Back in Cairo

Well we are back in Cairo after a long, long couple of days traveling. I can't quite remember where I last left off and I have my Temple of Phalie handwritten journal to post later when I can, but for now we thought we'd say hello and that we've survived our trip to Abu Simbel.

So just in the last 24 hours we've gotten off the cruise boat, flown to Abu Simbel, visit the temple there, dinner at a Nubian village house, then back on a plane back to Aswan, then a perfume shop, then back on a plane to Cairo, then an hour long bus ride back to Le Meridian. We are all very, very tired and weary. We have our biggest day tomorrow, waking up at 6:30 (one of our later wake up calls if you can imagine that), then camel riding, private time at the pyramid - meaning NO ONE else will be allowed there, can you believe that! Then free time (pack), then dinner and a show at the Guardian Travel guide's house. Should be loads of fun. We have a 4 am wake up call on Monday to make our 9 am flight. I'm half wondering if we should just try to stay up all night on Sunday. We'll see.

So since I have time, I'll blog in brief about the Isis Temple. First of all, I looked amazing. I wore a white temple looking dress with a white head scarf and my weave. Except I couldn't for the life of me get my weave to snap in place so it kept falling out. And it wouldn't just fall out, it would jetison across the sidewalk, land with the biggest thud so everyone would turn and look and stare at the fluff on the temple floor. Nice, Crystal. I still looked good and pulled it off with the classic "My WEAVE!" cry. Anyway - Walid (not Wah-Lid) made sure to go over the temple in detail, not leaving one thing out. He gave us the grand tour (for me he said) and then gave us extra free time so I could do whatever it was that I wanted to do. So Delilah, knowing what Isis means to me, directed a dance of honor in the temple halls. We all did the same movements in the sunlight with the Spring flowers and Nile waters as back drop - amazing. After the dance we went to the waters edge on a lookout about 20 feet above the water. There was a pile of dried white flowers (prayer time just started) in the corner that I picked up and playfully threw over my head and let blow away in the wind. It ended up being a beautiful gesture and got the attention of not only my group but the tourists on the waters below. I could hear their gasps of amazement from all the way up top where I was. So I decided I would be like a goddess for just a minute and dance with my shimmering golden veil for them. It was amazing. And Delilah just smiled at me - it was beautiful. After people took pictures and moved on, I stayed in my perch. Walid and the guides from our travel group stayed behind in a corner a ways away to stay watch though. Anyway, I decided on the fly that my tribute to my daughter would be to take a handful of dried flowers, make a prayer for her (and especially tell her how much I miss her and wish she was with me on this trip), and release the flowers to the wind. Then I shed a few tears, quieted down and rejoined the group. It was absolutely perfect. Later that night we visited the Temple again (which really is an amazing structure) for the sound and light show. I got to dip my hands in the Nile and be on my island once more. Delilah stayed with me most of the trip and even held my hand for a moment during the show. I thought that was very sweet mostly because until that moment I never really knew what Delilah thought of me. Now I know for certain. It was great moment for us and for me.

We can't download pictures. We just tried but it was giving us grief. We may try again in a minute after we look at comments and such.

Love you guys! We really, really, really miss home!! We are going to F*#$ up a pizza and cheeseburger and fries and Starbucks and all sorts of other stuff when we get home! And cuddle our cats, and bother our friends, and relish our bed and bathroom.