On May 12, 2008 a group of students from University of Maine at Presque Isle will accompany art professor Cliff Boudman on a trip to visit the many amazing sights of Egypt.

Past trips to Europe have led Boudman's students to Ireland, Scotland, Greece, and other interesting locations.

The set course of the journey is made to be reminiscent of treks made by ancient Egyptians as they made their way from the city of Luxor and visited each temple of their respective gods and goddesses.

Teena Bishop, a student at UMPI, will be one of the lucky students traveling to Egypt.

            "We're going on a cruise on the Nile," said Bishop. "We're going to visit the pyramids, go to Alexandria, we're going to Cairo. I'm interested in the food, what kind they eat. I just thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. It was exciting when we talked about King Tut, and I'm actually going to be there to see it in person."

            This current trip will be Boudman's 36^th art study tour with UMPI students and community people since his first in 1971. He hopes to once again see such sights as Memphis and the step pyramids, the temples at Luxor, the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings.

The purpose behind this trip, like any other planned by Boudman, is about leaving an area and trying to find out about one's self a little more, reflecting more objectively on where one is in their life. It also has to do with studying the past to better understand a little bit about the present.

"We have about 22 to 23 people going into a culture that's quite different from ours," said Boudman. "Some people would be a little xenophobic about it, but the Egyptian people are wonderful, family-oriented people. Every moment of every experience will be new, and that's what travel is all about. It's like an odyssey, traveling into the past to see the future."

For Boudman, there is only so much that a student can learn from viewing the ancient works of art in the classroom.

"It's one thing to look at images on slides," said Boudman, "but to stand in front of the actual images is a way to absorb the material that you can't in class. When you actually see the piece, there's an energy there that's very strong."