Hello from Egypt! Apologies for not keeping this updated more frequently but this tour business has us burning the candle at both ends! Hope that saying is right, seems like my command of English gets worse each time we enter a new foreign country.

Where to begin our story. Well, Jessie and I spent 9 hours on a ferry from Santorini to Athens, then instead of getting a hostel, we decided to save money and time and head straight to the airport- about 12 hours early for our 2 pm flight. So we slept on the floor amidst our luggage and sounds of the speakers announcing departing flights. We used the free internet kiosks in the airport to look up Bahrain, where we were destined for another layover, because neither of us had ever heard of the country before. Turns out its about 500 islands on the eastern side of Saudi Arabia and their money is stronger than the english pound by quite a good deal. Needless to say, we spent the five hour layover without food or drink because exchanging money was just like throwing it down the toilet. Our flight into Cairo landed around 3:30 am and we went through the hassle of figuring out a price for a cab to our hotel. The cab ride was quite a treat, horrible, ancient speakers blasting screeching music and talking in Arabic, while the driver coughed up a lung and drove in the middle of multiple lanes, without headlights on, and we listened to the cacophony of honking and rattling speakers for about 20 miles. Nonetheless, we arrived in good form at our hotel who let us sleep in the leather couches in the lounge for a couple hours until they woke us at 6:30 am to shuffle us into our room. Needless to say, we slept till about 1 when we figured we should do some laundry and find something to eat.

We were expecting my dad to arrive at the hotel after his 3 pm flight but after listening to phone messages, we found out he had missed his connection and wouldn't be getting in until 2:30 am the following morning. My stomach dropped after the message but I figured he would get there eventually. In the meantime, we met the group, 12 clients, one leader, and had some dinner and a walk around central Cairo.

Dad showed up in good form around 5 am and quickly became aware of his new destination when the 5 am prayer bells and chanting came over the loudspeakers from the nearby mosque. I almost laughed and said "Welcome to Egypt dad" but figured that would be slightly rude in case he managed to fall asleep in their presence. Without fall, I roused him and Jessie around 7 am so we could scarf down some breakfast before a full day involving the pyramids at Giza, and the famous Sphinx. Dad was a trooper of course and quickly became the life of the group.

Speaking of which, dad never ceases to amaze me with his ability to charm, entertain and earn the love, respect and admiration from strangers, even those who don't share his language. For example, our day tour guide for the pyramids and Egyptian museum was describing a wooden sculpture portraying a village leader who had a slight but noticeable belly and described the belly as a sign of great wealth because he was able to eat heartily. After a short pause, she made obvious eye contact with dad, implying to him and the whole group that his belly represented his great wealth. Ever since then, dad's been joking about being the rich fat man. In context, "I think I want to go to the Philae temple tomorrow, think there's room for the rich fat man?" Brings laughs without fail. Even the tour leader has found a little spot for him in her daily life. In context, dad and I walk down in the morning to meet the group and she says with a smile, "Good morning George", then after a long pause..." Good morning Stephanie", long enough to make me laugh inside and realize that the party doesn't start till dad walks in.

So, if you haven't guessed, we're having a great time and it really was the greatest choice to have dad meet us here. Even last night around 9 at the market, it was much more entertaining to have Jessie and I be dad's two wives, than to struggle on our own with tons of Egyptian men taunting and curious about us white girls with our uncovered hair. It's funny to have men over here compliment me by asking dad how many camels he'd take in exchange for me. It was flattering almost to have the man say, "How many camels for her? A thousand camels- no, all the camels in the world would not be enough." Let me tell you, it's quite a thing to be quantified in terms of camels.

Egypt reminds me a great deal of India, what with the dangerous and morbidly comical experience of crossing the street with traffic blowing by and the presence of donkeys and horses along the street. Even the smell of the hotel cleaner strikes my nose in the exact same way as when I was in India. I feel like I'm growing up as a traveler, seeing as this time around I know what to expect when haggling a price at a market, or remembering what to do and not to do to avoid major illnesses. Guess these things just become habit after a while. I'm also glad that traveling makes me a little more of a risk taker, because I had some of the best mango juice in a fresh fruit cocktail at a cafe on the Nile and if I'd been a stickler for nothing containing tap water, I might have missed that experience. Don't get me wrong guys, I still drink bottled water and brush my teeth with it, but a few risks here and there have paid off.

One of the coolest things yet was dining at the home of Nubian family after our camel ride. (Another story in itself.) We removed our shoes, sat on a wicker mat laid on the sand floor, and filled our single bowl with a smattering of chickpea soup, vegetable soup, roasted chicken, rice, and dad even ate the fish, which did not have the head removed, after of course, covering the head with rice to get his brain to allow him to eat the rest. :) Afterward about 10 yooung girls from the village entered the room to play a hand slapping game much like Down by the Banks, only it was the days of the week in english with the last person who got slapped with Friday, out of the circle. A group of 10 teen men entered soon after with a full drum set up and we all danced and were amazed at the movement coming from the young girls, not older than 10. Afterward we were all beaming, exhausted, well fed, and headed back across the Nile to our hotel and a short night's sleep.

Wednesday morning we left the hotel at 3:30 am to ride in the military convoy 3 hours across the desert to Abu Simbel, the temples of Ramses the 2nd and his beloved wife Nefertari. These were temples that would have been flooded when the Aswan dam was built, so they were relocated to a higher location, which we saw. Absolutely amazing! Pictures to come, but it was quite a feat to imagine them carving it out of stone 3000 years ago, and even more interesting to wonder how 50 years ago, archeologists moved two mountains up a cliff, block by block.

It's about time for me to shower for the last time for a few days seeing as we'll be living on a felucca for two days and nights as we sail down the river, heading north to Luxor.