Photos Of My Trip To Egypt and Middle East

If you click on the title of this post you will be taken to my Picasa photo sight and will be able to view the pictures I took while on my trip to the Middle East. I started in Cairo, Egypt meeting my two nephews and their dad at the international airport. Andrew is the taller young man and the student of Arabic. He has a one year fellowship with American University of Cairo to take his studies to the next level. Last year he graduated from Georgetown University with his Masters in Arabic Studies. I am sure a Phd is on the horizon for him, but for now he is just interested in going deep, immersing himself in the Egyptian culture and the rich nuances of the Arabic language.

His brother, Eric, has just completed a bit more than two years with the Peace Corps in Bulgaria. He is now fluent in that language but I am not sure it is his plan to take it to the same level as Andrew is taking Arabic. Eric is now enrolled at the University of Denver and is working on his masters in an international studies program focusing on justice issues. Both of these young men are outstanding students and are committing their lives to doing something good for others. Both are followers of Christ. It is fair to say that they have perhaps some different views on what being a follower means. I am sure that some conservative types would try to label them as liberals. I, on the other hand, consider them to be highly thoughtful, philosophically sound, and capable of lovingly discussing all sorts of issues in a highly informed manner. So, if one were to judge them then one would be in violation of Christ's commandment to not do that. Be careful, for when you engage them in discussion you will have to be on your toes as they are equipped to challenge the status quo. You may feel a bit uncomfortable. I would argue that being comfortable is not a goal Christ would have us strive for.

Their father is my wife's one and only sibling. I have known Tom since I was ten or eleven. That means we have known each other for about forty-five to forty-six years. We have been in the same family for thirty-three years. He is a lawyer. He is smarter than me. He is a jerk. LOL I love him anyway. He was the one who invited me to go along with him to meet his boys and for that I am eternally grateful.

Cairo is beyond description. We didn't see all that much of it, but it is fair to say that it is poorer than a city such as Chicago, yet it has much more going for it than perhaps other giant cities that suffer from acute poverty in sub Saharan Africa or South America. My daughter, who has been to South America and seen a number of large cities, has described poverty there and that type of poverty was not what I saw in Cairo. That being said, I do know that in this mega city there are some pretty bad slums. I did not have the opportunity to see them. The city was strikingly dusty and no wonder, it resides in an area surrounded by desert. The Nile River creates an oasis there and when flying in one can see why the ancients placed Cairo where it is today. I am sure that the ancient city was much more beautiful. When it was smaller it did not extend into the desert as much as it does now. Also, the demand for fresh water would have been much less. Now that millions and millions of people live there it is my guess that the demand for fresh water comes dangerously close to the limit of what the Nile can provide. The Nile River has also been dammed by the Aswan Dam hundreds of miles to the south. That has changed the entire ecological equation for the river as it no longer floods as it did for thousands of years. That flooding brought nutrients to the soil of the delta. Being now interrupted by the dam there is great concern and controversy over the long term implications to the Egyptian environment. I did notice that no one seemed to drink tap water. Everyone, locals included, seemed to only drink bottled water and Nestles Company seemed to have cornered the market. Empty bottles were strewn all over the desert in some places. When the wind blew as many plastic bottles flew by as did sand particles... it seemed. Another discussion completely.

We went to the Great Pyramids of Giza. The pictures do not do them justice. They are immense. That they are so ancient and yet man made brings a wonder of its own if you have any interest in history. After seeing pictures of them my entire life, to stand before them and realize that they are "real" was a delight. It was nearly, or perhaps above 105 degrees when we were at the pyramids. That heat, the scorching sun, and the hiking and climbing nearly did me in. I had ridden my bicycle at home forty miles one afternoon and came home feeling great. No small feat for a fifty-seven year old man. However, in the heat I experience in Giza in short order I was reduced to a limp rag. I could feel in my soul how deadly the desert could be. If I had been left out there with no additional water and shelter I would have died before sundown. This heat has a power that is somehow majestic in itself. It made me consider how great are the forces in the universe that could destroy, how delicate we are, and how grace filled is the Lord to have provided us with a place to stand, to live, to thrive, in His great cosmos. We need to be careful where we throw our empty water bottles... I think.

We traveled through the Sinai Desert to go to Jerusalem and the West Bank. The bus ride was other worldly. I must confess to being confused as to how the Israelites could have survived in such a place for one day much less forty years. I know the answer is there, that I don't understand their path, their techniques, and perhaps the climate has significantly changed in the intervening 2500 years or so. I just want to communicate that the Sinai Desert is HOSTILE. No other word fits. We entered Israel through the town of Elat and then proceeded through the Negev Desert to Jerusalem entering it from the east.

The old city is amazing. It is full of shops where you can purchase anything a tourist's heart desires. Some folks live within the city and the word "stone" can not be over used. Everything is made of stone. Everything. We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, The Wailing Wall, and saw many of the stations of the Via de la Rosa. Though I was not there on a spiritual pilgrimage I could not help but be deeply moved by all of these sights including The Dome of the Rock. We stayed in a hostel near the Damascus Gate and that alone was moving. If the Apostle Paul left Jerusalem to head toward Damascus he would have walked through that gate. There is so much to consider... I knew and know so little. My heart was delighted though.

We also went to Bethlehem through an Israeli checkpoint. Andrew set us up with locals to spend the night rather than spending it in hotels. Tom and I spent the night sleeping on The Shepherds Field. That is the place mentioned in Luke Chapter 2:8-20 where the angles of the Lord announce the birth of the Messiah to the shepherds as they "watched their flocks by night." You will see photos of an elderly man and his family under some beautiful grapevines. He has a home and restaurant on the very spot. Over the wall from his property is a Franciscan park which is dedicated to preserving part of the hillside for posterity and for meditation. Our hosts, Greek Orthodox Christians know where they live every day of their lives. They also worship weekly at The Church of the Nativity. How cool is that?! I wept there a number of times for joy.

The people are wonderful. The places are amazing. I can't do it justice with words. Look at the pictures and they will help you some. Go there if you can.