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Successful Training Trip To Egypt Ends For Women's Squash: Full Blog Here
October 30, 2008 | Women's Squash
The Princeton women's squash team isn't preparing for the upcoming season in a usual location. The team is using its fall break week to travel to Egypt, where its captains Aly Brady, Maggie O'Toole and Joanna Scoon, as well as the rest of the team, are keeping their friends and Princeton fans updated on the exciting week.
Check back on the Princeton women's squash team page throughout the week for updates to this blog.
CONCLUSION
Dear Jackie and Friends,
Our last full day in Egypt was devoted to the glories of the West Bank of Luxor. After a short drive across the fertile Nile valley (I wonder how it stays so green now that the Nile no longer floods it every year), we came to the barren wastes of the desert and the famous Valley of the Kings. Our very knowledgeable guide, Abdul, told us some of the history of this extraordinary place, and then we set of to explore some of the more accessible tombs, including that of the Ramseses IV and VI and Seti I, and to admire their colorful decorations. It is incredible that such beautiful painting has survived so many thousands of years in such great condition, and fascinating to realize that so much of this great historical treasure has only been discovered very recently, giving rise to an expectation that there is much more to be unearthed in the future.
We piled back in the bus to drive to another wonder, Hatshepsut's temple, most of which was carved out of the rock. It was so dry and hot in the mid-day sun that it was difficult to imagine it in its days of glory surrounded with myrrh trees and fountains?where had all that water gone? Today, the site is as dry as dust, although what remains is still magnificent.
On our way back to Luxor, we passed the Colossi of Memnon, two gigantic statues of Amenophis III almost 20 meters high. Incredible to realize that earlier tourists such as Alexander the Great and the Roman Emperor Hadrian has passed the same way and also wondered at these mighty works.
Then it was back to the hotel, and while the younger members of the group settled for an afternoon around the hotel pool, dreaming of the luxuries of the developed world (which as far as I could figure out included hot showers, the provision of toilet paper in public bathrooms, iced lattes, and the latest episode of Gossip Girls), the older members set off in a horse-drawn carriage to practice their bargaining skills one last time in the souks of Luxor.
For our last evening, we took in the famous “son et lumiere” at Karnak temple. Even if some of the dialogue of the show was, as our guide book suggested “high kitsch”, the spectacle of these magnificent ruins at night lit up in such a magnificent display was worth the price we had to pay in lack of sleep (you can always sleep on the plane home, right?). Then it was off the airport for a late night flight back to Cairo and our old haunt, the Fairmount Hotel for a few hours sleep before another early start to catch our flight home.
Richard, Gail and Kathy
DAY 6
Dear Jackie and Friends,
Today was another unbelievable experience in Egypt. We were able to mix the day with fun, relaxation, and culture. Our trip to Luxor is in honor of a great coach, Julie Harris, from the Philadelphia Cricket Club. She has won a national doubles championship with Gail, and taught both Emery and Aly to play squash at a young age. We thank her for this incredible experience.
We began our day with breakfast at our hotel overlooking the Nile. Then we set out to tour the temples of Karnak and Luxor. First was our visit to the Karnak temple, the bigger of the two. It has three large temples in the complex of the gods Mut, Montu, and Amun. We saw the inscription of the Roman emperor Ptolomus in hieroglyphics. We learned about the various rituals that went on, including moving boats through the avenue of the sphinxes (a line of statues with ram heads attached to lion bodies and with the emperors statues in front of them). We ventured to the sacred lake in the temple and even participating in an ancient ritual of the Scared Scarab Beetle. We walked around it seven times for good luck and fertility. After that we were able to explore the temple on our own, and even discovered color paintings that remained on the ceilings and walls.
We continued our trip to the Luxor temple in the center of the city with views of the Nile. This was a lot smaller, only covering about five acres, but it did have monuments that were just as magnificent. It was at this time the call to prayer started at the mosque that was built inside the temple. There was also a Christian church built into the rear of the complex. Remains of Roman frescoes which were directly placed over hieroglyphics still exist. It was quite a sight to see.
After a long morning of touring, we came back to the hotel and spent the rest of the sunny afternoon by the pool. Some of us took a carriage to the museum in town, others got massages, while more of us took some time to visit the local shops and pick up souvenirs. After relaxing in the sun, we drove to Old Winter Palace for an amazing dinner of four courses. The palace was built by the British in in the late 1800s and had the most incredible oriental vases and rugs. In
the rear were spectacular formal gardens that we were able to take a peek at from the library windows. Our dinner was delicious and served on silver plates with beautiful flatware. This was the perfect ending to a great day and once again we are so appreciative for this experience.
More to come tomorrow, our coaches will be talking about our last day here. Then we set off on our long trip home, we can't wait to see you Jackie!!
Aly, Maggie, Joanna (Class of '09)
DAY 5
Dear Jackie and Friends,
Today was our last day in Cairo. We began the day with training at the National Center. After receiving final points of instruction during our three-person drills, we had the privilege of watching some professional squash players play against each other. Their skills, nicks and court awareness amazed us. For example, one person would hit the ball into the nick and even though we were sure it would be a winner, the next person would quickly retrieve it with ease. After expressing our gratitude and saying good-bye to our Egyptian friends at the courts, we quickly packed and headed for our flight to Luxor.
Upon our arrival in Luxor, we found sidewalks, stoplights and a population under 2 million to be a dramatic change from Cairo. We are looking forward to touring the ancient temples and to whatever adventures we may encounter tomorrow.
-Katie, Clare, Daphne and Eliza
DAY 4
Dear Jackie and Friends,
We started off our day today with our fourth intense morning squash
session. We focused on footwork and court movement along with some
drills and match play.
After playing we stopped for a quick lunch on our way to the Mohammad Ali mosque in The Citadel where we met up with our tour guide once again. He told us about Islam and the history of the mosque which, as he informed us, has no connection to the boxer.
Once inside The Citadel we took a bunch of photos overlooking a spectacular panoramic view of Cairo. We then ventured into the mosque, making sure to be fully covered and leaving our shoes outside.
Inside the mosque we saw people praying along with beautiful architecture and tourists who looked much more out of place than we did.
After the mosque we piled back onto the bus where most of us napped before our evening matches. Later we played again against some local squash players. Though they were half our age they were relentless on the court and gave all of us good matches.
By the end of the day everybody was very tired so we had a
quiet dinner at the hotel and went to sleep early, looking forward to
our trip to Luxor.
Wish you were here!
- Julia and Nikki
DAY 3
Dear Jackie and Friends,
We began our day with our usual breakfast buffet filled with delicious fruits, omelets, muffins galore! Full from breakfast, we then boarded our Memphis Tours bus and heading to the squash courts ready for our first day of double session squash.
At the courts, we split into two groups each playing a hard two Egyptian training hours, complete with boasts, nicks, and volleys. Our friend Ashraf showed us how to “walk like an Egyptian” -- well, maybe not walk but “ghost like an Egyptian” to the back of the court.
After squash we boarded our faithful bus again for another journey. We arrived to find ourselves sitting in a true Egyptian-style restaurant, recommended by Ashraf. The restaurant was filled with handmade artifacts, woven chairs, wooden hand carved tables, and papyrus placemats. The food was incredible!! Every table was served warm pita breads and an array of dips: hummus, babaganoosh, garlic, and sesame. With our stomachs full we went straight for the gift shops to see what trinkets we could bring back.
Although we did not have enough time to catch the last tour of the Sakkara and Memphis, our driver took us to a perfect place to get a panoramic view of the Step Pyramid, the oldest standing pyramid in Egypt.
Once everyone got the perfect picture we went to play our first night matches. The courts at the Heliopolis club where the El Halaby family learned to nick every shot were a new experience for all of us as two of them were outside. The talents of our young Egyptian opponents truly amazed us.
After a long day we finally arrived home at the hotel at around 10:30pm, hurried for a quick dinner, and went to our rooms for a long waited and much needed good nights sleep.
Xoxo,
Vanessa, Amanda, Blair
Updated Oct. 30
We're still not sure if today really happened because its hard to believe that so much could be packed into one day?especially given all the traffic! The day began with another great session of squash. We continued to be amazed at the progress we feel in only two days. Our time spent on court with has been invaluable. We worked out with Ashraf, Omar, and Haitham, and focused on the boast and footwork today. We did three-person drills that concentrated on ball control and “delaying” the shot and finished up with movement to the front court.
After our morning session, we drove through Cairo to the Pyramids of Giza. Some of us decided we were brave enough to go down into one. We crept backwards down a small passageway and ended up in the small, underground burial chamber of a queen. Needless to say it was very hot down there.
The pyramids were even more magnificent than we imagined and absolutely huge! After walking around the nine pyramids, we all rode camels (ours were named Titanic and Michael Jackson) through the Sahara Desert to a beautiful spot where we had a panoramic view of the all nine.
After our pyramid adventure, we went to see the Sphinx just as the sun was going down. The team got hungry and we stopped at a Pizza Hut that had a beautiful view of the pyramids and sphinx. Once we were refueled, we left Giza and headed for the Nile. On our way, we stopped at a Papyrus store where we learned how the Ancient Egyptians made paper from the plants that grow in the region. When we got to the banks of the Nile, there was a beautifully decorated boat waiting to take us on a cruise. We had a delicious dinner followed by belly dancing and live music. We even convinced them it was Gail's birthday, and got the whole boat to sing to her! After our exciting day of sightseeing and squash, we all fell asleep on the bus ride home and got our rest for another big adventure in Egypt the next day. (Miss you Jackie...)
-Neha, Kaitlin, Emery
Dear Jackie and Friends,
Our trip to Egypt has been awesome so far. We left Princeton on Friday afternoon and encountered our first obstacle on the car ride to JFK. It seems one suitcase fell out of the back of the van on the BQE. It was our coach, Gail's, bag with all sorts of paperwork, medicine, and Maggie's squash shoes. Luckily a nice man found it and called Gail yesterday! We arrived in Cairo very tired after a 10-hour flight and got to our hotel. We slept and recovered by the pool all day and ate Lebonese and Chinese food for dinner. Today we played our first session of squash. We played at the National Training Center in Cairo where we will be playing all week. After our long session, we drove to the Egyptian Museum. We got an entertaining tour of King Tut's tomb and artifacts. We got to see ancient Egyptian jewelry and mummies of both humans and animals- including a 15 foot crocodile! We drove back through the city and were very surprised by our views of Cairo so far. Everyone is really friendly, but the traffic and drivers have been crazy! It is so funny to think of our friends Heesh and Yasser living here. The food at the hotel has been surprisingly great.
Please check back for more later this week. Tomorrow we have a great day planned- we are going to play squash in the morning, go to the pyramids and ride camels in the afternoon, and take a dinner cruise on the Nile! Hope you are all doing well at home.
Aly, Joanna, and Maggie (Class of 2009)