Pre-Finals Fun

Cairo, Egypt

The program director, Dr. Iman, invited us all to her beautiful garden for a delicious dinner. Students from the Music Club performed an Um Kulthum song in Standard Arabic, and another in colloquial Egyptian, and some of the professors also treated us to some amazing performances.

From Dr. Iman's dinner

Coptic Cairo

Cairo, Egypt

From Coptic Cairo

I've written a lot about the Copts in Egypt. Today we visited the neighborhood called Coptic Cairo, starting at the Coptic Museum. Our tour guide, once again, was an AUC Art History professor, who busted a few myths for us about the "primitiveness" of Coptic art. It's her feeling that the proportions are so contrived and stylized in order to differentiate Coptic style from the perfect realism of Greco-Roman styles. This column capital is a perfect example of the blend of stylized proportions and the exquisite craftsmanship of the stonecarvers.

From Coptic Cairo

Then we went around the corner to perhaps the most famous church in Cairo, the so-called Hanging Church because it was built atop one of the towers of the Roman Fortress of Babylon. Long the seat of the Coptic popes, it's been remodeled over and over again, but still retains many of its early architectural and artistic roots.

From Coptic Cairo

Next we went to St. Sergio Church, built over a crypt where Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus were said to have lived during their exile in Egypt. An Egyptian story goes that the leader of the monastery where they were staying recognized the divinity in Jesus, so when the family was leaving, he hung an ankh around Jesus' neck to protect him, and this is supposedly why the first Coptic crosses were actually ancient Egyptian ankhs.

From Coptic Cairo

Finally, we visited the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Jewish tradition holds that this synagogue is built along the canal (long gone) where Moses was discovered in his basket by the Pharoah's wife. When Jews returned to Fustat centuries later, they discovered certain signs left here by Moses, and built a synagogue in this place. That synagogue was eventually deserted and destroyed, and a church was built in its place, which was later rededicated as a synagogue. It is, however, no longer a working synagogue. Those wishing to go to temple must do so in downtown Cairo.

From Coptic Cairo

Birthday Boat Ride

Cairo, Egypt

From Birthday Boat!

I didn't get steak on my birthday (way out of my budget!) but I got the next best thing ... a falucca ride on the Nile with my friends from CASA. Of course, CASA didn't plan this trip because of my birthday, but the timing seemed perfect. Not many better ways to spend a birthday than on a boat, even if it was a "stink-pot," not a sailboat like my last falucca ride. Apparently the low city bridges make a sailing falucca less fun than they look.

From Birthday Boat!

In any case, about half the CASAween went on the trip, which constitutes almost half of everyone I know in Cairo. Cosette and Emma brought baclava to share with the group ... way better than birthday cake! And the captain happened to have Happy Birthday on CD. In fact, we were treated to about 7 versions of it!

From Birthday Boat!

There were water birds, houseboats and crew teams - not a sport I'd ever associated with Cairo before! And just as we rounded the point of Zamalek Island ... my camera batteries died. It seems Ni-MH batteries and heat don't mix well, and I'll have to start storing them in the freezer. Surely there'll be other falucca trips!

From Birthday Boat!

The First Monastery

St. Paul's Monastery, Eastern Desert, Egypt

From Hurghada and St. Paul

I mentioned before that the Copts of Egypt invented monasticism. Halfway back up the Red Sea Coast, we hung a left into the mountains for a stop at the world's first Christian monastery, St. Paul's. The original monastery didn't have any ground-level doors, to protect it from attacks by marauding Bedouin raiders. Instead, you'd ring a bell and wait for the monks to lower down a basket to lift you up to the top of the wall, or a basket full of food and water to help you on your way.

From Hurghada and St. Paul

The story goes that Paul, son of a rich man, became disillusioned with a life of wealth and exploitation, gave it all up, and went out into the Eastern Desert with only the clothes on his back. He settled in a cave near a spring, fashioned a robe for himself out of palm fibers, and God provided him with half a loaf of bread delivered by a raven every day. We went to his cave and shrine first.

From Hurghada and St. Paul

Tradition also has it that St. Anthony was leading an ascetic life, and was directed in a dream to go to St. Paul in the desert. On that day, the raven delivered a whole loaf of bread for their dinner. But St. Anthony could see that the old man was dying, and St. Paul sent St. Anthony to get the cloak of the bishop for his burial. When St. Anthony returned, St. Paul had died, on his knees in prayer. When St. Anthony, an old man himself, couldn't dig the grave, two lions came out of the desert and dug it for him. St. Anthony buried St. Paul in the bishop's fine cloak, and thereafter wore St. Paul's palm fiber robe on all church holidays. It was St. Anthony who founded the monastery here, and St. Anthony's Monastery at the next closest spring.

From Hurghada and St. Paul

As always, many more details are in the captions of my Web Album.

Kick Back and Relax!

Hurghada, Red Sea Coast, Egypt

From Hurghada and St. Paul

With my birthday right around the corner, it was time for a trip. There just happened to be one organized by American University's Arabic Language Institute to which CASA Fellows were invited, so I took a little advance on expected birthday income and took a well-subsidized trip to a 5 star resort in Hurghada on the Red Sea Coast.

From Hurghada and St. Paul

Tanned and rested, we came back up through the Eastern Desert along the Red Sea Coast, with its islands and gorgeous aquamarine waters.

From Hurghada and St. Paul

Talking About Teaching

Cairo, Egypt

This week's topic was education, which made me really happy, since that's the topic I'm best able to talk about in Arabic! And from bottom to top, the problems in the education system in Egypt are exactly the same as Jordan's: enormous class sizes, under-valued teachers, unhealthy focus on all-important exam results, and every parent's insistence that his children will be doctors and engineers, leading to wide-spread cheating in school and beyond. These are the problems everyone can agree on.

Then there are the more controversial problems, controversy aggravated by the role of American politics and money in these issues. There is genuine concern by many - both Arabs and Westerners - about the role education plays in religious extremism. The American solution, backed by American money, is to increase secularization and critical thinking in Arab national curricula, but these are touch topics in a constitutionally Islamic nation like Egypt or Jordan. Islam calls for government to be guided by religious principles, and to direct its citizens on the right path and protect them from sin. That's why, for example, alcohol is illegal in Saudi and proselytizing religions other than Islam is illegal in many Muslim countries. And as for critical thinking, well, that's okay in secular subjects - the sciences and social sciences - but it makes many conservative religious scholars nervous. It smacks of criticism, paternalism, and even neo-imperialism that belittles Egyptian character, values and history.

Meanwhile, of course, Egyptian kids are sitting 60 or 90 kids to a classroom (this is in grade schools!) with underqualified, grossly underpaid teachers who probably wanted to be doctors or engineers, but were forced into teaching because their exam scores weren't quite high enough. And it's just so hard to see a way out!

I Wish Mum Could've Come!

Fustat, Egypt

Today the CASA students took a field trip to Fustat, a district on the southern edge of greater Cairo, to the Fustat Traditional Crafts Center. First we visited the pottery workshop, where they showed us every step of the process, from mixing the clay to the right consistency, to some amazing artists on the pottery wheel, to the painting and glazing. It took me right back to the 5th grade, the year that we were homeschooled because of a teacher strike, and spent every Friday morning in a local potter's studio learning all those techniques as well as a 1st, 3rd and 5th grader could.

Then we headed across the street to the rest of the workshops. We started in the mother-of-pearl room, where they were piecing together the iridescent designs on those typical Middle Eastern boxes and backgammon boards.

From Fustat Handicrafts Center

Then we went to the copper workshop, where they were tapping out designs on platters and lampshades using a hammer and chisels or pointers. Next door in the woodshop they were doing carpentry, intricate inlay work, and carving designs in relief:

From Fustat Handicrafts Center

And it turns out that quilting is not only a handicraft native to America, but also native to Egypt. The quilting done at Fustat is all applique, not patchwork, but it's all hand-stitched and gorgeous! They make wall-hangings, seat covers, pillows, and more.

From Fustat Handicrafts Center

Because the Fustat Handicrafts Center's Website is only available in English, I've borrowed a few of their photos and given them English captions in my own Web Album. Enjoy!

Islamic Cairo

Cairo, Egypt

For excessive detail and superfluous factoids, check out the captions of my Web Album. We saw a ton of historic buildings today, so many that even my enthusiasm for random knowledge began to wane. I'll just hit you with the highlights here:

From Islamic Cairo

Al Azhar
The first famous universities for Islamic law and its related disciplines were in Basra and Kufa in modern-day Iraq, but the oldest university of Islamic sciences currently in operation, and by far the most famous, is Cairo's Al-Azhar University. A degree from here will get you a job in Islamic jurisprudence anywhere in the world. You might call it the Oxford or Cambridge of the Islamic world. Until less than a decade ago, Al-Azhar University was housed in the complex of madrasas, mausoleums, libraries and other related buildings that have accreted around the Al-Azhar Mosque, where we started our tour.

From Islamic Cairo

A Mausoleum Beyond Compare
The Qalawun Complex includes a mausoleum decorated with unbelievably intricate and monumental craftsmanship the likes of which you don't see anywhere in Jordan! There are many mausoleums in Islamic Cairo, especially on the main thoroughfare known as the Street Between 2 Palaces, aka al-Mu'izz Street, referring to two Fatamid palaces whose foundations lie beneath many of the other sites we saw. We saw several mausoleums, but this one just took my breath away!

From Islamic Cairo

Madrasas, Madrasas!
We saw many madrasas on this tour, schools established by endowments of powerful Muslim leaders to teach the principals of one or more of the five schools of Islamic jurisprudence. My favorite was Sultan Barquq's madrasa, which also taught Sufism, the mystic strain of Islam.

From Islamic Cairo

Cairo's Costco (but live-in!)
Merchant wholesalers traveled by caravan across the vast Islamic world, and when they reached a city, they would have to stay somewhere while they sold their wares. Known as a wekala in Arabic, a khan in Turkish, and a caravanserai in Persian, these structures were part market, part hotel, and could even accommodate a successful merchant's "wife in every port." Other caravanserai were positioned near water sources along major trade routes through the deserts, like Qasr Harranah in Jordan.

From Islamic Cairo

Bayt Al-Suhaymi
As much as I love history's monumental structures, I also adore restored homes, giving a more mundane look into history. Unfortunately, a crew was filming some period piece in the Suhaymi House, so we didn't get to enjoy as much of it as I'd have liked. One of many things to go back for!

...And Much More!
There were many other things we saw that you'll find in my Web Album, but this about covers my favorite parts of the morning. (Was it really just a morning?)

Classes on Copts

Cairo, Egypt

We've been talking about the Copts in Egypt all week, and I've learned that the experience of the Zebballeen I wrote about recently is not necessarily the average Coptic experience. Lest you get the wrong impression of the Copts, I wanted to revisit the topic.

In point of fact, Copts are more likely to inhabit the highest tax brackets. Despite being just 10% of Egypt's population, Copts hold 20% of the country's wealth. Much of it's probably in the church's coffers, which are heavily supported by money from the Coptic Diaspora. Like the Christians of Jordan, Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon, Copts tend to be better educated than a majority of their Muslim neighbors. In those other countries, this is because the British and French gave preference to Christian Arabs in the mandate period. In Egypt, the cause seems to be more like what makes Palestinians in Jordan or Jews in medieval Europe so economically successful. Because Copts have generally had a less than proportionate representation in government in the Islamic period, they've been pushed into the economic sector to support themselves. In any case, it tends to be easier for Copts and other Arab Christians to get visas and lucrative jobs in the West, and they send a lot of money home.

Things were arguably better in the 1920s, when Copts were 20% of the population and held as much as 50% of the country's wealth. Since the revolution that launched the Republic of Egypt, Copts feel that their fortunes are declining. Though there are always a few prominent Copts in government, most of the community feels that they are increasingly marginalized and disenfranchised. One example they cite is that the Egyptian national curriculum requires all Coptic children to learn about Islam, but not vice versa. The history curriculum teaches about the pharaohs and all the Islamic dynasties, but skips the 6 centuries of Coptic history in between.

Coptic Egypt was a vital center of the early Christian world. Monasticism was invented here. The Coptic pope oversaw the First Council of Nicea that developed the Nicene Creed, the description of the basic fundamental beliefs of Christianity that's still in use in the majority of Christian denominations. The strength of the Coptic community has waxed and waned over the centuries, but Copts flourished during the Fatimid dynasty, for example.

And of course there's Boutros Boutros Ghali, my favorite United Nations Secretary General by nature of the fact that his name's just so fun to say!