Onward #1

[listening: Kasey Chambers "A Million Tears"]

I've always loved sunrises; and sunrise somewhere new is the most amazing. It is a magical time. Today it was 8:16am over Paris. Pink...purple...lilac...blue...peach...lavendar...coral...grey...aqua... There is hope and promise in a sunrise. Warmth seeps across the sky driving out uncertainty.

So Paris was beautiful. I saw the Eiffel Tour, walked a bit -- decidedly underdressed for Paris in January! I was only in town for 4 hours or so but I'll be back again. I did have the most wonderful salad (chevre baked on a slice of toast over tasty greens) at a lovely cafe playing Devotchka in the background -- it felt like home.



I'm currently somewhere over the Swiss Alps (the peaks are stunning reflecting the twilight) fighting off the urge to sleep again. I've lost track of what time it is in Seattle but I think that I started my travels some 21 hours ago. I slept when I could on the first leg (Seattle to Paris), but flying East is hard enough and the excitement was powerful.

Now I am supposed to stay up until I get to my hotel to reset my clock to Egypt time.

Travelling on my own schedule has already proved welcome; I have had two flights with no one seated beside me. This dampens my goal to meet people but is worth it for the extra leg and elbow room.

Hold that thought! If you have never had occasion to fly French Air, let me reccomend it! I just got my dinner. Tonight's meal starts with salmon on a bed of carrot and cucumber salad with a yogurt sauce. Probably Atlantic salmon but delicious nonetheless. There is a constant stream of tasty little French loaves and just when I thought there was no butter I find it: tucked under the entrée keeping warm! Speaking of the entrée, tonight we have pollack in a tomato curry. To round out the meal they have served camembert cheese, yogurt, pecan pie, and a bottle of viognier. So please excuse me as I dine.

Ahhh, delicious. The pollack could've been better but I still stand by the menu. So where was I? Oh yes, goals. A trip of this magnitude and intensity and cost occasions people to wonder at the purpose. It also occasions people to wonder at my sanity but that is another story.

I'm sure that my goals will change as the adventure progresses but I do have the beginnings of a list.

First I have four things to avoid: African hospitals, African jails, getting eaten by animals, and abduction. Then I have some things to see/do: hone and develop my confidence (meet strangers, survive challenges, take [calculated] risks, not get scammed), rediscover my responsibility (avoid losing things, do what needs to be done without procrastination and avoidance), see the sights (pyramids, giraffes, lions, major Islamic centers,the Sahara), and most of all doing away with ignorance and naivéte.

So don't expect this much blogging all the time because I need to go explore but it's nice to start with some good intentions.