Another Day in Egypt

We are getting into more of a routine, if that is what you can call it! Many are still sick, but we are beginning to become healthy once again… it has cooled off, so the smog has not been as bad…

On Thursday night we went to Aida, at the Cairo Opera house. It was beautiful and romantic, a dream come true. Three of us girls walked there, and it was quite ironic to be walking through some of the poor streets of our neighborhood, to the finery of the upper class and foreigners. It seems this irony is present in our lives every day here. Though many of us have worked hard to get here… our meager moneys are much more than the average citizen of Cairo. It really is quite staggering. For one person you can get a decent meal for 2 LE (5.5 LE = 1 $). Taking the taxi across town usually costs 5 LE, and that means 5 of us crammed into the car, each paying a total of .25$ for the ride. These examples are just factual evidence. Seeing the people every day while walking about town, whether in Agouza or other parts of the city, the poverty is overwhelming, and in such huge numbers. However, most people, especially those in Garbage City, do not see themselves as worse off than other people. They are thankful for what they have and thankful for the chance of a steady income. Jobs are difficult to come by, marriage crisis is on the rise, human rights are ignored, and etc.
As I was saying, the opera was absolutely beautiful and absolutely romantic (yes, it’s true!). Seeing it with new friends and on the other side of the world did not diminish this fact but seemed to enhance it. This does not mean that we could understand everything that was going on… of course it was sung in Italian… and the subtitles were in Arabic. The first oboe player played straight into my heart! Once Aaron made it known that I happen to play oboe, of course it is brought up at the most inopportune times, so now they know!!

Another interesting note, is to be so close to the myriad of situations in the Middle East, but to still feel so far away from them. In the first couple weeks here it was very easy to be swept away by the newness and adventure of our time here in Cairo. Throughout our time here though, little things and big things have reminded us/me all that there is to mourn for. There is so much that it is overwhelming, so much so that it almost feels hopeless. There is so much injustice, so much corruption in the social and political system that it is infuriating. From the people we see every day, to the situation in Gaza, to the people stuck in prison, the people on the streets, the families without an income, and on and on.

Last Friday a handful of us went to Giza to see the pyramids and such. We were fairly confident that we could handle the camel and horse vendors that run rampant throughout the tourist trap. We entered together, and before long we were split up by being thrown on camels… without even being asked! I didn’t mind to much… it was a long walk to the Sphinx… but a fairly short time by riding on a jogging camel. It was a lot of fun, of course, riding with Cait through the desert high up on a camel. Until we finally dismounted and the camel driver demanded 100 LE each! I said NO WAY… and told him I only had 20 LE, which of course I had more. They use these tricks every day to scam foreigners and I was not about to let him get away with it with me. Other people paid 100 LE each but I just set my 20 LE on the ground and walked away as he got more and more mad. Thankfully there were other foreigners around the area, even though the camel drivers try to drop you off in a secluded area in order to get more money out of you. So that’s the camel story… vendors (i.e. cute little boys) are trying to sell stuff everywhere… and try to get you to take pictures on camels… where I happened to acquire another short, free camel ride… to the admonishment of the teen boy who threw me up on the camel!
While at the pyramids, a J-term group from Bethel happened to be visiting at the same time! Unfortunately I did not run in to them… but later heard from Aaron Storsved that they saw me as they were driving by on their way to the Sphinx. However, Natalie did run in to them… Bethel reunited in Giza! So, of course we had to create a true Bethel reunion. On Monday night Aaron/Nat/I went to a local Coptic church with some others and met the Bethel group there. How great and odd it was to meet up with Aaron Storsved, Tom (Yes, Liz, Your man is still alive!! And wearing 500-thread count Egyptian Cotton!!), Stephen Soft Hands, & Adam Banfield (& others) in Cairo!! We left the service early with them and rode in their luxury bus (with their own body guard) to hang out at their hotel for a little bit. It was great to see them and hear their version of Cairo… which was quite different than mine/Aaron’s/Nat’s. However, they did have raving reviews of Amman, Jordan, where they had previously spent 10 days. So, we are very excited to travel there during travel component.
On Friday night we had a party mixer at the Villa. This was an opportunity for all of us to meet some Egyptian friends our age. It went wonderfully! Our interns set up the party and all of their hard work paid off. I got to meet Fanhai & Hodan Ahmed, sisters who are two years apart (just like us, Beth!! I told them all about you!). They are just wonderful young women and I am so excited to get to know them better and to see Cairo with them.

*** Another note: Did I mention how awesome our group of 29 students is? They are just ridiculously awesome. And ridiculously diverse and funny and motivating and frustrating at the same time! I could not have imagined a better bunch of people to get to know and love while living and learning through this together! The girls, of course, are wonderful and intriguing, easy to connect with and dig deep with! The guys are just as great, with such a great mixture of respect/fun/ intellect/big hearts for God… it’s inspiring and optimistic. God is so faithful and I cannot even say how thankful and amazed I am!!

Our class week starts on Sunday here. After Arabic class in the morning we usually have another speaker or some sort of debriefing. This past Sunday a professor from a local university came and spoke to us in Dr. Holt’s apartment. She will remain unnamed for many reasons… and she will remain fascinating and passionate! What an amazing woman, working for an amazing cause.
On Monday we went to visit 3 (of thousands?) larger mosques of Cairo. Shahinda, our Islam professor, came with us and we had our first opportunity to hear from her. She is one of the most brilliantly acclaimed women of Islam and architecture in Egypt. She is a devout Muslim and has taught us much already about Islam, through her lecture and through her personal faith story, which is very moving and makes it difficult to process.
Also, did I mention Dr. Holt is newly married (maybe for 1 ½ years now) and his wife lives with him here in Cairo. Her name is Suzanne and she is just the sweetest woman ever. She is so nice to all of us, and with them together around all of us they seem to be almost a pair of surrogate parents. Suzanne is also taking Arabic class, with my class and it is a lot of fun…
AND ARABIC… is amazingggggg!! We learned how to read words this week! Yes, I know, it sounds elementary. This may be true, but it is also inspirational for us beginners. To be able to pronounce this new alphabet, have a vocabulary in Arabic, and now to actually read Arabic script makes us feel much less hopeless than two weeks ago!!
Last night a Carolyn, Krista, and I went out with Adham, one of Sarah’s friends from here in Cairo, and his friend. He is very enthusiastic about showing us around Cairo and about the Egyptian life… It will be fun to learn and experience both the world of these two and of our girlfriends that we have met… not only with the difference in lifestyles, but also in experiencing the difference between the freedom of the young men and the lesser freedom of our female friends.
I cannot even begin to explain how many things we are learning… about literally everything! It is so exciting and exhausting, but just plain exhilarating except through the really difficult topics. It is almost like being on a roller coaster, learning about on aspect of the culture/region that is amazing and something that applies to life for us too, and then learning about something that is completely infuriating and depressing, some things we just have not control but now hold so much knowledge of. What do you do with this knowledge? What can we do to make a difference? What can you do to show empathy? How will this affect future decisions and how do you make it apparent that you are thinking about these things, processing them, feeling them in your heart through daily life? What is the purpose of some of it? I think many of us are asking these questions, and I think that situations in the Middle East not going to be quieting down for quite some time. As globalization becomes a more recurrent theme… and as the conflict between Israel and Palestine continues… and Islam continues its growth… and Mubarak continues his transition of power… something has to change, the world has to be ready.

I think this is all for now. Tonight we have a speaker coming to talk to us about radical Islamic groups and differing views around the world. Tomorrow we have class again… and then many of us are going to a concert of a popular group. I don’t recall the name, but our tabla (the drum) teacher is very well known (aka famous) and plays with this group (along with many others). So, I’m pumped for that! Then on Friday morning we are traveling to Alexandria for the weekend. It is about a 1 ½ hour train ride… out of the city… we are verrrrrrry excited!! To see Alex, to get out of the smog of Cairo, and to be near water and all of the beauty we keep hearing about!
One more note… did I mention we have devotions every morning after breakfast, up on the beautiful roof of the Villa? Well, we do. They have been so good and so powerful. Us students take turns preparing something to share with the group… which will prove to be very interesting and thought provoking with this group of ours! They really are a great connection time with God and even for everyone to sit in rectangle and connect together for a short amount of time. I enjoy this time very much.
Ma Salaama!