JEN'S PAGE

Hello,

I know this letter is very late in coming but I have been trying to figure out how to create a picture website. I want to be able to share some pictures with all of you. So I think I have it sorted so this is the newsy letter and in the next email I will tell you how to access my pictures. I am still crossing my fingers that is works!!:)

Anyway here is the news of my trip:

Our school does not have an Easter break so my holiday didn't start until April 17th. We had a 9 day holiday. We were all busy with parent conferences in the beginning of April. On Easter Sunday, we had our annual brunch at the
Four Seasons Restaurant which again was really nice.

I was not planning on going anywhere over the break but then some friends found an ad in the paper advertising a really cheap trip to Egypt for 7 nights hotel and flights. So my arm was easily twisted to accompany them.
There ended up being a group of 5 of us. After deciding to go the next biggest decision was whether of not I should tell my Mommy and Daddy where I was going! I decided not to because they would just worry. Plus I remembered all those times Mom has written or called and said 'Just wanted to let you know what happened. Didn't tell you because there was no reason to worry you.' So I decided to look on this trip as one of those things they didn't need to worry about so I could tell them after the fact. I did feel really guilty for not telling them but when I spoke to them they were just excited I had a nice time.

Ok first off the trip was fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It included 4 days in Cairo and 3 days in Sharm el Shiek.

We flew out mid-day on Sunday and arrived at our hotel late that night. It was a nice resort with many restaurants and a great pool! Which was very important as we were all sick of the rain in Istanbul and anxious to soak up
some rays!

On Monday, we went to the three pyramids which are located in Giza. It was amazing to see the city really close to them. I had pictured them out in the desert somewhere with nothing but sand all around them but I can assure you
Leipzg Hotelesthat is not the reality of their location. It was so exciting being there. There are three pyramids. The biggest one was built first then the others get smaller out of respect. You can go inside the smallest one. There was a ramp inside going down into it but the opening was really small so we had to crouch down and kind of crab walk to get in.  There were three rooms inside and of course this is where the Pharaoh put all of the treasures he was taking into the afterlife.

Then for lunch we had our choice of lunch at McDonald's, KFC or Pizza Hut which made us laugh! So much for Egyptian food! We were on a Turkish tour and the Turks don't like Egyptian food so we were stuck with those choices.

Afterwards, we went to the Agricultural museum. I was told before going from friends that this is one of the best museums in the world. That is just has so much you could spend a day or two inside.  Well the 5 of us laughed
cheap hotels in Leedsafterwards and said it looks like Indiana Jones went running into this building and threw a bunch of treasures inside. The building itself was very plain but the artifacts were really impressive!

We saw all of the things discovered in King Tut's tomb - really neat. Tut's burial mask that was made of gold and has blue stripes was in a glass box. They had the mummy in 7 different coverings. So the mummy was put into a
body shaped coffin then another was put over top decorated in a different way, then those were put in another coffin again decorated differently. They also have little statures made out of wood, marble and gold. These symbolized the servants and there were at least 365 models of them in the tomb so that in the afterlife the king would have help to do what was needed for him in the next life.

I really enjoyed the museum and learned quite a lot!!!

The next day, we went to the market area. We found this to be very similar to the markets in Turkey. So we really didn't help the Egyptian economy very much but it was interesting to walk through the streets and see what
everyone was selling. My friend and I got some nice shirts for like $4. The money is Egyptian pounds and it makes you think of British pounds so we kept thinking everything was so expensive-we found ourselves arguing with guys
about buying t-shirts for $5. We had to keep reminding each other what the pounds equaled to in dollars especially when my friend Lauren tried to argue with a man because he was charging her 5 pounds for a bottle of water. She
started fussing with him until I went up behind her and said Lauren that is 80cents just give the man his money!ha!

We also went on a felucca. This is a traditional sailboat with no motor. We sailed for an hour on the Nile. It was a nice little ride. Then we went with the tour group to a big mall. Now I know this sounds silly but when living away from home one always checks out the grocery stores in other countries just to see what others can get that we can't in Turkey.

You might laugh but my friends and I were overwhelmed at the sight of Baskin Robbins and Cinnabun!!!! We couldn't decide what to eat first!!ha! We went for a KFC lunch then shopping and then back for ice cream plus take home cinnabuns for the long bus ride the next day. In the large grocery store we all found some nice treasures such as Betty Crocker icing, bisquick and jarred spaghetti sauce!!! Of course the only problem was how to get
everything home so we mostly just looked longingly at the shelves and were content with out ice cream and cinnabuns!ha!

Well by this time we all had farmer tans!!! So we were really looking forward to some sun in our next place. So we got on a bus for an 8 hour ride down the peninsula to Sharm el Sheik. Sharm is a resort town. Some people come to Egypt and just go to Sharm to scuba dive or for a beach holiday. Our resort apparently is the largest in the Middle East. It was filled with Russian and Italian tourists. Funny enough I met a girl working at the front desk who was from Estonia. And like everyone else she said "Why did you live in Estonia for 4 yrs?" But with the sun and temps she is living with there I can see why she might not want to move back to Estonia!

ERROR MSGThe resort was full of things to do but we were very happy to sit by the pool and read our books. The sun was certainly intense! We kept laughing and applying more and more sunscreen saying if I put on 15 then some 28 and then 35 - I am up to about 80 so am I really protected now?!?!

The resort had a floating island going into the sea. It was like all these flat plastic tiles attached to one another so you could walk over top of the coral and get to the water where you could swim and snorkel. We did go snorkeling and saw some beautiful fish. It was really pretty and the coral was a bit more colorful than when Emily and I went in Cancun.

There was a little town for the tourists so we felt obliged to check it out. Plus we were really getting tired of the buffet meals so on the last night we went the Hard Rock Caf and checked out the touristy shops.

We were very sad to realize our week had come to an end. We would have happily stayed another week! But life once again had to return to normal!!! So we headed for the airport where I was stunned at the disorganization and
crowds of pushing people. It was truly unbelievable-people everywhere and our plane was not even on the board but announcements kept saying to proceed to the gate. There were hundreds of people pushing through one little
security screening booth. It was a mess to put it mildly! We were laughing and saying all these people have just spent a nice relaxing week on the beach to come here and fight and push and rush to get onto their plane -
what a nice way to end the holiday!!!ha

So now there is only 2 weeks left until school is out and things seem to be on full throttle until the end. I have many teacher friends leaving this year which will make it a bit sad but now I also have many places to go and visit!

I will be home from June 20th until August 20th. So please give me a call if you want to get together.

ERROR MSGI am getting very excited about all of my travels and seeing many of my loved ones!!!:)

Take care and hope to see you soon!

Love, Jen

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