Alexandria and Cairo,
22 February 2004 --
In
a whirlwind of activity, fast and furious even by the standards of Ismail
Serageldin’s usual diversified and packed schedule, Serageldin went
from management reviews within the library, to speaking at a celebration
on the Arabic language with the minister of education and the governor
of Alexandria, to giving awards to children who excelled in Arabic, to
a meeting with the President and eminent persons of Alexandria University
to present a lengthy lecture to engage them more fully with the upcoming
biology conference in April, to a meeting with the Arab organizing committee
for the Arab Reform Conference, which built on the detailed outcomes of
the Egyptian meeting that took place two days before, to going to Cairo
and speaking to the ladies of the “inner wheel” rotary clubs
about the Library of Alexandria, to a meeting with the foreign Press association,
to a meeting at the Institut d’Egypte where he gave a magisterial
lecture and was inducted as a member in this oldest scientific institution
outside of Europe, to a diplomatic dinner and on to the airport for an
overnight trip to Europe and the USA. Whew!
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