When blogs collide - 5 - 9 April 2009

We spent the first 4 days in Cairo crashing with Jason, Katherine, and Luke Deutsch. Like I mentioned previously, they were teaching at an international school in Cairo. I say were, because they've since moved on to Venezuela.

Katherine actually keeps a blog, which is how I managed to track them down after not seeing them for almost a decade. If you're interested, it's at http://hkkath.blogspot.com.

We had a great time. We slept in late (the first morning Jen nudged me awake at 10 am and said "You gonna sleep all day?" in that tone of voice a wife will use when the correct answer is "Of course not, dear."). We ate Americanized food every night (and bagels every mid-morning) and we watched a lot of "Lost."

We visited Coptic Cairo, an early cradle for Christianity, and toured the Coptic museum. I didn't have the courage to bribe the guards so there aren't any pictures, but the ancient manuscripts were a high point of the trip. I don't know why I find them so compelling, but I do.

We also visited the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid.

Here's the Bent Pyramid:



I like to think of the poor contractor who had to explain why they changed the angle halfway through the construction. Can you imagine trying to spin this into a positive thing? "Oh yeah, this is the latest thing in Pyramids - everybody's dying to have 'em look like this."

We also got our first taste of baksheesh, the organized bribery that seems to keep Egypt's economy going. Some guards at the Red Pyramid came out and took our picture. Then, they shook us down for a tip. Peering intently into my wallet one of them said "that's very small bill, how about larger bill. How about American Dollar - for souvenir."

If you're into foreshadowing, let's just say that I'm going to respond less and less well to the shake down as our time in the Middle East continues. Here, though, is the resulting picture:



Here's another example of us being shaken down. This guy loves Americans:



And by Americans, I mean US Dollars.

I present for your amusement what happened when our taxi driver's car broke down:

You'll note that my lovely spouse is using this opportunity to take a picture.

We also had a lot of fun hanging out with Jason's son, Luke. He called us Mr. and Mrs. Hodges, and finally had to ask Jennifer if Chad meant Mr. Hodges.

Here he is during story time, cooking Jennifer in a pot (and stirring the pot with his bat):



And here he is with me:

It was great to relax and recharge before joining up with the GAP tour. That'll be next!