Down 4

We have lost Ben, Bonnie, James, and Rosey. They are headed home and are likely somewhere over the Atlantic as I type. We miss them already and wish them luck!

Currently we are hard at work in the basement of USAID. Sunday is the first day of the work week and we have a deliverable of the final report to finish. We are currently alone in the building with the exception of the guards. Today is a holiday for the Egyptians. It is the day when most of them will sacrifice an animal in deference to Abraham sacrificing a ram after proving he was willing to sacrifice his son. (Or so I'm told.) This explanation came from our tour guide and I know she over generalized a few things.

We are in good spirits and feel we have done a good job. Our lunch was pizza from Pizza Hut. (We were not feeling adventurous.) We hope to hire a sail boat this evening and get out on the Nile for an hour or so. It seems like a great time to take some pictures but the Nile is not the cleanest of rivers. I hope it goes well.

Pictures

Here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment...

We had the opportunity to see a burning plane right before takeoff. I thought it was a good sign.

This has been our home for the last week and a half.
3 of us in front of the Great Pyramid

Buying tickets to go inside. Sadly there are no cameras allowed inside

Waving to the children. School is compulsory here and most of the children learn a foreign language with English being very popular. Many want to practice it as much as possible. Several approached me and asked me my name and "how many" I was. :)

All the children in this photo are yelling "hello". They were very cute.

The nile at sunset

The team in the mumification chamber

Local camel conference

From a distance

The light show at night.

Cruising speed

Today we have reached cruising speed at USAID. I believe we are making excellent progress toward our goal and have been able to get past all the inevitable communication problems of work in another country. Now we simply need to follow through on our commitments.

Both courses are doing well. Some of the presenters are brand new but they are quickly gaining confidence. I have no doubt these courses will be valuable to USAID and they will use it again in the near future.

What amazes me is that the courses are done in English. We have people here from Hungry, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Guinea, India, El Salvador, and so on. Only the South Africans are learning in their native language and none of the presenters are native English speakers. Yet they are able to come together and learn. It has been interesting to hear their stories and try to understand how daily life is for them.

It has been an excellent and unique experience.