Thursday - Back to Cairo

The plan was for Melanie and Kaja to play squash at 11 AM this morning and for the rest of us to do other activities including a walk on the beach in Port Said. Well the best laid plans oft go other ways. Today the plans did that as well. Instead we headed back to Cairo much earlier than we had planned. Not sure what the changes were but about 1 PM off we went. The trip was pretty uneventful except for the stop at the hyper market where we had lunch. When we arrived in Cairo one car went back to the house and the other went on to other activities. At the house was Nana, Ezzat, Susan, and myself. On to other activities was Bonnie, Ephraim, Kaja, Melanie, and Megan. Among other things one of the activities was bowling. Megan was the winner. Back at the house we were supposed to be resting but no one really did. Nana laid down for a bit but don't think she really rested.

At about 8:50 PM we were off to the church for the rehearsal. This was pretty standard even in the U.S. Practiced walking down the aisle got instructions on where to sit and stand. The music as selected and then we were done. Took about an hour. The wedding is Saturday at 2 PM. Looking forward to it.

After the rehearsal Bonnie, Ephraim, Kaja, and I (the four) went back to the house. Ezzat, Susan, Nana, Melanie, and Megan went to Nana's house to do some more work getting it ready. I think the four had a much better time than the others. We certainly spent some quality time with Ephraim and Kaja and got to know them better. They are a delightful couple and we are very glad to know them. We now have a great reason to go to Poland as well. We are looking forward to more time together. While we were chatting some laundry was done and hung out to dry. About 2 AM we finally got ourselves to bed. Looking forward to Friday.

Wednesday - On to Port Said

 
Another day with a late start, off we go to Port Said. It's about a four hour trip from Cairo to Port Said, Port Fouad though my brother Ezzat and his son Ephraim with tell you that it's about 3 at the most. About 50 km out of Cairo we stopped at a new Hyper-Market A hyper-mall is like a WalMart super store on steroids. I mean this place was huge and you could I think get everything under the sun though I didn't see a lumber yard but then I wasn't looking for that. Unlike super stores in the U.S. there are employees all over the place to help you find things even if they don't speak English. I'm sure they do much better than most Americans would helping a foreigner find things at Fred Meyer.

After the hyper store it was the long haul to Port Said for a party for Nana. Since she is not getting married in her home town she wanted to have a party for the people that would not be able to attend the wedding. We were able to renew some old acquaintances and made some new ones while we were there. Nana's brides maids all lined up and introduced themselves to me and I promptly forgot all of their names except the last young lady. Her name is Maggie and I told her I got that one. The rest of the names were more difficult. The party was fun. We ate, talked, ate, and talked some more and a good time was had by all.

Bonnie and I were both surprised by one young man we met when we were here seven years ago. His name is Ravey. He was just a little kid running around and annoying his brother and now he is in high school and seems to be smart-as-a-whip. He speaks English amazingly well, obviously taking after his brother. He is a very pleasant young man and I look forward to the next time we will see him. I was hoping to see his brother Andrew but it looks like we will miss him. We spent a lot of time together the last time we were in Egypt.

After this party, Bonnie and I went back to the house in Port Fouad. The others went onto another surprise party for Nana. She was really surprised and all had a great time. I spent much of the evening both at the party and when we got back home talking with David Milad Beniameen. We played table soccer for a couple of hours the last time I was here and had a great time. We had a wonderful reunion as well.  He is at University now studying computer science so we have a natural discussion platform.

The weather was cooler by the Mediterranean Sea than in Cairo so we had a nice respite from the heat. Another late night so will sign off for now.

Port Said, Egypt March 12

This day was a pretty leisurely day. We toured two churches and went to a monument in Port Said. We also went to a wonderful little park in Port Faoud called Elmontaza.

The churches were very beautiful and all I could think of was how much it would cost to maintain them. The ceilings in general in all of the churches and mosques we have been in are spectacular.

The monument, Elmasala, honors the people who died during the construction of the Suez Canal. It has relief sculptures around the base of the history of the canal. The steps lead up to the obelisk that was erected to their memory with the Egyptian Eagle on the from of the structure. I'm sure it is much better looking when the fountain and reflecting pools have water in them. It was still very nice.

The park for me was the highlight of the day. We had a nice relaxing stroll and the spring flowering shrubs were beginning to bloom. Families were enjoying the mild weather with picnic lunches and athletic games. And of course there were little children that are always a joy for both Bonnie and I to watch. Elmontaza commemorates one of the battles between Egypt, France, and England for Egypt to gain and retain control of the Suez Canal. This is an interesting story by itself and would be interesting to compare the Egyptian, French, and British versions of the "liberation" of the canal. All-in-all a very pleasant and relaxing day.

Itinerary

Seems like I have said I was going to post this forever ago. Well here it is.

Thursday, March 5 -- Leave Anchorage at 8:10 AM
Arrive Seattle 8:56 PM (don't ask it's a long story).

Friday, March 6 -- Leave Seattle at 7:45 AM

Saturday, March 7 -- Arrive London 6:30 AM (very tired I would guess).

There are no firm plans for our stay in London yet but I'm sure we will find something to do.

Tuesday, March 10 -- Depart London for Cairo
Arrive Cairo 8:45 PM.

Will be met by our host family in Cairo and transported to Port Said, about 2 hours north, and this will be our home base.

On Wednesday and Thursday we will spend our time getting to know one another and the Eshak family will be showing us around Port Said.

On Friday we will go to Alexandria. We will visit the Alexandria Library, Montaza, and other places yet to be named.

Saturday and Sunday we will spend in Cairo and Giza. We will take in the pyramids, ride a camel, go to the national museum, the Cairo tower, have a trip on or a dip in the Nile don't know which. And according to our guide many other things that will be a surprise.

On the 16th, Monday, we will go to Elfaioum and see Elsawaki and do other things.

On Tuesday we will return to Port Said and rest for a few hours before we go to Nardeen's favorite place in all of Egypt.

The 18th through the 20th we will spend in Sharm El Shik on the Red Sea. No schedule was given except that it would be a surprise for us. We really do like surprises and I know we will have a wonderful time with our hosts.

On the 21st we will return to Port Said and the rest of our time is open to do as we see fit. I'm sure there will be many places we would enjoy returning to and this will be our opportunity.

It is a busy schedule. We will try to keep you posted on all the developments along the way. More tomorrow.