The woman in Al-Hussein

I'm not sure how to begin this entry but her face keeps coming into view. She was an old woman in the mosque of Hussein in the old city of Cairo, Egypt. A large gray headscarf covered her frail little body. She instructed people where to stand and indicated to me that my scarf was not covering my head completely. I made the necessary adjustments. Her life it seemed revolved completely around this landmark. I imagined that she had spent everyday here standing by the door and helping the tourists and locals to pray in an overpacked hall. It felt so simple and so beautiful. Having a life completely dedicated to God.


When I finished the evening prayers she turned around to me and again gave specific instructions. "Go say salaam to him," she said. She motioned towards the ornate doorway that opened into the gallery where Imam Hussein's body is entombed in iron and gold. Imam Hussein, Grandson to the prophet Mohammed (s), son of Fatimeh Al-Zahra (a) and a distant grandfather to myself, died defending Islam and his family against tyranny. The room was vaste and all around me I could hear whispered prayers. I saw Americans there and others praying too. I asked that I be united with those that have left this world but spent their living life serving God. I asked that my life and deeds and God's mercy would put me in his shade beside the great leaders of the past.

Imam Hussein was murdered because he would not pledge allegience to Yazid. He gave his life, literally, to defend his people. His life and death directly impact the way we live today.

I know that I don't need to have a life that consists entirely of sitting in a mosque and helping others to pray, or a life of war and struggle ending in martyrdom. But I do know that my life must have the same purpose and dedication.

Visiting the old Hussein mosque reminds me of this. Everything in life should remind me.

Its all just sand

I am in Al Arish now; which was once a beduin camp that grew into a common tourist destination. How funny that the wandering Fatimeh is now living on the grounds of a beduin camp. Al Arish is also a small coaster city located 25 miles to the East of the Palestine border. As far as finding a calling, this is closer to being in a hotspot than ever. When Palestinians broke the borders this was the city they came to in need of medicine and supplies. This is the city that was sold out of many things for months to come because the Palestinians were unable to buy it in their own county... their own strip of land. Many young Araishees sport the Palestinian Kafeya.  The symbol of pain and ongoing relentless struggle.

Those who know me may hear me speak my mind freely. This is actually a common trait of Egyptians and usually leads to a negative result. Egyptians have opinions. But in the subject of Palestine, many stay silent. Al Arish itself was under Israeli military occupation from 1967 to 1979. Since 1979 Israel and Egypt have abided by a peace treaty. However, I think being over 4 hours away from Cairo makes the residents of Al Arish more Palestinian than they are Egyptian.

Al Arish is full of other little discoveries. Electricity usually works seamlessly, but not always.

And there is not one wireless connection in this city so far.

And running in the morning on the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea is an amazing experience.

And I think no one wakes up at all before noon in this city except me. I'm told that I'm crazy to be awake so early... there is a first time for everything.

And now its time for breakfast.

Over and Out.

The Fiat and Fatimeh of Arabia

On Thursday my cousins that I am staying with in Cairo, Egypt took their TOEFL exam and then were free in the afternoon. While they were gone we went out with another cousin to visit two aunts whom we have not had the opportunity to visit so far this week. I must say this has been my favorite day so  far, that must be why I blogged it. Unlike my usual sleep schedule in Kansas City, I am the first awake every day around 8 or 9 am. Generally my cousins leave for work at about this time. The rest of the house sleeps until the Adhan of Dhuhr (the call to noon prayer). 

Many who travel the world boast of a host's hospitality and generosity. My trip has exceeded expectations. Everyone is so generous with their time and efforts here. Every home that we have visited has offered for us to stay for a night or two. Everyone begs that we take our lunch with them, or dinner. Every aunt has presented to us the candy stash from the freezer and plethora of fruit on a platter. My brothers are extremely sick of Pepsi and Coke because everyone offers it and of course they drink it. I make excuses and drink water.

The point of this posting isn't necessarily the unending hospitality from our family and this host country. Rather I noticed something very interesting about these generous people yesterday when I was cruising Cairo with my cousin Leena. More than half of the cars I saw on the street were Fiats, like hers. And of those we guessed that almost all of them were built in the 1970s. The car I was crammed into, with two brothers, an aunt, Soha and Leena sported shag carpeting on the dash and a super keen aftermarket Sony stereo cassette player.

I spent the day thinking about how Egyptians were so generous. The Fiats were always jammed in traffic and crammed with people beyond their threshold. In Kansas City the average person seemed to drive a Chevy Yukon or Ford Explorer that would seat 10 Egyptians comfortably but usually only took one person to and from work.

Was it generosity to seat more people in a car that you barely keep running as it is? Somehow I went back and forth on this. At moments I felt so selfish.  Leena shouldn't have to make this car treck 6 people across the city in stop and go traffic. We could have easily hailed a taxi with more room. I pondered, everyone here seems to have a Fiat or similar and I can't imagine that they are all mechanics. So I concluded that it was perhaps the selfessness of  Leena and others that kept the old Fiats running. I'm sure there are more logical explanations, but I really like this one.

In the evening I took an hour and a half drive smashed in VW Beetle with 6 other family members to get to the pyramids. Poor planning made it impossible to go inside like we had on previous visits. However, this trip had to be the best as I didn't do something so touristy and investigate the graves of people long since deceased and removed. 

Instead we road Arabian horses in the old city and in the sand dunes that surround the pyramids. Aside from the random 4-wheeler who's headlights rudely broke our darkness, we road like explorers. I was Fatimeh of Arabia, with soar butt, back and hands I felt proud. Not only had I not forgotten how to ride a horse, I mastered my horse. I road fast into the darkness disturbing the sand. I had  illuminated pyramids at one side and sand as far as I could see at the other.

Perhaps other tourists have ridden the horses around the pyramids.  I saw locals riding near us and so it seemed as though I may have belonged. Then I had the epiphany of the day.

If I was in the right place at the right time and atop an Arabian stallion, I would discover something great.

Reporting live from Cairo, Egypt

CAIRO, Egypt: My journies have begun. For some reason borrowing my cousin's laptop to type my blog makes it seem impersonal. Like I'm out of place. As if being in a foreign country doesn't do that enough.
Well here goes on the travelling recap. I was set to leave Thursday from Kansas City to Minnessota to Amsterdam to Cairo. The plan was to spend a day in Amsterdam to do the Netherlandanese thing. I was supposed to be in Cairo Friday night / Saturday morning (2am)... instead I wasn't here till Tuesday night. Minnessotta had rain and apparantly planes can't go through rain like cars do. So we missed the flight to Amsterdam and slept on the floor in Minnessota. And got rerouted to Paris. And, well, it stunk. Literally.
But for real. I am not disheartened. I am so happy I got here in one piece, and when they lost my luggage they found it the next day. And my cat successfully made the 3-day treck here and will stay with me forever so long as I can find a grocery store that has cat food and she will figure out that Egyptian sand is just as good as the store-bought kitty litter.
I intend to keep this as a way to share some short stories and keep you updated on my quest to do whatever it is I am doing. I won't be twittering as often as planned because apparantly you can't e-mail from phones here. As soon as I figure out a fix, you will know.
Oh and in other news, Cairo won today. One step closer to the World Cup.
Over and Out.
Fah