Egypt, etc

Wow. It's been an obscenely long time since I've bothered to post. Bad, bad Mirah! In my defense though, it's been a busy month. I started my job at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which has been great so far. I'm writing the Annual Report, starting a corporate sponsorship program, writing grant proposals and reports, and putting together lectures and talking points for our Human Rights Day lecture series. And I'm the photographer for the organization. I've taken photos at the Supreme Court, in East Jerusalem, at protests, etc. And next Wednesday I'm going across the Separation Barrier in East Jerusalem to photograph.... something. They haven't told me what yet.  And in a week they're sending me to a three-week workshop in Tel Aviv where I'm going to learn how to make public service announcements. So I'd say the job is going well. 

Over Sukkot, Josh and I went to Cairo with Jason and Faryn (HUC people). It was kind of crazy. Pollution so bad everything was black, serious poverty, galloping through the desert to get to the Pyramids - well, better to just show you. 

People in a cafe in the quasi-slum we walked through:

Tiny little man running across the courtyard of the Al-Azar Mosque, as seen from the dizzying heights of the minaret:

Self-explanatory:

Me on a horse:

We rented horses and rode out to the pyramids through the desert. It was AWESOME! I had slightly more experience than the others, so they gave me the younger horse. He was all jumpy and I couldn't quite control him, so the guide was like, "We need to tire him out. Hey, wanna gallop?" So he takes the reins and we go literally galloping through the desert. It was the most exhilarating thing ever, until I lost a stirrup and thought I was going to fall and my life flashed before my eyes. But still, very cool. So much better than arriving at the pyramids by taxi. 

Josh kept threatening his horse it would end up like this if it didn't behave. Honestly, the dead horses were all over the desert, and I don't really know how they got there. 

I just like this picture. It's a random girl at the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. 

Obligatory camel picture: 

Look, widdle pywamids! 

Ok, that's all for now. I have to go get more work done so I can be all work-free for the HUC Halloween party tonight! Josh and I are going goth; pictures to come.