My Allah and My Country: Iraqi Scout Leaders Unite!

In the span of two days I have been to two of Cairo's most famous institutions. The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities and the Khan el Khalili Bazaar. You are probably familiar with the former as the home of many ancient Egyptian artifacts that Britain didn't keep, as well as the site of King Tut! (I was convinced he was on tour, but I was thankfully mistaken) The latter is also now unfortunately familiar to those of you who have been keeping track of the bombings. Before you join my mom and ask me why on earth I went to a site where a bomb exploded, you must know it is impossible to be in Egypt and not go to one of the greatest cultural and economic centers in the city. I promise I felt completely safe in all areas, and that I saw many, many policemen, including one who made Jayanthi and I pay more for our taxi.
The Museum was quite wonderful as well; my cousin Ashley's comments about the layout were certainly noticed. My friend Annie could tell us more about the different understandings of the word 'museum' in other places, everything from what should go into a museum to how the narratives should reflect upon history, etc. As Ashley warned me, there was a haphazard approach to displaying the artifacts and how they were maintained. Statues would be very nicely laid out with little cards bearing information, and then right behind them you could find crates and chairs and large pieces of stone with hieroglyphics lying on their side. One mummy case had a visible humidy gauge, yet most parts of the museum had windows open or varying temperatures, to say the least. I did find one "don't touch" sign, but found plenty more people touching to their hearts content. It worries me that statues or artefacts from King Tut's tomb could last for centuries, only to fall apart in an institution meant to preserve them. (King Tut and his gold and jewelry seem to be very carefully watched) It really was quite a spectacular museum, and these observations were clearly secondary to the immensity and magnitude of this great civilization. Very stunning and a humbling reminder that our own civilization isn't so secure. Wandering in the Khan and seeing multitudes of cheap plastic things or ugly and of poor quality clothes made me question how much the generations of the future will be interested in our junk.
One of my favorite things that I saw at the museum had nothing to do with artifacts, but everything to do with a large group of people with Iraqi Council badges on and cards indicating they were from the Council/League of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Jayanthi and I were really excited and really wanted to talk to them, but were too nervous and then had second thoughts. I don't like lying about where I am from, but looking at these normal, almost Egyptian looking men and women... and thinking about one of the reasons we were so excited to see something like Iraqi Boy and Girl Scouts... I just don't think it would be very easy for me to tell them that I'm American. Uh, and moving on from that note...
I registered for classes yesterday, which was initially an extremely upsetting and difficult process, but looking back on it, I hope that things worked out like they should. The Arabic level into which I placed is right between the levels that are available to take at an intensive speed, so my carefully drawn out plans to take an Intensive Arabic course were thwarted. However, now I will be taking an Egyptian colloquial class in addition to my regular Arabic class, which may result in the far better result of me being able to speak with people. Al hamdu lillah. Tonight I will be looking for an apartment (please please please let this one work out!) and getting a cell phone, in sha Allah. My other courses are Middle Eastern Comparative Politics, Intro to Development, and Modern Arab Literature in Translation. I'll let you know how I like them when I start next Monday at 8 am. Starting tomorrow I'll be in study abroad orientation on campus and then at the Red Sea from Friday until Sunday.