July 4

The time between April and July has taken me across oceans to new worlds: Africa and Asia. We spent a month in Egypt and Jordan, seeing the Middle East through our eyes and ears. We listened to the muezzin several times a day and say the Muslims pray - in the streets, in the desert - men often wearing the mark on their heads developed from touching the ground repeatedly. We saw women apart - on the first car of the Cairo subway, in the front of the Aswan ferries, covered in scarves, sometimes even with veils over their eyes. We enjoyed the generosity and the cordiality of being a visitor in a new culture, overprotected by the security and invited to tea at every turn, welcomed as Americans. We indulged in amazing art and reached back into history in monments, temples, and tombs. We rode faluccas on the Nile and became accustomed to camels and donekys on the roadway. We camped in the White Desert under stars and surrounded by stalagmites of awesome beauty. We walked down into the ancient valley of Petra and wandered through modern Amman. We saw Midaq Alley and the salt cities of the desert. We dined on hummus and sipped khakaday juice. We celebrated the sunshine, explored the oasis, and swam in the Red Sea. What an adventure!