Sleepless in Cairo

Hello all from Cairo, Egypt! Made it safely today after a 9 hour plane ride at 650 miles per hour to Frankfurt followed by a 4 hour plane ride at roughly the same speed to Cairo. Oh, and all of our luggage made it safely as well. That's huge. Land in Cairo, go through customs, collect our bags, have one bag boy (must be unionized labor here) with really bloodshot eyes load all 36, 50 pound bags on two luggage carts then wheel them out to the air conditioned bus awaiting us. Our drive through Cairo didn't show much progress. Still very old looking, very poor, disorganized chaos with few people paying any attention to traffic laws... if they even have any! I did see one official looking guy with a broom sweeping up some trash on a public roadway, so that's progress. Maybe that letter I sent the Egyptian President last summer after my last trip informing him about our trash collection and landfill system in America took root! Only kidding. I didn't actually send him a letter.

Lufthansa, by the way, is a machine. Pleasant way to spend 13 hours on an airplane, if only they get their temperature control right. Too warm on first leg, too cold on second. I prefer cold because they provide unlimited number of blankets and pillows for customers... for FREE! Hey American Airlines, get a clue. Oh, and they feed you well and frequently, too. And they have a bucket of German chocolotate bars in the back for its passengers. Also free. The flight attendants are nice to the passengers and smile frequently.

What else... my laptop battery is running low. I'm in the lobby of the Shepheard Hotel on the Nile River. Only place they have internet. No connection in the room. I'll post some photos tomorrow when I'm back down here. Left my power cord in the room. Barry is my roommate. He's up there now, hitting showers first. I'm shortly behind him, though definitely after him, meaning we're not showering together. That would be inappropriate.

We ate dinner tonight at a Lebanese restaurant. Good stuff. Not for the timid stomach, however. Some fairly exotic foods... can't describe it. Took photos. Will post tomorrow. Some really liked it. Some really not so much. I'm in the middle. I liked some but refused to try the livers at the risk of offending our Egyptian brother Magged. Sorry Magged!

A few of us took a stroll after dinner along the Nile. It was a short stroll. Crowded. Had to cross major streets and roadways and the concept of pedestrian right-of-way has not made it to the Middle East just yet. It was like a really realistic game of Frogger! Happy to report there were no injuries, though there were a few close calls. One with a bus driving at night without lights.

Getting up early to head out for Kids Games in Cairo. We are coaching/working that all day. They are expecting several thousand kiddos to show up for an olympic like competition that begins tomorrow and wraps up Saturday. I better hit the shower and get to bed.

Scott Milder from Cairo Egypt, signing off...