Holy Land Pilgrimage

Out of Egypt have I called my son

Today we are in Petra, the "red rose city half as old as time".  We made our trek up to the top of Mount Sinai, had a communion service at the top, and then reconvened at the monastery.  The monastery itself is quite a wonder.  The monks make the claim that it is the oldest continually operating monastery in the world, dating back to the fourth century.  Inside you can see a leaf of the Codex Sinaiticus - the oldest fragment of the New Testament in the world, as well as the "Christ of Sinai" - the oldest icon in the world. 

The trek up to the top is either on foot or on camel.  I opted to walk up with Salaa', a local Bedouin who was helping guide our group onto their camels.  Sinai is quite a popular pilgrimage spot, and we heard languages from every continent as we ascended.  In any given day there might be up to 2000 or more pilgrims, tourists, wayfarers and seekers of all kinds coming to the top of mountain to be in a place which has been called holy for many generations.

The local Bedouin tribe have a monopoly on the Sinai camel ride business.  It has been that way for generations, ever since the Emperor Constantine commissioned them for the task of looking after and protecting St Catherine's monastery.  After their conversion to Islam during the time of Islamic expansion, the local tribe continued to offer their services to the monastery.  Inside there is a letter of "protection" said top have been granted by Mohammed himself:  the original document is still on display in the monastery, with Mohammed's hand print on the leaf of paper as a seal.

Later that afternoon we turned off the beaten path and headed out into the desert.  Our first stop was the site of some nawamis.  Those who have read "Walking the Bible" may recall them from a description in that book.  It is believed that these are the oldest free standing roofed structures in the world, dating back to 3500 BC.  We also met up with some local Bedouin who still live the traditional life of the pastoralist-nomad.  "A wandering Aramean was my father".

We arrived in Jordan last night , after taking the local ferry across to the Jordanian port of Aqaba from Neweiba.  The ferry is used by the locals:  out of several hundred passengers, there were maybe 20 westerners on the boat.  Sharen and Evelyn got invited by a Jordanian lady to come and sit with her.  I got invited a few moments later, and we had a great conversation  between the three of us and her family:  brothers, sisters, friends from Amman.  In the end we exchanged emails and cell phone numbers in case we have some free time while we are in northern Jordan.

One of the benefits of leaving Egypt and heading over to Jordan is the new freedom to have prayer.  While we were in Egypt we were informed of a recently enacted law that prohibits Christians from having a "religious meeting" in "unapproved" places and at "unapproved" times.  So for example, we were not allowed to simply gather in a room to pray together.  This law is rather new, apparently in response to the growing conservative movement within Islamic Egypt.  Sinai has an exemption from this law, given that it has a rather special status with it's exemption and protection letter from Mohammed himself.

Breakfast is calling.

the fleshpots of Egypt

Yesterday folks had their introduction to the the Egyptian Museum:  the world's greatest garage sale waiting to happen.  If you spent 30 seconds at each object on display, it would take 6 months just to get through the main section. 

[Of fascinating note to those who have some knowledge of icons is the collection of funerary portraits from the time of Christ.  The style and technique have a clear resemblence to the art of iconography in the orthodox tradition]

For lunch we took everyone to a local "family style" restaurant, which served excellent Egyptian cuisine.  This was in preparation for the afternoon's visits, which included some Crusader era fortresses and then a trip to the Khan el Khalili.  The Khan, or Souk, is the largest market in Africa, and if something is available for sale in the world, you can find it at the Khan.  Part of the experience is the whole bargaining with the merhcant in order to settle on an agreeable price.  Readers of the Bible will find cultural echoes of this ancient middle east tradition in the conversation between Abraham and God over the fate of Sodom.  "If you find 50 righteous men, will you spare the city?  If you find 40 righteous men, will you spare the city?..."  And so the  story of their discussion may seem strange to us, but it is a perfectly acceptable form of conversation in the middle east.

Westerners are of course looked upon as limitless ATMs,dollar signs appear when they walk around the corner.  However, with a little bit of guidance (and some intervention) our group did quite well on the bargaining front.  It also helps from time to time when I talk to the merchant in Arabic:

Merchant:  for you madam, a good price!! You are canada?  You may buy this for only...

Pilgrim:  well, I really do like it... how much is that in dollars instead of Egyptian pounds?

Merchant:  very little, very little, come to my shop and have tea, and I will wrap it for you...

Me, watching from the sidelines:  (in arabic),  there are 9000 stores in this part of the Khan, and I know that every one of them has item x.  In fact, two alleys over I can get 3 of those for half your price;  I will take my group there and come back and show you our full shopping bags when we are done."

Merchant to canadian pilgrim:  You are good to visit our country.  I will show you a better one, perhaps for you I will make special deal,...

At which point he then counter offers with a lower price than he gave originally, until a bargain is met.  Let me tell you that a little bit of arabic saves a lot of egyptian pounds.

Today we are heading opff to the desert, stopinng at Ein Musa (the spring of Moses) and making our way to Mount Sinai.  We will stay at the guesthouse of the 4th century orthodox monastery at the base, catch some sleep and then take some camels partway up, after which we will hike to the summit...

Must go now and some some arabic coffee...

arrival in Cairo

After about 22 hours of travel time we arrived in Cairo yesterday afternoon.  For those who have not been to Cairo before, the trip in from the airport is an adventure in and of itself:  Cairo traffic is like a video game gone terribly wrong.  I like to play a little game with the pilgrims as we arrive:  count the number of working traffic lights in this city of 20 million.  You can guess the answer.

After checking in to the hotel I introduced some of our folks to a local shopkeeper, Musa (or Moses).  He runs a little out the way place just off the Corniche a Nil.  After Musa and I had a few glasses of arabic coffee, I gathered everyone together for a tour of his store, and and introduction to the middle east bargaining system. 

The evening capped off with a group of us sitting out in front of Musa's shop, as there was a soccer match between Barcelona and Egypt in Cairo last night, broadcast on Egyptian TV.  By the time the game had started, there were about 25 of us gathered on the street in front of his shop:  police, soldiers, taxi drivers, other shopkeepers...  Chairs and coffee seemed to appear out of nowhere, and Egyptian street hospitality was in fine form.

Today we took the group to Giza (home of the Pyramids and Sphinx) and then spent the afternoon with the Coptic community in Old Cairo.  The Copts are the 'original' Egyptioan Christian church, tracing their roots back to the apostle Mark.

Hi to all back home [especially to Emily Grace!], and we are all doing well.  One thing that seems not to work as well as one might like is the out of country phone connection...

one week til take off

We've had our last planning meeting & we are set to leave Edmonton next Monday, April 23, flying to Cairo.  I hope to update this blog as we travel, and as I find internet connections along the way.