صباح الخي my Exceptional Friends,
This is Bart - your traveling Blogger. Does the language I used in my greeting look familiar? It should—it is Arabic, the same language I taught you when I was in Libya. But now I am in Egypt. صباح الخي means good morning and is pronounced “sabah el-kheir”. Check out my location on the map link.
Arabic has been the language of Egypt since the 12th century. Long before Arabic became the language, ancient Egyptians used pictures to communicate called hieroglyphics. Here’s a link that lets you translate words from English to hieroglyphics. Maybe you can all spell your names in ancient Egyptian.
Egypt is full of wonderful history and landmarks. At one time Egypt was a very large, powerful nation. Their rulers were called Pharaohs. They built extravagant tombs to hold their remains when they died. Maybe you already know about the Great Pyramids. I also explored the sphinx. It is an old structure that was carved to have the head of a man and the body of a lion. This is a site that allows greater exploration of Egypt. There are lots of pictures and excellent facts!
Egyptians have a unique custom. When adults shake hands they also kiss the person once on each cheek. I don’t want to be rude, so I am participating in as many of their customs as possible. It is hard to imagine doing that in America, but that is because it is not our way of life. Whenever I travel to another country I always try my best to act as the locals act. I have to keep in mind that it is their country, and I am a guest in their land.
Well, I hope you all had a wonderful field trip. I can’t wait to read all about your favorite things, and details, details, and more details!
Post a blog and I’ll log on and read as soon as I can. Only a few more days left of alphabet countdown, but I still have four more very adventurous places to take you. I am off to my next destination. I’ll give you a hint: there are many elephants (but they are not African!).
Your Excellent, Ecstatic, Elephant-riding Friend,
Bart
Bart I am sending Mrs J a booklet with
ReplyDeletehieroglyphics in it, my Mom is a freak over that stuff. Maybe you can copy it and pass out to my classmates, there is also a cool face on the last page that we could maybe color.
Love, Conrad
One of my favorite books is The Egypt Game. The public library has it on tape if you'd like to listen over the summer. :) Katherine's mom
ReplyDelete