Arrive in Aswan...Beautiful!

Tuesday:

Wake at 6am thanks to Matt’s alarm. Find out that the train is delayed 5 hours? How is that possible? And then I remembered I was in Egypt and nothing is ever on time…ever. So I go back to sleep. And wake up to Matt’s alarm an hour later cause he messed it up. Fall asleep again and wake up AGAIN TO MATTS ALARM CAUSE HE STILL DIDN’T SHUT IT OFF! Go back to sleep and wake up AGAIN! 30 minutes later cause the nice train guy brought us breakfast, I was nice and said thanks although all I wanted to do was get some god damn sleep. 11am, arrive in Aswan. It looked exactly the same when we exit the train station, brown buildings with satellite dishes on top, shitty cars, and poverty everywhere. Oh yea and it was even hotter than Cairo. Get on a bus, 5 minute ride to the hotel…I thought that I it was weird that it was such a short bus ride but then I thought about me hiking all my stuff in 100 degree heat for a mile or 2, enough said…hotel is SICK! Me and Pete actually get our own beds this time, don’t remember if I had said that at the Hotel Flamenco in Cairo they messed up and a bunch of people were sharing beds…anyways, this place is right on the Nile with a ridiculous view, and there is a pool. Instantly change into a bathing suit and chill at the pool for the next 5 hours…tried to read a little, got bored again, reaffirmed my thoughts on reading…it sucks

Lunch, poolside, Cheeseburger, PUMPED! My idea of eating as much American food as possible is the greatest plan ever. Sean and I were psyched to finally get a little red white and blue in our bellies…many a joke later about how America is awesome and were taking another dip. Dry off, get changes, off to the Aswan Bazaar with Joyce, Sean and Pete…I needed a watch and some sandals and I also wanted to scope out cheap soccer jerseys. We get to the Bazaar and instantly people are hovering over us yelling “come look I give you good price” etc etc. I’m pumped cause I love bartering and that’s what the Bazaar is all about. We walk into a shop and I see a sweet camo Australian outback type hat. Total piece of crap but it looked cool. The guy at the store comes up and says 120 pounds, I laugh at him and walk away (a little tactic I wanted to try). He follows me yelling “hey what did you want to pay” I say im not paying more than 40 pounds for that hat and continue to walk away. He runs after me yelling 60 pounds, I say NO, he yells 40 pounds and I say, “I don’t even want the hat” I didn’t really want It I just wanted to warm up my haggling skills. He tugs my arm, I turn and give him the eye, and say I DON’T WANT THE HAT! He offers 20 pounds, I leave, he offers 10 and then 5 pounds. So I just brought this guy from 24 bucks to 1 dollar for a hat and I still just walked away. I was pumped…continue walking looking for a sandal guy…. I find a sandal dealer and start checking out his stuff. Find a pair I like and I say 10 pounds. He laughs, and says 40. I say no, 10. He says 30. I say 20 and he says NO! 30. I repeat, he repeats at least 10 times and finally I back down and pay the 30, this guy was good…it’s only 6 bucks, but my ego is shot from the mental loss and I need some revenge…so now im looking for watches…Sean and I find this little nook of a place with clocks and watches. Super Sketchy but we figure what the hell, only here once. Head in the shop, and try to communicate with the guy. He busts out some fake Omega's and fake Rolex’s. not really what I was looking for, but itll do the job. In my mind I’m thinking 50-60lb would be good (about 10-12 american). He rigs them up with new bands, and pops in batteries and says 300 for both…Sean and I laugh and say no way man, were not paying more than 100 for the both of them. He drops to 200 for both. And we stick to our guns…not happening buddy. He looks at us, awkward silence, and I say I’ll give you 60 for mine, and 60 for his, that’s 120 total. The guy says no 150 for both, and I say look, 120, 150 it’s all the same. He finally gives in and we pay up. Leave the store super pumped…wish I could barter back in the malls back home…got everything I needed, back to the Hotel just in time for another Fallukah ride. Hop on the boat, float around the Nile for a while, sang a traditional song with the captain and took a ton of pictures. Everyone had a good time. A little cramped, because we only took one boat this time for all 40 of us, but still fun overall. Back to the dock, back to the hotel room and off to the Bazaar again. More people wanted to go, so I felt like going again and explore more of it. The thing is friggin massive. Probably equivalent to 4 or 5 square blocks in Boston, with a bunch of tiny side streets with vendors. Walked around, Sonja and Ruthie wanted scarves, Rod and Matt and I wanted soccer jerseys. Matt haggled for a watch as well, and Chris bought a sweet Ali Baba after haggling like a champ to 15 pounds. Found a soccer jersey place and ended up talking politics with the owner for about 45 minutes. He has an archeology degree and is looking for sponsorship. He was very pissed off at the American government and even more pissed off at the Egyptian government. After all he’s got a degree in Archeology and he is hustling in the streets at a bazaar. But he actually gave us his CV, and his contact info and we are going to try to get him in contact with Dr. Denis and see what we can do because he seems like a very bright guy…haggled a few jerseys from him after a heated discussion of politics. Realized we spent 2 hours in the bazaar, and we were all wicked hungry. Found a relaxing cheap place to eat right on the Nile. Literally on a dock, on the Nile, it was awesome. I ordered up another delicious American hamburger, but according to the menu at this place its “Hamporger” hahahaha. When the waiter came to get our order I actually said "hamporger" and everyone at the table started chuckling, I bit my tongue real hard and it was a good time all around. The waiter left and we all cracked up…finished dinner, back to hotel, finished my blog from the previous day and then busted out this little guy as well…passin out…more for tomorrow.

Peace

-Al