Well, i am back in good ole' Cairo. It was nice to have a week of not hearing the sound of a million cars or people shouting in the streets. The past 6 days were very eventful:
After an 11 hour car ride and many stops, my group finally arrived to our site in the desert. We were greeted by Beduoin men who had set up our tents and started a fire. We had an amazing dinner, while being serenaded with live egyptian music and dancing. serious dancing. It was classic and i have never laughed so hard watching an egyptian. We woke up the next morning with our faces and bodies completely covered in sand. Then, we got in the car and spent the day going to different Beduoin villages. It was such a cultural shock to see how these people lived and what they call home. But, we had such a fun time just playing with the kids and speaking with them using the little arabic that we know. We again had amazing food. Egyptians seriously are so hospitable.
The next day was my favorite day by far. We rode camels for an hour and a half! This part of the desert was beautiful and we stayed there until late in the evening with the Beduoin men from the first night. The whole sky was covered in stars and we took a 25 minute walk through the desert to get to our car, with the crazy men singing and playing the instruments. probably will never have a moment like this again in my life.
So, let me quickly just tell you about our driver. His name was Fadre. He was obsessed with shooting pigeons...so obsessed that while he was driving...he would have one hand holding his gun and the other holding the steering wheel. Whenever he saw a whole bunch of birds he would stop the car, stick his gun out of the window, and shoot at the birds. ha. He actually got a couple of them and then he would get out of the car and bring them back. We ate some for dinner. definitely interesting.
Onto the rest of the time:
The last couple of days we spent in an Egyptian village. We stayed with a family from the church. This is when we finally were able to do ministry and evangelize because an egyptian policeman was with us for the first couple of days so we were not allowed to do anything that had to do with Christianity (because it is illegal to evangelize here). It was so hard to leave this village because we felt so welcomed there. It was such a warm and hospitable place. We were surrouned by farms and animals. When we would walk through the village, tons of people would just invite us into their homes to visit. I probably had 5 cups of tea in one day.
So, overall...it was a great 6 days. Im still dealing with the language barrier. I just hate how i cant sit down with people and hear about their lives because it is hard to just communicate here. But, i cant change it. im just learning to embrace this experience. So there you have it!
2 1/2 more weeks in cairo and then i leave for israel! Its crazy that this experience is coming to an end. hope you are all doing well! have a great day.