Report

It's been about a month since I arrived in the Middle East, a month that in Cairo and everywhere else in the Islamic world is the month of Ramadan. I've seen a couple people cheating, but for the most part, Muslims around the world have been fasting during the day for the entire month of August, which means no food or drink during the day. It's not quite as hot in Cairo as it is back home in Austin - but I'm still quite impressed!

QUICK REPORT ON THE LAST MONTH:

The two weeks I spent in Cairo didn't give me a great impression of the situation in post-"revolution" Egypt, but it was really interesting to be back after witnessing the upheaval from afar. The neighborhood I stayed in, called Agouza, felt 100% the same as it did when I studied abroad with MESP - I would describe the area as a kind of urban village. However, the few people I talked to mentioned a sense of uncertainty - one person said that things are "risky" right now with the army's transitional council in charge. Mubarak's trial began during my short stay, and people were certainly interested in that - the event inspired displays of anger in some cases.

I did make it down to Tahrir Square a couple times, just enough to get a brief glimpse of the goings on there. Traffic flow had returned, with people going in and out, but soldiers were squatting in the center of the square, presumably to prevent further outbreaks of mass protests, which have continued occasionally since Mubarak's resignation. I heard whispers of a planned protest on one of the Fridays I was there, but I don't think it materialized.

It was interesting to hear some of the stories from the uprising. One of my friends told me his brother took 30 rubber bullets in the back from security forces, and was out of commission for three days afterward. Others experienced a few face-fulls of tear gas in confrontations with police and security forces.

The future remains uncertain - there seems to be no compelling vision for Egypt that a lot of people can get on board with. One of my friends told me he has yet to find a party that will win his support - some groups want to make Egypt into Iran or Saudia Arabia; others want to make Egypt the United States.

I wish I had the time to go around and hold a bunch of interviews, but my time in Cairo was mainly spent getting ready for the semester - and our main task was getting ready to move to Israel, where the program I'm working for is going to be held, and where I am writing from.

We completed the move and are actually preparing to receive students beginning tomorrow! I'm just about ready for things to get moving - we're staying near Jerusalem and our students are going to have the opportunity right off the batt to begin learning about the Israel-Palestine Conflict, one of the most challenging issues in the region.

I want to continue learning myself, to revisit the interplay between faith and politics in the Middle East and particularly Israel, during this moment of swift change in the region.

It hasn't been all work and learning - I've also been ingesting a healthy dose of Sci-Fi with my coworkers - we've gone through Firefly/Serenity, and I've also been introduced for a second time to Dr. Who. This is very important preparation for the semester...

Thanks for the prayers and support!