A Day in Cairo

Mission to Egypt

April 2000 - September 2001

Week of September 3, 2000

"At the [Coptic School] graduation ceremony they insisted on having us speak and tell about ourselves and of course there was lots of picture taking. They gave us each a charm-type pendant that has the face of Christ on it with the "Icon" look. The name of this program we are involved with is LAMB (Language And Mind Building) which we think is quite nice since it is a Christian sponsored course."

"Saturday evening we went to the home of two of my students for dinner. They were asking us what we liked to eat and drink and had a hard time comprehending our diet restrictions--non alcoholic drink didn't mean anything
to them. So we had to list no beer, no wine, no champagne, as well as no coffee and tea. It's hard to deal with "just water" when you are going to have a chance to have some Americans in your home."

"It is a long process to wash every vegetable and scrub with a brush every orange. I give them a good rinse and then a brief soak in Clorox solution. I have to change clothes so I don't ruin my clothes from splashes of bleach. I have to cut a head of cabbage in half to soak it. They I rinse everything again and let it air dry. I even peel all the onions and soak them
and then store them in the refrigerator."

"The men on the scaffolding behind our apartment are applying a coat of cement over the rough brick structure. What back-breaking work! They haul cement up by hand on small pallets that a single man can carry and it is all applied by two men. We are talking about a 10-story apartment building. They are experts in cement and we never cease to be amazed at what beautiful work these craftsmen can do.

"Paul and I try to walk every morning before it gets unbearably hot. We have noticed some dying palm trees along the way that are breaking open and inside it looks like burlap.

	"At the [Coptic School] graduation ceremony they insisted on having us speak and tell about ourselves and of course there was lots of picture taking. They gave us each a charm-type pendant that has the face of Christ on it with the "Icon" look. The name of this program we are involved with is LAMB (Language And Mind Building) which we think is quite nice since it is a Christian sponsored course."
	"Saturday evening we went to the home of two of my students for dinner. They were asking us what we liked to eat and drink and had a hard time comprehending our diet restrictions--non alcoholic drink didn't mean anything to them. So we had to list no beer, no wine, no champagne, as well as no coffee and tea. It's hard to deal with "just water" when you are going to have a chance to have some Americans in your home."
	"It is a long process to wash every vegetable and scrub with a brush every orange. I give them a good rinse and then a brief soak in Clorox solution. I have to change clothes so I don't ruin my clothes from splashes of bleach. I have to cut a head of cabbage in half to soak it. They I rinse everything again and let it air dry. I even peel all the onions and soak them and then store them in the refrigerator."
	"The men on the scaffolding behind our apartment are applying a coat of cement over the rough brick structure. What back-breaking work! They haul cement up by hand on small pallets that a single man can carry and it is all applied by two men. We are talking about a 10-story apartment building. They are experts in cement and we never cease to be amazed at what beautiful work these craftsmen can do.
	"Paul and I try to walk every morning before it gets unbearably hot. We have noticed some dying palm trees along the way that are breaking open and inside it looks like burlap.