This past weekend was the MCC-Egypt fall retreat, and it was great. We went to Tanta, a pretty large city located about 2 hours north of Cairo in the Nile Delta. Actually, we stayed at an Orthodox retreat center a little ways north of the city itself, so it didn't feel like we were near a big city at all. We spent the weekend in palatial accommodations in the middle of lush delta farmland. (As I type that, it looks funny. Did I mean the rooms were like palaces or like the roof of my mouth?). It was a delightsome spot, and it was a truly wonderful group of people to spend a weekend with. We had lots of fun playing kick the can, and we were privileged to enjoy what was billed as the best talent show in Egypt for the whole year. After seeing it, I think that bold claim is probably accurate.

An interesting side note has to do with Saint Mina. The church/retreat center is named after him, and his figure adorns many things throughout the complex. The light-covers in the hallways have small figurines of St. Mina on the front of them, the plates have his likeness painted on them, and even the silverware bears his name (on the handle). Also, there is a large statue of St. Mina adjacent to the entrance to the hotel. St. Mina is always depicted with two camels on either side of him (many of the saints have something like this in their icons--St. Mark always has a lion, for example; St. Barsoum always has a snake), and this statue was no exception. But usually the camels look like camels. It turns out that this statue was actually sculpted in China, and the camels bear a strong resemblance to traditional Chinese dragons! It's a very striking new take on the traditional image.

Ok. Time to go get ready for class tonight. My first lesson is about comparatives and superlatives, and my second is about body language. The second should be especially fun, because there is a lot of interesting body language here in Egypt that I don't understand.

Have a great day, everyone.

Last Friday I went on a trip to Cairo with a group from the church. I woke up at 5 am because I don't like to be rushed, and I went to meet the group at 6. The bus came to pick us up at 7:30 or so, and we began the two hour trip. As is usual, we started off with a prayer and then with a few songs, one of which I liked so much they sang it for me again on the way home!

The drive was an interesting contrast in scenery: we left Beba, which is surrounded by lush farmland and palm trees, to travel to Cairo by one of the desert roads, and so for almost the whole journey we saw nothing but sand and dry, lifeless earth. Occasionally we saw some scrubby plants along the side of the road, and sometimes we could also look to the west and see the edge of the irrigated Nile Valley, but mostly it was a wide sea of khaki.

When we got to Cairo, we went right away to the Church of Abu Sufayn, who is easily recognizable in icons because he always has two swords raised above his head (sufayn means "two swords"). It was a lovely church, but extremely crowded with visitors, all of whom seemed to want the same thing--to see and venerate the same icon. That meant huge crowds of people packed SO tighty together, and lots of pushing and shoving and shouting and angst. But we finally made it, and then we did the same thing in a different part of the church in honor of Mother Irini, a much-loved spiritual mother of the church who departed this life only two or three years ago. (I don't often hear that someone "died" here. Usually someone "departed" or "left".)

After this, we went to the famous Hanging Church of St. George and another church nearby. Very beautiful, so much history.

Then we changed pace a bit and went to the Church of the Virgin in Maadi, which is located right on the bank of the Nile. It was a gorgeous place. We were planning on going on a boat ride, but who knew the boats stopped running at 4:00 in the afternoon? So instead we played a few Egyptian games (here of course they're just games, but to me, for whom they are very new, they are Egyptian games). For example, we played "Leader", we played "Have a group of people stand behind someone and one person slaps his hand and then the person has to guess who slapped him", and then we also played "Ask Phil personal questions." It was really fun, actually

Our last stop for the day was the Church of Saint Barsoum the Naked. He wasn't actually naked, but almost, and this area was where he spent much of his life. There was a beautiful and, they told me, miraculous palm tree on the grounds. It's trunk starts out normally, but then 5 or 6 feet off the ground it splits into three different trunks. Three in One. The Trinity. A miracle.

(Yesterday I read the story of Saint Barsoum, and I found it interesting. In brief, it turns out that when he was a monk and picked out a cave to live in, he found a huge snake inside. But he prayed to God to give him courage and power, and under the sign of the cross the wicked nature of the beast was cast out, and the serpent "manifested signs of submission." From then on the snake did as Barsoum said. As someone who is deathly afraid of snakes, I found this story especially significant.)

And on the way home from Cairo I had a really good conversation with one of my friends about Orthodoxy and Protestantism.

It was a very long and very good day.

It seems a long time ago now that Celine Dion's heart first started going on. So long, in fact, that I had quite forgotten about it. I guess I just assumed it had stopped going on somewhere along the line after all these years. Well you know what they say when you assume. I want to report that her heart is still going on, and here in Egypt no less! What a journey! I actually ran across her heart three times in the past week. I first heard tell of her heart going on in el Fashn during my Level 6 class. We were talking about the passive voice and using examples from the arts--"Painting x was painted by Vincent Van Gogh." "Y was written by Naguib Mahfouz."--when one of my students brought up Celine Dion's heart: "The song 'My Heart Will Go On' was recorded by Celine Dion." Yes, that is correct! I thought that would be the end of it, just the fond but passing remembrance of things past. Little did I know. In the internet cafe a few days later, while listening to the standard Beba internet cafe pop music at the standard volume for music in public places in Egypt (i.e. SO loud), the heavy beat was interrupted by the passionate going on of Celine Dion's heart! This time was intense because the contact was direct. In my class in el Fashn I didn't come into immediate, heart-to-heart contact with Celine Dion, but in the cyber I did. It was a battle royale between her heart and my whole body, and I was overmatched. I could do nothing to slow the progress of her heart in its neverending going on. Her hearth went on roughshod over my ears and for whole minutes afterward my entire body was reverberating in the wake of that cardiac-pulmonary tour de force. Then as if that wasn't enough, her heart's going on brought her back to me two nights later at the home of one of my students. Her heart went on at a more restrained volume this time, and overall I have to say the experience was actually quite positive, especially relative to the previous encounter (e.g. the music didn't make my whole body shake).

I am still processing what all of this means for me and for the rest of my time in Egypt. Celine Dion's heart doesn't lend itself to pat answers, and who's to say that the north star-ish constancy of its going on is not itself more the beginning of a question than an answer? I can only leave you with the admittedly conservative hypothesis that her heart will continue to go on for a long time, and possibly for quite some time after that.

More seriously, as if I needed any other reasons to be happy here, it rained hard for 10 minutes two days ago. I heard it would rain once or twice during the winter, which is not yet come, so an early rain was a special gift from God. I was and still am overjoyed because of it. It created a huge muddy mess in the streets (with such infrequent rain, nothing here is built with drainage in mind), but I think the earth was thankful, even if some of the people weren't

Pope Shenouda, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, returned to Cairo today after four months of medical treatment and recovery in the United States. The mood amongst Copts was uniformly ecstatic. The Christian tv station covered the event the entire day, as far as I can tell. My bishop traveled to Cairo on Sunday evening so he could be there to greet the Pope on his arrival at 6:00 am Monday morning. (I even saw my bishop on tv as he kissed the Pope's hand!) And when I was eating lunch with a family I know here in Beba, the father told me it felt like a feast day because the Pope had come home.

From what I gather, the Pope is a beloved figure in all of Egypt, not just among the Orthodox faithful. He is universally respected as a peaceful man, a man who loves Egypt and all its people. When on the first day of class I asked my students in Beba (who are admittedly all Christians) who they would most like to meet, out of all the people who have ever lived, the most frequent response was Baba Shenouda. (Other notable responses included Christiano Renaldo, Hosni Mubarak, and King David.) It was just amazing to see the size and spirit of the crowds gathered to welcome the Pope yesterday. And there was a huge choir singing a song composed just for this event. A big day for the Copts, it was...

In other news, I had a very successful holiday in Cairo this weekend. I went to the Orthodox mass in English, which was very beautiful. I became aware of just how much I had been missing! The only small problem with the mass was that it was sparsely attended, so I was standing very close to the front, which is where all the incense-censing happens. The air at the front was very heavily censed for most of the first half of the service, and while I like the smell very much, it made it hard to say the prayers out loud--it was just so thick you couldn't have your mouth open for very long! But after the mass we had a short Bible study with the priest on Psalm 3, and then I eventually made my way to the MCC-Egypt Canadian Thanksgiving celebration. It was extravagant and really, really fun. And we have much to give thanks for.

After two weeks of class, it feels like the course is already getting away from us! Before long, it will be time for the midterm! My students are excited about this And so am I

Okay, time to go meet a friend and then prepare for classes in el Fashn tonight. Will write again soon,

Phil

One week down, many many more to go! Overall, classes were great this week. My students are generally wonderful and I am quite impressed with their English skills. They have made me feel very welcome and appreciated, despite the many mistakes I have already made. There were a few logistical hiccups on the first day (e.g. books not being ready on time), but these problems were in part created by circumstances beyond our control, and in any case they have since been almost entirely resolved. Full speed ahead.

It's been an interesting challenge trying to do activities in pairs and small groups. I think this method is relatively rare in the Egyptian educational system. But I do pair/group activities multiple times in each session, so I'm sure they will all get the hang of it very soon!

A couple exciting things are coming up in the next week (along with classes, round 2). First, insha'allah I will be attending a meeting with a local peacebuilding organization in el Fashn next week with another MCCer. Some of my students are also connected with this organization, which is also nice. Second, this coming weekend I will go to Cairo. On Saturday there will be an Orthodox mass in English (YAY), and I will also purchase some much needed supplies (e.g. that dictionary I've been so needing). And I also heard something about Canadian Thanksgiving--perhaps there will be a feast, too!

Okay, time to head back to the church. I have a meeting with a few students, and then Bishop Estefanous will be giving a talk in the evening. I don't know what it will be about, but I'm quite excited!

Until next time then,
Phil