Logistics - Departing and Arriving

The last night in our house in Maryland will probably be April 5th. We hope to have the house empty of all the furniture by that date except for two mattresses, pillows, etc. Mira will go to school as usual on April 6th, we will settle on the house while she's in school, then we'll pick her up from school. This may be better than picking her up from the bus stop only to drive away from the house that isn't ours anymore. We will stay in a hotel on April 6th, so Mira can go to school April 7th, which will be her last day of school. On April 8th we'll go to the airport and fly to Egypt. I hope it is as easy as it sounds.

We will arrive in Egypt on April 9th at approximately 2:15 p.m. Now unlike in the US, everyone (Hassan's family and friends) will be at the airport to greet us. They were at the airport fighting over who would drive us back to the house. I think we may have even split up in separate cars, but I can't remember -- it's a little foggy at this point. Hassan's friends are rather insistent on renting a minivan -- or in Egyptian a "microbus", and taking us to our apartment. This would be great because they can help us carry the bags up the three flights of stairs. The only drawback is that we do not have a car to get around the next day.

We need to be at our apartment because Mira needs to be at school almost immediately, but before we get her enrolled in school we have to go to the Ministry of Education to obtain a special exemption so she can attend school for the last month of the school year.

So, one more item to think about is what kind of car to buy. There are many cars in Egypt (an understatement entirely), but we need a car almost immediately to get around and get Mira settled in school. We are thinking about buying a used car until we can find the new car we really want, then we will each have a car. Just what Egypt needs, two more drivers . . .

Ma3salaama,

Marian