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CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
me. Nevertheless, the plane couldn't start fast enough for me.
I did not feel safe until the door closed, we taxied down the
runway, and took off. As the magnificently beautiful landscape faded from view, and the Mediterranean spread below
us, I fell into a heavy sleep, a drugged sleep. I woke, still half
conscious, only after the stewardess had shaken me by the
shoulder repeatedly. . . . Our plane was descending slowly to
touch its wheels upon the storied soil of Cyprus.