We all have a home, a birthplace, a part of the world we identify with the most. Our physical origin is an important characteristic from which others can understand us. To understand and be understood is an objective goal we all share whether we notice or not. This goal drove into me a strong desire to travel. What's most appealing is, world travelers have a foundation in truly understanding important concepts like, culture, empathy, history and the power of primary source knowledge.
Before this journey I had never been outside of eastern or southern United states. I know some who have never been out of Cincinnati and I know some who only stay in the states a few months at a time. Born and raised 24yrs (at the time) I've always wanted to go somewhere, I just didn't know where or when. I put that longing energy out years before I seized the moment and took action in planning to go anywhere.
In the Fall of 2015 while perusing through Facebook I saw on my timeline a post about a Kemetic yoga instructor guiding a group to Egypt on what he called the “Land of the pharaohs” tour. Immediately, I recognized the return date as my birthdate and thought it would be the perfect experience to kick off my personal new year. Still, going was just a thought that I put in the backfiles of my mind.
I can't remember when yoga first appealed to me, I've always had respect for the skill. However, I credit my actual yoga practice to my feelings of deficit. I figured, I wouldn’thave enough money to go to Egypt but I did have enough money to try a practice that may help me get to a place in my life where someday I could afford to travel. I took classes consecutively every Monday for around two months at world peace yoga which eventually turned into two days a month then one. At world peace I noticed physical yoga was not the challenge I craved, at least not yet. Mainly because it didn't help me escape my anxiety with money.
Meditation called to me because number one, it’s free. Also, it's the most righteous form of yoga and it was the challenge I wanted. My yoga practice and my faith in Kwanzaa sharpened my focus and redoubled my determination. It helped me realize I could go to Egypt if I really put my mind to it. A gong rang throughout my being and in an instant I became serious about traveling. Real moves had to be made.
One of my first active thoughts in seriously taking on this goal was the timeline. In October I determined to go to NYC for New Year to visit my best of friends. I'm always thinking of ways to energize myself whether it be a milkshake on a hard day or going to see some live music. Simply being around some of the people I love the most, seeing them live out their dreams inspired me to do the same. I knew spending the first moments of 2016 with my friends would put me in gear for the journey I was about to embark on. When In New York, I enjoyed myself, saved up a grand and lived in NYC without a care and no money anxiety. After coming from a fun time in NYC I got serious about the logistics.
At the time there was 6 months left to save 4,000. Thankfully I had already acquired two jobs and decided to use the money from my day job for living and my night job for savings. This loose plan worked for about 2 months til I realizedonly 500 dollars was saved. At that pace I was not going to save 4,000 by the end of June. I decided to take things a little further and reach out for help. Together a friend and I created a zero balance budget plan which allocated every cent of my money each pay period. After that it was simple, follow the plan, go to Egypt.
It was not that simple. Time hit hard at my will and at times my goal was so far away I made excuses for not following my budget. Truthfully that self determination and desire to call myself a world traveler helped cultivate diligence. After a couple bumpy setbacks I gathered enough to pay for the trip in full and had a little spending money thanks to the help of some great friends. We spent ten hours in the air on the longest plane ride I've ever been on. It was the start of many first time experiences in this adventure. The most obvious thing was the arid heat.
Everyday in Egypt was a 90-110 degree day. After notching the temperature change I noticed the dysfunction of the Egyptian airline in Cairo. Anything that worked was an absolute necessity, for example, the baggage claim conveyor belt worked but the automatic doors had to be manually opened. When our tour guide picked us up from the airport he was accompanied by our bodyguards. They were smiling so big you didn't care if things weren't working. Our group of 20 was driven to the Meridian hotel, right next to the pyramids of Giza. The view from our hotel was stunning. When you walked out to the pool area, there they were, the two tallest pyramids in Egypt, including a third more small and often forgotten pyramid. This pair were once the tallest structures in history, all the way up until the construction of the eiffel tower.
Unlike America, in Egypt people are still allowed to smoke inside public places and they do almost everywhere. That was one of the weirdest parts to me, the smell of cigarettes was inescapable. Most of the Muslim women were traditionally dressed but I would see an occasional radical walking around seen. The people of Egypt were mild mannered, they did not like Americans and they loved American dollars. They stayed clear of any tourist unless to sell something to them, I could definitely feel the divide.
This was not a relaxation trip. When we did yoga, we woke at 7am or earlier to do so. There were no set times to meditate. When we felt the spirit we would all close our eyes, meditate and chant “om shu ra”. Sometimes someone from my group would just grab my hand and ask me to breath with them. I was around some advanced human beings. A few times we were asked not to pray inside the temples, even though our guide told us the temple dwellers pray there often. Most days, the daily routine was to wake up at 6am or earlier ,eat breakfast at the hotel or a prepared box breakfast, then ride the tour bus to various temple locations and specialty shops until the evening time. This is when I realized how much of an attraction Egypt is. It’s like an amusement park. Every minute of the day someone tried to sell us something, from cheap Egyptian pens, scarfs and jewelry, we were pressured into paying for the public restrooms, The temple dwellers charged us for taking a picture with them and little boys were expecting coins just for being cute! I know now this is because 1) Egyptian people are very monetarily poor 2) people there are really sketchy about who can take their picture in general and 3) the people have a mentality like if you are visiting Egypt as a tourist, they believe you have enough money to spare, hence, cute little big eyed boy staring at you with his dirty hand out. Got me a few times.
It was interesting to see the workings of a predominantly male ran country. All the managers, cooks and servers at the restaurants were male. In popular opinion things could have been more organized diner service wise. Not many women drove. The driving in Egypt was fast and edgy. There were no stop lights or lanes it was hard to cross the street without feeling a sense of risking your life. A young Muslim man expressed interest in me but before too much fun he showed me a picture of his fiancé and told me he was free.
Going inside ancient pyramids was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It was a real life cave adventure. We climbed inside an ancient Egyptian pyramid and meditated in a tomb chamber for around 30 minutes straight. The energy flowing through my body while inside Khufu (the first and tallest pyramid at Giza) is hard to explain. What I will say is that I have never been more aware of my own spirit in correlation to other spirits I felt full of soul and love; I could have stayed inside for hours.
The trip started and ended in Cairo, we traveled to around 5 different popular cities viewing several ancient wonders of the world. The temple at Dendara dedicated to the goddess seti and The temple of queen hepshetsut were my favorite visits. Queen Hepshetsut is the only Queen found buried in the valley of the kings, she was said to be an incredibly powerful woman. Originally the pharaoh, her husband and half brother was king. Yet, Hepshetsut was the first daughter of the former pharoah’s first and best wife. When her Brother, the king’s first son became pharoah she eventually over powered him and maximizes her role as queen. Queen hepshetsut is even sometimes depicted as man in different statues and wall carvings.
In every temple the hieroglyphics and images were messages we couldn't fully understand but what I grasped istheir transcendence. That's how the ancient Egyptians lived in the afterlife through Thousands of years later having monuments still stand and able to be viewed in modern day. It is said that egyptians believed if their kings and queens were properly buried they would carry the common folk to heaven with them.
The sophistication of ancient Egyptian technology and spirituality was unmatched by all other developing Mediterranean cultural .Our tour guide, Sobhi, was also an Egyptologist. Through storytelling, he revealed revelations about egyptian advances. Before I had never realized how advanced the leadership and administration had to have been in order to organize thousands of people to come together and build such sound monuments. Egypt used to be a place where people all over the Mediterranean gathered to learn new technologies of life. It's where recorded math, measurement and the concept of time in relation to the cosmos was born.
My favorite aspect of the trip was the various different mediums of transportation I got to experience. We mainly rode a bus but over ten days we rode in a night train with pull out bunk beds, a cruise ship, motor boat, quarry train into the valley of the kings, horse and carriage, a hot air balloon over the Nile and a camel ride into a native village.
What made the trip extra special were the amazing people I had the pleasure of meeting. I had never been around so many accomplished people of color in my life. Such a spirited and strong willed group pushed me to be present and enjoy the experience uninhibited. I had an awesome roommate, Tenika who kept me cracking up in the middle of the night.
The food wasn't bad either. Fresh bread, eggplant and dates were staples in Egyptian food. We ate the three course meals with fresh juices and teas. For appetizer we had bread, babaganoush, dates and thick slices of tomato with dates and eggplant. Second course was lentle soup or a spicy chicken broth. Then rice and or potatoes with big chunks of mixed vegetable and our choice of baked chicken, fish or lamb. We ate the same thing nearly every day (some people hated that part but I didn't mind) our American tour guide, Yirsir, told everyone the food was apart of the experience of traveling but there were a few times where people chose to opt out of dinner because it was so similar every time. Finally after a group vote we went to an Egyptian Chinese food place (I though Egyptian Chinese food was funny irony) on the second to last day and it was surprisingly some of the best Chinese food I've tasted, I took some of the heavy duty chop sticks as souvenirs.
It's true, there is no place like home, by day 8, I was about ready to getback home. As I spent more time in this new place it made me reflect on my home, how fortunate I am to be born in America. I am grateful as well as embarrassed to be an American, the poorest person in America is marginally wealthy than the average Impoverished person in other countries. I got to see true poverty first hand, if people from my neck of the woods got to see how good they have it I believe they would take advantage of America.
I saw how the world took advantage of Egypt and flipped its status. Several foreign powers abused egyptian resources. The English went there to digup their remains and say dollar signs/ something to pimp. Holy treasures and secrets put on display, making the people who live in Egypt dependent on tourist dollars for survival. Now that it's not popular to tour in Egypt. Because of post revolutionary dangers and America’s weak relationship with Egypt the economy is so dependent on tourism dollars. It's like the people are leached to the temples and pyramids. There was always at least 5 to 20 people outside each attraction waiting to hustle a sale to a tourist.
For my very first time out of America I was told Egypt was an ambitious trip. Looking back at the experience, I agree Egypt was adventurous move. It was like going over the hill and far away to grandmother’s house. Now that I know I have the power to save up money and go places, I don't see myself stopping. I have learned so many small yetessential life responsibilities before, during and even after the experience. Travelers are not lying when they say traveling can be life changing.