Last one for awhile...

Would you believe I'm watching the first World Cup right now with some Germans (and other foreigners). Score just became 4-2 Germany. Fun b/c we're watching in the International Center where my friend Matt works.

Big day visiting MCC'ers for lunch, back to the Church of the Nativity again, to the Milk Grotto, and for a bit of shopping. It's my last day (I think) in Bethlehem so I've tried to make the most of it.

Tomorrow, I'm headed for Jerusalem early in the morning. I have to be there at 7am! But it will be worth it b/c I'm going on a day-trip to the northern part of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I'll be riding in a car with some other MCC'ers.

After that, I'll be staying in Jerusalem for the rest of my time (I think). I plan to go all around the old city, the Stations of the Cross, Mount of Olives, etc. I have until next Friday morning when I leave, so I think it'll be OK.

This is an amazing place with wonderful people. Palestinians have lived through a lot, yet they continue to be creative, vibrant human beings. Pray for them.

Everyone needs to come here and experience what it is like. Words, pictures, and video cannot convey the reality of it all.

More about Egypt?

If you miss reading about Egypt, try these 2 blogs from MCC kids living there (and getting ready to leave soon *sniff*)

Nick

and

Becca

Busy around Bethlehem

Wow, tons going on. Let's see if I can tell the short version.

Wednesday, I went to the Old City of Jerusalem in the morning for some shopping and looking at sights. I made it to the Armenian Quarter and the Garden Tomb. In the afternoon, I met up with Sri, the MCC'er in Jerusalem and we went to Ramallaha to the Quaker Friends Center for a talk by a visiting American professor on Christian Zionism.

I couldn't find one good website with a biography of the speaker (Rev. Dr. Don Wagner of North Park University in Chicago), but if you Google him you will find links to books, lectures, etc.

On the way back to Jerusalem on the bus, it took Sri and I 90 minutes to go about 10 kilometers. This was due to multiple "flying checkpoints" put in place at random by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Why?

From what I have seen, it is to humiliate and degrade Palestinians.

Thursday, I went to Hebron to see the Old City, mosque, and situation there. (good article at BBC)

What a situation. The Old City is quite nearly a ghost town. It once was a busy place with thousands of shops and people all around. Now, tensions are high with Jewish settlers both inside and around the Old City. We met a man who lost 2 children to violence from soldiers and faces daily harassment. His story was featured in a documentary called "In the Spider's Web". We were given a copy, but unfortunately the subtitles are only in Arabic. I need to see if I can track down a copy in English to share once I'm back in the U.S.

Last night, we went to a great art exhibition on Peace and Non-Violence.

More later, if I can get to a computer...

Made it to Israel!

Well, I'm now sitting in Bethlehem. We left on a bus from Cairo at 11pm last night and arrived in Taba at about 6am. After a bit of struggling at the border due to the Syrian stamps in my passport, we made it across and to Eliat. They took me off into a little room and subjected me to all sorts of questions about why I had gone to Syria, who I saw there, what I was going to do in Israel, if I knew people, etc. Quite a process but it only took about 1/2 hour.

What a crazy place! Israel proper feels like Europe and people look/act like it, except for the automatic weapons that some are carrying around. That's going to take some getting used to!

From Eliat we took a 4-hour bus to Jerusalem, walked around town a bit, then took a bus part-way to Bethlehem, then a taxi. We had to do the 2 ways b/c you get to a point where the Separation Wall stops the road that the bus is on and there's no easy way to go around. So...you go through a check-point of security where everyone is screened and then taxis are waiting to charge you high fares to continue.

I came on the bus with my friend Lachlyn who has a friend Matt in Bethlehem. So, I'm staying there for the next couple of nights and then will be going to stay in Jerusalem after that. Hopefully, I'll get some people to stay with from Couchsurfing.com

Playing tourist around Bethlehem tomorrow. Matt works at an institute with a computer lab and 'net connection, so hopefully I'll be able to keep using that.

Wadi Natrun

That's where I went to day with some volunteers from the Presbyterian/Lutheran churches in the US. They're doing service in Egypt and I hang out with them every so often.

Today, we loaded up in a small bus with seats for 14. There were only 7 of us and this Mercedes-Benz bus had great air-conditioning, too! Great relief from the 100 degree heat today.

Wadi Natrun is a salt lake of sorts that dries up in the summer and then comes back each fall/winter. Due to mineral deposits the water appears to have a red/pink hue.

Take a peek:


I also posted pics from yesterday and included a link to those from a friend. See "Coptic/Old Cairo" on the right side of my Blog page.

Before my trip, a new look!

Hi all,

I've been thinking about giving my Blog a new look. So, here it is... What do you think? I saw that Blogger had lots of choices of ways to change and much to my surprise, this one is by one of my favorite web designers (yes, I have a few), Jeffrey Zeldman.

This includes a change to the way the comments work, which for the time being means that any comments before today are gone. Well, at least until I go back and make links to find them. If you put any comments in about things I wrote on Friday or Saturday, please go back and write them again.

A new beginning

I'm a bit behind on things (like adding titles to my posts). Egypt has done that sort of thing to me!

*laugh*

Big day on a long tour, and it finished up in a beautiful park.




Off on another big trip Sunday, starting ag 7am. That means I'm hoping to get up around 5am. Good thing that I'm trying to tire myself out so that I can sleep Sunday night on my night bus to Israel!!! *smirk* Pray that I can get some rest.

Still putting together plans for the trip, but at least I have bus tickets and some contact information for friends/MCC'ers there.

Inter-faith Communication

Here's a pic from an inter-faith communication tour/gathering that I went on today. We visited a mosque, several churches, and an old synagogue. This is one of the ancient churches in "Coptic Cairo". I learned today that the pulpit in churches predates those in mosques by a significant amount of time. The story that I was told is that the pulpit in the oldest mosque in Cairo was given by a church...



The person wrapped in green is a woman who needed to be "properly dressed" to be in this mosque. These robes are provided at some mosques.



This next picture is

My first tattoo.

Helway - falling down

This is the palace (on right) and falling-down hospital (left) that we saw in Helwan.

If you haven't read the story yet, it's below where this picture is.

At some future date, I'll do the research to find the background of these buildings. Be patient...

Cairo with Michael

Last Thursday, my friend Michael (from Tanta) and I went to Helwan, a suburb on the outskirts of Cairo. Our goal was to visit the Wax Museum and Japanese Garden. Crazy things to have in Egypt, right? Well...both were closed! But we got to see a hot spring which made Helwan famous as a spa location for the rich and famous in the early 1900s (but now it's an industrial area with lots of pollution and cement factories).

We walked around the outside of the Japanese Garden and what did I discover across the street? An old hospital and palace! Follow links for more information on those b/c that's what I had to do. I never knew about these places and the people we met in the area couldn't tell us much about them, either.

Since places were closed, we had some extra time, so I took Michael to the Khan el Khalili, the famous market in Cairo. We sat at Fishawy's Cafe and tried to escape the heat a bit!

From here, Michael went back to Tanta and I hurried over for the first Going-Away Party of the season. It was in a nice part of town, at the home of the pastor of an English-speaking church in Cairo. Good to see friends, munch on some tasty food, and have nice conversations.

Friday, I went to church in the morning and to another Going-Away Party in the afternoon for our MCC'ers from Beni Sueff. I've known them for their full 3 years here and it's been wonderful to have them as friends and watch their kids grow up. I'm sad to see them go... But it's always good to have a reason for a party! This one was also to christen our new MCC office.

After that, I went with one of the MCC'ers and his visitor from Canada. They were headed to...Khan el Khalili. *laugh* 2 days in a row? We also did some shopping and I made it to a few shops that I hadn't been to in a couple of years! Nelson got a very nice painting. If he takes a picture, I'll try to link to it or put it here.

Saturday, I played tour guide for another MCC'er (Gloria) and her niece from Canada. Canadians – they're everywhere!!! They wanted to go to the Islamic area of Cairo and the Khan el Khalili (3 days in a row, if you're counting). We started early to beat the heat and were fairly successful in doing that. We went to a beautiful 400 year-old Arabesque house called Beit el Suhaymie.

After a nice tour of the place (which I didn't get on my first trip there 2 years ago), we walked out onto the street and a doorman ushered us into the office across the street. What was the office? Well, it was for the engineer/architect/manager who did most of the planning for the renovation project at Beit el-Suhaymie and is now directing things for other renovations in the area. Very cool to talk with him and get a bit of info about current projects! Great guy!

This was all in the morning and then after Gloria/niece left, I did more walking by going from the Khan all the way to the Citadel. This was my first time to see most of the monuments on this walk and it was really nice! (but tiring, as it was several kilometers of walking each way) To cap the day off, I dragged my tired body to watch the Whirling Dervishes.

Sunday, I rested.

*grin*

I started reading the Yacoubian Building and enjoyed the cool morning. Good that I did that b/c the A/C was broken on the train I took back to Tanta in the afternoon! Hot, hot, hot!

Back to teaching this week. More details about things in Tanta soon!

Lack of Posts

Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm going to try to start making up for that right now. And look for a long post with links and pics tomorrow (I hope).

To begin, I'd like to say thanks to the people at Gillette for making a can of shaving gel that lasted for 2 ½ years! When my Mom and Kevin came to visit in January 2004, they left behind a can of shaving gel. I just finished that can yesterday! Unbelievable? Well, I used it sparingly and I only shave every other day. Plus, I had a goatee during part of that time, so I was only shaving about ½ of my face. But still, I think that's pretty good!

Also thanks, to Aerosoles shoes for building a durable product that I've been wearing for at least 6 years and can be easily/cheaply repaired in Egypt! I found this great pair of over-the-ankle dress boots on sale in a mall while working near Detroit and they were really comfortable, so I wore them all the time. Of course, I brought them with me to Egypt and they've performed great!

(unfortunately, the website only features Women's shoes, so I wonder if they stopped making products for men. Too bad!) *frown*

But a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that sole on left shoe was starting to pull away from the upper. I knew that was a bad sign, but I decided to wear them until it became a serious problem. Well, that happened while walking around in Cairo recently. *Flop, flop, flop* as half of my sole has detached from the rest of the shoe! Fortunately, I was in a good part of town for getting repairs done, so I asked around for a shoe repair guy and then walked to his place a block away. A mere 15 minutes later and after some gluing and hammering of nails, the shoe was (almost) as good as new! The cost for this service? About $.35 US. *grin*

(yes, I did say 35 cents!)

Speaking of companies and products, I spotted this on a CD-R case today:

“Pleomax, a sensible bit of Samsung”

What kind of advertising slogan is that for a spin-off company? *laugh* Doesn't that imply that the parent company (Samsung) is _not_ sensible? Seems a bit odd, but perhaps I'm thinking about this too much. Must...be...mindless...consumer...

*smirk*

Defining Moment in Egypt

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 20^th 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.

"New to me" Coffee Shop

Well, I went to another “new to me” coffee shop on the way to class today. I have seen this one while walking to my courses these past 3 years and I finally stopped in to have some juice. Nice place. Very Islamic. Many verses from the Koran at the entrance and they even turned off the television during the call to prayer!

After class tonight, I experienced another first! -- seeing college-aged females at coffee shops in Tanta! Not just in 1, but in 3 different ones near the Faculty of Commerce. I was shocked! It was only 8pm, which is quite early so I thought that this was just a strange occurrence b/c of the location. But then, I was with some friends later at a coffee shop in a different part of town and there was a young woman there, too! Now this was even more extreme. She had a head-covering on (but face uncovered), was sitting with a young guy, and she was smoking a cigarette!! Wow!

Off to Cairo for the weekend, I think...more on Sunday!

A Week of Firsts

It's been a week of firsts for me in Egypt.

Last Thursday for the first time, I played 3^rd wheel with an Egyptian friend and his “blind date” in Alexandria. As a result of me trying to give them as much time as possible to talk and get to know each other, my buddy and I missed our train back to Tanta. (also a first)

While in Alex, I went to a coffee shop that I had never gone to before and this helped inspire me. I'm now making it my mission to go to as many coffee shops in Tanta as I can before I finish my time in Egypt. Already this week, I've added 3 to my list!

Possibly related to all this, I started feeling sick on Tuesday afternoon. I was fine to teach, but my whole body was just aching after that. I ate dinner at my friend Michael's house and got home late. I've learned how to listen to my body a bit better in Egypt that I did in the U.S., so I knew that I needed to rest, so I slept from about 2am – 11.30am on Wednesday.

I woke up a new man! Well...not quite. I woke up feeling better, but also knew that eating any sort of solid food was out of the question. *stomach grumbles* I had made plans to meet with a student at a coffee shop at noon and that was good b/c it required me to get out of the house and test how I was feeling (as opposed to lying around on my couch).

At the coffee shop, I had a hot milk drink which helped settle my stomach. I also had a good talk with my student and one of his co-workers. After that, I did a bit of grocery shopping and came home for a nap. I thought about eating lunch, but still didn't think my stomach was up to it. I did have 2 bananas. I have to keep working the 2kg that I bought earlier this week! That's about 4.4 pounds and when dealing with the numbers it doesn't seem like a lot, but it's tough to eat that much before they get soft! *laugh* I still wasn't feeling great, so I took an hour nap.

Had a good class tonight and then met up with friends at my local church. We went to my favorite coffee shop which is conveniently located across the street from a cheap place for sandwiches (chicken, sausage, etc) I can never resist eating at this place, and thankfully my stomach was ready for food.

In other food news, while walking home tonight, I stopped to buy eggs. This was my first time buying eggs in about 6 weeks...and I was shocked by the price! In Egypt, the price for eggs is based on buying 30 (a dozen has no meaning here). When I bought eggs before, the price was about $1.50 for 30 eggs. (about $.60/dozen) Today, the price was $2.50 for 30 eggs!!! Blame bird flu and the drastic measures the Egyptian government took to contain it. A friend who works selling medicine to vets says that it will take about 3 months before the supply of eggs gets back to pre-bird flu levels. Until then, it's “a crisis” (in his words) for people living on a fixed income.

Well, time to finish watching Walk the Line. I'm feeling much better now, but my sleep schedule is a bit off b/c of all the sleeping today. Hopefully I'll be able to get to bed around 3am.

Stay tuned! I'll try to write again soon!

Wow...can you all believe that this is my 4th post this month! And it's just the 15th!!! So, I'm taking the time to write, but what do I have to say?

Well, I can start by pointing you to an author that I've been reading? Can you believe that I've started reading _The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People_ by Stephen Covey? After years of thinking my friend Rob was a bit fanatical in his attachment to FranklinCovey, I think I now see that value of it. At least of the principles I've read in the book. Not sure if I'll go the planner route in the future, or not!

The book is from our MCC library in Cairo and my boss recommended that I read it. He just finished it and I generally like his reading choices. I'm quite shocked by how Christian the book is. I was quite ignorant of Covey's background, so I never knew that his ideas would connect with my beliefs. It's been a good discovery!

When I finish up my "Mission Statement", I'll post it here. Or maybe I'll even write out ideas as I'm working on it...

On a Tanta note, I ate "Jew's Mallow" with rice and chicken this evening with a friend and his grandmother. Anyone out there know what that is?

Well, it looks like Egypt is in the news again! (though I'm not sure if this story is making it to many of you yet)

There have been some major protests against the government lately and it looks like things are really heating up! It could be a very interesting time these next few months that I'm here!

Follow the story on: SandMonkey.org

Well, I just promised one of the kids that I would get off the computer in 10 minutes. So, let's see how much I can type out about our day in that amount of time!

Today's main event was going to the Susanna Mubarek Children's Museum. The museum could have been much better, but it was interesting and told some good things about Egypt. There was also a simulation of a submarine diving deep down in the Red Sea that was pretty good. Nothing was interactive, unfortunately.

But as we were leaving, they said that for an extra ticket (another $1 US on top of the first $1 US for each child) we could have an art lesson on how to make some small item out of clay. Everyone (including me) was excited about that! We had a very nice teacher and it was really fun! I made some sort of vase, I suppose. While making it, I didn't think it was very good but at the end, our teacher said that I'm good with my hands and he suggested that I take some lessons. *smile* Maybe he was just being nice, but I have always liked art. Someday, perhaps I'll be in the right place at the right time to take lessons.

From there, we took a short walk to McDonald's. The kids had been eagerly anticipating this and it was a fun experience to be there with them. The main thing of interest (aside from the food) was one of the couples eating together. She was wearing a higab (with face uncovered) and he had on sunglasses and shorts. They sat across from each other and after eating, their faces were only about 6 inches apart!!! About as close as you can get without touching/kissing, I guess!

Now the day is winding down and I'm starting to think of plans for the evening. I need to make a couple of phone calls. We leave early Wednesday morning for meetings/retreat near Alexandria. I'll be helping with the kids again for the first 1 1/2 days and then taking part in the meetings and activities after that.

I won't be on email again until the 9th or 10th, but feel free to email while I'm away. I'm opening the floor to suggestions on what I should do "next" in my life. Interesting jobs you think I'd like? Service opportunities? Graduate programs?

Would you believe I have a few quiet minutes to write, without any distractions. *laugh* This is quite impressive b/c I'm currently watching over 5 children, ages 8-12!!!

They're all MCC kids and their parents are in training sessions today and tomorrow, so I volunteered to hang out with the kids. So, that should mean that I'm online quite a bit during the day today.

It's possible during that time that I'll be able to write a bit about what I've been doing the last few weeks.

As a parting shot, the kids just chose to listen to "I Shot the Sheriff". *smile* I love MCC kids!!!

Back from another weekend in Cairo. Thursday, I went in the afternoon and met some friends at the famous, old El Fishawy's Cafe. Very cool place in the Islamic area of town. Friday, we had a meeting for everyone in my MCC group. After that, I went to the Opera House for an amazing performance by the Virsky National Dance Company of Ukraine. Wow! I've never seen such great dancing!

Now, I'm back and this evening I spent a bit of time online snooping around for things.

It looks like the city where I was living most recently in the U.S. while working at Walsh College is now doing a major downtown development project. Check out Clawson, Michigan!!