Cairo Egypt!

We really wanted to go to Egypt and it didn't seem like it was super safe but we'd probably be okay. Everyone said to get in and get out as quickly as possible. So here we go! We're leaving Accra, Ghana.

It took us about 5 hours to fly to Cairo and it was about 10 p.m. when we landed. Our airbnb had the coolest balcony with an awesome view of the pyramids! Unfortunately, it didn't have heat. It was kind of cold. Probably in the 50s during the day. It's quite a bit farther north than Ghana and it's still winter.

When we arrived, we asked our airbnb host if it was safe enough to go buy some water and snacks and he said it was perfectly safe. He came with us anyway. Merril bought some food from a street vendor and I stopped at a convenience store and got some yogurt and water and other snacks. It all felt very good wandering around. There were lots of people out and about.

In the wee hours of the morning, we heard a call to prayer over loudspeakers. It was probably 5 a.m. Wild! Time to go!

Our airbnb host hooked us up with a driver and guide. Our guide's name was Amina. We stopped and grabbed some quick Egyptian breakfast and then went to the pyramids! Wow! They're so freaking big like you can't even believe it! Giza plateau is super impressive!

Amina said these are cool to look at but they don't really have any hieroglyphs inside. She said she would make sure to take us to some with hieroglyphs.

We're at the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Next we drove around to a view point of the pyramids and Merril really wanted to ride a camel. That kind of surprised me but when in Egypt!

Mark and Janet rode in a horse-drawn cart.

Gram and Gramps posed and the camel wanted to eat Grandma's hair.

We had Amina jump in a picture with us.

So cool! Then we visited the Sphinx. It's smaller than I thought. It's still big but not like the pyramids.

Then we visited the Step Pyramid of Djoser and Sala de las Columnas.

Then we went to the Tomb the Mereruka. It had some of the coolest stuff. LOTS of hieroglyphs!

We had to climb down a ladder/staircase and found some cool stuff. Merril's parents were troopers! They were walking all over and climbing down the ladder stairs! I was just praying that they didn't fall and get hurt.

Danngggg! It's like I've seen replicas of hieroglyphs on Disney rides for years but now I'm here and these are the real thing!

This room was really cool!

Then we came back up and explored some rooms and these paintings still had the color on them.

There were carvings on the outside of the building too. 

Then we had lunch at this Egyptian buffet.

After lunch we went to a shop and found Gramps a coat because he was freezing. They had left their winter stuff home in St. George because Ghana is so warm. Grandpa really didn't have a warm jacket to pack for Egypt. Amina and our driver took a fun picture of the inside of the van. 

They also took us to a shop that makes papyrus.

This is my name and Merril's name that they painted on this painting of a couple. Merril wanted to buy it and bring it home.

Then we went to the new Grand Egyptian Museum. It's actually only partially open. They still need to bring King Tut from the old museum. I think we got discounted tickets but this place was HUGE! This is a statue of Statue of Ramesses II. He's 36 feet tall.

Merril liked how all the statues of the men and women were very close and looked like they supported each other.

That place was absolutely packed with cool artifacts!

I wanted a picture outside of this huge obelisk. The obelisk is suspended so you can look at the bottom and see Ramses II‘s cartridges. There was a motorcade of some dignitaries and they ran us off. I was worried about it but Amina was like, It's fine! We'll hurry! She was great! We did get yelled at by security for a hot second.

Then we boarded a Nile River Cruise with dinner. There were performers and these guys would spin in these cool costumes and were probably spinning for 8-10 minutes. It was so long. We all decided we would've been dizzy and fallen over. Then we went to the airbnb and fell asleep so that we could leave early the next morning.

We got on a plane and started to taxi and it was making some weird noises. We sat there for a long time and busses came to the side of the plane like they were going to deboard us but then drove away. They came back after a while and we deboarded and were sent to wait in an unused terminal. We waited there for a few hours and they fed us. They found another plane with no logos on it and it seemed pretty old. My seat had an ashtray. Lol. We finally made it back to Ghana.

We had a temple appointment at the Accra Temple but our flight snafu took too long so we just got ice cream and went to look at it. 

We flew out the next morning and I'm pretty excited to get back home. I felt bad leaving. I don't think I've seen Janet cry very many times but she was crying as we left. I think she misses home and her mission is pretty hard. But they'll keep at it and be home for Christmas! 

Ghana Africa

This is going to be a long flight but at least I've got some legroom!

We arrived in Ghana after a 5 1/2 flight from Vegas to JFK and a 10 1/2 hour flight to Accra, Ghana. I'm dead. All of the suitcases that need to get to the mission office made it! We barely have any luggage but we brought a bunch of stuff to the mission home for Elders and Sisters. We even had one Mom ask us to bring a loaf of Grandma Sycamore's white bread. That cracked me up. We dropped off the luggage at the mission home first thing. 

I was so tired when we got there but we had a 4-hour drive in the truck because it was morning when we got there. I about died. I was fighting for my life in the back seat of that truck. We got to an airbnb in the evening and I had a nap and was the best thing ever! We ate dinner and got a full night's sleep and then I was ready for adventure!

We hiked in this Akwaaba rainforest that had a bunch of suspension bridges.

Mikayla would love this sick lizard!

We left there and drove to Cape Coast. I love the culture. People just getting to work. Nothing to see here.

This is Cape Coast Castle. This is the location where would house all the African slaves they rounded up until it was time to ship them all over the world. They were in dungeons, it was pretty grim. Important, but grim.

There were groups of high school girls and they wanted to take pictures with grandma. Then they asked if they could touch her hair and she said yes. It was hilarious! They were so adorable.

Merril and I hiked up Fort Victoria. There were still a cannon. 

I love how people carry things around on their heads!

Look! They sell water in bags. It's super cheap. You just nibble a corner and suck the water out. Even the locals don't drink the water. Everyone drinks filtered water.

We went on a boat ride up the Volta River to the Akosombo Dam.

We found where Longitude is 0!

I love how on Google Maps it says my GPS coordinates are -0.000000 lol.

Then grandma and grandpa were trying a new road back to their apartment and it ended up being a bust. This random guy on a motorcycle was so nice and drove us around on a detour and we gave him some cash. He was so nice! We made it back to their apartment in Penyi.

The next day we spent the day doing stuff around Penyi. Merril wanted to check out these motorcycle trucks. 

We made cookies with the Vida. She's the stake relief society president, if I remember right. Merril really wanted to eat some very authentic food and Vida said she could hook us up with a good place.

It was very primitive but Vida said it was the best place to get fufu, which is very traditional food for West Africa. 

It's a ball of cassava mash or yucca. It's a ball of dough and is called a "swallow food." They mash up cassava, which is a root vegetable that grows well there, and put the dough ball in a soup with meat. We got some sort or fish head and mystery meat? We ate with our fingers. I ate until I was full but there was still a lot leftover. It was the most authentic food I've ever eaten. All was well, we didn't get sick. I think grandma about had a stroke when she saw it. She doesn't eat local food.

After lunch, we got a drink at God's Way Super Mall.

We met up with the Elders later that day and said we wanted to buy them dinner! They said absolutely!

Grandma said all the elders go to Mr. Big Chicken so that's where we went!

Then Grandma took us to the beach!

The next day we went to the Penyi branch for church. It's a nice building but there wasn't any water because it hasn't rained for a very long time there.

Then Grandpa showed us this house owned by a wealthy member. He hosts get togethers for the branch.

Grandpa fell asleep in the chair at the apartment Sunday afternoon, as he does at home!

 

My impressions of Ghana was that's it's very poor but the people there were nice. I don't feel like they notice that they're poor and there was a lot of garbage around but that's hardly their fault. The government doesn't really pick up trash well. There's one dumpster in the middle of town that doesn't get emptied nearly enough. So most people just throw their trash on the ground. I thought the children were so cute and tried to wave and smile at them but they just looked at me like I was bonkers. I don't think very many white people travel to that part of Africa. Penyi isn't a tourist destination. I was amazed by the moms who would carry their children around on their backs.

This is a big semi truck loaded with cows. Then they loaded more stuff and people on the top. The people are supposed to poke the cows so they don't lie down, otherwise they'll die. I was glad to go to Ghana. I don't know if I'll go back.

Now we fly to Egypt! Oh yeah baby! I've been looking forward to ticking Egypt off my bucket list for a long time!

Valentine's Day

Okay, this first picture isn't Valentine's. It's Stockton's farewell but Mark and Talon are all matchy so I wanted to put it in. I haven't mentioned it but Mark's been passing the sacrament for a few weeks now. He was so nervous but he's getting much better. He's starting to look like a pro. 

The traditional chocolate fondue for Valentine's Day! It's so good and stupid easy! Yassss!

I think Mark is going to eat it all by himself. I love these people!

Look at this cute post Maxine made about me. 🩷 It's for my birthday.

 

Hiking with Friends

Anne Inouye wanted to hike Molly's Nipple for her birthday. The first time I realized I got the date wrong and showed up and waited for a while. I sent a text to Anne and she was like, "it's not until next week." Whoops. I came back next week to try again. I haven't been hiking as much and am out of shape. This hike was kicking my butt. It was also way colder than I thought it was going to be. I should've brought a jacket. I didn't die so we're all good.

One of the hikers said her husband could see us from where he works. He took a picture of us at the top. We're so little but you can totally see us! It was nice to get out there!

Mikayla's 13th Birthday!

Mikayla is officially a teenager! Wut. I can't believe it. She's a great kid. We love her. We had a small party with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. 

Mikayla got some presents from Grandma Campbell, from Ghana.

And this picture is from temple baptisms with the ward.

Grandma Evans Funeral

Grandma Evans passed away this week. It is sad but she was 93 and been living in a retirement home for a few years so it's okay. I remember when she was younger, we would go to the Laub reunion in Beryl and there would be horse back riding and cousins and food and hanging out. She was a temple worker and that's where she met her second husband, Gary Evans. She was kind and a hard worker. We'll see her again someday. Juliet played the piano and Mikayla played the cello for a musical number. The rest of us sang. 

I don't have a single picture of the funeral but the grandkid cousins got together.

Stephanie, Maxine, and Jade went bar hopping at all the bars in St. George. It seems like that wouldn't take very long. Lol.