katie in cairo, egypt

I never know where I'm going to end up in this town. Without sounding too cliche, everyday is an adventure here. Over the past few days I've seen everything from a colorful and eccentric Sufi dance in the Mohammed Ali mosque to a swanky belly dance at a late night locals only club, felt the ultimate serenity of sitting inside the Al Azhar mosque at twilight during prayer while contemplating Islamic philosophy, filled my lungs with their first breath of fresh unpolluted air from atop Al Muqtam Mountain while taking in the enormity of it all, to navigating through the "Gucci" corner on AUC's campus trying not to be late for classes. I love this town.

Scenes from recent adventures:

Friday night after meeting up with some new Egyptian friends, Sayad and Ismael, Krystina, Matthew, Michelle, Nicholas, and I found ourselves smoking sheesha and drinking Stella in a dark, psychodellic feeling Egyptian music and dancing club, where we listened to live singing, drumming, and belly dancing. If there ever was any shyness, it certainly vanished by the end of the night. By the time we left, our table was decorated with bottles scattered about by seductive table dances, our ears were pleasantly deafened and echoeing of song, and our bodies were fluidly rocking to the ceaseless lull of rhythm and dance from our own renditions on the stage.

Mohammed Ali Mosque

After twilight I went with my friend Sayed to a traditional Sufi dance at the mosque. The perfomance is free and simply amazing. About 15 men gather on stage playing many different musical instruments, including stringed mellow sounding soft players, screeching flute/horn typed instruments, and an array of different percussion players. As the show progresses fabulously clothed and decorated men join on stage spinning all about and twirling their magical skirts. The song they dance and play to is religious in nature, and while they go through an entire range of moods and emotions, though the prominent theme seemed to be loving praise and overall joy for life.



Al Azhar Mosque

This is one of the oldest and most famous mosques in all of Cairo. It stands tall next to the huge market, Khan al-Khalili, though its sturdy walls make a barrier to the craziness of the outside streets, protecting an amazing silence and serenity inside. When you go inside the mosque, everyone has to take off their shoes, and women must cover their heads and wear a robe if their clothes are too revealing. Once inside though, you lose sight of yourself as you walk peacefully among ancient men in long robes and small children bowing next to their parents in perfect and serene silence. For me this was the first peace I have felt since moving to Cairo. While sitting on the immaculte marble floor next to the prayer rugs, I really began to think about what Islam means to the people of Egypt, and what a role Allah plays in so much of their culture. Since then these thoughts and feelings have simply flooded me, and whence have sparked an all new curiosity in me about religion and have forced me to ponder my own spirituality and relationship with God.


View of Cairo

posted by Katie Warren @ 9:35 PM