halfway done

We’ll see how that Arabic final that I just took turns out… whew, I’m just happy that its over with. I actually thought that the written portion was pretty easy and straightforward—things like verb conjugation and sentence translation and other grammatical stuff that I’ve been preparing for. The tough part of the exam was the spoken portion…sitting in a room with our oostezah (professor) and having a 10 minute conversation about anything she wanted to bring up. It was a little bit intimidating. Maybe she’ll be merciful…

This past week was also our final week of Islamic Thought and Practice. The exam was an in-class essay assignment detailing how several different groups having shaped Islam over history. I wrote about 5 pages on the caliphs, ulama, Mutezalites, and Sufis. Two days before that, we turned in our major research assignment on methods and applications of Qur’an interpretation. We each studied different passages in the Qur’an and basically did like a commentary study on it and interviewed scholarly sources. I got to focus on what Muslims do with alcohol—it was great. But yeah, it definitely feels so good to all that have accomplished too. They tell us all the time here, “this semester is not about gluing you down with academics” …I think I believe that a little more now that I get to breathe for a couple of days before I start working on my building list of other assigned papers, which is up to about 10 or 11 now.

I really have enjoyed these classes though. Even the small time that we did spend in the classroom here was so enhanced by the fact that we were in the setting of all the history, culture, language, religion we were learning or reading about. For most assignments, research consisted of talking to our neighbors and roaming the streets taking notes on how everyday life went on...which definitely beats holing up the in the library (even overnight).

The semester is going to be totally different from here on out though. On Thursday, we’re flying to Istanbul and starting a month of travel around the region. We’ll be in Turkey for awhile, then Syria and Jordan for a couple of days, and finally end up spending about 2 weeks in Jerusalem. Like I already mentioned, assignments continue to pour in during this time and I’ll spend a lot of time writing responses to the many important, interesting speakers that will have the chance to meet with in each country. It’ll be busy, but my goodness, can you even believe that I get to do this?! I guess you could say that I’m kinda excited about it.

I looked over the last couple entries I’ve had on here and realized that I’m probably depressing anyone that might read this. I don’t mean to sound overly negative when I write about some of the hard things here. It’s a challenge…a struggle sometimes, but my eyes are being opened wider than they ever were before. And in the middle of seeing some of the hard and hurting things all around me, I see God’s goodness in Egypt. Really, really, I love it here. Everyday is an adventure…the unexpected is normal—and while that may sound a little like what Darkwing Duck used to say, its true in Cairo… just hop in a taxi.

And if you don’t know who Darkwing Duck is, find it and watch it.

nearly slipping

Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
And they say, "How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?"
Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.

Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

I saw The Yacoubian Building tonight and sat through some of the hardest things I’ve ever seen. It’s an Egyptian movie about all kinds of corruption and injustice that is rampant here—towards women, in the government, towards the poor, everywhere…everywhere.

You know the one common theme that was screaming through all the sad stories? People were searching hard for something. They were empty and trying to fill it through anything that felt good. Sometimes it was drugs or money or prostitutes or revenge. This one girl desperately searched for love and was only cast around from one violation to the next. I wanted to hold her.

God, rescue us from this… Come, Lord Jesus.

tuesdays

I haven’t exactly figured out what to do about Darfur yet. For over a year now, I haven’t been able to keep it out of my head. And the sickening thing is that every time I happen to remember it as a problem, I remember that for about 2 million people, its life…and they don’t have to be reminded.

Being in Cairo throws in a whole new element though. I’m so much closer now… like, next door neighbors with Sudan. Egypt may have enough problems of its own, but is the primary destination for hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees that hope to somehow start their lives over again. The city provides a more secure environment, possible jobs, and distant hope to win big on a dream lottery—being selected to receive a visa to Europe or America. I have a friend that has a wife and new baby in Kansas. He’s been sitting around for over 6 months hoping for whatever people to eventually get to some paperwork so he can see his baby for the first time. I get asked if there are any strings I can pull because I’m an America. I really, really wish there were. And that’s all I can say to them while they look away and nod, all too familiar with that answer. I really do though.

Egypt is definitely well aware of the entire crisis, both as a bordering nation and part of the Arab Muslim world. I have been able to meet with several important officials during my time here and have brought it up each time, asking specifically what in the world they are doing (or more like the rest of the world, what they plan to do) about Sudan. The answers have been less than direct and sprinkled with politics and finger-pointing, which I’ve found to be nothing but rehearsed cop outs for ineffectiveness. In fact, international rhetoric is trying to wish the raping, killing, pillaging, and displacing away, while absolutely nobody can agree on what to do, revealing the paralysis of the UN and leaving any efforts of the AU hanging out to dry, and oh, let’s not forget about the very people suffering from unceasing violence.

I’m also confused about another aspect of the conflict. It is Muslims killing Muslims. What happened to the great umma of Allah that shoud trump any other loyalties? Why do nations of the Middle East come together in outspoken support for their fellow Muslims dying in Lebanon, but cannot find the time or resources for a war in which Muslims are dying on both sides?

ahhh… its so frustrating. I really feel like I hardly know much about it and can’t offer any solutions, so I’m doing the only thing that I know I can do. I’m trying my best to find some things to do here.

Tuesday’s are one of the highlights of my week because I teach Sudanese students at a special refugee school downtown. I show up around 9am, just in time for English class. I help out the teacher, Adam, a 25 year old guy that escaped from Darfur. He has one of the largest and most rambunctious classes in the school and definitely needs the most help. Sometimes that means just standing in the back and crowd controlling… sometimes that means coming up with something to teach for science or a game to play. Today we had some free time, so I tried to draw a world map on the marker board and teach the students some important places in the world. I got to point to where I live and where they used to live. During break time, I go out for a game of street football with them—which gets pretty intense…and the girls always kick the guys’ butts.

It’s hard sometimes…like when the kids are more focused on hitting the kid next to them than on what Adam or I may be saying. The education system here is in terrible shape, and I can’t help but feel like there students getting left behind in the lessons, so I try and spend extra time with them and then do some one-on-one tutoring after the classes. I try my best and keep in mind that these are just kids and they have been through a lot. I try to love them.

I’m not an elementary school teacher or a therapist…or an international decision maker for that matter. But I do speak English. I do know how to point out continents and point out parts of the body. I struggle with how to do something about the huge crisis in Sudan, but every Tuesday morning my world collides with it when I see faces of people that live in its brutalities. So, next week when I walk in and everyone turns around with a big smile, I’ll just smile back and give some high fives and try to teach some more English vocabulary. And I keep praying for them. Please, please pray for them.

What a feeling in my soul
Love burns brighter than sunshine
Let the rain fall I don't care,
I'm your's and suddenly you're mine

And its brighter than sunshine.


That's all I could think of when I was watching the sky catch on fire in a sunset over the furthest dunes I could see in the Sahara. So I sang it for you there on top of the mountain.

Lauren, I miss you.

samir's song

There are those little things about this place that I’ll never forget.

Tonight I sat on the floor of the bus next to our driver and we talked about Jesus. And together we sang our songs to him while driving down the highway. I think that a stumbling, off-key mix of Arabic and English is a beautiful sound to him.

dinner at midnight

So here's a few recent scenarios:

This afternoon when I was on the Metro (Cairo's subway system) I watched a man that was so absorbed in reading and mouthing the words of his pocket-sized Qur'an that he nearly missed his stop.

The local coffeeshops, usually packed all day long with men with shai (tea) in one hand and a sheesha pipe in another, have their chairs stacked up and locks on the doors during their busiest hours.

Last night, I almost stumbled over a man kneeling in the middle of the sidewalk, right outside of a busy corner shop. He had stretched out his prayer mat and was prostrating himself towards Mecca in the middle of a crowded neighborhood, impervious to anything or anybody else.

A three mile taxi ride in the afternoon takes me over 20 minutes in the Cairo swamp of traffic. If I return later around 5 or 6, the freeways are completely clear and I'm back in less than a quarter of the time. I used to call that rush hour.

Everybody and their brother own these little side restaurants that sell authentic Egyptian food and a side of french fries. I have a couple of favorite places...its always cheap and always good. I tried to get dinner a few nights ago and everywhere was closed. I really couldn't find any food and finally ended up buying a kilo of tiny pancakes only made on special occasions.

Cario is hot and dry. Staying hydrated is pretty important, and its pretty easy. You can buy like these 1.5 liter bottles to carry around and last you all day. Out of respect, I now hide this big honkin' bottle in my bag, because most people are choosing not to drink anything all day long...and me publicly chugging down water in the afternoon heat may cause them to stumble.




ok... why? Does any of this sound kinda strange, because that's how it seemed when it first started. You may not have noticed back home, but the Islamic month of Ramadan started a little over a week ago. And for Egypt, that means that life changes.

Ramadan is the holiest month for Muslims and marks the time for the most sincere demonstrations of their faith. In other words, people are extra-religious. Muslims believe that Satan is actually locked up for the whole month to make following Allah as natural as possible. They see it as a month to catch up in any area where they have been lacking—extra alms are given to the beggars, praying 5 times a day is actually a regular practice, and people are careful to keep themselves extra pure. The biggest part of Ramadan is the fasting...required as one of the 5 pillars of Islam. Everyday, from dawn until dusk, a complete fast is observed... meaning no food, drink, sex, or smoking (which may be the hardest one for some people). That also means that after the sun sets and the evening call to prayer breaks the fast, everyone is ready to go for the big party. The streets are lined with brightly colored lights and banners, mosques are elaborately decorated, people are dancing and singing and setting off fireworks until very...very early hours. Most families have their biggest meal around midnight, and eat enough to get full for both days at once.

"Breaking the fast" as its called, is a pretty big deal. I mean, obviously, right? I mean it would be for me if I hadn't eaten or drank anything or smoked my cigarettes or... those other things, all day long. That's why nobody is out around 6pm, they're all getting their first drink of water of the day or lighting up their sheesha. I'm usually excited about this time anyways, because I go out to find my dinner. But tonight is going to be especially outstanding...my friends Mahmoud and Ahmed invited me to their house tonight for their big meal. Its quite an honor. Isn't it cool that my time here falls during Ramadan and I get to experience the highlight of the year for Muslims?

It'll probably be a late night, which means I better stop blogging and write my paper on "Why are Sunnis and Shiites killing each other?" and then studying for my Arabic quiz tomorrow. Peace out...or as I now say to everyone I pass, Ramadan Kareem.

sinai

Listen, I’ve never seen anything like a sunrise on Mount Sinai. I woke up from under a rather smelly camel blanket to the pinks and yellows that were creeping up, silhouetting the mountain peaks in the distance and telling everyone to grab for their cameras. We had hiked up to the top in the middle of the night by the light of a million stars and a couple flashlights and spent a few hours waiting to catch the first light. The sun finally came up as a fiery red ball and started to show us what we were standing smack in the middle of. I’ve heard it called wilderness, and I can’t think of a better term. Everywhere I looked, as far as I could see was nothing but enormous mountains and jagged rocks. And it was all brown. It was awesome.

I opened to Exodus and began to read about the place where I was sitting. The Israelites had been wandering around in a completely desolate place and finally came to this mountain. God decided that the time had come for them to make a choice… either they were going to trust him and follow or not. Then something crazy happened. God took his glory and put it into this thick black cloud and enveloped the entire mountain in it. Thunder and lightning started going off everywhere and the mountain started violently shaking…like, the mountain was really shaking. ok, this mountain is freakin solid…I can’t imagine anything shaking it. God showed up there and the mountain shook. The people were scared to death and scattered as far and as fast as they could go, and I can’t say I blame them. The glory of God should be beautifully and powerfully terrifying. But here’s one of my favorite parts… while all the people were running away, Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

I sat up there taking cool pictures, soaking in the spectacular view, and trying to wrap my mind around the thought that I was in a place where God’s glory had been physically present and had met with man. Thoughts like that don’t tend to inspire much assertiveness, but I began to ask God some bold things. I asked him to floor me with that same glory and remind me what it is to fear him—to tremble before his power and for once be silent and undone before the Creator. Slowly, I began to ask for courage like Moses to draw near in pursuit of the mystery of his glory. Mount Sinai was awesome.




Oh… but I did drop my camera off a cliff. I climbed down a little and got it back. It’s just sort of broken.

I’ll fix it, ma’fiish mushkilla.