Well, it finally happened! I had what I think is my “defining experience” for my time in Egypt. Read on for the story.
Last week, my friend Jay called to invite me to his birthday party in Cairo. He was planning it for Saturday night, so I decided to go into Cairo on Friday for Ultimate Frisbee and then find things to keep me occupied the rest of the time.
Friday, I wandered around near downtown looking at architecture, checking out the inside of a hotel I had never seen before, etc. Basically I was checking out how Cairo once had been. Going back to my theme of “firsts” from last week, I went to the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Now this was _the_ place for the Jewish community to go, before all the changes in Egypt in the mid 20th century. Inside at a small desk was 80+ year-old Eman, who was born in Egypt. I asked her why she never left and she explained that even with all that has happened, Egypt is still home. I want to go back and talk to her more some other time and hear stories...
After Frisbee, I decided that I needed to check out the inside of one of the old cinemas that I hadn't gone to before. This one was called the Metro and is quite nice, with an interesting history. I don't know when it was built (but will try to link), but it's been well-preserved. That's surprising! The movie I saw? Mission Impossible 3. It was decent. They definitely changed the formula from the previous two, which can be dangerous, but I think it worked. For sure, it was better than War of the Worlds (also starring Tom Cruise), which I watched the previous night on my computer. Horrible! I might write another post just about that...
So...you're still waiting for me to tell about this “powerful experience”. Have patience, we're getting there.
Then on Saturday, I had the whole day free. I arrived at the edge of Islamic Cairo around 2pm. It's an area I've walked around several times over the past few months, but this time I had a better book to use that shows some out-of-the-way spots.
While examining the exterior of a small mosque, I noticed an old man (maybe in his 70s) leaving the mosque and slowly starting his way down the steps Now, when I say “steps” I mean slabs of rock that have been rounded by hundreds of years of use and can be tricky for anyone to use!
In Arabic, I said “Any service, sir?” which is a common way of saying “Can I help you?”
His response?
He tilted his head toward the sky, turned his brown, wrinkled palms up, and smiled.
Trust in God.
