Cairo, about 85 degrees, partly hazy
We arrived back in Cairo yesterday morning, and it really was something of a homecoming. Back to the same hotel, with the overly friendly staff with their hands always out to help … or ask for a tip. maalesh as they say here – it’s just the way it is.
Yesterday was not a good day with the bus. We arrived at Rameses station bright and early – about an hour late; it was around 8 AM when we arrived. There was no bus to meet us. Our group managed to attract no less than 9 tourist police who went looking for the bus, and then rounded up taxis for the group. The group actually found the taxi ride fun, which was fortunate because we had to do the same thing when it came time to go to the Monastery of Barsoum el-Aryan in Helwan and the bus didn’t show up then, either. Laila from Fulbright was with us and her driver organized yet another taxi caravan down into the southern suburbs. When Laila finally got Hala, the travel agent, on the phone she did a much better job of exploding than I could because Laila can do it in Arabic. Also, Laila does lots of business with Hala, so I’m sure the decline in service quality was not unnoticed. When the phone was finally handed over to me there were lots of “reallys” in the apology from Hala.
Anyway. The monastery visit was surreal. We were greeted by an Egyptian nun with absolutely no personality whatsoever, whom we dubbed “Mother Superiorer,” because her general attitude was that she’s superior-er than you. Mother Superiorer reminded me very much of Lurch, the tour guide I had last summer at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. “This is icon of Our Lord Jesus. Now we shift to new place.”
His Eminence Picenti, Bishop of Helwan and Ma’asarah was an interesting character. He rambled on at some length, reading for a while, then expanding on what he’d just said, and talking very, very quietly. At one point, he showed a map of the Holy Family’s trip through Egypt (the one not documented in any of the 4 Gospels that he insists are the basis of Coptic Christian beliefs), and there was some rustling about while a sheet was produced for the overhead, since the wood panel walls weren’t particularly conducive for an overhead projector. Then there was some fumbling with thumbacks, and His Eminence startled all of us by pulling out his large, heavy cross and using it as a hammer to nail the thumbtacks into the wall. It was like the proverbial fart in church – the giggle loop started and wouldn’t die. For me, the worst thing was that Kamran was sitting behind me and he was really, really trying (unsuccessfully) not to laugh – and since he never, ever does that, it was hard for me not to follow suit. The non-giggling continued for a while.
I won’t repeat the material of the lecture, since it was rather inconsequential. His Eminence did go on at some length about how homosexuals and women priests are the downfall of mankind, and there were a few quotes worth writing down, for example: “Woman is like the crown on the head of the man.” I’ll give the group credit – we waited until we got on the bus (which showed up an hour late to pick us up) until the incredulous comments started to fly.
Today, there were two lectures at Fulbright. I missed the first one, since I needed to print out the schedule and get some stuff taken care of. The second lecture was on Islam in Egypt by a Professor of Shari’a (Islamic Law) at Al-Azhar University, which is still the preeminent religious institution in the Sunni Muslim world. He was, in a word, fanstastic. I wish there were more people like him on CNN and less clips from the bin Ladens of the world. Some of the Islamophobia of the world might be a little less virulent if that were the case. Fulbright has definitely come through with the lecture program, and we’re not even halfway through.
The afternoon discussion session – mine – went well, too, although we got kind of silly toward the end. I invented an Egyptian peasant named Edna Mae who took on more characteristics than I expected her to, but what the hey. I got the point across. Kamran took Barbara back to the hospital, and they took 3 of her stitches out, and the other 3 will come out in 3 days. (Lots of 3s). Her leg is healing nicely, and they even cleared her to go swimming in the Sinai this weekend.
At any rate. Tomorrow we’re off to the Old City for the first time, with a visit to my ever-favorite place, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. And I’m actually well rested for once!
