It’s been a year in the making, but Haitham and I are only a few hours from being airborne from Jordan to Egypt, or Musr as it’s called in Arabic. The two of us originally started planning this last year when our friend Silas was still in Jordan, but things never panned out and we had to put it on hold for quite awhile before we could try again this spring.

We’ve got a pretty good chunk of time allotted for the trip. Haitham was able to take off of work until the 2nd of April, and thanks to Whitman’s spring break, I’m going stay a few days beyond his departure and won’t get back to Jordan until the evening of the 5th. It’s the first time Haitham has ever been on an airplane, so I’m looking forward to seeing how my buddy handles his premiere flying experience.

I wish I could say that I’m as physically healthy as I am excited for the trip. I came down with some sort of mild cold/fever yesterday, the day before this trip, and my head feels like its stuffed with cotton balls. Haitham is currently napping somewhere else in the house; he came straight to my place from his 3rd shift job at Hikma, Jordan’s largest pharmaceutical company. He was able to bring me some powerful anti-fever medication and my head now pleasantly feels like it’s been stuffed with cavorting kittens, gently batting at my cerebrum with their fuzzy little paws.

We’ll be taking the Al-Moomayez taxi to the airport at 3:30, and our flight is scheduled for 5:40 – (insha’allah, as we must always say). The trip schedule has not yet been fully finalized but we’re definitely doing a few days in Cairo, a few days in Alexandria, then taking the train line along the Nile River to Upper Egypt to see the Valley of the Kings and the awe-inspiring Abu Simbel temples along the border of Sudan.

Here’s hoping for a gentle and turbulence-free journey…I’d like to keep my head kitten-free for as much of the trip as possible!