Sundays

A friend of mine who has studied Egyptian history says that this used to be a place of thriving culture: dance, song, beautiful and classy black & white films, tourism, and glamour. And now, it seems a place of decay. Still beautiful underneath but in perilous danger of losing it. 

Sunday mornings for most people here mean getting up and going to start their work week. But I'm still a product of my Southern upbringing in that Sundays are church days and otherwise left for moving slowly, taking naps, and absorbing as much sunlight as I can stand. Since they don't have church on Sundays here, I had my own version, downloading a sermon from one of my favorite speakers, Dr. Dick Foth, and afterwards finishing my laundry before heading down to the kitchen for breakfast. The boys were having tea and watching a great black and white movie on the cafeteria TV. The picture was crisp, the actors and actresses glamorous, the songs soft and lovely. And Adeeb was glued to it. At least until he had to get back to work that is. It made me smile, these guys from this dusty earth, usually with cigarettes dangling from their fingers like extensions of their bodies, watching the Egyptian equivalent of Turner Classic Movies over tea. Hence my waxing philosophic over the culture that's been buried beneath the dirt and turmoil. 

I wish I could have seen this place in its heyday. It's possible they will one day get back to it, but it will be a long journey. And even if they do, will it change the way of life for the people I spend most of my time with here, the garbage collectors and recyclers who live in unfinished tenements bordering unpaved roads? I don't know. I hope they will be remembered. I hope they'll soon have enough money to paint their walls and provide their daughters with all the things they need for their future marriages. But all these things take time, something most of us are not willing to befriend quickly. Time tends to elbow its way into our lives until all we notice is how long we've been waiting. It helps us find our way back while helping us find our way better. I think Egypt can return to its glory and improve all at the same time. So long as it never loses its heart.