Day 3 in Egypt

While most of our group spent the day on tough assignment sightseeing at the Pyramids, riding camels, and purchasing souvenirs, I was blessed to be invited along on a reconnaissance mission with Brad and Brennan to Upper Egypt, which is geographically the southern part of Egypt. The Nile flows south to north, beginning as two separate rivers in Ethiopia and Uganda and dumping into the Mediterranean Sea at the north border of Egypt. Upper Egypt refers to where the Nile begins, and Lower Egypt where it ends. And that's your geography lesson for today! I'm certain Leslie will check my work and correct any errors. Love you, hon!

This morning began with an early morning ride in Samy's Toyota Corolla from the hotel to the train station roughly 20 miles away without stopping once. Hadn't noticed before because we usually travel on a big bus, but there are no stop lights or stop signs in Cairo. None! No vehicle every actually comes to a stop. All traffic roles together in a crazy organized chaos.

We got on the train and traveled 3 hours in the comfort of first class to a small town of 15 million people in Upper Egypt called Minya. It was a great ride. We talked with Ehab (the missions leader of our partner church Kasir El Dobara) nearly the whole way, learning about the culture and politics of Egypt and how the politics of America affect Egypt. One of the many takeaways was that the Egyptian people love Obama because he is Muslim. They believe he is a Muslim! As a result, Ehab says, persecution of Christians around the world is made easier because those who would wish or do harm or make things more difficult for Christians are emboldened knowing that the American government will not challenge them under Obama. Previous to Obama they feared the potential consequences for such action. Not sure I articulated that very well, but hopefully you get the gist.

Okay, off the politics. Upon exiting the train station we were greeted by a lovely Volkswagon van roughly same size as a minivan with seats for 14 people. We were very popular upon arrival. The Egyptian police took great interest in us, delaying our departure long enough to check us out. We arrived at our hotel, unloaded, and the police again took interest. We checked in, then piled back in the Volkswagon where the police took further interest. It seems they were convinced one of us was an "Israelian", which caused Brad and I to pause for reasons many of you know. "How in the world would they know that?" As a result, we earned a police escort, armed with AK-47s left over from World War II, for the rest of the day! Yes, it seems the Egyptian government fears Israel and goes to great lengths to protect "Israelians" (I know the proper usage is Israeli) from Muslim extremists. This they told us. I was relieved that it was "fear" and not "hate" motivating them.

Quick note on the hotel. NOT what we were expecting! We thought we were heading into third world territory with people in the streets and us sleeping in tents. As you can see we were pleasantly surprised with a resort on the Nile, beautiful swimming pool, bumper cars (circa 1960), massage therapy, and yes... more HoHo's!

We left the hotel with our police escort and headed for a small village of roughly 5,000 people, 10 percent of which are Christian. Drove through the city, through the suburbs, then through the country, then through massive farm fields of corn, soy bean, and other anonymous staples. The further we went the fewer motorized vehicles and the more donkey powered transportation we saw. Don't get me wrong. There was plenty of donkey traffic in the city. By the time we got to this village we were on very narrow dirt roads. Children lined the roadways, playing with sticks and whatever else they could find. We saw children bathing in the filthy irrigation canals.

We arrived at the church in the village, which is also the home of its pastor. It's a 5 story structure with a chapel on the first floor, balcony on the second, living space on the third, preschool on the fourth and fifth floors. The fifth is also the roof. Note the bathroom on the roof. Just a hole in the floor. We had the opportunity to play with about 25 children while there who were singing and dancing for us. We gave them knuckles, took pictures, and showed them themselves in the pictures, something we suspect they've not seen before.

Next we stopped by to visit with two families in their homes. I'm not sure how to describe this experience, except to say that it made me really appreciate (and almost feel guilty for) all that we have in Rockwall, Texas. Grace, the girls your age have maybe two outfits! One to wear and one to wash. Walk through their front door into one room, a little smaller than our piano room at our house. That is their living and sleeping space. They had a makeshift bed in there where all five of these family members slept together. Walk through a doorway into a room the size of our laundry room and that is the kitchen and bathroom. No stove. No fridge. A few pots and a water pot. Same room is the bathroom, which is nothing more than a hole in the ground. Last room, same size as the first, is their chicken and goat room. That's where they raise chickens mostly for the eggs and where they keep their goat for milk. If the father is lucky enough to get work in the fields he average a $1.00 a day, maybe $30.00 U.S. a month.

Despite all of this obvious hardship, what couldn't escape us was how happy these people seem to be. Children playing and holding hands and smiling. The parents don't realize just how poor they are. Their biggest prayers amount to having enough food each day to feed their families, and for their health. Their biggest dreams? To one day move up from a mud brick home to a stone brick home.

We took lots of pictures of the kids, families, their homes, and their village. I'm posting a few for you to see. There is so much more I could tell you about what I learned today but just don't have the time. Today was one of the more extraordinary and enlightening days I have had in a very long time. I truly had no concept. It was interesting to watch Brennan (Brad's 15-year-old)realize just how good he has it home.

So, we packed ourselves back into the Volkswagon and headed back through the fields, country, suburbs, and into town to our hotel where we had lunch at 5:00 p.m. They had some italian on the menu! I ordered pasta arrabbiatta. Ehab, our host today, ordered us the special "stuffed pigeon". Yes, I tried it. Tasted like you'd think pigeon would taste. Not so good. But, apparently, in Egypt if you want to honor someone, feed them pigeon.

After lunch we looked around the hotel property, played in the bumper cars, and went for a swim in the giant swimming pool (not in the Nile). Then we napped for a bit and headed out for dinner at 9:00 p.m. Nothing unusual here. Rice, chicken, and sausage. Capped off the day with a couple more HoHo's.