De Nile IS Just A River In Egypt, But Oh, What a River!

Fruit to the  godsSo not 

So finally I make it back to my blog. I'm sorry it's been so long since I was able to write, but these 10-hour days have been incredibly difficult on my time-management. It's more like, 'wolf down an apple running for the bus, cram as many pages as I can ON the bus, and then fall asleep in the back of the bus 10 hours later. But it's not night work at a law firm, so I'll take it.

These hieroglyphics are helping to hold me up

So with 8 other students, I'm doing a famous run of monuments and ruins by taking a Nile Cruise. Just like the ancients, you don't need to drive, you just need to head down the Nile and let the river take you. Because the Nile flows north, I'm in geographically SOUTHERN Egypt, but it's called UPPER Egypt. Confused? Well fuggedaboutit, because when they start talking about the 22nd Dynasty and things like that, you feel like maybe America has really just begun its infancy. 

The amazing Temple at Philiae. Night brings out all the details. 

Tomorrow we go to Etfu (I think that's right) and the day after, the Valley of the Kings, and the Collosi (as in plural of collossus) at Menon. I did not bring my camera cable with me, so I'll have to post more pictures when I get back. Awesome sunset when we left Aswan, and amazing photos of the Friendship Monument that the Egyptians built in tribute to the Russians after President Gamel Nasser negotiated financing for the High Aswan Dam. This monument is enormous and very beautiful too.

Things are a little more manageable in terms of time since my students have handed in a major project. I have a lot more photos and want you all to see that I'm not in school 24/7 even if that's what it seems like sometimes.