Coptic Cairo Day

Today was Coptic Cairo day. We visited mostly Christian churches (but also a synagogue and a mosque)and had to give a presentation on one of them. I presented on the Ben Ezra Synagogue which was interesting; supposedly when the Nile flooded, the basket that Moses' mother left him in washed up and was found in the well behind the synagogue. We also visited a mosque, and it was the first time I had ever been inside of one. It was huge and was definitely the most serene place of worship I've ever visited. I think the best site overall though, was a cave church that the "Zabaleen" (trash people) attend, and I was completely in awe. It seated 20,000 people and was carved into the side of a huge rock formation. I really still can't get over it. The pictures couldn't capture a fraction of how fantastic it was.

After leaving the cave church we drove back through the Zabaleen village, which was really strange because a bunch of us had seen a documentary about the village and could recognize some of the areas that had been in the film. We saw their recycling practices in action, and they are really great at what they do. They recycle 80% of the garbage they collect. Next, we went to Abduh's house(the guy who coordinates our vans and security), and his family cooked us SO MUCH FOOD. Abduh is the nicest and funniest guy and he played a bunch of hilarious games with us.

After we left Abduh's house we came back to the hotel for a little bit and then went on a feluka (small sailboat) ride on the Nile at sunset, which was really relaxing. We ate dinner at this little sportsbar not far from the hotel and then hung out at the Flamenco for a couple hours.

1. spirituality: I think the mosque and the cave church were probably a couple of the best suited locations for religious practice I've ever been to, and I think it's because both of them are partially or completely outside. It is so nice to be able to look around and see further than the four walls of a building.
This woman was at one of the churches we visited, and she was asking for money. When she walked by me, she sort of blew me a kiss, but in a "blessing" kind of way. I got the feeling she is a tough lady.
the mosque we visited
the cave church

2. what are we doing???: The Zabaleen recycle 80% of the trash they collect, WITHOUT a lot of modern technology. We have the technology, but we're nowhere near 80%. These people have things to teach us, and we have technology to share with them. The answer to a world problem is right there in that village.

3. hummus: Katie Borge, I'm back on my hummus kick. The hummus here is SO GOOD. It's spicy but not hot and I could eat it for every meal. Abduh's wife gets an A+ in my hummus book.