First of all, this family is awesome. Sarah and her parents are some of the most hospitable people--taking all 20 of us into their apartment for dinner, letting us use the phone to call home and say hi to our moms, and entertaining us the whole evening. It extends even further.
After a trip to a shopping mall in Cairo for gifts (the biggest mall I think I've ever seen), we drove out to the Iskander's beach house on the Red Sea. They put us all up for the night, fed us in the morning, and let us use all their beach toys for our beach day the next day. Super great family. We enjoyed more swimming and beach volleyball (it never gets old) and an amazing seafood lunch. We heard from two of Sarah's uncles, both of whom are pastors, about Islam and Christianity in the Middle East, and about Christian Zionism and the obstacles it presents in the Middle East. Fascinating talks. Josie and Sarah's family made us all dinner again, as we tried to catch her little dog Mocha (who was terrified of all of us).
The end of the evening was a somewhat sober note: I viewed the documentary "Arna's Children"--which was directed by Juliano, the director of Jenin Freedom Theatre recently shot and killed. First of all, it was sad to see because of recent events. And second of all, it followed the theatre kids through the Second Intifada, where most of them died trying to fight the occupation. It was glimpse into the lives of children growing up in occupied refugee camps, and a reminder that there is still much work to be done in Israel.
A five AM wake-up jolted us out of bed the next morning, as we headed onto the bus. Destination: border crossing and ferry to Jordan. Goodbye Egypt, I hope to return someday soon!
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