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Published: July 14th 2008
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5:54 am
If you a light morning sleeper like me, you are apt to be woken up each morning in Amshool by the sound of the animals waking for the day. I first heard the roosters around 4:30 but now there is a full chorus surrounding me. The donkeys are also waking up early this morning so their brays are added to the chorus.
I write early on Monday morning from my new favorite place in Egypt - another rooftop - this one at Kadry’s parents home. Every night after we have eaten dinner and done any neighborhood visiting that we’ve been invited to do we come up here to enjoy the cool evening breezes and to gaze at stars like I’ve always imagined one would find in Africa. Our running bet is to see who can see the first satellite each evening in the sky - so far I’m the only one who’s found one. In the daylight as I look out over the rooftops of the village, I see a satellite dish on every rooftop as well as a grape arbor on the house across the street. The village water tower is about two or three blocks
away and in the distance I can hear the trains.
Our time in Upper Egypt has been amazing, by far the best part of Egypt that I have experienced. We are treated like honored guests everywhere we go and our going anywhere is noticed. On Saturday at the koffir in the nearest city, Dairot, I was the celebrity of the day. I was treated to the famous Egyptian method of hair removal called threading, followed by a mask and a haircut (not the best one I’ve ever gotten, but definitely worth the experience). As I sat in the chair with my face covered in white paste, everyone in the salon gathered around to admire and touch my soft, light hair and to ask where I was from. My new friends, Nagat and Hala, stayed close by and made sure that I wasn’t mauled.
Yesterday we traveled to the Deir al-Muharraq monastery about an hour south of here to attend the baptism of the newest baby in the family, Mina. The monastery is the home of a community of Coptic Orthodox monks as well as the sight of one of the oldest churches in the world that dates back
to the first century.
Egyptian Christians proudly claim their country as the place where the holy family sought and found refuge from Herod. In legend, the holy family stayed in a cave on the sight where the monastery is now built for 6 months and 10 days - the longest of any of their stays anywhere in all of Egypt. The ancient church we visited yesterday is built over the sight of the cave where the family stayed. Of the many pictures I took there is one of ancient discarded baptismal fonts that have been used for centuries as children are adopted into the promises and family of God.
The baptism that we were a part of yesterday was enough to make any Lutheran pastor cringe who likes order and dignity. (I’m pausing to watch the most amazing sunrise straight ahead of me - the sun is rose-colored and rising out of the haze in the distance. Now that it’s up I will need to go inside as it will quickly heat up the morning.) We got to the monastery by 7 and already there were families lined up to have their children baptized. In one room the
families and babies were organized into groups of four and a monk came and did the preliminary baptismal liturgy - the family renounces evil and affirms their Orthodox faith. The monk kept asking if Hans and I understood what was being said and if we believed what they did about baptism - I’m not quite sure why, I still need to ask about that.
After the preliminaries the families were ushered into a second room that had three of four tables set up in front of a baptismal font. The babies were placed on the table undressed and then the monks came to take the babies and immerse them three times in an enormous font. As the babies were baptized the grandmothers voiced their approval. After the immersion the babies were anointed with oil by the monk. Finally the boys were dressed in miniature versions of priest or bishop vestments and the girls were dressed in white. All this time everyone in the family was jockeying for position to take photos - and remember there were four extended families doing this at a time. The whole process took about 15 minutes and was pure chaos from our vantage point,
The Proud Family
From L to R: Myrna, Peter, Bassam, Mina, Amal but completely normal for the families involved. Once one group finished the next four were lined up and this process continued all day near as we can guess.
As the post-baptism picture taking began, grandma came and placed Mina in my arms and cameras everywhere recorded the moment. As we left, another couple who had had twins baptized, asked if they could take pictures of their children with us. Before I knew it I was holding twins and being photographed by people I don’t know who I will never see again.
It was an amazingly wonderful experience and we felt so privileged to be a part of it.
The other highlight of the day for me was that I got a Coptic cross tattooed on my wrist like Copts throughout Egypt. (Pictures included!) That’s another experience that I’ll relate another time.
Today we’re off to Deir Drunqa Convent (Convent of the Holy Virgin) about 75 minutes away. We will spend a few hours there this morning with Kadry and his brother before heading to Assyut to have lunch with Kadry’s bishop. Another good day ahead!
Al Hamdu Lillaah! Praise be to God!
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Diane R
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What an experience!
Oh, Amy, I got chills of excitement down my spine just reading about this fantastic day of baptisms and tattoos! I can't wait to meet with you in person to hear more about life in rural Egypt. This blog has been so wonderful! I get excited every time I find a new entry. Thank you for all the education and entertainment I have found here. Hello to Hans, and safe journey back home to both of you. Love, Diane