You can't get away from rhythm: Pre-departure musings

Oh you can’t get away from rhythm.   You just can’t get away from it.   The left hand shakes with the right hand, the inhale follows the exhale and systole talks back to the diastole, the hands play patty-cake and the feet dance with each other.  And the seasons.  And the stars, and all of that.  And the tides, and all that junk.  You’ve got to live at peace with it, because if it’s going to worry you, you’ll lose.     It keeps on and on and on.  Hell, we’ll never get away from rhythm
                 Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King

Those of you who have been to DC any time in the past couple years probably remember that I had this quote  hanging above my bed (see right). It’s one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books.  The novel is about a middle aged man who goes to Africa with vague ambitions to find the meaning of life, and manages to, in my opinion, turn both Heart of Darkness and the “middle class white male who finds his life unsatisfying” genre on their respective heads. I recommend it for the story and language alike. 

I bring up because it’s another quote, like the one that provided the name for this blog, that presents an attitude I try to carry with me through life, and particularly when traveling.  During undergrad I shared it to help a friend who was adjusting to Uganda, telling her that the developing world has its own unique rhythm, that one absolutely has to learn to live at peace with, because if it worries you, you will absolutely lose. . . you will not change the ambient rhythm with your dischordant way of being, and you’ll possibly lose your own sense of order in the process. Rhythm is beautiful, if you’re in the right frame of mind to hear it

Whenever anyone asks about Cairo, I tell them that I loved it.  She was messy, chaotic, and challenging, but if you let her be whatever it is that she is (embracing her underlying rhythm of life), she will teach you each and every day. You could probably say the same for most cities.. 

Bringing it back to the present, I’m getting ready to pick up several new beats.  I’m off to Geneva, and then Juba.  Which means I have to adjust to two places, each with their own rhythms, and two different communities of Salesian sisters, both of which are a little more in tune with each other than with their host communities, but probably a few beats off nonetheless.

My goal for these months, then, is to embrace and adopt the new rhythms, not let them worry me, because the worrying and the losing will get in the way of what I am trying to do in these next few months. . . to serve, and to learn, and to grow.  I won’t have time to waste in either place, so my goal is to submit to the order and rhythm of things, resist the urge to push against it, and save my energy for fully embracing the experiences the next few months bring and being as useful as I can to the two communities and the work they do.

I’ve told many of my friends this, but there’s another reason why I’m looking forward to learning to play in tune with my new homes. . . I will probably feel differently about this in a few weeks, but towards the end of my time in DC, I got tired of and increasingly bad at the little choices you have to make to get through the day. . . what to get for lunch, which brand of rice to pick up from Safeway, whether to go home before I go to the gym, whether to go to the gym at all. I attribute it to my over-analytical tendencies gone awry, living on a tighter budget, and maybe one or two too many econ courses that had me thinking about maximum  utility for time and money.  Whatever the causes, it got exhausting, and made convent life in Texas for training a breath of fresh air.  Yes, at some point, I’ll want more of my autonomy back, but for a few months, freeing up my energy for more critical decisions, such as those I’ll need for my work in Geneva and the looming grad school decision, will be a blessing.  

Anyway, those are my pre-departure musings.  Now time to figure out how to pack for this. Eesh.

Laura

Return to the Continent. . .

After a 5-year hiatus, I am starting the blog up again, because my life is about to get a little bit less mundane, and a little more blog-worthy. I'm seizing a very unique window and going abroad again, this time to serve first, and learn second.   After 3 years in Washington DC, I am leaving for Geneva from January through July to serve for six months, three in Geneva, and an additional three in Juba, South Sudan, God willing.  After that, I plan to begin a full-time program in public policy in the fall. . . I've applied to a number of places, and will have to see how admissions and financial aid shakes out. 

DC was wonderful, but I am ready for a change of scene for a few years at least. I am taking the next several months to pursue something I've always wanted to: international service.  I spent most of high school and college dead-set on the Peace Corps, but when the time came after graduation, I wasn't quite ready to take that step. Now that I'm ready and able, I'll be volunteering instead with a small organization called VIDES (http://vides.us/) run by an order of Catholic nuns, called the Salesians who focus on tending to the young, especially young women,which is both important to me personally and smart international development.  In Geneva, I'll be supporting the work of the order's human rights office, advocating for the rights and protection of children and youth.  In Juba, it'll be a little more traditional service work.  The sisters are establishing a school there, so I'll have the opportunity to help with organizational work, as well as teaching English and computers. 

So far, the organization has been wonderful.  I trained with them for 2 weeks in Texas in January and am now fully formed and ready for anything.  VIDES provides logistical support, health insurance, room and board, while I am responsible for my flights and personal expenses.   I've done some fundraising, and will be relying on the savings I've built up, in part with this kind of experience in mind. 

I welcome your thoughts, comments and questions. For those of you who know me, I do want to express my gratitude to all of you.   These past few years have been really wonderful, and in spite of tough times, I've been continually surprised by the support, advice, and time that my friends and family continue to give, even when there's not a lot of time or energy to go around.   In a roundabout way, these next months are a way to give back a little and remind myself not to take anything for granted.

In peace,

Laura

Behibbak ya Filistin: A day in the West Bank

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2148622&id=5614018&l=0a4462ecc0

The best way for me to show you the West Bank is through my pictures and their extensive captions, which I put up on Facebook; I plan to put more pictures on Picasa at a later date. Go to the above link and look through the pictures and read the captions. Please share in this, please comment and let me know your thoughts on my picture.

Of all the things that I have posted, and said, this is the most meaningful experience I have had while studying abroad, the things I saw and felt and reacted to in this most contested part of the world. Please read, please learn, please think and read and consider with open eyes.

In addition, please check out the following related article:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0425/p07s03-wome.html

With hopes for peace in the Holy Land and for humane treatment for all of humanity
Laura

Jerusalem, my Destiny---or rather, my destination

We arrived in Jerusalem yesterday at like 4:30, after like 20 hours of traveling. Needless to say, it was a long couple days. Luckily, Ayesha was only detained for like 25 minutes, as opposed to 3 hours for the first time. We will count it a success.

As for Jerusalem, or القدس as it is known in Arabic. There is nothing to really describe the feeling of coming around a corner and seeing the Dome of the Rock for the first time. Even though I am not Muslim, I have longed to see it ever since my old religion teacher had the Jerusalem panorama on his wall; it rises above all the other sites of Jerusalem, a gorgeous golden dome (that puts Notre Dame's to shame) rstanding above the holy city on the Temple Mount. It's breathtaking, but "breathtaking" doesn't really even come close.

Our hostel is in East Jerusalem, which is an Arab part of the city, so it feels a little bit like Cairo, with fruit vendors downstairs, delcious Palestinian food next door, and I can speak a little Arabic with them. We are within view of the Damascus Gate to the Old City, and we went walking around there a little last night. It's a little like Khan al Khalili in Cairo, with people selling all kinds of things: food including produce, dead cow, roasting chickens, fresh fish, along with tons of shoestores and shops selling Jewish, Muslim and Christian souvenirs, scarves, Muslim clothing, T-shirt stores selling Pr0-Palestine and Pro-Peace shirts alongside Israeli Uzi ones. . . like Cairo, it's a 1000 things at once. And the funny thing is, we were on the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross, without even realizing it till we saw a part marking the Third Station. It absolutely blows my mind that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Dome of the Rock and the Wailing Wall are 10 minutes away. And the Orthodox Jews were heading, many at a run, or sort of a trot to the Wailing Wall and the Synaogogue before sundown, as the Call to Prayer played above our heads. it was just everything.

In all of this, I had a vision of what Jerusalem could be. Religions intermingling in the holy areas like they could be all over the country, if only politics could be sorted out and the Palestinians actually had their rights. It was a beautiful vision, but I know enough about the history and the current situation to realize this is make believe. Our Taxi driver, Ahmed, told us that even though he is one of the few Palestinians with an Israeli Passport, life and mobility are incredibly hard. Our hostel owner Hisham told us that Palestinians in the West Bank can't even visit Jerusalem because they have no passports of any kind. No matter how hard Jimmy Carter or George W. Bush tries, this isn't changing any time soon. We'll go to the West Bank tomorrow, so more on that later, but on the surface, the New Jerusalem is an amazing place. . . and my dream, my prayer at the Wailing Wall and at every station of the Cross was that this could be realized, peace with justice.

Today we tried to go to the Dome of the Rock, but the Israelis have closed it on account of Sabbath and Passover, because they do that. So instead we followed the Via Dolorosa, which is beautiful. They have small chapels in the midst of the market place, and it was nice to sit and reflect on it, but this will be easier to describe when I can add pictures from backin Cairo. We got to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but I in all honesty preferred the rest of the stations, because the Church was nuts, obnoxious Eastern European tour groups, it was crowded and the line for the tomb was 2 hours, and I decided that the Church didn't feel holy enoguh to wait 2 hours for 2 minutes. It was still really special and sacred to be there, but felt strange all the same.

Alright, enough for now. Check back for pictures in a few days. I hope this gives you a little taste, but let me tell you that I can't actually describe my joy at finally seeing Jerusalem, its sacredness and its modern challenges all at once.

With love and peace from the Holy City,
Laura

about that

I unfortunately can't say much right now and I can't show you anything. Actually, the first statement was a lie. My laptop's AC adapter died, it is khalas, finished, kaput. Egyptian electricity apparently has that effect on electronics, so I can't upload pictures to my computer or post them online right now. And another reason:

IM LEAVING ON SPRING BREAK TOMORROW!!!
(So I've been busy getting ready for that)

What's the plan? Leave for Jerusalem tomorrow on an overnight bus to Taba then another bus to Jerusalem, spend like 4 days there and hopefully seeing the West Bank and Bethlehem as well, and experiencing the Holy Land up close with all of its beauty and religious history and general holiness, as well as getting a taste of the modern political issues and contradictions and issues, to hopefully get a better grasp on that. I'm really excited about being able to stand in the city I've been hearing about since I was born (I 'member. . . . ), because there's nowhere in the world like it, nothing even comes close.

Then, to save ourselves a little bit of money, we will be taking a bus back to Cairo, meeting up with some people who aren't coming to Jerusalem, so we can fly to Istanbul on April 23rd. We spend 5 days there and come back on the 28th. Istanbul is supposed to be spectacular, I love the people I'm going with, and we're going to have a great time. I want to visit museums, see the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia (which I've been dying to see since AP world Sophomore year), and experience the Ottoman empire's seat up close and personal, since I've realized how big an impact the Ottomans had on Egypt. And live a bit of the high live, go out, live it up.

and THEN, we have 2 days of class (most people are just skipping them altogether but I'm being a good girl, and taking some time to breathe and simultaneously write a research paper), and then we have a 3 day weekend in which we're going to Luxor, in Egypt, where Valley of the Kings is. It's going to be SO hot.

Whirlwind, crazy trip and by the time I come back for any extended period of time it will be May, and I'll have less than 4 weeks of classes left. TERRIFYING.

Things that have been going on here in Cairo since I wrote last:
1)We're starting to wind up the English class I've been teaching with my friend Pat, only 2 more classes to go. I'm overdue on a blog entry about this; it’ll get done after Spring Break.
I registered for classes at Notre Dame, and am madly in love with my 3-day weekends (no Friday class) and I hope it stays that way. And since I'm mostly done with my majors, I am taking classes that will challenge and interest me, and then Economics because it's helpful if I want to go into a policy-related field. And it somewhat interests me.
2) I saw a GREAT Arab-American comedian named Muhammad (Mo) Amer. Check him out on YouTube. Just as soon as you think the joke about everyone in the Arab world being named Muhammad could never be funny again, you realize that, when everyone is named Muhammad, how could it ever NOT be funny?
3) Temperatures have begun to be consistently in the 80s and 90s. While still better than freezing for 3 months at ND, it's going to be HOT, and not all in a good way.
4)Today was International Day, with performances, food and exhibits from all the different countries represented by AUC. It was pretty cool, and we got out of class (including an in-class essay) for it. Pictures later, Insha’Allah.
5) Jimmy Carter is speaking at AUC tomorrow when he is in Cairo to talk with Hamas. A big deal. I'm going to try to attend for as long as I can before leaving by bus to enter the land of the fray myself. Read about his visit HERE:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/16/israelandthepalestinians.usa

OK, that's enough for now. But until I have time to write again, with sweet pictures and great stories, here are some more articles about Egypt for your enjoyment. Assigned reading. There will be a pop quiz.

• http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7876
  
• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/world/africa/17traffic.html?st=cse&sq=cairo&scp=9
  
• http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/world/middleeast/14cairo.html?st=cse&sq=cairo&scp=1 (this one is absolutely true in my experience; we had a great discussion in my English class about it, and the author has this one right on, although as an outsider he sees it as more of a problem than the locals do)
• Check out the other NY Times articles about Cairo as well
  

Talk to you after I acquire a few more passport stamps! Keep reading!
Laura

Mafish Thawra: There is no revolution

Today was supposed to be a big deal. Activists were calling for a general strike throughout the whole country. Everyone was supposed to stay home, wear black, and then there were plans to march on Midan Tahrir, which is the Plaza de Mayo, the Times Square, the Washington Mall of Cairo. What were they protesting?
Primarily inflation. Reuters wrote, “Egypt's urban consumer inflation jumped to an 11-month high of 12.1 percent in the year to February.” which I have even started to notice. When my cheap food-sources, while still cheap, go up a pound or two, I notice. But it doesn’t hurt me seriously. But when you’re trying to feed a family, it matters. And in Egypt, there is no minimum wage, wages of government workers and others haven’t kept up with inflation. There used to be price caps but that hasn’t even been in place. IN addition to the economic issues, activists added a laundry list of grievances: lack of freedom, security, etc. etc. etc. The day was chosen because to make a statement before municipal elections in 2 days, but if it’s any indication, I didn’t have a clue about the elections until a couple hours ago.

The strike was publicized primarily through the modern technology of Facebook. Yes, Facebook. Around 100,000 people RSVP’s to the event. “Dr. Ayman Nour, former Al-Ghad Party President, announced on 'Facebook' his and his inmates' participation from Torah Prison”
Words also spread with blogs, text messages, word of mouth and flyers, but activists got into a little trouble for handing those out. But the internet, unlike in Burma, will not be turned off here.

For the sake of security, solidarity and in response to the rumor mill, some AUC teachers cancelled classes. Mine did not, in keeping with “official University policy” and told us to leave extra early (in her defense, we spent the first 45 minutes of class talking about what was going on and what it means for Egypt, and I don’t blame her for holding class). Since AUC is literally on Midan Tahrir, I decided to go to campus a whole 4 hours early, camp out on the roof of the Main Building and watch the drama unfold. We were told to go nowhere near the square. Demonstrations and strikes aren’t allowed in Egypt based on the emergency laws passed in Egypt after Sadat’s assassination in 1981, and foreigners most certainly are not allowed to participate in any demonstrations that might occur.

Everything happened and nothing happened. I waited for 3 hours with other would-be-witnesses, and all we saw were a couple hundred policemen in riot gear blocking off entrances to the Metro and standing in groups on the Square with their blackjacks. I ran into Fatima, my ‘ammiya professor and she explained to me, in Arabic, within my limited ‘Ammiya vocabulary that there were plainclothes policemen everywhere as well. .
It's what they call "a significant police presence." There were small groups of protesters, but nothing noticeable. And then AUC Security kicked us off of the main building where we were standing after a couple of hours. We asked “lay,” why?
“Likidda,” Because.

There were a handful of major events going on all over the country. I’ll post the links to some stories at the end of the article that I really encourage you to read. There was a factory strike in the Nile Delta that was shut down (somewhat brutally according to a couple articles), and a couple of events outside Cairo and at universities here were subject to a crackdown.

But in Cairo, it was business as usual. Traffic was a little lighter, indicating that some people, some workers stayed home today. But for the most part was riot police looking bored. The Government had proactively arrested a spectrum of people, and more were arrested today in different parts of Cairo. But in Midan Tahrir, I witnessed only the non-history of Egypt. In fact, there was a dust storm sweeping the city, so we couldn’t really see much at all, part of the "50 days of dust" from the Sahara that hits the city on a yearly basis. The BBC deemed the strike a “failed one.” All day, the weather combined with the apprehension created a strange and eerie atmosphere.

It’s really a lot more complicated. This is only my side of things, my understanding, what I’m gathering from the internet from English sources. But even I haven’t been in Egypt long enough to really understand how the machinery works. I’m just trying to understand and convey as much of to you as I can. I would bet that a general strike in the US would be even more of a failure; it’s just not a part of our political culture. But in Egypt, it’s about the only recourse. And all the news isn’t available; from what I’m reading on the internet much of the news about arrests is based on hearsay and rumor. It’s about as smoggy as Cairo afternoon, and I can’t really illuminate it any more than that; I won’t try to piece the puzzle together when I’m still missing half of them. When I read about what happened on the news, it feels very abstract because it's a different perspective; I read the news like an outsider, but also have the parallel realization that I was there.
Today was supposed to be a big deal.

Check out these sites, or just Google April 6 Egypt Strike for more information.
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL06488125
http://www.arabisto.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogID=7&blogEntryID=1015
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a47Lg9rBLPFA&refer=home

This one is especially interesting, talking about the violence in Mahalla in Northern Egypt >>
http://arabist.net/arabawy/2008/04/06/police-abort-mahalla-strike/

UPDATE: Fatima explained in class today, in ‘Ammiya that several AUC students were arrested in Tahrir, one of which was an American taking pictures. Of course, the American, after contacting the US Embassy, was released within the day, but the rest, unless they have “Walid Kabir,” as Fatima put it, a big or important father, who knows what will happen. She said Cairo University students have been put in prison for 15 years before.

We talk about “Blue Magic,” or the special privileges of our pretty blue American passports, and this is a clear example. And I’m just not sure how I feel about it. I don’t want another American in an Egyptian prison, but I wish the treatment of Egyptians weren’t so dramatically different.

A day in the life. . .

Woke up, got out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, i noticed i was late. . .
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
--The Beatles, and my life in general

So many of my most recent entries lately have been about traveling and sightseeing, so I decided to bring the Third and Final Continent back to earth as I also bring it up to date. It’s been a really tough week here, because midterm exams in any country are simply an enormous pain in my academic bum. I had a midterm on Monday for my Modern Movements class in the form of the class dramatization of “The Trial of Sayyid Qutb.” Sayyid Qutb is one of the major thinkers behind Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which I don’t have the time, the space or the knowledge to explain satisfactorily myself. It’s hard to find a balanced report, but I’ll just refer you to Wikipedia for the bare bones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Muslim_Brotherhood_in_Egypt
I spent most of the weekend preparing for that and writing a paper for my literature class, which involved several late nights, which, combined with 8 AM class resulted in some serious exhaustion, but I lived. It can only make me stronger, right?

Anyway, on Wednesday April 2nd, I tried to take pictures of my everyday activities, and I’ll give you a brief narration of one of my days of school, so you know a little about Egypt beyond traveling and tourism. I wake up at about 7:00 every morning, brush my teeth, wash my face, throw on clothes, check my e-mail and run downstairs to catch the University-provided shuttle by 7:30 that goes between my dorm in Zamalek and the campus in downtown Cairo, close to the main square Midan Tahrir. This involves crossing half of the Nile on any given day, which is really cool even if we start to take it for granted after a while. Based on how much Cairo traffic there is and how aggressive our driver is at any given time, it can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes.

On this particular day, coffee is a must. It’s instant coffee produced in bulk and absolutely terrible, but it costs 1.25 pounds and is a means to an end, with my primary end being staying awake enough in class to learn Arabic. The weather was gorgeous on this particular morning, so I sat in the sun, drank my coffee and then climbed 4 flights of stairs to Arabic, part 1. We did 1 hour and 20 minutes of grammar, vocabulary, culture, and self-awakening exercises on my part. Then, at 9:20, we picked up and move to a different classroom on a different campus known as Greek Campus (AUC has 3 separate campuses within a couple blocks of each other. An hour and a half more of Arabic, and then we were done, finally, at 11 AM. Then I had to finish a novel before my 12 PM class, so I camped out on “the Plat,” a big platform on Greek Campus that is kind of the “see and be seen” locale of campus. I spent my free hour finishing the book (Wild Thorns, an excellent Palestinian novel that I have to write a presentation for this weekend), grabbed a 60-piaster falafel sandwich at the "Magic Window," recognized by its blue and yellow tiling, and then moved to campus #3, known as Falaki for my Gender and Arabic Lit in Translation class. There are only about 12 of us in the class, and the discussions are usually quite intense and stimulating, since we’re dealing with controversial and important issues: men, women, colonialism, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and on top of that, most of our authors are some combination of feminists, Marxists, radical thinkers, nationalists and other random ideologies. We had a good discussion, and by this point I was pretty hungry.
I decided to go on an all-out favorite Egyptian foods binge, so I started with a shawarma sandwich from a take-out restaurant across from Greek campus. Then I stopped by the fateer place and grabbed some Fateer b’asl, or with honey for a glorious 75 piasters, and then, realizing I had some small change in my pocket, I snagged some Boreos, my other favorite Egyptian snack food. They’re essentially fake Oreos, except a small pack is 50 piasters, so much cheaper and absolutely delicious. And then I sat out in the sun with my friend Kyle by AUC’s lone fountain, chatting and homeworking for the hour and a half until my last class of the day, Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, or ‘Ammiya.

‘Ammiya is kind of a drag because it’s the last class in a long day, because it’s the 4th of Arabic language in one day, but on the other hand it’s a lot of fun because 1) I am actually able to communicate with real people on the street thanks to the class 2) ‘Ammiya, unlike formal Arabic, is taught a lot more like a 6th grade Spanish class, with games and role-playing and other stuff that makes the late-afternoon class a lot more bearable than it otherwise might be. My professor is a very enthusiastic young Egyptian woman named Fatima, and we’re all rather fond of her. I think the lesson was reading restaurant menus and talking about names of places, so it was quite fun. Not to mention, so many of the words are borrowed from English, that it’s not too big of a deal to learn words like “siinima” and “muul,” (guess those, please, min fadliku) although “mustashfa” and “mathaf” are a little trickier (hospital and museum for any of you following along at home).

After ‘Ammiya I get the 4:30 bus home to Zamalek, come back and do homework for a while. Then a friend of mine is in the hospital with a stomach bug, so we went to visit her. I took Bad Bat the Bedouin Benguin to keep her company, and I think he was a hit Then it was back to the dorm (the hospital is right across the river in the up-and-coming neighborhood of Mohandiseen, so it’s not a long haul) to do more homework and get my life together for the next day, the last day of a very long week!!! Here’s to the weekend.

Thanks for skimming, more exciting new soon. There's going to be a general strike tomorrow!
Laura

Main Campus:

Greek Campus, and the road I cross daily to get there (and frequently almost get hit)

Falaki Campus