Adriel Sand

Get Started With Matrix

Mon, 02 May 2022 08:17:40 +0300

TL;DR

Get the Element app
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You may use the web version or you may download the app.

Depending on what device you’re using, the steps may vary.

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Enjoy Matrix!

Start chatting with friends! If you have any questions, feel free to send any of the admins a message.

Admins:

@adriel:sandcastle.eu.org
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March 17, 2022

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 19:10:11 +0200

Today was a fantastic day, we did all types of great things and had a lot of fun. Early in the morning, at 4:30, we left the Nefertiti Hotel, and headed towards the Nile River. There were many, many river boats used to cross the Nile. This morning, we were going to fly in the hot air balloons. The view of the city from the boat was magnificent. The city lights reflecting on the calm water made it look gorgeous.

At 5:30, we arrived to the “Balloon Station”, where all the hot air balloons take off. They taught us how we had to land, where we would be located in the balloon. There were a lot of people that were helping inflate the balloons. Fans would blow air towards the inside of the balloon, making it get inflated.

Soon enough, we were off the ground and ready to fly away! The sun had not yet risen, so it was just before dawn. Balloon after balloon would rise into the air. Everytime a balloon would rise, a group would rush in to inflate their own balloon.

As we flew over the outskirts of Luxor, we saw many green fields. There were sugar cane plantations, palm trees, and also small canals. With all the other hot air balloons, it was a beautiful view. I could go on and on about the great things we saw, but that’s for another time.

After we got down from the balloons, we ate breakfast at the Nefertiti Hotel. It was a typical Egyptian breakfast with some added international flavors. Then, we headed to the van that was going to take us to the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings is a very interesting valley. It contains the tombs of more than 20 kings, princes and other royal people. You may think that these tombs are a cave into rock, with a coffin in the middle. This is definitely not the case. Some of these tombs have many chambers on the sides, columns in the halls, and very many inscriptions on the walls.

We visited so many tombs today, that I got really tired of seeing tombs and inscriptions on walls, etc. So, after visiting the many tombs there, we went to the huge temple of Hatshepsut. Its lower terrace is 120 meters long, by 75 meters wide. It has very many columns. There isn’t that much that I remember about what we did there, because I was really tired of seeing inscriptions and ruins.

After the Temple of Hatshepsut, we went to the Valley of the Queens. This valley is nothing compared to the Valley of the Kings. There are way less inscriptions and hieroglyphics than the other tombs. But, that is not to say that they aren’t incredibly interesting and very magnificent.

Next stop, the Temple of Habu. Also, a great temple, with lots of hieroglyphics. There seems like they were going to have a concert or a show with lots of lights. They probably had around 50 or more different lights that were going to illuminate the temple. Sadly, we went there in the afternoon, so we weren’t able to see how they lit it up at night.

Later, after going to a few more temples and ruins, we went back to Luxor. There, we ate at an Egyptian restaurant. Today was an incredibly busy day, we did all types of things and visited so many places. Time to rest!

March 16, 2022

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 09:12:38 +0200

At the wake of dawn, at 5am, we had to wake up to get ready to head towards the train station. We were going to go by train to Luxor. The trains are pretty cheap, but they are pretty unreliable in their timing. Ours arrived an hour late and we heard that somebody else’s had arrived 12 hours late. Yeah, very unpredictable. We left at around 7:30 on the train.

It took us around 5 hours to get to Luxor, but they were some interesting hours. We drove by countrysides, cities, and small villages along the Nile. The train was not very clean, but it was very comfortable, at least compared to a car seat.

When we arrived, we stayed at the Nefertiti Hotel. It is a great hotel there, that is very close to the Luxor temple. So, since the temple is really close, we decided to go to the temple for the afternoon.

The Luxor temple is a really big temple, it has 5 big statues in its entrance with an obelisk in the middle. Those statues are not in very good shape, so it has been refilled with cement. Interestingly, a mosque was built on top of the ruins of the old temple.

After seeing the temple, we walked the Sphinx Avenue. It is a road that has sphinxes on every side. When we started walking through it, I thought that the sphinxes had been added just for the tourists, but soon, I figured out that this avenue existed long ago. In total, there are over 600 sphinxes.

After that, we headed towards Karnak Temple, the largest temple complex in Egypt, and the second largest in the world. We spent a very long time there, even to the point when we were kicked out ;). But that’s for another post.

That evening, we ate falafel sandwiches at a nearby local shop for very cheap, as always. That day we walked very very much, and we were exhausted.

March 15, 2022

Sat, 19 Mar 2022 07:43:29 +0200

This morning, we went to a little falafel shop to eat breakfast. Falafel sandwiches are really tasty and extremely cheap. Each one of my family of 5 got 2 sandwiches each and it cost around 40 EGP, which is around $2.50 (as of March 2022). That’s a good hearty meal for less than $3 dollars! I still don’t understand how they can afford selling it so cheap, but they do it somehow.

After eating those falafel sandwiches, we headed to the market or souq. This is the place where most Egyptians buy and sell their goods. It is full of action and very full of people. Egyptians are kind people, but they won’t refuse the opportunity to get a few extra pounds from you.

If you’re wondering what they sell, they sell just about anything you can think of. Food, clothes, electrical parts, car parts and more! Some of the fruits and vegetables they sell are: onions, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, cabbages, oranges, bananas, strawberries, tomatoes, and so many more. The fruits and vegetables that they sell seem to be organic and do taste really good (I am speaking from experience).

Then we checked out a bread shop, where they don’t make loaves, but circular pizza-like, flat bread. When you eat it, it breaks in your hands because it is leafy and very oily. They make it by stretching around the dough, folding it into a smaller piece, spinning it around to stretch it, and repeating. Then they put this dough into a circular pan and place it in a spinning oven where it is cooked inside for around 5-10 minutes. It tastes really good.

Finally, we headed to the place where we were staying and ate some good things there. What an interesting day that was!

March 14, 2022

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 08:12:09 +0200

It was a calm day today, there wasn’t much going on. I went to sleep late, as all Egyptians do, and so I had to sleep till later. I had breakfast at around 11:50 which is basically not breakfast anymore.

I did edit more podcasts for Starting with Jesus. It took me a bit longer, but I was able to accomplish plenty.

In the late afternoon, we headed back to the village. This time, there were other people that were singing in the church. They were also very loud. The people just loved the songs and the singers.

The interesting thing is that if you would only hear the music, you would imagine at least 3 people playing the instruments you hear. But in fact, it is only one person playing the instruments, with the help of an electric piano.

The man playing those songs changes instruments all of the time along with the drums, etc. It is a very particular way of playing the instruments that I’ve never seen before.

Also, the women sit on the left, while the men sit on the right. Each side has a little fence in the middle, as you can see in the picture below.

Lastly, the doors in this village are all very unique. Before leaving today, I took one picture of a door I think is pretty interesting. There are a few more below that I took on Saturday.

March 13, 2022

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 22:13:02 +0200

After going to bed late last night, I slept in till around 8, (yeah, I know, not that late to wake up). I ate a good Egyptian breakfast with bread and different finger foods. (Well, I guess everything is finger food because Egyptians eat mostly with their hands and fingers.)

In the morning, we went to a cave where tradition says that Jesus stayed there when they fled to Egypt. There is a big monastery there, with many things to explore. They have a small church inside this cave with a lot of cool lights. They have also added some plastic “rocks” that resemble carved stone. While it is fake, it is hard to notice until you go and knock on the “stone”.

Outside, there are the rooms where people in the monastery live in. The architecture and design has been really well thought of at these places. There are crosses almost everywhere and great arches and mosaics. Overall, a very interesting place.

Next up, food. For lunch we ate Cousherih. It is a very common meal for all Egyptians. It is a mixture of rice, short spaghetti, some fried onions and some sauce. Cousherieh looks a little weird, but it tastes really good.

After lunch, we headed to a very special orphanage for us. Some time ago, during the course of a month, my family read a book about Lillian Thrasher. She was an American missionary to Egypt. She came here to Egypt in 1910 and started an orphanage the next year. After taking more than 7,000 orphans over the course of her life, she died in Egypt in 1961.

The orphanage is still working today. With only about 250 orphans now, it is sadly much smaller than it was 70 years ago at around 2,500 orphans.

In the evening, we went back to the village we went yesterday. At night, the village is very different than during the day. People gather in circles and talk with each other, finishing the day.

A small mosque had particularly interesting lights. They really made the minaret pop out in the night sky. When we left you could still see it clearly in the distance.

Oh, and before leaving, I took a long exposure of the palm trees in the night. Hope you enjoy it!

March 12, 2022

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 09:22:34 +0200

Today, as I woke up early in the morning, I was ready for a great day at the village. What I got was a genuinely fantastic experience there.

I was going to go with a few other people to the village. We had to leave in a bus that would take us all together. The bus left at 8am. Even at this time, the roads were packed.

In typical Egyptian fashion, the drivers would wind through the car maze. A special variation of a normal maze, because all of the borders move! This is normal for every Egyptian in the city.

As soon as we arrived, we were met with friendly faces that looked intently at our weird clothes. What were we wearing, you may ask? Just normal everyday clothes. Well, not really normal for them. Most people, even the women, wear gallabeyas. Gallabeyas are a type of robe that has an opening at the top for your head, and two openings at the side for your arms.

We headed to a small church at the edge of the village. Arabic church services are very different to the church services I have at home. The women would sit on the left of the church, and the men would sit on the right. There are some small fences that mark the border between them. Also, the Arabic people sing with all their might, soul and strength. So loud in fact, that most of the time, the speakers couldn’t handle such levels, and would peak.

After we finished attending the church service, we ate some food and left for the farms. People there mostly live off the produce that they grow. They are subsistence farmers. In the first field we went to, they were growing a plant that they would feed their donkeys with.

The people that lived there offered us some tea, which is typical of the people in the villages. They asked us a lot of questions about how people in western societies live. Our methods are very different than theirs. For example, in most western families, the child will leave the family for college and will not come back. On the other hand, Egyptians, and most other Arabs, will stay with their families and children in one house. Each family with their own floor. The grandparents will live in the first floor, the parents on the second, first son on the third and so on. This is very different than our western cultures.

Anyway, as the evening started to come upon us, we headed to another family’s house. They live on this small corridor that is basically their street. Children play ball in these corridors, throw trash there and do all types of things there.

Finally, we headed home. By that time, it was already getting very dark and we headed back to the bus. What an interesting day! It would be great to come back! (And we will!)

How India's Major Religions affect India's Culture

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 12:59:09 +0200

India is a combination and blend of many religions and cultures. The three main religions in India are Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Hinduism is by far the largest with over 79% of the population. Islam is second with only 14% and Christianity is the smallest with only 2%. India’s culture is heavily influenced by the Hindu culture.

Hinduism greatly affects people’s behavior in India. For example, most marriages are pre-arranged by the fathers of both families. This has now been considered normal in India. Also, the dresses used by women, called Saris, are the norm in India. They are used by almost everyone, regardless of religion.

Islam has greatly influenced the architecture in India. The geometric shapes and designs are sometimes borrowed by Hindu architecture. Islamic architecture is seen in the Taj Mahal which is a blend of both Indian and Islamic architecture. It is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

Christianity has not contributed as much as the other two major religions, but it has brought a few traditions that are very important. Christmas is a state holiday in India. Christians also played a major role in the Indian Independence Movement in the 1900s. They helped bring religious freedom to India.

Overall, India is a very culturally-diverse country. It has changed rulers many times, being ruled by the British for a very long time, and being independent since 1947. Religion has played a major role in the Indian culture.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

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About Me

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hi there! I am Adriel Sand. I enjoy being out in nature and taking pictures of the beautiful plants and animals that we have in our world.

I really like almost anything that has to do with technology. About two years ago, I installed Linux on my old Macbook and enjoyed it so much, that as soon as I got my new computer, I installed Linux on it. I use Arch btw. Whenever I can, I encourage people to try Linux if they can. There are so many benefits to it, that there is almost no reason to say no!

Anyways, I also love listening to and playing music on the piano, violin and guitar. If you’re curious, my favorites are found in this playlist on Spotify.

Contact Me

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can contact me at the links below. They are listed in order of preference:

Matrix: @adriel:sandcastle.eu.org
Signal: @thebiblelover7.82
Email: (my last name)(my first name)[at]outlook.com

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Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Adriel Sand

Get Started With Matrix

TL;DR

Get the Element app

Sign in to your Matrix account

Bridge your accounts

Enjoy Matrix!

March 17, 2022

March 16, 2022

March 15, 2022

March 14, 2022

March 13, 2022

March 12, 2022

How India's Major Religions affect India's Culture

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