Well, I’ve made it out of the fire and into the flood. (Tangentially, if you’re ever in the market for air travel in the Middle East, I highly recommend Etihad Airways.)
In the seven hours that I’ve been in Bangkok I’ve had lunch, cut my hair, gotten a massage, bought contacts, had linner, and purchased tickets outta town. At 6pm we board a bus to Koh Tao for 4 days of PADI lessons.
Here are a few more Things I Learned About Egypt:
•Every other man is named Ahmed. Those that are not are either Mohammed, Ali, or Islam.
•Don’t eat the falafel from the Egyptian-fast-food chain GAD. Weeks later I still feel sick thinking about those sandwiches.
•Laws of the road are really just suggestions. Highway lane markings exist purely for decoration.
•You can ride in the passageway between cars if a train is sold out, but you’ll pay more for that privilege than you would for a seat itself.
•Many men have marks on their foreheads that look like Ash Wednesday ash. These are scars from prostrating in prayer thousands of times over the years.
•No adult wears shorts. None. It’s jeans/khakis and super tacky tee shirts or plaid dress shirts all year round. Oh, and tacky shoes.
•You can get away with many things, but drinking beer on a felucca near Luxor (the police raided our boat) and getting a student price without a student ID (they are marvelously and universally strict about this) are not among them.
Temporary Travels 
Thank you for NOT getting thrown in an Egyptian jail – although the accomodations might have been an improvement! Love to Cait, and have fun together.
eff da police
Were you able to talk your way out of it or did they fine you?
Glad you accomplished so much in Bangkok, but you failed to mention the most important thing! Did you meet up with Cait? Have a great time together in, hopefully, a safer environment. Love.
Your journey has.been amazing!!! Your camera was a great choice… The pictures are beautiful!!! So glad Johnny Law didn’t detain you!!!!!
Nine more days until Cait arrives!!!
Be safe
xo
E
Mom – I don’t now if jail would have had better accommodations, but it may well have had better food options. I will say though that Dahab had a lot more western-style food and was a very enjoyable place to go out to eat.
Evan – No arrests. Everything had been drunk by the time they boarded, but they did collect all the empties and search through the crew’s quarters pretty rigorously.
Nanny – Cait arrives around the 21st. I’m traveling with my friend Jenny from Boston right now.
Glad you got out of Egypt with some observational lessons. . . but I am mostly glad you got out of Egypt, period. I am sure what is reported here by the mass media about what is happening in Cairo no more reflects that entire country than does international news coverage about Occupying Wall St reflect the entire US, but what we see here about Egypt made me nervous while you were there. Enjoy SEA, PADI, etc.
daad