At-Tarikha wa Ad-Deen: History and Faith (Only 4 Metro stops away!)

Thursday we went to the Cairo/Egyptian Museum, where most of the Ancient Egyptian artifacts are, at least those that haven’t “found their way” to Berlin or Great Britain, as our tour guide pointed out frequently and quite bluntly. The tour guide gave us some really deep and detailed history about the sordid lives of several dynasties of Egyptian monarchs and many of the artifacts, meaning that in over 2 hours, we barely scratched the surface. But, yes I saw the famous mask and all but 1 of sarcophagi of King Tutankhamen, which were beautiful. His mummy is currently residing in Luxor. It was cool, but after a while Ancient Egypt is a little overwhelming and less interesting than the mix of real, living people outside the museum grounds. I do need to go back again at some point on my own and dig a little deeper, although at 25 pounds it’s not an everyday affair. Hey, 5 bucks is a lot even in America, for me anyway. And the fee for the tour was about 20 each, plus “baksheesh,” tips which are just part of courtesy here for nearly any kind of task. Unfortunately, I hardly ever have the small change to really participate in this Egyptian tradition. And, sorry, sorry, sorry I don’t have any pictures from inside the museum b/c it’s not permitted. Otherwise, I would definitely have pictures of King Tut’s underwear (currently framed) and a linen “condom,” at least according to our guide. Wouldn’t you love to have your underwear framed in a museum someday?
Later in the night we went looking for dinner, checking out a couple “holes in the wall” for Egyptian food. I got a shish tawook sandwich, which reminds me of an arab Chicken Philly, essentially. Our little gypsy caravan continues to grow as more and more American students show up, and team Kairo, even if we’ve only been here like 4 days, feel at least acclimated enough to take newer arrivals under our stubby wings. The American students here are from schools all over, but I sense we’re alike in a lot of ways, ambitious, smart, most want to do some kind of foreign policy work, and then there are varying degrees of Arabic and international experience.

Now today was, in a word, mumtaaz. We went down to Old Cairo, and it was just oozing with history and faith. We in the West, and especially we Catholics think of Rome and forget the REAL cradle of Christianity, and monotheistic religion in general is really the Middle East and Cairo is a huge part of that. But today we were exploring old-ish Greek Orthodox Church of St.

George (who famously fought the dragon), a couple even older Coptic Orthodox Churches that were built on top of Roman ruins. Furthermore, the Biblical journey of the Holy Family through Egypt is a part of modern religious memory here. I touched a well where it is believed that Jesus, Mary and Joseph drank, and behind an old (and largely unused) synagogue there was the well where, before the Nile changed course, the Egyptian princess found Moses in the bulrushes. These sites, not far from one another or from the oh-so-modern Cairo Metro are the intertwining of religion, history and legend; they’re almost tangible here. The Church of St. Barbara houses the relics of many saints, some familiar and the rest are either lost to history or exclusively Coptic. I need to read more on Coptic Christianity, and I hope to go to one or more of their churches while I’m here. Unlike the synagogue and Greek Orthodox Church, the Coptic churches feel more alive, and even though one, known as the “hanging church” is supported by ancient Roman structures, you can also hear children’s voices singing their prayers. Jules and Courtney’s apartment-mate Tina is originally Egyptian Coptic Christian from LA, and she remembered learning the same prayers as a child. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get into the mosques, because Al-Yawm al Gom‘a, today is Friday, the Muslim day of prayer. So back to Old Cairo I shall go. Islam could not be forgotten today, given the constant stream of Arabic from the different minarets of old Cairo, courtesy of quite effective loudspeakers, a clear example that Islam and modernity get along well

Below from top left: St. Barbara's interior, the well which once hydrated the Holy Family, and candles in St. George's.

After old Cairo, we went to Lucille’s, a diner-esque place in Madiyya, where it’s easy to forget you’re in Egypt. A lot of the American embassy employees live there, and you’re surrounded by wealthy Egyptians and expats and things that make one nostalgic for America. It was fine, but spending too much time there is just artificial, being a bubble or an island (Al-jazeera)’s like how I feel about gated communities if you’ve had the pain and privilege of that particular rant. You know who you are.

Alright, I’ll let pictures tell the rest. On other notes, I am developing “Cairo Lung,” courtesy of the pollution and a culture where "nonsmoking" is a farfetched idea, and especially our death-defying 45-minute walk from Zamalek to campus along highways and reeeeally busy streets. It’s like human Frogger on crack. The cough-drops, miyya (water) and my inhaler, formerly used only when I worked out, are all going to get lots of play time this semester. I started breathing through my scarf on the cab ride back from old Cairo because our taxi had terrible emissions. Yuck. The pains of the third world, due in part to the excesses of the first.

Oh, and good news: a man at a souvenir store said I was worth 5,000 camels. I'm going to take it as a compliment and leave it at that.

I think that will suffice. More is, of course to come. Please leave comments below and send me e-mails to let me know what you think, and what you’d like to hear more about. I can now also be reached at lcmeyer@aucegypt.edu.
Ma‘Salaama, Goodbye for now,

Laura

Below from top left: the Roman Ruins that form the foundation of the Hangng church, its interior, an icon of St. George fighting the dragon from the Greek Orthodox church, and a tunnel at the bottom of the well where Moses was found in the bulrushes (according to history, faith and legend)

Oh, and as a special treat here is some footage of the traffic we have to deal with daily, and, when we can't avoid it, have to cross in front of. You can see that Glen kept walking on the narrow island in the middle, for kicks apparently. Just imagine Frogger on crack, and you have some idea what Cairo is like. Terrifying, and exhilarating. I'll stick to the shuttle.

[NOTE: no members of Team Kairo were injured in the creation of this footage]