Shanghai...

Ahhhh... Back to order! :) I left Cairo after a busy day at Saqqara, an area with the oldest pyramid in Egypt along with several others. Flew 3 hours to Qatar and then 9 1/2 to Shanghai. So, altho only about 15 hours of travel time I got to Shanghai 21 hours later... I breathed a sigh of relief walking into a spotless airport. I love the chaos, but it's always nice to let your guard down for a minute to enjoy the serenity! A tiny Chinese girl wrestled Arab men into neat, orderly lines, instead of the Cairo stampede, thru customs. I had to smile. :) I arranged a transfer beforehand, too, so I didn't even have to deal with the melee outside... Hotel's in a GREAT location. Walking distance to all kinds of things. I got into my room and met Lisa - the girl I'll be rooming with. She's from San Diego - knows where Keala lives basically and lives close, too. We rested for about half an hour, but it was really loud on the street outside so no use trying to sleep. Checked out the Bund - basically a river walk with a really beautiful skyline, altho the air quaility is terrible. Lots of vendors selling various things, including squid frying over a fire in a pan on the back of a bicycle. Yummy! Then back to the hotel for our group meeting. Everyone seems fun - three Australian couples, an American couple, another Australian girl, and we two American girls. We had an awesome group dinner that Olive, our guide, ordered. (She has a trainee with her named Jenny so we're well taken care of.) We had a ton of food and each paid $5. :) Yah! Local beer is good, too. Can't think what it's called... Today we went to the Shanghai Museum. Also another change from the Egyptian Museum where loaned pieces of 3000 year old artifacts were notated with a scrap of notebook paper in a dustless ring! ha! Wandered around afterward and now I'm skipping an acrobat show to hang out in a smoke filled internet cafe. Oh joy! Tomorrow we travel by train to Nanjing for a busy day...