A Tribute to a Coptic Orthodox Leader Pope Shenouda III (1923 - 2012)

This week I was going to disclose my survival tips for coping with the unfortunate reality of scams here in Egypt. However, something a little more somber has come up which I feel should be mentioned.

Yesterday the news reported the death of Pope Shenouda lll, aged 88; much beloved and highly respected leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church. He had been suffering long term health problems.

Instated into Papacy in 1971 Pope Shenouda III was the 117^th Pope of Alexandria. He guided the minority religious group in Egypt through 40 years of the church’s development, overseeing huge growth of the denomination across the world in the USA, South America and Europe. Over the years he has been a stalwart for peace between religious groups and was seen by Copts as a man who protected their religion from persecution.

Shenouda’s body currently sits in State at Cairo's Abbasiya Church, where thousands of mourners are passing through to pay their last respects. He will stay like this until Tuesday where he will be buried, according to his will, at Wadi el Natrun Monestry.

 A new Pope will be chosen through a voting system by board members of the church's city councils. The council’s vote on three preferred candidates and the final choice is made when a name is picked out of a box by a young child.

This blog is not a platform for me to comment on the political and social repercussions of this sad event. However it is safe to say that Shenouda’s death at such a time of political uncertainty has certainly come as a great blow to the Copts of Egypt. After the period of grieving I am sure that most Copts will be waiting in anticipation to see who will fill the shoes of an iconic man who is universally deemed to be irreplaceable . The leader will have to be a man astute enough to lead their group into what could be a very 'new Egypt’ after the elections and calm enough to rest his congregation’s minds about the future of their church. It is no mean task but I am sure it will be achieved.

I should just take a moment now to clarify that although religious clashes do take place, for the most part Muslims and Christians in Egypt live, work and socialise together in harmony irrespective of their beliefs. I do not see a continual war here between the two groups; in fact almost all of Rami’s closest friends are Muslims despite him being Orthodox. Today at work there were condolences passed around between Christian and Muslim staff, and everyone is saddened by the death of a good man.

Rest In Peace Pope Shenouda III 

Pope Shenouda (1923 - 2012)

A brief excursion with the family

I have just returned from an absolutely fantastic break away from work with my spirits refreshed and my outlook on Cairo revitalised.  Ithink it was a wise person who said that laughter is the best medicine and it is safe to say that I have done a lot of that during the past 7 days.

I have come to the conclusion in my time here so far that the easiest way for me, at least, to deal with the sometimes incomparable differences between Egyptian and British life, and the inevitable culture shock that I have suffered and continue to suffer from, is to look at all the events which unfold with a good sense of humour. Nothing has allowed me to do this more than the timely arrival of my sister and her boyfriend, who both tend to see the funny side of everything and so encourage me to do the same; and hence we indulge in relentless witty banter whenever we get together.

Reunited with my sibling after a four month separation, we took to the road in a night bus almost immediately after their arrival in order to get to Sharm El Sheikh where she – a hardcore fish fan–was going to put her new diving certification to use in her first ever open water dive.

A little note here about the safety of the coach journey, as I know that there have been a number of recent and historic incidents in the local news about bus crashes and tourist deaths in the desert. In fact, even on my return from holiday today I have been informed by a colleague that local news had reported a fatal crash whilst I was away and at the same time as I was travelling; which was a little unnerving to say the least.All I can say is yes, there is a risk when travelling by bus and this can’t be escaped. I have talked about the apparent lack of road rule adherence and enforcement in Cairo in a previous blog and to be honest the same carelessness definitely seems to apply even in the tourist areas and, by comparison to the UK at least I have good reason to suspect that there is a very high accident rate on the roads. However, in the defence of the coach companies the news reports of the road accidents that have happened in recent months should be looked at in context. Dozens of coaches make their way from Cairo to Sharm(and all around the area) both night and day, on a daily basis, reinforcing the fact that you can definitely get to Cairo from Sharm in one piece!If you are a little perturbed by the thought of travelling long distance by local bus then the best way to go would be via domestic flight. These range from between 300 to 800 LE and are frequently departing from Cairo International airport.

With the coach journey survived, we took a cab to the basic yet perfectly adequate and quite pretty self-catering holiday resort called Delta Sharm. Sharm El Sheikh is quite simply a long strip of touristic resorts and beaches, broken up by expanses of desert. The area itself, the Red Sea, is most famous for its coral reef, which is quite probably being over-exploited by the tourist industry and which has almost certainly benefited from the acute lack of tourism that the area has seen in the last 12 months, due to the effects of the revolution.

Nevertheless, the Sharm coral is one of the only winners of this particular era (and Red Sea conservation is another whole topic). The unfortunate side-effect of the Egyptian Revolution is that the tourist industry in the country has plummeted and many, many people have lost their jobs and businesses in the aftermath.

When I first started my Egyptian adventure 12 months ago to the day, it was simply with a holiday with a friend to a fantastic little hotel called the Royal Albatross. At this time Egypt and its rioting was in international news almost daily and as a direct result the Red Sea area was like the Mary Celeste; totally abandoned, despite being 7 hours away from the violence and completely unaffected.

In June last year, on my second Sharm holiday, we still saw very little by way of tourism and workers seemed grateful for our custom. However, one year on and it is safe to say that small glimmers of life are beginning to reappear which is very good news for locals whose livelihoods are this industry. This time around I saw many Egyptians holidaying with us and taking advantage of the off peak season, but I also saw a  fair amount of foreigners taking their chances despite any bad press that Sinai and its surrounds has had.

I must admit even I had been having my reservations about the mini-break after hearing the news of the multiple kidnappings. However I did my research and went to a tour company owned by a friend who I trusted for adviceand to book all of the trips so we remained safe and felt very well looked after during our stay. We even ventured into the desert and into a Bedouin tent on a fantastic quad bike safari! I personally erred on the side of caution still, and opted not to bookany of the long desert trips that are on offeron the recommendation of the tour company. These trips take you to remote areas that are not as well policed,which is not really a good idea at present. In fact, even the British Embassy site itself recommends only essential travel to these parts of the country at the moment.I am sure that will change in due course.

Diving and snorkeling, beach fun and the nightlife are all still happening and we took advantage of them all! I cannot wait to take another trip in the height of the holiday season, when more people are filling the resorts and the bars and bringing the buzz back to the area.

Back in Cairo we also saw signs of tourism still happening as people from all nationalities, including Egyptians,enjoyed the famous landmarks and tourist attraction alongside us. It was a positive sign but there is still a long way to go until the industry is restored back to full health. The presidential elections are this year and so the topic of tourism will hopefully be a priority for the newly instated government. One can only hope so, as without tourism a very large chunk of Egypt’s workforce will continue to remain unemployed and spiraling into poverty. IH Cairo ILI is still working hard to send students off to experience the sights and sounds of the city and hopefully our work and the work of other companies like ours will help to slowly bring this brilliant holiday destination back to its former heyday.

The museum of Egypt

Current Events in Cairo

It is with a heavy heart that I use this blog to express my condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the victims of last week’s violence in Port Said, and to those affected both directly and indirectly. It is not my place in this blog to comment on the ‘whats’ or the ‘whys’ so I will not. Instead I will simply continue to advise students to be cautious and not take any unnecessary risks. Don’t stay out too late, don’t go into remote areas (such as the desert) for any reason, always let someone know where you are, don’t join any protests or demonstrations and, ladies especially, try and avoid being alone in taxis for too long especially at night. Keep checking the news for updates as the situation may change or escalate suddenly and without warning. This advice, and other methods of self-protection, I urge all students to adhere to.

The news depicts Cairo to be a place full of chaos and abandonment and in many ways I believe that a lot of people living here have felt that way at some point when watching footage of what is happening. However, to try to reassure those who may have concerns I can safely say that, as usual, the unrest remains reasonably localised and most residents here in Cairo have watched events unfold on their television sets, just like the rest of the world. Protest groups that have ventured away from Downtown have been, by and large, peaceful marches to demonstrate solidarity in mourning.  

For the most part daily business has not been affected (although it is subdued, with many shops and businesses remaining closed as a mark of respect to those who died). The same applies to IH Cairo ILI, where lessons this week are happening as per normal. With the right amount of caution being taken, Cairo life for students here at the college does not have to be compromised in many ways at all. 

If this blog was purely a personal account with no connection to work then I may well have written an entry solely documenting my own thoughts and observations on the topic, using what little knowledge I can glean about it from the news and what other people have told me. I think everyone here like me, whether Egyptian or not, is trying to find their own way of making sense of a situation that once again has put Egypt under the worldwide spotlight and put the events which started on January 25^th 2011 right back into global conversation. As I am writing this under the official banner of IH Cairo ILI I have decided that it is not really the space for personal analysis of complex political situations. However neither is it appropriate - this week - to jovially comment on Cairo living. Instead, just this once, Inshallah, I think I will stop writing here as my own mark of respect to those who died and to those still standing up for what they believe in, against all odds, and with an intensity of conviction that I never cease to marvel at.

 To keep yourself informed and help you make your own decisions about personal safety in the country, the British Embassy have a very good and up-to-date travel advice section on their website. Just click here to be taken directly to the right page.