Arrived in Cairo without any problems. Dusty Ellington, who is just beginning to teach New Testament at the Evangelical Theological Seminary here in Cairo picked me up at midnight, took me out for a good beef shwarma (sp?) sandwich and then up to my room in his apartment (pic above) where there was wireless waiting for me. Not good when I’m exhausted. So I’ve been up online for about an hour now, it’s 2am and I’m exhausted. Long flights today, but no problems and it was so good to see my luggage arrive here with no problems. Tomorrow I’ll see some of Cairo and get over to Ramses College (which they have an empty room for me while I’m here this week) and hang out with some of the PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteers. Should be good. And the trip officially begins….now!
My feet are tired. Dusty drove me to the Ramses College, which is where the Cairo YAVs live. I met up with a few of them, and Matt volunteered to show me around Cairo a bit, as he was going downtown. We ended up taking the metro down to the Nasser stop, got out, visited St. Andrews church, the Synod of the Nile office and then walked…and walked…and walked. Got some shewarma (sp?) pizza for lunch, walked some more, got down to see the Nile River, went to a beautiful little Egyptian craft store (where I most certainly did NOT buy presents for the girl I am head over heels in love with…nope, I did not buy any for her…) off the beaten path, walked some more, went out to Zamalek, where I’ll be meeting a Danish pastor on Saturday to discuss interfaith issues. Should be good. All in all, a good day – lots of walking, but it was great to have someone to hang out with. I’m going to head to a park for the sunset this evening. I’m probably going to lay-low tonight – I want to realize that while I am on a great adventure, this is also the only break I have between semesters, so I want to be able to relax as well.
Stomach report: first full day in Cairo – stomach is looking good (post two shewarma sandwiches…).
It’s interesting to walk around and see everyone try out their English on me: “Welcome to Egypt” “Hello” and “How are you? Welcome!” I had a few wonderful conversations this morning, one with the owner of a bread store, who was so proud of his shop, and so eager to have a conversation with me. It was fun. The men here asked me where I was from: and I froze for a second. Apparently, you get mixed reactions from people when you say America. I said it, and one of the men said, “Ooooh, we don’t like Bush. Bush…? No.” And then I wondered, “Should I say Canada instead –?” I mean, every world-traveler knows that it’s safer to say Canada than the US anyday. Everyone has an opinion about the US. And for this summer, I think it’s not my place to really voice mine, especially around the Palestinians. I think it’s going to be very interesting, because I see them being torn: grateful than I, as an American, am there, working and supporting them and want to show some solidarity with them in their struggle against Israel; and, while grateful, also angry at me simply because I am an American and I belong to a system and a government that gives Israel full-support, and while we claim to want to support Palestine, do they really see any results that come from our statements? These are questions I am going to be struggling with this summer, for sure. But for now…it is my place to listen. To listen to Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians…whomever I come in contact with…God, let me be still…let me listen to the cries of your children…to the cries of the oppressed…