I have been fascinated with Egypt for over 30 years, since I learned about its ancient civilization in 6th grade social studies. The gods and goddesses, the mummies (11 year old me had a morbid fascination with something I read about them removing the deceased’s brain through his nose), the pyramids, the art…I couldn’t get enough. I recall making a model of a tomb, sarcophagus, and mummy as a school project. I read Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s “The Egypt Game” and could totally relate to the young protagonists who immersed themselves in a fantasy world of ancient Egypt. In 1988, my parents were invited to the opening night reception of the Ramesses II exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science. They took me and I was fascinated by the scale of the exhibit. We sampled Egyptian food, and there were Egyptian artisans demonstrating various crafts. My dad bought me a painting of Nefertari on papyrus, and an artisan personalized it by painting my name in hieroglyphics on a cartouche. As the years passed, I would make it a point to see Egyptian exhibits whenever I could. I saw the collection at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Craig has also found Egypt endlessly fascinating. When he and I visited the British Museum in London, we marveled at the Rosetta Stone, the Book of the Dead, sarcophagi, mummies, and canopic jars. We watched TV shows about Egypt, and were especially captivated by Dr. Zahi Hawass, then the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo. His big personality and obvious enthusiasm and love for his culture was infectious. We attended a lecture given by Dr. Hawass at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in May of 2004. His dynamic speech convinced us all the more that some day we would visit Egypt. We met him at the MFA bookstore where he signed his books for us. We told him that we love to travel and dream of visiting Egypt. He said that he would be honored to have us visit his country; that there was nothing like seeing it in person.