Cairo arrival

Mon Jan 31, 2005
Subject: Cairo arrival

Hello everyone,

For those of you who know what I'm up to, I have arrived in Cairo, safe and sound. For those of you whom I have not spoken to in awhile, I am in Cairo, Egypt - the land of the pyramids, mummys, and call to prayer 5 times a day. I heard my first call at 5:30, and it was amazing ... it is currently 6:35 a.m., my time, February 1st, and I have not slept for any significant amount of time over the past three days. Just a little warning.

I am once again going to keep an email journal of my travels - anyone who does not wish to be included, please let me know, and I will remove you from my list - I will not be offended - I promise! Anyone who wishes to be included, please have them email me, and I will add them.

I made it through customs, changing my American dollars for Egyptian Pounds (LE) with very little problem - but I was a little spacey and the guy at the bank, I don't remember which bank - there was simply a wall of them, was reasonably patient with me, and now I have a wallet full of LE, and his kind yet irritated smile to go along with the bills. I collected my bag without incident, and no one asked me about my laptop or demanded a duty for it when I entered. Whew! I ran the gauntlet of taxi drivers, all asking where I was headed and offering the best price, and made it to the Duty Free shop, unattached to any fare.

There I met Karen, who was kind enough to show up two nights in a row (because I had the dates wrong - sometimes I'm very blonde), and we headed to the Duty Free shop where we purchased my alloted allowance of 4 bottles of liquor. We drove home via Mosh, free of any rules of the road, the white lines painted on, but completely ignored; once "home" we proceeded to combat the effects of international travel via several cocktails and a couple of hours of great conversation.

This is my start, and there will be more ... who can go to Egypt and not have tales to tell? For now the bed, with its fresh sheets calls, my eyes are heavy, and my legs jittery with fatique ... I am here, and I am safe, and I cannot wait to get up in the morning, because from the balcony there is a view of the pyramids of Giza.