New Foods

This weekend was fun. I'll post about the long walk later, but for now, I want to share the fun new food I tried.

First, I had Abu Farwa, or chestnuts. Believe it or not, I've never had them before! And, they were roasted over open fire - the gas stove to be precise. Too bad I kept picking rotten ones. Yuck.

I also tried a new fruit or vegetable (I'm not sure what it is classified as). It's called harenkesh (ha-RENG-kesh). The street grocer told us it's also called "the hidden lady". It takes kind of tart, a unique flavor that I've never experienced. Here are some pictures:

It's HOT!!

Today it's 102 degrees Farenheit. AHHH!!! And I have the day off so I don't even get the luxury of staying in the nice air-conditioned office at school. According to the weather channel, the average for this time of year is the 80's. Supposedly we'll get there by Wednesday. I can't wait!

Reflections on Good Friday

I went to church tonight instead of tomorrow morning. Because we normally have church services Thursday night/Friday morning, we're having a special Sunday evening service this week for Easter. So tonight was the Good Friday service.

For some reason, I hadn't considered how I would feel about not being home for Easter, I did it in college in Colorado and it wasn't a big deal. This year is different.

At the end of the service, the pastor said if you are not humbled by Jesus then you don't know him. I was overcome with how great his sacrifice was and is. How little I am able to imitate his love and compassion; the significance of the incarnation of Jesus.

I was pondering Jesus Christ coming to Earth, being separated from his father, and then being killed, I started comparing his situation to mine. I'm in a foreign land. Although we keep in touch, I miss the intimacy of my family life. Would I be willing to die for Egyptians? Would I be willing to remain here if I knew before even coming that they would kill me? Is my love for them great enough?

I find my resentments, irritations and anger with my host country overwhelming at times. But they are still human; I can't make Egyptians the Others. Yet Jesus really is Other. And still he loved these human siblings of mine more than I ever can, even on my best of days. How perfect is the love of Christ! The idea of a Brotherhood of Man is a hopeless ideal without Jesus who had to bring his Otherness to make humans whole.

I'm reminded of what Jesus said in one of the gospels, that whoever loves his father or mother more than he loves Jesus is not worthy to follow him. I find myself coming back to that passage every couple years. Am I worthy? Is the desire for intimacy with my family greater than my love for other people? I think in the macro-sense, taking up our cross to follow Jesus means loving people like he does - enough to leave the familiar, take risks and make sacrifices. Those things are different for everyone, but we are all called to obedience.

So can I do it? Can I go to some other people, help the community, teach them, heal their bodies, and then allow them to kill me? I honestly don't know. In so many ways the example of Jesus seems impossible to live up to. I can only be humbled from knowing him. And I think God can work with that.

A Day in the Life...

...of a Cairene policeman.

You know, stand around at your assigned corner for 12 hours. Smoke. Spit. Ogle the women. Yell at people who are driving the wrong direction on the street. Occasionally chase young men off the women's car in the Metro.

Last week I left school early - maybe around 11:30 am. For once I didn't have to stay later on a Thursday when I'm done with class at 10:30 am. The Metro was wonderfully uncrowded. There were actually empty seats for most of the ride.

About halfway home, a group of four young men hopped on the car. A policeman forcibly pulled them off while yelling at them. The train started moving, but the men forced the doors to remain open while the officer was pulling them off. The women watched this happen with absolute equanimity. One of the guy's hat or bag or something was caught in the closing door, and the policeman was running along the platform while holding onto it.

Finally, a young woman (and one of quite intimidating size) sitting across from me jumped up and forced the doors open enough for the object to be pulled out. She went back to her seat and dusted off her purse (which had fallen to the floor) while talking to herself. I don't know what she was saying, but I imagine she was chastising all of the onlookers for not helping. She got off at the next stop. I continued home.

Random Facts

Instead of doing homework I've been indulging myself by listening to archived episodes of Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me on NPR's site, and I've also been reading up on the candidates. Here are some of the fun facts I've learned:

• Obama and I have the same birthday (August 4).
• John McCain has jowls. I've never actually seen him before visiting his senate website.
• Obama went to Harvard and Hillary went to Yale.
• Obama went to school in New York (Columbia) and Hillary grew up in Illinois.
• Obama and Dick Cheney are 8th cousins.

Politics

A year and a half ago I watched The West Wing. All seven seasons. Christine and I loved it. It perhaps, had more influence on my approach to politics than almost anything else. Not only was it incredible well-written and quite educational, the characters were endearing.

Recently I find myself addicted to the current political news and events. I remember when I was home in December and January, I was getting annoyed with the amount of coverage given to the presidential primaries. Now, it feels more like a comfort and something with which to indulge myself. Perhaps because I can choose what and when to listen.

My students want Obama to become president. When I asked a 17 year-old why, he said he's ready for change. I countered with the fact that we're getting change no matter what - President Bush is leaving office regardless of who his replacement is. My student didn't really have much to say in response.

My friends think Obama will get the U.S. out of Iraq. I realized I didn't know much, okay, anything, about the candidates' positions, so I went online to find out. Turns out all the candidates, except for Ron Paul, would leave combat troops in Iraq indefinitely. So much for that.

I'm also of the opinion that the way our system works, the president and congress are pushed toward the middle, no matter where they are on the political spectrum. Does that mean I'm cynical or apathetic? Not really. The politicians leanings at least affect which issues get addressed, even if those issues are moderated in order to pass.

With all these thoughts, I find myself missing a president we never had: President Jed Bartlett (as played by Martin Sheen).

Church Weirdness

Yesterday morning at church was a little weird. The service itself was great - we have this really fantastic teacher who is filling in for 3 months until our new lead pastor arrives. I think everyone wants him to stay!

Before I launch into the narrative, I need to relate a little episode that happened earlier this week. I was talking with one of my students, and he was saying how he speaks a little Spanish. That is actually quite rare, so we tried to speak Spanish together. We were horrible, but it was fun.

I got to church early on Friday because I left the house too late to walk and took a taxi. I walked in, put on a nametag and headed toward the beverage stand for water and tea. On my way, I noticed a young man standing around, looking uncertain. "He's new!" I thought. I got my tea and water, and walked back toward the seating area. He was still standing around, but had moved to the other side of the narrow walkway area. I took pity on him.

When I greeted him, I said, "Hi, I'm Sarah." I thought he said, "Luke," but he really said hello. After an awkward "what?" moment, I asked his name. It's Lucas. What are the odds? Things like that happen to me way more than they should. Anyway, he arrived in Cairo just in January, so we chatted a little bit and I encouraged him to join a small group. I noticed an Egyptian man listening to our conversation, but I ignored him. He looked creepy. I left to greet my small group leader who was nearby chatting with someone.

As I was loitering near her, the creepy Egyptian came up to talk to me. His opening line was, "Are you Egyptian? You look Egyptian." I was polite, told him that I'm an American studying at AUC. I oh so subtly said I am getting married this summer and my husband will come back with me next year. Then I took a drink with my left hand (flashing the ice). He said something like "thank you" and faded away. My small group leader's husband came up at that moment and we started talking. I pointed out the new guy to him, and later saw them and the youth pastor talking. That's good. I hate to say it, but I've become suspicious that whenever an Egyptian man approaches me, he only wants to know one thing. Men here just don't talk to women they don't know.

I took a seat as service was getting ready to start. A family of three sat down next to me (parents and an adult or almost adult son). I greeted the woman, who was next to me, and she asked me if I speak English. She communicated that her English isn't very good - she's from Chile and speaks Spanish. What are the odds? I tried to use my Spanish, but every other word was Arabic. After the opening song (something by Hillsong), she told me she can sing in English. She listens to Hillsong from Austraila.

Lots of little weird things that day.