1986-1987 Rothberg Yearbook

Sunday morning we mini-bused further south to A sw an .
The highlight of Aswan was sailing a fe lu c c a (fancy Egyptian
term for sailboat) on the Nile to the “fantasy” island of
Kitchener. K itc h e n e r Is la n d is the home of a beautiful
botanical garden. We sailed until sunset, stuffed ourselves w ith
shishkebob, and shopped until 10:00 P.M. On the return to
Luxor, we saw the incredible temples at K o m O m bo and
E d fu . That night we returned to Cairo via night train.
The last two days in Cairo were added later and somewhat
adlibbed. We visited C o p tic churches and the country’s only
two synagogues. The older one, B en E zra, is undergoing
restoration and will be impressive when completed. The newer
one, not far from the center of Cairo, is the only functioning
synagogue in Egypt for a dwindling Jewish population of under
100 Jews. We also golfed under the Pyram ids and returned to
them our last night - on horseback at sunset.
Egypt is great for the tourist. It’s hard to believe you are
investigating temples and reading (?) heiroglyphics thousands
of years old. Like Israel, it is a land of living history. Everyone
is friendly and relaxed. The few English phrases everyone
knows are “W elcom e to E g y p t”, “I love A m e ric a ”, and “No
ch arg e fo r looking.” I was concerned about wearing Israeli
t-shirts, but they only brought out shouts of “Shalom!” and
“Baruch HaBa!”
Egypt is also great for the student because everything is
cheap. Hotels are $4 a night, admission prices run from $0.25 to
$1, a five course meal is $2.50, and felafel (fast food) and soda is
$0.18. The entire country runs on “b a k sh e e sh ” or tips. For a
little baksheesh, guards will open locked doors or take you to
spots you may have missed. The kids convince you to take a
picture w ith them and their pet goat and then ask for it.
Usually $0.25 is enough to satisfy them. Overall the trip was a
huge success and a hell of a lot of fun!