smell incense and the pastor of the church came around and touched a cross with incense to everyone's head. We didn't know that's what we were to do, so I think that's why we got kicked out, but it was an incredible experience to see others worshiping. I want to learn so so much more about other churches because it's such a huge part of their lives.

 This picture for dad: Let's go here one day yeah??? =)

Egyptian Museum
1) How is the Egyptian Museum organized? include the four areas or sections
            Chronologically with sections devoted to the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, as well as                         the Greco-Roman Period.
2)What art style is represented in the sculpture of Pharaoh Akhenation?
            “Amarna realism”
3) Why is there an abundance of King Tut’s treasures in the Museum?
            His tomb was not robbed.
4) Why is the Merneptah Stele  Significant?
            used to date the exodus and the Israelite conquest of Canaan

We headed to the Egyptian Museum... The artifacts were INCREDIBLE. It would have been a little bit more memorable if we would have been a bit more awake. We saw some pretty memorable artifacts though. Just to name a few:
- Burial boats- made of cedar wood, which is the toughest kind of wood
- king tuts head dress then 3 mummy cases and 3 more        made of stone, iron and gold
- all his jewelery and everything in his sarcofagus.
- mummified horse, crocodiles, cats, ram, dogs, monkeys, and probably some other creatures.
By this point Jacquelin and I were almost asleep while walking around and decided to play a game. Made the whole trip worth while. That women is heaven sent, and I don't know what i'd do without her.
- The first folding chair
- flip flops! Probably the first ones ever made
- tons and tons of stone caskets.. like the ones you see in scary movies
- enbalming fluid jars
- statues of alexander the great
- My favorite: All of the original kings bodies that ruled egypt. I got to look into the face that moses looked at!

We could have honestly spend days there. Brother Muhlestein said they aren't showing 1/3 of the artifacts that they have. They're building a new buseum right near the pyramids with so a lot more artifacts. I hope one day I can come back well rested and see these museums again.

We were getting excited... THE HARD ROCK CAFE WAS NEXT! Oh, blessed American food.
I think everyone was just excited for a real American burger, fries and ice cream. Oh, it was a beautiful moment for my taste buds. Jacquelin and I got an incredible hot fudge brownie with delicious ice cream and indulged just a little too much. I think with both of us being lactose intolerant and such rich foods it  our systems were a bit upset with us. We suffered the rest of the day, but I think it was worth it.. Jacquelin would say differently. Poor girl.

 "No drugs or nuclear weapons" Jamie and I don't like that too much =)

 This woman is incredible. She made my trip for me.

 Beautiful street of Egypt!

 After the deliciousness we headed to the local Bazaar shopping area. It was a glorified old city, except much more obnoxious vendors. It was a funny experience. They would act personally offended if we didn't want their stuff... Interesting tactic.  They were a little bit to friendly, i almost smacked on for touching me so much. I got some fun stuff though (Melis and Anna i'm excited!).

This was a real billboard and i quadruple took it and barely got the picture! So, If you love... You know what will happen?

We headed back to the hotel and had a little sacrament meeting. I love this gospel. Every day I i think to myself, "I don't know how I got so blessed to be born into it." The spirit is anywhere we go, if we're worthy of it. Sacrament meeting was phenomenal. I was having a real hard time relating this trip to my life. I felt like it was unneccesary and I was the only one getting pleasure from it. It hit me tonight. One of the speakers read Exodus 19: 3-6. We can relate to the Egyptians because these were the people in ancient times that had the gospel! They were his covenant people, and now we get to be in the land our ancestors lived! How cool is that? There's more too it, but I'm just so grateful for those who sacrificed for me.

We headed back to our room and got serenaded by the Judds and the Muhlesteins... The song of choice: Veggie Tales. yep, That's right. I didn't know any of the songs because I don't have any little siblings, but right then and there I wanted a family so so bad. I can't wait to have kids, create traditions and sing songs together. It hit me that they're real people too! Not just my teacher and his kids. They're incredible people, living their lives to the best ability possible and I get the blessing of being around them, seeing their example as parents and how they treat each other, their children, and how the kids interact with each other. I'll never forget the experience I had with them. I learned so much from their example and I know everyone else was watching in admiration.

The rest of the night I got to spend with the amazing Jacquelin. How did I get so blessed to have her in my life? I don't get it. I love our discussions. I love her closeness to the spirit.
One question she asked that I want everyone who reads this to think about. I really do want you to think about it though. Take a couple minutes right now: If you had one day to physically spend with Jesus Christ, what would it be like? What would you do? What would you talk about?