WALL * E

Machines in love, a 2001 Space Odyssey moment, the boot of life, and walking like an Egyptian in the closing credits.

Barbie in a Christmas Carol

Due to a late start and a flat tire, the plans to go to Saqqara have been scrapped to watch movies! Last night - full confession - we watched Barbie in a Christmas Carol.

The plot runs along the same lines as the Dickens classic, except Timmy = Tammy and the protaganist is Barbie's Victorian ancestor, Eiden.

Having learned that selfish behavior brings success, the ghost of Christmas future shows the famous opera singer that long-term security comes first with being generous. The story is passed down to Barbie and then to Kelly through a snow globe.

Eid al-Adha (Sunday)

Today Egyptians are at home with their families preparing for the Eid al-Adha celebration tomorrow (عيد الأضحى or the Festival of Sacrifice). This is a feast day in commemoration of Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. At the last minute, God intervenes and provides a lamb instead.

Tomorrow morning Muslims around the world will attend morning prayer and exchange gifts. A sheep or goat will be slaughtered (viewed by all) and the meat will be distributed to members of the community including those too poor to afford meat on a regular basis.

Last night, on the airport ride to my sister's house, we saw large groups of animals gathered throughout the city ready for sacrifice. A little upsetting to think about ...

For more information, go here.

Save the Tigers

If you would like to purchase kid-designed wrapping paper for the Christmas season, please e-mail me at leslieinadamsmorgan (at) gmail (dot) com.

All proceeds will be sent to help save the tigers. Wrapping paper is $1 per sheet (size = 70 x 48 centimeters).

For more information about the efforts being made to protect tigers, go here.

The Pyramids at Giza

Here in America we live very much in the 21st century. In Egypt, however, the modern day prayer calls of Islam coexist with a respect for the Holy Family of 2,000 years ago and the ancient pharoahs of 5,000. The passage of time doesn't feel linear to me and as a result the ages seem to have relevance and the universe feels bigger than ourselves.

During my first trip, I did all of the "must do" things to include visiting the mummies in the Egyptian Museum and horseback riding at the pyramids. Since I was lucky enough to have an insider view, Jimmie, whose family owns the stables, led us through the non-tourist side. Afterwards, we drank tea and fed carrots to the horses.

The Holy Family

This photo was take during a school field trip. After a stay in Old Cairo, the Holy Family moved in a southerly direction where they boarded a sailing-boat that carried them up the Nile. This Church was build on the site where they stopped to rest.

According to Asia, the Holy Family then knew they could leave Egypt because the angel Gabriel came down and whispered in Joseph's ear through a dream that the King was dead and now it was safe to go back to freedom.

Info from www.middleeast.com/holyfamily.

Traffic in Cairo

This is a common sight in Egypt. A horse-drawn wagon making its way along side automobile traffic. In this photo everything looks a lot more orderly than I remember. You can see poor old donkeys driving cargo up highway ramps and cars stop in the middle of the road for no apparent reason and sometimes they just back up instead of turning around.

There are no lanes painted and no traffic lights. Everything is organized by the sound of the horn and the person who gets there first. I remember a man driving a motorcycle, zipping around cars on the corniche, with his young son in front of him and his wife behind him holding a baby in swaddling clothes. No one was wearing helmets, of course. And she was sitting side saddle instead of across the seat! I have no idea what kept her secure.

I was in fear the entire time I was there of an accident but when I came back home, I felt like I'd been thrown into a medicated state, moving forward in line and order with no deviation allowed.

Photo from Cairo/Giza Daily Photo Blog.