Dr. Dave is married, Cairo is still wonderful, and other updates...

Hey there...

From the first couple of minutes when a taxi driver offered to take me to Tahrir for 300 Egyptian Pounds, to the hour or so I spent in Cairo's airport, sick and wishing I had great friends to help take care of me again, I wished you guys were with me! Honestly, I missed you guys a ton last week!!! You all would have LOVED going back! For those of you who aren't going back anytime soon, consider it. Cairo really isn't as dirty and the men really aren't as aweful as you remember...

I actually ended up staying a couple of nights in flat five with some MESP girls from this Spring and I realized then, more then ever, how wonderful you all are and how incredible our semester was. It was really really good to connect with other MESPers in Cairo and to hear their stories. Generally the trip was incredible! It wasn't quite what I expected (particularly the conference) but I had a really good time and learned a lot of unexpected lessons. For example, it is still not a good idea to drink Cairo's water, despite how invincible or confident you feel being back in Cairo...bad things still happen when you do...finals week was slightly less then succesful due to those bad things...and yet, it's done. I graduated a couple of days ago and (astonomy and macroeconomic final grades pending) am free!

Anyway, I'm not really sure how to update you guys...I still haven't processed it all in my head...but here goes:

The first couple of days I spent hanging out with people from my work (Hands Along the Nile) and the Coptic Evangelical Theological Seminary. I met some sweet Arab Protestant Christians. I know Dr. Dave and Heather sort of preconditioned us to avoid and be hesitant about protestant Christianity in the Middle East, but I have discovered, my friends, that some have done it right and many are doing amazing things. I spent about four hours talking to an Iraqi Christian about pacifism, politics, martyrdom, and the global Body of Christ while drinking chai...how much more amazing can things get?!

The first day of the conference I was standing there networking as best as I can and you'll never guess who walked up to me and gave me a hug...Steve Allen! Apperantly he decided to fly into Cairo during one of his breaks to attend the same conference I was and visit people! Probably one of the more enjoyable aspects of the conference--Steve, if you're reading this, you really were the sexiest person there...seriously. The conference was relatively decent with a lot of speakers and presenters giving lectures and responding to questions on Egyptian development/democratization/politics...but to be honest, it was nothing new. What was cool was to be able to talk about some of the topics in a "small group" where I was the only one who didn't speak fluent Arabic. We were able to talk about some stuff that MESP wasn't able to cover (Egyptian pop culture, youth development, social/political activism...etc) which gave Cairo a whole other dimension. For those of you who are going back to Cairo, check out the Townhouse Gallery. It's in walking distance from Tahrir and is trying to be all "cutting edge" and artsy with Egyptian and refugee youth.

The coolest part of the entire trip was for sure hanging out in Agouza with the MESPers (and Steve and Dave...). There were a couple of girls hanging around after the semester and they totally welcomed me into their flat. They took me to a coffee house in Agouza they found that serves both men and women (found right on Shahine (sp?)), I took them to Spectras for the first time (crazy--right?!), and we spent hours just talking...which was really nice. Had dinner twice with Dr. Dave and his wife, Susanne, who, by the way, is fantastic. Apperantly she took on a really integral role at MESP and everyone loves her and can't imagine life without her. Dave has toned down a bit because of her--it's really cute to see him walking across the brige from the Chiles on the Nile to Agouza hand in hand with her.

Everyone as MESP is excited for our semester to begin heading back. Apperantly our semester is renound both for how many students are getting ready to go back to the region and for how "close" we've all stayed.

For those of you who are interested (I know at least most of the girls...), I was also able to have dinner with Phil Rizk while I was there--he's at AUC now as a freelance journalist in the ME studies masters program. Same cynical, philosophic, slightly off-beat guy we met on our semester...but seems to have experienced a lifetime worth of experiences. I think Gaza really got to him. He had a photo exhibition at the Townhouse Gallery the month before I got there--just another reason to check it out...; ).

I am going to wrap up this update because it could go on forever, which it probably doesn't need to. Email me if you want to hear more. Conclusively I can say that I am more than ready to move back. I am still thinking Palestine's the place to be (I got into a program at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut...but am thinking that is probably not an option given what's going on...). It was really encouraging to go back and be immediately welcomed into a community of people who are asking the right questions and loving the right kind of people. I am really excited for everyone who is going to be in Cairo--you'll have a stinking fantastic time. I'll be in Boulder, CO this summer working if anyone comes my way, and hopefully I'll be in Palestine by late August. Hope you all are doing well and insha'allah I'll see you soon! I love you!!!

Tory