Brief updates from me!

I have been very lax in updating my blog and I apologise for that.

It will be impossible to fill in all the blanks since my last post, but I will very briefly bring you all up to date.

Christmas was very quiet, and an extremely peaceful time. I actually found myself pickling some wonderful beetroot on Christmas morning. Not exactly a normal Christmas Day activity, but I enjoyed it!

Since Christmas, business has been pretty good considering the state of tourism in Luxor and I have spent some wonderful days with some wonderful people! We have had felucca sailing on Spirit, temples and tombs and one or two "off the beaten track" days, interspersed with lots of fun and laughter.

New neighbours have arrived in the flat upstairs. Fortunately they are friends and life in our little oasis promises to be pretty good indeed.

My Greek and Roman Mythology course ended, and elhamdulilah, I passed with a Distinction!  I then started an Introduction to Philosophy course, but never finished.  Work got in the way and I found myself getting further and further behind. So I let it go, and will sign up again in the future. Now I am onto my third course....... Ancient Greeks and loving it so far.

My laptop died a very sad death, but I am now the very proud owner of a new one! Much faster than my old faithful and with lots and lots of memory!

And the highlight of the last few months was a long overdue visit by my sister and her man! It was fabulous to see her, and finally meet the man who makes her happy. And we managed a whole week without fighting! How good is that!!

And finally, I have a couple of photos for you.....  

The first one is sunrise 2 days ago from the top deck of the ferry.

And the second is the following day, just yesterday, sunrise again from the top deck of the ferry.

A very different day!

And finally, one more picture at Karnak temple.....

See you all soon!!

Mythology in Egypt

I am currently over halfway through a course in Greek and Roman Mythology. I am doing it for fun as it is something I am very interested in.  It's hard work getting back to the whole study thing, and having to write an academic essay for the first time in over 40 years really tested me to the limit! But I did it, and did well!

During this course there have been lots of things that I have learned that link in very nicely with my love of Egypt and the religion and rituals of the Pharoahs.

As we all know, gods and goddesses abound in Ancient Egypt, and I was very surprised at the number of myths, such as the creation story, that are very similar in Egyptian, Greek and Roman myths.  Amazingly so!

Not only Ancient Egyptian myths are cropping up time and time again, but also many of today's traditional and cultural practices here in Egypt. Greek traditions of Xenia (hospitality) is widely practiced here in Upper Egypt, even to this day.

So my mission once I have finished this course is to spend some time learning more about the similarities and seeing how I can incorporate all this into my tours and into my spiritual practices here in Luxor.

So be prepared to be bombarded at some point with some extra titbits of information about Ancient Egyptian myth.

Yesterday was amusing, my guide and I were back at Hatshepsut temple and Deir El Medina for the second day in a row! I am having so much fun though, and I am learning a lot from the excellent guide I am now using on a regular basis. Well, I do use other excellent guides, but like all of us, I have my favourites. I am even understanding hieroglyphics and can read one or two as well!  Before that we had a wonderful discussion with another tour guide about the work of David Rohl and the Exodus! Our guests loved it, 2 egyptologists and me having a major debate outside the tomb of Ramses 3.

Now, its back to work! Karnak temple in the morning with lovely guests!
See you all later!