I guess it’s been a while since I updated this.  Things have been pretty hectic here, with the term winding/crashing down, withdrawal forms to sign, exams to write, and various trips taken.  Today marks the beginning of the second week-long Eid holiday this semester.  If I understand correctly, the first Eid was a mark of celebration and this one is a mark of sacrifice.  Meaning that tomorrow the streets are supposed to begin running red with the blood of the lambs and goats and such that families will have hanging out in front of their dwellings for streetside sacrifice.  Yumm!  Carcasses don’t bother me so much, but I’m not one for watching the life slip (drip?) away from any animal.  Fortunately, I have heard from a few people that the practice is not quite as common in my part of town as it is in other areas.  Unfortunately, as I was walking around today I noticed several pickup trucks full of sheep driving around and stopping to pass the wooly beasts over and down to crowds of excited men on street corners.  You don’t win friends with salad here, either.

Here are a few pictures from when I visited the Giza pyramids a couple of months ago.  The last two show the silly things people either choose to do for a photograph, or which people are slightly coerced into doing by a tourism “policeman” who grabs your camera out of your hand and of course wants a big tip for the clever keepsake he has created for you.