An Egyptian Halloween, in creepy photos

This was supposed to be published on Halloween Day - BUT, life happened.  My apologies - I got to wear the scariest Halloween costume ever and no one wanted to be around me - I wore the costume of a very sick person!  Over two weeks later and I am feeling enough like myself to finally get this blog posted!  BOO!

By far the weirdest thing we saw at the Monasteries

Vertically challenged crisis or solution?

Riding on the tram at night - these severed arms and legs looked quite realistic!

Not sure why the kids are not worthy of faces? (I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture of the child mannequin who literally had its face punched in!)

A legitimate "fish and bird" museum that has seen MUCH better days - as half of these featherless mounts looked like an avian zombie apocalypse.

Body-less lions and headless statues abound

Along with the (fake) bloody human limbs that hang everywhere - there are some real bloody carcasses around as well.

Schutz got into the Halloween spirit with these paper mache
jack-0-lanterns made by the kids 

Fall Festival happened a week or two after Halloween.  I was still sick, so I missed most of the festivities - but Gary got a few pictures of some of the fun.

Our awesome Middle School math/science teacher, right from her assignment at Hogwarts - helped with the donut challenge

Head of school has a go at the donut challenge!

I wasn't sure if these were Halloween costumes or legitimate "outfits"

Hundreds - if not thousands - of Faceless men and women lined every single street in this market area.  Wouldn't this be a fun place to return to after dark??

Wadi El Natrun Monasteries

 Today, Friday, October 14 we were invited to visit the Monasteries at Wadi El Natrun, which is halfway between Cairo and Alexandria, in the desert.  I understand that it is 21 miles long containing various monasteries.  We visited 2 main ones, and stopped at 2 more, mostly to check out the gift shops.  The gift shops were packed. Some had some nice nativities that I may have to buy some day.  My Catholic friends were checking out the variety of rosaries. According to Wikipedia, the Natrun Valley is so named due to the natron salt that comes from there, used in ancient days to preserve corpses. It is the location of the "desert fathers" - a holy Christian site where in 330 AD St. Marcarius of Egypt wandered out into the desert to live the life of a hermit.  Desert monks believed that in the solitude of the desert, they could deny themselves all worldly pleasures in order to focus on God.  The earliest monks only ate bread and salt, they dug caves in the sand, and they worked on such labors as rope making and weaving.  They came together to build a chapel, where they would gather once a week while they ate in silence and the high priest would read from the Bible.  They then would gather provisions like water and food and walk back to their solitary caves.  Some of the buildings we were in dated back to the 6th century, and though many now have rounded roofs or light fixtures, they are relatively unchanged from their early days.

For this outing, 14 of us, a diverse group from Egypt, England, Mexico, Canada, and various part of the US, as well as Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Coptic Orthodox, and agnostics packed ourselves into one of the school's vans, and off we went for what was to be a very informative day.

The entrance to the first monastery we visited

One of the many monks who greeted visitors and blessed the faithful

The people are gathered around the uncorrupted body of the Saint.  They spontaneously break out in song.  The monk told us that they sing the Saint's biography.

The original well that led the first desert fathers to this location

Due to some heavy rains last year, the building is in need of some repairs.  During the renovation, they discovered windows they never knew existed.  Note the shape of the windows - probably meant to look like angels

The monk explained that the sun ring behind all of their heads has to do with the fact that at this time many Egyptians still worshipped "Rah" the god of the sun.  Mary and the early popes and other icons were given sun rings to symbolize that their God was more powerful than Rah in order to convert people to Christianity.  He also told us that there are two words on the picture of Mary and baby Jesus which indicate that Christ was fully human, born from a human, but also the Son of God, so he was fully divine as well.  This was an early argument in the church - was he fully a man, the Son of God or was he God in a man's body?

This is an ancient flour mill that is still operational.  The monk holds the large branch and walks it around and around in the circular building.

The water jugs ancient monks would carry back to their dessert caves filled with water for the
week

This is the recipe for Holy Oil.  We were given some small bottles of Holy Oil upon entering.

Monks making holy oil

This is where the ancient monks would gather to eat their bread and salt, once a week (or less for some).  When they joined the monastery, they were to lie prone on the ground while the prayer of the dead was recited above them.  This was to symbolize that they were dead to the.  They were to take a new name, to eat as little as possible.  (Most of this ceremony is still true today. The monk who talked to us said he did not want to come up with his own name and the elder monks refused to give him one, so he remembered a comment a professor had made to him in seminary, so he took that name) They felt that when man tries to interpret God's messages using his own brain, mistakes are made, so they were taught to pray and meditate, but not to question the leader.  Anyhow, because they believed they were dead to the world, they sat on the ground to eat.  The leader would sit at one end and read the Bible to the group and pray and they would all eat in silence.  After the meal was over, they would gather their provisions such as water and walk back to their caves in the desert.  For some, this was their only meal of the week.  One of the saints that was mentioned several times also tried to deny his body sleep and would sit up and tie his hair to the ceiling so that if he nodded off, his hair would be pulled so he would be woken up.  This guide also mentioned one of his mentors that he met in the 1970s.  The monk is still at the same monastery, but he has not left his two room domicile for 30 years! He said back in the 1970's, when he first came to the monastery, this particular monk would sit in front of his apartment from 9am-10am in order to get some sunshine.  He said he wondered if he was a little crazy or if something was wrong with him, but one day the monk rose to his feet and walked with a very straight stance right to the chapel.  This guide obviously admired this man and he said that he knew that he himself would likely go crazy if he did not interact with people.

This guy also told us an interesting story about why they keep the body of the Saints where the people can not touch them.  He said Egyptians like to take things that are meaningful to them - even monks.  He said one time they had the body of a Saint laid out in a Monastery.  The body had already turned black and was dried out, and the monks were praying over it.  One of the monks broke off a finger and put it in his pocket to have it with him!  When the Pope found out about it, he ordered the doors of the Monastery locked and everyone had to remain inside and pray continuously until the guilty party returned the finger.  Four days later it was returned - so now none of the monks want to chance that someone will steal a part of the bodies, so they are always covered up and out of reach!  

Another thing that he told us what about "uncorrupted bodies" - those that do not decompose and have a very sweet smell.  I am not sure I totally believe that this is possible, but I do have to say as I walked by the wooden casket of a Saint, next to where they claim John the Baptist's bones were discovered, I actually had to press my nose up closer to the casket as it had a wonderful smell radiating from it.

 This fresco is part of the most recently built building in the monastery.  It is a museum for the well-loved Pope who died in 2010. These are the garments that he wore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Shenouda_III_of_Alexandria

This is the supposed location of John the Baptist. It was near here where there was the delightful smell.

This is a bowl of ful and bread that was served to us (for free) at one of the monasteries.  They also served us tea and coffee.http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2014/05/ful-mudammas-recipe/

Beautiful artwork adorned many of the ceilings

This is a Coptic Book of Readings.  On the left of each page is the Coptic Language, on the right is the Arabic words.  I believe they said the Arabic words are said when the Priest is facing East, with his back to the people in the congregation - the Coptic words are said to the West, facing the congregation.  The monk below read the words in Coptic for us so we could hear the language.  We were all drawn in my this man's mannerisms and charm.  He was a hoot!

After the monks moved inside the walls, they built a row of very small "cave-like" rooms where they lived. They are each divided into two rooms - one for greeting guests and the other for sleeping and praying. This is how the caves in the desert were designed - two rooms. Today they have apartments with electricity and modern conveniences, but they are still just two rooms, laid out in the same fashion. Notice the size of the doors.  They basically had to crawl in.

The Coptic Christians are known for the many, many ways they represent the cross.

Some of the artwork was hundreds or even thousands of years old - and was barely recognizable as paintings. Here is a look inside one altar room that has not been changed in hundreds of years - maybe longer.  It seems to me that they said the ceiling in this particular altar room dates back to 1500 or so.

 

If you look closely, you can see the faint outlines of murals from days gone by.  This is an altar room. Only the priest/monk is allowed to enter the altar room.  They face towards the East wall, of the rising sun, to give the sermon, first in one language, then turn to the congregation in the west to give it again in another language. The altar rooms were surprisingly large, with relatively narrow doors so not everyone can see the Priest in the altar room.  There are no benches or places for the congregation to sit or kneel - instead just a counter to stand behind that holds the Bibles and readings.  There were more than one altar rooms in each place.  I never thought to ask why.  Do they each have a special purpose, or do they have 3 or so sermons going on at one time?  The door openings to the altar room are covered with various curtains that people were continuously touching and kissing.

Finally, a look at our really amazing guides who told us so many interesting stories. By the way, ALL of these men were doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, or other professionals BEFORE becoming monks.  This man had a spiritual experience his 2nd year of college that convinced him to become a monk.  He told us stories about women who lived as monks their whole life and were only found out they were not upon their death! He then said they have no nuns in the desert because the conditions are considered too harsh for them! lol

This last one is a video of how loud the church bells are here.  Everything is louder in Egypt - it is just a LOUD country!  At the end, I also got a picture of our first guide.

Life in Alex and at Schutz

Today at the grocery store, (my first solo trip to get groceries) the lines to check out were over one aisle long.  I got in a line I guessed was the shortest, but a man said something in Arabic to a woman carrying a hand basket like mine and pointed across the store, indicating we both needed to go there.  I followed the lady to aisles 1 and 2, where other people seemed to have hand baskets, and got in line.  After a few minutes in aisle 2, a lady in aisle one said in perfect English, "I think it is better if you get in this line."  I thanked her for speaking English and did as she said.  This seemed like a good analogy for how things are for us in Egypt.  We get the gist of what is going on here, but a lot of things are still a mystery to us.  We have had Egyptian friends and long-time Schutz staff explain some things to us, but as far as having a real deep understanding of why things are the way they are - most of what I tell you is based on my surface-level understanding of the things I see.  I actually might be entirely wrong, but it is how I perceive things at this point in time.  So, take what I say as someone who is like a small child in her understanding at this point....

As a side-note to my grocery experience, I thought it was a bit funny that the people who invented Algebra (the Arabs) would use such as strange system for checking people out at the grocery store. Algebra has never been my strong subject, so I have taken as much professional development in Algebra as I could. During my "Algebra for All" course, they explained how algebra can be used to determine which line one should wait in if they want to get through the fastest. (Most of the time, assuming no one has to get a price check, etc)  It is almost always faster to wait in the shortest line, even if the people in that line have the most things to check-out than it is to get in a longer line where all the people only have a few items each.  So, this idea of putting everyone with under 10 items in one line makes those waiting to check out in that line wait longer.  People in aisles 2-10, who had full carts, waited much less time to check out than I had to.  Why couldn't I stay in the line with fewer people but more stuff to check out?  Oh well, this is just a small example of things that seem kind of crazy from the people who built pyramids and invented some major math concepts.


Being from a small town, there are some things that are new to us just because we are now in a city. The idea that we can now ride a tram to get to various areas in the city is a novelty to us - and the fact that we can do so for about 10 cents, (or 50 cents if we want to splurge on a "fancy" tram!) is just a bonus.  However, this being Egypt, even the "fancy" trams are long-past their prime.  It is a step back in time - box cars with wooden tables and curtains, the tables now scratched, the curtains now faded - the floors show signs of the outside streets, the dirt and garbage that has been brought in on the feet of the passengers.  This place has seen better days. Most sources seem to say that those "better days" happened between 1950's-1970's. (Around the time of Nasser's socialist rule and Sadat's US alliance, whether or not they are connected, I do not know) On one of our evening walks, I noticed a building with "Chippendales" written across the top.  A couple of the brass letters were missing, but the building still had the outline of those missing letters.  We were told there was a time when clubs and bars lined the Corniche (the main road running parallel to the Mediterranean coast in Alexandria).  Today, few bars exist anywhere in Alexandria.  Most restaurants do not serve alcohol.  We order our drinks through a couple of online services -"Drinkies" and "Cheers".  (You can also find these "stores" around now too, a newer development) The alcohol is brought to us in black plastic bags.  We are not big drinkers, but that still not does make us feel any less sleezy to have our drinks delivered to us in thick, black plastic bags. We have been told that this aspect is getting better - there was a time in the recent past that you had to sneak alcohol into the country in your luggage!  The current Egyptian government is not as religion-based as the previous government, so things are relaxing a bit.

In our neighborhood, the people are used to seeing Americans and our western-style clothing and we don't notice any additional attention being given to us.  Walking beyond our block, we do pay attention to what we wear.  Wanting to respect the current culture, Gary mostly wears shorts beyond his knees and t-shirts, and I also do not show my knees or shoulders (or wear plunging necklines).  Many American women also wear scarves or sweaters that cover their elbows when they go out. We have been told that it is still culturally acceptable for men to do cat calls, and say inappropriate things to women as they walk by, especially if they are not covered head to toe.  In this case, not speaking Arabic is a good thing as I am happily oblivious of those comments.  In Saudi Arabia, they have "Morale Police" who will approach you if you are not dressed conservatively enough or are doing something else they think is not in accord to the state religion. In Saudi, a single woman can not be out in public unless accompanied by a man.  It is NOT like that here in Egypt.  Fortunately, religion (and all the morale beliefs associated with the various denominations and religions) is still a personal decision, not a state one. 

I feel like a big lesson I have learned is how smart our forefathers in America were to make sure that there is a separation between church and state.  Times change. Styles change. Culture changes. Perhaps some Americans cringe when they feel the young people are wearing clothes that show off too much of their body. Some Americans dislike the fact that we have too many bars, or that alcohol is legal at all.  Some disagree with  legalized birth control and/or abortion. Some do not like that people are allowed to wear tattoos, color their hair, or pierce their body.  Some hate that marriage is now a union between two people, regardless of sex or gender. Some get upset when people swear. Some Americans do not think women should be in positions of power or should not serve as ministers or priests. We all have the right to practice and believe all of these things in our personal life.  The problem comes in when people want the government to enforce their personal religious beliefs for everyone else. In some ways, the Middle Eastern governments support much of the Christian Conservative's ideal policies - (no alcohol, conservative clothing, no swearing, no birth control, no abortions, women not allowed to be employed in certain positions, no kissing or hand-holding in public, no sex before marriage, etc) - but many of these same people do not think Middle Eastern governments support the "right" conservative religion!  Liberty knows no government religion or policies.

EGYPTIAN STREETS

APRIL 5, 2014

By Mohamed Khairat, Founder, EgyptianStreets.com

Egypt in the 1900s was a different place. Egyptian cinema was the third largest in the world, Cairo was a city that foreigners dreamt of spending their holidays exploring, Egyptian music flourished and shook the world, Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together as neighbours, and women had freedoms that were unheard of in many other countries.

Egypt was a place of liberal spirits, unhampered by sectarian and ethnic prejudices. The rights of men, women and children were championed.

I do not yet understand what caused the decline of Egypt, but I have to imagine it was in part, years of a corrupt government and a selfish ruling/upper class with little pride for this beautiful country and the potential of its common people, and people who were beat down and just gave up. Tourism was a 12.5 billion dollar industry in Egypt in 2010.  It is now at $5.9 billion.  The revolutions and the world-wide terrorism threat has played a part in this most recent decline.  I am sure there are people who could explain the history of the decline from one of the strongest economies in the world (the Egyptian pound was once stronger than the US dollar), and books I could read about the decline, but the result is just heart-breaking.  There are very good people here in all social classes.  There are people who are working hard to restore Egypt to its former glory.   Egypt has amazing treasures, both modern and ancient.  Businesses are opening back up, new businesses are starting. The streets are getting cleaner.  There are signs of new things being built and old things being taken down. Unfortunately, the inflation rate is quite high, and the unemployment rate is still much too high - making basic resources like food more difficult for the average Egyptian to buy in order to feed his family.  These are some of the basic human needs that caused people to revolt back in 2011, so the hope is that the new government is on the right track and things will begin to turn around. Unfortunately, change takes time - and when you are hungry and life is hard - it is hard to wait for change.

So, Gary rides his bike nearly every day while I am at work - dodging the street dogs and cats, the piles of garbage on the streets, the loose/rusted sewer covers, and the insanely narrow streets with broken down cars and the street vendors to get to the Corniche where he can ride on sidewalks (most of the time).  He spends leisurely days sitting in seaside cafes sipping water or pop.  The cafes and restaurants are never in a hurry to see you give up your seat and you can sit for hours on end watching the waves and the fishermen and the rising or setting sun and listening to the sounds of the city and the sea.  Sometimes he goes down by the local fishermen and watches what they are doing.  After work, we often go for a walk - where we again dodge the crazy traffic and dirt and garbage, but also admire the spirit of the average business owner, the simple beauty of kids playing soccer in the streets, or the 8 year old driving the horse and cart loaded with hand-made furniture or fruits from the fields, or we watch the waves roll in. We wonder why Egyptians do not seem to pay attention to details - like missing letters on signs, like trim that is only partially finished, like the granite floors where it appeared that they ran out of the one kind of granite, so they just put the last couple of squares in in a totally different color and style of granite, like the grout that is slopped all over the top of the tiles and never cleaned off, or like the wires hung willy-nilly all over the streets down the outside of buildings, with no care in the world.  We try to stop and imagine what the buildings were like when business was good in Alexandria.  The workmanship on many of the older buildings looks quite good, but there is a clear lack of maintenance. We are struck by the over-the-top gaudiness of much of the furniture that is for sale - gold-leafed furniture, with the intricate designs of the Victorian age, and equally over-the-top light fixtures and decorations.  We shake our heads at the number of stores selling very sexy negligees - not in back alleys, not sold in black plastic bags and secretly delivered to your address, such as is the experience with buying alcohol - but glass front stores, right out in the open, with weird scantily-clad mannequins!  This is such a land of contrasts. 

Gary on one of his daily bike trips - taking a break on a breakwall

Schutz is our little paradise.  It is clean.  The buildings are mostly kept up. We have grass.  We also joke that it is a retirement village with people of all ages who spend time working to support their socializing and traveling habits.  Most everyone steps up to plan some type of social activity in which everyone can participate if they want.  Yesterday was trip to a private beach in Agami followed by a steak and pizza dinner at a nearby restaurant following our time on the beach.  There are resident parties poolside.  Someone has invited everyone to visit some monasteries in the desert near Cairo later in October.  The neighborhood had a new coffee shop open recently and we were all invited to the Grand Opening.  There was a baby shower for one of our residents who became a first time dad.  There have been pool parties, just to have an excuse for a pool party - with many Egyptians as well as residents. There was an invitation to attend a concert.  From time to time, there are invitations to go to the local sporting club to play golf or other activities. There have been invitations to join Book Clubs and yoga groups.  Of course, there are also private dinner parties, movie parties, etc.  

Private beach in Agami, just north of Alexandria

Baby shower

Golfing at the Club in Alexandria

Huge golf course inside a packed city

Some of our youngest Schutz residents showing off their dance moves with some of our teachers at the Grand Opening of a neighborhood coffee and tea shop.

In addition, we attend a church that meets right in the auditorium at Schutz.  The pastor and his family are American.  The church is a combination of all denominations.  It starts with a half hour of singing - led by a band of about 5 people with drums and guitars, singing mostly modern Christian pop songs, with a few traditional songs interspersed. The words are projected on a screen. The pastor and his young family live fairly close to the school.  He is the son of a pastor, and is quite a dynamic speaker himself.  He uses the technology available to him very well and always links the scripture with something meaningful to life today.  The current lecture series is on "The Seven Deadly Sins" - beginning with the sin of pride, which he talked about with humor, on-point memes, and an ability to avoid making anyone feel guilty. The congregation is made up of many university students, mostly coming from Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda.  Several Schutz staff members attend, as well as local Egyptians, S. Americans, and Chinese.  There have been as many as 137 in attendance during the week we were gone to Sweden.  Last week they started their "Open Doors" campaign and "Life Groups".  I signed up for a "Women's Night Out" group and Gary signed up to help with setup and take-down.  The church also offers photography groups, Men's sporting groups, music groups, Bible study groups, Men's Night Out groups, kids groups, etc.

If you tap on this picture and enlarge it, you should be able to see the stickers indicating the home locations of church members.

So, people say there is not a lot to do in Alex - which I find funny coming from the UP where there are people who complain about the same thing! No matter where I am, I have never felt like there is not enough to do.  If anything, I sometimes feel like there are too many choices.  (Which is a great "problem" to have) But, from time-to-time, I just want to be alone -stay inside and read a book, write in my blog, watch tv, or search the internet. (As I am doing now while the rest enjoy a potluck brunch and Gary is golfing) Unfortunately, the internet is terrible here this morning (which we found is unique to our apartment, as the apartment upstairs does not have the same issues!) - so I will have to take a shower and go over to the school soon to get the pictures to download!