my trip

I spent the last two days in Alexandria, right on the Mediterranean Sea… which I’ll admit, was pretty amazing to see. But the cool part is looking way out into the distance, realizing that Turkey is way out there somewhere, and definitely not so much floating amongst the slime and litter in the cloudy water right along the beach. Plus, soon after I got in and tried making friends with some Egyptian boys, I found myself outnumbered, surrounded, and apparently in the midst of a very funny joke, which may have gone slightly over my head. They may or may not have said something that sounded like the Arabic word for “white” accompanied by several motions towards my shirtless body… hmm, I just pointed back and laughed with them.

The experience of staying in a cheap hotel here was much different than a Motel6. I loved the elevator, because you never knew if the doors would open actually on the floor or really anywhere in between, leaving you with the options of jumping the remaining 5 feet to the floor or going back to the top and trying again.

Alexandria made me want to live during the time of Alexander the Great. It made me want to know more about it. I think I learned a lot about it during a world history in high school but I wish I knew more. I didn’t necessarily learn tons more while I was there, because I didn’t want it to be just a museum tour. So a group of us just hopped on the trolley to see where it would take us. We ended up seeing Pompey’s Pillar, an really old fort, and then… Egyptian catacombs. They went so deep, and were damp and cold. Is it weird to think it would be cool to be buried there? It would feel very historical.

Classes have started now and things are getting very busy. Right now I’m taking Arabic, People and Cultures of the Middle East, and Islamic Thought and Practice. And I do miss Cedarville and all of you great people there, but I have to say, class is a lot cooler here. For example, while I used to have to pick between Milner 114 and Tyler 201 or wish I could somehow get access to that amazing scrolling stock quotes room, I now get a guided tour of some of the largest, most ornate mosques in the Middle East during my class period. Or I sit and listen to my native Egyptian Arabic teacher (who is a Muslim and always wears a turban) speak beautifully and help me work through some simple vocab. Today, we had a classroom discussion and summary of different regional issues, covering everything from devastation in Lebanon to the discord in Iraq…over popcorn and Egyptian soda and the Garden State soundtrack in the background.

Shoot. I just found out that my game of football (or soccer) this evening with Mahmoud, Ahmed, and Ahmed was cancelled. They said that we’ll move it to Thursday.

I won’t tack anymore onto this entry, but I have been thinking. This place makes me think. Spiritually, politically, ethically/morally… really everything. It challenges me. I don’t quite know what I’ll write about it later, but that’s kind of what I like about it… that is, it’s hard to attach words to my thoughts, and definitely hard to list it out for a journal entry. I don’t know if I’ve figured out what’s happening that well yet. But I feel it stretching. Pray for me.