28 September 2008
Port Said and the arabic language
Yesterday I have been to Port Said. The main attraction of this rather small town is the Suezcanal and the canal itself is also the reason why the town was founded about 130 years ago. On the way to Port Said you can see really big ships which pass by from India or China on their way to Europe (or the other way). Unfortunately in the town itself you are not allowed to see the crossing of the ships, because the area around the port is a military area. The fees paid by the ships for using the canal are the second biggest income of Egypt’s economy after tourism.
The town itself was rather boring and ugly in my eyes, you can see some few remaining of the French people who used to live there in the 40’s and 50’s of the last century.
For me the most interesting part was the visit of a big Christian church, the church was divided into two parts (only by some movable wooden walls), one part was Catholic and the other part was Coptic. I have never seen something live this, two shapes of a religion in on church. Furthermore in the catholic part you could see the zodiac signs on the arch of the roof. I did not know that the signs are connected to catholic religion… strange church…
I want to talk about something else today, not connected to my trip, the Arabic language. I am in Cairo now since nearly two months and I can not speak any Arabic (beside some simple phrases like yes, no, 1 2 3,…). In the beginning I wanted to study some, but then I just found myself to lazy and unorganised. I see this as the biggest failure of my time here in Egypt, because speaking the language is very, very important. Everything gets difficult when u are not able to communicate with the people. Starting from shopping, going out or when ordering something to eat. And I am not speaking about difficult things like working in this country or studying. If you don’t speak the language of the country you are living in, you will quickly feel insecure (very often simple situations get difficult or even escalate because of language problems) and will search for people who speak your language, like other foreigners. Further on you will only stick to then, and as final result integration fails, which is TERRIBLE. When I was young I sometimes did not understand the refugees from Eastern Europe in my hometown, why they act so strange, did not hang out with us and always looked a little bit afraid. Now I can understand the situation of this people way better and I am thankful for this experience. I will try to do my best working on the situation (here and in Germany). Integration in Germany is not going very well in my eyes and one of the main reasons is for sure that the people do not communicate which each other. We must work on that!!
The town itself was rather boring and ugly in my eyes, you can see some few remaining of the French people who used to live there in the 40’s and 50’s of the last century.
For me the most interesting part was the visit of a big Christian church, the church was divided into two parts (only by some movable wooden walls), one part was Catholic and the other part was Coptic. I have never seen something live this, two shapes of a religion in on church. Furthermore in the catholic part you could see the zodiac signs on the arch of the roof. I did not know that the signs are connected to catholic religion… strange church…
I want to talk about something else today, not connected to my trip, the Arabic language. I am in Cairo now since nearly two months and I can not speak any Arabic (beside some simple phrases like yes, no, 1 2 3,…). In the beginning I wanted to study some, but then I just found myself to lazy and unorganised. I see this as the biggest failure of my time here in Egypt, because speaking the language is very, very important. Everything gets difficult when u are not able to communicate with the people. Starting from shopping, going out or when ordering something to eat. And I am not speaking about difficult things like working in this country or studying. If you don’t speak the language of the country you are living in, you will quickly feel insecure (very often simple situations get difficult or even escalate because of language problems) and will search for people who speak your language, like other foreigners. Further on you will only stick to then, and as final result integration fails, which is TERRIBLE. When I was young I sometimes did not understand the refugees from Eastern Europe in my hometown, why they act so strange, did not hang out with us and always looked a little bit afraid. Now I can understand the situation of this people way better and I am thankful for this experience. I will try to do my best working on the situation (here and in Germany). Integration in Germany is not going very well in my eyes and one of the main reasons is for sure that the people do not communicate which each other. We must work on that!!
25 September 2008
Last two weeks
Last two weeks
I have done a couple of things the last two weekends. In general during the week most of the time we hang out drinking something or/ and smoking a shisha in café or something similar. I played soccer a couple of times, which is quite nice. We always play very late in the evening so that the temperature is ok. Since public soccer fields do not exist or they are in a very bad condition we always go to a Shooting Club, which I rather would call Sporting Club, but who cares. Anyway the soccer is really good because we play on a small field a very fast game.
Two weeks ago we went to Coptic Cairo, which is some sort of an enclave in Cairo, there are a couple of churches to visit, a monastery and a graveyard . Since the Coptic people are close to the Greek Orthodox sometimes you see words written in Greek. Furthermore there is the place where Mary and Josef and the baby Jesus hidden from Herodes who wanted to kill all newborn, when he heard that a new king is born and so the holy family escaped to Egypt. In addition there is one of the few (as far as I know only 3) synagogues in Egypt. Unfortunately we where to late for that, I will go there another time, I expect it to be heavily protected. Just a short walk away from Coptic Cairo we wanted to visit the Nilmeter, but unfortunately it was also already closed. But we had a nice view on the Nil so that was worth it.
Last weekend I worked as a volunteer in an NGO distributing Ramadan Food Bags and clothes. Since Ramadan is a special months in Islam people try to help each other and do something good for society. In this case the NGO collected donations (money and used clothes). With the money they were able to buy 400 Ramadan food bags, which contain rice, oil, sugar, beans… very basic products. The bags were distributed to poor families (each family one bag). The family had to apply in advance for the food and they got some kind of stamp to prove that they were allowed to get the food. Last Friday finally they were allowed to pick up the food (only women were allowed to come, because the men always fight), in addition there was a clothes bazaar, where the women got pick up the used clothes.
I mainly helped packing the food bags and helping the women carrying them down the stairs. I really enjoyed my time there, because everybody (helpers and the poor people) were very friendly. I could see the joy in there eyes when they got the bags. They were especially surprised that some foreigners helped them. I sometimes feel strange when I am walking in the streets of Egypt and seeing all the poverty. I want to be a good guy, so this was a good chance to give back something to the Egyptian society.
I was very surprised because the room in which we distributed the food didn’t belong to be NGO. We were able to work in this room through the sheik of the nearby mosque (sorry I don’t have a clue how to write this, but the sheik is as far as I know a monk that is living in a mosque, these sheiks are very religious and high honoured in Egyptian society). The sheik noticed that I and some other volunteers were not Muslim. So he allowed us to eat and drink in a special room. Nice move.
In the evening we all had a nice Iftar (the first dinner of the day during Ramadan, in Egypt at 6 pm) together. It was really an encouraging day.
On the next day we went sandboarding on a small dune close to Cairo. Really funny but the dune was not high enough to gain a lot of speed…. I need to do this in the real desert.
I have done a couple of things the last two weekends. In general during the week most of the time we hang out drinking something or/ and smoking a shisha in café or something similar. I played soccer a couple of times, which is quite nice. We always play very late in the evening so that the temperature is ok. Since public soccer fields do not exist or they are in a very bad condition we always go to a Shooting Club, which I rather would call Sporting Club, but who cares. Anyway the soccer is really good because we play on a small field a very fast game.
Two weeks ago we went to Coptic Cairo, which is some sort of an enclave in Cairo, there are a couple of churches to visit, a monastery and a graveyard . Since the Coptic people are close to the Greek Orthodox sometimes you see words written in Greek. Furthermore there is the place where Mary and Josef and the baby Jesus hidden from Herodes who wanted to kill all newborn, when he heard that a new king is born and so the holy family escaped to Egypt. In addition there is one of the few (as far as I know only 3) synagogues in Egypt. Unfortunately we where to late for that, I will go there another time, I expect it to be heavily protected. Just a short walk away from Coptic Cairo we wanted to visit the Nilmeter, but unfortunately it was also already closed. But we had a nice view on the Nil so that was worth it.
Last weekend I worked as a volunteer in an NGO distributing Ramadan Food Bags and clothes. Since Ramadan is a special months in Islam people try to help each other and do something good for society. In this case the NGO collected donations (money and used clothes). With the money they were able to buy 400 Ramadan food bags, which contain rice, oil, sugar, beans… very basic products. The bags were distributed to poor families (each family one bag). The family had to apply in advance for the food and they got some kind of stamp to prove that they were allowed to get the food. Last Friday finally they were allowed to pick up the food (only women were allowed to come, because the men always fight), in addition there was a clothes bazaar, where the women got pick up the used clothes.
I mainly helped packing the food bags and helping the women carrying them down the stairs. I really enjoyed my time there, because everybody (helpers and the poor people) were very friendly. I could see the joy in there eyes when they got the bags. They were especially surprised that some foreigners helped them. I sometimes feel strange when I am walking in the streets of Egypt and seeing all the poverty. I want to be a good guy, so this was a good chance to give back something to the Egyptian society.
I was very surprised because the room in which we distributed the food didn’t belong to be NGO. We were able to work in this room through the sheik of the nearby mosque (sorry I don’t have a clue how to write this, but the sheik is as far as I know a monk that is living in a mosque, these sheiks are very religious and high honoured in Egyptian society). The sheik noticed that I and some other volunteers were not Muslim. So he allowed us to eat and drink in a special room. Nice move.
In the evening we all had a nice Iftar (the first dinner of the day during Ramadan, in Egypt at 6 pm) together. It was really an encouraging day.
On the next day we went sandboarding on a small dune close to Cairo. Really funny but the dune was not high enough to gain a lot of speed…. I need to do this in the real desert.
24 September 2008
Partytime
Hei, just a nice picture from a party couple of days ago. During Ramadan there are a lot of house partys because most of the clubs and discothekes are closed. But there is only one week left and then we can go out again ;-)... on the picture you can see (f.l.t.r.) Catrine, Boraie, me, Yasser, AC and Omar.
21 September 2008
Israel
Israel
So afterwards we took a minibus to Jerusalem. In general Israel is more expensive than the Arabic countries. The currency Shekel is not that strong (1 Euro equals 5,2 Shekel) but the price level is quite high.
So we got ourselves a room in a Youth Hostel and just started walking. Most of our time in Jerusalem we spend in the Old City, which is surrounded by a thick wall. The Old city itself is divided into 4 parts: Christian, Armenian, Jewish and Islamic. So it is quite impossible not to stand in close to any important mosque, church etc pp.
At the first evening we stayed in the Jewish quarter and visited the Wailing Wall the most important part of the old temple for the jewish people. Furthermore we saw the Islamic quarter with the Great Dom of the Rock. Unfortunately we were not able to get in. This mosque is very important for the Islamic religion, it is considered to be the second most important after the one in Mekka.
In the evening we left the old city and had some drinks in New Jerusalem. There you definitely fell like in Europe or the US. Teenagers drink and dance in bars and clubs. This feels very strange when you come from an Islamic country before, because their drinking alcohol is forbidden.
I never felt insecure in Israel, although you a surrounded by armed soldiers nearly everywhere. Because military service in Israel is mandatory most of them a very young, something like 20-22. But definitely this has been the most dangerous country I have been so far. Somehow the people living in this state got used to that they live in an insecure situation (as silly as it sounds it is) and any political change can happen anytime.
On our second day we got up and visited the Christian and the armenian quarter. We weren’t that good in navigation and I can really not recommend the Lonely Plant map of Jerusalem, so sometimes we screwed up and ended up somewhere we didn't want to. In the Christian part of the town we saw some sort of procession. Because it was a Friday a very important priest came to town. People sang and prayed for him. They followed him in a large number and tried to kiss him.
Afterwards we visited a Christian church outside the old city wall. They say that in this church the virgin Mary is buried. The church was build and now is run by Germans and somehow I felt and saw that. In the room where Mary is buried we could when see some picture on the walls from Cologne, Nuernberg and Bamberg.
A very interesting thing in Jerusalem is that with a lot of things people say they think that is like this (i.e. the last walk of Jesus Christ) but the cannot prove it.
We saw the grave of Oscar Schindler and a big kitschy Coptic Church.
Afterwards we wanted to do some shopping but due to the fact that Friday is the holy day of the Jews everything closed at 3 pm. In the evening we had some drinks with some other backpackers and then a nice cold Becks in the City centre.
At the morning of the third day we went to the town of Bethlehem in Palestine very early in the morning. So we crossed the border into the Westbank which is quite a weird feeling crossing a border within a country on one hand and on the other hand this big wall just makes me as a German feel so sad, because this reminds me of the times of the Cold war in Germany. I am crying inside myself when I see such horrible things and the way the divide humans.
In Bethlehem we visited the birthplace of Jesus Christ and once more I realised that very religion is just a cult. The church that marks the birthplace is one of the oldest churches in the worlds and looked for me somehow like a Buddhist temple, because it has a large hall which dark coloured columns with no benches. The roof was made out of wood. I know this sounds strange but maybe it was a small hit from god, allah, Buddha,… that in the end all religions are the same.
I noticed a strange thing both Islamic and Jewish people say Peace in their languages when they meet somebody in the streets (al salamo a’laykom in Islamic and Saloom in Hebrew) but actually in this country they are not looking for peace, sad but true.
I hope that this place on earth and it’s people will find peace one day.
On our way back we saw a lot of graffiti’s, all of them showed how sad the people are about the situation. I kept one in my mind: ”Israel 2008=Germany 1948”
At 11am we travel to Tel Aviv. It is really a nice place at the seaside. They have beautiful beaches to chill out and swim. But that is it basically. You will find a lot of Americans there and the town centre is very hip and modern. We enjoyed being at the beach, eating some kosher food and in the evening sitting at the beach listing to the sound of the never ending waves.
On Sunday we travelled back to Eilat and crossed the border to Egypt again. Afterwards back to Cairo. To sum it up this trip has been amazing gorgeous. I cannot write everything down but I hope to share my experiences which some of you face to face soon.
So afterwards we took a minibus to Jerusalem. In general Israel is more expensive than the Arabic countries. The currency Shekel is not that strong (1 Euro equals 5,2 Shekel) but the price level is quite high.
So we got ourselves a room in a Youth Hostel and just started walking. Most of our time in Jerusalem we spend in the Old City, which is surrounded by a thick wall. The Old city itself is divided into 4 parts: Christian, Armenian, Jewish and Islamic. So it is quite impossible not to stand in close to any important mosque, church etc pp.
At the first evening we stayed in the Jewish quarter and visited the Wailing Wall the most important part of the old temple for the jewish people. Furthermore we saw the Islamic quarter with the Great Dom of the Rock. Unfortunately we were not able to get in. This mosque is very important for the Islamic religion, it is considered to be the second most important after the one in Mekka.
In the evening we left the old city and had some drinks in New Jerusalem. There you definitely fell like in Europe or the US. Teenagers drink and dance in bars and clubs. This feels very strange when you come from an Islamic country before, because their drinking alcohol is forbidden.
I never felt insecure in Israel, although you a surrounded by armed soldiers nearly everywhere. Because military service in Israel is mandatory most of them a very young, something like 20-22. But definitely this has been the most dangerous country I have been so far. Somehow the people living in this state got used to that they live in an insecure situation (as silly as it sounds it is) and any political change can happen anytime.
On our second day we got up and visited the Christian and the armenian quarter. We weren’t that good in navigation and I can really not recommend the Lonely Plant map of Jerusalem, so sometimes we screwed up and ended up somewhere we didn't want to. In the Christian part of the town we saw some sort of procession. Because it was a Friday a very important priest came to town. People sang and prayed for him. They followed him in a large number and tried to kiss him.
Afterwards we visited a Christian church outside the old city wall. They say that in this church the virgin Mary is buried. The church was build and now is run by Germans and somehow I felt and saw that. In the room where Mary is buried we could when see some picture on the walls from Cologne, Nuernberg and Bamberg.
A very interesting thing in Jerusalem is that with a lot of things people say they think that is like this (i.e. the last walk of Jesus Christ) but the cannot prove it.
We saw the grave of Oscar Schindler and a big kitschy Coptic Church.
Afterwards we wanted to do some shopping but due to the fact that Friday is the holy day of the Jews everything closed at 3 pm. In the evening we had some drinks with some other backpackers and then a nice cold Becks in the City centre.
At the morning of the third day we went to the town of Bethlehem in Palestine very early in the morning. So we crossed the border into the Westbank which is quite a weird feeling crossing a border within a country on one hand and on the other hand this big wall just makes me as a German feel so sad, because this reminds me of the times of the Cold war in Germany. I am crying inside myself when I see such horrible things and the way the divide humans.
In Bethlehem we visited the birthplace of Jesus Christ and once more I realised that very religion is just a cult. The church that marks the birthplace is one of the oldest churches in the worlds and looked for me somehow like a Buddhist temple, because it has a large hall which dark coloured columns with no benches. The roof was made out of wood. I know this sounds strange but maybe it was a small hit from god, allah, Buddha,… that in the end all religions are the same.
I noticed a strange thing both Islamic and Jewish people say Peace in their languages when they meet somebody in the streets (al salamo a’laykom in Islamic and Saloom in Hebrew) but actually in this country they are not looking for peace, sad but true.
I hope that this place on earth and it’s people will find peace one day.
On our way back we saw a lot of graffiti’s, all of them showed how sad the people are about the situation. I kept one in my mind: ”Israel 2008=Germany 1948”
At 11am we travel to Tel Aviv. It is really a nice place at the seaside. They have beautiful beaches to chill out and swim. But that is it basically. You will find a lot of Americans there and the town centre is very hip and modern. We enjoyed being at the beach, eating some kosher food and in the evening sitting at the beach listing to the sound of the never ending waves.
On Sunday we travelled back to Eilat and crossed the border to Egypt again. Afterwards back to Cairo. To sum it up this trip has been amazing gorgeous. I cannot write everything down but I hope to share my experiences which some of you face to face soon.
18 September 2008
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