March 1, 2000. A hearty “Shalom” from Eretz Israel! I’ve been pretty busy these last few days wrapping up some assignments and studying for two tests: Jewish Thought & Culture, and Land & the Bible. Maybe you’re asking what’s next on our agenda. Well, tomorrow, I’m on my way to Egypt for six days!

Thursday night begins our travel/study break, and at least twenty students are spending our free week in Egypt. We’re splitting up into small groups, and mine will have a total of five people — Deanna Wisner, Rachel Wahl, Lisa Tefft, Bryan Vaughn, and myself. I’ve got a good group, and I’m looking forward to some serious cross-culture adventure. We got together earlier tonight to discuss final logistics and pray together. I’m very thankful we took this time to “set the tone.”

We plan to take the night bus to Cairo tomorrow, then ride the train to Luxor on Friday night. We’ll spend a couple days in Luxor, visiting all the temples and museums, before continuing further south to Aswan on Monday. From there, we’ll take a train all the way back up to Cairo, spend a day there, then a bus back to Jerusalem. It should be an intense (and very tiring) week of touring, so please pray for our safety, discretion, patience, and unity.

We’ve had two orientation meetings with Todd Bolen and were handed a field guide to help get the most out of the trip. We also went over several instructions, since we won’t have any teachers or tour guides with us. We were advised…

• Don’t drink the water
• Don’t swim in the Nile
• Travel light and dress modestly
• Stay together – but have girls stand in line for tickets
• Don’t take your group for granted. Groups need good leaders. Try hard to accommodate one another’s needs.
• Be careful. There are dangerous people around. Keep a low profile and don’t take unnecessary risks.
• Make a money pool to share expenses.
• Spend a few extra pounds. Eat well. Don’t skip a good site because of money. It may not be worth fighting about to negotiate. Take extra money with you.
• Don’t steal!!!

We’ll all be dog tired, since we only have 2-3 nights the whole week where we are in a hotel and not travelling. The hotels themselves probably won’t be too pleasant. What’s more, we hear that Egyptian travelers often get sick from the food, and anything but bottled water is off-limits altogether. Hey, it sounds like I’ll be in the Philippines again! All these inconveniences aside, I’m sure it will be a fun trip.

Well, I must be going now. Congratulations to everyone who has been willing to read my adventures this far. You have the endurance of an IBEXer climbing Tel Maon! ~Because of Him, Stephen

25 years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Israel for a semester through the Master’s College IBEX program. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, I’m sharing highlights from my journal, emails, and photos. Feel free to share your own IBEX memories here as well!