Several weeks ago we got to do some more touring with the knowledgeable Ibrahim. I only neglected to blog about it because it was a pretty busy few weeks and a lot of other blog worthy things happened that were a bit easier to write about. We started at the Citadel of Salah al Din. Do you remember back in your World History class learning about the Crusades and a guy named Saladin? It’s OK, Kevin did not either. Well, that’s the Anglicized version of his name, Salah al Din, and when he came to Cairo he built this fortress. It’s the largest fortress in the world. We did not even see all of it. We just went inside the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, also known as the Alabaster Mosque. The interior of the mosque is quite beautiful and no, I did not have to cover my head. I guess I was not tempting enough. Anyway, Ibrahim gave us a pretty good education on the basics of Islam and some of the things you’ll find in every mosque. I could go on for a long time with the education we got on the Citadel and its surroundings, but Friday morning I learned things that changed the course of my blog post. Friday was November 11, a significant day for Cairo. In 2011 there were some big protests happening. Perhaps you remember. If not, I encourage you to read Cairo, My City, Our Revolution by Adhaf Soueif. There had been talk of protests planned for Friday. Egypt is in a world of hurt right now and people are not happy about it. We live a few blocks from the Presidential Palace. Our church is right next door to it. Sometimes these things happen right in this neighborhood. We were prepared to spend the day on the balcony, perhaps watching it unfold, praying for the safety of those who chose to demonstrate. Five years ago on November 11 about 50,000 Christians gathered to pray through the night for Egypt. Their place of prayer was the Cave Church in the Mokattam Garbage Village. The Cave Church and Garbage Village were our next stop after the Citadel. I will admit that initially I loved the Garbage Village and was kind of “meh” on the church. It’s large and impressive and the wall carvings are really excellent, but it’s hard to get excited about a big amphitheater carved into a cliff. So I took a few cursory photos and was ready to move on. However, there was something about learning the Cave Church had been the place Christians chose to hold a 24 hour prayer vigil for their country, seeing the photos of that gathering, considering it in light of Egypt’s current plight and the anniversary that left me more interested in it than I had been. I started rewriting this blog post and half expected it would be accompanied by a story of more recent protests. But nothing happened. The streets were quiet (relatively). Adjacent to the Cave Church is the Garbage Village. It’s a huge community in the middle of Cairo where mountains of trash are hauled in by the residents to be sorted and picked over for all manner of recyclables. In past years this was entirely the case, but recently the government has outsourced some of the trash collection to a Chinese company and that has hurt the residents quite a bit while not even making a dent in the street trash of Cairo. Also, during the swine flu outbreak, the government came in and slaughtered the 300,000 pigs that took care of the organic waste. You can imagine why this is a problem. But Garbage Village is not without hope. It’s lively and colorful and is home to the Recycling Center. This is a place where women learn to make all kinds of cool things from the recyclable materials. Jewelry, quilts, rugs, handbags, paper, dolls, etc. They spend a few months in training and receive a modest wage to cover their time. At the end they have the option to purchase a loom or other tools they may need and work from home in their new trade. There is even a childcare center on site for those who have need. Garbage Village is also about 96% Christian, in stark contrast to the general population of Cairo, which is about 90% Muslim. I really enjoyed the Citadel, the Mosque, and the Cave Church, but Garbage City was my favorite part of the day. Egypt is fairly bursting with historic attractions, but some of the best things to see and do revolve more around the people and the general life of Cairenes. - Jenni
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