Biet El Wadi Sports Camp: Home Sweet Home from Egypt

Good morning! Well, it's Sunday and we've all been home for a few days now. I've been meaning to get this final blog posted sooner, but life hit me like a mack truck, and so did jet lag. Think I've finally recovered after several days of waking up ready for the day at 4:00 a.m., and passed out by 7:00 p.m.

Last I typed was a wrap up of the final two days, leaving camp and the time to relax at the Red Sea. After dinner Tuesday evening we had a few hours to pack, shower, and rest before leaving on our bus, scheduled departure 12:45 a.m. early Wednesday morning. We all gathered in the parking lot, weighed our bags (had to be under 50 pounds), stood around, sat around, all pretty much zombies. Bus departed at 1:00 a.m. and I'm not sure what happened over the next two hours. I was passed out on the bus. Woke up as we pulled in to the Cairo airport. Somebody said we passed a massive police academy training facility. Surprises me that any of their police have any training at all. They just don't seem trained, at least to the degree we train our own in the USA.

We navigated airport security uneventfully and spent some time in the duty free shops spending the last of our Egyptian pounds. I had 65 pounds to spend, which is about $12.00 give or take. Bought some candy for my kids and a bag of chips. I later sat on the bag of chips and they exploded. Justin marveled and the rush of wind caused by the chip bag explosion blowing through his hair. Some of us were looking for something to eat. Not many options at 4:00 a.m. in the airport. Burger King was closed. Nuts! Brad B and Brennen found calzones, but the pizza nazi said it would take one hour. We all gave up on that, but not Brad and Brennen! They waited it out. Turns out one hour Egyptian is only 10 minutes American, which is roughly the same currency exchange rate. So I went to the pastry shop, looking for a pastry. Picture below. Brad B asked me if he should be concerned that I was shopping at the "Pasty" shop. You'll have to look at the photo to get the full effect. Bailey and Lindsey found their coffee cup souvenirs to bring back for family and friends.

We all scattered once through security so its hard to report on everyone's activities. Once through security there is another layer of security at the gate. That's where they X-ray your things, take your laptop out of your bag, where the police shake you down for whatever money you have left. They got $3 U.S. out of Chris, and tried to get more out of Zach. "officer" told Zach his backpack was too big and he had to check it, as he held his hand out while a dozen other backpacks of equal or greater size had just passed successfully through security. Chris went back and told the guy Zach was with him, that he'd already taken care of him (with the $3). He made it through without having to pay off the police guy.

We all boarded the plane, it took off on time, I slept the whole four hours to Frankfurt as did many, we landed on time, had a two hour layover but an hour was chewed up going through Germany security. We were hunting for food, a McDonalds, food court, something, but there was nothing! Best we found was a Bretzel cart. That's not a typo. Half bread, half pretzel. Pretty good, but not a sausage biscuit. We also searched high and low for toilets. They had a few bathrooms in the terminal, but each was a one seater. There were thousands of people in the terminal! Lines were incredible. I found one hiding in the back where no one was looking. Ah, relief. It was like a fast pass at Disney.

Plane took off on time again. Lufthansa impressed us again, though not much leg room. Barry was my seat buddy again. Pretty uneventful flight. We each had our own tv in the seat back. I watched three or four movies and half dozen tv shows. Hey, the new Good Wife show is pretty good. I'll start watching that. Valentine's Day movie was fun. Tried reading with little success. Slept some, but not much on this flight. Watched the flight tracker. 11 hour flight home was the longest leg of the whole two week trip, mostly because of the anticipation of being home, seeing our families, and stretching out in our own beds.

Landed at DFW on time after 6,000 plus miles in the air, a total of 22 hours in transit from the Red Sea to DFW. Made it through customs, all of our bags made it home, and there was Amy McDuffey waiting for us with the church van and trailer! Jennifer Weinzapple was also there to help shuttle us if necessary, but a couple of families met our comrads at the airport so we only had one van load, which free'd Jennifer, Chris, Bailey and gang to head straight home. Lucky for them, too, cuz they didn't know what was waiting for us less than one mile to the end of our 22 hour journey! Seems you're supposed to take the van out of overdrive when towing a big trailer. We burned up the transmission on the way home and the van stopped moving on Ridge Road in front of Culver's! We took George bush Turnpike home to avoid traffic. We all sat there in disbelief, knowing our families were waiting for us at the airport. I took a couple of photos of the nice police officer who helped us, the tow truck also. Brad called for a back up van, police called a tow, the van met us at the break down point, we transferred to it, tow truck hooked up the broken van and trailer, we followed it to the auto repair shop, unloaded broken van, hooked trailer up to substitute van, then we head to the church. About a 30 minute delay, which is really short for such an event (AAA would have been 90 minutes), but it felt like an eternity at the very end of our journey.

That's all the drama I can stand for now. We made it back, hugged our spouses and kids, and fled so fast that most of us didn't even say good bye, which was probably for the best. There would have been tears. We were all part of something extraordinary, something that has bonded us all together and turned mostly strangers and acquaintances into lifelong friends.

Dear Brad B, Brennen, Chris, Bailey, Victoria, Rebekah, John, John Michael, Ken, Barry, Brad O, Jordan, Lindsey, Justin, Gary, Zach, and Nicole -- It was an honor and privilege to serve with each of you in Egypt on behalf of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Your friend with love and admiration,
Scott

P.S. Enjoy the photos!