out and around

the last couple days have been really great, a good balance of taking some time to relax as well as exploring some sights in Cairo and meeting friends. one of Adam's co-workers invited us to dine with her at her parent's restaurant right on the nile. we had so much incredible food and when we were finished the table didn't look like we had even started! one afternoon we wandered downtown to try and find the ibn tulun mosque. this mosque was built around AD 876 and is the oldest mosque in cairo, it also was the first mosque to use the pointed arch design. we had quite an adventure figuring out which mosque was really ibn tulun and the climb to the top of the minaret was well worth the fantastic view of cairo, the citadel and surrounding areas. i have really enjoying walking around adam and sarah's neighborhood and meeting their friends at the stores where they shop and getting a little picture of their life here. the temperatures have risen in the last couple days and yesterday we hit a high of 102 and the internet said then that it felt like 108. apparently it is supposed to get hotter. especially when we head to upper egypt next week with the rest of the gang. today mom, dad, annika, robert and merle fly in in the afternoon, i'm excited! the pictures are of adam and i up in the ibn tulun minaret with the citadel in the background, sitting along the nile with cairo in the background, and the ibn tulun minaret