I have a couple exceptional kids. They were raised that the best gifts are experiences, not things. So, their Christmas gift to me a couple months ago was that they were taking me with them on their trip to Cairo, Egypt. We just returned to the states yesterday, and to say the trip adjusted my perspective on life would be a grand understatement. This was not a vacation. Rather, it was an immersion into a completely foreign culture in which we could not speak or read any part of the language including numbers. I have never been so vulnerable and clueless anywhere I have traveled as I was last week! It's going to take time to process the entirety of the experience. I learned much about Egyptian history and culture, both old and new. We walked about 20 miles of downtown Cairo and Giza while there. People were generally warm and friendly, though it was very clear tourists rarely walked where we did. It was incredible to go about streets and structures that were thousands of years old. The sense of antiquity oozes out of every crack and crevice there. I can't express enough how grateful I am to Aja and Talon for taking me along for this! So much of the experience touched my heart and challenged my perceptions. I have returned to the U.S. with renewed purpose for what I'm doing with Jackdaw, as well as a new gratitude for the incredible resources this country of ours enjoys.
Well, it's time to board my flight from San Francisco to Seattle now. Onward!
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