So Oxford term begins on 4 January, but the adventure begins on 26 December. Where will we be in that intervening time? Oh, I don't know, a little place called. . .
EGYPT!!!
This has been a dream destination of mine since before I can remember, and as I've gotten older its appeal has only grown: pyramids, colossal statuary, the lasting relics of one of most powerful civilizations on the planet-- what's not to love?? This Christmas, after (literal) years of hoping and planning, my family will be actually be going there! Talk about a dream come true.
I won't try to project too much into what I'm going to enjoy most or what experiences I'm going to have, but here are just a few things that I'm going to get to see:
(Colossal statues of Ramses at Memphis)
(Luxor)
(Hatshepsut's temple)
Egyptian studies don't quite overlap with my own focus in Art History, but they're close enough to still definitely pique my interest: the complex symbolic language, the integral relationship between art and power, and the fascinating way that graphic and sculptural techniques combine to form a complete system of meaning whose whole is far greater than a sum of its parts. I've been lucky enough to see some very beautiful Egyptian art in museums, but--as I've learned a few times now-- all art is more powerful in its proper situ, and so I'm positively bursting to see these sites in their proper place (even if I can't see them in their proper time!).
Not to mention that it will be nice to go somewhere warm and sunny between December in Massachusetts behind me and a whole winter in England to look forward to!!
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