May 30, 2008

And now from Cairo. Dale started work last week, and since Adam and Natalie are visiting soon, I figured I would get in a quick visit to Cairo, as our friends Cathy and Stephen are leaving for Australia at the end of the month, and I wanted to say a proper farewell. We had a lovely dinner and chat, so it was well worth arriving home at 2:30am last night, as Dale headed off to Vienna. Adam and Jeff were at the hotel with us, so we enjoyed our time with them as well. I also got to visit with MJ for two days. Bless her heart, she took me to the Khan el-Khalili which is absolutely one of my most favourite places in Cairo. I know that I have mentioned before that it is the oldest bazaar and market in the world.
http://www.touregypt.net/khan.htm
The second day, we visited with one of her friends, blind Mary, with another lady Susan, who I had met when I spent last summer in Ma'adi. We had a lovely visit and then headed off to Neil's school to peruse his students' art exhibits. Afterwards we went to three parties! As the school year is winding up there, many of the teachers are off to other countries to work. One of the apartment blocks houses the Primary, Middle and High School Principals, and each one had a farewell party on their floor. We started at the top and worked our way down (which seemed a very wise option by the time we were done). I met many lovely and interesting people; again, some who I had met before and managed to catch up from where we had left off. Several others were interested in coming to Cyprus, so MJ will put us in touch when they do. There is no doubt that Cairo/Ma'adi is a second home-away-from-home, and MJ and Neil are a big part of the reason for that. Do give them a big hug for us when they get out to Comox in June.
I think that wraps up the exciting parts for a bit. I am looking forward to Adam and Natalie's visit on June 11. They are here for a week, so I will not be able to take them to everything we dragged Joel to, but I will do my best to fit in the highlights.
Take care and keep in touch.
Love,
Laurel