The Dead Sea

We only stayed in Jordan for 2 nights and 1 day so we didn't get to see very much.

Something we did do was to float in the Dead Sea.

It was super fun to float/ so crazy that you really can't control it.

Sometimes I was actually annoyed because I love to swim around and use my legs to float, but you just gotta embrace it.

It was Great!

Syria

Our time in Syria went by so fast.

We spent the first day in Hama after an exhausting day of traveling. The next day we went to the krak des chevaliers, one of the last few standing Crusader castles. It was awesome! I felt like a little boy in a dream as I was running around and exploring the place. There were even times of sneaking through corridors, tunnels and secret places to spy.

Then we had one of the best lunches ever with savory delicious garlic chicken.

Then we went to a town of some of the last people to speak Aramaic. We saw the church of St. Tecla in the mountains. I got a swig of holy water, saw some old icons, and even met with a head priest who prayed the Lord's prayer in Aramaic for us.



Then it was off to Damascus. We stayed in a monastery close to the city wall of old Damascus. It was so beautiful. We got to take a tour of the church of St. Ananias, where there are still ruins of where he was and where Paul was. There was plenty of shopping and delicious food (seriously, every meal was SO good). We got to particpate in a Turkish bath a.k.a. getting scrubbed down by a fat hairy Turkish man but feeling so good afterward. We got to met MESP alums who were working in the area, that was my favorite night because it was a talk on the future, we got to hear their heart on everything. Then a few of us went on the roof and saw all of Damascus. My heart was so happy.

The place was beautiful.

Travel and Shotty Internet

My dear friends and family,


I am so sorry that I have not been as consistent with my blog as I have hit travel blog. Travel schedule here is filled speakers but also during down time there is SO much to explore.

We left Istanbul the other day after a final night doing Karaoke! (one of the best nights for sure). We have currently been spending two days in Ankara the capital. Today we talked with two officials in the Turkish foreign ministry which was SO insightful in Turkey's piece to Middle Eastern peace puzzle. We also visited Ataturk's tomb (look him up if you don't know why he's a big deal over here :]). Luckily I have been finding rest because there isn't much to do here in Ankara, so we have been watching movies and I learned how to play the card game Rook (so fun.)

Tomorrow we head to Syria, and the day after that we actually make it to Damascus (we fly to border then drive for a while and stay in Hamas, then actually head to Damascus).

I cannot believe that this is my life right now. The day the bombing happened, as I was biking around the entire perimeter of an island in the Asian side of Turkey, I thought to myself "How is this my life right now??"

To a friend I wrote about how I am going to Syria for about a week (a place I never dreamed of going to) and then to Israel/Palestine (the place I dreamed of going to) and that fact that I never even knew about Turkey and have loved it.

It's crazy that I have become more interested in politics, in the world, in religion. Things that once overwhelmed me are becoming more and more interesting.

I am so amazingly thankful for these opportunities of a lifetime.

Miss and love you all.

What Happened on Halloween.

Today there was a bombing in one of the major business squares of Turkey where my hotel is located.

I was no where near Taksim Square (the incident where the bombing happened), I was actually on a boat going to a island near the Asian side of Istanbul. I went bike riding the whole entire day and didn't know that anything really went on until I was on that island.

We are still staying in a hotel near the square for one more day before we head off to Ankara (the capital) for the rest of our travel component. We had a meeting tonight to lay out more safety boundaries and such. Overall, I am so thankful that all of us were instantly accounted for within the first five minutes of hearing about the bombing.

Here is a CNN article on it if you are interested:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/10/31/turkey.blast/index.html

I am doing fine. It's weird to come back to the hotel and everything around us is generally back to normal.

Goodbye Egypt, Hello Turkey.

Saying goodbye to Egypt was a very strange feeling as we had spent 2 months of our time there.

When we arrived it in Turkey, it was immediately different, there was RAIN!! It was cold, rainy and everywhere we looked outside our bus windows we saw lots of modern cars and modern windows mixed in the ruins. It was flippin' sweet.


We then took a boat tour (the picture is of my friend Ben and I on the boat) we got to see the Europe side and the Asia side of Istanbul.

Then the next day we were got to meet with a foreign affairs member from the U.S consulate and a very famous journalist while spending the day touring around Taksim square.


Today we met with a person from the AK party (the government party currently in control) and then we went to the Hagia Sophia! It was beautiful. Pictures could not capture the beauty within.


It is really nice to be here. I am so interesting in the politics of Turkey and seeing the role it plays in the West and in the Middle East. In Egypt I was so bogged down with learning Arabic, studying for Islam Thought & Practice and then trying to figure out Egyptian politics. Here it is so great to engage in the politics, easily be able to follow the political topics. We are here truly in an unique time as they are bidding to be in the EU and becoming a power country.

Not to mention, cold is a nice change :]

The Last Days of Egypt

The last weekend of Egypt was filled with plenty of adventures. It was hard because we had two finals and three papers over a week span but we also realized that we only had a little bit of time to get things done.


On Friday I decided that I had written enough of my papers that it was time to get mark something off the list of Egyptian sightseeing! After waking late in the morning, I called my Egyptian friend Emad and went with my roommate and him to the Cairo Museum. It was crazy! Imagine instead of a organized museum, a huge warehouse of some of the most ancient things. There were tons of statues, ancient artifacts. The coolest thing was the Tutenkhamen exhibit, were the gold mask that would be on his mummy is on display as well as the elaborate coffins.
Other coolest thing: Ancient tweezers. They used tweezers back then!


The next day, I had signed for the "Race for the Cure". It was .93 mile race and it was so fun. Ridiculous thing though was that the starting line could not be contained and when they announced for the start, there were still buses and cars using the roads so we ran against traffic. It was hilarious!!! I saw a boy run into a car, he was alright, but that was just how wild it is. My friends and I who went had such a good time.

Then that day I went to lunch with a few of my MESP friends along with a few of my Egyptian Christian friends, it was so great and it felt like grabbing lunch with old friends. We joked about our awkward first few weeks, our homestays, our arabic, it was a great time.


Sunday after turning in one of our papers. Sunday night was filled with studying arabic the entire night at hanging out at the other guys' flat.


On Monday, I finished the final Arabic test which turned out to be so much easier than I thought. It was also so awesome that my teacher said that I was really good and that I should continue studying it.

Then afterward I did a Dabka dance recital that I had been practicing for with a group of people. We did pretty well. I will be teaching lessons once I am back in the states if you are interested (not really, but hey, I probably could).

That night a few friends and I went to our friend Lynn's host family's wedding. It was SUPER fun. I busted out my dancing skills and they would never let me sit down since. There were tons of people dancing, some people were spraying fire out of a canister and the groom even played with a sword (which I got to dance with too, so cool).



Great last hooray before packing the next day and and a little get together with my English students. It is so weird to be saying goodbye to this place already.

Spinning and Spinning and Spinning

There is a place in the Khan-Al-Khalili where the Whirling Dervishes are and it is one of the most spectacular shows.

Did you know a man can spin for a half hour straight and take off then twirl a skirt-like thing while never stopping?

To say the least, I was amazed.

Day Trip to Alexandria

I was in heaven the other day.
It was heaven because everywhere I looked, there was something to learn, something to see, something to explore.
I loved it, I loved every single minute in the hour and half of time I got to spend there.
I loved the Alexandria library.



The catacombs were interesting with it's mix of Egyptian/Roman and Greek philosophy,
Pompey's pillar was well.. a pillar,
the quatbay fort/citadel was beautiful, but all the more beautiful was the Mediterranean ocean breeze that flowed through it,
but the most beautiful? that library filled with knowledge and wisdom.
My favorite book I found: The Superior Person's Book of Words by Peter Bowler
Favorite word I found in there? Firkin: a small cask used chiefly for liquids, butter, or fish.

I will be very busy from now on: 1 paper finished, 2 more to go, with 2 finals.
In a week and a half I will traveling around the Middle East.

Faith Dialogues

We have had very interesting discussions this week. As part of one of our classes we have discussed religion/Islam with two groups of people.

The first occasion we had met with students from Dutch-speaking Belgium and discussed religion and their thoughts on Islam being in their country. It was so interesting to talk to a lot of them because Atheism is so big in the younger generations. A lot of young adults have turned away from the church because of all that it has done. It was interesting talking to them too about Islam, we talked a lot about religious identity and whether a religious culture and a nationalist culture can interact. We had no answers but it was such an interesting discussion. I wish we had better time to prepare because my small group wasn't very talkative but there was still a few things to gleam from it.

The second occasion was with Muslim college students. These students actually invited us to have a dialogue with them after they had heard about the community center that was being built near ground zero. For the dialogue we were actually placed into 2 groups: for and against. Instead of choosing the option of what we sided with, we were chosen on one side and then had to debate the other. I was in the "Against it being built" side. We came up with our argument then had a debate. It was interesting that some of the Muslims were actually on the side of being against whereas most of the Americans were for it being built.

The Sand of Siwa

This past weekend we spent our last organized trip out to the beautiful land of Siwa. This is a part of Egypt that is known for it's traditional roots and non-Western influence (except tourism has been hitting the place big time). After a night bus ride out to the place, we stayed the night in a hotel. Our hotel was awesome because it had no electricity so everything was by lit up by candle and kerosene lamp. I loved it.


The next morning we rented bikes and were out for the day. This is the day that I had been terrified of from finding out all the things we do on this semester because I will publicly announce that I never really learned how to ride a bike. Though I did ride a motor bike this summer in Nepal (terrifying!), I was still nervous about this experience though I knew there was no way I was gonna give up. I ended up taking it on really well and never fell. It was exhilarating! Everyone was surprised when I told them this was basically my first time really riding a bike and everyone was cheering me on and said I looked like a natural.


The first thing we did was to go to the Oracle Temple, which was ruins in the mountainside. Then we biked to Cleopatra's bath, one of the many but most famous fresh water pools in Siwa. This is where we swam in Cleopatra's bath, ran and jumped in, and played games like synchronized diving and dominoes. After that a crew and I explored a fortress and then saw a mountain that looked like Pride Rock from the Lion King so we decided to climb that too.

Then all the MESPers got together and we took a 30 minute bike ride out to a salt lake. We floated on the water as we watched the sun go down and then rode our bikes back in the night. (Two crazy first time biking things: off-roading and riding in the dark).



The next day we spent some time at a friend of the program's house and then got on jeeps and headed to the desert! Riding the sand dunes reminded me of the times of off roading in jeeps going to villages in Ethiopia. I loved all the bumps and swerving and close calls. We hopped out and went sand boarding for a little bit. (which isn't as cool as it seems because you get a really slow start on sand). Then we stopped at a place to spend the night. Our food was cooked under the sand and it was delicious. We spent a lot of time around a bonfire and headed off to bed under the stars.

It was a wonderful adventure!

Now it's time for the 3 papers and 2 finals that will coming up these next two weeks before we go on our travel component to Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Israel/Palestine. Time is going by so fast!

Ahly!

Going to a foreign soccer game has been quite high on my list as I have been traveling around and finally I got to witness one!


It was insane to go on the way to the game and see people wearing read (the team color) everywhere we go. Ahly playing was a big deal and it was evident. We took a bus there and shuttled ourself inside. We were told not to draw attention to ourselves until we sat down but it was kinda obvious when there is a huge group of 30 westerners walking around. We had security guard us in and then also guard us out while we were there.

The most epic thing that happened during the game is that the other team, Tunisia, actually had a riot. Ahly had scored two goals, and as we were celebrating when out of the corner of my eye I saw smoke. The other groups fans had lit flares and were throwing them on the field. They were also breaking off the bottoms of the chairs and throwing them at the guards. It was crazy! It was definitely very contained (their bleacher section had two rows of guards blocking them from everything) and we were on the direct opposite side. The last part of the game, I was very much watching the fans more than the game but oh well. It was still a blast!!

Day 7 (The Finale)

Pictured: Mama, Brother Emad and Baba. Not pictured: Romani and Basma
On Saturday I woke up knowing that the home stay must come to an end. Instead of an exciting time together, we actually all napped throughout the day because we were all so tired.

It was sad to say goodbye and I had to promise to come back again (which, of course, I will try :] ).

I left happy to have such an amazing experience and to be allowed the opportunity to be a part of a family. I learned a lot about how even with a lack of language and therefore a lack of factual knowledge of each other, there was still the feeling of love and being loved. We could really only say each other's names and a few simple sentences but that was enough.

I will forever remember and love my Egyptian family :]

Nights/Days 5-6

The next few days went by relatively fast.

On Thursday, I headed home and relaxed with my family the entire night.

The next day was Friday and it is the day off for all Egyptian families either so they can go to mosque or to church. My family and I stayed inside the house the entire day. I have not spent a day in a long time in which I stayed in my PJs the entire day. I watched some great movies with my family. First we watched 10,000 BC then later we watched Live Free, Die Hard with my mama included. It was hilarious to watch it with my sister and mama because they would react huge to the violence and if a bad guy died there would be lots of cheering. For meals we had an Egyptian meal called Koshary (sp?) which consists of rice, macaroni, chick peas, little brown beans... basically a carb fest but it was good (though sat kind of heavy). Though I was itching to go outside, I knew not to take for granted a moment with my Egyptian family.

Night 4

After a day of classes, I realized that taking the metro/microbus was a lot easier of way home than taking a taxi to who knows where. I got home and spent a lot of time doing "wageb". Mama helped me a lot with it. Then little Lisa came over to with her own "wageb", this time she was learning the letter "A". Basma, my sister, was helping her and when Lisa learned the word "Ant", she ran around screaming Ant. Then Lisa's parents came over. Our families then had a time where they shared all the embarassing things that I have done over the week (it seems some things in families are cross-cultural). After that came the event that I have titled "The Clash of Hospitality". As dinner was about to be served the other family was invited to dinner. As is custom, they deny. The only thing though is that my family would not take no for an answer. As the other family continued to say no, baba blocked the doorway as my sister was yelling and shoving the wife down to sit (never in an angry way). It was quite the spectacle to watch and my family eventually won, though the other family got away with cleaning some of the dishes afterward (which was then protested). After that I had to study more for my arabic quiz so I went in the other room to study. I ended up crashing out early as my sleeping patterns have been crazy this week.

Homestay Day/Night 3

Tuesday is our usual service project day and so I got to sleep in until about 9:00am. Something about Egyptian families is that when they are home they are in their pajamas until they leave the house. So I stayed in my pajamas until 4:00pm when I finally had to go to my service project. My day was filled with watching Tv, then being beckoned over to the computer to watch wrestling since I had expressed that I used to watch it (though we ended up watching some knock off with Hulk Hogan in it), then I watched the first Lord of the Rings movie. When it was time to go, I took a different way to get to my service project. I took a microbus (which is much tamer than a microbus in Nepal) to the Metro. My service project was great and we had a a great discussion at the end which allowed for our students to speak the English that they know. It was a lot of fun and they definitely enjoyed Kyra and my stories about our interactions with our family. Getting back was so much easier. Though I seemed to have lost all sense of direction being here, it was easy to hop off the Metro, get on the micro bus and walk home (I head left from "Crazy Hair" barbershop and turn left at the tires). I decided that instead of getting in a taxi and ending up who knows where, it is easier to ride the metro and take the microbus. The night was filled with power outages and time where I gave my gifts I brought from home (a can of California almonds and a book of San Francisco). They had me write notes in the book then my sister translated it to the family right front of me. It was a funny experience, they especially found it funny that I had written "Sorry you have to translate" on my sister's note and that I only wrote to the mom and Basma's fiance that I would be praying for them (though I totally will be praying for all of them). Afterward was dinner at 11:00pm where I ate a lot then was given two "gawaffa" (guava)to eat and then bed. Needless to say I went to bed stuffed full.

Homestay Night 2

Early in the morning I awoke in the bed that my family had given me, I felt bad but because I did not know how to get to the Taxi stop, I went with my brother Emad to the place. He was telling me where to go in Arabic, and I thought to myself "It'll be easy, it's just a taxi ride there", little had I comprehended that the Taxi ride back would have to drop me back off in the same exact spot for me to know where I am.
I went through the days classes, had Dobka class, showered at my flat then it was off to my home. I was super nervous now because I realized over the timespan of the day that I really had no idea where I was going. I told the driver "Talbia Haram! (my neighborhood) and he took me there. After stopping for gas, to talk to a friend and put air in his tires, my taxi driver pulled on the side of the street and said "Talbia Haram" and pointed to a street perpendicular to the street we were on. Realizing I had not come from this way before I felt that if I just asked the right people, I would get there, no worries! Knowing the words of my street, I would only ask store owners who may know the area. I kept getting pointed in the direction of going a lot farther. 45 minutes into it, I realized that when MESP warned us that Egyptians like to help even if they have no idea either was definitely coming into play. Finally I found someone who told me it was on the other side of the street, then people started pointing me in the opposite direction but with more specific pointing and Arabic. Around another 30 minutes I decided that it was time to ask for a mobile, I borrowed one, called my sister who talked to the guy and was told to wait there. 3 minutes later Baba comes out. I was literally right next to the street that connects with my home. I was relieved to come home (who was not worried because they just figured I had come late in a taxi). I played with little Lisa, a daughter of mama's best friend. It is great because she speaks basically my level of Arabic (actually, she's definitely much better). Then the usual routine of watching tv, doing "wageb" (homework) and then eating dinner around 10:00pm (bread, refried beans, hard boiled eggs, cucumbers and cheese). I got to use the internet (which I am using now) which was great also. My brothers Romany, Emad and I stayed up watching a Miami Vice the movie (Awfully boring, I wished I even didn't understand English for that movie).

Homestay Night 1

Sunday night started at 6 o'clock with all the MESP students waiting around the Villa (where our classes, lunch, pretty much everything is held). The program of the night was that we would have a reception as parents came to pick up the students that they were housing. It felt like an orphanage as slowly by slowly (time to Egyptians is a relative thing) families trickled in and picked up one of the kids. When 3 guys walked in, I just had a feeling they were there to pick me up. All the girls are staying alone this week, but all the guys had to be paired albeit 2, and I was one of the two. I had asked to be alone because I knew that if I was with someone I would be too comfortable leaning on them to do the socializing. Anyway, the three walked over to me, and well.. none of them really spoke English and my Arabic is a long shot. As we were sitting around trying to communicate we managed to get some info out, their names, my name, where they were from and where I was from. I was actually just staying with one of the guys, my brother "Emad", while the other two just came for the ride. What was also cool was that Emad and his family (my family now I guess) were coptic while his two friends were muslim.
After a half hour drive I arrived to the apartment, a pretty small place but filled with charm. They even put up an American flag which we all got a laugh out of. I then met baba and mama and the only daughter (my sister Basma). Basma can speak English pretty well so it is so funny when I would have NO idea what was being said and then she would translate a little bit. We then spent the night watching movies, butchered conversations, they loved helping out with my Arabic homework (definitely the big hit). Edward, Basma's boyfriend/fiance came over too and I met him. He definitely laid out on the table those usual American dinner table conversations you don't have like politics ("Do you like Obama?" Me: "Yeah" Edward: "Good, I don't like Bush") or religion ("You Christian? Me" "Yup" Edward: (very happy) "Good!").
After hang out time near 11 I was thinking bed time but nope, it's the perfect time for dinner! My brother Romany came and joined and he is definitely a character, loud boisterous and fun. It was great. We had a DELICIOUS green basil sauce with bread, cucumbers, rice. I felt that hospitality as my plate got filled three times (without me even finishing it), it was so great. They also gave me some slushie thing and it was so good! After another MBC Action Channel movie (Bruce Willis in some African rainforest?, I sucked it up and went to bed. Here in Egypt, the night life is very active at all times of the night/morning, so we were told to try and stay up so it wasn't awkward if they wanted to stay up more. It's a guessing game to find the perect time! My host brother Emad supposedly hadn't slept for two days straight! It was really hard to wake him up the next morning for him to take me to the Taxi stop.

Adventures still to come:
- figuring out how to get back home
- showering in the bathroom/using the bathroom in general
- figuring out how not to gain 100 pounds this week

Christian Differences

This past week has been filled with classes. It is so interesting that this has become the norm, this is life now.

Yesterday, Friday, us MESPers met up with a Coptic Orthodox church and went to their retreat center called Anaphora where we spent time together talking about each other's faith background.

It was so interesting that people who both would label themselves as Christians are very different. The Coptic Orthodox church is a church that has been traced all the way back to St. Mark and has inhibited Egyptian since that time.

We sat around in small groups and discussed our backgrounds and then got into other heavier topics like gender roles in the church, cultural impact and other things. The greatest thing that I realized is how the Coptic Christians answered in a unified answer whereas we Americans differed greatly on our own views. It was very hard to be given the task to "represent American Christianity". I have never before felt like I actually needed to stick up for Protestantism. Also just our cultural difference, I felt like often it was a traditional vs. a more post-modern way of thinking.

No one afterward could stop talking about all that had happened, we MESPers learned a lot about each other in that time and about the Coptic church. Though there were times of frustration in our small circles, we learned a lot which was good.

Tonight we go bowling with all of our Egyptian friends! It should be fun!
---

Our home-stays are tomorrow and so I will not be posting this week until next weekend. I will try to keep a journal and update on the whole time. I am very excited but also kind of nervous to have to get used to really unfamiliar thing! They keep warning us that it will be awkward in the beginning. I know it is going to be great!

Luxury Weekend in Luxor

This past weekend we spent our time in Luxor. This is where many of the Pharaonic temples are, so I was definitely excited to journey on over here.



On Thursday night we took a night train to Luxor and arrived Friday morning around 7am. I went to back to sleep at our hotel and spent most of the morning/day lounging around our hotel pool, napping and walking around. The afternoon we went to Karnak temple and Luxor temple. Seeing it was AMAZING. The statues, the pillars, everything that was intricately designed had me in awe. I definitely had to take my share of touristy pictures (as you can see).






The next we went to the Valley of the Kings (where we couldn't take pictures) and the temple of Hatshepsut. In the Valley of the Kings I got to go into the tombs of Ramses III, Ramses II and Tutmoses. The were beautifully decorated with painted walls that have still lasted. It was awesome. That afternoon a bunch of us got our class readings down, played pool games and played the card game Mafia. One of my friends managed to find a sail boat that would take us to "Banana Island",for only ten pounds (less than $2) we took a sailboat to the other side of the Nile (not an island) and had bananas in some restaurant hut. It was fun but a little eerie as it was getting dark. The next day we took a 10 hour train ride (such a long time!!) and classes resumed again the next day.

What a crazy lifestyle I am living at the moment!

Home stays start this Sunday!! Ahh!!

Egyptian Friendship

MESP (the program I am with) really wants its' students to interact with the community and have relationships with people that live here. A few weeks ago we had a "cultural exchange" party in which we were paired up with a friend that we could hang out. My friend's name is Emad.

Last night we hung out for the first time since meeting and it was super fun. We ate this food called "fatta" and it was delicous. It had dried bread pieces in rice with some garlic in it along with beef on top. I was afraid I wouldn't like it but it was delicious! (though maybe a little fatty). After that we went out for ice cream (Egyptians love to eat I've been told) and got two scoops for the price of 65 cents in the US.

We had great conversations about life, differences in America and Egypt and the differences in Coptic Orthodox Christianity and Evangelical.

It was a great night and tonight we will be heading to Luxor via a night train. I am excited to see temples and see Upper Egypt. So much to do, so little time!

First day in the classroom

Last night was the first time teaching English and it was a lot of fun. Surprisingly enough, the class consists of 11 Coptic Christian woman all in their mid-20's. A lot of them want to learn English because of their work. Though Kyra and I were super nervous that we wouldn't be able to fill our 3 hour class period, it went by in relative ease. We did a lot of stuff through a book, then played a game where each person had a job and they had to ask questions to try and figure out what each person's job was. Hopefully we can do more of these interactive lessons.

Hey.. I kinda like this teaching thing. :]

Intellectual Stimulation

One thing I heard about this program when I signed up for it was that I was going to learn "a lot". Though I suspected that it would be hard, I was still up for the challenge. Something that I feel like I have accomplished this past school year was to challenge myself physically. That showed itself by taking a weight lifting class, backpacking through Moab, hiking the Grand Canyon and other various activities. I wanted to prove to myself that I can do it. Taking this semester on, my goal was to experience Egypt but also to challenge myself not with my body but with my mind.

Sitting here in an internet cafe after a lecture tonight, I am realizing just how tough this semester is going to be. Besides learning Arabic, I feel like I am learning a whole other language as well. My days are filled with "big words" that often I don't know the meaning of. After just one week I was overwhelmed. I am optimistic though, just like where I had to slowly begin physical exercise to push myself, I must start slowly to expand my mind. I am just frustrated sometimes that I can't always contribute to the conversation because I have no prior context to the topic or words to articulate my thoughts.

One huge thing this semester is that we won't only be learning about Islam, but we will be learning about ourselves and our Christian identities. Why are we Christian? What cultural, social, political things have influenced our decisions? Our doctrine? What about muslims? What about their salvation when they are born into a tradition? One of our essays will be to write an essay about salvation and what we believe determines whether a person goes to heaven or hell. What a lofty topic.

Also another one of our classes is to learn about the Middle East. It is so humbling to realize I know nothing of world affairs and have to learn so much history. Politics can be just so hard to engage when I have never studied it before. Most people here have political studies or history majors so it can be rather intimidating to want to join in their conversations. I am realizing the political backgrounds of everything and why culture and social situations are structured the way they are. This will definitely be a challenging class.

Luckily I also have Arabic (which is just so fun though hard to get down) and learning about Islam which interests me greatly.

I am excited for what my thoughts will sound like at the end of this semester, what I have come away with, what my mind will push itself to do. Dr. Holt, our director, said that often people lose their faith this semester, but what they do leave with is Faith. I have seen the physical manifestations of God's power through physical healing, so I am unwavering in that. It is just so interesting to deconstruct other patterns I have adapted in this very different context and to start developing convictions of my own.

These are my feelings :] Classes are SO good.

Diving in Dahab and "Mt. Sinai"

This past weekend after just two weeks of classes it was time for our first break! Thursday after listening to an interesting lecture on Muslim/Christian relations from an Anglican priest named Paul Gordon Chandler (I'll definitely write about him and a few other lectures later). We boarded the bus around 3:30pm and got there about 12am. It was definitely a long journey (more so because one of the bus drivers of our two drove super slowly). The next morning we woke up and headed out to the boardwalk. Dahab is a beautiful place right next the Red Sea. It is lined up with restaurants alongside it and whenever you wanted to you could just go for a swim. A group of us went snorkeling for the two days that we were there. It was wonderful and so cool to see all the coral and fish. To fit in with the tourists around us, a group of us guys bought euro suits for pretty cheap and decided to sport them off. And what else would a group of college guys do but have a photo shoot (Maybe I won't put those pictures on this blog?). Dahab was great, I felt like it was a family vacation with my co-hort even though we've only been together for 2 1/2 weeks.


The second adventure of the weekend was to climb the (alleged) Mt. Sinai. We left Dahab Friday night and took a two hour bus ride over to Sinai where began our ascent at around 2:30am. It was a nice hike (nothing compared to the Grand Canyon!). Surprisingly to me there was also a ton of traffic, I have no idea why I thought we would be the only group going up. There were a lot of Egyptians, Germans, British people, and more tourists. We got to the top right before the sun peaked up and got to enjoy a Mt. Sinai sunrise. Though this Mt. Sinai is one of two locations that could be the real deal, looking over the mountain was astounding and I could easily see Biblical events happening there. The sunrise was majestic and such an astounding moment of peace.

ESL Orientation

Every Tuesday, groups of students go out and to various work sites around Cairo and today was the first day at my service site. I am teaching English with my fellow classmate Kyra. Originally I had signed up to different service projects. I had actually put teaching English as a second langauge as my third choice and not really wanting it. Something this semester that I have been forced into and thus learning a lot from is having to let go of expectancy for something to look a certain way. Our worksite was very easy to get to and when we arrived the director and staff were super friendly. We went over orientation with the head of the English teaching department along with two other women (mid 20’s) who were teaching classes. Kyra and I are teaching a “conversational” class aimed at students who once a week want to work on the conversational skills and just want to talk in English. After a few excercises on how to teach and what the class will look like, I got very excited about this. Having two teachers as parents, I probably have some teaching in my blood.

If any teachers are reading this and have any great ideas on simple conversation exercises for adults with a medium vocabulary, let me know :] potticus@gmail.com

The Sweet Life

It is interesting being here during the holiday season of Ramadan. It started about August 11th and ends September 9th. It has definitely affected our first few days here. Since Ramadan is about fasting during the day, many of the local people are quite sluggish in the scorching desert heat of Cairo. There are also a lot of special store hours, most stores are closed from about 4:30pm to 8:30pm then stay open really late in the night. restaurants/cafes are closed until night time when they become super jam packed with people breaking fast together and getting as much food as they can. A huge plus to it being Ramadan is that there are sweets everywhere and they are so delicious! I would be worried about gaining weight, but luckily I feel like walking around in the Egyptian heat definitely constitutes as a work out. Though I can’t wait to drink water in public and eat at some local lunch spots, I’ll have to stock up on as much of those sweets as I possibly can.

I Made It to the Pyramids!

Being our first free weekend from starting classes on Wednesday, what else can you but go to the pyramids?? This was definitely something I was looking forward from the get go (hence the url of my blog). It was definitely cool to see these colossal structures and to walk around them. Though you are harassed by locals trying to sell you little trinkets, it is easy just to be assertive and say “la’” (no) or just say “no”. I managed to go with a fun group and we got a lot of great pictures of the Greater pyramid and the second one. We even went inside the second one for a cheap student discount. Though I sadly must say it was nothing spectacular, at least I can say I’ve been in one, right?


One of the most fun things to do there is definitely riding a camel. I payed a little less than one dollar to take a picture sitting on a camel, then about three dollars to ride behind the second period. The site of the desert with the pyramids was beautiful. Sadly I only have pictures from my camera and ran out of picture memory so I got none riding it, but I still have a picture sitting on one! So cool! Though it felt really really touristy (there were tons there), it was still a great thing to do on the weekend.

Unforeseen Challenges

In the beginning of orientation we were told about culture, how at first we may be in love with the place (Honeymoon stage) but then trickle into a frustration period, understanding period and then a long time down the road (longer than 4 months) we could begin to feel acclimated. So far actually I feel I have been dealing quite well with it. Sure some locals get annoying when they try to rip you off (universal everywhere), but I just take it light hearted, knowing this kind of stuff will never really end.

No, what I found to be really challenging thus far is actually a few of the guys I live with. A huge component to this semester is the politics of the Middle East. This is something that my mind is not really wired for so it. Most nights I come home and there are 3 guys always discussing politics. That is fine in itself, but it so hard sometimes to hear just what they are talking about it. It is hard to hear some of the generalizations two of the guys have on nations, on people groups, on women. I believe it is just narrow-mindedness and ignorance, but that can be so draining even if I am not taking any part of the debate.

Something that hurt me was the other night. My roommate was talking about me because I was flossing with a threading thing (because I have a bottom retainer) and also had folded some of his laundry to use our drying rack. When my roommate said something like, “Isn’t my roommate so interesting?” in a nice tone, the guy replies with, “yeah, it’s because he’s a gay Californian”. Though I think he was just making a generalization on the “liberal” state of California, I still found that to be so offensive. I was caught off guard, I couldn’t say a single thing even when my roommate asked me if I was just going to take that. What can I say to something that was so ugly? Something that I personally find hateful, whether he was trying to label some of my behaviors as that of a gay person or making gay people something derogatory.

This kind of attitude makes it hard for me to want to come home. Luckily there is another flat of guys that are awesome and seem very open and loving compared to this place. Hopefully things will change, opinions will deconstruct and a worldview will change. It’s only been about a week in.

Orientation is Over.

Tonight concluded the end of our Orientation period. For the past few days we have been touring the city on a bus or trying to get around through various scavenger hunt activities. It has been so interesting learning how to ask various questions knowing that you are speaking very broken Arabic.

We have done a lot of things: used the Metro and used a taxi, went to a city called the Garbage city, saw an amazing coptic christian church in , visited a Mosque during service, smoked shisha in this nice downtown area, took a felucca down the Nile.

Orienting myself to the people here in Egypt and to the people of my co-hort has been great. It will be cool to also start classes on Wednesday and get a set pattern to normal day life here. Tomorrow we start our service projects that we will be doing every Tuesday. I will be teaching an English class with a friend named Kyra but tomorrow actually we will be working in this orphanage in garbage city that we had gone to do today.

Please email me with any questions or comments if you want! (potticus@gmail.com). Sometimes I feel like blogs are so impersonal!

"Ahlan wa sahlan" (Welcome)

After about 14 hours of travel, my co-hort and I safely arrived in Cairo! can already tell this group has a lot of different personalities and we are going to gel well. When we arrived we were welcomed by the staff and then went to our Villa, had a little orientation then went to our flats. Hopefully eventually I can post pictures of where I live. because the area is great and the pad I live in is awesome. We have some ancient style furniture and definitely some interesting toilets. It's gonna be a fun time living in this flat with the 6 other guys I live with.

Today we did a basic arabic introduction for words/phrases to get us around and then did a bus tour around Cairo. I love the architecture of this place and am excited to see them up close and personal. Mosques, citadels, the homes all have a beautiful ancient beauty to them. Even seeing the pyramids from the bus windows. This place is amazing.

One downside so far:
This place is also HOT. Walking around in the 100+ dry heat is definitely crazy. Being a California guy (the only Californian doing this program), I am used to wearing shorts in pretty much every season. In Cairo, we are only allowed to wear pants so it's a crazy adjustment having to wear pants in such heat. Luckily our flats and classroom have air conditioning.

Being here for such a short while and already being entranced by the area is such a new feeling for me. When in Nepal, it was hard to be in love with the area for me. Even this last trip I had found it hard to be back and was happy to be leaving in the end. Here, it is day 2 and I am so excited to explore everything, to learn the language and meet people. It is doesn't matter that it is hotter than blazes here, I just feel at great peace being here.

Sorry if this post is a little glib on the descriptions of the place. I have just a short time at this internet cafe. Also these posts will be more spread out as I don't think I'll always being walking over to here in order to use the internet. Hopefully our laptops can get into unprotected wi-fi networks near our flat :]

Love you all!

"The World Traveler"

I seem to have been given a new label from many here at home: “the world traveler”. I have been blessed with the opportunity to go many places: many through family vacations but also I have been to places with a team of people, especially these past few years. It was on these trips, dependent not on my family but on the Lord and the team, that I have learned so much:

In Ethiopia, I experienced the voice of the Lord in a way I had never experienced, being used to reach a person I had just had a “feeling” about.

In Nepal and another country in that region, I was introduced to a whole new spiritual realm, seeing the power of the Lord that physically heals people. Also witnessing and experiencing the persecuted church by meeting in secret and knowing the government was monitoring our movements.

In Nepal the second time, I felt the burden of long-term ministry. Hearing from organizations of how long ministry takes to make even the slightest bit of change and witnessing the hurt that the church is trying to aid.

With these life experiences abroad, I am all the more excited to be going on this trip to Egypt with all the possibilities that I can learn in this land. I am excited to be in a place I have known little about prior to this point, to learn of a conflict that has been going on for years, to be a minority both ethnically and religiously, to be a resident with another culture instead of just a visitor, and to see a part of the world that I only hear through the American press. I can only imagine what I will be seeing, what I will be facing, and I am so excited for what is to come.

Countdown: 3 days until D.C., 5 days until Cairo.