Siwa was too quiet!

The atmosphere was too serene in Siwa.  Now I'm having trouble sleeping.  The square on which I live in Dokki is SO LOUD.  I don't know how I didn't notice this before.  At ungodly hours of the morning I keep being woken by car alarms, dog fights, construction, and the call to prayer.  We tried closing our window, but yet again I was woken this morning.  We're on the 15th floor for goodness' sake!  My roommate wondered yesterday, "How did we ever sleep through the call to prayer?  It's so loud!"  This chant is sang and amplified for surrounding areas to hear at 4:55 am.  During the day, the call to prayer is one of the most beautiful sounds I know, but if you are awake or woken up by the morning call to prayer, it's one of the worst!!!  

Inspiration

I spent my weekend at the BEAUTIFUL Siwa Oasis.  It was an amazing trip.  I am still struggling with my photos, but plan on posting the best selections soon.  Siwan culture is fascinating, they have their own language!  Siwan history is vibrant, I got to climb around the old fortified city of Shali and star gaze.  Siwan desert is awe-inspiring, we sand boarded in the Great Sand Sea.  Hot-springs.  Salt Lakes.  Palm trees.  Couscous.  Hospitality.  Gosh golly gee.  As a teaser here are some watercolors I did at our beautiful hotel.  They are photographed on my beautiful new Siwan rug.  (Please forgive any flaws in my first ever attempt at watercolor painting.)

BAHARIA TRIP

Sorry all.  My internet has decided to hate up loading photos.  I will keep trying to post more, but here are some tid-bits from my desert trip!


I have never driven for so long and seen absolutely nothing.  Western Egpyt is even more barren than North Dakota.  ND has a fence here and there, a small grove of bushes, grass, and a random farm house.   Egypt is just sand with rocks on sprinkled on top for hours and hours.  And you know what?  I loved it.  I went with a group from Kalimat, and my new friend Katie came along.  Most of the drip we spent driving on or off road.  We saw:


The Baharia Oasis.

The Black Desert.

The White Desert.  

I know for sure The White Desert was a National Park.  I don't know if it extended to include our other stops.

An Ancient Sea, where we climbed around a mountain that seemed to be made of chalk.  I think at the Ancient Sea, maybe even what we climbed was called "El Akabat" which means both beautiful and difficult.   Caravans had to cross over this mountain in the old days.  It was so steep they would have to leave some of the dates they were carrying to trade, so the camels could make it over.