This afternoon, after a long leisurely lunch, I headed to the Spa for a foot treatment and a Turkish steam bath. They have a large bubbler of mineral water (labeled as such!) from which I rehydrated and them some. I filled up my water bottle (and my roomates) from there before heading out this morning. I now know why my roomate and I feel off. Our team representative, Dina, (the Egyptian woman looking after us) informed us that that is in fact, TAP WATER. So, here begins the real battle, I guess...Keep your fingers crossed that we stay well enough to play squash, ride camels and cruise the Nile...UGH!!!! At the risk of being too much of a downer, I will hold off on the city-wide pollution comments until tomorrow...My email seems to be allowing me to read and draft a reply but not actually send....

Well, a tough team loss to very strong Kiwis this morning. I lost in 3 games but enjoyed the thrashing. Natalie at #1 was unstoppable and got us a win while Olivia at #2 played terrifically but didnt win the last point, and like me, lost in 3 games. This evening, after opening ceremonies, we play China. I am hoping to upload a picture from this morning of us in our fancy team uniforms. Salam-i!

Landed in Cairo early this morning after an 11 hr flight which was delayed on the JFK tarmac for over an hour. No gluten free meals on the plane, but I managed to pass thru security with all my GF eats. No squash today as we missed our assigned practice court time. Took a nap instead while listening to Egyptian television. Play begins tomorrow and we are up against New Zealand at 11am Cairo time followed by China at 3p. No individual play in this tourney - only team play. This is good as I can't get eliminated in the first round like I did in Colombia. All 19 teams are staying at the hotel with us - USA is seeded 11th but we do have some tough matches in our pool play. Monday is Ireland then we play Italy on Tuesday. Wednesday is a tournament rest day so that's likely the camel/pryamid day. Not sure when I will play, but likely to play in one of tomorrow's matches. Looking forward to getting to the Stadium (where the courts are), having a hit and taking some pictures to post. The only outing I managed today was to a local market (1 block away) with our guide Dina to buy water and bananas (about 20 bananas for a US buck). I didn't whip out my camera. Even though it's a block away, it is not recommended that I go there alone. So, I won't. 20 bananas should last me until Dina comes for us tomorrow! Hope you're all enjoying lots of Thanksgiving leftovers. "Salam" which means goodbye in Egyptian...

So, in case I hadn't already told you, I am off to Cairo to represent the United States at the Women's Worlds. There are 4 of us on the team. Cool!

The camel is out of the barn, so to speak...and I am almost on the runway, headed for Cairo. This is my first post, so I am feeling pretty optomistic about all this technology stuff. If I dont write often enough, you can be sure it's because I am lounging in the hotel's Turkish Steam bath. I have promised many of you that I won't drink the water...even in the bath! Stay tuned! - Hope