Let me begin by posting the Pledge:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

So I guess most everyone I know is aware that I'm an American currently living in an Arab country. :-) Although they do embrace a few western ideas, foods, and fashion, it's still an Arab nation under Islamic law.

I recently went to the American Embassy. As i drew near to the building I could see the flag there—high on a pole, and let me tell you--my heart was lifted and I had a weird kind of feeling, a yearning– couldn’t wait to cross thru that gate (can't remember ever feeling this way - except at church :-). When I got there it was like Ahh, I’m home---kinda.

I was an Army brat, and having been raised in the military and later working on an Army base, I have had the privilege to live and work near and alongside American service men and women. Almost daily, I heard soldiers’ cadences during the day and taps played in the evening, and saw the stars and stripes everywhere I went. My Army dad would leave us from time to time for 3, 6, or 18 months. I remember the smell of his uniform and the touch of his felt “round brown” drill sergeant hat. And I still like to look at his plaques and awards and hold his medals and badges. I was proud of my dad and his service to our country.

I think it was largely because of my father’s service and sacrifice that I learned to love and appreciate being an American—that, and the fact that we still are the greatest nation on earth (ok—that’s the cheesy proud American egotist talking). Some of the most wonderful people I know in the world are Americans (and that’s not meant to sound like a caucasian saying “some of my best friends are black J). I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many people from around the world with different nationalities and learn about their culture and their beliefs firsthand.

A lot of folks around the world these days may not like or appreciate our politics and government, but they respect America—you better believe that. And, when they get to know you—you Americans—one on one, they learn to respect you, and they can see that you are “different”; there’s something about you that no one in the world has.

Americans are a fierce, tenacious and bodacious people, and yet we are compassionate and caring. We have a particular nature that is born out of the freedom we are privileged to enjoy (and sometimes take for granted). I love my America. I miss it. This is the first 4^th of July that I will be neither in the US nor on a US military base, and so I guess I’m feeling particularly nostalgic for the red, white, and blue. For you there in the US—you see it everywhere, right? In the grocery stores—marking the street lights, in people’s yards, and in town squares. You probably have a bunch of 4^th of July sales going on and you’re trying to decide which fireworks display to attend or whether to attend at all. Some of you may even be a little tired of the hype—just money making holiday b.s., right? Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet. Here in the UAE? We don’t see any signs that commemorate our nation’s independence Here the flags fly only in our hearts; we may have them displayed inside our homes and/or on our laptops.

And yes, I know some people living in the US don’t think it’s all that great because, like any nation, America has its faults. We all fall short—as individuals, citizens, as communities, agencies, and political parties. And we have oppressed each other and denied our brother. Yea, we have not always behaved well (at home and abroad), have we? But, thank God for that, really. No, we are not perfect (you know there is only ONE), which is why we should remember Him and ask His guidance, blessing, and protection. We ought to still pledge our allegiance, continue to print our money with in “God we Trust”, and still sing songs like the ones below. Yes, and maybe one day, like all great empires of the past, our nation may fall, but we owe our greatness to God and the triumphant spirit He instilled within us all.
My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee I sing… Land where my fathers died (in battle, in slavery, in terrorist attacks, in rescue attempts, at sea, in storms and in the air) Land of the pilgrims pride (Many of them Puritans who came seeking religious freedom from tyranny, persecution and corruption in the church) From every mountain side… Let freedom ring

(Have you heard or read the 4^th stanza of this song?)

Our fathers’ God to THEE, Author of Liberty, to Thee we sing

Long may our land be bright with Freedom’s holy light

Protect us with Thy might, Great God, our King.

Want more? How’s about this one…..

“America, America, God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good with Brotherhood, from sea to shining sea. …. America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law. ….

America! America! May God thy gold refine till all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine.

“God bless America land that I love; stand beside her, and guide her thru the night with a light from above……

God Bless America, my home sweet home.

Can’t wait to touch that precious soil. I’ll be home soon. Happy Independence Day – 4^th of July.

Mother's Day 2011 Fur Inge, meine liebe Mutter

Random thoughts about my mother--Inge Herring-- and reflections on some of the gifts she gave me:
She read me stories when I was young, though her English wasn't that strong, I learned life lessons from fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks, other children's classics. She made me hot tea and toast, tucked me in a warm fuzzy blanket, soothed my head with a cold cloth and let me lay on the sofa when I was sick. She demanded that I eat split pea soap and brussel sprouts. She scolded me telling me to clean my room, to be nice to my brother & sisters, to choose the right friends, and to eat my vegetables. She took me to piano lessons, and bought me a piano, a flute, and lots of books. She forced me to practice as she listened and sometimes hummed along when I wanted to go outside and play. She went to my band concerts, piano recitals, and theater performances. She sewed me clothes - matching outfits for me and my little sister, and she knitted me socks and scarves. She brushed my hair and gave me beautiful ring curls and long braided pony tails. She brought my dog to school for me one day for show and tell--making me the coolest kid in the 3rd grade. She threw a huge birthday party for me when I turned ten and made the coolest chocolate frosted cupcakes and balloon sheet cake--further establishing my coolness to my peers. She warned me about the world and its dangers. She stayed married to my father until he passed away and provided a pleasant home with good food, clean clothes, a warm bed and clean sheets, milk and hot cream of wheat - brei(she called it breile). She let me put posters of cute pop singers and movie stars on my wall and listen to loud music in my room. She taught me how to make gravy, tuna salad, schnitzel, cucumber salad, and home fries. In the morning she woke us up for school with her sing-song voice, "uppie time, uppie time!" She sang songs to us and with us. She shouted to us from the front seat to stop fighting, stop touching each other, and stop looking at each other when we went on family vacations. She looked like the movie star Ingrid Bergman when she dolled up and put on her red lipstick--she is a beautiful woman.


She said these things to me:

*The dogs bark at the moon, but the moon keeps on shining (she told me this when I came home from school upset about malicious people in high school)
*Don't paint the devil on the wall (don't say bad things will happen cuz they might)
*Save your money
*Eat your vegetables
*Clean as you go
*Pull your hair out of your face--you have such a pretty face.
*Don't let people walk over you
*Call your brother, call your sisters
*Don't depend on anyone to take care of you
*You're a smart girl
*Make good choices
*Take good care of yourself
*(and when it was cold in the house) Put some clothes on!

She told me, "I'm proud of you."
She told me that before I left the country to work and live for two years in the UAE, and it was such a revelation for me. She may have said it to me before, but I never really "heard" it before. I didn't know she felt that way for the longest time. It seemed as though my mother was constantly correcting me, scolding me or shouting at me; i thought she disapproved of my choices. I always felt like I couldn't measure up and I couldn't please her no matter what I did. But I know now that she just wanted the best for me, she wants me to be happy, to be successful, safe, and taken care of. She wants me to live a good life. And she is proud of me. I appreciate her so much more now that I realize that I'm not in a struggle against her; rather, she in the struggle WITH me.
Thanks, Mom, for everything. I love you.

Exploring Cyprus

CYPRUS

Day 1

Arrived in Larnarca, Cyprus shortly before 4:30am half asleep and extremely anxious about this solo trip to another country. I have thought about taking this trip for over a month, but put it on the back-burner when civil war erupted in Libya. The two countries aren’t terribly close, but they both border the Mediterranean, so I thought there may be some problem. I was going to settle for a UAE adventure tour. I booked a flat in Dubai for 6 nights and had intentions of going on desert safari, visiting the famous Atlantis Hotel, and Palm Island. I was going to do some shopping and skiing in one of the many malls in the city and also planned on going horseback riding (English saddle) and taking a deep sea fishing trip. Sounds thrilling doesn’t it? But something kept drawing me to Cyprus. I don’t know what, but I couldn’t surrender the idea of going. So on the morning I had scheduled to go to Dubai I booked my flight and hotel to Cyprus and called the apartment manager and canceled my booking (wouldn’t have done that if I had paid already, but I was to pay when I got there).

My flight was scheduled for 11:25 pm out of Dubai airport with a connecting flight in Bahrain. I noticed there were a few Americans going to Cyprus as well, but strangely enough we didn’t speak to one another. I attempted to strike up a conversation with one lady in the airport bathroom after we landed in Cyprus, but she didn’t even respond to my comment—so I guess she’s either hard of hearing or just not interested in meeting anyone. Cool. I can do this thing alone. I think.

Rather than catch a taxi to my hotel, I decided to get a rental. I read of many places to visit where catching a taxi would be extremely expensive and, since I don’t expect to have anyone to share the fares, I opted for the rental. And that’s where the real adventure begins.

It took me a full 30 minutes to find the vehicle in the dark amid a sea of rental cars from various rental companies. Once I found it I clicked the door to unlock it and opened the driver’s side door. Hmm. No steering wheel. “What the..who the…” I stammered. There it was—on the right side of the car—like they drive in England. But this was a Ford Fusion, how could they? So I laughed at the idea, threw my bags in the car and checked out this odd vehicle. Not only was the steering wheel on the wrong side, the car was a stick shift. “Oh my goodness, this truly is going to be an adventure.” I was really tickled. I checked out all the remaining operating mechanisms and proceeded to drive away. I figured I could drive around the airport parking lot for a while till I got the hang of it. I felt comfortable and kept reassuring myself “I can do this”.

Along the road to my hotel I saw many signs warning drivers to stay on the left side, and only 5 times so far did I actually drive on the right side of the road; and of those 5 times there were only 3 occasions where there was oncoming traffic. :-)

I got so lost—again and again. At one point I was on a narrow alley/street, crowded with cars and house built out onto the street. If I had heeded the foreshadowing that occurred only 30 minutes earlier when I tagged a man’s mirror with my left mirror—causing no damage, thank God, I would have known what was to come and been more cautious.

Alas, I did not see how close I was to the pole when I smacked it so hard that it ripped my left mirror clean off the car and scraped the left side of the car. “Dooooooh!" I quickly stopped the car, hopped out and ran around to assess the damage. The mirror was lying a few meters back on the side of the street. “Dammit.” And I had told the rental lady that I wouldn’t need any additional insurance—I would be fine I told her (that was of course before I learned I would be driving on the wrong side of the car and on the wrong side of the road).

Well, everything happens for a reason. Now the worst is out of the way and I can begin to enjoy the rest of my vacation, I thought. I tried to embrace a positive mental attitude, said a prayer, picked up the mirror and threw it into the back seat. And on I went—I had a hotel to find.

I reached my hotel around 7:30 am—yea it took me that long when I arrived of course I was too early to check in, so I filled out the necessary paperwork and headed out to check out the scenery.

My eyes were heavy and I hadn’t had my ritualistic cup of coffee yet. I had no euros (the exchange booth was closed when I arrived at the airport) and I was a little hungry. I drove back to town to find an ATM. After circling around the same round-about four times, I found several banks: one wouldn’t accept my card, one was out of service, one I couldn’t reach due to the pitiful parking opportunities. I finally found one which accepted my card, and gave me some euros. Ok. Good, I have cash.

By now I’m more than a little hungry, but none of the restaurants were open and I knew the hotel would charge a mint for breakfast (it’s included in the room, but remember, I’m not in my room yet) so I went to a small grocery store and bought some cheese, bread, and a bottle of water. I took my victuals with me to the beach and made a plain cheese sandwich—I had my own little seaside picnic.

As the waves lapped gently onto the shore I marveled at God's artistry in His design of this deep blue sapphire sea.

I learned that Cyprus is an island for lovers. Aphrodite--the goddess of love--is the "patron goddess" of this country. She was said to have been born from the sea--emerged from the foam (in mythology of course). So everything has a kind of lover's vibe to it. The waves don't just lap onto the shore--they tenderly kiss the shore--softly--like a lover.

Still, though I am alone, this is kind of nice.

Alexandria Adventure

NUFF SAID





This kid worked for the proprietor of the bike rental shop. he taught me how to operate the 4-wheeler and maneuver through the city. Since we didn't know the city and it was my first time--he rode on the front of the bike the whole way--for one hour! He told me where to turn and when to slow down etc. He didn't speak any English--it was mostly thru gestures. Leah rode on the back, and, as you can imagine, we drew quite a few stares--two American chicks and a kid cruising thru traffic in Alexandria (yea, without helmets). It was, by far, one of the coolest rides I've taken yet. Gonna try this in the desert soon, (with helmets) so stay tuned...

"You Look Like an Egyptian"

From the time we landed in Cairo, I heard the comment over and over, until we finally got on the plane in Alexandria heading back to Abu Dhabi....
"Where are you from? You look Egyptian."
One person even assumed that my family must have roots in Egypt and adamantly said, "Maybe you are not from here, but somewhere along your family tree, there was someone from Egypt."
"Must be the nose," I thought.

For any readers who don't know my heritage, I am one half African American (Dad's family is from the North Carolina area) and one half German. Don't know if any of my ancestors actually came from Egypt, but we did come from Africa. :-)

When we were at the pyramids, a man trying to get me on his camel to make a quick buck made the comment,


as did the kid selling souvenirs,
and the guard at the base one of the pyramids,
as well as several of the servers in our hotel. It got to be a running joke.

It was becoming a little redundant. After a while when someone asked where I was from, before they could finish their sentence.."you look like.."
"Yea, yea, I know, I know.. I look Egyptian."

Two days before Christmas I decided to get a haircut--needed a trim...bad. So, I booked an appointment and went to the salon at the hotel. There was a young lady and an older gentlemen working and I naturally assumed the lady would be the one to do my hair (figured the guy was there to do the barbering for the men). Nope. the man did my hair. He, of course, assumed I was an Egyptian and then he gave me a vitamin treatment to soften and shine my "do". Then he began the trim. When He finished--I looked like friggin' Cleopatra.
"Well," I thought, "now I really do look like an Egyptian."

Egypt 2010

"Security"

The security when we arrived in Cairo was surprisingly laid back, but when we got to the hotel, it was an entirely different vibe. We entered from the side of the hotel, not the front. Our driver and our guide took us by van from the airport to the Semiramis Intercontinental Hotel. We entered the gate of the hotel and our guide and driver had to show identification (we did not). there were three guards and a German Shepherd dog (my personal favorite). The dog was guided around the vehicle --probably sniffing for bombs more than for drugs. Once we got off the van and entered the building there were three or four guards and a metal detector we had to walk through and one for our bags. One of the guards asked me to open my backpack, and since I was wearing a belt, I caused the detector to beep and was stopped and checked with a wand. Interesting, I thought. Ok, I felt a little awkward, but safe.
There was a security guard on our floor when we got off the elevator and one on each end of the hall--big guys, with earpieces. "Hmmm," we said--"they look like secret service guys." We learned later that we were on one of the two VIP floors and there were dignitaries only a few rooms from us. These guys were probably there for them. We got to know them fairly well--greeting them as we were coming and going from our room.
That evening when we left the hotel to go out to eat, we used the front entrance/exit. There were two or three doormen, and three security guards with yet another dog and a gate. No one was allowed in without showing proper identification--including taxi drivers, so we grabbed a taxi after exiting the gate.
When we arrived at another hotel--where the Hard Rock Cafe was located we were greeted by even more security guards and as we were leaving--there were still more guards and another dog. We were beginning to get a little concerned. "What's up with all the security?" "Was a sheik in town or is it like this all the time?". We also noted that there were guards on the corner of almost every block surrounding the hotel. How reassuring.
When we left Cairo and arrived in Alexandria--we experienced more of the same. the only difference was, once we left the security of our hotel---no guards. But, inside the hotel--oh my, they were everywhere.
We had an incident our 2nd night in Alex involving a pizza and the security. We had eaten at a cafe that served "the best pizza in town" on our first night in Alex. On our second night, we were exhausted from a long day and decided to order in. We called the same place, but decided to try the shrimp pizza. We had no idea that this was haram--arabic for forbidden. It took the usual time for the pizza to arrive, but when we got a phone call from the front desk, we knew there was a problem.
Prior to receiving the phone call, however, we had a stern knock at our door. There were two guards at the door, and when I opened it they sharply ordered me to close the door--"POLICE, CLOSE YOUR DOOR!" Well, After having seen all the security around the hotel and with this sudden, unexpected, and highly suspicious visit, we were more than a little concerned. Leah called down to the front desk and asked, "What's going on?" Were we in danger? We were reassured that everything was okay.
Then we got the phone call..."Did you order a pizza?" We said yes and we were informed that it was forbidden to order pizza or any food from outside the hotel. "We didn't know! There weren't any signs anywhere telling us this."
"Well, yes, in fact, there are signs," replied the night manager. "they're on the front entrance and in the elevators"
Oh--well, we didn't see them."
The management agreed to let us have our pizza and have it sent up, but we should be careful not to do it again. Agreed. So, we waited for our pizza. And we waited. and we waited some more. Finally, I decided to go downstairs and find out what happend to our pizza. We were on the 14th floor, so it took more than a minute to get there. When I arrived at the conciege counter, I was informed that our pizza had been taken up to our room. "Darn, just missed him," I thought. When I got back to the 14th floor I saw a security guard coming down the hall where our room was and when he saw me, he made a call on his cell. Odder still. I opened the door to our room expecting to find our pizza, but, alas, no pizza. Mind you, it's been more than thirty minutes since the pizza was first delivered to our hotel.
So, again, Leah calls down to the front desk. "Where's our pizza?"
"It''s been sent to your room, Miss."
Leah laughed with the manager when she explained what had been going on and how the pizza was somehow lost between the 1st and 14th floor.
Then... a knock at the door. It was a different manager (he looked like the head of security) with a rather large security guard--holding our pizza. The box had been mangled. It looked as though they went through every fiber of the cardboard looking for something. For what? I don't know, but we were so happy to finally have our pizza. It was cold--duh. But worse than that--it wasn't even the shrimp pizza we ordered. By this time, though, we were so hungry, it didn't matter--it didn't matter that it wasn't a shrimp pizza, or that it was cold, or that it had been obviously handled by security--we just ate it. And then we laughed.
We found out the next day from a local, that it was for our benefit that there was so much security.
Days after our return to the UAE, a tour bus carrying Americans from Cairo crashed killing 8 tourists (was it an accident?), and a week after that, a bombing at a Catholic church in Alexandria killed 21 people. We were fortunate. and we were thankful for the security--but even more thankful to God for watching out for us.

EGYPT 2010

Cairo

We talked about it for months and the day had arrived at last. Leah and I sat in the Etihad travel agency trying to book the best trip at the best price. We settled with a red eye flight – departing at 1am and arriving at 3am, 2 nights in Cairo, and 3 nights in Alexandria. We were a bit nervous; neither of us had ever taken a trip like this before. We would occasionally look at each other and giggle—we couldn’t believe we were actually going to take a real live, grown-up vacation—alone! No parents, no spouses, just us girls, er, I mean ladies.
Sure, we read a little background information about the main sites to visit when in Egypt, but time wouldn’t allow us to hit everything. We really just wanted to see the Great Pyramids of Giza. That was it—only one goal. We didn’t plan for any other tours but that one. We didn’t want our vacation to be rushed packing up here and running there—trying to see all the main sites, waking up at 4am rushing from bus to train ….. We wanted to be able to relax and enjoy the experience. We also wanted to be able to enjoy the Mediterranean. We didn’t know what to expect, but we ended up having a great adventure














Cairo-Day One

I'm sitting on my balcony looking at a not so favorable view of Cairo--unless, that is, I lean over the balcony and get dizzy from vertigo. Then I can see the Nile. The smell and smoke from exhaust and the sounds of cars honking their horns floods the air---short snappy toots and long sustained honks; sounds like a few drivers are even honking a tune. Old Fiats, Mercedes Benzes, motorcycles, and...hey, was that an Opel? The honking is constant, kind of like the sound of seagulls one would hear on the shore, or geese on a lake. Buses and taxis line the streets and sirens can be heard almost every fifteen minutes. I'm in Cairo, the largest city on the continent of Africa. Yea, I finally made it to Egypt.


We arrived around 3am at Cairo airport where we were greeted by a hotel guide waiting for us holding up our names on signs. Monika Maxwell and Leah Foster. There was a small gift shop near the smoking den which had an odd array of merchandise. I noted there were, among the usual souvenirs, dust busters and other small appliances. Strange, I thought. The men were staring at us so intently, I think because Leah has long sandy hair--a rarity in the Arab world-- and I've been told I look like an Arab and I was not covered, so I assume that this was some cause for concern.


We had to wait until 8am before we could check into our hotel room. We're at the Semiramis Intercontinental which is located across the street from the Nile River. We waited around in the lobby for hours, unable to fall asleep because we were so pumped about being in Egypt--one of the top ten places I have always wanted to visit ( I can check that off my bucket list). We were finally both able to take intermittent cat naps. Once we got checked in we went to our room, we were excited to find that we had a balcony with two chairs and a table. The view, however, as previously noted, was somewhat of a let-down. The buildings in our area are very old and some of the rooftops look like rubble after a bombing. Still—it was new and different and electrifying. Cairo truly is a city that never sleeps.


After we got settled in we went back downstairs to have breakfast. What an amazing buffet. Sweet breads from various countries--croissant, German Stollen, English fruit bread, fresh French bread, wheat rolls, toast (but no biscuits), cheeses, lunch meats, fruits-figs, apricots, oranges-peeled and sliced, melons, falafel, chicken sausages, beef balls, roasted tomatoes, homemade yogurts, and a knockout omelet bar. We sat near the window overlooking the Nile and ate, drank good coffee, sipped fresh orange juice and laughed and laughed and laughed. You know, the kind of laughing you do when you're so tired that everything tickles your funny bone. And, we were also giddy about the idea of just being here. We joked about the fact that all the servers here are men--tall, dark, handsome men--some of them with such strong Egyptian features that they looked like they just walked off an ancient wall of hieroglyphics.

The hotel was decorated for Christmas. There was garland hanging from the stairways, poinsettias positioned here and there, a few small Christmas trees, and one large Christmas tree in the lobby made solely from live poinsettia plants. It was about 40 feet tall and it was spectacular.

After breakfast we decided we would take a relaxing swim and hit the Jacuzzi. Mmmmmm. The pool was beautiful and surrounded by palm trees and loungers with large fresh towels awaiting us. There was an attendant when we entered the pool area who told us that the pool was heated. When I dipped my foot in to check the temperature, it felt like bath water. Warm and inviting. The deep end was 8 feet, so I dived in. I swam a few laps and we tried touching the bottom. We floated. We talked. We laughed. We moaned. It was so relaxing. When we had our fill we left and went to the jacuzzi. The jacuzzi “room” had a very large jacuzzi and a plunge pool, along with a sauna and steam room, showers and changing rooms. It was exquisite. We sat in the hot tub for as long as we could take it—it was extremely hot. Then we jumped into the plunge pool—it was freezing! Leah jumped in once, but I hit that sucker three times. It was exhilarating. We rinsed off and headed back to our rooms.

We were on the 11th floor and we had three security guards—one by the elevator in the middle of the floor and one on each end. We felt pretty safe and thought it was like this on every floor. While we were walking to our room we saw coming in towards us a group of men, some of them in military uniforms, others in suits, and one or two in traditional dress. We figured they were dignitaries of some sort. They had a room a few doors down from ours. We later learned that the 11th and 12th floors were designated for VIP. Cool. We’re VIP 


We took a nap, got dressed and headed for dinner. By this time it was already 9pm. We had seen a billboard sign for the Hard Rock Café, so we asked the concierge how to get there. Since we didn’t want to get lost on our first night in Cairo, we took a taxi. When we arrived, there were very few people there, but the atmosphere was classic Hard Rock Café: guitars and other memorabilia covered the walls. We ordered a large plate of fries with ketchup and mayonnaise (it was too late to eat anything too heavy). They were yummy. Then the people started piling in. They start late here in Cairo. Our waiter told us that once the music starts people will start arriving and dance until 5am. A large screen slowly lowered on the dance floor and the DJ started to play some house music, so we decided to stay and dance a bit, but we didn’t stick around till 5am. We couldn’t hang. We danced with each other mostly. Leah could have danced all night, but I was beginning to tire, so we headed out and grabbed a taxi. The driver told us it would cost us 50 Egyptian pounds to get us back to our hotel—which was only 2 blocks away. “What? It only took us 12 pounds to get here.” We scoffed at him and started to get out of the taxi --hoping he would stop us and offer a more reasonable price, but he didn’t. We were committed then, so we hopped on out of the taxi and started to walk towards the street. We grabbed another taxi once we got the main road and he got us safely and cheaply back to our hotel. We settled in for the night, checking emails and facebook, and then we were lulled to sleep by the sounds of honks, sirens, and an occasional barking dog.

This ends our first night in Cairo. There are, of course, other things I can and will write about our experience that day and the days that follow, but they will fall under other headings. Check back in for the chapters on “Security”, “Dude, Where’s My …”, and “You Look Like an Egyptian”.