Welcome!

My name is Zachary Zimmer, usually known as Mr. Z in the classroom and Coach Z on the game field. I am blessed to have the opportunity to teach a great group of seventh grade students at Westfield Middle School (a suburb of Indianapolis). I also coach baseball at the middle school and football at the nearby high school.

I am fortunate to have been given the opportunity by Hilton Hotels and the IIE to travel to the country of Egypt this summer. While in Egypt, I will learn the amazing ancient history of the area and the modern-day culture of the country. I also will be taking my lovely wife Janell Zimmer on the trip and she will be recording a hand-written journal as I blog.

This blog is an opportunity for me to share my experiences and findings along the unique journey we will complete. Thanks again for your support in earning this grant and incredible experience.

Scheduled Itinerary

Though I am sure things will change along the journey, here is the planned two weeks I have put together for our trip:

Day 1: Arrive to Egypt (Cairo)

Day 2: Cairo: Pyramids of Giza, Great Sphinx, Sakkara, Memphis

Day 3: Day trip to Alexandria: Qaitbey Citadel, Bibliotheca Alexandria

Day 4: Cairo: Egyptian Museum, Citadel/Mosque tour, Khan El Khalili (Old Cairo market)

Day 5: Transfer down to Aswan

Day 6: Day trip to Abu Simbel

Day 7: Nile River Cruise Day 1: Aswan High Dam, Temple of Philae

Day 8: Nile River Cruise Day 2: Kom Ombo, Edfu (Horus Temple)

Day 9: Nile River Cruise Day 3: East Bank- Karnak and Luxor Temples

Day 10: Luxor: West Bank- Valley of the Kings & Queens

Day 11: Luxor: West Bank- Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Day 12: Luxor: Nile River study

Day 13: Transfer back to Cairo

Day 14: Depart Egypt

Departure one week from today

Janell and I will board our flight next Friday as we head to Egypt. I secured our visas in Chicago this week and all is set on being able to enter the country for 14 days.

As I continue to await the trip, I find myself thinking about Egypt in various ways. For example, I swatted a fly this morning and remembered how the ancient Egyptians used giraffe tails to swat flies along the Nile. With giraffes being my favorite animal, it is one of the few things I have to be angry at the dear ancient Egyptians of the past. Also, I am about to mow my grass and checked the 10 day forecast for Indianapolis. I was angry to not see much rain in the predictions as I think back to our dry summer last year. Well, I realized I cannot complain too much in comparison to the country I am visiting next week. Most of Egypt only receives on average about 1-2 inches of rain PER YEAR. Why is that students? Climate is a crazy thing.

Packing

With only a few days left until departure, Janell and I are finalizing our packing and planning of the trip. We are keeping the trip in the side of our mind though as Janell prepares for a Law School Exam on Wednesday and I have Youth football camp with the bright future of Westfield football until Thursday. The packing has been interesting as we balance the hot desert climate temperatures and the modest religious culture. We must dress light but also remember to cover shoulders/knees in most areas. A few new things purchased include SPF 50 sunscreen, an electric outlet adapter (different plugs in Egypt), circular hats, and an Arabic translator manual. Regarding clothes, my wife bought some long skirts and I bought some of the thin athletic cargo pants that zip off into shorts. I was excited about them but many have teased me about this purchase (Oh well- I have never been a a man of fashion as most know :) ).

Regarding my discovery of culture while we are there, I have been able to gather a few new contacts while we are there. It will be good to have these in case we need assistance and I also would like to be able to interact with citizens of each city we visit. I have also been given advice to try a few new food dishes including Koushari (Macaroni, rice chickpeas, lentils) and Ful Medames (Lava beans, garlic, oil, lemon juice). Additionally, I would like to try a few common Mediterranean foods that I enjoy during our day trip to Alexandria.

Along the trip I will visit the old capital Memphis on our first day there. It is a place that is sometimes forgotten in Cairo with the famous Pyramids nearby in Giza. Students- who founded the capital Memphis in ancient Egypt? Hint- he was the first pharaoh that united Upper and Lower Egypt by putting on the Double Crown. Second Hint- I am about to eat a sandwich with a great condiment on top of it and it is not mustard :).

4 days away....!

PS- The Zimmer family added another member yesterday as Logan Alexander Zimmer was born to my brother and his wife Amy yesterday. Excited to tell him about this trip some day!

Expected Adventure

We received word yesterday that the US Embassy of Cairo will be closed on Sunday (we arrive Saturday). They are shutting down the office this day because of scheduled uprising and protests that have been talked about for the last few weeks. Sunday is June 30th and it is the 1 year anniversary of the election of the new president (Morsi). It is not good news to hear but we will just have to be very smart in where we go the first few days of the trip. Before our Honeymoon to Mexico, we heard many talk about the violence there as well. There are issues in all countries (including ours) and we will just need to be smart at all times in where we go and how we approach each situation. However, I will say that the comfort level has definitely changed a little as we prepare for our departure.

If we do need to get out for any reason though, Janell and I are pretty good at leaving countries fast. However, the first time was for a Butler National Championship basketball game...not unrest.

3 days,
ZZ

Schools

I have been unsuccessful in contacting any schools in Cairo but I do plan to stop by a few on our visit. I read an interesting article today via CNN about the education struggles in Egypt that I wanted to share: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/24/world/africa/egypt-broken-schools/index.html?hpt=wo_t2.
We should appreciate what we have in many categories of life...including the field of learning.