My trip to Egypt

A writing friend had posted a link to a site about an international writers' residency in El Gouna on Facebook and, on a whim, I applied thinking I hadn't a chance since writers from all over the world would be applying. To my surprise, a few months later I got an email saying that I'd been chosen for the May 2010 group. All costs for the month would be covered if I could get myself there. The airfare round trip was about P6,000, going from Gaborone, via Johannesburg, to Cairo and then to Hurghada, the nearest international airport to El Gouna.   

I knew little about Egypt when I left, save for the fact that they have a powerful football team and a history of pharaohs that were laid to rest wrapped as mummies and buried in beautiful tombs.  In the end, I had a month to learn about this diverse country and it wasn't nearly enough.