Honestly, I wasn't so great at keeping up on my diary for the second half of the trip. I was so good in Cairo, but much of the second half of my diary was written when I got home. Luckily it was still fresh in my mind. Thursday, November 19: When you have an action-packed two week vacation, I know not every day can be magical. Today was a non-magical day (except for the awesome camel ride) [...]

I just returned from a wonderful two week journey in Egypt with Jay, my Mom and Dad, and my brother, Kevin. I kept a diary during the trip, which I'll share in a few installments, as well as my tips for planning a trip to Egypt. Sunday, November 14: I'll never understand why some women travel in tight pencil skirts and stiletto high heels. Obviously, it is not comfortable. [...]

"Jedan, dva, tri, pet, šest, sedam. Jedan, dva, tri, pet, šest, sedam." The monotone counting repeats over and over in my head as I shuffle around and then trip over my own feet and laugh. It is a frequently repeated scene at our new Salsa classes, as well as getting tangled up in each other's arms. Jay and I have just started taking Salsa lessons, and right now, they are pretty comedic. [...]

Tears started to well up in my eyes. "What do you mean he can't stay?" It was the end of May and we were sitting in the foreigners' office at the police station trying to finish up the last of our official paperwork. The lady didn't answer my question; she just pointed at Jay again and said, "He can't stay," and then muttered a hodgepodge of Croatian to Maja. [...]

We spent last weekend on the island of Hvar, and we arrived without booking accommodations. We stepped off the ferry to the now accustomed barrage of little old ladies saying: "Do you need room?" "Apartment! Very close, very close. Come with me." "Accommodation? Accommodation?" We hesitated just long enough that they knew we might be interested, and we were surrounded within seconds. [...]

Zijo Jusufovic, our Sarajevo guide, said he was taking us to a place that represented hope and the goodness of mankind to him. The car stopped in front of a large old building that was completed gutted out and riddled with bullet holes. The building seemed to have seen more action during the war than any of the others we'd seen before, and like many other buildings outside the city center [...]