Day 152

Friday June 20^th

This was a day of traveling. We left at like 6 for the trek up to the bus-station but found that we weren’t moving fast enough to get there in time. So we hired a taxi to speed us up a bit. For breakfast there wasn’t any donuts. I was saddened and had to settle for a cinnamon roll. I also got some more Peach tea. I love peach tea. A lot. It’s really good.

So we loaded up on the bus, this time actually sitting next to each other and headed off for Eliat. We left at 7. We stopped at around 10 for a reststop and I found a 1.5 liter of Peach Tea for 10 NIS. I was so happy. Once again, I love Peach Tea.

We finally showed up in Eliat at around 12. The bus didn’t leave until 4, so we killed some time by heading off to the mall and getting some food there. Israel has super security and to get into the malls you have to pass through metal detectors and have people go through your bags. Since we had all our bags from the 2 weeks of traveling this would have sucked. But they pulled us aside, asked for our passports, saw that we were American, and let us go in. I love America.

Since we had a little time we also checked out my favorite store in Israel, the Celio. It has really good sales, and I was looking for more jeans and shirts. However I didn’t see anything that caught my eye. The girl working there did remember me from the last time though, which is pretty impressive. But I guess I am pretty memorable.

After catching a cab to the border, we got stuck behind a huge tour group going to Egypt. Luckily we still had like 3 hours before our bus left, so we got used to waiting. However, once through the passport control on the Israeli side we were able to cut ahead of them. Getting into Egypt was awesome. I gave the guy a big hug and told him how happy I was to be back in the states. After returning my happy greeting he looked at me, and said “I have one question for you.” Obama, good?” I responded enthusiastically, that Obama was good, and insha allah would be the next president. He was very happy to hear this.

Actually getting into Egypt was a bigger problem. The guards for some reason took our passports and held them forever, as the entire Israeli tour group passed through. I had no idea why they took so long, but they had us sit down and told us to wait. I felt as if they were just pulling our legs, but it seemed kind of weird. Eventually they gave to us and we were on our way.

We walked past all the mini-bus drivers pleading with us to have them take us. After my experiences on mini-bus’s I feel lucky to be alive, and I am not tempting fate again. We walked all the way to the bus station and bought tickets for the big safe bus. Although it was slower I felt a lot better about it. It turns out it was cheaper too as we paid the driver the entry fee of 30 each, which was down from the 55 I was expecting. I was expecting to have to pay the rest when we stopped at the checkpoint, but we just blew right by. So that worked out well.

The bus station was a really enjoyable experience. The bus station manager was really nice and funny and we had a good time with each other. I told him that Megan was the “weather that belongs to me,” the Arabic slang term for your girlfriend, and he really enjoyed that I knew the phrase. Megan still doesn’t like me using that phrase as she doesn’t like the idea of belonging to anybody, even after I explained that it translates to the idea “that she means the world, or everything to me.”

During the whole trip I learned a lot. In that way it was a very rewarding vacation. I really enjoyed being around Megan, as she really tells it you straight and although we had some, okay lots, of communication issues, she was able to teach me a lot about myself. Megan has grown up a lot sense I last hung out with her, she’s a much more independent and competent on her feet. She really feels like she has a handle on the world and how to interact with it. She is confident about herself and it shows in a good way. Having her around was refreshing. First, of all she didn’t put up with all my childish or stupid antics like everyone else did. When I did something stupid she let me know that it was stupid. She criticizes me, and I really love that. I like it when people criticize me, because then I take their criticism and make myself better. If people just let me slide by doing the same stuff, I’ll never get any better and I would hate that. She also made me realize how much I still have to grow up. She made me realize that I need to be observant and not make assumptions about situations or what people are thinking or planning on saying. I thought that I had grown up a lot in Cairo or that I would grow up a lot, but having her around made me realize that I hadn’t really changed that much. I still act childish in a lot of ways and don’t take responsibility for a lot things. I let things slide that aren’t academics. I realize that the only real growing up I have done is in academics. However, because of this trip I have taken an important step forward. I have realized that I am not observant and that I need to grow up, and because of this realization I can start to improve it. Also I figured out what I want to do after I graduate. I had been mulling over it a lot, but now I am sure in my desires. It’s something that should be talked about in person though.

Finally getting back into Cairo, we went and got McDonalds because Megan was really craving it. It’s also quick, fairly cheap, and something that you should try while you are in Egypt. After eating, we collapsed in the room.