Global Reflections

Today -- the long-awaited post about our apartment here in Maadi. We live in an access-controlled compound owned by the U. S. government. There is parking on the ground level, as well as a playground. All the apartments are on floors 1 and above. (Floor numbering here is not the same as in the States; the ground floor here is Ground. Floor 1 is the first floor above ground level, what in the States would be the second floor.)

They set up the compound very well for privacy and sound insulation. There is an open-air (but covered) walkway on each floor. The walkway is a big square, with apartments on each side. But the apartments don't actually touch each other--there's open space, balconies overlooking the courtyard in the middle of the compound or the street outside, in between the walls of each unit. The picture probably shows what I'm talking about better than I can explain. It looks like two separate buildings connected by a railing; those actually are two neighboring apartments. So even though I'm in an apartment building, I don't share walls with any neighbor. I have neighbors above and below me, but none on any side. So it's incredibly quiet. I hear horns honking outside, but they're muted, and it would be impossible to escape them altogether with Cairo's traffic.


This apartment is huge. We have plenty of space for ourselves and for visitors. I don't know the square footage, but it has three bedrooms, two baths, a large combination living room/dining room, and a nice kitchen. It also has a laundry room, a storage room, two linen closets, a coat closet, two walk-in closets in the master, and large closets in each of the other two bedrooms. After we had been here for a week or so, we learned that there also is a storage unit downstairs that we can claim -- we figure we'll put boxes in there that we want available for the next move, but we haven't gotten around to accessing it yet. It's a bit of a hassle, because we have to buy a lock for the unit itself, make a sign for the unit door, and then get the guards to let us into the room where all the storage units are.

One really nice thing here in Cairo is that there are lots of furniture options, and we can swap out any furniture we don't want for something else. At some posts, there isn't storage for excess furniture, so you get what you get and that's it. Here, there are tons of options for upholstery and rugs, and they'll swap out the wood furniture to the extent that their supply allows. I'm going this afternoon to look at upholstery samples because I don't like my couch/love seat. I'll also see about swapping the rugs in my living and dining rooms, because they're red (yuck!). We're also going to swap out the twin beds in the guest room for a queen bed, and all the furniture in the third bedroom, which will be converted to a den.

We also have the option of painting the walls. We've picked the colors for the bedroom (blue, with one darker blue accent wall). We haven't picked colors for the living/dining area or for the soon-to-be-den because we want to see what furniture is available first. The color in the guest room will depend to some extent on what bedspread we choose. Jeff has informed me that painting must be completed by the time our HHE arrives, so I have a couple of months.

Okay, so this blog hasn't really told you that much about the apartment itself, but I have pictures for that. They're available here.

On 5 July 2008, Jeff and I participated in a CSA tour of the Mokkatum church complex. I've uploaded an album to Picasa for anyone who wants to see more pictures than those I'll include here. The album has 73 pictures in it, so allow plenty of time :-)

Mokkatum started out as one church that was carved out of the mountainside. As time went on and the congregation expanded, becoming too large for that one church, another church was carved out of the mountainside. And so it went. I'm not sure how many churches there now are in Mokkatum; we entered three and saw entrances for at least two more. But the complex includes more than just churches. Because it is surrounded by Garbage City, and most of the people who belong to these churches are incredibly poor, Mokkatum also has other amenities that the people would not be able to afford on their own. There is a small arboretum, a small sports/recreational club, and even a small zoo. We didn't get to see the sports club, and we didn't take pictures of the zoo (it was too depressing, with the tiny, smelly cages, but it's my understanding that the larger zoo that the richer people go to isn't much better). There are pictures of the arboretum on Picasa.


In the late 1970s or early 1980s, an artist came to visit Mokkatum. I think he was Dutch, but I'm not sure, and I don't recall his name. In either case, he never went home. He fell in love with the churches and people of Mokkatum, and it became his mission and his ministry to improve the complex for the benefit of the people. He began a program of carving pictures of Bible scenes into the mountainside, so that the illiterate people could see and be reminded of the Bible stories and principles. He still lives at Mokkatum, where he designs the carvings. He has a team of artists who assist with the carving. It is his dream to cover all of the mountainside within the complex with Bible pictures. In many pictures, you can see the round holes in the mountain where the workers put stakes to hold the platforms on which they stand while carving; in a few pictures, you can see the wood planks they stand on. Seeing how high some of them are, I can't imagine climbing up there at all, but these artists are dedicated to their ministry.

Most of what I saw at Mokkatum is best shared via the pictures and captions I put on Picasa. However, there is a story of Mokkatum, depicted in the pictures, that I want to share here. It is the story of Saint Samaan and the Miracle of Mokkatum.

The picture to the left depicts how Samaan (later known as Saint Samaan) became a one-eyed man. Samaan was a very devout Christian man who worked as a cobbler. He was so devout that, although he was very poor, he desperately tried to save money to give to people who were needier than himself. He also went out very early each morning, far earlier than anyone else was out, in order to fetch water for old and disabled people. For this reason, Saint Samaan often is depicted with two bags, one behind him representing the money he was saving for charity, and one in front of him or in his hand to represent the water he carried. Neither of these bags is depicted in this particular picture. In any case, Samaan was a very devout believer. One day, while working in his profession as a cobbler, a woman came to him and asked him to fix her shoe. When the woman removed her shoe from her foot, she pulled her dress up, and Samaan inadvertently glimpsed her ankle. The sight of a woman's ankle was forbidden, and Samaan felt incredibly guilty. He remembered a Bible verse that says that if your eye causes you to sin, you should gouge it out, for it is better to lose your eye than to lose your soul. Samaan promptly gouged out his eye, but he continued to feel guilty because he had seen the woman's ankle. That is how he became a one-eyed man, although at that point, Samaan was not a well-known man.

During this time, Cairo as a city was desperately in need of expansion. The population was too big for the space available to the city. The city could not expand in one direction because of the Nile River and its floodplain; it could not expand in the other direction because of the mountains, which had no name at that time. A meeting of all the leaders of the city was called in order to discuss the problem and arrive at a solution. In attendance at the meeting, along with other leaders, were the King and the Egyptian Pope. One of the other attendees knew of a Bible verse that says that those who have faith the size of a mustard seed can say to a mountain "Get up and move" and the mountain will obey. This attendee mentioned this verse in jest, making fun of the Pope. The King asked the Pope if this verse really existed; the Pope said that it did. The King asked if it was true; the Pope said that it was. The King and the Pope agreed that the Christians in Cairo would fast, pray, and demonstrate their faith by moving a mountain out of the way to allow for the city's expansion.

For three days and nights, the Christians of Cairo prayed and fasted. In the early morning of the third day, the Pope was praying and fasting in the Hanging Church, then his headquarters, when he fell asleep. The Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream and told him to exit the Hanging Church by the Iron Gate and seek the one-eyed man, for this man had been appointed to lead in the miracle that would occur. Although it was too early for anyone to be about in the city, the Pope believed the Virgin and went out by the Iron Gate. He saw a one-eyed man, Samaan, who was engaged in his ministry of fetching water for old and disabled persons. The Pope approached Samaan and told him that he, Samaan, had been appointed to lead in the miracle, but Samaan said no, he was not worthy; he was a guilty man. The Pope assured Samaan that he must have been forgiven, for he was the one God wanted to lead in this miracle. Samaan could not deny the Pope's words, but still felt unworthy, so the two agreed that the Pope would be the visible leader, while Samaan would stand behind him and tell him what to say.

The Pope, Samaan, and all the faithful of Cairo went to the base of the mountain. Also with them were the King and other people of the city who wanted to see the miracle. The faithful prayed to God and commanded the mountain to move. Suddenly, the mountain began to shake and rise; it rose to the point where the sun could be seen shining underneath the mountain. The King and the people were terrified and begged the faithful to stop, to put the mountain down. The faithful complied, and the mountain was put down. When it landed, it broke, and that is how it got its name of Mokkatum, which means "broken." Although the mountain was not moved out of the way for the city's expansion, the faith of the Christians did inspire the other people of Cairo to expand the city anyway; they expanded up and around the mountains, so the people got the living space they needed.

And that is the Miracle of Mokkatum.

Today I had intended to write about Mokkatum, but that's going to have to wait until tomorrow or maybe just later today. This morning I'm recovering.

Last night I thought I was experiencing my first ever bout of travelers' sickness. This morning my husband informed me that my symptoms were more consistent with food poisoning. We think it was the cheese or the sandwich meat from lunch. I was fine most of the day yesterday, but around 6pm, I started feeling a little queasy. I was talking to my mom over Skype at the time, and I deliberately hid the queasiness from her; you know how moms worry (sorry, Mom, but it's true). As soon as we had hung up, I went to the bathroom. I spent the rest of the night either in the bed or in the bathroom.

My husband was wonderful. He brought cold wet towels for my face and neck; he took out the trash after each and every bout of vomiting; he reminded me to drink my water mixed with electrolytes (although I resisted that one; I didn't want anything in my stomach).

I scared him to death at one point. I had gone to the bathroom. He heard a crash and then nothing. He found me in the bathroom, passed out, but having apparently hit my head on the tub on the way down. I think we've agreed that I passed out because I had been resisting the electrolytes too well, but neither of us are doctors so who knows?


I'm definitely better now. I'm eating Cheerios (no milk) and saltine crackers. As soon as I finish my green tea (I need caffeine but coffee probably isn't a good idea right now), I'll drink another bottle of water mixed with electrolytes, then switch to pure water for the rest of the day. I'll spend today probably lounging around reading and watching DVDs (no satellite TV yet).

So the Mokkatum post will have to wait. I'm heading back to the couch.

Yesterday, Jeff and I participated in a CSA* tour of the Mokkatum Church complex (the subject of a different blog). It was absolutely stunning, but for now, I don't want to talk about that beautiful complex. I want to tell you about the ugly part of Mokkatum.

To get to the cave churches, we had to drive through the part of Mokkatum that is commonly known as Garbage City. To understand Garbage City, you must understand that Egypt's trash collection system is not the same as it is in the United States. In the U. S., recyclables go to the recycling center, and trash goes to a landfill. In Cairo, trash is not sorted into recyclables and non-recyclables in the home. Everything goes to the same place. Originally, it all went to Garbage City. Apparently, there now are other places where trash goes as well, but a LOT of it still goes to Garbage City. The trash collectors are very poor; illiteracy rates among them are even higher than the 47% rate in Egypt as a whole. The collected trash goes to Garbage City, where it is sorted. I know at least some of it then goes to recycling centers, but I'm not sure of what percentage is recycled or where the rest of it goes.

Driving through Garbage City, the stench was unmistakable. The narrow, winding streets were lined with piles of trash. Occasionally we had to pull over to allow a truck through--just a regular pick-up truck, but piled high with sorted trash. By "high," I mean really high; the pile in the truck bed would be two or three times as high as the top of the truck cab. We saw one truck piled high with cardboard, with four children sitting on top of the pile.

Whole families live in Garbage City. Both adults and children were hard at work along the streets and alleys, sorting the trash. They sort it into piles of papers, fabrics, plastics, food waste, non-food organic waste . . . all day every day, these people live, breathe, and work surrounded by Cairo's trash. There were food shops located right next to trash piles. One man was selling food out of cart on the corner; there were piles of garbage within a foot of the cart.

Needless to say, this area opened my eyes to the true meaning of the word "poverty." The people who live and work in Garbage City are absolute nobodies in the eyes of Egyptian society. These people are deeply ashamed of their status. They want to work; they want to support themselves and their families and to make a better life for their children. We didn't take pictures of Garbage City, and even in Mokkatum we tried to avoid pictures that had people in them, because our guide, Hala, told us that the people are so ashamed of their living conditions that they don't want pictures taken.

There is some work being done to help the people of Garbage City. The churches of Mokkatum try to ease the lives of the people through education. They also provide some services that wealthier Cairenes can obtain elsewhere: On the Mokkatum grounds, there is a small sporting/recreational area, a small zoo, and a small garden. The area around Mokkatum is inhabited primarily by Coptic Christians, so they are the ones who are ministered to by Mokkatum. In another area of Garbage City, where the population is primarily Muslim, the Association for the Protection of the Environment is active.

The Association for the Protection of the Environment is a non-profit organization that operates at least one recycling center, offers literacy classes for children, and provides childcare. We visited a recycling center after we left Mokkatum. We saw two recycling units: a fabric unit and a paper unit.

In the fabric unit, women and girls are trained to create weavings and patchwork quilts. Originally, all of the fabrics were recycled from the garbage. Now, a small percentage of the material still comes from the garbage, but the vast majority of it (over 90%, I think) comes from textile plants that donate their scraps. The women and girls are taught to make quilts, pillow covers, handbags, and rugs from these scraps. We saw in their showroom some items that they had for sale, and they were beautiful. We bought a few items as gifts and intend to buy more for our apartment once we get the furniture and paint colors finalized.

In the paper unit of the recycling center, women and girls are trained to recycle paper and create stationery and art. In that showroom, we saw framed and unframed art, gift bags, stationery, greeting cards, and book marks. We bought some of the cards, so some of you may eventually receive one. All of these things--fabric and paper items--are available for sale all over Cairo, and even internationally. Some of the rug and handbag styles are very popular.

I've attached a picture of some of the items we bought at the recycling center.




*CSA is the Community Services Association. It's an English-speaking expat group, I think run by British expats. Its headquarters is here in Maadi. It has a coffee bar, a fitness room, a library, and a clothes closet. It organizes tours, classes, and other activities for expats. This was my first CSA tour, but it definitely will not be my last.

Just a quick update on the electrical situation. On Monday, the same two electricians, plus their supervisor, showed up at my door to fix the outlets in my kitchen. I think the supervisor showed up because the work order that Jeff submitted included the fact that they had stood me up twice; that usually gets a supervisor to hover and make sure you're completely satisfied when they do show up bright and early the next day (still without letting you know they're coming, though, which is why they had to wait for an hour or so for me to get home). They took all the outlets off the wall again and moved my dishwasher (and also my stove and refrigerator this time). They never got near the fuse box. When they cut three of the live wires, I couldn't take it anymore. I went to the living room and read a book. After 30 or 40 minutes, one of them came in and asked if they could take a lamp from the living room to the kitchen. I told him to go ahead. A few minutes later, they called me into the kitchen and proved to me that all the 220V outlets worked by plugging the lamp into each and every one of them in turn. They proved that the 110V outlets worked by plugging in our tester and showing me that the lights lit up. Jeff told me later that those lights working means there is some electricity there, but not necessarily 110 volts. I haven't pushed it; we don't have our 110V appliances right now anyway, so I'm ready for the electricity saga to be over.