So, while we’re all plodding through the latest snowstorm, CMA Executive Director Nannette Maciejunes is sending updates from Egypt, which is decidedly snow free. Enjoy.

OK It’s time to send the expected photos. We visited the Giza pyramids in the AM. This however is a photo of the Stepped Pyramid — the first pyramid — located at Saqqara. It dates from c. 2370BC. It was built by the father of the pharoah who built the Great Pyramid at Giza. At Saqqara we also went inside the tomb of a noble named Ka-Gemini. The walls were covered with low reliefs depicting every imaginable scene of Egyptian life to accompany the deceased into the afterlife. Nothing new under the sun — dancing girls, fishing (replete with battles between hippos and crocidiles), vets caring for animals, geese being fattened for slaughter.

More from Saqqara. The Stepped Pyramid was at the center of a vast cemetary at the early Egyptian capital of Memphis. Almost any trace of the city itself is gone.

The Sphinx is smaller than we all thought — it’s all in the angle of the photo shot.

Misc: The President of Russia and his wife have been staying at our hotel and just departed.

Wacky photo of my foot, the Ancient sands of Egypt (much of which was also in my shoes), and trash from 1000s of tourists. Another misc. 

fact the traffic jams in Cairo are legendary. They say rush hour goes from 7AM to 10PM. More than 18 million people live in Cairo! I rode a Camel today. Nothing like riding a horse. Photos to come! Nannette