The summer English course at St. Leo's is winding down. Tomorrow is the final day of classes. We'll have a party tomorrow evening and on Thursday we'll go to the Red Sea (Ain Sukna) for a day at the beach. On Friday morning we'll catch a 7 am train to go to Assyut in Upper Egypt. We'll be traveling with our friend Kadry, who is one of the students in the summer program. We will be visiting his village (I'm not exactly sure how far it is from Assyut) from Friday to Thursday. Our internet connection may be spotty there so [View Full Entry]

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Just a quick note to say that Hans arrived safe and sound this afternoon. Yeah! His plane was a little late leaving JFK but he arrived in Cairo around noon and we were back at seminary by 2. The students who saw him came running to say hi. He's cleaning up and going to rest for a bit and then we'll probably go out to our favorite coffee shop for a little air conditioning. Thanks for all your prayers for his safe journey. It's so good to have him here. [View Full Entry]

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Signs of hope come in unexpected moments and from surprising places. I experienced both on Thursday night after dinner. My upper level students have spent the summer course preparing reflections to give in morning mass. They have worked very hard, continually revising their ideas and practicing their reflections again and again to make their messages clearer and better. I admire their willingness to tackle the difficult task of proclaiming the word of God in a foreign language among their peers. For some this is the first time they have ever preached the word of God. I wrote a few days a [View Full Entry]

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One of the great pleasures of life in Egypt is an evening spent on a falucca floating on the Nile. We had our annual falucca ride two Saturday's ago (June 21st). A falucca is the name for the boat that sails the Nile. This is a pleasure for a couple of reasons. First (and foremost in my opinion) when you're floating on the Nile you feel the breeze and the cool air that you rarely feel anyplace else in the city. So, an evening on a falucca is like going to an air conditioned restaurant to get out of the heat. [View Full Entry]

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I hope you enjoy this second blog of the day. One of things that I love about teaching at St. Leo’s is watching how the more advanced students begin to own English. They get to a point where they are not just translating what they want to say into English, but they are thinking in English and making jokes in English. Youssri is one of these students. Youssri has completed 2 years of seminary and is in the most advanced English class. He loves language and is always asking me questions about English phrases and saying “English is funny.” For instance, [View Full Entry]

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Two blogs today. This is the first. I wrote the other day about the frustration of being a woman in this male-dominated culture and environment. But let me share another story so you can see another perspective. On Sunday the students and teachers traveled to spend the day at an orphanage in Cairo that has a pool. This was intended to be a day of fun and relaxation. We would go swimming, have lunch, hang out and just enjoy the day. I was here last year, but I came with just two students and it was fine. But I had heard [View Full Entry]

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There is a song I found in the last year that's called "Painting Pictures of Egypt." It's a song about the Israelites as they lived in the wilderness for 40 years longing for what had been in Egypt, while waiting for the promised land to come. There's a line in the song that says, "I've been painting pictures of Egypt, and leaving out what it lacks . . . " Many times over the last year I've wondered what is lacking form my "pictures"of Egypt. What are the parts that I have been leaving out of my memories? I think one [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday I was reminded of one of the many reasons I love being in Egypt and at St. Leo’s seminary so much. Both before my first class and for an hour at dinner I was engrossed in some of the most interesting questions about scripture, about theology, about the natures of Christ, and about the understanding of our common faith. The questions came primarily from two older students who are spending time at the seminary before heading off for a two month experience in England. Hany and Asharat (my friend John may remember them from his first time here) are thoughtful [View Full Entry]

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On my computer at home I have a little card that says, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” I keep it close to where I work, because I always need the reminder that life doesn’t follow my plans. These words could also be the motto for life in Egypt where nothing ever seems to go according to plans. Take Monday night for instance. The announcement was made at lunch on Monday that we would go to the Holy Family Parish that evening for Mass in English. Usually during the summer course, we go to the English Mass on [View Full Entry]

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Today I had my second Arabic lesson with Deacon Hadiya who teaches Arabic at St. Leo's. First, I should explain why Arabic-speaking seminarians study Arabic in seminary. The language of the streets that people speak every day in Egypt is Arabic known as Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. Because Egypt is the most-populous Arabic-speaking country and because Egypt is the center of Arabic-speaking mass media, most Arabic speakers in the world can speak and understand Egyptian Arabic, even if they speak a different common language. The language of print media and news and education is called Modern S [View Full Entry]

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