Siwa

Siwa

Min: Bria Abeles-Allison

Siwa kenit helwa owie! E7na kona mobsouteen min al owel illa al wa2t e7na nizzlet al autobees. El sefara bed2it emta e7na rakibna al autobees illa Eskandraia wa b3dane illa Siwa. Kenit taweela giddan bes kenit helwa bardo, kolena m3bad! El awel yom fi Siwa bada2et m3 netla3 al gabal wara al funduq bata3na ashen 3zeen shof al 3'oroob il shems. Shoufna al sa7ara asfar gemb alwa7a a5dar wa kamain kol al midinat sareer. Fel har e7na rakibna fi wara al 3rabeya illa maya sa2a wa 3mna mabsoteen. Fel ayem il ba3dieeha e7na nadafna al bala3a wa zorna amakan adema zay al makan zaro Alekzander Akbar wa Cleobatra bes al 7wet al aham lema kona ben3oom! Al ekla kenit to7fa owie wal as7ab moto3em keno min Siwa wa homa kano al beyershedoona. Homa edamolna ekla Siwi. Kamain fel moto3em kono otat gamila keter. Meshena keter wa sa7ena bedri owie wa kona o3tshoneen. Maya kenit muhima owie wa e7na at3lmna na7baha maya keteer! Min al masna3 maya gibtna maya sa2a min 3'er faloose!

Al taree5 min Siwa gamile owie. Ro7na "Siwa Odeema." Henek fi hetat fadla bat3 amarat odeem 3la gabal min al owel 1900's. Fel 1900's bedri kenit fi motar tekil wa hoa wa2a3 al amarat wal gabal kamain. Al morshed etkalem englizi, fransawi, wa 3rabi bat2 Masr wa Siwa. Al 3rabi bat2 Siwa mo5talefa min al 3rabi al 3adi.

El a5er yom ra7na illa al wal nabeit. Kenit fi 5ema kabeer ma3 segaggeed gamil wa coverta ashen anem ta7tihoom. Abla ama nenam a shofna te3ban mosamam wa e7na kona shweya 5eyfa minha, fa nemna gemb al nar ow fil wast al s7ara ta7t al negoom. El negoom kenit bitlema owie wa ana la7ezt enohom wa7ashoomi! Kenit fi besine maya so5na kamain.

Ana sa7it saba7 da mabsouta owie bil al safari! Bes kamain ana 5efa shewa bada lema 3rift en al ramla kanit 3'arza leta7t. Al safari bada2et 3la sharie3 bes besura nazilnaha bil al ramla. B3d nadifna bala3a tania wa nemna shweya e7na ekelna gemb al bo7aira sa2a owie m3 nes min Eroba. Feg2a getlina 3sifa wa itza7lana 3la ramla. Wal za7laha kenit gemda tinien! Bil al 3'ada homa elolna e7na "ta3li" wa shoft forn ta7t al ard. B3d al 3'da imshtna illa al 3rabeya illa al autobus. We bnifdal niftiker al wa2t al halw il 2adena henek! Ashkorik AFS!!

Siwa

By: Bria Abeles-Allison

Siwa was an amazing adventure! We enjoyed ourselves from the minute we energetically stepped onto the bus, until the crowd of zombie-like students spilled off the bus very eager for a shower! Day one began with a climb up the mountain behind our hotel to watch the sunrise. You could see for miles in every direction with the very apparent contrast between the green oasis and the sands of the Sahara. Little communities, each with their own lake or spring, melded together in the surrounding area. In the heat we piled into pickup trucks to see an oracle visited by Alexander the Great and Cleopatra and then onto what became our salvation: natural springs. We all dived in and were pleasantly shocked to find the water quite cold. Happily exhausted we all turned in early that night. Over the next couple days we visited quite a few wells and springs, we cleaned up the trash, and swam a lot. The restaurants we ate at were owned by local Siwans and we were served traditional food. Water was a commodity we couldn’t live without, and so we based our days on when and where we could get more water! We even visited a water factory to see how bottled water that is shipped all over Egypt and even worldwide is packaged, though we all admit that the best part of the tour was that they gave us free water!

The history of Siwa is very interesting. We were taken to a part of Siwa coined “Old Siwa”. It is the last remnants of buildings from before the 1900’s. In the early part of the century there was heavy rainfall, causing the mud and straw buildings to deteriorate, leaving a mountain-like rock full of nooks and crannies. We were told this history at sunset on the top of this very mountain by our native Siwan guide. He spoke English, French, Egyptian Arabic, and of course the Siwan dialect. Curious, a couple of us asked him to teach us their dialect, and soon found out that it is barely similar to Egyptian Arabic. After further questions we also discovered that there is a written language as well, though it is fading out because the youth don’t speak it. Listening to the Siwan language really made us realize just how much Arabic we normally understand!

On the last night we were taken out to the desert to camp. There was a big tent with gorgeous woven rungs and blankets for us to sleep under. Before bedtime a poisonous snake was seen so we moved all of our bedding near the fire, or spread it out under the stars. The stars were bright, maybe somewhat brighter in our minds, as it was the first time we had seen the vast starry sky since being in Egypt! There was also a geyser to bathe in a ways away from the fire, so you almost could forget that humanity existed and just focus on the beauty of the stars and the desert around you.

I woke up that morning thrilled for our safari, though somewhat hesitant after being told about a forty-meter drop off that we were going to surf. We started off on a road, but soon left it behind and sped quickly up and down the dunes of the desert. After some cleaning, and a nap we stopped off at another lake for lunch and were joined by a large crowd of Europeans. Out of nowhere a sandstorm blew up, so we packed up our lunch and took off. The Siwans didn’t look too alarmed, and to our surprise we were just heading to another dune for some intense sand boarding. The hike up the dune was hard, but definitely worth it for the adrenaline high you felt flying down the wall of sand! For our dinner that night they told us to come gather round this hill of sand. We were all quite confused, but it soon dawned on us what was happening when they scrapped away the sand to reveal a metal platter covering a pit, with an appetizing aroma floating up. In the pit was a large leg of lamb that had been cooking all day over the heat of a fire. After that hearty dinner we packed up our stuff and left on our last pickup truck ride to the bus station. We continue to remember what a great time we had in Siwa and the memories will be with us for life! Thank you AFS Egypt and the U.S. State Department for making this happen!

Note: The first one is in Arabic written with the Latin Alphabet. The numbers represent different sounds that we don't have in English.


6 weeks left....SCARY!!!!