Cairo, Egypt

Today has been a busy and eventful day. We woke up to the eerily beautiful sound of the multiple simultaneous calls to prayer from the mosques at 4:30 AM in Wadi Musa, Jordan. We drove back to Amman and caught our flight out to Cairo, where we had a 12 hour layover prior to flying on to southern Africa. Always wanting to make the most of our time while travelling, we took a tour to see the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. They are so much cooler (and bigger) in person! We were picked up from Cairo Airport, and we drove about a half hour to reach the site, while driving down the highway, we saw the massive pyramids rising in the distance, from behind skyscrapers and other big city buildings. We crossed over the Nile and arrived at the pyramid complex. They are over 4000 years old- by far the oldest man-made structures we have ever seen (we realized that with every stop on our trip so far we have been going further and further back in time). It is amazing how well preserved they are given their age. We saw the three major pyramids (Great Pyramid of Cheops, Pyramid of Chephron, and the Pyramid of Mycerinus). The pyramids served as tombs and monuments to these three pharaohs, commissioned by the pharaohs while they were still living. We went inside the smallest of the three pyramids- the Pyramid of Mycerinus- crawling down the steep passageway to reach the tombs where the mummy was kept. We also saw the Sphinx and the Valley Temple (where mummification processes took place). Finally, we went to a place and saw how papyrus paper is made, and also had a semi-Egyptian dinner with a view overlooking the pyramids.

We returned to Cairo International Airport, and are now waiting for our overnight flight out to southern Africa. And that's all that happened today.

Just kidding. Today was Match Day, which means that we find out the hospital where I matched for residency in Emergency Medicine, and the city where we are going to be living for the next few years. We are sad to be missing the celebrations and ceremony back home, but how many people can say they were inside one of the Pyramids of Giza on Match Day?!? This day has been a bit longer and more suspenseful for us due to the time change (finding out at 1pm EST means finding out at 7pm in Cairo- so a lot more hours in the day of waiting). So without further ado, here is "Match Day v2.0: Cairo International Airport Edition:"

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Emory!!!! :) :) :) We are very excited to find out that we are moving to Atlanta!! Congratulations to everyone who matched today back home, and we can't wait to celebrate with you all when we are back in the States!