Viva Palestina USA Convoy to Gaza

After an aggravating flight to Moscow, then Cairo... I felt the first attack by the Egyptians when trying to exit the airport. Checking the passports and letting people through easily, I was next in line. The uniformed man at the counter behind the glass takes my passport, looking through it then I see it, right when reading my last name, IRANIHA. He asks me where I am from, I say I am American. Then he asks me my nationality, again I say I am American.. so then he says "No, where was your father born?" To that I replied Iran. I knew i was in for it then, so he takes an especially long time looking at the picture on my passport... shaking his head he says he wants to see another ID. I take out my wallet and show him my CA drivers License... he takes more time looking at that, to the point i start to laugh at how ridiculous this is. He continues looking at the picture, then looking up at me, then angleing it in the light, as if it will show me more clearly. He is unsatisfied with the torture, so he asks to see a credit card in my name. I take one out and give it to him, and even go farther to remark that i have 4 more if he would like more to give him all of them. Finally he lets me through and we go on our way.

We check into the Grand Pyramids Hotel, and immediately start with meetings after meetings of info. With all info and not much to do actively, it gave us a lot of free time to explore exotic Egypt. Making sure to be present at every meeting, in between we were able to visit the Pyramids, Nile River, and downtown Cairo. On each adventure, we would connect with our newfound friends on different levels and learn about their life, building connections that would last a lifetime.

With the leadership working very hard trying to get everything running and organized, we head off to a press conference to spread the message of the mission. We load up in a bus and fill it up to the point of having people stand up. As we enter the government building, having media film us from the point of exiting the bus all the way upstairs, I was determined to give them a show.

I tell some friends to follow my lead, and while everyone is wondering about the room, i yell out "Viva Viva Viva, La Viva Palestina!!!" My friends join along in the chant and we continuing with different slogans and everyone flutters around us chanting along. After a good 10 minutes of chants, we settle down, now motivated and in high spirits, to get the press conference on the way. With speakers like George Galloway, Rabbi Weiss, Tarek Abedrabbo, Rinad Abdulla, and others. Media like Press TV, Al Jazeera, and others being present, start questioning some of the convoy members afterwards and we head back to the Hotel.

Nothing really new happened for the next couple days, until the convoy drivers were gathered up. We were to come to Alexanderia, pick up the vans/trucks/cars, then head to Al Arish. Then from there we would head into Gaza. Packing everything up, saying our goodbyes to our friends who have become members of our family w/in the last couple of days, we head out towards Alexanderia. We finally reach the customs where our vehicles are held, and waiting.. waiting.. waiting... Nothing. We are told that they are not releasing the vehicles. Instead of heading back, we are determined and stay in Alexanderia. Some people stay at an apartment, others get hotels. 2 days pass, and still we cannot get the vehicles out. Problems start arising within the convoy with people starting to blame the leadership for not clearing this up sooner. We all feel disappointed, but cannot be negative. So with nothing to do, we switch to vacation mode. Now Alexanderia sits right off the Mediterrainian. The hotel me and Tarek went to, you can actually see the sea from our balcony. We spend our days swimming in the beach, or riding the boats; and we spend our nights at hookah/coffee shops. The beauty of the sea and the tourist city being alive all night makes us enjoy ourselves but at the same time we feel guilty knowing that just a few hundred miles away there are people in need who are anticipating our coming.

So, the second day being there, with them telling us we have a free day, I use the opportunity to head to the Pyramids. In a group consisting of Gina, her mom, Jihad, Ahmad, and me, we head off in a taxi. I was the first to notice a pyramid poking up above the tall buildings. It was absolutely fascinating. We pay for an enterence into the second Pyramid, and find out we also have to pay for an enterence fee to enter the grounds. We get a little fat guy to act as our tour guide and take pictures of all of us. We get a little tour, and get to a point where we can buy a horse or camel for a ride. Ahmad, who is originally Egyptian, is ready to pay the price they give him.. i freak out and say no, that i know i can get a way cheaper price... and negociate down a little until Ahmad pays him at 60 pounds for half an hour ride. So we settle on paying that, and Ahmad, Jihad, and I get a horse while Gina and her mom get a camel. We ride around in the scorching heat and Jihad is complaining the whole time. We get to this point where we are distant from the Pyramids, but they look sooo beautiful and geomatically lined up. Instead of visiting the Psynx, Jihad worries that we will miss the meeting so we head back. The meeting (as now will turn into the common thing), gets postponed for another hour, and we came back in a hurry for nothing, but gives us time to shower up i guess.