By Pilgrim Amy
Wake up call this morning was a phone call at 6am. Breakfast was at 7 and we were on the buses by 8 – heading to the Pyramids! Another history lesson later – we pulled up to the impressive sight (giant, sandy, toblerone!) Our guide spent a good 5 minutes warning us of all the tricks and traps of the vendors at the sight (including them getting you on a camel for a ‘free’ ride and then charging you $20US to get off, giving you less postcards then you pay for etc. etc.) but to no avail... A minute after stepping off the bus Thomas Langrell is up on a camel… when the vendors took him cantering off around the corner of a pyramid – his two sisters grew a little concerned, and it was only after getting out his wallet that he convinced them he had no money to give them and was eventually able to go. They hassled all of us – which wasn’t fun…. But our evasion tactics got more and more creative - whether it was speaking jibberish, ignoring them, or just plain running away, they didn’t get too much out of us. We took photos – and headed down to the Sphinx, which was very impressive – but much smaller than most of us had thought it would be (and it's missing its nose!... though we all hopefully were expecting that one)
After a stop at a papyrus shop (in which everyone, in their usual consumer habitat, with price tags and quality assurance went pretty nuts buying things!) we headed to Mass in St Joseph’s Church. It was a really beautiful Mass – the first one as a group since the Cardinal had joined us the evening before. It was the biggest Catholic Church in Cairo too. The religious breakdown of Egypt is 90% Muslim, 10% Christian in the city - and of the Christians 90% are Coptic Orthodox, 8% are Roman Catholic and 2% are Protestant.
Lunch was Falafel on the bus as we made for the Holy Sites of the afternoon. The first was a Church called Abu Serga – a Coptic Orthodox Church and the oldest one in Egypt! The church had been built on the site because it is believed that the Holy Family took refuge for some period in that spot, over 2000 years ago. It was pretty remarkable and while we didn’t go into the crypt – it was amazing to just be where Our Lady and St Joseph had walked around with Jesus as a little child. That wasn’t all in that Church – as well as the relics of St Serga, the church was home to a pillar on which a painting of the Virgin Mary was said to have wept during the 1970s, when conflict between the Christians and Muslims in the south had led to significant bloodshed.
After the Church we made for a Synagogue, which is unused (there are only 76 Jews in all of Egypt, and given you need 10 for a service – there are no used Synagogues in Egypt). The Synagogue was built on the site as it is said that is where Moses was pulled from the reeds as a baby. Following this stop we went to the Hanging Church – which literally doesn’t have anything more than two side pillars holding it up!
After this stop it was back on the bus to the hotel (or for the adventurous, there was a fragrance/oil shop as the last stop). The rest of us made for the pool, played touch football and generally had a marvelous time – just chilling and getting to know people.
It has been a fantastic trip so far – and it is only getting better!
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