Egypt, Jerusalem, Cyprus, Turkey

Sooo... Its tough to even try telling about how amazing the last three days have been. Still no way to upload pics, but we're trying to figure something out.

We arrived in Cairo a few days ago, hopped on a bus and headed to the National Museum, where the majority of the Tutankamen artifacts are on display. We were really suprised by Cairo- it was dirty and poor in ways that we have never seen before. It truly looked like a war zone, while at the same time the tour guide is telling us that it is a relatively new and upscale area...wow. The national museum has amazing items to display, but looks as though it has not been updated in fifty years or so. No airconditioning, no descriptions of the items, no lighting... the artifacts are not being protected very well against the tourists or the elements, and while it was amazing to see all of the items, it was astounding to see that they had not invested more into updating a museum with so much potential.
The Pyramids and the Sphinx are unbelievable in their scope and durability. It's amazing how they were built, and to think of a culture that would put that kind of effort into them is mind-boggling as well. Holly and I topped off the trip with a camel ride around the pyramids area, and were so glad to see this amazing site.

In Jerusalem, we were able to visit the old city, Garden of Gethsemane, Mt of Olives, the wailing wall, the Dome of the Rock, the Via Dolorosa (christ's walk to the Cross), the supposed site of the crucifixion and burial (and resurrection!), and ended the day by going into Palestinian territory to see the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. We couldnt help but feel closer to who the physical person of Jesus and his early followers were, just being in the City of David and imagining Jesus praying among the olive groves. The wailing wall was also moving- to think of the collective sorrow that these people have known, and what we feel is such misguided devotion to a place. The Christian churches were no different, with ritual and gold covering every inch of the supposed holy sites. While it was wonderful, we couldnt help but feel like it is for the Catholic, Orthodox, and Armenian faithful, an expensive excercize in missing the point.
In contrast to Egypt, Jerusalem is oneof the most beautiful, cleanest, and well laid out cities we have ever seen. Everything is easily accesible in english and we never felt unsafe, until we went to the Palestinian area of Bethlehem, which is walled off and enclosed, not unlike the Berlin wall. No Palestinian can go out, and no Israeli can go in. It was definitely an amazing experience going through checkpoints and seeing the level of security the Israelis take. We are inspired to pray for peace in a new way, seeing how divided these cultures have determined they need to be, just for basic safety.

Next we headed to Cyprus, where Holly and I enjoyed some Greek culture and byzantine ruins, as the island was conquered time and time again by the crusaders and the turks. It was beautiful and picturesque, sitting in a sidewalk taverna, splitting a gyro.

Today, we went to Antalya Turkey and caught a bus to ancient Pergamum. It is some of the most preserved ruins in the roman/greek world, and we had fun envisioning the people in thier stone town with colonnaded streets and mid-size stadium. Turkey is beautiful- the people are really warm and friendly, and we had little problem with travelling or figuring out the turkish money (lira). We cant wait to see more of turkey next week with Istanbul and Ephesus.

So... thats all for now... we head to the famous little volcanic island of Santorini tomorrow and we just can't wait!

TJ