Sukkot!

The title is deceiving...but today was great!! It was the second day of sukkot, so after a nice leisurely morning of sleeping in and packing up and went back to the synagogue, which was not open. So Matt and I went back to the hostel to get his siddur and they kindly let him pray in the back courtyard while I relaxed and read about Luxor.

When he was finished with services, we walked to the Abdeen palace. There were lots of old guns and gifts from foreign dignitaries and expensive things that belonged to the royal families. There was also a button collection from one of the kings who liked to collect old US political buttons, interesting that he liked them!

We were starving after and we found a little hole in the wall shack and got a foul sandwich and a fafafel sandwich which we ate next stay at a tea place and played backgammon, or tawla (tavla in Turkish) I beat Matt, of course. But then the natives wanted to play and the Egyptian guy beat me, but they were good games, and Fatih would have been proud of me. It was 5-4 and the men were very impressed with my abilities and the last game the guy got 3 double 6s...it was crazy!

I wanted to buy that tavla board for Matt because we both thought it would be cool to have an old one, but they wouldn't let us, but I turned on my charm and they told me to come back in a couple of days so they could ask the owner. So Tuesday morning, we're going back to try to get it! I told them I'm coming for breakfast so they better be ready!!! It was such a fun adventure and relaxing afternoon, it was like the Shabbat that never happened on Saturday and we needed a nice day to relax. Tonight we're going to Luxor on a ten hour train. =) (Bryce, it'll be like Bulgaria, with no chance of a blizzard!!!!!!!!!)