And the price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings...

Well I had another full weekend in Cairo, albeit a very hot and sweaty one. I know, I know, you're probably chocking back your words right now thinking that I shouldn't be complaining - I could always be back in Canada, with the snow. Trust me though, it does suck a little. I'm not able to wear the appropriate clothes for 30+ degree celsius weather because they're very conservative here and pants and long sleeve shirts are the norm, even during the summer which is considerably more hot than it is right now. I don't know how Egyptians do it. Their blood must run at a lower temperature or something. Won't it be pathetic if I come home from Egypt without a tan?!

So, on Friday I went to see Coptic Cairo with Jill. A little history lesson is required for you to understand the significance of this place. So, as most of you probably know, Christianity was founded in and around the area that is now Egypt (and several other countries). Moses left Egypt for the promised land, and the holy family is thought to have fled to Egypt when King Herod wanted to kill all the babies in Jerusalem in order to kill the "King of the Jews". Well, they claim that this was where the holy family ended up - in Coptic Cairo. So, it's important for its "holy" value (if you're a believer, I guess), but it's also important because though Egypt was overwhelmingly Christian back in the day, Islam invaded the area and most Egyptians converted. Unfortunately, Coptic Christians are now heavily persecuted, and many of the historic churches that once existed have been destroyed. The area of Old Cairo known as Coptic Cairo is sort of a remaining stronghold for Copts and Christianity in Egypt.

A fresco depicting Mary (I think) in Coptic Cairo

There are 4 churches (and a convent and a monastery) in the small area, including the Hanging Church, the Church of St. George, the Church of St. Sergius and the Church of St. Barbara. There is also the Ben Ezra Synagogue! Jews are even more heavily persecuted than Christians in Egypt (fueled by the Israeli conflict) and there's probably only a handful of Jews left in all of Cairo. In fact, turns out it was a good thing Jill and I went to see the synagogue when we did because two days later, someone threw a suitcase full of gasoline from a passing car into the synagogue and lit it on fire. Fortunately, no one was hurt and they were able to extinguish the suitcase quickly so no permanent damage was done. But you can bet that security is going to be amped up and I doubt that anyone will be able to get in to see the synagogue for a while. Besides that disturbing news, I really enjoyed the Coptic sites. It's interesting because some of the churches are so disguised (to avoid attracting negative attention) that from the outside they just look like a house or any other building but then you go in and CHURCH! If you've been to any old Catholic churches, you know what I mean when I say this. It's an atmosphere thing. The churches were beautiful, if in slight disrepair, and it was interesting to observe Coptic traditions. Coptic Christian traditions are fairly close to Catholic (they broke off from Rome and established their own Pope a while back), but different - you can see the influence of Arabic/Islamic customs. For instance, they remove their shoes and wash before praying. They also make a sort of circuit of the church and kiss everything associated with a Saint, which isn't necessarily an Arabic/Islamic custom, but it was different. I got to observe these customs because we went on a Friday, which is when Copts have their services, so it was fairly busy.

Hanging Church

Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures in a lot of the buildings, like the Coptic museum, which sucked cause it was pretty amazing. The ceiling was redone a few years ago in the style of the old churches, which had intricately carved wooden ceiling, and it was BEAUTIFUL. Jill and I couldn't stop staring at it. The coolest part though was going into the Church of St. Sergius, which was built over the cave where the holy family was thought to have hid. There was a stairway leading down to the cave, but visitors aren't allowed down anymore. It was pretty cool - I even snuck some pictures. Shhh!!

After my religious experience on Friday, I did something equally momentous on Saturday. I went shopping! Ok, well it was pretty cool, cause I went shopping at Khan el Khalili market. This is a very old souq (market) that has been around since the 14th century. I'm sure you could find anything you could ever want in this market. It was fun, but the bargaining is more a hassle than fun (especially cause it's in Arabic) and some of the shop keepers can be pretty in your face, wanting you to come in their store and by this or that. But I got a lot of souvenirs so I'm happy!

One alleyway in Khan el Khalili market

Other than the tourist-type stuff, work has been going well, but it was a little boring. So, smart girl that I am, I asked to work on other projects and more challenging tasks. And you know what my bosses did? They actually gave me more work! Who knew that would be the result? Now I'm sort of drowning in work and I have no motivation to do any of it. Crap.

In other news, I've been finding it very hard lately. When I did the training for my internship (in Ottawa, before I left), they explained that there's a model of culture shock that basically looks like a 'U' - basically, you start out really enchanted by all the cultural differences and ways of life, then you start to slip down as the things you liked at first start to annoy you and you get frustrated, and eventually you climb back up as you adjust. Sometimes there's a reverse culture shock when you get back to Canada, where you end up being frustrated with Canada because you've become so adjusted to the pace of life where ever you were. Well, I think I'm at the bottom of that 'U', and I'm really hoping I'm going to start climbing back up pretty soon, because things are really grating on me right now. I long for GREEN trees, fresh air, a lack of language barrier and all the other conveniences that come with just knowing your way around and how society works. I can't wait until I have the right of way as a pedestrian again! Mostly, I can't wait until I can be a strong and independent woman again, without people constantly brushing me off because of my gender, and I don't want to have to hold my tongue anymore. I can see now how difficult it is for immigrants to move their entire lives to another country where you simply never feel like you totally "fit in". It's incredibly frustrating and exhausting.

I think I just need to get through the next week or so, get some big projects done at work and power through. Maybe I need to just accept that how I live my life is different, and stop questioning it in comparison to theirs. Maybe I need to stop feeling like I have to answer to them for why my society/culture believes differently, but it's not easy when you constantly feel like you have to defend yourself.

Well, wish me upward momentum! I have a steep climb ahead of me...

Egypt is scary (but in a good way)...

Ok, first off, I'm going to need some recognition and gratification here. Comment people! Whether good or bad, this is a two way street, and I want to hear what you think. Let me have it.

Now, to business. It is now February. Oh, in fact, I just realized we're already halfway through the month! Where does the time go? Well I'll tell you where mine went...

So I mentioned last blog that I was starting Arabic lessons. Well, I've had 5 so far and they've been great! It's actually really fun. I'm learning how to say hello, my name is Madison, I'm from Canada. I've learned how to count, the names of fruits and vegetables and other grocery store items (should I want to call the supermarket and order my groceries), how to give directions to taxi drivers etc. It's obviously very basic, but useful, and it feels a bit like I'm five years old again, but I'm picking it up faster than I thought I would. AND I'm actually using it outside the classroom, which is key. So, sabaatt el-kheir, ana esmi Madison, ana Kanadyya. Woo!

In other news, over the past couple weekends I have visited the Great Pyramids at Giza and the Siwa oasis. The Great Pyramids and the Sphinx were amazing, as expected. It's pretty incredible to walk up and touch and climb the only remaining wonder of the ancient world. I kinda had a woah moment when I started to climb up the blocks of the biggest pyramid. Though I'd never admit it to any Egyptians (they think this is the most ridiculous theory), I looked carefully for signs of extra-terrestrial help Dad, and I didn't find any evidence. I think the Egyptians might have you on this one. As it happens, they're pretty sure now that the pyramids were built by skilled craftsmen and labourers (not aliens and not slaves) and if a labourer died during the building of the pyramid, they were honoured immensely. Also, despite what I had read and heard about how difficult it is to climb into the pyramids, I didn't find it difficult at all (Maydoum Pyramid was WAY harder). You do have to bend over and it probably would be harder for you taller folks (see Mom, being short does come in handy sometimes!), but it's not really that claustrophobic and it's hardly steep so climbing back out doesn't even wind you. I will admit it's a bit boring once you're inside since there aren't any carvings or paintings or anything, but it's still cool to go in. Also, from far away the blocks that make up the pyramid make it look jagged, but when you get up close you can see how huge the stone blocks really are. It becomes easier to understand why people revert to alien theories when it comes to the pyramids' construction because it's hard to believe that the ancient people built something so massive and complex with only the tools they had at the time. Unfortunately, I couldn't take a camera inside so I don't have any pictures of the climb in. Also, it was kinda a crummy day to go to the Pyramids, in fact it rained at one point! In Egypt, where it rains like 4 times a year.

Me, the Sphinx and the Pyramids...just chillin'

Walk like an Egyptian at the Pyramids...seemed appropriate

While Jill, Sarah and I were at the pyramids, we also went for a camel ride! It was nuts! They are MUCH taller than I had anticpated and mine was particularly tall. His name was Michael Jordan. Heh. MJ was also grumpy and his back leg was itchy, which meant he kept trying to itch it, causing me to nearly tip off. As such, I didn't feel nearly so guilty for trying camel meat earlier that week (it was ok, byt the way, a little strange). All in all, I was pretty terrified during the whole thing, but it was pretty cool. Also, special mention: the people at the pyramids trying to sell things can be quite aggressive. It's hard though, because they're often children and it's hard to yell at kids whose parents/employers are probably making them do this...the ties of oppression probably run deep and I don't even want to think about it. What was cool though was how many languages these kids can speak! The one kid cam up to me and asked me if I wanted to buy something and he switched from Arabic to Russian to French to German to English, trying to find the language I spoke. They should send these kids to a translator training school, they'd excel for sure. And no one ever will, which is sad.

Camel Ride!! See the slight terror on my face and the serious grip I have with my hand there?

Moving on, this past weekend I went on a trip to the Siwa oasis with a tour group of other expats living in Cairo. It was so much fun! The Siwa oasis is in the Western desert, near the Libyan border. It's the largest oasis in Egypt, I believe, and the scenery was breathtaking. The oasis consist of mostly date palms and olive trees (Siwa is known for its dates and olives/olive oil). Also, the history of Siwa is pretty interesting. It was an independent city state up until 1930, and it has its own distinctive culture and language called Siwi (it's not even related to Arabic), and the people that live there are Berber. Lonely Planet tells me that the oasis was inhabited during paleolithic and neolithic times, and in 2007 they found a 7 million year old human foot print, which is the oldest human print ever found.

So, we left Cairo Thursday night at just after midnight and drove in a bus to Siwa. It involves havingo to drive North to Alexandria, West along the Mediterranean coast and then South to the oasis (you can't just cut across the desert). All in all, it's supposed to take around 8 hours. It took us nearly 11 because at around 4 in the morning we ran out of gas and had to wait for the gas station to open at 6. I hardly got any sleep, so I was pretty tired the next day. So we arrived at like 10am in Siwa. We checked into our hotel (is was nice and clean!) and then headed to Fatnus lake (a salt water lake) and had lunch. It was beautiful, sitting under palm trees in the warm sun and the nice breeze, right by the water...hahaha I don't miss winter in Canada at all! It was nice too after so long in the smoggy city to breath some fresh air and with all the trees, it kinda reminded me of camping up North.

After lunch, we went got into two four-by-fours and drove out to the desert. This close to the Libyan border there are sand dunes! Like in the movies! It was beautiful. We then proceeded to drive (correction: fly) over them at speeds ranging from 60 to 90km/h!!! It was so scary, but so much fun! We stuck a few times, which was pretty terrifying (especially when we got stuck on the very top of a hill), but it was really cool. We also stopped at one point and did sand boarding. I was really bad, I fell. The dune was so steep! And climbing back up was sooo hard. Luckily I didn't have to do it! hahaha I was one of the last people to go and the car came and picked us up rather than waiting for us to climb up because it takes like 15 minutes. We also stopped to watch the sunset which was incredible and we all sat there in complete silence and you could see the wind blowing the sand across the dunes...it was so peaceful. It was by far the coolest thing I have done in Egypt so far. If you ever come here, make sure you go driving in the dunes in the Western desert, there's nothing else like it.

Desert - looks flat in the pics and it's really sunny, but the dunes are huge and incredibly steep

Me, sand boarding down a very steep dune

The next day we went and did some sightseeing. We went to the mountain of the dead where there are 1600 tombs. We got to climb inside a few and there are still paintings on some of the walls. I climbed right to the top of the mountain and the view was amazing. Afterwards, we went to the Temple of the Oracle of Amun (also known as the Oracle of Delphi) which is very famous. Alexander the Great visited the Oracle and was told he was the offspring of the Gods. Apparently, Lysander, the Spartan general (remember the 300 movie?), came to the temple twice to consult with the Oracle. The Oracle is also reputed to have cursed Andromeda and she was tied to a rock to be devoured by a sea-serpent. Perseus is said to have stopped off to visit the Oracle prior to beheading Medusa, and Hercules is though to have visited it before he fought Bursiris. After learning all this, I kinda expected it to be bigger. But it was cool nonetheless. Finally, we went to Cleopatra's Spring. It was a hot spring (in reality it was just warm, but refreshing) and it was beautiful. I'm not sure how it's fed, but the water is kinda blue-ish green and it's clear, you can see the bottom and it's like covered in a coral or something. Supposedly, Cleopatra visited the spring, hence the name. Then we left Saturday afternoon and drove back to Cairo. It's too bad we didn't have more time because there was soo much more to see in Siwa, but all in all, a fantastic weekend!

Old Siwa (called Shelly) - because they made their bricks with a lot of salt, when it rained for four days in a row one year (very uncharacteristic), it melted the city

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P.S. On Thursday, it was my host sister Sarah's 18th birthday. For her birthday dinner, she requested Pigeon, which is a delicacy here in Egypt (they raise Pigeons here). So I tried it. It was ok, the meat itself wasn't very strong or anything. But I couldn't stop thinking about how I was eating a Pigeon, and picturing where it's head should be (Jill removed the heads, but apparently they're usually left on at restaurants). Plus, they're a lot of work to eat cause you have to use your fingers and get in there, and they're slippery and greasy. Frankly, it's more trouble than it's worth in my opinion. So, running total of new meat I've tried: camel and pigeon.