A Mom celebrates her daughter’s adventuresome nature and is happy to be on the trip of a lifetime!

Each day I feel more comfortable, but if Helen and her roommate Jayanthi had not been here to hold my hand, I fear I would have run straight back to the airport. By now I feel more confident that I will reach my destination when I ride in a taxi . It is true that in Cairo there are no traffic lanes; no signals. Drivers do not turn their lights on at night and they use their horns to signal their intentions. The best experience was at night in a crowded area when the driver got a phone call on his cell and answered it. Then not only did he hold the phone with one hand, he used the other to gesture ...all while weaving in and out of traffic that includes pedestrians who walk in the road instead of on the sidewalks. Better than a ride at Disney!

Outside the apartment there is a restaurant and it is a gathering place every night for men to smoke their water pipes and drink tea. As soon as the sun sets they break the fast (as it is still Ramadan). Then there is noise until 4 in the morning. I am assured that they get back up in the morning for work. I do not think they ever sleep. Helen and her roommates have gotten used to the noise and sleep through it and the calls to prayer. Jayanthi’s Mom, Rama, and I haven’t!

We have been on the run and have visited many sites so far. We went to Alexandria via train and had a lovely day there on the coast. We visited a mosque yesterday, entering the woman’s prayer room with our hijabs covering our hair. Then we went to another mosque and climbed the tower.....a steep and dark vertical climb.....where for 8 steps you could not see a thing. We held onto the wall with both hands and made it safely up and down. At the top was a wonderful view of the city, but we stood on a narrow ledge with only an old weathered wooden railing between us and the hard surfaces below. I was reminded of climbing on the outside of the Leaning Tower of Pisa when that was still allowed.

We also visited two markets and encountered exactly what you expect those to be. All sorts of merchandise and forms of transportation and people. Today we spent time in the Egyptian Museum while Jayanthi and Helen were in class. We made our way across the street to the American University and met them there. Then we visited two Coptic Christian churches and a beautiful graveyard. Tonight we were quite a site at dinner with friends from here...we were a group from Egypt, Germany & USA.

Tomorrow we go to Beruit. I am sure it too will be an adventure!

Night light installation

Pictures from a collaboration of German and Egyptian artists in a poor neighborhood. I had a grand time befriending lots of kids and using my Arabic and having an awkward conversastion with the journalist and going on top of the roof of this really old and crumbling apartment building. Unfortunately the idea was better than its execution and I don't think the local community (outside of the kids) was too enthused about it, but it was a neat night. Lise works for the Goethe Institute so she had a hand in everything and invited me to come and hang out. Hands down one of my favorite nights in Cairo (though this happened about two weeks ago ; ) )
Jayanthi's mom is coming tomorrow! My mom is coming the next day! 15 pg midterm about to be handed in!

Prayer on the Metro

So much religious fervor! Right now the mosque across the street is very loud. Someone is chanting things through the loudspeaker and a loud chorus of men is chanting back. I understood something about Allahu Akbar (God is Great) but I don´t understand anything else. Is this a Ramadan thing or a spontaneous thing? I don´t know, but I get uncomfortable hearing it.

Today on the Metro this woman started calling out parts of a prayer and pretty soon most of the women on the bus were responding to her in the same sort of call-response thing. Jayanthi says that it happens a lot of the time that she is on the Metro in the women´s car. (Did I ever tell you about the women´s car? It is the first one and is great because no men allowed. It too often smells like sweaty polyester, but it´s worth it.) In one guide book I read (to paraphrase a bit) that the "Metro is unlike anything else in Cairo... clean, no-smoking, and it runs on time."

Today I went on a felucca ride, which means I rode on a boat on the Nile with some friends, for two hours in celebration of a friend´s girlfriend´s birthday. In more small-world news, it turns out that I saw her, Nora, play violin last year at a concert in Atlanta (Mirah, for those of you who know). How crazy!

Now the men are singing, which I find to be much more enjoyable. Time to go back and keep writing my mid-term.

Happy Feet

I love the way Middle Eastern men dance. It's true. I went to a pop concert last night - Mohammed Mounir- and I have to say that what I enjoyed the most was watching people dance. Seeing guys from age 16 or so on up to dads singing the lyrics passionately to each other and to the stage with their arms held out and hands snapping or moving from side to side and their hips popping and swaying to the part-tropical, part-Middle Eastern sounding music was amazing. There were men sitting on the shoulders of other men. There was one guy in front of me who would grab the back of his friend and the two of them would sing to each other with all the emotion that they would sing to the girl of their dreams. Everyone, moms, dads, kids, knew the lyrics to every song and greeted each new selection as a teenybopper would greet Britney Spears singing her latest single. I was also really happy because I was wearing four layers of clothes because of the cold! It was amazing! I took turns at feeling emboldened and dancing how I wanted to and then becoming shy and worried about guys looking on at me, but for the most part I was happy to note they were far too involved with Mohammed Mounir to care about the girl next to them who definately couldn't dance the way their Egyptian ladies could.

I can't believe that I'm coming home in two months! It's very hard to believe. Last week I found something that made me excited about being back, though. I like to frequent blogs that post mp3s of soul music that never achieved popular success but are worthy of praise, and last week I found a new blog dedicated to Georgia Soul! This is pretty exciting. Unfortunately the files are in Real Player format, which I don't prefer, but if you have real player you can listen and learn more about what was happening in Georgia 40- 50 years ago. Maybe my Georgia family has heard of some of them. That would be pretty neat. Being the dork that I am, I have already invited him to come and DJ in the spring when I become (in sha allah) the host of WUOG's Who Put the Bomp? dedicated to the best in unknown or lesser-known pop, rock, be-bop and soul of the 50s and 60s. I've been waiting for it, and, if nothing else, if I can provide videos of an 8 ish year old Helen pretending to sing Aretha Franklin I should at least be a candidate : )

His link is http://georgiasoul.blogspot.com
Mommy countdown: A week!

Contributing Writer! My does that sound nice.

Well, I was waiting to post until I could give you a shiny and pretty link to our published article, which I am now able to do. However, we were all disappointed to note that somehow the final copy we sent them that we had all looked over, was published with several lines from an earlier draft mixed in. We're not sure whose fault this is, because we re-looked at the document we sent them and it didn't have those statements, but things always happen. So if you read it, just skip over the few lines about numbers and sexual abuse that state the same thing over again in a different way. boo! Oh well, regardless about the published state of the article, without the mistakes it is the most detailed article about the sit-in that is out there, and I learned so much from the project. I got to get an inside view of the world of a close-to- 70 year old woman who is 'retired' yet continues to teach and consult and write all hours of the day. Her apartment constantly has people coming in seeking advice or using her materials or working with her on a project. She's pretty amazing. The only downside about being at her house was her chain-smoking habit. I think a large part of this weekend's cold and stuffy head is a result of spending so much time at her house : )

Here is our article- in the way you would expect from a newspaper focused on social justice they gave it a dramatic headline from a quote that I took from the protest and the section I wrote. The opening paragraph wasn't written by us; our section starts with "Sudanese refugees..."
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29957 Enjoy!

"We are a Map of Sudan"

Photos from the sit-in. We counted about 800-1000 men, women, and children and the numbers fluctuate from day to day and from morning to night. Signs around the camp are in English and Arabic, asking "Where is the International Media" and "Who killed him/her?" and proclaiming "We are victims of miss-management." The second picture shows a gathering while they listen to the morale builder/motivational speaker that keeps everyone going a few times a day.

Teaser

Here is an excerpt from our article, which will be published on Thursday and I'll provide a link when it comes out.
This excerpt is pretty juicy, and gives you a great example of the absurdities possible in Cairo.

"Refugees have seen Sudanese Embassy cars nearly every day circling the sit-in, but at 3 in the morning of 15 October, four men in an Sudan Embassy car stopped and two of them began distributing alcohol among some refugees. The leaders managed to capture the four men and hand them over to the police and they unscrewed the rear license plate which they have hidden as evidence. At the meeting that afternoon, a speaker asked the group whether he should comply with police demands and hand over the license plate. The crowd shouted ‘No’. A police standing at the perimeters listening shouted back, ‘We have the men in jail. We have sequestered the car. We need the license for evidence.’ This angry exchange with the forces that are protecting them may be the beginning of the end of the sit-in."

Jayanthi and I just made a really bad soup. Soups are soooo hard.

I think it's about time I posted something good or at least marginally uplifting, don't you think? After all, it might appear that I don't believe in democracy or in good in general, although don't think that for one second. As many problems as democracy has, I want everyone to have those problems, instead of the ones that come from authoritarian/totalitarian/misc. regimes!

Yesterday, after my sobering day before, I decided that of all Fridays this was a Friday to definately get myself to church. I had been to Maadi Community Church three weekends before, but had been unable to return because of sickness or being out of town. I had been a little bit apprehensive because my friend had described it as "exactly like an American church," implying the contemporary/praise/evangelical type church, which has never been my preferred way to worship, but I immediately knew this was the wrong way to go in thinking, after all, when you're in a predominately Muslim country, and there is a church, any church, that speaks English, well, no complaints!

Upon arrival my first impression was of the amazing diversity. I can't think of more than a handful of Sundays in which my church crowd hasn't been as white as white can get, so a crowd that was overwhelmingly half African and had many Asians and others was really exciting. The pastor had those who were new stand up and introduce themselves and their country; the answers given were Germany, Brazil, Rwanda, Liberia, South Korea, and America. How exciting! As a former member of MPPC's Visitors and New Members Committee, I was dorkily aware of how they welcomed new people. As people stood up, members were assigned to zip down the aisle and pass over a new member booklet that had information about the church, and I found myself well-received by everyone around me. One of my favorite aspects of that morning was seeing several of the study abroad students that I didn't know went to church and getting to excitedly greet them.

Yesterday I decided to go to their month-old "Africa Live" service. The title makes it sound silly, but it was really great. I arrived half an hour late because my first trip alone meant that I kept walking the wrong way, and I was given the wrong directions in English no less, before given the advice to "just take a taxi, you are very far now." I was one of a handful of non-Africans, and I didn't know any of the tunes to the songs, but there was so much energy and beauty. The prayer was fantastic and very emotional, and though I sometimes felt that awkward feeling that surely most of us have felt in a African-American church- namely, why can't I move the same way? I really liked being a part of it. It was particularly emotional thinking about how many of these Africans were refugees or migrants who had left a place that they could no longer live, and how much they could identify with the sermon about God's faithfulness to Moses and his people who had left Egypt. As I left I asked some people at the entrance how I could get back to the metro, and they told me to just hop in their cab and they would drop me off. The man told me they were from Liberia, and thinking that I hadn't understood him or didn't know where Liberia was he said it again and then made a joke about how small it was. I suddenly felt very quiet inside, only knowing Liberia from their horrible former President Charles Taylor who is awaiting trial, and stories of terrible poverty and persecution. It was like being introduced at the sit-in to a woman from Darfur and thinking, wow, I now have a face to put with all of these things I've heard.

Speaking of the sit-in, yesterday my group worked for 6 hours on the article and we will return to my Professor's apartment on Monday to finish it up. Dinner was really nice; we sat around sharing stories and hearing from a visiting Ugandan lawyer about some of his cases and listening to anecdotes about crazy Ugandan leaders as told by him and my professor.

Alright, time to return to reading Human Cargo by Caroline Moorehead, an excellent book full of stories that combined give a good picture of the world's refugees. I would definately recommend it.

I'm not going to take it anymore!

"We can wait for the police to kill us because we have no place to go." Ruba Michael

I didn't know that coming to Egypt would also mean the start of my investigative journalism career, but so it has. After hearing rumors from some Sudanese in my English classes and some questions over my refugee class listserv, last night's class was devoted to discussing and clarifying the information about a Sudanese protest that has been going on now for two weeks in front of the offices of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). There are many startling aspects about this, as my teacher, who is somewhat of a celebrity in the world of refugee issues, related to us. She cannot think of any other protest by refugees of this magnitude that has not been immediately been broken up by police anywhere in the world. There could be, but we just don't know about them. The fact that numbers ranging from 500- 1200 have been sitting and sleeping in the public park in front of the building for two weeks without mass arrests or conflicts with police is unheard of. Last year the refugees tried to hold a similar protest but were broken up immediately by police with force, and according to one of the refugees I talked with today, with smoke and boiling water. The anti-Mubarak protests last May also featured police brutality, but probably because of the negative international press the protests on Election Day were peaceful. The orders for the police not to do anything may have something to do with that press, the parliamentary elections coming up, or Egyptian anger at the UNHCR, too. When I went there we had some troubles with the police about entering the garden, but they were soon appeased. I was really worried about possible confiscation of my recording equipment, but everything turned out to be fine and the head of police there even asked us not to portray them as beggars.

Ok. Wait, Helen, you went? Police? Calm down, I'm backing up : ) My teacher has had an African newspaper request that an article be written about it, so she commissioned people in our class to do the research, talk to her, and then write it. Last night I made plans with about 8 other people to come today and check things out and interview people, and have just gotten back from being there. I'm pretty mentally and emotionally exhausted right now so I'm just going to provide a link to two articles that talk about their demands (before our infinitely better and incredible article is written.... )
http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=12016
http://www.cairomagazine.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=1438&format=html

At the end I ran into one of my students who called out "Teacher" and started talking to me and my friend Alex about how America is wonderful and perfect and if Bush said "Look at the Sudanese" then all the problems would be solved, and that Alex or I could be President if we wanted and that we can do anything we want because we're American. It sounds crazy and like cotton candy, but I can imagine it being true compared to these smart and extremely capable men and women who are sitting around telling me about their husbands killed in the war and the men who have wounded or tortured them, and their inability to get jobs, and their frustration that their kids can't go to school or walk around freely.

My teacher was clearly against the protest, saying that it wasn't going to do them any good, and that the stalemate between UNHCR (who have closed offices this entire week) and the refugees isn't going anywhere, which certainly doesn't make things feel any better.

They'll keep waiting.

Wondering what year the government put up the "Egypt is the Leader of Peace" sign

Photos from the weekend in Alexandria. A mosque with "Remember God" written in Arabic, two pictures of the Mediterranean and a picture inside the ruins that offer the only reminder of the glory of the one who left his name to the city. Courtesy of Miss. Jayanthi

I smell Cilantro from the kitchen!

Here is an article about increasing commercialism during Ramadan from today's New York Times. Sorry I don't know the html to make the ugly link hidden. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/12/international/asia/12ramadan.html?hp&ex=1129176000&en=9f76940d247c8c43&ei=5094&partner=homepage

My Comparative Politics of the Middle East class was surprisingly interesting today. My teacher decided to have a class period dedicated to the discussion of Democracy in the Middle East and its viability. We began talking about Bush's commitment to democracy in the ME and though we quickly moved into the structures of the ME and whether or not democracy could work, I thought it was really interesting thinking about what America's support for true democracy in the region would probably mean. The authoritarian/patrimonial governments of the Middle East have been really good at being "good" patrimonial/authoritarian leaders (i.e. laws are flexible to maintain power, "divide and rule," military prowess, etc.) . They've been extremely successful at preventing any kind of opposition from developing, jailing and blackening the reputations of any who try, and outlawing Islamist political parties or organizations, not to mention any other moderate group. As we discussed in class, authoritarian governments don't do anything unless it is to further cement their own power. Things like the elections in Egypt or establishment of a Human Rights Commission often look like change, but in effect they are changes to ensure that things can stay the same. The middle classes of any society are typically the ones who demand changes to the system, but with an extremely small middle class, and one that is markedly different from the lower classes, there seems to be no chance for a moderate/democratically inclined party or leader to really galvanize support. I think that if someone waved a wand and suddenly all the countries in the Middle East had democracy, or at least Egypt did, then the Islamist groups would be the only ones that could possibly galvanize support from the majority of citizens, particularly because the opposition groups that have formed are weak and not well-developed.

I was hoping to spend more time talking about what the United States' goals were, probably because I'm learning that training in Political Science is often about, "But what do they really want?" Unfortunately the answer is rarely "World Peace!" or one that can be figured out in the present time. The administration must know that if there were real democracies in the Middle East they would probably be led by people unfriendly to the U.S.. Someone brought up the point in class the theory that democracies are nicer and more peaceful and don't engage in conflict, but without going into too much theory, most people are thinking about Western Europe and the U.S. and Japan and Australia when they say this, not the multitudes of newly-formed democracies in Eastern Europe, South America, and other parts of the world that often undergo far more instability and conflict than their authoritarian neighbors. From my classes at UGA I think the basic opinion is that the verdict is still out on whether or not democracies are more peaceful or not, and if you can even isolate that variable from other factors. I guess it could benefit the U.S. just as much to celebrate the cosmetic changes in Egypt or elsewhere while maintaining an ally that is likely to stay in power and can be persuaded with aid.

Oh goodness, it's been a rough month for me and political systems. : ) Even my staunch belief in proportional representation and the democracies of Western Europe took a hit with Germany's crisis earlier this month. Don't worry, for even though Political Science seems determined to drain every ounce of idealism out of its students, I'm not giving in, just hopefully getting smarter. After all, as I recently remembered, you can't keep a girl down who used to sign letters "Peace, love, and sunshine" and wrote a "What I would do as President" manifesto in 2nd grade.

I say all this when my class that really makes me want to lose faith in the world is a few hours away. You're lucky I'm writing this post now and not later : ) Last week after watching a depressing movie called "The Hunger Business" about relief operations I began trying to write out all my thoughts and observations about how large parts of humanitarian organizations function just like the military. You'll have to ask me about that one in person... I haven't figured out how to begin evaluating what I've been learning and what it means for my interests yet.

If commercialism, dubious democracy and failures of humanitarianism threaten to bring you down, just imagine getting out of a cab and seeing a man walk by with a cart of small and large, pointy, shiny hats with streamers for the kids to wear. If only I had had some money with me! They were awesome. You can also imagine listening to The Beatles, because that is what I'm doing right now and it makes me happy.

Peace, love and sunshine,

Helen "George is my favorite" S.

My time at Giza

Did you know there is a Barbie with "Muslim values"? Maybe there should be a Ken doll with "Family Values"

I just saw that J.Crew online has a shirt that has "jellaba" as part of the title. The jellaba, or gellabia as it is pronounced in Egyptian colloquial, is the long dress-looking garb of men and women that is loose fitting and has long sleeves. Not exactly a cute and hip see-through shirt with a plunging neckline, but this is fashion for you!

Only 4 days into Ramadan I decided to give up fasting. It was complicated, but my stomach threw the other, more philosophical, reasons over the edge. Being hungry was ok, but I have a notoriously sensitive stomach and I think being overseas causes enough stress for it without anything additional. I will still fast once in a while, but not with the same strictness. That aside, what is Ramadan like in Egypt, you ask?

Egyptians, or Cairenes, rather, are often looked down upon among the other Muslims for partying a little too hard during Ramadan. : ) People joke that because of all the sweets eaten after iftar, the breaking of the fast, right now around 5:30 at night, people actually gain weight. Eating, drinking, sexual activity, smoking, etc. are all forbidden during the hours between Suhoor (in the morning around 4:15 am when most Muslims wake up and eat a small breakfast) and Iftar, which leaves the technical questions about what is acceptable post-iftar. For many Muslims, it doesn't make sense to not smoke during the day and then smoke constantly during the evening, but for others this is what happens. Iftar is usually a big family event, with prayers followed by breaking the fast with a date (after the tradition of Mohammed) and then big dinners with lots of special Ramadan sweets. Ramadan is also paradoxically the biggest season of giving and the biggest season of buying; I saw a note in the paper about recording artists timing album releases for this time. Not so different from the Christmas season is it?

When coming to Egypt all the expats tell you that Ramadan is exciting for the first week and then it really stinks because there is nowhere to get food without feeling guilty and being culturally insensitive, cab drivers are especially irritable and it is harder to get taxis during the early evening and late evening, and that everything in general just feels off. All of this is true, but despite all of the shortcomings and obvious contradictions in belief and practice, I'm glad that I can be here to see what it is like. The "Ramadan season" if you will, still has not reached the commercial extremes of Christmas in the U.S. and I hope it never does.

My friend Padmini sent me a note about the Ramadan lamps pictured in my last post, and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it with you. Giving and hanging up lamps for Ramadan is, at least in Egypt, a longstanding tradition. Padmini shared an anecdote of Thomas Friedman in his latest book The World is Flat that the lamps used to be intricate and hand made and very beautiful, but due to safety concerns and economics the lamps are now much cheaper-looking and made in China.

Time to work on my 600 pages of this week's reading for my refugee class !!! I'm going to post a picture sometime of all of my readings stacked up. It's all extremely thought-provoking and great, although I usually have to have some hot chocolate or popcorn post-reading to convince myself that the world has some nice things in it.

I spent the past weekend in Alexandria enjoying the smaller city (still 5 million : ) ) life and clean air and first glimpses of the Mediterranean sea. It was much cooler and helped curb my jealousy of everyone getting the beginnings of fall. Two weekends ago after reports that my Grammy's art show in Gainesville had been great and that she had won 2nd place (go Grammy!) I wanted to be back in the US pretty badly to get to do all the fun fall things, but cooler weather here helps curb that urge.

Ramadan lamps

My glass is all the way full

Today begins Ramadan. Before I launch into a brief explanation that involves phrases like "lunar year" and "not eating," I have to say I am so awed when I think about the fact that there are now houses and cities and countries full of people who are all committed to giving up eating, drinking, smoking, sexual activity, and bad thoughts every day for a month. I can't really comprehend that or stop thinking about the magnitude of Ramadan. Being here causes it to both gain and lose some of that mysteriousness that accompanied my vague idea of "The Five Pillars of Islam" and what Ramadan was, but my optimism has not subsided in my belief of this month and the possibilities it offers for renewal, self-reflection, and servanthood.


I've been lost in thought now for so long that I just realized class is two minutes away from beginning! Oh how quickly I fall into the practical realities of not eating or drinking.... sigh. Explanations will follow, but if you know any Muslims, greet them with "Ramadan Kareem!"

Halas!

I just sent one of my first "You haven't treated me right and I'm going to bring this to your attention" emails. The International Affairs department has not fulfilled any of their advising promises to me, even after multiple emails, and because registration starts in a day or two, I decided to take action. This might not seem like much, but I think this can be directly related to my growing skill at arguing with taxi drivers. This morning we had a particularly rough one, who sped up after we got out and swerved into the road that Jayanthi was crossing into, almost knocking her back. (Here, Helen shakes her pointer finger, gives a stern look and says "Mish Munasiba" not appropriate!) Up until this point I was just thinking I didn't get enough sleep, but the taxi driver swung me into day mode. Jayanthi had begun arguing with our usual, "Every day it is 3 pounds from Agouza to Tahrir. In the day and in the night. I live here, I know." (I promise we think this sounds a little better in heated Arabic : ) ) I walked over there with my mom face on and I shook that little pointer finger and used a new line "Today is not different from any other day. Halas! (Finished! Over! Done!)" Everything was done in full colloquial with determined looks from Jayanthi and I and we won over passerbys and policeman who told the driver to move on. I must inform you that I felt extremely triumphant and radiant on my way to class.

Oh Cairo, you make me feisty.

I can't wait to tell you about my weekend, which involved eating with an Egyptian family and drinking 5 different beverages from dinner on, keeping me up incredibly late. : ) As for now, I must tame myself and learn about 19th century Arabic poetry.

they never go in the order I tell them to!

Little Blue Riding Hood

Pictures of Cairo's rooftops from a tower. Helen and Lisa after a steep climb has loosened their hijabs. (You have to cover your hair in the mosques- we don't walk around like this, although sometimes it would be really nice to.) As always, photos courtesy of Jayanthi's better camera and good eye. I haven't loaded my pictures on the computer yet.

Al-Azhar

Pictures inside Al-Azhar Mosque, built in 900 AD, and considered either the oldest or second-oldest University in the world.