Well I don't have time to write now...

but if you'd like to read a bit more about my work, something new is posted on the StARS blog. This is an piece I wrote around Christmastime about the artisans' cooperative at StARS. The artists and the stories behind their work are incredible. Read on if you wish...


http://standrewsrefugeeservices.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/204/#more-204

I know, I know....

Sooooo I know it looks like I have dropped off the face of the Earth… oh dear. I truly have no good excuse for my silence from this side of the world… but rest assured that I have not gotten lost in the desert, kidnapped by Arabs, or trampled by camels. The last two months have been filled with countless adventures, changes, and general delights, and somehow in the midst of all of it I have managed to neglect writing, which is just inexcusable.

So this will be a short thought, just to reassure the world that I am alive. I suppose I can share just a few moments of what 2010 has held thus far. Amy and I moved apartments, which was a comical adventure involving one of our dear Egyptian friends who has a car. Amy and I approached the entire move (to a lovelier, if smaller and cheaper apartment in a similar but just slightly less expat-y part of Cairo) in classic Kathleen-Amy fashion: disorganized, messy, and as efficiently as possible. We basically started throwing things in the elevator as sweet Khaled stood there looking perplexed saying, “Girls, I don’t understand what you are doing.” And Ames and I are like, “Okkkk Khaled you just leave it to us and drive the car…” Several car trips later we were established in our lovely new apartment. I am completely enthralled with our new place mostly because of all the open windows and the magical balcony. I will try to attach a picture of the magical balcony to convey its’ magic, but it started when Amy and I inherited a sparkly, sheer, dare I say tacky, light pink curtain that seemed just the right size for the space…

My other favorite part of our new apartment is the comic relief it provides for our lives. Our dear landlord (who other friends here have rented with and trust, which makes life easier), asked us if we spend much time at home during the day. At the time, we both did work a great deal from home. Let me just say that I much prefer my little desk out in the entry hall at St. Andrew’s to ‘working’ from home now. You see, somehow, Amy and I managed to find a wonderful, pretty, new, perfect apartment in Cairo that is surrounded by a mosque, a school, and a fire station. Every awkward noise imaginable is at our doorstep, and it is truly hilarious. A and I have both adjusted to the morning call to prayer, but the first night when the mosque man, as I fondly call him, started screaming at me in Arabic at 5 am, I just thought, ‘Hmm. I just do not understand how the mosque man got into our apartment and is screaming prayers in my EAR.’ But alas, we started sleeping with the doors closed and scarves wrapped around our heads, and we are happy as can be. The more recent noise to add to the mix now that school is back in session is the morning BAND PRACTICE at 7 am in the school courtyard below my window. This time the woman screams in English instead of Arabic, which I appreciate. And while I am sure Egyptian children are blessed with many great talents, I really am not envisioning a future in music or singing for any of these little guys. Though, band practice ensures that I am up and greeting the day quite early, which can be difficult in a country that does not get moving until 10 or 11 am. So really, I am thankful for those disastrously untalented children. As for the fire station, it really has yet to affect our lives much except as a landmark, but I appreciate it for simply being there, knowing that at least the possibility of more obnoxious and unfortunate noises exist.

So that has been a great source of new joy and entertainment in our present lives. There have also been so many moments of adventure and just being enthralled with the history, ridiculousness, depth, difficulty, obnoxiousness, poverty, and simultaneous beauty of this place. The day before New Year’s, I hiked up Mount Sinai with my Australian and Scottish friends, and the three of us stood at the top and read about Moses meeting the Lord in that spot. We hiked down by a full moon, somehow managing to just barely stay warm in the chilly air, and we rejoined the rest of our friends in Dahab that night. The next day, we swam in the Red Sea and soaked in the sunlight and greeted the New Year with champagne and banana smoothies and general lazing by the sea. I felt overwhelmed that my life could involve such moments.


Many more stories to tell, but that is all for now. So much for a short post. I will try my very hardest to write more of current and past adventures soon….Until then, many apologies and much love from Egypt…

P.S.!

I totally forgot to share the joy earlier, but I DID experience a Christmas miracle here... it turns out the King Tut Starbucks DOES have the Christmas cups - they were just a little slow in getting them. I nearly accosted a woman on Road 9 a week or two ago because she was holding a red cup. I ran up to her, dying to know where she got it. And sure enough, the next day I was in Starbucks, happy as could be with a toffee nut latte and a beautiful red cup. So there you go... miracles do happen... =)

Christmas on the Nile...

Well, I know that Christmas Day is officially long over in every time zone. I meant to write on actual Christmas, but when I got home last night after a day of celebrations, food, games, and general delight, the girls and I (I am staying with two Aussies and one Scot, what fun!) decided that some mulled wine and 'Christmas Nougat' (some Australian chocolate treat) were in order. So instead of writing about my wonderful Christmas in Cairo, we sat around the kitchen table past midnight, drinking our delicious mulled wine and enjoying the end of a happy day.

Last Saturday night, my friend Abi and I attended a candlelit Lessons and Carols service at the Anglican church downtown. The familiarity of the beautiful songs, lessons, and Advent wreath were contrasted by the reminder of my location as members of the congregation stood up to do each of the nine readings. No two people were from the same country. Sudan, America, Egypt, England, Scotland, and Nigeria were some of the countries represented. As each person read the words of the Bible with their distinct and sometimes difficult to understand accents, I felt thankful again for this intersection of cultures that at times I start to take for granted.

As my time in Egypt has continued, I am constantly overwhelmed as aspects of Biblical history feel even more real because of my geographical location. In Dahab, I remember reading about Moses meeting the Lord on Mount Sinai as Amy and I sat mere hours from that very spot. As I read about the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, I heard from friend who was actually in Bethlehem last week. And during the service on Saturday, the minister presented yet another thought that overwhelmed me. So much of my time here has been spent working with refugees who have fled to Egypt from all over the Middle East and West Africa. Though they are often not welcomed here, it is worlds better than the various tragedies they are fleeing from back home. Though I had never thought of it in this way, the minister talked about how so many years ago, Jesus, Mary and Joseph were also refugees in this very land. They too were fleeing from their home to escape persecution and danger, just as the friends I am making and students I am teaching are today.

Pondering the concept of Jesus fleeing here, to my current home, as a child has been just one of the many things that has added meaning to this Christmas season. Though I dearly miss aspects of the States and of course being home with my friends and family, having to create our own Christmas cheer has had its joys too. Last year just a few weeks before Christmas, I remember walking into Saks Fifth Avenue in New York and being completely enthralled by the winter wonderland transformation. Carols play on radio stations and in every shop for weeks leading up to Christmas, lights adorn streets and homes all over, and we all know how I feel about the Christmas cups at Starbucks! This year, I relished buying a small red poinsetta for my apartment because I was so delighted that they actually sold them, and one of my favorite places to walk past was a little shop on Road 9 that actually sells ornaments, some small fake trees, and loads of Christmas lights. There is even an extremely scary life size Santa Claus singing Jingle Bells, and I love him.

But other than those small and precious things, that is about the extent of Christmas cheer on the streets of Cairo. Egyptian Christians do not even celebrate Christmas in December; they celebrate on January 7. So it truly was just us Westerners recognizing the day. Which is why buying red and green flowers, baking with the girls all day on Christmas Eve, attending a beautiful candle lit Christmas Eve service, and covering the entry way of our friend's apartment with 'snow' on Christmas morning was all so very lovely and very special. One of my favorite moments of the day was taking pictures of our Egyptian friends, Rufus the life size kangaroo (compliments of the Aussie), and one of the other Americans frolicking and laughing in the snow. Outside was the normal world and warm weather, and inside we insisted on a white Christmas. Instead of being inundated with it, we had to create it. Do I look forward to someday again living in the land of overly intense Christmas cheer? Absolutely. But this year, I felt content to celebrate Christ's birth with a small group of friends in a country where to everyone else, it was just another Friday.

As we took our mid-afternoon walk along the Nile in an attempt to stop being so lazy, I thought of my dear friends and family who were just waking up. Though I missed being with all of you, I hope that each of you had a day filled with laughter, love, and joy. So merry, merry Christmas from this corner of the world...

A bit of my work...

Below is a link to a blog entry I wrote during my first few weeks working at St. Andrew's. Our office in downtown Cairo is truly filled to the brim with people, and due to crazy laws and limitations we are unable to expand, so I wrote about the concept of space and how it affects our work. There are also several other articles written by other staff members that will give more insight into the work we are doing!

http://standrewsrefugeeservices.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/community-profile-finite-space/#more-165

That's all for now, but I promise I will be back soon to write more about how the Christmas season in Cairo has unfolded thus far. For now I will mention that last night's Christmas pageant at church was complete with live camels, donkeys, and sheep! A perk of the Christmas in Cairo - camels for the pageant are not hard to find! =)

Wishing you a merry Christmas season from afar...

It's The Most Wonderful Time....

Tonight as I walked home, Christmas cheer seemed to fill the air. It appears that even Cairo is capable of that brisk, fall-y chill that heralds in the holiday season in some parts of the world. Though I would certainly not call it cold, the past few evenings definitely have had that nip in the air. And I love it.

As I walked home from watching The Family Stone (a surprisingly good, though somewhat bittersweet holiday movie), my head was filled with visions of sugarplum fairies, so to speak. Or rather all the delights of the past few days of holiday celebrations. I must say, a few weeks ago when I got over ten voicemails, emails, and Facebook messages about the arrival of the Starbucks Christmas cups - only one of the greatest days of the entire year - I felt a tinge of homesickness. A small part of me clung to the hope that perhaps here Christmas cups are in abundance. After all, Ann and Tock were certain Cairo did not even have Starbucks in the first place. I think some cracks were made about the 'King Tut Starbucks'. And it turns out Cairo boasts at least THREE King Tut Starbucks...So you see there was reason to hope. As soon as we could, Amy and I made the trek to the Starbucks here. I held my breath as I walked in...

To no avail. Surprise, surprise, this Muslim country is not serving their gingerbread lattes in Christmas cups. =)

So although I will have to go without in terms of that small but lovely luxury this holiday season, I have been blessed to ring in the Christmas spirit in many other ways. The Americans were definitely outnumbered by our Australian, Egyptian, and Scottish friends who joined us for our Thanksgiving. Although football in the background, the much anticipated Macy's Day Parade, and our wonderful families (which was the most missed part of all), were sorely missed, we had an amazing day filled with delicious food, enjoying the view of the Nile, and realizing we are all a little fuzzy on the whole Pilgrims and Indians thing (who were these people? Sasquatch? Pocohontas? The Puritans? I can't remember, and I am embarrassed!). Our foreign friends were duly unimpressed with our storytelling abilities, and I resolve to learn all the legitimate facts of the first Thanksgiving for next year.

Yesterday was spent as every day after Thanksgiving should be: decorating for Christmas, of course. Did I miss putting up the beautiful Christmas village and listening to Radio City Music Hall with Ann? Absolutely. (Although I think you were having fun in Honolulu around that time, Mom, so that's a comfort!) But instead we spent the day at dear H and B's apartment, drinking coffee and hot chocolate, eating H's stellar chicken dumplings, watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, playing games, and covering every inch of their home, including a gorgeous tree, in anything red and green and lovely. Luckily for all of us, H and B had their first baby a mere FIVE days ago, so the day was pretty much made perfect by taking turns holding a mostly slumbering and always precious baby.

And now I must run, but as I continue to watch Christmas movies, and enjoy the construction paper snowflakes on the walls of my apartment, I will be thinking of all of you dear friends and family, ringing in the Christmas cheer in your respective corners of the world....

Here's to Hope

I know I have been extremely absent in the past few weeks, and I feel slightly guilty about that. The good news is, my absence attests to the fact that my life is getting fuller and fuller here. The most exciting thing I have neglected to share is that I am now working with an incredible refugee aide organization. Several weeks ago I decided to investigate this refugee situation I had been hearing so much about upon arriving in Cairo. (I am going to show my ignorance here, but I was somewhat unaware of the many refugees in Cairo, most escaping war or famine in West Africa and Iraq). A random and amazingly fruitful Google search ended with me finding an Anglican church that is a haven for refugees in Egypt. A few days later, I found myself joining the St. Andrew's team as a development intern and part-time English teacher.

This is just another addition to the list of surprising and new encounters in Cairo. For one thing, I never thought I would sit around in the 'teachers' lounge' with other teachers, drinking tea and hanging out. Because, let's face it, I am not a teacher, nor did I ever plan on being one. And yet somehow on Wednesday evening I found myself in the small, overcrowded but warm (both in temperature and in spirit), room filled with some of my fellow teachers - Nigerians, Somalians, the occasional Liberian, and one other American girl. Many of the refugees who have been here for several years work with various programs at St. Andrew's, from teaching English to working with the children to creating beautiful works of art to sell. My new friends were filled with tales of life in Cairo, much laughter, and shock and concern upon hearing that I really cannot cook. Apparently that makes me a bad potential wife in Africa (oops).

So far, everything about my time at St. Andrew's has been rich indeed. My next class in on Monday, and I am practically counting down the hours until I can see my Iraqi students (so far three men and one woman, though supposedly there are 17 enrolled, so we will see). Last week I was overcome reading the homework assignment that one of them turned in. I asked each of them to write a paragraph about a friend in their lives. With slightly askew grammar and the stilted style of one who is learning a language, Q beautifully described his dear friend H, who he has not seen for four years, since he moved to Cairo. H is still in Iraq, and Q talked about how much he loved and missed his good, gentlemanly, kind friend. He ended saying that he 'wishes to meet H again someday'.

Though I do not pretend to know or understand much about Q's life here or in Iraq, I can certainly relate to that. Yet again, I am reminded by the simplest things how human we all are, despite glaring and seemingly enormous differences. I am honored and thrilled to continue to try to understand more about Q and my other students' lives. And in the meantime, I will share in the hope that Q does meet H again someday...