Pictures from Cairo

Well, here is the first set of photos from my trip. I took around 1500 so this is just sampling, but it will give you a feel (I'm so tired now that the idea of pulling all these together for a scrapbook is overwhelming!)
Robin Palmer and I standing before the Great Pyramid.



And here is the entire Round Table Group (minus our facilitator Mitchell Williams who was unable to go with us.) Alice Syltie (Huntsville Unitarian Universalist), Bob Hurst (Huntsville United Church), Jim Roberts (Hope Presbyterian), Robin Palmer (Grace Presbyterian), Me, Jeff Ballon (Temple B'Nai Sholom), and David Freeman (Weatherly Heights Baptist).









Bet you didn't know I could hold the Great Pyramid in my hand! (By the way, this was my first of two camel rides.)

Entrance to one of the churches where it is believed that Mary, Joseph and Jesus stayed during their sojourn in Egypt. Below this church is a cave where they may have lived for a time.






Here is Bob Hurst standing before one of the paintings inside the tombs at Saqarra. Notice how bright the colors are in this painting despite its very great age!








Stepped Pyramid at Saqarra








Here is Mohammad, our security guard. And he truly did have an Uzi in his back pocket. We got a glimpse of how the President and others must feel with their secret service guys with them. At Saqarra, there were only three of us--Jeff, Bob, and me, and yet wherever we went, he followed.

This folks is a Whirling Dervish and he did whirl for what seemed like forever. It is truly something to see.

We're Going to the Promised Land

Because we're going to the promise land
and in the promise land it's gonna be so grand!
we'll have our fill from the grill
as much as we can stand
it'll be so great
oh we can hardly wait!

because we're going to the promised land!!

Okay--so after nearly four years of planning, I am going to the Israel. It must be true because I picked up my itinerary and vouchers today from Ann Lois at the Temple B'nai Shalom. Here at my feet is the itinerary (Egypt, Sinai, Dead Sea, Galilee, Jerusalem and points in between), luggage tags, etc. We leave Wednesday afternoon adn I guess I'd better start getting ready. The Rabbi said that it almost seemed anti-climatic after all the anticipation, but for me it just hasn't seemed real. But it looks like it is.

Hopefully, I'll be able to post pictures and tell you about the trip while I'm gone. If not, I'll share when I get back. But if Egypt and Israel are like Thailand there are internet cafes all over the place, so I hope to keep you up-to-date.