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we re getting closer to the desert: my fancy watch says we re at 4100 ft which explains the relatively low temperature. we’ll be heading down nearer sea level and into the classic duneswept expanse of the desert within hours. the landscape is surreal thus far. we ve seen oasis and soaring striated mountains. soon we ll see sand like we ve never seen before and feel sand where we ve never felt it before. as i have typed this the temperature has risen two more degrees. luckily my savage pigmentation will protect me from the sun : )

these ramparts,howevr, were lit by a sunset, not bombs. last day with the whole group is done. we spent some time getting to know our host city and our host a little better. we also apent time with a man who fears persecution and carries a great burden of worry daily for his family b/c of their decision to be christians in a muslim country. heard of a man whose uncle slit the nephew's throat for the same reason. so weird to personalized an atrocity. that makes it so much more poignant, so much more real.

the time in this last city as a group has been really great, although we were all very tired. i feel rodney will never again have to "stretch his mind" to fully comprehend a shepherd metaphor. our guides here (A and C) did a great job with us in spite of us : )

while at the fort i met a guy from this city who is working at the hilton and attends mosque at the 14th st mosque (i live on 14th). in a total brainfart (similar to those i used to repeatedly suffer when i would find a girl who actually showed interest in me) i didn't get the guys #. we've seen the outside of islam in it's home country, that would have been the perfect opportunity to see it from the inside in my own.

anyway, we walked the girls back, said our goodbyes (by buddy, see you stateside!!) and then went home to pack up. it was a little weird for me to realize my trip was barely half over, while everyone else exhaustedly prepared for their trip home.

i am as excited about "my desert experience" as a man can possibly be when he has gone to bed at 11:30 and awakened at 4:00, but am equally excited about that distant final flight home.

enshalla we'll be on camelback in approx twelve hours. double enshalla we'll be seeing those we care about back home in less than 150. hi! to my companions who will read this when they get back home. hi! to small group. hi! to lillis. hi! to miss satsuma.

next stop – sahara!! final stop – atlanta!!!

we just finished up our last class. it was an amazing window into fundamentalism, secularism and the cultue of how muslim's define themselves.

speaking of fun. these are jen's toes. she says the polish is called "lincoln park after dark" which is apparently a dark purple. there is a freckle on here toe next to the pinkie toe. i believe that would be the "piggie that had none" in the "wee wee wee all the way home" piggie game.

it's so interesting what we've all learned here. i have been shocked by the shyness, but also by how quickly you can break through that (with everyone except most of the adult women). i've noticed an anger and a combativeness between the locals that is a little troubling, but i've seen incredible kindness and hospitality towards us.

now we'll make one last trip to buy a few last things, see a few final sights and share a final few moments together with a group that feels far too (terribly and wonderfully so) much like a family. we now share a common experience and a common language: e.g. "DONKEY", "touchdown" and "rugs and tea."

all right off we head to soak up our final moments together.