The Sea, the Sea, the Sea of Galilee

This is an excerpt from my notes from yesterday:

As I write this, I am sitting on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, less than a mile away from the ancient town of Capernaum.

It's a peaceful Sabbath day morning, and after finished the book of Matthew, I try to imagine what life was like on these shores 2000 years ago. It's difficult to do though, even after seeing the supposed place where Jesus fed 5000 men and the synagogue where he taught. Maybe it's the trash littered across the beach or the hum of the occasional motorboat gliding across the silver water.

Even though it's hard for me to imagine life in the Bible times, it's very easy to feel a sort of spiritual assuredness. After reading about the life of Jesus since I was young and knowing so many of the different stories, it's quite personally satifsying to at least attempt to get a better understanding of the places where Jesus lived and taught. Reading through the Bible in the past, I rarely gave thought to the names of places--they all seemed so foreign and some of them are very difficult to pronounce. But after being in Galilee and mountain biking through some of these hills, I have much more appreciation for little things, like reading about how the crowds followed Jesus from one side of the lake to the other.

Yesterday and today were spent in Jerusalem, but I'll update you on those adventures in my next blog post! And pictures will be added when I get back to Cairo!!

Happy Sunday!

From the Sea of Galilee

Well, I only have a little bit of time to type since I only bought a 30 minute internet card, so what you get is the unedited, poorly thought out, fast typing about what has been going on the last 2 days.

Yesterday we arrived in Israel after a really long bus ride from Cairo. Other than the fact the the bus broke down and it took 2 hours to get out of Cairo, the trip itself wasn't too bad. Once we got to Taba, at the Israeli boarder, we went through passport stuff and took a taxi to the city of Eilat. There we at breakfast at a cafe and then went down to the little airport to see if we could find a cheap flight to the northern part of the country. ALL WE WANTED TO DO WAS CHECK THE PRICES FOR TICKETS. The security people said that they needed to ask us some questions...no biggie. They separated Henry and I so that they could check our facts. In the end, it was a 2 hour interrogation that was completely unfounded and unnecessary. They searched through all of our stuff and even did a strip-search.

Needless to say, I was quite upset. Because all we wanted was to know how much it cost. We will be going to the U.S. Embassy to file a complaint.

After that we left for Haifa in the northern part of Israel. It's a port town and was quite strange because it was so quiet there--nothing at all like Cairo. It's strange to actually look forward to reading signs in Arabic...most of the stuff is written in Hebrew, and there is very little English.

After Haifa we went to Nazareth to see the supposed place where the angel appeared to Mary...and Joseph's carpentry shop.

(More details on all of this when I get back to Cairo)

We are now in Galilee...going to bike around the lake tomorrow to take everything in.

We also just learned that AUC will be having an extended break due to swine flu...which is really annoying, but we're going to just do some more traveling. I'm not sure where yet. We'll think about it and then I'll let ya'll know.

I know that was scattered, but those are the latest facts, and my time is running out.

Happy Thursday and Happy Thanksgiving

ps--ate Thanksgiving dinner at a gas station in Galilee

Off to the Holy Land

Shalom!

I thought I should put up a quick post about my finalized travel plans--I'M HEADED TO THE HOLY LAND! ...in about an hour...

I don't think I'll be able to post pictures until I get back on the 1st of December, but I should be able to put up some updates along the way!

Happy Tuesday!

We're Not Responsible for That

In keeping with traditional Caravan (our school newspaper) style, this week’s edition of the paper is once again themed. This time it is the sex, drugs, and alcohol edition. While there are several things that really bother me about this edition, there is one that I want to point out specifically.

One article called, “At AUC, some girls choose feminine companionship,” is about several girls on campus and their lesbian relationships. This topic obviously is something that is rarely discussed in Egypt, or even in America. The thing that really bothers me is when the article says, “Many Egyptians say Western influence on their culture is the reason for homosexuality in their societies.” In another article, the author states, “I always thought of homosexuality as a western phenomenon…”

Talk about passing the blame! While homosexuality is certainly more visible in the U.S. than it is in the Middle East, this is no reason to say that the West is the reason homosexuality is practiced in Middle Eastern countries. I don’t think you could say to a police officer, “But officer, the reason I was speeding is because I saw someone else speeding.” No, you’re going to get the ticket because you are responsible for your actions, independently of what anyone else does. Egyptians cannot blame homosexuality on the West; they must be responsible for their own actions.

Another story is about AUC students studying abroad at UCLA. The article says, “many AUC students end up partying and engaging in behavior at UCLA that they could never indulge in at home.”

When you study abroad, you want to try to get a feel for the culture; you want to live like the people live. But this doesn’t mean that you throw all of the morals that have guided you for life out of the window. Those who “engage in the unimaginable” while abroad cannot blame the culture for their actions. They themselves are responsible.

It’s as simple as that!

Happy Sunday!

عيد الشكر = "Thanksgiving" plans

أنا إسمي بنجامين. أنا طالب في الجامعة بورديو في ولاة إنديانا. يعيش والدي و والدتي في ولاية أوهايو في مدينة طفولتي. في هذا الفصل الدراسي أدرس في مصر بالجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة. أنا مشغول كل يوم مع العمل بسبب فصل العربية. أحب اللغة العربية ولكن عندي واجب كثير و أعمل من الصباح إلى المساء. هذا الشتا‍‍ء سأسافر مع زميلي إلى مدن كثيرة في مصر. الجو في الشتاء أحسن. لا أحب الطقس في الصيف بسبب درجة الحرارة العالية. بعد هذه السنة سأذهب إلى إنديانا لأني سأحصل بكالوريوسي بعد ثلاثة فصول دراسي

I thought I should show off what I've learned after being in Egypt for almost 3 months now. Considering I started from nothing, I'm pretty pleased with the progress I've made so far...but there is a lot more to learn! They say it takes 7 years of study before someone becomes fluent in Arabic.

Tonight is the qualifying game between Algeria and Egypt for playing in the 2010 World Cup. The game is in Sudan. It is basically a HUGE deal. They've set up chairs around our auditorium so that people can stay on campus to watch it since many students wouldn't be able to commute home in time to see the game. Many students are carrying Egyptian flags and have the flag painted on their faces. It's definitely a day to wear red, black, and white.

Because of the game, security measures, once again, are up. I had to swipe my ID three times and tell a security guard my room number just to get to my room. I suppose it's a good thing because, as I said, soccer is a really, really big deal and people tend to get "passionate," as the US Embassy has warned us on multiple occasions (example-spraying an aerosol can in front of a lighter to make a make-shift flame thrower...fun times!).

One other thing--on Tuesday night I will be traveling to Israel for Thanksgiving break! I'm so excited about this. More details and certainly more pictures to come!

Have a good Wednesday!

30 Seconds in Islamic Cairo

Because I love Islamic Cairo so much, I thought I should put up a video so you could get a better picture of it. When I took this video I was standing on one of the minarets on the Bab Zuwayla (see pictures from my previous post). On a clear day you can see all the way to the pyramids. As you can see, it's quite different from the mid-western United States, but I love it!

Have a good Monday!

A Walk Down Darb al-Ahmar

What's better, the pyramids or the Islamic architecture from the 900s to the 1500s? That is a very hard question, but I'm starting to think it might be the Islamic architecture, especially from the Bahri Mamluk dynasty. Today I took a walk down Darb al-Ahmar in the heart of Islamic Cairo, which I've highlighted in green on the map below. The red dots mark all of the mosques and madrasas (Islamic schools) that I've been in so far.

The street leads from the Citadel, which is a fortress built on the Muqattam hills. Right below the Citadel is the Mosque of Sultan Hasan (1356), which is the largest mosque in Cairo. It was built to house 400 students, but the project became so expensive that when Sultan Hasan died, the work stopped. You can see exactly where the craftsmen stopped working because the stone carvings aren't completed.

This mosque one of the "must-see" structures in Cairo. When President Obama came to address the Islamic world earlier this year, he stopped by this mosque...which explains why all of the rugs in the mosque are plush and new.

The Darb al-Ahmar isn't a street that tourists go on, so you get to actually see what real Egyptian life is like. You get the wonderful, sweet smell of freshly baked bread. You get the overwhelming smell of dust and car fumes in the lungs. You see chickens 3 seconds away from getting their heads chopped off. You have kids wave at you and little boys come up to you to hold your hand. You have the locals sitting outside their stores drinking their tea, wondering who's in their turf. And you have some of the most wonderful architecture in the city.

Toward the end of the walk is Bab Zuwayla (1091), which is part of the original city walls of Cairo. Of course the gate is cool because it's so old, but it was even cooler because I got to climb one of the twin minarets! Below is a picture of me doing the call to prayer (no, I'm not about to sneeze) from the top of the minaret. Those things are really high and the staircases are extremely small. It was definitely well worth it.

I've included a link to some of the other pictures I've taken from Islamic Cairo. See those pictures here.

Man, a lot has happened, so I'm going to use bullet points so this post doesn't get too long:

• Went to see 2012 yesterday evening. Movie review--too many "close call" situations that just get annoying after awhile.
• Went to Chili's. It was soooooooooo good. I miss barbecue sauce so much.
• There is a huge soccer game tomorrow against Algeria. I've been warned by many people, including the U.S. Embassy in Cairo that we should stay away from the stadium area. It most likely will be very violent. Which is very unfortunate since soccer IS A GAME!

That's all! Have a good weekend! Happy Friday!

Get Messy, Make Mistakes

If you've ever played SceneIt? or any other you-need-to-know-about-pop-culture game with me, then you know that I'm a lousy teammate. I just haven't seen that many movies or had enough interest in the lives of celebrities to pay that much attention. I have a hard enough time remembering "real" people's names! Anyway, there is one television show (or maybe it's a movie; I don't know) that popped into my head this week--The Magic School Bus. Random, I know. Let me explain.

Again, if you know me, then you know that I'm maybe, slightly, possibly a tiny bit of a perfectionist. And I really don't like to make mistakes. I especially don't like to make mistakes in front of other people.

As our substitute Arabic teacher reminded us today, the best way to learn Arabic is to just give it a shot and make mistakes. Kind of like Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus said, "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!" And I've found that this is very true. Maybe you read my last post about my horrendous translation? If only you could hear me when I try to make a coherent sentence in class. It must be quite humorous.

Outside of class, if you try to do something simple like hailing a taxi and then talk to him in Arabic, and he laughs at you, you have to realize that this is part of the learning process. And I'm finally starting to realize this.

And so, I guess all of the mistakes eventually pay off in the end--I got an "A" surrounded by a combination of lines, seahorses, and various other squiggles on my Arabic mid-term, which made me quite happy!

This situation reminds me of a WONDERFUL song I've heard...

I feel like I've already written about my love for Hannah Montanta, and it fits the theme of this blog post, here is the music our youngsters:

Swine Flu Strikes Again?

While I haven't gotten an official e-mail saying that we're going to have an extended Eid al-Adha (which is the Islamic holiday when many people conduct hajj [pilgrimage] to Mecca), it sounds like it is quite probable.

Today in Arabic class my teacher said that the government is saying that schools will be closed until December 6th. I can't imagine AUC not conforming to this mandate. This means that our "Thanksgiving break" will extend from November 26th - December 6th.

This is part of an e-mail that I received:

To ensure that all class requirements are fulfilled – in the event that the university is required to suspend classes – the university’s deans and department chairs are formulating contingency plans. As information becomes available it will be emailed to the AUC community, as well as posted on the flu information page on the university website.

I read that as, "Keep checking your e-mail because soon you're going to have to come in on the weekends so we can make up for all the classes we've missed this semester." I'll keep you posted on what actually happens. I kind of want classes to be cancelled so that I can travel, but at the same time, I'd really like to learn all of the material that I'm expected to learn this semester. I'm ambivalent.

One short, funny thing that happened in Arabic class today:

Partners: Ben & Alison

Task: Translate what Alison says in Arabic into English.

What Alison says: The grandsons live with their grandfather.

How Ben translates it: Their mother died in an accident in the army.

I guess I wasn't paying attention, but I laughed really hard since my translation was completely unrelated (yes, we have learned the words for "died", "accident", and "army"...it's really an uplifting vocabulary list). We have our first Arabic test tomorrow, so that should definitely be a fun time.

Anyway, have a happy Sunday!

The Openness of Religion

I would really be really sticking my head in the sand (which is entirely possible) if I were to not write about the openness of religion in Egypt, or even the Middle East in general.

In addition to the small things like taxi cab drivers keeping their Qur'an on the dashboard or the many Coptic Christians who have a small cross tattooed onto their wrist, I've been able to talk to many people (Muslims and otherwise) about religion. One example that really surprised me occurred when I was making the 5 minute walk to one of my classes:

One of my Muslim classmates saw me heading toward class and came up to me to ask me if I had read, "The True Message of Jesus Christ," which I had picked up from al-Azhar mosque a few weeks ago. I haven't gotten through all of it yet and told her so. She then told me about how she used to date a Christian guy, and so she read the whole New Testament. While this created strain in the family, she remarked that she was moved to tears reading about Christ crucified. After reading it, she was left confused about what to believe, so she prayed to God--whether the God of the Bible or the Qur'an--to show her the right way to go, which, in the end for her, was the Qur'an.

By this time we were at our class and I had little time to respond, but I told her that we should talk more later, which I hope we do. What really struck me about the conversation was that she essentially told me her entire, as Christians call it, testimony. The only thing is, I don't even know her that well at all. I can't imagine being back in America and having the same conversation with someone who I hardly know.

Last night at a party I was able to talk to another Muslim who I do not know very well about reasons for the existence of God, angels, jinn (not to be confused with gin), the niqab, and the openness of religion in Egypt. It's been quite a remarkable experience.

Along the same lines, I'm going to be writing a paper for one of my classes about the divine attributes of God, as reflected in the doctrine of salvation, according to the Qur'an. I think I'll probably do a comparison to the Christian conception of God, but we'll see about that. Either way, I'm really looking forward to writing it. Hopefully I'll be able to share a copy of it with you at the end of the month.

Happy Friday!

Stereotypes

The student newspaper came out today, and as per some unwritten rule, there was an article about stereotypes. Except this time it wasn't about rich AUC students who are ungrateful for being able to attend this university or about the so-called "Gucci corner." This time it was about Judaism.

From the short time that I have been here, I've run across several situations where people's conception of things has seemed quite patently false. Since I haven't much encountered the Jewish stereotype, I'm not going to address that; I would like to briefly talk about the American stereotypes that I have encountered.

In Arabic class, we have been working through a book that follows the story of a college-aged girl named Maha. If you've taken Arabic, you most likely have learned about her. She's pretty much a big deal. Maha is Egyptian, but she is studying in New York City. Practically from the beginning, we learn that Maha is lonely. In one chapter we learn the word for "alone" and then "lonely" and then "loneliness." But how could she be lonely in such a big, lively city?

Today we had to come up with sentences explaining why Maha is lonely, like "Maha is lonely because her father and mother are always busy." After we had listed about six reasons, our teacher explained to us the "real" (or most probable) reason why she's lonely--her parents won't allow her to associate with Americans because Americans are "free-spirits."

While the Middle East is definitely more conservative than America, I find it strange that EVERY American is automatically a person who does whatever he or she wants to do. Not all Americans live lives like the wonderful Hollywood movies. It reminds me of several other Egyptians who I met soon after I got here who were simply astounded that I don't drink alcohol. Surely all Americans drink alcohol and spend the weekends in the bars, right?

One other American stereotype that I want to address occurred when I was talking to a server at a restaurant. He was so happy to find out that we were Americans. It was easy to see that he was pleased to talk to us (many Egyptians like to talk to Americans to practice their English). I asked him if he ever wanted to come to America, assuming that he would say yes. But he said no. The reason he gave was because he thought that Americans don't like Muslims. I tried my best to reassure him otherwise.

I hope that in the time that I am here, I am able to dispel some of these stereotypes, if even for just a few people.

Another stereotype (I'm not sure if that's the right term) is that swine flu has something to do with pigs. The university is continually hanging up flyers and handing out wet-wipes (yes, please) to "Kill the Flu Before it Kills You!!!" And then there's always a picture of a pig with a red slash through it. Maybe they do it because it makes a nice picture to an otherwise microscopic concept, but I'm rather disappointed in the university for propagating this misconception.

(Edit-I was reminded that swine flu does have something to do with pigs, which I realize. I wasn't clear in my writing. I realize that swine flu originates in pigs, but I don't think it should be the focal point of the issue. I think it should be shifted to prevention rather than origination. Several months ago Egypt slaughtered 300,000 pigs, which destroyed the lives of 70,000 families since the flu was so closely linked to pigs. To avoid a similar situation, I think it's best to try to avoid associating the flu with pigs, and I was hoping the university would realize that.)