The Crazy Adventures of Wes and Adam in the Middle East - Episode 3

El Slamo Eleko everybody, that is an Arabic hello greeting.
>
>It's been over a week since Adam last wrote and a whole lot has happened since
then so I'll give it my best shot to recapture it.  When Adam left off we were
on the Nile cruise June 24 we woke up met a group of British, Sri Lankans (which
are basically Indians) who we were going to be touring with for the next 3 days. 
They hated the fact that all the Egyptians yelled out ,"You, INDIAN?" even
though that is what they basically were.  They were a funny group but very high
maintenance.  We toured quit a few temples, learned some interesting Egyptian
facts, like the Arabic word for woman is Seti. In ancient Egypt Seti is the
Hippo headed god (Yeah I thought that was funny too, girls).   In many of the
old temples the gods faces and legs were scratched out by coptic Christians who
used the temples as churches (I could have done a better job personally).  Our
tour guide Wael told us a story of a Pharoah of Egypt who tried to remove many
of the gods because he thought only one God ruled (very interesting story, maybe
he knew the real God).   When we got back that night we had 15 minutes before
the cruise ship left, me and Adam were hot so we just had to jump off our 45 ft.
cruise ship (hey, at least it wasn't a waterfall).  Everybody on board starred
in disbelief, I don't think anyone has done that before. When we got to shore
the Egyptian police just shook their head smiling, "why,,,Why" while other
Egyptians were screaming something in Arabic.  Don't worry jumping was not
forbidden only discouraged.
>   The next day we went to Luxor, saw many more temples, but this time one was
of Ramses II (the Pharoah thought to be in Moses time).  It was unbelievable,
looked like the movie Prince of Egypt.  I asked Wael, if there was any evidence
of the town the Hebrews lived in,Goshin.   He said they found a giant grave-site
with Hieroglyphics about the Hebrews.  He said many people thought the Jews made
them long after, but they soon discovered all the bones were Egyptian and so it
was concluded that the hieroglyphics were made by the Egyptians.   The Bible is
coming alive.
>    We saw many things along the Nile, farmers, naked men bathing, Water
buffalo grazing, fishermen whacking the water with a pole (If they're not
biting, whack the fish to death) It was some of the most beautiful scenery I
have ever seen, a tropical paradise contrasted by a barren wasteland just behind
the border of the Nile, desert as far as the eye could see.   Saw a temple that
was used for worshiping crocodiles, Sobek the crocodile headed god of evil,
(Satan is that you).  Siegfried saw some disturbing things in the temple
belonging to the god Rah (viewer discretion is advised when visiting any temple
belonging to Rah) It amazes me how men all over the world through all history
have needed something to worship, just shows you we were created for it, just
why do so many choose the wrong god?
>
>  So, at the end of the cruise me and Adam split for a couple of days.  We got
in this huge argument which turned into a fist fight (almost a knife fight) and
we figured we needed a few days to cool off.  NO..NO..NO..JUST KIDDING, I had to
go to Cairo to retrieve something I lost that now was found.   I believe Adam
wants to write a bit on his experience alone at the end (stay tuned)
>   My experience was wonderful and horrificaly miserable at the same time.  I
spent the day in Luxor, a beautiful city, (very cheap, very hot) and because it
was so hot I felt compelled to jump in the Nile.   When I was swimming and
hanging out under an abandoned dock some Egyptian men came running up to me
thinking I was drowning.  I said no I'm fine.  One boy, named guess who,
"Mohammed" kept talking to me, he showed a real interest in the American white
boy.   Anyway we talked for many hours I gave him an Arabic English Bible which
he couldn't wait to read, and he invited me to his favorite coffee shop for tea
and Sheesha (water pipe). So I went with Him and we talked a long time, he took
me all over town and got me Egyptian prices on their music and food. There are
seriously two prices in every store one for the tourist and one for us.   Theirs
is 4 times less, usually. I found out he made only 350 pounds a month $55 (which
seems to be average), lives with 6 other siblings, and his parents and he can't
afford to leave Aswan let alone Egypt even though he strongly desires to.  He
asked me for Kristen's (my sister) age because he really wants to marry an
American girl to get out of Egypt. Kristen, let me know if your interested? I
have a picture and his number. After all that he did for me, he didn't ask for
any Baksheesh (tips), which I half expected, even after treating me to drinks,
so I felt compelled to give him 50 pounds (a weeks worth of wages), he refused
at first and since I heard that it can be considered rude to tip when they want
friendship, I told him it was not Baksheesh but a gift from one friend to
another and he accepted, with a very large smile on his face. I definitely plan
on keeping in touch with him and the Christian Egyptian girl Adam mentioned, she
was a breath of fresh air, she glowed with the Holy Spirit, a rare thing in this
Muslim dominated society.   Pray for the Christians here in Egypt if you will,
they are suffocating, but there faith remains strong.
>    I have passed out several Arabic tracks around Egypt and they all eagerly
read them; maybe their hungry for a life giving message for once (as opposed to
the legalistic Muslim banter that blairs across the air in every town and city
five times a day) but what seems to get them to read it is that they are always
interested in something that comes from an American.   God will use any avenue
He can.  My compassion for these people grows more and more every day I'm here.
The Lord's repeated message to me on this trip is treat others as though they
were better than you.  That's a harsh reality to live in when you don't feel
like you can trust anybody, fully.
>
>So anyway I caught a night train to Cairo to pick up my wallet that I had lost,
Adam mentioned it in the last letter.  That took 11 hours (couldn't sleep very
well on the cigarette stained greasy floor of the train). Got to Cairo (man, was
I finished with that city), survived driving to the police station, waited 4
hours, went to the bus station, waited 3 hours (an awesome Christian Egyptian
man helped me out, woke me up before my stuff was stolen), got on the crammed
bus to Sharm el-Shiekh where I was to meet Adam, that took another 9 hours, so
basically the grand total is 4 hours sleep in 48 hours.
>
>Got to Sharm el-sheikh, hot and delirious got turned out of the Egyptian hostel
that only caters to everybody but AMERICANS. Went next door got a room and
waited for Adam.  Little did we know God was making it really easy for me and
Adam to find each-other.   I went to the place Adam emailed me to go, before I
read his e-mail and he was taken by a taxi driver to the very hotel I was at
(that he didn't know about) before he read mine. We didn't listen hard enough
because we still didn't find each other right away.  We got together finally and
found a scuba outfit that was PADI certified and run by a dutch couple. They
were an awesome couple and very informative, told us alot about running a scuba
diving operation here.   They told us everyone foreign who tries to start a
business here gets arrested a couple of times for no real reason except to
discourage them from settling here.  In this country there are no real set laws,
the right bribe can take care of anything, rather like Mexico. They had a cute 3
year old blonde boy named Shane, he knew 5 languages already, spoke really good
English after only 2 months, he kept stealing our key and barging into our room
but we loved the kid.   We decided to get our advanced certification since it
included 5 dives including a night dive and Ras Mohammed (world famous reef) The
first day was fun but Ras Mohammed took my breath away.  I felt once again like
Jody Foster, no..no..no.. not in that way, but in the movie contact, when she
stares in awe struck wonder at the beauty of deep space while saying,,, I had no
idea...no idea.   Diving Ras Mohammed was like that; it felt like we were
floating in space down to a brilliantly colored world full of amazing creatures.
We both had a great time diving.  Siegfried also got to dive and he made some
friends, the fish loved him, I got a great picture.   The next day I got really
sick (I think Dehydration) I drank lot's of water and got well really fast
because I needed to (it really is in the mind, crazy).
>
>   Yesterday we took a bus to Dahab met some Canadians and Australians who were
really cool they invited us to hike Mt. Sinai that night, which we wanted to do
anyway.   So last night we left at 11 p.m. drove 2 1/2 hours, hiked the camel
trail up the mountain of God another 2 1/2 hours then climbed 750 steps to the
top. Adam had the chance to talk alot about God and the Bible to a Canadian guy
named rock on the way up, who wanted to start his own religion.  It was really
wonderful that the opportunity opened up for Adam to pour solid truth into this
guy, maybe he could tell you more about it.  I just walked in silence and
listened to the quietness of a beautiful full moon night.  It was about 4 in the
morning when we got to the top and the sun didn't come up for 2 hours so we all
slept on a ledge next to a church on this huge mountain, where supposedly Moses
received the ten commandments and saw the burning bush.   Though some more
thorough evidence points to the mountain being in Saudi Arabia, though you never
know.  We woke up and watched the sun rise over all of Sinai, it was a symphony
of light.  Even if that wasn't the real mountain it was a breathtaking and holy
moment. Siegfried cried.
>
>Any way I think I'm going longer than I should have, Adam is going to get mad,
but so be it, I'm not afraid of him.  We are staying at a nice place (Bedouin
camp) for only 20 pounds a night ($3) and plan on scuba diving the next couple
of days. Our last stop in Egypt will be in Nuweiba where there is an under water
land bridge (pointing to the red sea crossing, it's amazing when you see it) and
ancient chariot wheels were found there dated to 1400 B.C. Adam will let you
know what happens there.   Until then I wish you all well, We send you our love
in Christ from across the Globe.  Wes and Adam out...

(Adam writing) Hey, about the spelling, my keys were sticking last time,
alright! The main thing I remember when traveling is all the interesting people
I meet. When Wes and I were solo, I ran in to a Korean Girl on a bus. She was
backpacking Egypt and Turkey by herself and barely even spoke English... Yes,
you may think less of us now. I don't know how she is getting around. Then I
learned more about how Islamic countries really are. I met a German guy living
in Germany, he was seeing an Egyptian girl, but she was not allowed to know
where he lived, and he was not allowed to inside where she lived. So they meet
in the reception area of a hotel and talk almost every night. They are not
married because her father will not give approval, and if a Muslim woman does
anything without the father's approval, he can legally do whatever he wants,
including KILL her! So they are going to wait until they get his approval. BTW,
they cannot just leave, because Muslim women cannot leave their country, they
have absolutely no rights.  
A little more on the youth hostel in Sharm el Sheik: I got there after walking
w/ my backpack in 110 degree weather for 3 hours, and they said it was full. So
I sat there for about an hour and then met an Egyptian Christian Australian who
let me put my bag in his room. Somehow they found out, got REALLY mad, and
kicked us both out. Walking by the rooms, they were NOT FULL! Later, I was told
they will not let Americans stay there. Oh, climbing 'mount Sinai', a Canadian
agnostic was interested in what Christianity was about. I spent the whole way up
(2.5hrs) telling him almost everything I know. It was a pretty cool experience.  
Adam- Double out.