Waiting for a train

The train departing from Aswan leaves at 6:30pm today. The locals say it never leaves on time. It is a special sleeper train for tourists we have to be on time and wait. Its for our safety. The train has armed soilders in a car just behind the engines. When the train pulls into the station they poke their helmeted heads out and flash their automatic rifles. Although their faces look bored and tired

Its a little hard for me to grasp. The rifle thing…. Even the tourist police carry 9mm hand guns and automatic rifles. They wear white uniforms and very few speak an other language other than Arabic. They try to be helpful yet I think they’re presence is more a benefit to tourists than to do much more.

Driving along the route to Aswan there were many check points where we stopped and the taxi driver was asked what? Where? Why? The police were friendly. Still carrying large guns. It probably had more to do with to women tourists traveling alone. Its still hard to get used to seeing even if it is for my safety.

Some time later….

The train ride is twelve hours if it runs on time. Its a jerky bumpy ride. The train pulls past canals and the back side of villages and towns. From the window I see extremes…. Donkey carts… Piles of trash… Lush fields… Mud brick buildings with date palm leaf rooves…. New construction… Unfinisheded construction… Cows… Shaggy goats…. Women carrying pots and bags on their heads…. Men pushing cars…. Small boats floating in the canals… An endless stream of pictures framed in the window. I sit and take in this documentary as my train moves along toward Giza.

Dust…

The past few days in Cairo and its environs have given me a tiny insight to a world of conflicting realities. It unfolds as a mecca of history, science and a spiritual blending over time. These are like jewels hidden between the gray dust. The day to day activities of traffic movement, people working, beggars, goats, donkey carts mix with the poverty and garbage, adding a sense of entropic evolution…

Nothing/Everything is neither created or destroyed

Dust is the great equalizer. Nothing can contain it, everything is dressed with it, nothing can over come it…

Today the curbs seemed like dust pans collecting the bits and pieces of each day. But instead of throwing out the pile at the end of the day it sits there for everyone to see.

Its all weighed the same….

Ancient pyramids=Piles of dust.

Moving on to Aswan

Its the most beautiful … Although I’m really getting tired the scamming attempts everyone seems to be making. Just because I’m an american does not mean I’m  made of money…. its very odd and sometimes frustrating to get anything done and know what I’m paying for it. I acctually told off some kid who was trying to scam me out of money. Other than that reality…. all is going well and will be visiting the temple Philea today and the unfinished obelisk.

Starting to miss home…..

Funny thought…

While driving to the lecture last night I was thinking I don’t see any squirrels. As I watched the insane traffic I realized that squirrels would not be able run halfway accross the street and turn back like they do in the states. That would be a recipe to extinguish their species here in Cairo….

Luxor and Habou hotel

The 11 hour train ride to luxor was good. Leaving Cairo for a few days is a good idea. I was feeling overwhelmed by the dust, noise and chaos. I haven’t been on a long distance train ride in many years. I love riving trais! My only wish would have been for it to have had more daylight to veiw the scenery. The energy in Luxor is very different from Cairo. There is not the insane pace or pollution although the dust is still very present. The sun is bright hot, and oppressive this close to the equator. Very little rain falls if ever. The land is bleached into pale orchre hues and the homes along the road are built out of mud bricks and limestone. Some have one wall painted or a bright colored window frame. Donkeys wander about and in the evening they bray along with the distant loud speaker call to prayer.

Water is everything here. The Nile is the source. From every high vantage point I could see the green that comes when water is present. Bananas, dates, corn, sugar cane, and sesame, are just a few of the crops here.

We are staying at hotel Habou. Its a bit rustic. A bit run down. Very cheap and across the street stands the temple Habou. The road that runs between the hotel and the temple is being excavated. They found some ruins when they were creating a drainage ditch. There is a German group overseeing the project. The road for several hundred feet is trenched exposing a series of what look like small dwellings. Labors come and with recycled car tire buckets and shovels slowly move the soil from inside the trench to a huge long pile running long the trench. Watching the operation with complete boardom is truck load of Antiqities police.

Teaching

I gave my first lecture last night. It was a series of starts and stops until I find common ground. Language was the biggest issue. I kept having to redirect. I also felt my examples were not targeted for their every day world… Eventually it came together. In the end, I scrap most of the lecture and talked about my products. I felt it was a good lesson… Humbling. Although, I wish to share my knowledge it is important for me to remember that my mind is much deeper a long tne path. Figuring out a way to plan lessons that focus on smaller areas and then moving to more complex ideas seems workable.

I’m giving a small lecture this morning and will present just the practical applications.

Isalmic Cairo

The call to prayer at sunset is magic. The sky changes from light to dark as the mosque  illuminate. Its a slow dance of light and color. The call is echoed from mosque to mosk rising above the din of traffic and street sounds.

While sitting in the open central square of a mosque one evening watching the central dome go from sillouette to a warm orange color. I noticed how the energy in this set of prayers felt feminine. It was warm,opening and asking the person to be one with a greater source. It is a call to go inside and find stillness in tne maniacal pace of the day to remember who we are. The word that came to mind was “surrender”. Dalia told me later that “Islam” means “surrender”.

The subway

I rode the Cairo subway today from El Maadi to Cairo. (I like riding trains. Makes me wish we had more back in the states.)

It was another day at the museum. I was able to focus on a few pieces and had more time in the Tutankhaman exhibit with out a mob of tourists.

I decided to take the subway back to Dalia’s place in Giza. Kind of as a challenge to myself. I wanted to see how I was at navigating and communicating in a place where my grasp of the language is limited. I even left this morning without the written address in Arabic.

The subway has cars designated for women. I got on one and realized I was a curiousity to them. First my head was not scarfed, second I look kind of masculine except for my long braid. The eye game began… I would gaze about and find several women looking at me then quickly look away. Most of them were on there way home from work or shopping.

I got off what I thought was the right stop. It wasn’t. Walked around a bit to see if anything looked famillar. I stood next to a donkey cart full of carrots. There were alot of men walking about shouting. Dust rose from passing cars… It didn’t…. Went back into tbe subway station. To see if the police officer could offer some help. He’d didn’t speak much english… Although he did ask me what I was doing there. I finally said I needed to get over towards the pyramids. He said something I didn’t understand. I walked back out side and Cairo cab was sitting there. I didn’t have the address so told him a cafe name not far from Dalia’s. He knew where the cafe was and took me to it. From there I walked the rest of tne way.

Blazing sun

brief update….

Things are going amazingly well. will post more details soon as I reach an internet cafe. I’m feeling really close to the sun and the earth here.