Enrique Iglesias and the Adhān

So I've arrived safely in Cairo, which means that dad doesn't have to get all Liam Neeson on an Algerian (?) people-smuggling ring; that is probably a relief to both parties. Only in Cairo is there a traffic jam on the tarmac - it pushed everything back almost an hour and a half - making it such a relief when I saw that the taxi driver had waited. I was so tired I think I would have taken my chances with the Algerians, if they'd offered me a lift into the city at a reasonable price.

(Peach-eating break)

My taxi driver was great, he spoke English really well and oscillated between listening to Enrique Iglesias ballads and mariachi-style music. I was extremely relieved about the speaking English part too, as while I was waiting for my luggage I was also mentally reviewing the Egyptian words I remembered from last time. They comprised 'ta'amiya' (felafel), 'imshi'(a more rude version of "go away"), lazeez (which I think means delicious?), and 'raml' (sand). This means I could have said 'Eff* off, you delicious sandy felafel' and not much else. Hilarious, but obviously useless.

Anyway, the following is a list of things I've since remembered about Cairo or am learning brand-new.

• Mosquitos are obviously smarter than me. They see an invitingly cocked bare leg as the squash-trap that it is, and instead choose to wait it out until I lose stamina and go to sleep. I don't even think they have brains? If this is the case, who knows the wonders they could have done with my thesis.

• Cream cheese and fig jam are hands down the best of friends. Especially intermingled in my mouth.

• Supermarkets are pretty similar worldwide (or at least in the 6 countries I've been to, which is surely enough to quote statistics on, right?? [Janis, I'm directing this question at you]). Everything's more expensive and tastes better when you buy it fresh off the streets. Disturbingly, the trend of miniature trollies for children to pretend to 'shop' (AKA smash into a stranger's leg with) is another upsetting similarity.

• EXCEPT most supermarkets I've been to don't contain live goats that you can slaughter yourself (or perhaps they do it for you?) for an upcoming feast day. I like it, it's refreshingly honest to show where meat actually comes from, and gives a whole new meaning to being "the fresh food people" (dont shake your head, you know I had to go there).

• I will never criticise my brother's driving again, although roundabouts appear to work regardless of how many other road rules are disobeyed. This gives me even more respect for whoever initially invented roundabouts (I think it may have been a Frenchman named M. Henard, but there is some contention - can you tell I've considered this before?).

• I forgot about the car horns.

• I like seeing people walk around in completely different clothes and realise that what is worn in our society may not necessarily be 'typical' of the rest of the world.

• I really like hearing the adhān (the call to prayer) throughout the day, it's beautiful.

• I already miss drinking tap-water.

• Western-style clothing is not suited to being both modest and cool, or at least what I brought isn't.

• There are lots of interesting people in the world who do things that may seem normal to them, but to the rest of us it's amazing. Most of the time these people do their work because of the love and passion they have for it, often doing jobs voluntarily or for food and board. Most of the time they're traveling to places that aren't close to home. This is a difficult path to follow, but when they begin to speak about their field of interest, you can tell that the sacrifice is in some ways completely worthwhile.

• You can tell the size of a prehistoric shark using the measurements of one of its teeth. Apparently they were HUGE! (I met a paleontologist, he was a very interesting man).

I'm leaving for site tomorrow and I won't lie, I'm missing a lot of people I care about already and am ready to start working and get on with it. Maybe I don't do down-time that well, or maybe the choice of Dickens 'Hard Times' was not the most uplifting book to bring with me. I've never travelled to Middle Egypt before so the trip should be interesting. I look forward to seeing what the landscape is like in that area.

Lots of love to everyone out there, and I hope this isn't too long, it's hard to judge typing on an iphone.

Joh xxx

* I'm being completely paranoid but I'm scared if I swear a swat team will bust through the door and take me away to jail. And that will make me the new Chapelle Corby. I don't want to be the new Chapelle Corby.

Dale dug a hole AKA Going to Egypt with a monkey on my back

So I thought that I would give this blogging thing a go, mostly because I'm lazy and thought that this would be the easiest way to keep everyone updated on what I'm doing in Egypt, but also because I secretly hope to end up one of those TV archaeologists who goes around in sexy site gear and nods knowingly from the top of cliffs, so I thought that this could be my ticket to the big time.

I'm off to Egypt for anyone who doesn't know. And I'm kind of packing my daks. Just because I'm not only going to Egypt with my trowel, my pack named Salvadore and copious amounts of moisturiser/hand sanitiser/chocolate, but because I'm also bringing my thesis (aka the monkey on my back). Yes, it was determined that to do the absolute best that I can on it all, I should submit it after a few more weeks of work when I come back.


I imagine my thesis like this:

When I was a kid, I loved reading Pilgrim's Progress, it has all these adventures concerning giants and the execution of martyrs and in some of the versions there's great pictures, like the one above. In the last few months I've felt like poor Christian, burdened by dead babies and Lynne Meskell and other bits and pieces.

Anyway, the point is is that my thesis will be coming with me to Egypt BUT it will not be flavouring everything with its thesis-flavour (two parts dirty dishwater, one part belly-button lint).

I'm off to work at Amarna and then following on to Dakhleh Oasis. I have a gap in the middle which I'm a little apprehensive about, but I'm sure that there will be plenty of people floating around Egypt over the Christmas/New Years period that I can make merry with and all of that.

Actually I'm a bit more than apprehensive, I'm kind of a little bit scared. Like that feeling when you pick the biggest roller coaster in the amusement park and strap yourself in, feeling amused by all the queasy faces around you. And then you start to move up slowly and the horizon disappears and your stomach does a flip-flop and you think "Oh crap, what am I doing? Can I climb over the small children behind me and somehow use my jumper to parachute to safety?"

A while ago I really wanted to do something that scared me. Something that was difficult. I thought "That's how you that you're living, when you do things that scare you. Life is too short to do only the easy stuff."

But it's easy to think these things, it's way harder to do them. I've never travelled on my own before, I'm heading off to site to live and work with people I don't know, and I'm doing tasks that I haven't done since thesis perched itself on my shoulders 2 1/2 years ago.

Now I know that I'll be fine - I'm hardly ever on my own over there, I'm ok with meeting new people and I'm sure that archaeology is like riding a really old dusty bike, you never forget how to do it. I guess this trip just hasn't begun as I planned and I need to deal with that and move on, and work on seeing more of this beautiful country called Egypt and becoming a splendiferous archaeologist.

And we all know how that begins - by digging a hole.

I hope to keep this up, depending on internet access and effort-levels. Much love to each and every one of you xx