it's all booked

since char is in jordan until august on an archaeological dig and i happen to have the entire month of august off, we had the brilliant idea of travelling together. not that either of us has a ton of money to spare, but when else will an opportunity like this come along? we had to take it :)

so we will be in egypt for two and a half weeks in august touring with g.a.p. adventures, a toronto based tour company specializing in small group travel. char and i originally thought about going it alone b/c we didn't want to be part of a big group on a tour bus, but this is a happy medium. safety in the group (10-15 people max) but lots of choice and flexibility in the schedule, i.e. once we're in a given city we can decide for ourselves which sites we want to visit. it'll be a grass roots style of travel, via train, local bus, sail boat--very rustic conditions. we'll be staying on an overnight train twice and spending two nights on a felucca ship which involves sleeping on the deck in the open.

i have a friend at wayne state named ereeny who is also from toronto. she's egyptian and she might go to egypt with her family this summer. if she does we'll meet up in cairo for a couple of days at the end of the tour. another friend, kevin, lent me his book on arabic so i can try to learn a bit before i go. the Egypt travel guide Let's Go has also been helpful. i've learned that "la, shukran" means "no, thank you". the book has also told me how to avoid water-borne diseases in risk areas: "don't rinse your toothbrush under the faucet, and keep your mouth closed in the shower". sage advice.