March 21 Luxor Teba Primary School

March 21
The boys slept a good four hours. Joe and I didn’t get much sleep. I had too many frightening train experiences from Europe in my youth to get any rest. At one point Brendan got up to go to the washroom and I heard the door open. I yelled and grabbed Brendan thinking that someone was intruding into the car. In fact, the Egyptian government goes to extraordinary lengths to keep the tourist train safe. Having done it once, if I were to do it again I would sleep like a baby. [Editor's note: As of March 25, not North-South tourist travel by train unless with armed guard - read sleeper train!]

We arrived in Luxor at 5:30 am. Mohammed, Noga’s representative, picked us up. We were driven to Mara’s house. Wow! The apartment exceeded all expectations and I bet dollars to donuts that these are going to be the most comfortable beds on our entire journey. The flat is huge – three bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, living area, and dining room. The Egyptian décor is perfect for a sojourn on the Nile.

We went straight to bed when we arrived and slept in until ten. Mara had a nice breakfast of Egyptian bread, yogurt, fruit, and tea ready for us when we went down. She joined us at breakfast and gave us tips and advice to have a successful visit.

Luxor is thankfully much more tranquil that Cairo. It is still, however, a bustling, frenetic city. Its population is approximately 400,000 whereas Cairo has a population of 22 million – close to the entire population of Canada. Luxor is dubiously known as having the highest number of ‘hustlers’ in the world. After Cairo, we couldn’t imagine anything worse, but Mara assured us that we would be totally overwhelmed by the end of the day. She was about to be proven right.

We left intending to go straight to the Luxor Museum on the Corniche. We ended up in a local souk where we were physically pulled and prodded while being asked to purchase a variety of goods and services – sandals, T-shirts, fruits and vegetables that we had never seen before, taxi rides, sheeshas, felluca rides, incense, tobacco – you name it!

I spied a primary school on the way, however, and couldn’t resist asking whether we might be able to have a short visit. A teacher by the name of Sharif greeted us at the door and said that we were most welcome to come in and have a visit. I have visited a school in all the countries in which I have travelled and it has been an incredible eye-opening experience. We knew that the boys would greatly benefit to seeing the conditions in which some children go to school. Teba Primary School is home to about 1000 students. Half attend in the am and half attend in the pm as there is not enough space for all students. Children who attend the school are from highly impoverished homes. Forty of the children are orphaned. Sharif brought us to several classrooms, chainsmoking along the way – a symbol of status as it was in old Hollywood. The only books to be seen were the workbooks that they had in front of them. Four children sat at each battered wooden desk more suitable for accommodating two. Classes consisted of thirty or more students. The girls sat facing forward in the middle in rows and the boys faced into the center on each side. The students stood as we entered the class and greeted us. We responded with ‘Salaam ali kum’ and the children smiled with great amusement. When one child turned to whisper to another, Sharif scolded them. They responded immediately. Discipline was obviously not an issue, whatsoever. When I commented on the childrens’ behaviour, Sharif explained that with the number of children and limited space, exemplary conduct was paramount. We toured their new computer lab – dusty, dated computers with an Arabic/English keyboard. Internet was not available. Sharif also showed us their library which consisted mostly of English books supplied by relief agencies such as UNESCO. Unfortunately, the children cannot read English and their books are virtually useless.

Sharif continued the tour and ordered a colleague to bring us tea. He brought us into a small room where we continued talking. We asked him whether we could make a contribution to the school. He was very pleased and said that he would forward what we gave him to the social workers located in the school. Ryan and Brendan volunteered to give a donation from their ‘Papa Patty’s money’ (money that their grandfather gave them to buy themselves treats along the way during their travels) – Papa Patty would have been very proud.

On to the Luxor Museum!
After having our snacks on the banks of the Nile above the dozens of “cruise ships” we were set to check out the mummies and statues on display at the museum. A whopping 80 pounds per person entry! Inside, though are to be found price treasures from Carter’s dig of Tutkanhamen’s tomb and many other monuments and statues found as late as a few years ago. The museum is modern and the artifacts well documented – much as one would expect at a modern facility. One can imagine this is the future of the Egypt museum in Cairo whenever it eventually opens! Highlights included Omar Sharif’s opening film setting the context for the museum, the mummies on display, and gold cow’s head. Oh yeah the mummy was discovered in the Ripley’s museum in Niagara Falls, Canada (purchased in the 18500s)! And the story is even crazier, after being on display for 140 years, it was purchased by the people of Atlanta, Georgia for $2M, to be given as a gift to the Luxor Museum. Wow! For info Egypt’s museums are now camera free, so you won’t be seeing much on the blog. But this policy has created a secondary industry for the hustlers an con-men that wear the tourism police uniform: for backsheesh, the guards will turn a blind eye to the rules. Only in Egypt!

This evening we ate at Mara’s restaurant on site. Dinner consisted of a set menu of authentic Egyptian dishes served over five courses. The first course was a variety of cold meze dishes (baba gaouj, humus, pita, salad, vegetables) served on a giant silver platter. The second was two different kinds of soup (Brendan devoured the one that he was allowed). Hot meze followed. This was interesting. Steve, Mara’s son and our served for the evening, explained in detail the origin of each of the dishes. He also recounted stories of how he himself learned how to shop locally for the ingredients. Although Irish, he is dark and could easily pass for an Egyptian. Only after months of going to the market every day has he finally been accepted as a ‘local’.

By the time the main dishes arrived, we were full. We tasted the chicken, beef and rice dishes and Steve volunteered to pack them up so that we could enjoy them tomorrow. An Egyptian dessert (fruit salad for the boys) and hibiscus tea capped off the feast.

Winter Palace
To wind down the day we thought about going swimming. The weather is 24 and sunny (and dusty) so we dropped into the ritzy Mercure Coriale Hotel. No problem, they said (for a a little backsheesh), however the pool closes at 5. It was 4:50. So plan B was to go to the swanky Old Winter Palace. And palatial it was. With the pool closed the boys turned their eyes to the soccer field. They went and played and we sat and enjoyed our drinks in the phenomenal gardens squeezed between the Luxor temple and the Nile. OK, so it doesn’t hurt to be North-American-looking as you pass through security.