Here are some pictures for you to check out! I’ll post more when I can tell you what they are pictures of 
El Arish http://bethel.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22062&l=5a867&id=517501429
The Khan http://bethel.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22060&l=bf25a&id=517501429
I know I said I was going to be better at updating my blog so there wouldn’t be so much to read in one sitting, but I have failed. My intentions were good, but it just didn’t get done. And I think after reading this, you will understand why.
Let’s go back…WAY back to the end of September…
My school has “adopted” a kindergarten in the tiny area of Masaraa. So at the end of September, some of us went over there to take a tour. It was pretty amazing. We drove into this little walled “city” comprised of a church, the kindergarten, and a few church-run facilities. People live there, but not many. Most of the dealings in town have to do with the church. So anyway, the church, which is Coptic, runs this kindergarten for underprivileged and orphaned children. The school raises money to help them with things. The most recent purchase was a much needed bus. Even though I’m pretty new, it was really cool to see how appreciative the school was to have this bus. We were given a tour of the city by one of the nuns, but I can’t remember her name. The cool thing about the convent/church is that they make a lot of handicrafts there, and provide opportunities for the mentally handicapped to assist. It was AMAZING the things they had there! But first let me tell you some other things…
The saint for this particular convent is Saint Barsoum. He is buried there in the church, and we got to go in and see it. The little church/chapel was really neat, too. I was really bummed that I didn’t bring my camera, but I did get pictures from someone else…(and by the way, I now have internet, so I can start posting pictures soon!). We went into the larger chapel and I was amazed at the woodwork. It was everywhere! On the walls, the ceiling, the pews, everywhere! All this very intricate woodwork. And it was all done in this tiny little village! They also had this enormous mosaic that was also done there. We got to go up to the mosaic workshop and see a mosaic in progress. You could see the outline of the design, and there was a small color picture of the design to show what the finished product would look like. There was boxes and boxes and boxes of tiles. I can’t understand the patience it must take for someone to sort through the tiles to find just the right color and shade and just the right shape. It was amazing! There is also a nun there that paints beautiful pictures. She has done most of the paintings in the village. I bought one, and will post a picture of that, too. We walked down a few of the streets to see the orphanage, the hospital for girls, and the buildings for the other services they provide. We are having a silent auction in a few weeks to help raise money to build a home for blind people. It is really neat to see the teachers all come together to support such great things. We got to meet the Bishop, and he shared his chocolate with us J We also got to purchase some things from the shops. I bought two blankets, one for my bed and one to cover my ugly man furniture (that I no longer have, by the way!). They are handmade and only cost about $15 each! One nice thing in Egypt is all the cheap stuff J We ended by going to visit the actual kindergarten. It was not much of a kindergarten. And it really serves as more of a daycare, as there were some TINY people in there (as in just MONTHS old!). It is a simple building, which, like most things here, looks like it’s about to fall down. The inside was not a very happy place for children and certainly not air conditioned, but they made the best with what they had. And the children were all so happy to be there! I really wanted to take all of these kids home with me. It was a very humbling experience, and it makes me even more excited to help with things like the auction. These kids have so little, and yet are so happy. It was a blessing to me. It was also really neat to see some of the Christian history in Egypt, especially when most of what you see here is Muslim.
So that was one weekend. Now, I know that other things have happened in between the big events, but I have been such a terrible correspondent and I haven’t written in SO long that I can’t really remember the other things. So, we’ll keep going with the big things. Keep in mind that I still have a job and still go to work 5 days a week J
The next Thursday night was REAL Egyptian experience. I mean it doesn’t get more Egyptian than what I did the next Thursday night! I took the train (which is very cheap, but a little creepy!) to the Khan El Khalili! I have to say, there are NO words to describe the Khan. NO WORDS! Particularly on a Thursday night during Ramadan (yes, it was still Ramadan). We wanted to get there right at If-Taar(that‘s the “breaking fast“ meal at sundown), but we were a little late. We got there towards then end when people were still eating. Jason (one of my friends) had gone down there the weekend before and was there when the call to prayer happened. He said it was amazing to see all these people immediately stop what they were doing to eat their meals. And let me tell you, the Khan is a zoo anyway! We took the train down to the Khan, and as we came out of the metro station, we were immediately bombarded by people wanting to sell us everything from miniature pyramids to baby bottles! And that isn’t even the actual Khan yet! You basically walk up and down streets that are lined with people. They have tables of things to sell. The actual Khan is rows and rows of shops. The Khan was established about 800 years ago and it has been in the same location ever since. It has grown significantly, but the concept is still the same. People just sell there goods from the little shops. Now, as I mentioned, it was Thursday night during Ramadan and EVERYONE was out! It was tough keeping our little group of 5 together. It was basically everyone for themselves and hope that we would meet up eventually. I was standing by a store waiting for my friends and this woman came up to me and was touching my hair. Like actually touching it. Intentionally. I guess they don’t see a lot of blondes at the Khan! There weren’t really very many white faces to be seen! By this time, we were quite hungry, and didn’t spend much time looking at the merchandise. We strategically made our way through the vendors shouting “Welcome to Egypt!” and “Where you from?” and “How can I take your money?” (really, that is the most accurate!). There is pushing and shoving and squeezing through people, but we made it to our destination: Egyptian Pancakes! This little restaurant has, as the name suggests, Egyptian pancakes. You can get different toppings on your pancake, such as meat, cheese, other pizza like toppings, or you can go the sweet route and choose bananas, sugar, honey, etc. We tried some of each and they were DELICIOUS! Wow. It was so good, we just kept eating and eating! We were sitting outside and even while you are eating, there are people constantly trying to sell you things. It was here that I was exposed to “setting things on fire” as a sales pitch. A man was trying to sell Jason a leather wallet, so he would hold a flame to it to show that it was real leather. They also do this with silk and pearl boxes. An interesting method, but apparently it is effective! We were also bombarded by children selling necklaces and other little things. One little girl who was probably 3 years old kept coming up to the table asking for money/food. We tried to give her our leftover pancakes, but she didn’t want it. All she wanted was money. So, we took her picture and gave her a pound or two (the equivalent of about 40 cents, but a LOT to an Egyptian!). As a side note, I have seen this girl every time I have been to the Khan…interesting.
So we have some food in our bellies and continued on our walk around the Khan. One thing to know about Egypt is that if you are buying something and it doesn’t have a price attached to it, the price is negotiable. This means that everything at the Khan is negotiable. You can actually go to Khan, go to the same store, and pay two different prices for the same item. It’s all a matter of luck and how much you like to “wheel and deal.” I was feeling adventurous, so I decided to buy a duffle bag sort of thing. The guy wanted 40 LE for it. I actually got him talked down to 25. The general rule is to go to half of what they ask, and work from there. I was impressed with myself for getting it for 25! I have used it a lot since then, so the $5.00 I spent was worth it J . We kept walking through the maze of shops. I was really glad to be with other people, as I would have NO idea how to get out! We found this antique sort of store that had a ton of stuff in it. What shocked me the most though was a vinyl John Denver record!!! And actually, it was even a record that my parents used to have. Not exactly what you would expect to see at an antique store in Egypt. How crazy! Shortly after the antique store adventure, we decided it was time to go home. We took a cab, and since there were 5 of us, Katherine had to sit on Jason’s lap in the front seat. It was one of the funniest things I have seen…Katherine’s head sticking out of the window while we’re driving down the street…it was great! We got to the train station and took the train back to Ma’adi. What a great night!
Ok, this is all I will post for now. Check back soon for another update!
