In Frankfort, as I was standing on
the shuttle bus taking us to the Lufthansa jet bound for Egypt, I was surprised
when a young Egyptian man stood up and offered me one of the few seats on the
bus. That was the first of many gestures of kindness offered since we began our
sojourn in this part of the world.
Upon arrival in Cairo on Sat. eve
of Dec. 27, our gracious hostess, Laurice Louis, met us at the airport and put
us up in Hotel Beirut at no cost to ourselves—along with tea. The following
day, Sunday, she hired a taxi to take us through the bustling town to Giza to
the actual site where the enormity and craftsmanship of the pyramids constructed by the pharaoh
Khufu and his sons duly impressed us. The stones for each pyramid came from a
different geographical area and were floated up the Nile where horse carts
transported the 2-ton stones to the building site. The Great Pyramid was
completed in 2540 B.C . The sand-colored city now encroaches on one side, while the desert stretches
far into the distance, dotted by more, but smaller, pyramids.
The next gesture of hospitality was
to offer us a wonderful lunch of seasoned rice, three kinds of fish, fresh pita
bread, a seafood soup (of prawn, squid, and crab), accompanied by a lovely
salad of fresh tomatoes, arugula, lettuce, purple cabbage, carrots, and
cucumbers, plus fresh fruit drinks. Our hostess so kindly made sure the plates
and cups were washed with vinegar water to purify them for our foreign stomachs.
And then there was tea. These are the foods Coptic Christians are permitted to
eat at this time of partial fasting before their Christmas celebration on Jan.
6, which ends with a big feast around 2:00 a.m. on the 7th. I can’t
imagine what that feast must be like!
After the long taxi ride (3 hrs.+)
in fast traffic on the Mediterranean coastal road (in the dark), we stopped for
tea. In another hour or so, we arrived at the Cathedral of Port Said, where we
were shown our ample 3-room apartment on the fifth floor of the language
center, beside the cathedral, and given our “Christmas present” of welcome..
On Monday, we met Father Samuel,
and other folks of import—all with more fish and salads and more tea…and
meetings up to 10:00 p.m. where they proposed additional tasks besides basic
work in the language training center: training of nuns to work with a summer
children’s English program, a TOEFL training class, a conversation class with
Egyptian residents and staff here at the center/cathedral. They also helped us
get a cell phone so we could stay in touch with the various folks related to
our job and living conditions. They are providing so much hospitality for
us—housing, most of our food, drinks, and contact persons to get us things. It
is reasonable that they expect a lot from us.
Tuesday, we tried to hammer out
more details of teaching load and schedules. Some of that is contingent upon
who signs up and what the entrance exams show. They seemed surprised that we
did not particularly warm to the idea of teaching six nights a week till 10:00
p. m., but were trying to find an alternative to that schedule. We’ll keep you informed.
Of course, all proceeds smoothly
with tea…..
