Shokran, ya Masr..

"There is only one reason 

We have followed God into this world:

To encourage laughter, freedom, dance, 

And love.

Let a noble cry inside of you speak to me

Saying;

'Hafiz, Don't just sit there on the moon tonight 

Doing nothing -

Help unfurl my heart into the Friend's Mind,

Help..to heal my wounded wings!' "

Cairo has been kind to me this week. I arrived last week with bleary eyes, a heavy heart, and trepidation for the months to come. I braced myself for the usual assault of the chaos on my senses - but this time the traffic noise seems a bit softer, the sun a bit warmer, the smiles of the shopkeepers a bit more welcoming. Its as if the city read my grief in the coffee grounds left in the cup on my kitchen table, and offers its sympathies in small, deeply moving, gestures. 

I took an armful of suitcase-wrinkled garments down to be ironed by the unshaven, burly man on the ground floor of our apartment building, and was greeted with a big, tea-stained smile and, "Where are you?!?" (meaning, where have you been?). 

I was smothered with kisses by my female Egyptian co-workers, and given hearty pats on the back from their male counterparts.

My American co-workers have made sure I'm fed and beer-ed and given me the name of a renowned cleaning lady who is guaranteed to remove all traces of the sandstorms from my apartment. 

Even the sunsets from my balcony have been beautiful.

I'm grateful. 

I made a decision to not work myself to death quite yet, and took the time to do some enjoyable things this weekend. I finally hung the pictures and decorations in my new apartment, and slept a respectable 10 hours a night.

Easter weekend is going to pass us by since we work on Sundays, so my good friends B. and C. invited me to Easter dinner on Friday. There was no ham to be had in Zamalek, so we made salmon, asparagus, garlic potatoes, and arugula salad. Then we sat in their garden and ate cupcakes for dessert (their toddler preferred to munch on some leaves and dirty from the garden - she is making an effort to develop a robust immune system). 

Easter dinner! Auntie Emily was taking the picture.

Today I went with my friend A. to walk Islamic Cairo. It's a bit of a misnomer, since its no more Islamic than the rest of Cairo (except for say, Coptic Cairo - that will be another day trip). But it does contain the highest concentration of historic mosques, madrassas (Islamic schools), islamic architecture, and the old city walls. It was kind of amazing to think that the structures we were walking into were anywhere from 500-900 years old.

My favorite was the blue mosque - you step through the gate from the dusty, hot noisy street and into a cool, white tiled open expanse. It's like a drink of icewater for your eyes and ears. My pictures don't really do it justice.

 

 

Continuing on, we saw a lot of mashrabiya windows - beautiful wooden latticework like the picture below:

When women kept purdah (ie not leave the house once they were married), they were able to watch the activity in the streets below through these windows without being seen by other men. 

I'm really interested in decorative arts from the Middle East - I visited the Museum of Islamic Art last fall and could have spent a few days in there. It was even better to see some really well-preserved and restored examples up close.

I had to sneak a picture of A. - he's not very photogenic :) 

The ceilings are amazing 

Footbath for pre-prayer ablutions

Ivory inlay

Script from the Quran runs around the edge of the ceiling 

The grand finale was climbing one of the minarets of the al-Ghuri mosque. It was poorly lit, and we had to use a lighter to find out way up the spiral staircase. 

Halfway there

At the top, we had a 360 view of Cairo, in all its hazy, smoggy, crumbling glory.

View of the market below

So tonight I'll wash the Cairo dirt from my feet before I slip between bedsheets cooled by the air conditioning and sleep with a lighter heart, healed by the unexpected balm of a city thats welcomed me back with open arms.