getting ready to say good bye

As I spend my last day in Egypt and prepare to go back home to the Untied States several things cross my mind. One is how much I am looking forward to a LONG hot bath and a turkey club sandwich, but other more meaningful thoughts are there as well. I have been so blessed to be on this trip, to spend time with the people of Egypt, and with my fellow class mates here. Many people asked me if I was afraid to come to Egypt, or told me to be careful as this is such a troubled part of the world. We often have so much fear of this area, that we fail to open ourselves up to the good that it here. I think that perhaps the most meaningful thing I will be taking back with me is a new understanding for what it means to live in the Middle East, and what it means to be in an Islamic country. I have fallen in love with the Arab people in Egypt, with their sense of hospitality, their love of their culture and history, their deep faith, and their hope for the future. This is a deep and intricate culture which I could spend a life time studying and still not understand, but being here for this short time and and experiencing this small piece of life in Egypt is something I will be forever grateful for.

Megan Crouch

Pilgrimage

Yesterday we were pilgrims and not just tourists. We climbed mount Sinai! Some impressions of our time there: I will never again be so judgemental of the children of Israel complaining in the wilderness; I have a new respect for moses climbing that mountain several times; I am amazed that people actually live in this Sinai wilderness of rock and sand and gravel that looks so barren and forsaken; I feel a part of centuries of pilgrimage tradition especially after reading portions of Egeria's writings from the 4th century.

Several of us took the stairway of repentance up the mountain. stairway is a very loose term for what we climbed; strategically placed rocks feels more accurate! We were thankful for our guide, Hossein. He was kind and thoughtful, slowing down for our out of shape conditions. On the return trip, by way of the camel path, it grew dark before we reached the monastery. Traci and I, behind the first group, were very thankful to see Hossein sitting on a rock in the darkness waiting to lead us the rest of the way. as we followed him on the dark, rock strewn path I was reminded of the verse in John that was very special to me when my best friend was diagnosed with cancer. "Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." Hossein didn't have a light but he was our guide, he knows the path and as we followed him single file we could walk where he walked. He didn't walk straight over all the rocks as we had been doing. He walked in the dirt around the rocks because he knew the path and the easiest way to walk.

I was also reminded of the challenge we received a couple of days ago about following Christ. Which Christ are we following, the Christ of christian tradition or the Christ of the Gospels? They aren't necessarily one and the same.

Who is our guide on the path of life? Are we following our guide or are we choosing our own path straight over all the rocks in the way? I want to closely follow the Christ of the Gospels, the light of the world.

Suzanne Spaulding

misunderstanding leads to spiritual experience

Of all the sights and experiences, yesterday's trek up mt. Sinai was one that I will never forget. When we arrived, I wasn't able to keep up with the main part of the group as we walked up the gravel path to the monastery, consequently I missed out on much of the discussion only catching the tail end. After walking around the monastery, I notice that everyone was missing and thought that they had already left to go up the mountain. I wanted to catch up and rented a camel that came with a young boy for a guide and up I went. After about an hour, I realized that I had been mistaken and I found that I was alone on the mountain with only my young guide and my camel. After a few moments of panic, I resolved myself to making this trek on my own.

I found peace in the silence. The only sounds were the breathing and footsteps on the camel and an occasional clicking noise from my guide who walked behind me. The breeze blew my hair and I breathed in deeply. As we rounded a turn, the sun began to peek from behind the clouds and rays of sunshine spread out in the sky. I'd never had such a spiritual feeling. As I looked around, I realized that moses looked as this same view such a long time ago. It truly felt like holy ground.

Once at the plateau, I got off the camel and gazed at the magnificent view that surrounded me. my heart was pounding as I realized that I would have to travel down the mountain the way I came up. I was truly frightened and explained this to the man who worked in the little shop at the plateau. He told my guide to allow me to walk in the steep parts of the path, which he did. I will never forget the boy, Oda, and the gentle kindness that he showed to me, allowing me to hold on to him when I felt unsteady. When we arrived at a more flat place in the path, he helped me up on the camel again and off we went. As we progressed down the hill, I met my group traveling up. When we arrived at the bottom I was sore, but felt a sense of exhilaration. It was like my personal pilgrimage.

Debbie Stein

Leaving for the Sinai

We leave for the Sinai tomorrow. We will travel along the pilgrimage trail of the 4th century pilgrim, Egeria to St. Catherine's Monastery. On Wednesday we will visit the monastery, the original home of the Codex Sinaitcus, before climbing Jebel Musa - "the mountain of Moses" where tradition holds Moses received the ten commandments.

We will be back in Cairo Thursday evening - hopefully with lots of good pictures!

Taking it all in. . .

We're here in Egypt to experience the culture, to take it all in, to drink deeply. But as Dr. Grafton has commented, experiencing Egypt, especially here in Cairo, "is like trying to drink from an open fire hydrant." There is just so much to take in, process and understand. Admittedly, I have felt overwhelmed by all that there is to learn and how and in what compartment my mind will store it all. After Dr. Grafton's lecture the previous evening on "Trends in Islamic Identity" our group headed to Islamic Cairo on Sunday morning. This area of the city dates back to the Fatimid period, or the later middle ages. We went stepping back into history, yet flanked by modernity. Wearing long, flowing skirts, shoulders and arms carefully covered, the fourteen women in our group sported our own versions of wrapping the hijab, or head scarf. Respecting Islamic customs, we removed our shoes prior to entering the mosque - the idea of leaving the dirt of the world outside of these walls.

Obviously tourists, our largely female group (along with Gary and Dr. Grafton) attracted the attention and stares of the al-Azhar university students, making use of the quiet and space within the mosque. For me, my female senses became a bit jarred when a young sheikh addressed our group, explaining how the veil worn by Muslim women was viewed as a "crown". Considering we've seen all manner of hijab, from those that are tastefully draped just over the hair, to those that cover the entire face allowing only the eyes to be seen, it was hard for me to accept the hijab as a "crown" which we see as drawing one's attention to beauty and not hiding it.

I did appreciate the individual designations for personal sacred space outlined on the prayer rugs in the mosque. Facing Mecca, designated by the niche in the wall, I observed individual males using a prescribed formula for engaging the body in prayer within each one's sacred space by clasping one's hands and bowing the head, much like we do, and then going into a kneeling position, again not an unfamiliar practice in many Western Christian churches, and finally rocking forward and placing one's forehead on the rough as prayers are recited.

We were given a pictorial lesson on the various styles of minarets that reflect influences from all over the Middle East. I can now successfully distinguish an Ottoman minaret fro that of a Mamluk minaret!

That evening before going to "Felfellas" for dinner, our group attended part of the evening worship at Qasr al-Dubara Evangelical Presbyterian Church. I really did not expect to see and hear what I encountered - a fairly large western, style church replete with two projection screens and a soundboard and audio system that rocked the walls as the praise band and singers in western fashion led praise songs. Men and women sat together in song, prayer and lengthy(!) Bible study.

It's easy to see in this one day how the force of the water fro the fire hydrant knocks out all expectations and even pummels one about as we all try to make some sense out of what it means to be an Arab, an Egyptian - whether Muslim or Christian in 2009!

Flora

St. Andrew's and St. John's

After a very long day yesterday, we were all very excited to have the opportunity to sleep in a bit this morning. Some went with Dr. Grafton to the American University book store, while others enjoyed free time.
We met up again at about noon to walk over to St. Andrew's Church, where Dr. Grafton was the pastor, to hear about the ministry that they do there with the refugees. We heard from the directors of the children's program, the adult program and from two members of the staff, who were both refugees. We quickly discovered that the many issues that surround refugees here in Egypt are more complex than what meets the eye. A long and tedious process is involved just to be recognized as an official refugee, and even after that happens (if it does) the rights that it offers are very few. It is clear that the work and ministry that the people at St. Andrew's are doing is so important and needed in the community.
After a wonderful lunch of Egyptian take out, we got to hear about the program that is done with the young refugee men who are part of the gangs here in Cairo. The director of the program, Natalie, sat with us and told us all about the program and how it has grown over the past few years to make an impact on the violence and crime.
We were then lucky to be able to meet with two women from the Mennonite organization here in Cairo. There are not any Mennonite churches here in Egypt, rather they see their job as supporting those churches that are already here. These women shared with us their perspective of what it is like to be a western woman in this culture, something we as a group of mostly women, had been struggling with.
This evening we traveled to St. John's Anglican church to hear the priest there, Paul-Gordon Chandler, speak about a topic which he is clearly passionate about, the relationship between Christians and Muslims. We sat and listened to him for about an hour and a half (and could have listened easily for at least another 2 hours!) as he spoke about Mazhar Mallouhi and how he is a Muslim follower of Christ. Chandler uses Mallouhi in his book, Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road, to give examples of how we are more alike in our faith than we know. An image he used that was particularly helpful for me was that of the Muslim symbol of faith, the crescent. The part of the moon that we see, the crescent, is the things about our faith that are different, but the part of the moon that we can't see, represents all the parts of the two faiths that we hold in common. If we build our relationships based on these shared things, than we can start to look at the parts that are different. He gave us many many things to think about, that I can only begin to scratch the surface now.We leave in the morning to travel to Mt. Sinai and visit St. Catherine's Monastery. Can't wait!
Blessings,
Stina Schaeffer

Visiting al-Azhar University and Mosque

(LTSP students at al-Azhar)

(Sheikh Muhamad Abdul-Rahman at the al-Azhar library)