me and the sphinx

This weekend we got to do the tourist thing in Cairo, Egypt. At the pyramids I kissed the Sphinx, jumped off a pyramid, rode a camel, saw an underground tomb, etc. After visiting the Egyptian Museum on Saturday, we got to feast our eyes on the enormous city from above when we climbed the spiral steps of a narrow tower called Bab Zawaya at sunset.

Cairo is not exactly how I pictured it to be. I knew it was busy with lots of traffic and people, but I didn't realize just how crowded it was. I pictured dusty desert roads with more space between the buildings. I didn't realize there would be 5 lane highways and apartment high rises squished in together on almost every square inch of land. There is even a City of the Dead where people actually built their homes on top of tombs.

We are staying in Heliopolis, originally a high class part of town on the outskirts of Cairo, now swallowed up into the greater Cairo amoeba of 20 million people. Back in the day a Belgium Baron built himself a palace there and his decorative style influenced the architecture on many of the buildings. Our hotel is still in the jolly Christmas spirit with tinsel garlands, red bows, and ornaments decorating the lobby. We still hear the occasional Christmas tune playing over the speakers as we're coming and going.

I have to admit that my internet lust has gotten the better of me and right now I am sitting at a McDonalds listening to the Arab tunes humming in my ears and chomping on oily french fries.

The purpose of Tim and I's visit to Egypt is to learn about literacy work that MCC partners are doing here in Cairo and in rural areas of Egypt. The literacy rate is low here, especially among women, and so one of MCC's partners is training teachers in villages and communities to teach literacy classes. One thing I have noticed from our interviews with teachers and students, is that people are very eager to talk and tell us about their experiences. Many women have told us that learning how to read and write builds their confidence and allows them to help their children with school work, read medicine labels, get better jobs, be more aware of their surroundings, and so on. In other words, learning how to read and write is empowering.

One community that we visited was a garbage collectors settlement just outside of Cairo. There are piles of trash everywhere being sorted for items that can be recycled and reused. Pigs and goats feed off the remains and are fenced in on top of garbage piles. A Coptic Orthodox Church sits in the middle of it all and has a community services center where they have literacy classes and a nursery school for children. I was just amazed that people lives in this place. Children go to school here, people raise animals, and they go to church. Some of the landowners there are making big money from all the recycled goods and the animals that are raised.

More later...my battery is d...y....i...n...g.....