In Finland, teni (again)

It's high time I updated my adventures here, as I'm sure you're curious! Well, I would be. As most travel goes, it was full of the unexpected and meaningful moments that one comes across in distant countries. As I left Egypt, that familiar little ache in my heart returned, that ache that represents a missing piece of my heart left behind with people who are dearly loved. My heart's all over the world, really, if you look at it that way!

But, on to the unexpected and meaningful...
My time in Egypt included historical sites, such as the Pyramids of Giza and Saqqara, where Napoleon's troops have left their artillery marks; the Cairo Museum, brimming with historical treasures to the point that your attention cannot take it all in; a peaceful boat ride on the Nile to an island where busy bees have been making lotus honey for over one thousand years; tours of Coptic churches, each with their own stories and idiosyncracies; a visit to the third oldest mosque in the Middle East; and a visit to the Cave Church and the City of the Dead. We went on camelback to watch the sunset at the pyramids in Giza, and for a three hour horseback ride through the desert. It is here that one of our company fell off her horse and suffered cracked ribs, a punctured lung, and cracked hip. Of course, we did not know this at the time, and she spent days and sleepless nights in pain. She is currently in a hospital in Germany, please, please, pray for her recovery.

The people are what make a place, and my memory is mostly full of smiling faces and children's dirty little hands. Staying with my host family was even better this time, because we had missed each other so much, and we were already familiar! I have very few of my pictures with me, but in the gallery you will find a few of them. The youngest children have grown, especially the baby who is now a wide-eyed 2 year old! We went to the neighbors' for dinner one night, and spent hours just sitting and talking and drinking tea and eating more food! It is during evenings like that, that you start to wonder why in the West we are so obsessed with time and a perceived lack of it.

When I go to Egypt, I feel like I have a whole family of people waiting. And I enjoy every moment of drinking endless cups of hot tea with cousins and grandmothers and attempting to speak the Arabic that I know (and I remembered more than I expected!). I like to link my arm with Asmaa's and walk home at night through uneven dirt streets where men sit at cafés and play chess as they smoke shisha pipes, where flourescent lights in little stores still shine brightly, loud minibuses almost run you over, smells of grease and sounds of metal work emanate from mechanics working on dented cars along the side of the road, and where run-away water buffalos get caught in intersections! I appreciate the moments that I can be a part of the Egyptian daily rhythms and walk home from the busy market with Tita's little hand in one of mine, and a bag of juicy oranges in the other! I keep these little moments and pictures like treasures, little gifts of life that I have been allowed to experience!

I will write more later, as I have given you only a small part of what I have seen and heard. There is yet one little bit more that I want to write. But another time...