Big Orange Backpack

Last night we went out with two Canadian guys we met at the hostel to a really exotic restaurant.. TGI Fridays. But it was on the Nile, which was cool. We were watching the World Cup match outside on a big screen, which was really fun, sitting around outside, floating on the Nile and smoking hookah, cheering on Tunisia vs. Spain. We got back kind of early, and I wanted to go to sleep immediately, but I ended up talking to the guy at the hostel for almost an hour, about politics and religion, but we really skirted things after he found out that I'm Jewish. I waited a while before telling him, to make sure it was safe and that he'd be chill. He said I was the first Jewish person he'd ever met, and if they were all like me "it would be good". I guess that was a compliment.
This morning we woke up at 7, and were out by 8ish to go out to Giza, Saqqara, and Memphis. In my travel books I was told to get out early, because especially in the summer, the desert can be exhausting, which proved to be very true. We first went to Giza, which I kept calling Gaza by accident, and we rented camels to ride around for about three hours. We first went to a good picture taking mound, where my camera died and I had to buy new batteries from the guide for 30LE. He rode his horse back to get them for me, and we just hung out waiting for him, taking in the beautiful view. The pyramids were everything, and nothing like I imagined. I never believed I would actually see them in person, and I still don't believe I have. I couldn't help but think that my ancestors were slaves building them, but it made me proud that such an amazing feat was accomplished by the Jews. And I also gained much more respect for the 40 years spent in the desert after spending four hours in it. We rode around the pyramids, then walked up to them, taking photos the whole time, then over a bit to the Sphinx before it got really hot and we rode back. Our guide cornered us on the way back for tips and it took a little while to give him enough but not too much in order to get back to the cab. We ordered a cab for the day to take us around, and the next stop was Saqqara. Those pyramids there were much emptier than the famous ones, and they were older as well, the models the Egyptians used for the Great Pyramids in Giza. Haha, I just typed Gaza. We walked around in tombs, and that was amazing, the colour was still on a lot of the carvings, and unlike the Met where everything is under glass, lock and guard, here there was nobody in the rooms, and we were left to wander and touch everything we wanted to. We were starting to get tired and hungry at that point, so we then went to the museum in Memphis, which was really cool, but we rushed back fairly soon to eat and shower. When we were waiting in line to buy our tickets some guys that worked there saw that my wallet was from Israel, that it had Hebrew writing on it, and they started yelling about Israel and Jews, but I walked away and ignored it.. It reminded me of my nervousness of the day before, and looking at a giant statue of Ramses and I was again, reminded of it. We are now waiting around to take the train down to Luxor tonight for overnight. I'm liking Egypt much more than I was yesterday..