Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

It's hard to believe, but I'm writing this blog from a coffee shop in Cairo, Egypt. I arrived yesterday morning at 2:30 am to a reception and waiting car of a couple Egyptian friends, an American friend, and a Swedish friend. It was quite the multicultural reception back to Egypt.

I caught my flight from Washington, DC the evening of the 29th. After a quick transfer through Vienna, I met up with my brother in downtown Sofia in Bulgaria. He graciously traveled from his village to meet me in the capital. We had a whirlwind 24 hours together of viewing old Greek Orthodox churches, eating some great Bulgarian food, visiting a few bars along the way, and watching a Champions League match before my jet-lagged delirium set in and I went to bed. It was great to see my bro again, as it has been over a year since I saw him last.

I caught my flight to Cairo the next day. I was supposed to have a nice layover in Rome - long enough to explore the city and see some sites. Unfortunately, Alitalia failed to tell me that they had changed my flight from 1pm to 8pm, so rather than spending a beautiful day on the steps of the Vatican, I was stuck drinking bitter Nescafe in the Sofia airport. Let me tell you, if you drink enough Nescafe, you will become very familiar with Bulgarian toilets and their lack of toilet seats...

Being back in Cairo is almost surreal. I've walked all over my old neighborhood, met up with a great deal of old friends, went to a couple of my favorite cafes, rode a felucca on the Nile, and somehow managed to write half of my term paper which I didn't finish before leaving DC... all that in about 35 hours.

It's good to be back.