On Sunday, November 27, I arrived at the International Language Institute (known hereafter as "ILI") to register and test for my Arabic classes, and search for more permanent accommodation while in Cairo. Security I was surprised to walk around the corner, spot the school, and see a guard with an AK-47 sitting out front. Apparently the number of foreigners there merits such attention. I must confess I have never gone to a school with an armed guard before. There seem to be four levels of building security in Egypt (in order of increasing security): * Unarmed private secur [View Full Entry]

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I had planned to take the early 6am bus from Saint Katrin village to Cairo. That way I would get in to Cairo in the early afternoon, with plenty of time to find a hotel, catch up on e-mails, have a decent dinner, and so on. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans... "I'm sorry..." I woke up at 5am, and caught another amazing sunrise on my walk over to the bus station. The bus was sitting out front, which I took as a good sign. I didn't take it as a good sign when the driver arrived, [View Full Entry]

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This entry wraps up my time in the Sinai, with the exception of the ride back to Cairo, which probably deserves its own special entry. But I'm getting ahead of myself.... Sunrise in the Sinai The Dutch guy and I awoke at 3am to watch the sunrise from a nearby mountain (actually, he awoke; I hadn't slept a wink the entire night). We walked through the silent village with planets and stars shining brightly overhead, and climbed one of Mt. Sinai's subpeaks to avoid the hordes of tourists. As expected, we had the peak to ourselves, with the exception of a [View Full Entry]

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St. Katherine's Monastery The morning dawned crystal clear, and it was a nice change of pace to inhale clean, fresh air in contrast to Cairo's noxious fumes. It was also blissfully quiet. Really, the village was everything that Cairo isn't -- calm, peaceful, and rejuvenating. The village is only about 2km away from St. Katherine's monastery, so the Dutch guy and I hiked over. St. Katherine lived in Alexandria, converting people to Christianity until she was martyred in a very brutal way (tortured and pulled apart on a spiked wheel, hence the term "Catherine Wheels"). Her supposed [View Full Entry]

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(Note: I'm currently in Cairo and classes have started, but I have some major catching up to do on this travelogue. Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to get up to speed). Elevation On Wednesday, November 23 I left Cairo for the Sinai. There were a few moments when I was unsure if I would ever actually get out of Cairo, though. Leaving my hotel, three of us crammed into an elevator, went to the ground floor... and the door wouldn't open. Apparently there was too much weight (i.e., us), so the carriage wasn't flush with the door [View Full Entry]

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Cairo -- also known as Umm ad-Dunya, "Mother of the World." There is the idealized Cairo of my mind -- pyramids and palm trees, and then there is the Cairo around me -- incessantly honking cars, dirty air, beautiful mosques, and too many other impressions to list. It's like when I went to Tokyo and was overwhelmed, only this time it's magnified by a factor of 10. I have made it safely here to Cairo; all of my flights went off without a hitch. Also needless to say, I am jet-lagged out of my mind. My doctor gave me sleeping pills, [View Full Entry]

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... in the Middle East, give or take a day. It's hard to believe the departure date has almost arrived. This is the travelogue of my six-week trip to Egypt and Jordan (and hopefully Jerusalem and Bethlehem as well), and this posting is really a test to make sure everything's working before I get over there. The current trip itinerary is: * November 20: depart Seattle. * November 21: arrive in Cairo. I have a week before classes start, and I hope to make it over to the Sinai during this week. * November 27 to December 22: four weeks of [View Full Entry]

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