I used to love going swimming when I was a kid.
I lived close to Fountain, a public pool that was a 5 minute walk from my house. In the summertime I used to go there all of the time with my friends Mel, Joe, Jason, Ronnie, and Taylor.
Even though Fountain was the smallest of all of the public pools in Allentown, there were a lot of reasons why we went there. It was close, we knew all of the other kids who swam there, and it was free to get in. We would stay there all day from pretty much open until close.
One day my friend Joe recommended that we go to Mack Pool. I thought to myself, "Why would we go to Mack when Fountain is right down the street?"
There were a variety of different reasons why I didn't want to go to Mack Pool. It was over two miles away from our neighborhood. We had to walk there. We didn't have any friends there. We had to pay to get in. We were comfortable at Fountain. Going all the way to Mack seemed like it would be an unnecessary hassle.
When I asked Joe why we he wanted to go to Mack Pool, he replied to me by saying... "They have a high dive."
At that point in my life, I had never jumped off of a high dive. The idea of it was actually kind of scary. Fountain didn't even have a diving board. Even though I wasn't convinced that going to Mack would be a good idea, it was Joe's idea. Joe was older than I was. He was undoubtedly the leader of our crew. Despite my apprehension, I went anyway.
Just getting to Mack Pool would prove to be a challenge. In the late 80's, for me to get the $1 entry fee to enter a pool was no easy task. I remember my mother and I being on subsidized housing, and our rent being $26 dollars per month. That meant the price of admission to Mack Pool was roughly 4 percent of what it cost to pay our rent.
The day before we were supposed to go to Mack for the first time, I begged my mother for that dollar. I had to roll up 100 pennies and exchange them at the diner for a paper dollar, but I made it happen.
Walking to Mack Pool took forever. It was hot. We were 8-12 year old kids, so we subconsciously did things to break up the monotony of the long walk. We played tag along the way. We put rocks on the train tracks and watched the train run over them. We even jumped into Trout Creek to cool off. Our two mile walk took about took 2-3 hours.
When we finally arrived at Mack I remember saying to myself... "Wow." Fountain was kind of small, kind of dirty, and kind of basic. Mack was very big, very clean, and very elaborate. Seeing Mack with my own eyes made me understand why Joe really wanted to go there.
As soon as we got there, Joe immediately ran to the diving board area. I sat on the bench next to the diving boards. I watched as Joe had an amazing time doing all kinds of jumps off of the high dive. I looked at the high dive and thought to myself, "Damn, that is kind of high. "
After a few minutes, everyone was jumping off of the high dive except for me. I was scared. I was used to jumping into the pool off of the ledge at Fountain where there were no diving boards. I actually climbed up the ladder to the diving board a few times and looked over the edge, but couldn't quite force myself to jump. I ended up climbing back down the ladder and taking a seat back on the bench.
In between one of Joe's jumps off of the board he came over to me and said, "You can't be scared all of your life. You are going to miss out on all of the fun"
At that moment, I realized that I had to make a choice. I was either going to live in fear and have an alright time while swimming in the common areas of the pool, or I was going to have what looked like the time of my life by jumping off of the high dive.
I couldn't stop now after already coming so far. I had to pretty much beg my mother for that dollar to get into the pool. I spent over 2 hours walking over two miles in the heat just to get there. I wasn't going to let my fear come between me having a good time. I decided that I was going to jump.
I proceeded to climb the ladder. I walked to the edge of the board. I was scared to death. At the side of the board was Joe and the rest of my friends telling me to do it. After standing there for a while, I just did it. I jumped.
What an exhilarating feeling! Jumping off the high dive was so much fun. Five minutes after my first tentative jump, I was doing all kinds of acrobatic jumps. In addition to overcoming my fear of jumping off of the high dive, my group of friends met a bunch of new people that we would become friends with. It was great.
In hindsight, that day was one of the most important days of my life. It made me realize that I could achieve great things when I step outside of my comfort zone. While Fountain Pool was fun and I would go back there many times, the sacrifices I had to make in order to get to Mack Pool every once in a while were really worth it. While jumping off of the high dive did not make me fearless, it made me understand that I had the ability to overcome my fears. That day opened up a world of possibilities for me. I have since applied those concepts to pretty much every aspect of my life.
Thanks Joe.
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Fast forward to 2016. I am eating dinner with a few of my friends. During the course of our conversation, I mention that I am going to Egypt. I also mention that for a variety of reasons I am going alone. My friend Sindia then tells me, "It is Maria's dream to go to Egypt... you should ask her to go with you."
Below is a picture of Maria...
Maria is Sindia's cousin, and my classmate from high school. I had not spoken to her since we graduated 18 years ago. While Maria and I met in the sixth grade and were always cool, we were never really that close. Even though Sindia suggested I ask her to go, I really wasn't expecting Maria to consider it. I mean we weren't talking about going to a beach that was an hour away for a day or anything. Were were talking about going half way across the world.
Despite all of that, I casually asked Sindia to send Maria a text message informing her that I was going to Egypt. Sindia sent the message. Maria responded immediately by saying she was intrigued. I then causally asked Sindia to give me Maria's phone number so I could send her a text message. She did. Maria and I then began to engage in conversation.
As Maria and I spoke, I could tell that she was interested. While being interested is cool, actually going through with it is something completely different. I sent her the days I was going, flight information, and the hotel I was staying at. She said she would see if she could make it work with her schedule.
After talking about Egypt, we started to talk about each other. This conversation really inspired me, and made me realize that Maria would be the perfect person to go to Egypt with.
Maria grew up in center city Allentown. She was one of 7 children. She did not have her father in her life. She grew up poor. The more she spoke, the more her story reminded me of my own.
Despite having multiple challenges in her childhood, Maria had big dreams. In middle school she fell in love with science. This love led her to want to pursue a career as a scientist. After graduating from high school she attended Auburn University Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama. She went on to earn her degree in Biology/Medical Technology. She has had a successful career in her field ever since. She currently works in the Martin Luther King Jr. building in Atlanta, Georgia. The Puerto-Rican girl from 6th and Turner St. in Allentown stepped out of her comfort zone, took the road less traveled, jumped off the high dive, and achieved her dream of becoming a scientist. These are the types of friends I need to have.
A few days after our initial conversation, Maria told me that she was able to make things work her schedule in a manner that would allow her to accompany me to Egypt. After discussing the logistics and specifics, she booked her trip. And just like that, we were going to Egypt.
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Before I go into detail, I just want to say that Egypt was and is an amazing place. I had very high expectations for this trip, and I was not disappointed. This was truly the experience of a lifetime.
We had a direct flight from JFK airport in NYC to Cairo Airport in Cairo Egypt. The flight was 10 hours long. It wasn't too bad.
Us at the airport
Ticket
Window view
I thought it was odd to have metal utensils on a plane
Coffee
The City: Cairo
Upon arrival in Cairo, I could immediately feel the energy of the city. There were people everywhere. Egypt is a collectivist culture... which means that family, community, and the well being of the group take precedent over any individual pursuits. It was beautiful to see so many people on the streets talking, smoking hookah, and just being together. Even though there are obvious economic hardships in the city, everyone seems to be very happy. The vibe was extremely infectious. Here are some pictures...
People hanging out outside of the store... smoking hookah
Nice flag
Cairo 2016... a man riding through the city on horse while talking on a cell phone
The gas price in the picture above is .95 Egyptian Pounds per liter. That would equate to roughly 41 cents per gallon in the United States
The traffic in Cairo is nothing like I have ever seen before. There are no such thing as lanes. People just drive wherever they have space. I saw literally 2 street lights in the entire city. Car horns are constantly beeping. It is absolutely unbelievable.
Motorcycles are everywhere. I routinely saw 2 and 3 people on the back of these very small bikes. I even saw a mother on the back of a motorcycle holding her baby while the father was weaving in and out of traffic.
This picture kind of summed everything up to us. In it are wild dogs, stray cats, and a horse. They are all in the the same place going through the same scraps. While it may seem relatively chaotic from the outside looking in, none of the animals look stressed. The cats are casually walking away. The horse is calm. The dogs are calm. Seemed like perfect harmony.
Above is a video of us walking through Cairo
Memphis Tours
Before I start talking about the excursions we went on, I wanted to talk a little about Memphis Tours. Memphis Tours was the company that we booked all of our excursions with. Prior to the trip I did a lot of research on the internet in reference to what touring company we should utilize when visiting historic places around Egypt. All roads led to Memphis Tours.
Words cannot explain how happy I was with their services. Each tour included our own personal Egyptologist and our own personal driver. We were picked up and dropped off at the hotel. There was no time limit. We could stay at each site for as long or as little as we liked. All of our tours included the price of admission to each site and a breakfast/lunch/dinner. If we wanted to randomly go somewhere or do something that wasn't scheduled for the day, we were accommodated. I really felt like I was hanging out with a friend that knew his way around the city and knew everything about the sites as opposed to a tour guide.
They offer services all throughout Africa. If you are making the trip, I highly recommend using their services. Their website is below...
Cairo Museum
Over 5,000 years of history and culture is stored at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Needless to say, I was extremely excited to visit.
Here is the ticket to the museum.
This is the outside of the museum
That is me with our tour guide Sherif. Again, he was wonderful.
Maria and Sherif
Some of the tools used to construct ancient Egyptian art
Look at the detail on this sculpture. The definition in the leg muscles, facial features, and entire body for that matter are unbelievable.
Even though it is only a few inches in height, this is one of the most significant pieces of art in the entire museum. It is a statue of Cheops, the builder of the great pyramid.
Undoubtedly the most famous artifact in the museum is the mask of King Tutankhamun, otherwise known as King Tut. This is a stock picture, not my own. You are not allowed to take pictures in the area where this mask is located.
In the grand scheme of Egyptian history, King Tut's reign was relatively insignificant. The reason he is so well known is because his tomb was discovered completely intact. The tombs of all of the other pharaohs had been robbed. The discovery of the untouched tomb of King Tut gave historians a complete and accurate depiction of what was in the tomb of a pharaoh.
Below are some other items that were found in the tomb...
Gold chair
Wooden statue of King Tut
Another gold chair
Ancient Egyptian games
Chest
There is another special room in the museum that you cannot take pictures in. It is the Royal Mummies Hall. Located in this special room are mummies of 11 of the most important pharaohs in Egyptian history, including my personal favorite pharaoh Ramses II. It is a pretty special place.
A separate ticket was needed to get in.
Above is a stock picture of the room I found on the internet.
Me leaving the museum.
Nile Boat Cruise
Through Memphis Tours, we booked a dinner cruise on the Nile river. It included a full buffet, a band, and a belly dancer. It was pretty cool. Pictures below...
The food was delicious. It was so good for the entire trip.
I was going in
The belly dancer was good.
Random Pictures
There was a wedding reception in the lobby of our hotel. What made this so awesome is that there were people from all around the world participating in the celebrations. It was pretty cool.
If you cannot read it, it says love. I got it for my mother because I love her.
Currencies from around the world. I have started my own little collection.
Above is Maria at the mortuary Temple of the pharaoh Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut is famous for portraying herself as a male, even though she was indeed a female.
Someone ate all of these desserts. I will give you a hint... it wasn't me!
Egyptian pounds
When in Egypt, do as the Egyptians do
We attended Muhammad Ali mosque. While I am not religious, I feel like it is important to walk in the footsteps of other greats. Here I am in the same place that Malcolm X once prayed. Shout out to Anthony at Random Objects for the t-shirt. You can check out their website at http://www.randomobjects.net/
The City: Luxor
Egypt is filled with history throughout the entire county, not just in Cairo. We decided to book a day trip to the historic city of Luxor. We had to fly in order to get there. A driver from Memphis Tours picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the airport, at which point we met a representative who gave us our boarding passes and walked us to security. Once we got off the plane, a Memphis Tour representative met us at the arrival gate and escorted us to our personal car. Again, I cannot say enough good things about Memphis Tours. What a smooth process.
Luxor is more rural than Cairo. It is also a lot greener. Here are some pictures...
That is the view from the patio of our hotel. It overlooked the Nile River and Valley of the Kings.
Hotel balcony
Children walking home from school. The kids have two shifts in school. One from 7:00 am until noon. The other shift is from noon until 5:00 pm.
Smelling the flowers
The famous Winter Palace Hotel. Agatha Christie wrote the famous book The Death On The Nile while staying there. I am not going to front... I have never read the book and have no clue who Agatha Christie is.
Chilling.
Karnak Temple
Our first stop in Luxor was at Karnak Temple. This historic area is a complex that was the primary place of worship of my favorite pharaoh, Ramses II. The complex consists of chapels, amazing pylons, and various other structures. Here are some pictures below...
Maria with our tour guide Mohamed aka Fetas. He was excellent.
Me with my favorite pharaoh, Ramses II
Look at that detail. Amazing.
Luxor Temple
Like Karnak Temple, Luxor was a prominent place of worship. This was one of my favorite places. See the pictures below...
I LOVED the walls
Look at the details
Valley of the Kings
No trip to Luxor is complete without visiting the Valley of the Kings. This area is where the tombs of multiple pharaohs were located. From the outside, it looks like any random mountain. On the inside though are elaborate tombs that served as final resting places for the Kings. Photos are not allowed inside the tombs, so I have taken some pictures from the internet of what is inside.
Looks like an empty mountain... nothing to see here.
Above are what the inside of some of the tombs look like. Because they are underground, a lot of the original color remains. The amount of work and attention to detail that went into constructing these tombs is unbelievable.
The Pyramids
While there are 7 wonders of the world, there really is no debate as to which is number one. Seeing the pyramids with my own eyes has been a life long dream of mine. Seeing them up close and personal was something that was truly special to me. I'm not even going to front, I got the chills when we walked up to them. We were in the presence of greatness. I had stepped out of my comfort zone, made multiple sacrifices, and jumped off of the high dive. I left my home country, traveled to a distant land, and had the experience of a lifetime. I saw the pyramids.
We ended up going to the pyramids 3 times. We went once with a Sherif of Memphis Tours, and twice by ourselves. We could see them from our hotel. They are truly amazing. Here are some pictures below...
It is HUGE. You can see it from outer space
Again, shout out to Random Objects for the t-shirt
Maria is blending in with the rocks
The People
The history in Egypt was amazing. After visiting Egypt and experiencing it first hand, I got a better understanding of why it was amazing. It is because of the people. The interactions I had with the Egyptian people as well as the people visiting Egypt were invaluable. motivational, and inspiring. Pictures, videos, and stories below...
I met these children in Old Cairo. It was a Friday. Friday is a Holy Day... kind of like our Sunday. Old Cairo is a very religious part of town. In Old Cairo I observed numerous Muslims and Christians intermingling. Everyone makes eye contact, is saying hello to each other, and is friendly. It is all love. These kids just came up to me and gave me a high five, so I decided to take a picture with them.
I met these children outside of Muhammad Ali mosque. These kids were sitting all by themselves, taking pictures of the mosque. It was awesome to see their genuine interest in their history and culture at such a young age.
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I saw people of all races and religions in Egypt. The last few pictures I posted were of Caucasians. In all of our conversations, they all advised me that they felt safe and their experiences were extremely enjoyable. I just wanted to give some first person insight for anyone who had those concerns.
This picture was taken after one of my favorite moments on the trip. We were leaving Karnak Temple, and we decided to stop at the store for water. Outside of the store was a group of kids playing a game of soccer. Our tour guide was a former soccer player, so he jumped into the game. He asked me to jump into the game too. I had never played soccer before, but I figured I would give it a shot. In the backdrop is the Nile River, and The Valley of the Kings behind that. What an awesome experience. Maria decided to get her phone and record the game. Watch what I did within about a minute of the game. Video below...
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Pictured above is our new friend Reggie. He stayed at the same hotel as we did, and we ate dinner with him 3 times. We had great conversations. He is from Wisconsin, lived in California, and currently resides in Prague, Czech Republic. It is beautiful thing seeing a brother step out of his comfort zone and relocate multiple times around the world. I was inspired.
Pictured above is my main man Ramses. He reminded me of Jerome from Martin. He thought he was so smooth. He definitely gave me a good laugh.
Above are the gentlemen that sold me this...
If you can't read it, just know that it is the name of a king.
This is my man Ahmed. He is one of the coolest cats I have met anywhere around the world. He owns an alabaster shop outside of Luxor. We were just chilling talking in his shop for about 30 minutes. We were talking about politics, money, iPhone vs. Samsung, and everything in between. As I was about to leave, he asked if he could add me as his friend on Facebook. I said of course. As soon as I accept his friend request, he said he to me... "Who is that?!" He clicked on one of my friends profiles, and proceeded to show me a picture of who he was talking about...
He loves you Chasity!
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I'm not exactly sure what happened or why, but these girls were in LOVE with Maria. This was just an absolute beautiful site to see.
Above is a picture of myself sitting with a man named Abdul. I engaged in many conversations on this trip. This conversation though was definitely my favorite, and the most telling for me. To put things into context, Abdul brings his camel to the pyramids in hopes of selling camel rides. He encounters people from all around the world every single day. Here is a video of part of our conversation below...
In the video, I asked him what nationality of people are the friendliest people, and which are the worst. He responded by saying "they are all the same."
That comment really resonated with me. We really are all the same.
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And that was our trip to Egypt. It was really a life changing experience. I am extremely thankful that Maria was able to accompany me. Sharing this experience with her helped me gain a lifelong friend.
I hope you can take something away from this. I am forever grateful that Joe encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone in hopes of achieving something special. I hope seeing this inspires you to jump off of your metaphorical high dive... whatever that may be.
Until next time... Love.
-Kyle
