Stu's visit to Egypt.
04/5/02
I'm back in Cairo, safe and sound from my Lebanon and Syria trip. I have a ton of stories that I'll be getting to soon, but I wanted to send out this quick email to let you know I'm safe.Just a couple of quick comparison to set your mind at ease:
Driving through hairpin turns on icy mountain roads in foggy rain was a LOT more stressful and frightening than being among 30,000 demonstrating Damascans chanting Arabic phrases that sounded like, "All I wanna is peas and gravy!"
The Syria-Lebanon border guards are very serious when they ask questions like, "What is purpose of you to visit?", but they snicker when they look at your passport and ask you, "How is the ham-burger?"
Beirut has Starbucks. Damascus has thimble sized servings of mud at every street corner.
I have seen BBC World and CNN all week as well as read local newspapers, so I am aware of the latest developments in Israel. My neighborhood is peaceful, but I did hear about some violent demonstrations around the University. (It's about 10km away. About the same as the UofR campus from Greece, for those Rochester readers.) The American Embassy here has not issued specific warnings so I assume I am in no immediate danger. I will continue to be ever vigilant and keep you all posted.