Ahsfar ila Misr!

I depart tomorrow, and after a short stay in Amsterdam (9 hours in the airport, to be exact) will arrive in Cairo in the wee hours of the morning on January 25th.  American University in Cairo (AUC) has helpfully arranged for a representative and car to meet me there so that all goes smoothly, inshallah.


Along with saying goodbye, changing my cell phone plan, and concluding my job at CenturyTel (see photo), my preparations for leaving have included brushing up on a little Arabic. When I said my farewell words to the Monroe Rotary Club, I mentioned that the origin of the word "Algebra" is the Arabic word for Mathematics, al-jabr.  Another common English word originates in Arabic.  The title of this post means "I travel to Egypt!" The root of the word for travel, safara, is s-f-r, which is where we get the word "safari."  So now you know two loan words from Arabic: algebra and safari.


I can't believe I am actually, finally going--I will be sure to post upon arrival as soon as I am able!