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Yesterday's presentation went pretty well - no projector, but the speakers meant that my choice of accompanying music - Living in America by James Brown - blared forth will all due gusto and funk. Also included in the LC meeting was a very interesting debate on the acceptance of homosexuality in Egypt - it's these things, my friends, that make traineeships especially delicious.

Today’s adventure was a exploration of the Egyptian Museum in the center of Cairo. After being screwed over by a yellow (ie metered) cab (which failed to show up despite being based 200 meters from our apartment, the five of us piled into a trusty black-and-white cab and headed downtown. The Egyptian Museum houses a massive array of artifacts excavated from the burial tombs of ancient Egyptian rulers, priests and general celebrities, and promised to be one of the more memorable outings during our time in Cairo – into the site we ventured.

Now, one of the good things about the touristy places is that, while admission charges are the norm, students get a good discount (50% off entry to both the Museum and the Pyramids, for a start; train fares are also reduced). Unfortunately, I am no longer a student, no matter how many times I’ve frequented Bloomington, Indiana over the last two years. But the pressures of my below-the-poverty-line budget were great, and… well, if anyone asks, my New York state ID really means “New York State University”, alright?

So anyway, we head in and make our plans. Roeland (Dutch YES trainee) and I head straight for the Royal Mummy Rooms, while Evi (Greece) Kartik (India) and Kiran (UK) head elsewhere. My NYSU ID works again and E£50 later we hit up some hot mummy action. Very interesting stuff, if a little bit morbid (and that’s not bringing into question the ethical dilemma of disturbing someone’s final resting place and leaving their remains in a dimly-lit glass coffin for the paying public to see). Still, there are some top quality MILFs (Mummies I’d Like to Fototgraph) there, even if they don’t allow cameras anywhere ever.

Like I said, the museum is primarily stocked with artifacts from tombs, so the exhibits can range from the well-known and breath-taking (Tutenkhamun’s death mask, in all it’s golden glory) to the stuff you just saw 2 minutes ago (sarcophagus #332, next to sarcophagus #333). Still, realizing that everything there is at least 2000 years old and remains in good repair in pretty stunning. Seeing beautifully intricate carvings on the side of a 10-foot long granite coffin is impressive enough even without the vast time difference in between you and the guy who carved them.

5 hours and several sneaky photographs later we headed out into the mid-afternoon sun. I saw about 20 mummies, some cool tools, many shiny things, 2 mullets (both belonging to boys no older than 11) and one pair of spectacular blue-grey-and-yellow striped pants. Commendations to that man in particular, well done sir.

Oh, and I wanged my shin on a heater while doing pull-ups. Nothing to do with the Museum, but that’s the other significant thing that happened today and I thought you should know. Dammit that hurt.