040701 – The “We Have Done, Been or Seen” in Egypt
Whilst in Egypt WE HAVE had some amazing experiences, some of which are included below [mind you, there are many more that we've long forgotten]:
* agonized at the thought that we might not even leave Adelaide way back on August 5th, 2001 when we had to argue our way on to the plane
* been in a train which caught fire and were left stranded on the side of the road to make our own way back to Cairo as best as we could
* been in a taxi that had to be pushed by another car over the hump of a bridge because it was so broken down with wear and tear
* sat in a taxi enroute to our destination while the driver replaced not one but 2 tyres
* been in several taxis that ran out of petrol
* ridden a donkey
* ridden a camel
* climbed the Mountain of Moses [Mt Sinai]
* visited the oldest monastery in the world
* enjoyed a Nile Cruise with our Aussie friends
* had a cement ceiling in our home collapse in the middle of the night [7/3/02]
* can converse at a basic level in Arabic
* can read and write Arabic [at a basic level, that is]
* been stung by fire coral & lived to tell the tale [the burns took about 6 months to disappear]
* been the guests at a Coptic Orthodox Youth conference where only a couple of people spoke English
* been to engagement parties that are like weddings with the bride in her wedding dress and all the appearances of a wedding
* been to weddings in the Coptic Orthodox Church and also in the Coptic Evangelical Church
* visited a home in Saraqne [Upper Egypt] where the only pieces of furniture were a shelf to hold the 2 burner cooker and a bed. On the wall hung a dish rack which stored the pots, pans and panikans and was proudly shown to us as it signified that the lady of the house had successfully completed a short course in primary health care management [16/5/03]
* seen a donkey smoking a cigarette
* learnt more about what it means to be an Aussie than we ever knew before
* realized in the truth of the saying “divided by a common language”
* struggled to understand the complexities of our host culture
* learnt how to prepare, cook and eat Egyptian cuisine
* climbed the 1149 steps to the cave in which the father of monasticism [St Antony] lived for about 40 years (251-356AD)
* suffered from the distance between Egypt and Australia, especially at times of family hardships
* suffered from the effects of pollution
* taught MKs how to do Swedish Weaving
* spent many hours with Egyptian girls at an orphanage showing them how to do a range of crafts including sewing, drawing and painting skills.
* befriended many Egyptians and have had the privilege of being invited into their homes to share meals with them
* spent hours and hours walking the streets, looking for accommodation
* bargaining for the best price for our daily food
* struggled with the concept that there are 5 or more prices for goods in our host country. There is the price for the average middle-class Egyptian, another for Upper Class and another for the Lower Class, as well as another for long-term foreigners who have reasonable Arabic and yet another for tourists. For us, the challenge is always to move from the tourist category to the long-term foreigner who has "reasonable Arabic" category.
* taught English to both Egyptians and non-English speaking foreigners
* stubbed our toes on the myriad of protrusions on the road, verge and footpaths
* begun eating Dinner at 10.50pm and on another occasion at 11.30pm
* broken the fast at Christmas time with our Coptic friends by starting to eat at midnight
* broken the fast with our Muslim friends during Ramadan
* been stranded on the Nile in a feluka, with no wind and had to be towed to shore by a local ferry
* retrieved our unaccompanied baggage from Cargo Village where it took 66 transactions before we could load them onto a taxi truck
* driven in a taxi with a one-armed driver
* drunk home-made wine & home-made beer
* have worshipped in a church which seats 20,000 people [the largest in M/E] @ Cave Churches
* celebrated Anzac Day by attending Dawn Service, followed by BBQ breakfast at the Australian Ambassador’s Residence
* eaten fruit & veggies which have been washed in soapy water & then soaked in chlorox for 20 minutes
* seen the nile-o-metre – ancient measuring stick which assesses how much tax the farmers had to pay – according to the height of the Nile [as to the amount of silt which would flow downstream]
* attended Arabic-speaking church services
* [Albert has] participated in a Christmas pageant [with live camels & sheep]
* [Victoria has] been ‘assisted’ on to a train in a very inappropriate way
* had the road resurfaced out the front of our home with the workmen commencing at 9.30pm to clear the road of parked cars – worked through until about 2.00am – not once but twice
* seen the floating bible at St Mary’s on the Nile
* been to the Hanging Church which is built atop the ancient Roman towers and has no foundation
* sat and watched Sufi Dancing [or the Whirling Dervishers]
* traveled to Alexandria
* traveled to Ein Sokhna
* been in the St Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria which has been built on the site where the first Egyptian was converted to Christianity in about 62AD
* visited Attaba and survived!
* snorkeled in the Red Sea [Dahab]
* been on 5 Holy Family Tours Monastery of St Dimyana [twice] / Sakha; Deir Abu Hinnis [twice]; and el Qussia
* bought a Coptic icon
* visited the Shubra office of Think & Do (and subsequently worked there)
* holidayed in Cyprus
* had a brick thrown in through the stairwell window [equivalent of 3 floors up] 26/7/02
* survived days where the temp reached 48-50 degrees
* been away when a close member of our family died [4/8/02]
* survived a reasonable size earth tremor [windows shook & light fittings swung from side to side]
* traveled to the Nile barrages and stunned the local police [what do we do with these foreigners?]
* lost a mobile phone [left in taxi]
* [Albert has] been home on compassionate grounds [20/9/02 – 28/10/02]
* known the deep hurts of cross-cultural misunderstandings
* attended the 25th anniversary celebrations for Magalla
* [Victoria has] suffered with an allergy to the heavy pollution
* [Albert has] been to Manouf
* fellowshipped with MBBs
* spent Christmas singing carols around a log fire
* been to a Christmas Carols evening at the Cairo Opera House
* left green coat at St Catherine’s Monastery and retrieved it
* [Victoria] works at an Orphanage, teaching crafts
* survived the khamsiin [where the days are totally yellow, as the sand blows in from the desert]
* [Albert has] become a Cell Pastor at MCC
* [Victoria has] had stones and paper balls thrown at her
* been in a metro carriage where everyone was joining in with [loud] Islamic chants but most left the train at Mar Girgis [11/2/03]
* [Victoria has] taught Swedish Weaving at the local MK school
* [Victoria has] led a training seminar in Administrative Skills
* [Victoria has] been to a birthday party at the Orphanage [27/3/03]
* been guests at a youth camp for Coptic young adults for a weekend
* attended the youth service of young copts [6/3/03]
* [Albert has] assisted and improved the English of an Egyptian sufficient for him to pass a major test]
* [Victoria has] suffered a burst ear-drum [15/4/03]
* been to 2 different Retreat centres in the desert
* enjoyed shaam en nessim [smelling the breeze otherwise known as the start of the khamsiin] breakfast with traditional salty fish [28/4/03 – always celebrated on Coptic Easter Monday]
* [Albert has] dislocated a bone in his hand
* [Victoria] missed out on attending the Member Care Conference in Holland [14-18/5/03] due to the above-mentioned burst ear-drum
* visited a Monastery [Maharraq] which claims to be the New Jerusalem of Egypt and is modeled on Old Jerusalem
* had dinner with a family whose wife earns 120LE/month as a school councilor
* bought really good quality Egyptian tea-towels for 38c [Australian] each
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