Hi all, My Mother has been having difficulty posting to the Blog so I am helping out. Sounds like all is well and she is still in Egypt. Her plans to enter Palestine are uncertain at this time and she will look at all options before entering. So her is the info she sent along. Dale

Friends,

After having been in Egypt now for two weeks and visited remote villages in the desert, I have to say that Egypt is complex and fascinating. The faces of Islam and an Arabic culture are a mixture of mystery, kindness, and an awareness of my own ignorance . We spent two nights in the desert which was VERY cold but the stars were incredible and it was an amazing experience, (but no scorpions, R.E.A.D. friends) Egypt is a mixture of poverty, history, and the bustle of a large population. Many women are veiled, some totally with gloves, but others are covered to a lesser degree. It is quite interesting to see young girls wearing long jean skirts with veils on, and all the children greet us with a friendly "How are you, what is your name", but that is as far as the conversation goes..
The cities are not my favorite places, with the exception of Aswan. Traffic is totally chaotic with cars going through red lights and driving on any side, whatever is most convenient. At times you take your life in your hands. Here in Luxor we rode our bikes, which is a common means of transportation, but a bike without brakes was quite a challenge.
The Souqs are long narrow walkways where you can buy everything imaginable and unfortunately you get many sellers trying to convince you that you need their wares. All of the noise and dust is intermingled with the prayers from the mosques. The temples are incredibly beautiful and awe inspiring and the reality that they are 3000 years old makes one feel very humble. I feel so far removed from my comfortable and safe life at home amidst the reality of what is around me.,Unfortunately I will soon have to deal with the reality of Gaza, and have not decided what to do yet. We do get BBC but only short notices and the use of Internet is quite limited. I will try to keep you updated but Communications are somewhat limited, depending on the Internet cafe.
Salaam,
Yvonne