We departed on Friday, and after spending 2 1/2 extra hours on the airplane in Portland before even taking off, we flew to Amsterdam. We didn't sleep much on the plane, so were a bit tired when we arrived in Amsterdam on Saturday at 10:30am, since it was 1:30am to our bodies. After getting out of the airport, we took a taxi to the downtown area and found a restaurant for lunch. We walked around the town a bit and took a boat ride on the canal to see more of the town. It was beautiful. We headed back to the airport earlier than anticipated, since we wanted to nap a bit and didn't have the energy to explore any more. We all got a quick 30 minute nap in before boarding our plane to Cairo at 9pm. We were all able to sleep a bit more on the plane and arrived in Cairo at 2:30am on Sunday. After getting our visas and flying through security we found a tour guide who was eager to set us up with some sight-seeing for that day and also made arrangements for us to get to our hotel. We arrived to the hotel and all took showers before falling into bed around 6am -our first beds since Thursday night.
We woke up around 10am on Sunday, got some breakfast and began our touring of Cairo. We were hooked up with an English speaking tour guide, a Muslim woman, who was very nice! First stop -to see the Pyramids. We chose to take camels (and horses) through the desert and viewed the Pyramids. Our guide was great and made sure to get some really good pics of all of us. We were even able to touch one of the pyramids! We saw the sphinx and then headed back. It was supposed to be around 100 degrees that day, although I never saw a thermometer to confirm. We were all troopers. Even Mom, who doesn't handle the heat, did great! We were promptly taken to a perfume shop where they tried to sell us perfumes we didn't want, and then to a paper making store where they tried to sell us art we weren't interested in. We then continued to a restaurant buffet where we were the only ones there and the food had probably been sitting there too long. Again -we were all troopers, ate the food and so far no one has been sick. We were hoping to get back to our hotel to take showers and wash off the smell of camels, but somehow didn't have time. So we hung out for awhile before heading to take a dinner cruise on the Nile River which included two shows -one with a woman belly dancer and the other with a man dressed in a skirt who spun around in circles for about 10 minutes straight without falling down. It sounds pretty strange, but was interesting! The weather at night is about 80 degrees, so we sat outside on the deck of the boat after the show and enjoyed the scenery of the city.
We actually got a full night's sleep, in our beds last night. In fact we slept for about 10 hours straight, which was amazing. We only got up to get some breakfast and then came back to our rooms to relax. Today we are keeping things pretty calm and don't have much planned. We hope to be caught up and adjusted to the 10 hour time change before heading to Ethiopia late tonight. Our flight leaves at 3:30am, so we probably won't sleep much tonight.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) morning we arrive in Ethiopia around 7:30am. We aren't scheduled to meet Olivia until Wednesday, although I am secretly hoping they allow us to meet her earlier than scheduled. Otherwise we will do some sight-seeing.
The internet connection here in Cairo is great, in our room, free and pretty quick. I don't anticipate it will be like that in Ethiopia, but we'll try to get online as often as we can to post updates.
Thank you to all who are praying for our trip. We certainly feel your prayers. Everything has run smooth so far, we're all in decent moods, catching up on sleep, healthy, excited and anxious! Please continue to pray for A & E who are at home with Grandma. It sounds like they're having a good time together, but that the girls are missing us. Please pray for patience, endurance and understanding for Grandma too. And of course, please pray for Olivia and her care-givers. Pray for Olivia's precious little heart as her life is about to turn upside down again. Please pray for her transition.
Loves to all of you.
