Sitting here in Dahab in the Sinai Peninsula, overlooking the Sea of Aqaba, not quite believing where I am or what I am doing…..It has been a long time since I have had days to just sit and sleep and think….A much needed vacation from traveling, a vacation within a vacation. Although I have my usual relaxation-associated guilt, I do feel we deserve this luxury, this quiet applause for finishing medical school and successfully matching, for our 30th birthdays, for our 7 year anniversary, for remaining as psychologically intact as possible after the immense emotional challenges we have faced through it all…..
I have found traveling in Egypt surprisingly difficult and intense—in part because it has been one of the most unfriendly places I have been in my life. When I close my eyes and think about the past 2 weeks, I remember the wonder associated with wandering around dimly lit ancient temples, the eery claustrophic awe of climbing into the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the breathtaking exhale of light as the sun sets over the Nile and the desert, the constant frenetic sensory explosion of daily life in Cairo, the seemingly desolate solitude of a settlement nestled in the harsh sand and rock mountains between Sharm el Sheik and Dahab, the sparkling water of the Sea of Aqaba…….but I also remember the aggressive demands and expectations for baksheesh, the uncomfortable and unfriendly stares, the disbelief of Jake being spat on in Cairo, the choking storms of pollution, dirt, and sand, the terror of attempting to cross a Cairo street, the hoards of pushy self-righteous tourists, the constant feeling of being taken advantage of……
In any case…..I am glad to be out of Cairo and a bit disappointed that I didn’t have a better experience with it. In theory, I love the city—an overwhelmingly immense metropolis where ancient and contemporary history, culture, and religion collide in a way that I am struggling to understand. We spent our first full day in Cairo exploring Coptic Cairo, negotiating the metro and the crowds of tourists (again) to tour Saint George’s Cathedral, the Hanging Church, and Ben Ezra Synagogue (which was by far the most beautiful, interesting, and heavily fortified place of worship). Escaping the tourists, we spent the afternoon wandering around the quiet tree-lined streets of Zamalek. We started our second full day in Cairo with a walk from downtown to Islamic Cairo, stopping for croissants and for a tour of the Shar Hashamaim Synagogue. That morning, I opened the NYTimes to find an article about an unnamed synagogue in Cairo. The article focused on the restoration of the synagogue and what it means in the context of contemporary Egyptian-Israeli politics (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/world/middleeast/22egypt.html?emc=eta1). As we approached the synagogue (which I don’t think was the one referenced in the article but was the only one listed in our guidebook) we were slightly unnerved by the number of security forces surrounding the structure. In order to visit, we were forced to hand over our passports and answer questions about where we were staying and if we spoke Arabic. I am not quite sure how Jake felt, but I found the experience uncomfortable. There have been certain moments during the past few weeks during which I have felt acutely aware of the possibility of violence, of the reality of an underlying current of threatening religious and cultural fundamentalism, of a distinct feeling that I am hated for what I represent (even though I don’t even know what that is). Jake and I (I think) have experienced this country somewhat differently and central to the space between our experiences is Jake’s unquestionable Jewish heritage…..
The other thing that is central to the space between our experiences is gender. Once again, I feel like I don’t know enough to make any informed commentary on this issue…but what the hell….. Coming from a month in Uganda, where sex and sexuality is as central to life as food and water, where reproduction is an essential part of daily life, the role of female sexuality and sex in this culture confuses me…..Intensely conservative, many women here seem to move through the streets like shadows, hidden behind burqus. I use the word “seem” because I feel like we are taught in the West to think of things like burqa and headscarves as oppressive towards women. I do think that there is a degree of power and control associated with the use of these garments and that, in some cases, this level of control is violent, but I have been very surprised by my walks through Cairo—there are so many cultural contradictions (for example, stores that stock (side by side) burqus and extremely explicit lingerie and girls in skin tight clothing topped with glittering headscarves). It is just a different expression of sexuality……more elusive, more private…. but maybe that is only in more modern, more liberal Egyptian Muslims…..I still find burqas a little frightening—that a woman disappears from the outside world, that they are potential cages…
The rest of our day was spent mainly spent in Islamic Cairo, which was one of the most intense city areas that I have ever been in. Small, winding streets packed to capacity with human traffic and commerce with what seemed like hundreds of minaret soaring above the chaos—as we walked, I struggled to push back against the current of movement and unfamiliar sounds and smells. I felt something similar to cultural claustrophobia….it was figuratively and literally hard to breathe. We, of course, briefly visited the Khan Al-Khalil, the medieval (although now touristy) bazaar, carefully admiring and avoiding the tightly packed stalls of Egyptian tourist paraphernalia before heading to Al-Azhar Mosque (one of Cairo’s earliest mosques). This was my first time in a Mosque and I found it to be an incredibly peaceful place of worship with young Muslims reclining in shady corners, in deep discussion and prayer. On the one hand, I could have spent hours in the mosque watching people, but on the other hand, I couldn’t wait to escape……
As much as I hate to admit it, Cairo is not a city for me—although I suspect it might grow on me with time….. That said, I think it was an important city to experience and I don’t regret our time there. One of the goals of this trip was to try to build a foundational layer of experience to help me better understand the world around me. I am not sure if I am achieving this goal, but I definitely think that our time in Israel and Egypt has provided some sort of a reference….an explosion of condensed imagery and experience that has forced me to look at the world around me differently….
Globe Napper 