Egypt vacation, part one

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Egypt. Although my expectations were fairly high, they were surpasssed. I loved the place.

We had been wanting to visit the land of the pyramids for years, but now seemed like the perfect time to go, since a couple of friends recently moved to Cairo, and another friend who wanted to see us was going to Egypt for a work thing and was tacking time on the end for a vacation.

After a day of recovering from a red-eye flight to Cairo, four of us headed out to Luxor. First stop, Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens, interestingly painted and carved tombs of royalty. Alas, photos were not allowed inside the tombs there, so we don't have pictures to share with you. However, we do have photos of the next stop, the Temple of Hatshepsut.



Inside were paintings of Queen Hatshepsut, various gods and goddesses, and below, offerings to those gods and goddesses. The plants on the right resemble art nouveau design to me.



There were lots of other tourists there, mainly Europeans.



This chapel in the temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor.



Heiroglyphs look cool, but we don't know what they say.



These statues depict Queen Hatshepsut as pharoah. According to our excellent guide, Ayman, Hatshepsut was the only woman to rule as pharoah, and sometimes she is depicted as a man to show that she ruled just as men did.



More coming soon...

Latrine Celebration

Yesterday I went to Volta region to attend the commissioning of a KVIP (latrine) in a village that hosts some refugees. Our embassy funded it through a grant to a local NGO. We're proud to have had a part in it. Believe me, latrines are a wonderful thing, and Ghana needs many more of them. (Maybe they would keep people from defecating on the side of the road or on the beach.)

The ceremony began in the village center. Below, a member of the village council tells the crowd why we are there.



Village elders, the chief and queen mother were all present. Here is the okyeame, or spokesman, of the chief, recognizable from the staff he carries.



Between speakers, we enjoyed a dancing and drumming interlude.



After the speakers were finished, we proceeded to the latrine site. There, some more spontaneous dancing and drumming broke out, complete with hankie waving.



Here's the ceremonial handing over of the keys to the queen mother.



Hmm, it appears that each stall accomodates 2 people.



Altogether there are 12 stalls with individual doors. 6 are for men, 6 are for women. (The men's and women's sections are separated by a dividing wall.



Now we know where to go if nature calls in Likpe Bakua.