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| Clayton in a perfumery shop. I got suckered into buying some lotus perfume, but I think it was worth it. |
I've been attempting to scour for internet cafes nearby, and finally found one that doesn't seem too shady. After 45 minutes of trying to upload photos, all I get is three. Oh well, it's something. So here's a taste.
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The Emam House, a hostle and church, is surrounded by mosques. Calls to pray broadcast loudly and in varying timbres and volumes five times a day. |
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| Being the complete movie start/tourist at the Great Pyramids. Amazing as they were, being in the desert for a number of hours is not an activity I'd like to repeat often... |
Two days ago, we squished into a small bus for a two-hour ride south of Cairo to Anafora. Started by Bishop Thomas, a wiry, beady-eyed Copt with a crazy imagination and will-power to beat, this monastery and retreat center is an oasis. Mud-brick buildings all white-washed inside; curved roofs with colored stained-glass hole-width windows; a soothing pool and palm trees in the center of the compound. It serves as an ecumenical retreat/conference center, and we were lucky enough to spend one night there.
My friend Elizabeth commented that I was sighing and oohing all the time--especially at the food and trees with food on them (such as date-laden palms, avocado trees, fresh herbs). Sleeping on a squishy pillow and in my own bedroom with a mosquito net was just icing on the cake.
One person will be doing their service here, which seems incredibly too cushy, but part of me is jealous. The history of the Coptic church, and their persistance to survive in the face of constant (to this day) discrimination and persecution is inspiring. Joining the 6 am mass (yep, too early), I let the chanting of the nuns and cantor-singing of the monks, wash over me and fill me with the Holy Spirit; with foreign sounds and a sense of belonging to an ancient history and broad family of faith.
Returting to the buzz and smog of Cairo, I feel 'at home' in a way. A true sign I'm a city girl, albeit a lover of places of rest and quiet.
