Wednesday, March 20 and Thursday, March 21, 1929
Busy doing a little of everything from washing and sewing pockets in pants to catching up on my diary and working over films. Thursday afternoon I visited the British Coaling Company to find out about our boat. It was due on the 29th, had no passenger accommodations, and I could get no better satisfaction from the agents than that the captain had the last word in the matter. In view of the fact that the weather has been terrible on the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and if he refused we would be stuck in Egypt two more weeks, we finally decided to take a Triestimo boat at four-thirty. One had just left and one was in port the next day. It was a troop ship, though, and passengers were not allowed on deck. Jackie got us passage, though, after a long hard argument with the agent. However we were required to take meals aboard. This set us back $49 apiece. When all was arranged, it was nearly eight o’clock. We rushed about packing and doing a million odds and ends necessary before departure. Jackie was all aflutter and came around in the evening for some tea. I had to pack up a box and send it home, then have Jackie send another one for me that I had no time to pack. When I finally did gather the loose ends, it was 1 AM, so I decided to stay up all night and work on the films so they wouldn’t pile up on me.