Egypt 2012: The Last Days

Hal Higdon and his wife Rose will be traveling through Egypt and Israel from March 7 through March 27. In addition to our regular Tuesday Q&A postings, we will be hosting Hal's updates from his travels on this blog, under the tag "Egypt".

Our bags are packed and in the hall outside our room in the Cairo Marriott, waiting for our transfer to the airport. What an astounding last day. The Egyptian Museum. The King Tut headpiece is the most exquisite piece of art I have seen. Then for lunch at a public park that took the place of a garbage heap. Two mosques and an hour hanging around an Egyptian market with a cute little boy trying to sell Rose bracelets: "Two dollah! Two dollah!" He even followed her to the bus, but she resisted his advances. Finally a gala dinner and an early wake-up call.

I have some comments to make about Egypt and everything that has happened since January 25 of last year. I forgot to mention that we drove through Tahrir Square. I will save those for when I have more time, either in Jerusalem or back home again in Indiana. But I would suggest that the two words that most describe the attitude of Egyptians are "cautious optimism."

What a wonderful time to visit Egypt for so many reasons. You shoulda come with us.