Just a few more days until we depart! It seems so hard to believe.
Earlier this month we received our airline tickets, name badges, luggage tags, itineraries with the names of the hotels where we'll be staying and the list of folks going on the trip. This week is going to be a frenzy of shopping, sorting and packing, especially trying to make sure that everything fits in the number of allotted pounds and bag size that it is supposed to.
Several people have expressed concern about the recent violence by Israel against the Hamas in the Gaza strip. While we are of course concerned, we have not received any word about trip cancellation from Asbury or the tour company (EO). Our trip does not include any stops in Gaza, although there are several in the West Bank, including Bethlehem, Jericho and Hebron. We do feel comfortable knowing that EO has been running these tours through the area for the last forty years and has never encountered a serious problem. But we would covet your prayers for a safe trip.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
More Good News
So yesterday Daryl received notification that Delta has cancelled our flight from NY to Cairo on January 5th, our original date of departure, because of fuel costs. They're just flying less frequently to Egypt. Curious as to how this is good news? Because Delta and EO have worked this out and we will now be adding a day to our trip and departing from NY on Sunday, January 4th. We will not be charged for the extra day of touring/hotel/food, which seems to wash out then with the extra fuel costs we were notified about earlier. And EO will move up our itinerary and so we will get to spend this extra day at the end of the trip touring in the city of Jerusalem!!!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Good News and Bad News
We received a notice today from E.O. about our trip with good news and bad news.
1) The good news is that our trip is super close! Final payments on the trip are due by October 7 because that is 90 days before departure.
2) The bad news is that the trip price has gone up. E.O. is passing along a change in fees from the airlines because of the rising costs of airline fuel. So our trip price just went up $175 a person to cover our airline travel.
1) The good news is that our trip is super close! Final payments on the trip are due by October 7 because that is 90 days before departure.
2) The bad news is that the trip price has gone up. E.O. is passing along a change in fees from the airlines because of the rising costs of airline fuel. So our trip price just went up $175 a person to cover our airline travel.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Exciting News
Another step to being on our way!! Both of our passports have now arrived (much quicker than the promised 4-6 weeks processing time) and so we can get this information into the tour company and be all official with them.
This is Daryl's first passport. Back when we went on our honeymoon in 1999, you didn't need a passport to visit any of the Caribbean countries along our cruise route. Debbie got a passport back in 1996 while at USF because she was supposed to go on a trip to South America with her Honors Geography class. That trip fell through. Then she got it updated with her new last name after the wedding because she was supposed to go on a mission trip to Venezuela with the Singing Seminarians group at Asbury. But that trip fell through too. So she had an expired passport that had never been used! Fortunately she could turn that one in and get a new one for a slightly reduced processing fee.
This is Daryl's first passport. Back when we went on our honeymoon in 1999, you didn't need a passport to visit any of the Caribbean countries along our cruise route. Debbie got a passport back in 1996 while at USF because she was supposed to go on a trip to South America with her Honors Geography class. That trip fell through. Then she got it updated with her new last name after the wedding because she was supposed to go on a mission trip to Venezuela with the Singing Seminarians group at Asbury. But that trip fell through too. So she had an expired passport that had never been used! Fortunately she could turn that one in and get a new one for a slightly reduced processing fee.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Getting Started
So this past semester Daryl came home from school one day so excited about an opportunity one of his professors mentioned. Dr. Tuttle had told Daryl's UM Theology class about how he was going to be leading a trip of seminary students through Educational Opportunities to Egypt, Jordan and Israel in January of 2009. The trip is 13 days and includes
* Cairo Pyramids and the Sphinx
* Cairo Museum
* a stay at St. Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula
* a climb up Mount Sinai
* the rock city of Petra in Jordan (one of the seven wonders of the world)
* Masada (King Herod's fortress)
* Dead Sea
* Qumran (site of the dead sea scrolls)
* Jericho
* crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat
* Mount of Beatitudes
* Jordan River
* Nazareth
* Caesarea Philippi
* Mount Hermon
* Caesarea by the Sea
* Mt. Carmel
* Megiddo
* Beit Shean
* Jerusalem - Western Wall, Pool of Bethesda, walk the Via Dolorosa, King David's Tomb, Kidron Valley, Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane
* Bethlehem
Now I had thought about maybe taking a trip next year to celebrate our tenth anniversary - a 3 or 4 day Caribbean cruise. Never in a million years did it cross my mind that we would go halfway around the world and spend almost two weeks doing something that we've both dreamed of for a long time. But because the trip is through the seminary, it is incredibly affordable (although not super cheap!). And Daryl will even get school credit for the trip after turning in a reflection paper on the experience.
And so the deposits have been paid and the passports are applied for. Just another 205 days until we depart!
* Cairo Pyramids and the Sphinx
* Cairo Museum
* a stay at St. Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula
* a climb up Mount Sinai
* the rock city of Petra in Jordan (one of the seven wonders of the world)
* Masada (King Herod's fortress)
* Dead Sea
* Qumran (site of the dead sea scrolls)
* Jericho
* crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat
* Mount of Beatitudes
* Jordan River
* Nazareth
* Caesarea Philippi
* Mount Hermon
* Caesarea by the Sea
* Mt. Carmel
* Megiddo
* Beit Shean
* Jerusalem - Western Wall, Pool of Bethesda, walk the Via Dolorosa, King David's Tomb, Kidron Valley, Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane
* Bethlehem
Now I had thought about maybe taking a trip next year to celebrate our tenth anniversary - a 3 or 4 day Caribbean cruise. Never in a million years did it cross my mind that we would go halfway around the world and spend almost two weeks doing something that we've both dreamed of for a long time. But because the trip is through the seminary, it is incredibly affordable (although not super cheap!). And Daryl will even get school credit for the trip after turning in a reflection paper on the experience.
And so the deposits have been paid and the passports are applied for. Just another 205 days until we depart!
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