cairo is old

i've been avoiding writing in this blog because thus far i hate cairo. the place is over populated, old, polluted, and worst of all the men are lecherous and beyond gross. i really don't see the love affair people seem to have with this place. there are no women around (all behind closed doors) and the men are everywhere and they think with the wrong heads. in my 4 days i have absolutely no urge to fit in or appreciate the culture. this is one country where your ex-pat comrades will be your only friends.

okay this is how i felt until today...

today i fell in love. i went to my first day of work and met some of the most heart warming people in my life. i woke up and went through cairo's busy streets, got into the metro...

oh by the way, there is a separate car for women. i thought this was because of modesty, but no. it's because the men are pigs that will try to touch you on the train.

anyway, i got to st. andrew's church and i was in another world. the noise stopped, there was an open area with children playing, people smiling, and the peace was almost tangible. cairo is full of refugees from eastern africa and now iraq. st. andrew's gives these refugees free schooling, legal aid, and resettlement if their lives are in danger in cairo. there are 6 main sections of this organization and my job is to make a short film (really short... like no more than 1 min) about the organization for the donors to watch and hopefully give more money.

another beautiful thing about st. andrews is the large majority of the staff on payroll are refugees themselves. my partner in crime is the sweetest and gentlest human being. before i even got to meet him I heard a poem he wrote about valentine's day. he titled it "let's talk about love." he laughs at anything and is excited about everything. for those of you that know my brother... imagine lloyd from sudan. but instead of talking about his invention and money making schemes he's talking about love, philosophy, and the circle of life. he was really obsessed with the circle of life. i zoned out a lot in conversations (a lot like i do with lloyd) but it was still refreshing.

tomorrow is my second day