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Published: August 1st 2009
We know that many of you thought it would never last, but Kyle and I made it to our 10 year wedding anniversary (despite the multitude of border crossings!). When we got married and made the decision to forego a honeymoon (we used the money for a house), we joked about going somewhere "really cool" on our 10 year anniversary. Ten years seemed like such a long way in the future, but it looks like we got to do something extraordinary for this anniversary!
We woke up in the Sea of Aqaba on July 31st and the three of us soaked in the pool where we looked across to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel. A nice view and a nice way to start the day. Even at 8 am the sun was bright and hot, but the pool felt great.
Fast forward to the evening of the 31st, the three of us found ourselves at the Red Sea in Egypt. Not too bad! To top it off, the hotel had a cake waiting in our room that said "Happy Wedding Anniversary" in chocolate! (I was going to send the picture of the cake, but it took us over an hour to get the Internet connection and I am too tired...)
We insist on fast forwarding through the day because it was a difficult one...we took the ferry from Jordan to Egypt. It was supposed to be a one-hour ride that ended up taking all day. The process lacked efficiency, dignity, organization, timeliness, order and hygiene. It made the Nairobi International Airport look like a well-oiled machine! (David and Carolyn, I know you have to chuckle about that one!!)
We could tell that we were not the only ones who felt this way--within minutes, anyone used to Western order and bureacracy had globbed onto each other in hopes of survival by numbers. At the first station, two Spaniards and a Dane partnered up with us. Then a family of four from the Netherlands joined our posse--a big posse for Americans who are used to traveling in a party of three. Then, 8 peace-keeping soldiers from the UN joined the club. The frustrated soldiers were from Indonesia---you know the process is chaotic when Asian citizens are disheartened by the lack of order!
We decided when it is time for us to return to Jordan, we are going to fly! Yes, our itinerary has changed again!
We are having a great time and appreciate all of your well wishes regarding our anniversary and all of your funny comments. We feel connected to home when we read them. As you may have noticed, we are still very disconnected. We asked over a dozen different people today how to track down an English-language newspaper...no luck!
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David Brock
non-member comment
Anniversaries
Let's see. 1992 for us. We used to have a record of where we were on every anniversary and what we did. Where did I put that record? I'm sure our 10th was not as memorable as yours. High adventure if not terribly enjoyable or romantic. You'll remember it on your 50th. If I'm around and you forget, I'll remind you. Happy Anniversary. A lot cooler here today than it was 10 years ago today. Likely a little warm there! Would love to have seen pictures of the international 'clump' at the border crossing. I'd catch you up on the news but don't know much either. Have been with 1100 kids at Graceland all week and that was all the news I needed! Good kids. Good week. Emily just got into an MFA Grad School program in San Francisco, so things are a little chaotic around here. We were supposed to leave for the Northwest today but that is getting delayed a bit!