Day 80 and 81: Luxor, Egypt...

Day 80: Today went to Luxor, it's another city by the Nile. Went to go see the Temple Karnak, which was quite impressive and was dedicated to the Theban gods. Thebes was the capital of the south (Upper Egypt). Karnak was the most important place to worship during the height of the Theban power. The Egyptians orginally had it then the Romans converted to a christian church when they took over Egypt. Then headed to the Luxor Temple. Then went to the Luxor Museum where I saw a mummy of a man. He was quite short.



Day 81: Today went to the Valley of the Kings, which was quite a sight to see all the tombs of the different kings. They had quite magnificient drawings of the different gods on the wall and how life would be in the afterworld.

Day 78 & 79: Nile Ride....

Day 78 and 79: Nile River cruise....Well today we took a cruise on the Nile with the group, which consisted of my tour guide Huda and the American couple Colin and Elizabeth. Colin and Elizabeth were a young couple of 22. They had both graduated and were planning on getting married in the next couple of years. I was glad to have Huda with me as Elizabeth was quite the pill to deal with, very moody and a she really enjoyed talking about herself alot and how pretty her and her boyfriend were and was very negative about everything. I had to keep reminding myself how young she was. Colin on the other hand was the complete opposite was a positive polite guy was a very nice guy, a real gentlemen and truly genuine humble guy. Can't understand why some of these nice guys put up with these woman. We gave him alot of credit putting up with his girlfriend. We managed to survive the first day and saw some kids on the side of the Nile River. The Nile River is the longest river in the world and flows from south to north. On one side there were palm trees and the other side was the dessert. We had a couple of Nubian meals on the boat and hear Nubian music on the Felucca. We even saw alot of donkeys as we sailed down the Nile. Donkeys are quite commonly used here. I had not seen any used in southeast asia, india, and nepal. The next day we took a trip to the 'crocile temple'.

Day 77: Abu Simbel, Egypt

Day 77: Today got up way to early 3:30am to take a tour bus to Abu Simbel. We went to the temple of Ramses II, which was quite impressive. They had great big statues of Ramses in the front. Then we saw Lake Nassar, which was very blue. Drove through the dessert. Got back and headed to the market with Huda and to had a nice Egyptian dinner of kofta and kebabs. The people at Aswan look more like native Africans. I have noticed the Egyptians have quite a sense of humor...Also it's interesting that things close on Fri. and Sat. here, vs. things are closed in the u.s. on Sat. and Sun.

Day 76: Aswan, Egypt

Day 76: Today the overnight train arrived in Aswan. The train ride was very scenic with lots of dessert and palm trees. Aswan is in the south of Egypt and is considered Nubian region, where the people look more like Sudanese as they are darker complexed. That evening took a boat ride and had a traditional Nubian dinner, which consisted of fried fish stuffed with garlic, vegetable soup, soup with orzio, salad, rice (that was brown and white, brown from the rice being cooked). The boat ride was nice with lots of dessert and palm trees. Then went shopping in the local market with my tour guide. I decided to take a tour thru egypt and my tour guide Huda has been great. She is a local Egyptian. It has been great to talk to about the local culture as she is very independent and very open about it. She is 27 and is still trying to find the man of her dreams. She tells me most of her friends are married and she is getting pressure from her family, but she is holding off until she finds the right guy. She has been an offered a proposal by a man who is already married, but has refused it. In the Muslim world the man is allowed to have up to 4 wives. They are usually allow to have 4 wives due to certain situations, but some men seem to abuse this. My tour guide has informed me that Egypt is considered one of the more liberal Arabic countries, the woman generally wear a head scarf and shirts with long sleeves underneath. Saudia Arabis is one of the stricter wear some of the woman aren't even allow to drive. They are two sects of Muslims Shitte and Sunni. Sunni's are the majority and represent most of the Arabic countries.

Day 75: Cairo, Egypt....

Day 75: Today I arrived in Cairo. Cairo reminds me of a bit of NYC . The people look a mix of African black and middle eastern (greek, roman, etc..). The people generally have brown to light brown complexion with curly to wavy hair. They look very similar to the Brazilians that are an african and portuguese mix. Went to the great pyramids of egypt today. Learned that the great pyrmaids of giza are for one of the noble families of egypt and the sphinx are the guardians of the pyrmaids they are half human and half lion. Then had a great egyptian dish called kosery, which consist of noodles, macroni, lenitls, brunchy potatoe, topped off with hot sauce and vinegar. This is represented of the roman influence. Then headed off to the Egyptian museuam and learned that the north and south egypt was once divided into upper and lower egypt. the determination of upper and lower egypt was from the direction of which the nile river flows which is from south to north, thus upper egypt is southern egypt and lower egypt is northern egypt. The head dress of the egyptians represents this, rounded for upper and square for lower. Also the kings type of beard, which I learned was fake, represneted whether he was alive or dead. The square beard is for someone being alive and the curly is dead. also if the kings feet are together they represent him being dead if one foot is in front of the other than he is alive. Heilogric's the agent egyptian language is based on animals and human organs. The egyptians believed in the afterlight, thus their treasures were buried with them and they even had small minature carvitures of their servants to take with them in the afterlife. That night took an overnight train to Aswan, which is in the southern part of Egypt, by Sudan. As we entered the train station I noticed that some of the people were praying, as it's customary to pray 5 times a week, the train station accomodates for these services. There was a blanket spread out and people were praying. The 1st class overnight train was pretty comfortable big reclining seats with airconditiong.

Day 73 & 74:Dubai.....

Day 73: Today I arrivd in Dubai, which is in the country of United Arab Emirates. It is one of the wealther if not the wealthiest nations of the arab world. As I arrived I noticed how modern the city is, with the high rise building and the new hotels. Dubai is in the dessert and kind of reminds me of Las Vegas, but it does not have all the casino hotels etc...I noticed there are quite a few Indian, Pakistani, and Chinese workers there. Arrived at the hotel and went on a dessert safari, which consisted of sand dunning meaning riding the jeep thru the dessert and doing jeep tricks in the sand and then we did a short camel ride, saw a belly dancing, and had a bbq. The meal consisted of meats and they even had a dal similiar to Indian. The men wear long white shirts with the black circular head bands on their head that I found out is traditional of the gulf region.


Day 74: Today managed to get up and do a city tour of dubai. Saw the most lusciours hotel in the world, which is in the shape of a sail boat, went to the beach on the arabian sea, it was quite nice and clean and the water was a light blue. Then headed off to the biggest mall in the world. They even had a snow wonderland with skiing and snowboarding. Then saw the biggest gold souk, which is the biggest gold market. Dubai is known for it's inexpensive gold. They are even in the works of planning the tallest building in the world and a metro. Dubai is definitely an upcoming city as there is alot of new construction going on. Saw the hotels that are shaped like a palm tree.

Day 72: Farewell to India.....

Day 72: Well today is my last day in India. It has been a mixed emotion for me at times I have wanted to pull my hair out at being frustrated with the overpopulation and lack of structure in India. At times I have wanted to embrace the people around me with their passion for life and kindness. India is a country that will keep you on your toes. It is the true hard reality of life the povery and overpopulation is striking and is all around you and it is very hard to escape.. When I first came I thought boy a month and a half in India could I survive. As I sit at the airport I realize the world that could have been mine. Seeing all the Indian names of some of my friends and families across the stores. Being able to walk into a clothing store and be overwhelmed my colors of clothese that look great on my complexion, where often times I struggle in the U.S.. Being able to walk up to a cosmetic counter and find colors of lipsticks and foundations that look great on my complexion. India is a country where family and family values are important. I have found most of the Indian people of be nice, friendly, and helpful. They are considerate people and when drinking water to do not put their lips to the bottle, so they can share with other people their water. I always feel very honored when other Indian people are curious as to where I am from, etc....

I can just imagine how my parents felt when they first came to the U.S. in 1960's. When they first
came to the U.S. they would leaf thru the white pages of the phone book, in hopes of finding other Indian that they could befriend. That's how they have found most of their oldest good friends. To this day my mother still religiously watches her Indian TV shows and movies, going out her Indian friends, still religiously cooking Indian food for lunch and dinner. I feel fortunate to have been brought up in two cultures. Having grown up in the western culture, it was a battle to fit in, to be able to go on dates, to go to the prom and other dances at school, which I was not allow to go to. My parents gave up quite a lot coming to the U.S. and starting over to give themselves and their children a better opporutnity.

I feel fortuante to have grown up in two cultures. The Indian culture with the strong family values, compassionate, and helpfulness to others and the western culture where I have more opportunities as a woman, where i can flourish and grow. I now understand my parents concern about always savings as there is so much poverty around you. I feel that being grown up in two cultures and not being feeling completely fitting into one has given me the opporunity to appreciate more and not take things for granted. I feel happy to have gotten a glimpse into culture and a world that is a part of me. So today I proudly stand as an Indian American. ....

Day 70 & 71: Mumbai....

Day 70: Mumbai....Today I went shopping with the daughter of the family friends of my uncle. We went to one of the malls in the area, I felt as I was back in the U.S. very modern. She was explaining to me how different her generation was compared to her sisters generation. Reema was 18 and quite the bubbly teenager. Her life consisted of going out to dinner and clubs with her friends. Clubs and bars had now appeared in Mumbai and many young kids were hanging out at them. Reema often wore tank tops with no leaves and jeans. Which was a 'no no' for her older sister. Her sister and brother in their mid 20's hung out at home before all the clubs and bars had opened up. Reema explained to me her generation consisted of dating and at times dating multiple people. Wow I thought how I had never seen this part of India. Mumbai was definitely the most modern cities of all the cities of India. With girls wearing tank tops and short tops.

Day 71: Shopping, shopping and mor shopping. After my major shopping spree I headed back to my adopted families house. That night I was talking with my uncles friends sister in law, who was about my age. She was a college educated housewife. That night she told me how luck I was to live in the U.S. and have so many more opportunites as a woman. First it is quite uncommon for a woman to travel by herself around India, I noticed I did get quite a few stares from the locals. Also to be able to work and do whatever I wanted to be more independent. Not to say all the Indian woman living in India are not independent, but that there seems to be more restrictions on their individualism and it still appears to be a male dominated society.

Day 68 & 69: Mumbai....

Day 68: Arrived in Mumbai, which is the capital of Maharstra and is the city where the biggest film industry is, commonly known as 'Bollywood'. Mumbai was known as Bombay, but once the British left the Indians changed the name to it's orginial name which was Mumbai. Mumbai is actually not part of mainland Maharstra, but is an island off of the state of Maharstra. It reminds me of a cross between Chicago and New York City. Chicago in the way the city is by the water, it reminds me of 'Lake Shore' drive and New York City with the fast pace of life. I stayed in South Mumbai. Noticed they don't have rickshaw drivers in South Mumbai, they only have taxi's. South Mumbai is considered the posher part of town. That day took a tour of Elephanta Caves and met three young Indian men around 23. I hung out with them most of the day and had a great time telling them about life in America and they told me about life in India. I was very impressed by these three men as they were still young into drinking and smoking, but yet very mature when it came to knowing there priorities with family values.

Day 69: Did some shopping and met up with my uncles friends in the posh area of 'Candy Breach'. They lived in quite a grand flat and their neighbors consisted of some high profile celebrities.

Day 66 & 67: Fort Cochin & Munnar, Kerala

Day 66: Fort Cochin: Today I headed around 'Jew Town', which is where the spices of Kerala are bought and sold. It's called 'Jew Town', because alot of the former people in that area were of Jewish religion. Some of them had come over from Europe during the halocaust, and some of them had been there for hundreds of years and were part of 12 lost tribes of Isreal. As I approached 'Jew Town', I could smell all the spices, they had quite a variety of spices and Jewish artifacts. Then headed to a traditional Kerala dance called 'kathakali', they basically use facial and eye gestures during the dance.

Day 67: Munnar: Today took a tour of the spices and teas in Munnar, a couple of hours away from Fort Cochin. It was very lush and green. Saw many spices along the way and tea plantations. Took a tour of the tea plantations. Had the famous Keralan fish in a banana leaf for dinner it was quite taste.

Day 64 & 65: Kerala....

Day 64: Headed to the state of Kerala. Kerala is known for it's backwaters tours and it's spices. Christopher Columbus was actually looking for the spices of Kerala, when he accidentially discovered America. When I first stepped off the plane, I noticed how organized and clean the airport is and how modern looking it is as well. Then having stepped outside the airport, I noticed how green every thing is especially all the palm trees. Got to my hotel in Fort Cochin and noticed how clean everything was, I didn't noticed any trash thrown on the ground and it was quite easy to get around as most people speak english there. Kerala hails as the cleanest, educated, prettiest, and most modern states I have been to India. It sets a fine example of how other states should strive to be. The people are laid back and I only ran into one beggar on the street. I have been told that believe it or not the beggars are seasonal, meaning in low season they have a little farm outside of town that they work on and during high tourist times they come back into the cities. That day took it easy and walked around. Tried some of yummy fish in coconut sauce, which was quite tastey. They have interesting in Chinese Nets that they use to catch fish. Vasco de Gama's arrival in 1498 heralded an era of Euorpean colonialism as Portugese, Dutch, and English fought the Arba traders and then each other for control of the spice trade.

Day 65: Took a backwaters tour....it was quite relaxing as the water was calm, we saw some houses and people as we sailed around. We saw quite a few bananna, coconut, and other types of fruit trees around. Had a great lunch which consisted of food on a bannana leaf, we had some rice, they use a different type of rice than other parts of india, it's a little fuller than basmati, and the shagi's, are often times made of fruit.

Day 62 & 63: Bangalore and Mysore

Day 62: Hung out in Bangalore to do some shopping and relaxing. Headed to a restaurant that has a great view of Bangalore. It reminds me alot of San Jose, with all the green and the trees. I did catch a bit of the monsoon as the rains were quite high, almost to the height of the rickshaw drivers vechile.

Day 63: Mysore...Today headed to Mysore, where they have a very ornate palace. Before heading there saw a famous Catholic church, the film Amber, Akbar, and Anthony was filmed there, being the first Indian film I had seen with my parents back in the late 70's was quite special for me. Then we headed to Mysore. Mysore is very green and lush, I checked out the palace which was quite ornate.