phoebe ayers wrote:
For the people who were at Wikimania, there was a
lengthy thank-you
session at the end where we got to applaud the volunteers and staff
who worked hard on the conference.
I think these thank yous are important, and the criticisms that may
develop as we plan for the future should not detract from the
appreciation that we all feel for the wonderful effort made by the
Alexandria team. Whatever discomforts some of us may have felt in
Egypt, I still believe that choosing to have Wikimania 2008 in
Alexandria was a good one.
I should add too that despite the security concerns expressed by some
before the conference, I never felt unsafe in Egypt. Some of the habits
were extremely annoying, but none of this ever suggested any malicious
intent.
Here were some of my favorite parts of this year's
conference:
...
* being in Egypt itself (despite being hot and sick): things like
getting in a taxi then waiting for the driver to fix his engine before
we could go; sitting out on the corniche in the evening along with
everyone else; finally realizing how small the Sphinx actually is
compared to the pyramids
In Luxor I was riding in a horse-drawn carriage when the
horse fell over
trying to make a turn. Horseshoes are really not suited to smooth
pavement. The carriage had to be removed so that the horse could get up
again. Fortunately, he did not appear to be injured. Life in the
modern west does not prepare us for this kind of incident.
Somehow, the sickness and other discomforts we have faced add a special
texture to the happier moments.
Ray