Hello, from Cairo! It is a lovely place, we are having a good time here in Egypt. We have seen the pyramids, took a camel ride, ate good food, bought good things. I got an absolutely gorgeous turquoise velvet beaded dress for dancing as Eudora. I found some mohair yarn in fuschia and turquoise yesterday in Alexandria, and had fresh-caught fish and shrimp for dinner.

Today it is Christmas and we stayed in the hotel all day. Stayed up till 2am talking like schoolgirls, then slept till 11am. Room service for tea and coffee, plus tangerines, guavas and baklava we got in Alexandria yesterday.

For dinner, more room service (not that great but easy) and we then had the excitement of the day. While we were rolling the room service table out to the hallway, we locked ourselves out of our room. I had to go down to the main lobby (this is the Cairo downtown Marriott, a very fancy place that used to be a palace… the guests are very formal for the most part) wearing my pajamas, to get back in to our room! I tried to act normal but kept breaking out in laughter, not a good thing when people don’t speak your language and you can’t tell them you aren’t laughing at them. It was too funny, though! Thank goodness, that part didn’t last too long.

We go to the Egyptian museum tomorrow, and maybe a dance club tomorrow night. We did already see one dancer here at the Marriott, and she was very good. I enjoyed that very much.

I’m so very glad I am on this trip. I miss Brian very much, but that is the only down side to this wonderful adventure.

May you all have a great holiday season, no matter what you celebrate. Very happy New Year if nothing else!!!

Hello, dear friends. I am in Addis Ababa right now with Altu, and we are heading to Cairo tonight just after midnight. We will be there a week. I am VERY excited about this.

We will do our best to let you all know how things are going, as often as possible. We got amazing pictures in Kenya during our week there, but yet again we have no way to get them out of the camera when using other people’s computers.

May you all have the best of holidays, no matter what you celebrate.

Hello, friends. All is well and good with Altu and I in Africa. We have spent two lazy days on the beach of the Indian Ocean, at Mombasa in Kenya.

Since I wrote you last, we visited the historical sites of Gondar (sometimes spelled Gonder) and Lalibela in Ethiopia, went back to Addis Ababa for a while and then went to Nairobi. We return to Nairobi tomorrow.

We return to Addis on Friday, then we go to Cairo for a week in Egypt on December 21.

I am taking many photographs but it takes such a fuss to post them I will decline for today. I promise a good travelogue when I return.

Happy holiday season to you all, no matter what you celebrate.

Hello, my friends! I am having an intense and wonderful time here in Ethiopia. Last night I finally went to bed at a normal time and slept the whole night, without any naps. I have not felt bad at all from the jet lag, but up till now I have slept in shorter bursts and have had many naps.

I’ve been able to have a great time in spite of the sleep irregularities. We stayed at Altu’s parents’ home in Addis Ababa until yesterday. Now we are on a little mini-vacation to Bahar Dar yesterday (the source of the Blue Nile, the waterfall on the nile, a palace and beautiful sunset – my legs got a serious workout climbing rocky terrain to get a panoramic view); then today we go to Gonder (Gondar is another spelling for it) and the next day we go to the ancient churches of Lalibela.

The churches in Lalibela are carved out of the side of the mountain, and are the oldest Christian churches known on this earth. I guess it’s dusty and dirty there but Altu really wants to see the churches and I think it will be a lifetime opportunity.

After that we go back to Addis Ababa for a while, then to Kenya for a week. I know we will have Internet access at Altu’s friend’s home in Nairobi so I will try to post again from there.

I assure you, I’m being well taken care of, and the hospitality (and the food) are just wonderful here. I’m enjoying myself very much.