Limbo Time

I am a responsible, well-seasoned traveler. Before leaving the house for my 4 am flight (with cat) last night, I checked the flight status online - all was well and good.

Then I got to the airport and the flight was cancelled.

Thanks to a confluence of 'fate on my side' events (though you could argue that the fates were against me for not bringing the plane to Cairo in the first place -- but I think they were just against someone else who was on the plane and I got caught up in the whirl-wind) I am happily booked to fly tomorrow (with cat) and got to sleep in my own (for another few hours anyway) bed . . . when I finally got home at 4:30 am.

All I have to say is, at crazy hours of the morning, Lufthansa customer service at the airport was fabulous. I wish I knew the name of the guy who helped me because he was awesome and cheery and efficient and helpful and all those things that stand out when dealing with airport personnel at 3 am.

And now to relax (which I haven't done all week) since I am packed and sorted and cleaned out of house and home already.

The Final Countdown (dudududu-dadudududuhhhh)

I move in 94 hours.

This is positively insane. I have three full days of work left, have only packed one suitcase, am moving a cat across the Atlantic, and ... seriously I have to stop listing or I'm going to give myself a panic attack.

I will miss Cairo. I will miss T and B; The Ladies of Awesome. I take much solace in the fact that next-summer vacation plans are already shaping up so I can see them both again (possibly on different sides of the world - but I think that's what happens when you live your life in the global neighborhood). I will miss my great job, my amazing students, and seeing all of the Pyramids of upper Egypt in one sweeping glimpse from the detour route through Mokkatam we have to take whenever there is a traffic jam on the main highway.

I am so very very lucky. With all the stress of moving, it's easy to forget; but my life is pretty amazing. Particularly given all the travel and adventures I've gotten to have over the last four years with my incredible friends. *deep sigh of satisfaction*

Ok, now back to stressing about the move ...

A Cairo Retrospective: 4 years in 12 pictures

All the photos below were taken in and around Cairo. Just a little retrospective of four awesome years of getting to take photographs in the interesting, ever-changing landscape of Egypt.

The photos appear in no particular order, but were selected to show a sampling of all the different environs and experiences to be had in Cairo.

Wadi Degla, March 2012

Wekalet al-Ghori Mosque, March 2012

 Boating around Zamalek, June 2011

Graffiti in Tahrir Square, April 2011

 At the Pyramids at Giza, October 2010

 Inside the Bab el Fotouh (looking down the stairwell), September 2010

 Horseback Riding at the Pyramids, August 2009

El Tannoura at the Al-Ghori complex, September 2009

Camel at the Giza Pyramids,  Valentine's Day 2009

Sunset Felucca, November 2008

Farmer on Gezirit el Dahab, February 2009

Islamic Cairo from the Bab Zuweila, Ramadan 2009

Year 4 - The Final Countdown 2011-2012

This was the year of the job hunt, and subsequently it was the year of carefully budgeting my travel in case job hunting didn't go as well as I hoped (the end result of the job hunt seems spectacular and I can't wait to start my new life in Mexico!).

Because there was a self-imposed budget crunch, as well as fewer school holidays than usual, I didn't travel far. That's ok, though. Not traveling far, I still traveled well!

In the fall I went to Luxor for the second time with a group of friends and next it was off to London and Lincolnshire for Christmas. In February there was a surprise (an awesome surprise!) trip home to Baltimore to work out visa paperwork (where I got to see all of my favorite people in Baltimore at one table in my old neighborhood); and in Spring there were trips to Petra (so living the Indiana Jones lifestyle!), Istanbul, and Aswan.

Life in Cairo has been good, adventuring in and around (and further afield) from Cairo has been incredible. There are so many memories. I hope you have enjoyed this 'four years of travel in pictures.' I realize it's a bit like going to someone's house and hearing them say "Hon, get out the slide projector and show them how great our cruise to the Bahamas was!"which always inspires a sense of dread. But seriously, this retrospective is for me. My memory is terrible, and I want to be able to remember how amazing adventuring these four years has been. Because adventuring is amazing!

Luxor, Egypt

London, UK

Petra, Wadi Rum, Jordan

Istanbul, Turkey

Aswan, Egypt

Abu Simbel, Egypt

Summer Year 3 - 2011

Summer was a much needed escape after an insane year. I arrived in Baltimore a bit shell-shocked from life in Egypt post-revolution. I wandered zombie-like around Baltimore for the first week home while I also took an AP course at Goucher College and battled crazy jet lag.

Then, fourth of July weekend at my niece's 4th birthday party (where I was very happily surrounded by my 'other family' who have been my third set of parents and siblings since I was 12) - Lil opened her present and said "OOOOooo a magic wand! Thank you Aunt H! Bibbidi-Bobbidy-boo!" I just needed that little bit of magic: everything was right with the world again. I spent the next two days visiting friends and extended family, meeting new cousins and 'nieces and nephews' born during my year-long absence from Baltimore, hugging everyone in sight, and being happy to be alive.

I flew back to Cairo for a few days to meet-up with my roommate and then we flew off to Bali for a wedding on the tiny island of Nusa Penida. The Bali Posts speak for themselves, as do the pictures below.

Finally, it was off to Thailand (where I rode elephants, pet tigers, zip-lined through the jungle, ate amazing food, and sweat like I never knew was possible) and Singapore (two days of amazing food and wine....and orangutans) before settling back in to Cairo and catching up with friends as I started what I knew would be my last year here.

Candidasa, Bali, Indonesia

Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Jimbaran, Bali, Indonesia

                                     

Bangkok, Thailand

Ayathuya, Thailand

Chonburri, Thailand

Kanchanaburri, Thailand

Singapore, Singapore

Year 3 - 2010 - 2011

Year three in Cairo was the year of the revolution. I had many amazing adventures that year but, when I think of January 2011 and all that followed, I forget about all of the great trips that happened in the fall; so it's nice to look back on them now.

The year even started off with an air of instability, and the school year started later than planned, which led to an impromptu trip to Aswan for the Eid el Fitr.

There were also Greece Day in Greece, Eid el Adha in Cyprus, Christmas in the UK, Hogmany in Edinburgh, and Easter in Italy - again, all incredible adventures (full of tasty deliciousness - so much good food...)!

I had booked a trip to Disney World for my February holidays long before we knew anything of what was to come in Cairo, and ended up with two weeks in Florida instead of one. I watched Mubarak's topple from power on a hotel TV at the Disney Riverside resort as I prepared to go out to dinner among the burnt-red masses of tourists. It was all very surreal. I lost my camera on the flight back to Cairo and have no photos of my own from that trip.

And now, just a week before I leave my life in Cairo behind, it's all so very strange to look back on the amazing and difficult year of 'character building' that was my third year in Egypt.

Aswan, Egypt

 

Athens, Greece

 

Hydra, Greece

 

 

Cyprus (Greek Side)

 

 

Lincoln, UK

 

 

Edinburgh, UK 

 

 

Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt (April 2011)

 

 

Rome, Italy

 

 

Sorrento, Italy

 

 

Pompeii, Italy

Summer - Year 2

Summer Year 2 was the "pack as much in as possible" summer. I spent the first two weeks exploring Italy, then it was off to Baltimore, DC, New York, and Florida before heading back to Cairo (again, in time for my friend's birthday party ON the Nile).

It was the best summer ever in terms of catching up with friends and family; a big shout-out to everyone who put me up (and put up with me) and roommate from Cairo, who was on her first adventure to America. It was a two wedding summer - one in a beautiful nature center, the other at the burial place of Edgar Allen Poe (there's an old church on the site). It was also the best summer for entertainment value (Jason and the Aquanauts water ballet in Balitmore, Hamlet in the park in Ellicott City, The Birdcage on Broadway, Dracula performed at the Bargello Palace/art museum in Florence, Trixie and Monkey in Baltimore...) and FOOD - I easily put on 15 pounds gorging myself on Italian and American delicacies!

Milan, Italy

 

 

Vernazza (the Cinque Terre), Italy

 

Pisa, Italy

 

Florence, Italy

 

 

Baltimore, MD

 

Washington, DC

 

New York, NY

 

 

Ocala (?), FL

Year 2 2009 - 2010

Distraction from reading the news this morning seems like a good thing, so I bring you Year 2, my travels from September 2009 - April 2010. I actually didn't have many crazy adventures abroad that year, but I did have loads of visitors; which made life in Cairo interesting as I was suddenly not so much a passive observer as a tour guide and resident - suddenly I felt like I LIVED in Egypt; and that was very cool indeed. I also got to take one of my brothers on his first trip to Europe when we went to Rome in October; also very cool. There were also a random few nights stranded in NYC in a snowstorm while trying to get back to Baltimore, a conference in Bangkok, some mini-vacations to Cyprus and Alexandria, and my first trip to Luxor.

I am including one picture from Cairo that year, possibly my favorite picture I've ever taken. In Spring 2010, I visited the El Safa Center (a retirement home) with my National Honor Society students. There I met three sweet old ladies who wanted nothing more than to pose for pictures; and the results were the most beautiful portraits I have ever taken (and likely, the most beautiful I will ever take).

Rome, Italy

 

 

Pompeii, Italy

 

New York, NY

 

Baltimore, MD

  

 

Luxor, Egypt

 

Bangkok, Thailand

 

 

Cairo, Egypt

 

 

Limassol, Cyprus

 

Alexandria, Egypt