Ancient Egypt Birthday Treat

My son has always been enamored with ancient Egypt, so I shouldn't have been surprised when he asked for an ancient Egypt-themed birthday party. Oh yeah, and to be honest, I shoud add that he asked for this treat back in September! I'm a wee bit late on this one...

I always try to tie the treat I send into school with the theme of the party, but this year it was tough. There were tons of ideas out there (thank you Pinterest) but I didn't like anything because, a. I didn't want to spend a ton of money and, b. use mummies. 

So this is what I came up with: Pyramids in the desert.

I made cake pops, dipped them in chocolate but then put them in the cupcake liner rather than on a stick. Super easy! The "pyramid" is part of a Toblerone bar sprinkled with turbinado sugar sand. 

Ancient Egypt Birthday

My little Pharaoh decided, back in September, that this year he wanted an ancient Egypt birthday party. Luckily we had access to lots of Egyptian goodies since my mom lived and taught in Egypt for two years, and shockingly, my son's pharaoh costume still fit.

We were able to borrow so much from grandma, that all I needed to buy was the gold overlay for the table cloth and the fake papyrus plants for the table.  

We covered the table with the Pharaoh's gold; gold candy that is.

I made the banner, the place cards and the napkins. (Notice how they are folded like pyramids? Clever, aren't I...) We also used the special occasion to get out my grandmother's Dirigold flatware. It's a bear to polish, but it was the prefect addition to our golden table. (No gold in Dirigold - in 1935 the company was forced to change its name to Dirilyte since the US government felt the name was misleading.)

As usual, my husband, Allen, made the cake. He used some little pyramids I brought back from my trip to Egypt as molds to make the pressed brown sugar pyramids he put on top of the cake.

Safe

A glass from the Pharaonic Village

I've had quite a few emails and comments lately inquiring about my mom. All the thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated, but she is safe and sound here in Michigan. She left her teaching job in Cairo in May when my Grandma Mary went into hospice and did not sign a new contract to return this school year.

Karnak Temple in Luxor

And I'm so glad she didn't! I can't imagine how worried I'd be right now. Not worried that she'd be intentionally hurt - every Egyptian I met while I was there was friendly and kind, so I know she would have been well looked after. It would have been the not knowing that would have bothered me; without skype, email, or her mobile phone we would have been left wondering. I'm such a worrier to begin with that it would have driven me crazy.

Cairo as seen from the Citadel

I am very thankful I got a chance to visit Egypt; it's an incredible country filled with good people, good food and sights I still can't believe I got to see with my own eyes. But I must admit that I'm glad I'm not holding a $1400 plane ticket for this spring break.

Would the Pharaoh Approve?

After we got off the train down in Luxor, we waited here for our ride. No food; since I was on the "no food I can get at home" meal plan I opted for coffee. I doubt any McDonald's in the world can beat this view, though I seriously doubt the Pharaohs or the priests from Luxor Temple would have approved. Then again, perhaps two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun may have been enough to convert even the toughest critic.

Exploring Cairo: Sailing

Last night we went out for a sail on one of these. A fallucca; a traditional Egyptian sailboat. We took a bottle of Bailey's Irish Creme (thank you duty free) and a bottle of wine to enjoy during our hour out on the River Nile.

Abdullah took good care of us.

Rigging the mast and sails must involve some time up at the top of the mast. Despite the opportunity for some great pictures, I decided not to take advantage of the steps.

All the fallucca sails we saw were handmade. While we were waiting to go out we watched a man making a new sail.

I kept wondering how long it had taken him to sew the strips of canvas together, hem the edges, and then stitch the rope around the hem. He had one huge iron needle and a knife; no scissors and no awl - he just used the stone floor to push the needle through the layers of canvas. It looked like a lot of work.

We may have only been out on the Nile for an hour, but it was a perfect way to start the evening.

After our fallucca ride we headed off to dinner and then back to the Pyramids for the Sound and Light Show...

Does This Pyramid Make Me Look Fat?

What do you think? Now be honest. It's a great accessory, but I don't know if it really goes with this particular outfit.

Well, my new boyfriend doesn't seem to mind; in English the Egyptians call him "The Sphin-kus." Sadly it ended up being a one afternoon stand. When it was time to go I just couldn't get him to budge.

I didn't ride a camel t the pyramids this time. I decided to walk in to the pyramids instead. Mohammed, our driver, walked me to the entrance gate and from that point I was on my own - which apparently is somewhat of an oddity. Egyptians and other Arab tourists constantly asked if they could take my picture or have their picture taken with me. I always said yes and then asked if I could take their picture. It worked out beautifully because I got lots of pictures of Egyptians - especially women. The veiled woman below lifted her veil so her face would show in the picture with her friends. She was even going to leave it up in my photo and smiled when I motioned for her to put it back down.

Everywhere I went while I walked around I was greeted with "What's your name?" and "Welcome! Welcome to Egypt." Then the invariable picture request. I just smiled. I'd love to convince my self that they were all swept away by my beauty, but I think it had more to do with me being an unescorted blonde-haired western woman. Either way it was a hoot.

It was a great day. I got to walk around the pyramids that I didn't get to explore the last time I was here and experience a little local color. Plus I picked up a little kitsch for the kids. It was so good, in fact, that I'm still smiling...

Exploring Cairo: The Egyptian Museum

Today we spent the morning at the Egyptian Museum. It was amazing. Of course there was more than we could possibly see in a day, so we spent the bulk of our time in the King Tut exhibit. We hired a guide for 200 Egyptian Pounds (about $40 US) and got two wonderful hours jam packed with information. The best part was the guide took us to different areas than the guide did when I was here last time. Sadly cameras are not allowed inside, so you'll have to settle for these.

However, taking pictures of the grounds was allowed.

Getting to the museum is easy - just get off the Metro at the Sadat Station, climb the stairs up to the street, and look for the big red building. The hardest part was crossing the street - but more on that another time...

Exploring Cairo: Groppi

After landing in Cairo last night at 3:00 am, I slept till 11:00 and then we rode the Cairo Metro to go explore downtown. First we had to take a cab to the Metro Station. Cab fares in Cairo are completely negotiable. 10 Egyptian Pounds (about $2.00 US) got us to the station about 15 minutes away. I'm glad we got out of bed and went out because we accidentally found this place.

I thought about chocolate, but opted for traditional Egyptian sweets instead. I also had a glass of fresh squeezed mango juice. It was delicious!

Each of the sweets they had in the case looked better than the next. I bought a selection to take back to my mom's apartment to enjoy after dinner. We'll see if they make it that long.


Tomorrow we're off to the Egyptian Museum...

You Asked For It

So here I am in all my glory on Dress Like You're From Another Country Day at school. The Egyptian Galabeya won over the sari and the kimono due to the comfort factor. Except for the head scarf (which I had on all wrong but didn't feel like pinning in place,) it was like wearing my jammies all day.

I bought the galabeya and hijab (head scarf) on my trip to Egypt last spring. I kind of have this thing about clothing from other places; I try to pick some traditional clothing up where ever I go. I still can't believe that I get to go back to Egypt again in about three weeks. Three weeks! More on that soon...

For Mom

Meet my mom. Her name is Crissie and she is currently living and working in Cairo, Egypt, and blogging about her experiences. My favorite so far is her post about the police raid on the "Women's Only" car on the Cairo Metro. I know she'd love it if a few of you popped on over to her place and left some comment love.

The Camel Market

The camel market (souk al-gamaal) is just outside Cairo in Birqash. Even though it is just outside the city, it took us about an hour to get there. When we saw trucks like these, we knew we were getting close. (Enlarge it and look in the bed of the closest truck.) It cost 20 Egyptian pounds for each of us to enter, and I paid an additional 10 pounds for a camera permit.

Luckily my mom knew Fridays were the busiest day. The pictures just don't do the place justice - imagine about 1,000 camels walking, running, sitting, peeing, groaning. Just imagine camels everywhere.

If only I could understand Arabic...

This one is getting a closer inspection. I wonder what the going price was.Look at the camels behind the boy below. Notice how one of each camel's front legs is tied up. Most of them were hobbled in this way so they couldn't get too far too quickly. Every now and then someone would want to see one of the camels run, so they would unhobble it and "encourage" it to run around.

We were the only westerners there until right before we left, and then it was only a van load.

After the deals were made, it was time to load the camels.

This one was not interested in getting in the back of the pick-up truck.Once the camels were in the trucks they were tied down and driven off to who-knows-where. Mustafa, our driver, told us they were off to camel races in the Sudan.The hardest part of the day, for me, was seeing school-age children working rather than being in school. There were lots of young boys working that day. Many of them walked up to me, pointed to my camera and then back at themselves, as if to say, "Take my picture." So I did. Then they would rush up and want to look at the image on the back of the camera. When I showed them each one would get a huge smile.

As we left, this man asked me to take his photo too - he was the only adult who asked. You should have seen his smile when he saw himself.

Mmmmmmmmm... Camel

Ok, I tried it, I did; in a dish called kuftah. The camel was mixed with beef and lamb so you couldn't really taste the camel, but it was pretty darn good. So good that I ate it on at least two other occasions. I have to say that I really enjoyed Egyptian food, and we ate it as often as we could. In case you are curious about what they eat over there, here are a few of my favorites:

The dips below were really good. The first one is made with tahini and garlic. You dip warm pita bread (right from the bread lady) into it as an appetizer.

This one is called baba ghanoush -it's made with egg plant. Not quite as good as the tahini, but still quite yummy.

This was the lunch we had at the Pharonic Village. I didn't eat the salad (my doctor advised me not to eat any uncooked vegetables) but the grilled chicken was wonderful. (I wish I could remember the name.) The rice was interesting; it was seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg, but wasn't really sweet. It was OK, but not something I would ever make at home.

Chic peas are in lots of dishes in Egypt. One day for lunch they were served with a rather spicy sauce. It was delicious.This was, hands down, my favorite Egyptian food. The souk (little shopping area) around the corner from my mom's apartment has a bakery where they make bread and other goodies. Almost every evening I would go there and buy four of these little beauties for our breakfast the next day. (I think it is called fiteer, but I need my mom to double check.) It is hard to describe; it is kind of like a cross between a slightly sweet croissant and filo dough, and was it ever good. If I thought I could get them through customs I would bring about 10 of them home. That way my talented husband could figure out how to make it for me at home. The possibilities are endless, I see it as pizza, with eggs and sausage on top, stuffed with veggies. It was that good!

We didn't eat at McDonald's - we just met a group there and I thought it looked interesting in Arabic. My dad tells me their food tastes quite different in Egypt- partially because all their sausage is made from beef. (Followers of Islam do not eat pork.) We saw all the fast food places you can imagine: KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Hardees, and I'm proud to say we never stopped to eat. I can't imagine going all that way just to get a Quarter Pounder... I had hoped to buy my husband a cookbook while I was there, but the only ones I could find were in Arabic. So now I am searching for recipes on line. If anyone is interested I can post the good ones as I find them.