World Famous Egyptian Museum

The famous Egyptian Museum opened in 1863 and was the first national museum in Egypt.  The museum has over 120,000 antiquities on display and it is believed there are another 140,000 in storage. 

The museum was interesting.  Upon entering the grounds we had to go through security and hand over our phones, cameras, weapons, and bags.  This meant I had to leave my camera and bag with them.  There was no way I was giving up my phone, which is my lifeline. 

After going through security we entered the garden in front of the museum.  There were several tour guide historians that approached us and asked if we wanted to hire them to be our tour guide.  Half our group hired a guide and the other half went through the museum on their own. 

I was glad we hired a tour guide. He guided us through the museum and showed us the highlights of Egyptian history.  There was also a sprinkling of Roman history in the museum.  The opportunity to see over 120,000 ancient artifacts is a little overwhelming.  We didn’t have that much time so we saw the most important displays.

The boy king Tutankhamun had a whole gallery. The collection was amazing with nearly 2,000 items.  The most impressive items were the life sized solid gold death mask and the two coffins on display.  They were buried with several coffins.  The first coffin we saw was wood, decorated with gems.  The second was cast with solid gold.  The attention to detail was very impressive.  In King Tuts gallery we also saw his throne and two life sized statues of him that were in his tomb.  It was interesting and surreal to see ancient artifacts that you had seen on TV and read about in books your whole life.  To see them in person was an unreal experience. 

The other highlight of the museum tour for me was the room dedicated to ancient Egyptian jewelry.  There were necklaces, earrings, face masks and other jewelry displayed.  Most pieces were made of gold and lapis.  Some of the pieces were so large all I could think is these Egyptians must have had huge neck muscles.

We skipped the Royal Mummy Rooms.  When we arrived there was a large line and an extra fee to enter the Royal Mummy Rooms part of the gallery.  We decided it wasn’t worth the time or money to stand in line.  The Mummy Rooms are filled with 22 mummies that lie in chronological order.  There are two rooms and out of respect for the deceased the rooms are always silent.  We only had a few hours to see the museum and I think we saw a pretty good amount of the collection.  If I were to go again I would set aside more time in the museum and hire a guide for several hours to show me around.  The museum felt like a warehouse and the collection of items was densely packed into the museum.  The museum also lacks a good label system so sometimes it was hard to know what you were looking at, or why it was so significant. The tour guide was worth the money to help guide you through the museum and make sure you saw the highlights. 

Egyptian Arab Spring Reflection

Protest in Tahrir Square-2011

The Arab Spring and protests erupted in Egypt in January 2011 which was a few weeks after I returned from my trip. The protests took stage in Tahrir Square, a few blocks from the hotel I stayed at in Cairo.  During the unrest several people broke into the museum.  They were trying to loot the museum which houses the world’s largest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts.  According to news reports 9 men broke into the museum and damaged about 100 artifacts.  They also decapitated two mummies that were approximately 3,300 years old.  When the men were caught they were found with the skulls and a statue of Isis. 

This tragic loss of Egyptian history would have been worse had it not been for a few brave people that knew the history needed to be protected.  Several Cairo citizens stood together and pleaded with people not to loot the museum.  They built a human chain around the museum and stood guard until the military was able to put the museum under military guard. After this incident the museum was protected.  A lot of artifacts were damaged and other warehouses that housed ancient Egyptian artifacts were also looted. The event will mark a moment in history where the world lost some of its greatest ancient treasurers.    

The Sphinx - Guard of the Pyramids

The Sphinx is a cat like character with the body of a lion and a face of a man in a royal headdress.  The monument is one of the largest in the world.  It was carved from a single stone and it lies in front of the Pyramids which makes one heck of a Kodak moment.  The history of the Sphinx is quite a mystery.  There are many theories but no one has the real answer about who inspired the monument or when it was built.  The only thing scientists and historians know for sure is that the Sphinx is an ancient wonder that originally had a nose and a beard, which are now missing. 

One of my favorite things about traveling is meeting local people and experiencing new cultures.  Before going to the Great Pyramid I read in tour books about kids begging for money and tips at the tourist sites and that it is important not to give them money because it usually goes to an adult and never benefits the child.  The books made me a little paranoid about kids asking for money.  So when I met several local children at the Pyramids I was dreading them asking me for money.  There was only one Baksheesh (tip) request from a child that day, the rest of the children had a request but it wasn’t for money. 

This kid was so cute! 

The majority of the kids and teens we met at the Pyramids and Sphinx were hanging out there after school so they could work on their language skills.  The kids were dressed very nicely.  They asked us to talk with them and teach them a little English.  They did not ask for Baksheesh (tip) as the tour books warned.  It was interesting to talk to the students for a few minutes.  I was a little overwhelmed by them but my friends Bridget and Shayna were really good at talking to them.  They adored Bridget.  I think they thought she was a famous movie star.  They all wanted their pictures with her, it was really funny.

Bridget and Shayna giving English lessons

My friend Bridget - the movie star!

Lady selling necklaces at the Pyramids

I applaud the local people for encouraging their students to learn English and talk to the tourists.  I wish I had been warned that we may run into local children that want to learn English because I would have been nicer when they first approached me.  I also wish I would have had books or something to give them to help with their studies.  These students will have an advantage in life if they learn English because they will be able to work in tourism and pursue higher education and capital interests.  I imagine these students we met were already climbing out of poverty or belonged to Cairo’s very limited middle class. English is often considered the language of currency and I have no doubt that going to the tourist sites and practicing English after school will help these students succeed.      

As I look back at these kids I can’t help but wonder how they made it through the Arab Spring and the revolution.  I visited Egypt in December of 2010 a few weeks before the uprising.  We knew there was tension and problems when we were there on vacation but we didn’t realize how volatile the situation in Egypt really was at that time. 

Who goes to Egypt and doesn’t take a camel ride? Not me!

Camels are the truckers of the desert.  The Arabian camel has been used for thousands of years by the Bedouins to move goods.  Historically camels have also provided meat, wool and milk and are an essential part of life in Egypt.  For our adventure the camel rides were a fun tourist experience.    

Bridget, Andy, Me, Chris and Shayna

My vacation buddy Jason didn’t want to go on a camel ride, but I wouldn’t take no for an answer so I gave him a camel ride for his upcoming birthday.  Luckily he let me talk him into it because I would have been really mad if he wasn’t in the camel pictures we took.  Being a tourist is fun! 

We took a short bus ride from the Great Pyramid to a photo lookout spot.  We got off the bus and walked over to meet the camel owners.  They set each of us up with a camel.  I like riding horses so I was excited to try riding a camel.  It is TOTALLY different.  Camels walk by moving both legs on the same side.  It creates an unstable rolling movement.  Since they are also a lot taller than horses I was a little intimidated by the feel of riding a camel.  The camel owners were nice enough to us and they encouraged our camels to run as well as stop for our Kodak moments. 

Jason enjoying his birthday gift.

The only thing I didn’t like about the camel ride was the way the tip system works with the camel owners.  I was excited to take my friend Jason on a camel ride for his birthday so I was a little bummed when the camel owner separated him from our group.  I didn’t think anything of it but after our tour I found out that the guy was begging for a tip the whole time and was incredibly annoying.  I felt really bad when I found out about this after the ride. 

As the ride ended we all dismounted our camels.  I didn’t have change so I told my camel owner I was paying the tip for me and two of my friends with an American $10 bill.  I was trying to get the money out of my wallet and he kept standing beside me harassing me for a tip.  He even told me he would be willing to take the $20 bill in my wallet and that would be a reasonable tip.  I told him I wasn’t dumb and he would get exactly what my tour guide told me to tip him - $3 American per camel.  He was annoyed but he accepted.  In Egypt a good meal costs about 75 cents so a $15 camel ride and $3 tip is a good amount of money for a half hour of work. 

I enjoyed the camel ride and figure the annoying tip requests are all part of the experience.  I would never go to Egypt and not ride a camel, because that would be lame.

The Great Pyramids of Giza

The Tourist Police directed me on how to take this picture.

The last week of November and the first week of December 2010 I spent in Egypt and Jordan.  I think about my adventure frequently so I’m writing this blog to capture my memories of the trip before it's too late and I forget everything. 

On the fourth day of our trip we were guided to see one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and quite possibly one of the most famous images in the world.  The Pyramids of Cheops and Chephren in Giza.  It was amazing! 

These monuments have been around for 46 centuries and there is a lot of mystery in their origin.  Theories of their creation abound from slave labor or a jobs program to aliens and divine intervention from the Egyptian gods. 

First we saw the Pyramids.  The ancient Egyptians built the three Pyramids in less than 100 years.  The monuments served as tombs for their deceased kings.  The other members of royalty were buried nearby so they could share in the afterlife and the king’s powers after death.  I'm sure it was also due to the king being buried with massive amounts of treasure for the afterlife.  Egyptian afterlife beliefs are that the king’s soul would join the “eternal stars” and the items buried with the deceased are meant to help them on their journey.

For an extra fee we were able to go into the Great Pyramid on our tour.  We climbed into the Pyramid and moved our way up the vertical shaft.  Being a Nevadan that has toured several mines during my life, it reminded me of the tunnels I’ve seen in mine tours.  Except at the end of the climb we found the King’s Chamber, not gold or silver.   

The King’s Chamber was a small empty room, about the size of a bedroom in a standard American home.  It held a lidless sarcophagus but other than that the room was empty.  It was exciting to be in a place with so much history and mystery. 

Ron, Andy, Bridget, Me, Shayna, Rob and Jason.  Chris took the picture.

After the Pyramid we walked around and took pictures.  I find human nature and culture to be fascinating so I constantly watch people and this was a great place to people watch.  While taking our pictures I noticed some locals yelling at a young blond lady.  I knew instantly what she had done wrong because I read about the Egyptian culture before I arrived in Egypt.  She was dressed inappropriately by local standards. 

Egypt is a mostly Muslim country and has recently become more conservative.  It is highly recommended that women dress modestly when touring the country.  Most tour books advise women to wear long loose clothing that covers the chest, upper arms, and your legs below the knee.  The reason they were yelling at the young blond woman was because she was dressed like she worked at Hooters, which is totally inappropriate in most countries.  I was a little irritated because I could hear them and they kept saying things like “dumb American” and other things that I would rather not write on my blog.  The woman was defending herself and verbally assaulting the men in return.  As she argued with them I realized she was speaking Italian.  Americans often win the rudest tourist award in international travel magazines and after watching this inappropriately dressed young lady I can’t help but wonder if some of the bad American tourist rumors are a case of mistaken identity.    

After celebrating our Kodak moments at the Great Pyramid we went to see a man about a Camel. 

Picture of the Day - Courtesy of Rob & Shayna's camera

The Year of Education is a Work in Progress

I lived through the January marathon GMAT study session and took the test at the end of January.  I was taking the test as part of the application process for the UNR College of Business MBA program.

To prepare for the test I quit watching TV, having fun, and socializing.  I just studied as much as possible.  The weekend before the test I was so stressed out that I broke out in hives.  I’ve never been good at tests because they stress me out a bit. 

I didn’t score as high as I thought I would on the GMAT.  I told my friends that went through the MBA Program about my fear of not getting accepted.  They encouraged me to apply anyway before I make up my mind to take the GMAT for a second time.  I was really debating this situation and having a hard time making a decision, so I decided to wait and try to apply for Spring Semester 2013.  I figured I could use the extra time to study for a few more months and take the GMAT again.

Then two weeks before grad school applications were due for Fall Semester 2012 my brother Tom went and saw the MBA program advisor and he was really encouraged by the meeting.  My brother is also applying to the MBA grad school program.  Tom encouraged me to set up a meeting with the advisor to find out my options. 

I met with the advisor the next day and he encouraged me to apply right away.  The advisor was impressed with my professional history and my community involvement so he encouraged me to apply for Fall Semester.  My application was submitted two days before the deadline. 

I just found out late last week that I was accepted to the UNR MBA program, and I couldn’t be happier!    

In approximately 2 years I will be able to add the letters M.B.A. to my name.  I never thought I would go back to school or even have the option to pursue this level of higher education.  I feel very blessed to be accepted to the UNR MBA program and to have a family scholarship to help me pay for my higher education.

I decided to go back to school because I want to do big things with my life and I need more education to get me where I want to be in life.  I want to be able to succeed and be competitive in the business world.  Most of all I want to make a difference and I know I can’t do that without continual growth and education. 

May 2005 - College Graduation
Grandma Del, my Mom, me, My Dad & Grandpa Wayne

Another reason I became interested in the MBA program is because I graduated from college seven years ago and since then the job market has become extremely competitive.  It seems like 100 – 200 people apply for every job opening in my community because our unemployment rate is so high.  Most employers want half a decade of experience at a minimum and an MBA just to get an interview.  The MBA will make me more competitive and make me a better-rounded professional.  It will also help my survival chances in the job market, especially in a bad economy like the one we are currently experiencing.  The UNR MBA program will guide me to where I want to be and help me make my dreams come true.

I’m looking forward to “The Year of Education” being in full swing during the month of August when I go back to school.  I was an undergrad student at UNR so I’m really excited to go back to my old college stomping grounds for grad school. 

Go Pack!     

Living Life by a Theme 2012 – Knowledge is Power

The theme of my life for 2012 is education.  January will be a marathon study session for the GMAT and then I hope to start an MBA program in the fall.  I also plan to take some classes at the community college and read a few books to sharpen my professional and marketing skills while I wait for classes to start in the fall.  

If I don't get into UNR for the MBA program this might be my strategy.

2012 is going to be a fantastic year!

Living Life by a Theme 2011 Recap - A Year of “Doing what makes me Happy”

Every year I live my life by a theme.  The theme is kind of like a resolution for the year but with a new rule to live by.  The theme for this year, 2011, was “Do what makes you happy.”  As I look back at my theme this year I feel like I failed, but then the more I think about it the more I realize I made great strides and I grew as a person, even if some of that growth was sometimes painful, so maybe it wasn’t a complete failure after all. 

When I made my theme doing what makes me happy this year I thought it would be easy and I thought by the end of the year I would be a really happy optimistic gal, well that just isn’t me.  It is against my nature to do what makes me happy all the time because what makes me happy might make other people miserable or upset them.  Also there are other factors that lead to me being miserable or less happy that I have no control over, like tragedy striking my community over and over and the economy.  It was a rough year for Reno and I cried tears, felt the pain and sadness with my community. 

Even with all the tragedy in my community and the tough economic times I was still able to focus on my theme of doing what makes me happy.  A few months into my theme I realized this was going to be a hard year to do what makes me happy, and I seriously questioned if I was up for the challenge.  I thought going out with my friends all the time, buying stuff and taking trips would make me happy, and maybe it would have, but the economy didn’t want to cooperate this year so I have had to put that stuff on hold.  So I decided to do the best I could and focus on the things I could change or control and tried not to worry about the things I can’t control, which is totally against my nature.  By nature I worry and expect the worst, so this year I tried not to let it get the best of me. 

A Little Help from My Friends…

Me & Bridget at her birthday party.

My friend Bridget once gave me some advice about cutting the dead weight from my life, those were her exact words “cut the dead weight” and she wasn’t talking about dieting.  You may have seen another analogy in a chain email that describes how your life is a theater show on stage and only certain people are worthy of sitting in the front row of your life.  Bridget was advising me to be more aware of who was in the front row.  I am really bad at this, it is a weakness and I am at fault. I give out too many front row seats, I comp them, I give them lots of free drinks and I tend to double book people in the front row that shouldn’t be there, or don’t want to be there.   

Here is an example, I had an a-ha moment about my error in the seating chart when a friend told me I wasn’t a bridesmaid in her wedding because we weren’t good friends and most of the other friends in our circle of friends were in the wedding. I thought she was one of my best friends; I had given her a front row seat for the last decade of my life, whether she wanted to be there or not, so it was shocking to me that in her eyes we weren’t good friends.  Looking back I see that this is just one of several examples of front row seats I gave to friends that didn’t want to sit in the front row but I gave them a seat anyway.  The good news is we have been able to stay friends through this misunderstanding of the seating chart to the theater of my life, and I realize now we aren’t best friends and we don’t have to be best friends, but we can still be friends.

So this year as part of my theme of doing what makes me happy I took Bridget’s advice to heart about cutting the dead weight and I stopped focusing on the people that don’t belong in the front row of my life. This year I focused more on my friends that deserved a seat in the front row, and I hope in return that they give me a seat in the front rows of their lives. 

Me & Jana at Jana's Birthday Party

Me & Adrion at the Jason Aldean concert

Over this last year my friendships and bonds grew stronger and I realized that my very closest friends had two things in common, they all felt (and told me in one way or another) that I let too many people in the front row that didn’t deserve to be there, and more importantly they all told me they loved me.  I couldn’t have made it through this year without the love of my family but also the love from my friends, especially Jana, Bridget, Cassandra, Val, Adrion, Jessica and of course my dog Yogi Berra.  These friends made me happy, they made me laugh, and they were always there when I needed them. 

It was a year of growth and there was a lot of happiness with the sadness.  I am going to call it a tie, I didn’t completely succeed at doing what makes me happy, but I also didn’t fail.

Here are the Top 10 things I did, or other people did for me, that made me happy this year. 

1.   My family loves me and supports me.  They are always there for me, they spoil me, and I love to talk and visit with them.  I especially enjoyed spending time with my grandparents this year and my Grandpa Wayne making us Cowboy breakfast after the family reunion campout.

Grandpa Wayne serving Cowboy Breakfast

2.   My friends.  I am blessed to have so many great people in the front row of my life. 

Me & Jessica



Me & Cassandra

  

Me & Val

3.   My community.  We had a rough year; there was a fire, air race crash, motorcycle gang shootout, several other shootings, and lots of foreclosures and bad economic news.  We were on the top of every bad list and on the bottom of every good list, but you know what, we stood up and we kept moving and we worked together as best we could.  We have a lot of work to do but I think if our community can continue to come together we will make it through.  We will find better days in 2012.

4.   Volunteering – Rotary, Leadership Reno Sparks, and Reno Rodeo gave me plenty of opportunities to volunteer.  I enjoy helping and making a difference so volunteering made me happy.

5.   Yogi – he makes me laugh and he makes me cry.  What can I say? I love my dog!

6.   Nevada Outback Trip – I went on an adventure with Bridget and Andy over Memorial Day.  We lived through our journey down the loneliest highway and we made memories and have great stories to tell. 

7.   Boating/Camping – Bullards bar is my favorite lake to go boating and I was lucky enough to make it there a few times this year with my family and friends.

8.   Red Solo Cup – Toby Keith – Every time I hear this song I smile and it makes me laugh.

9.   Matinee Tuesday – Every Tuesday the movie theater shows matinee movies all day and night.  I am cheap and I like a good deal so sometimes I go see movies on Tuesdays and this makes me happy.

1o. My blog – I love having somewhere to write about my past travels and my life theme.  I couldn’t take a vacation this year so blogging about places I went last year gave me a little escape and a taste of vacation.  (Special shout out to Val and Dan, thanks for setting me up with a blog and encouraging me.)

Good riddance 2011 – Welcome 2012!