November 8, 2009
Now I am writing from Damascus, Syria. Two days ago, we flew from Ankara to the border and then drove over the border into Syria. Then we drove to Antioch where we switched busses and then we drove to a city called Hama, where we spent the night. Hama is a city that has these awesome waterwheels that are 600 years old, made out of wood and are still working. The river Hamath runs through the city; this is one of the rivers that is mentioned in the Old Testament. Let me catch up with whats gone on:
The first day we flew into Istanbul and then took a bus to through the city to the Bosporus River and we had a river cruise. Then we got lunch, which consisted of a baked potato with so much stuff on it that I had no clue exactly what all it was. After the cruise, we headed to our hotel and then we had a free day to explore a little bit. Our hotel is right on the main square of the modern part of the city. We are right on one of the biggest shopping streets in all of Istanbul. I went out to dinner and we found this pretty sweet little Turkish style restaurant. The popular type of restaurant is a cafeteria style where you go through a line and point to what you want and then the guy will dish it and put it on a tray for you. It is extremely cheap though and pretty fun. Then we went and had an awesome cup of apple tea, which Turkey is known for, at a little outdoor café while we played checkers and backgammon.
The next day we heard from a journalist in the morning and after we went out to the old palace of the Ottoman Empire and did some touring around there. It was an amazing palace with so much space and so much detail. It was the palace for about 600 years and it housed anywhere from 4,000-5,000 people at one time. Afterwards, we just had free time, so I went over to the Blue Mosque and got to witness a Muslim prayer time in the Blue Mosque, which was really cool. Then I met up with some of rest of the group and we started to make our way back to our hotel, which was only supposed to be an hour walk but we were able to turn it into a 3 hour ordeal. It was really cool to see some of the city, though.
Friday, we went and met with a representative of the AKP of Turkey. This was a really cool speaker. First of all, we were shown into a conference room and served some tea and cookies. Then the representative came and started to speak and he was really cool. He joked with us and was really laid back.. They served us tea twice more during the session and then we all got AKP pins on our way out, after of course photos with the rep. I think that one of the things that made it all the better was that we went to the US consulate right after and we met with the general consulate of Istanbul. It was pretty cool, but it was the US so we weren’t real impressed.
Saturday, we met with a journalist and then we went to tour the Aya Sophis. It was a miserable day because it was freezing and it was pouring down rain. But the Aya itself is absolutely amazing. It was so huge and to think that it was built with 10000 workers was just ridiculous. I loved just walking around and getting pictures. After the Aya Sophia, we went to the grand bazaar of Istanbul, which is just a ton of shops crammed together in this tiny little space with guys hawking so many different things at you.
The next day I decided to go out by myself for the day and just explore some of the city that was around the hotel. I did find some sweet shops and stuff. That night I went out to dinner and after dinner we suggested karaoke. We had seen a couple of karaoke bars, and we got back to one that was open. Thankfully it was a Sunday night and so it wasn’t busy at all. It was awesome. We decided at the place that we should come back the next day and bring a big group.
Monday we went to Koc University, which is on the outskirts of Istanbul and overlooks the Black Sea. It is an amazing campus that was built only about 15 years ago, so it is still really new. We got a lecture from one of professors about some of the history of the politics of Turkey and then we met with students from the international relations department of the school. It was cool just to sit and talk with them for a while. We had free time after that and so there was a group of us that got dropped off in the old city and walked back to the hotel. That was cool because we got to see even more of the city. That night we heard from a pastor of an evangelical church in Istanbul about some of situations that the Christians of Turkey were facing. This was very interesting because we were able to compare all of this to the situations that we had seen in Egypt and what we would see in all the other countries.
After this, it was Karaoke time again. This time we went with a group of about 15 people and we had the entire place to ourselves. There were some awesome songs that came up. The guys did a Backstreet Boys song, there were some good dancing ones as well. But the best one by far was our finale. We sang “A Whole New World” from Aladdin as our last song, and it was awesome because all the girls were on one mic and the guys were on the other and we split the parts up perfectly. All in all it was an amazing last night in Istanbul.
The next morning we left Istanbul and had a 7 hour bus ride to the capital city of Ankara. Ankara wasn’t really that impressive because it is only a quarter of the size of Istanbul and doesn’t have that much to do. That night was a free night and so I just went out and explored the city by myself for a little bit.
The day after was Wednesday and we had an appointment with a representative from the ministry of foreign affairs. Afterwards, we went to Anit Kaber, the mausoleum of Ataturk. This was pretty sweet because it gave us an idea of just how much they revere Mustafa Kemal. I got to see the changing of the guards, which was really cool to see. They also had this museum type of thing with a history of the war of independence and a bunch of Ataturk’s old stuff.
The next morning we had a speaker then we drove out to the airport and got on our flight out to Hatay, a tiny Turkish town on the border of Turkey and Syria. This is where we got on our bus and drove through Antioch to the town of Hama, where we stayed the night. Hama has been pretty important politically in recent years because of the uprisings that have taken place and been put down there.
So Friday, two days ago, we left Hama and drove for about two hours until we got to the Krak de Chevaliers. The Krak is a crusader castle from the 11th century that is still in pristine condition and overlooks all land around. It is cool because from the top we were able to see Lebanon and the Lebanese Mountains. But the castle itself was cool just because it has secret passage ways and places that you have to have a flashlight in order to get to (Thankfully, our cell phones have flashlights). There was also this really sweet room with just a single beam of light coming through a window. This place was so freakin sweet that I could have stayed there for hours just walking around and climbing all over it.
After the Krak, we drove to this little town called Ma’aloula. Ma’aloula is one of only three towns left in the world that stills speaks only Aramaic, the language that Jesus would have spoken. Aramaic is only a spoken language and is passed on orally to children. Only recently have they developed a written part with the hopes that this will help preserve the language. We were able to see a convent and then a monastery and we were able to hear the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic from a lady there. This was a pretty cool little town.
We got into Damascus and did just a little walk around to find some food. We walked down the Straight Street, where Paul stayed until Ananias came to visit him. We found a pretty sweet restaurant and ate there. I had something called kobbeh in boiled yogurt. It wasn’t the best thing ever, but not awful. Then we came back and had some of the best ice cream that I have ever had.
Now, finally, yesterday. We ate breakfast here at the monastery that we are staying at and had devotions here. Then we met our guide at the Eastern Gate of the Old City and he took us to the original site of the house of Ananias. This was cool because they still have the church there that is from the third century. Then we walked to the Umayyad Mosque. This use to be the site of the temple of Damascus and then was converted to a church and then finally changed a mosque by Salah Hadin, the leader of the Muslims during the Crusades. We got to see the tomb of Salah Hadin, which is in its own little shrine. Inside the mosque itself was absolutely beautiful. There were mosaics like I have never seen and there was also the tomb of John the Baptist. It was really cool walking through all of these places and thinking that the people of the New Testament were walking these same streets two thousand years ago.
So that is what we have been up to on travel component. In shah Allah, my next update will be from Jerusalem…
10/27/09
Hey Everyone!
Sorry it has been so long since I updated. It has been the equivalent of finals week for us for the past two weeks. We had two finals, one in Arabic and the other in Islamic Thought and Practice. We also had our first batch of papers of due: 1 for Islam (mine was over the sura in the Qur’an that says God is the Light), one paper on whether or not imperialism is still effecting the region, one about if religion is the biggest challenge to human rights in the Middle East, and the last one about the relationships between the East and the West Church and Islam and Christianity. All in all it was a ridiculous couple of days. We go through the same thing when we have four more papers and a debate due at the end of November after we travel.
Speaking of traveling, tomorrow morning, we start the travel component of the semester. We have an early flight to Turkey, where we stay in Istanbul for six days before going to Ankara, the capital. Then we head to Syria for three days and then Jordan for two. Then we head off to Israel. We stay in Jerusalem for a week and then we travel to Tel Aviv and hit up Galilee, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and the Golan Heights for the next week. In total we are gone a month and get back to Cairo on November 25. During this travel we are meeting with guest lecturers almost every day and sometimes we have up to three in one day. We are also supposed to be reading and writing those papers that are due when we get back. Busy month….
We also went to Alexandria two weekends ago. It was absolutely amazing! Me and one other guy stayed at a really nice hotel on the Mediterranean and just chilled the first night. Then the next day we did all the sightseeing stuff. I went to the catacombs that are there and they were some of the coolest things I have ever seen. And then there was the library. Wow. That was one of the coolest pieces of architecture that I have ever seen.
Well next update will be from somewhere on the road!
10/13/09
This is going to have to be a quick note because it is coming down to crunch time here. We have two weeks before we leave for travel component and we have a lot of things due before then. That being said…
We got back from homestays about a week ago. Mine was really fun. It started pretty slow because Sherif was sick for the first couple of days. After that though, things picked up and we were able to hang out and have a lot of fun. He plays chess really well and we went out to a café one night and played til 2 am.
This past weekend we were in a town called Siwa. Siwa is on the border of Libya and has been totally isolated from the rest of Egyptian culture. People still get around on donkey drawn carts and bicycles. It is a completely different culture in that the women are strongly held back and some would even say discriminated against. We were able to meet with a Siwan who is a friend of ours and we got to ask about Siwan culture and life. We were also able to go to some of the natural hot and cold springs and go swimming. We also visited an ancient temple that once housed an oracle and Alexander the Great even came to Siwa to visit this oracle.
On Friday, we took Jeeps and went out into the Sahara desert, out to where we weren’t able to see anything except desert in all directions. It was truly something out of postcard, with the sweeping sand dunes. We also took snowboards and went sandboarding. It was so sweet. That night we stayed out at a Bedouin campground and slept under the stars. There were no lights and not a sound in any direction. It was so awesome.
This week has started the crunch period for papers. Everyone is starting to feel it and people are starting to stay up later and later every night. We have four papers due before we leave on the travel component in two weeks and then another four due after we get back at the end of November.
Tomorrow I am heading to Alexandria for a couple of days to relax, sightsee, and, in sha Allah, get some writing done. Possible update again after I get back on Sunday….
9/30/09
This week we are having home stays. This pretty much entails hooking every student up with an Egyptian family and then just sending us off. Some of them speak English and some don’t. Some are Coptic, some are Muslim. Some are big families and some very small. They are from all over Cairo, with some students taking an hour and a half to get back to the Villa for classes. One guy is even staying with a family that has had some gang involvement. It has been amazing so far.
I am staying with a guy named Sherif Gamil. He speaks broken English, and he lives by himself. This is very rare in Egyptian culture because they are so family oriented. But his whole family passed away, with his mother being the most recent three years ago. But he is a really cool guy. We hang out at his flat or out on the town at night. So far I have had an awesome time and hopefully will have some pretty sweet stories by the end of the week.
One thing that has been really helpful with these home stays is that we get extreme Arabic practice. My Arabic has increased more in the past two days than it has over the past two weeks.
We have also been able to engage a lot in the Coptic culture while we have been here. It is really cool to here how they are so ingrained in Egypt’s history that you really can’t separate the two, and yet most Christians have never heard of these brothers and sisters. I have come to admire their traditions and beliefs and they have given me such a new insight into my own personal faith.
Well, I got to get back to Sherif so until next time…
September 17, 2009
So this past weekend was absolutely amazing! Wednesday night, we all packed onto a bus and headed out for an overnight trip. We arrived at Mount Sinai at 2 in the morning and started out on a hike. We hiked for about 2 and a half hours til we got to the top of the mount and we were there for the sunrise. That was absolutely spectacular. Then we hiked down and headed out to Dahab.
I don’t think that I will be able to call any place beautiful again after seeing Dahab and the Red Sea. It was easily the most beautiful view I have ever seen. The blue was deeper and clearer than anyone could imagine. We went snorkeling at a place called the Blue Hole. It is a reef that forms a hole about 20 meters wide and hundreds of feet down. The coral was in every color imaginable with fish and sea turtles. In the background you have the red mountains of the Sinai Peninsula. Across the sea you are able to see the Saudi Arabian shore. It was majestic!
We spent the majority of Friday there and just walking the beaches. We had dinner on the roof of a restaurant under the moon. Then we left Saturday and made it home late that night.
Things have gotten extremely busy this past week. Once we got back we had lecture after lecture and our readings have piled up. We have so many readings and papers that it is getting to be overwhelming with trying to do all of it and take in Egypt at the same time. Hopefully we can get it all done.
Tonight we are leaving for Luxor on an overnight train. We are there for the weekend so I should have some pics from that sometime next week. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!
Maa Salaama
9/8/09
Today was another service project day out at the orphanage. It was a lot of fun and we talked with some of the sisters and decided to put on a skit for the elderly women next week. A little nervous about that, but it should be a blast.
We are headed out to Mt Sinai this weekend so I will update after we get back.
Peace
8/31/09
Hey again from Egypt! So we have officially finished our first orientation week and start into our normal schedule tomorrow. It is our first day of service projects tomorrow and I am heading down to an orphanage in Garbage City with four other people. We visited the orphanage today and it was really cool. They house any where from 1 day old to five years old as well as physically and mentally handicapped kids. There is also a type of nursing home for the elderly on the ground floor.
When we were at Garbage City, I was absolutely blown away. It is a city built into the dump, as the name says, but it wasn’t as heart wrenching as I thought. The people there have created a livelihood from recycling the trash and they are able to scrape by. They are not eating the trash or going through it for clothes, but rather for things to recycle. I was very impressed.
One thing that is really cool is the dynamic of the group that I have come to call my family over here. We have known each other less than a week, and it is like we have been together for years. We all realize that we are in this together and that is a common ground that we pull from. We just came out of a commitment night where we committed to each other and we shared strengths and weaknesses that we bring to the group. It was really cool to see how God was able to bring together complimenting strengths and weaknesses of different people.
Class start on Wednesday so keep that in your prayers. Until next time!
8/27/09
Salaam malaku! Greetings from Cairo! I am now sitting in one of the oldest cities in the world and I am being continually amazed by it. We arrived yesterday afternoon at Cairo International Airport and got on a bus and drove through the length of the city to Agouza, the “suburb” that we live in. We got to Agouza and were split up into our four living groups. I am with a group of seven other guys living in one flat. Our flat is amazing! It has three bedrooms, a full kitchen, full dining room, sitting room big enough for all of us, a living room, two bathrooms and a patio with an amazing view. We overlook one of the busiest streets in Cairo, which might not sound like much, but here it is amazing. We had our first dinner with Kareema, the chef, and we were all in love with right away. Then we did a little intro session with basic information and headed off to bed early since we were all exhausted from the traveling (some people had been traveling for over 50 hours!).
Today was our first full day in the great Cairo. We all met for breakfast and then had devos and then a survival Arabic course so we could at least make it home if we got lost. We then had a bus tour of Cairo and got our first glimpse of the pyramids (pic below). We came back and unpacked in our rooms.
One thing that is really interesting here right now is that the city is on a different schedule than it usually is because it is the holy month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, people don’t just abstain from food, but also from water, caffeine, nicotine, and sex. Since almost the whole city fasts from sunrise to sunset, stores and businesses change their hours and families meet for meals at the most seemingly ridiculous hours. Sunrise is about 6 am and businesses open about 9 or 10. Then they close about 2 or 3 so that people don’t have to put in a full day on an empty stomach. Then everyone is home and the either sleep or just sit around til sunset, around 7 or 8. The they eat a huge meal as soon as the sun is down, then one at midnight and then they go to sleep. At 3 am, someone walks around with a drum or a siren and wakes people up so that they can eat once again before sunrise. Then people go back to bed until they have to be at work at 9 or 10. We saw a futball game across from our flat going on at 1 am! How awesome!
Until next time, Maa a salaama!
