Getting the heck out of Dodge

The break celebrating the end of Ramadan and the October 1973 War officially starts tomorrow.

We're on the 10:45 bus out of Cairo, heading to the Sinai.

The Official Plan:

Climb Mt. Sinai
See St. Catherine's Monastery

Take a bus to Jordan via Israel (the border crossing is going to be oh so fun, but we've heard absolute nightmares about the ferry)

Petra
Wadi Rum
Amman

Our target date of return to Cairo is Sunday, October 5 (depending on whether or not we get stopped at the Israeli border. This is a possibility because AUC's woefully uninformed visa services officer declined to do the paperwork to get Kelly and I re-entry visas because he was under the impression we could buy them at the border. We can't. I have a number in my passport indicating that my student residence visa is in process at the Mugammaa, hopefully that plus paying a fine will be enough to get me across. That's what the visa guy said, anyway, after he figured out he was wrong and yet still refused to help us. We have multiple back-up plans in place just in case we get detained. Cross your fingers that we don't have to use them!)


I will (eventually) get around to responding to the cascade of emails in my inbox...but probably not until October 6.

In the meantime, think about this: I managed to fit everything I'll need for an entire week into my L.L. Bean backpack.