Bismillah arRahman arRaheem

La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. It’s unfortunate.

Egypt’s highest Muslim authority has said he will issue a religious edict against the growing trend for full women’s veils, known as the niqab.

Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, dean of al-Azhar university, called full-face veiling a custom that has nothing to do with the Islamic faith.

Although most Muslim women in Egypt wear the Islamic headscarf, increasing numbers are adopting the niqab as well.

The practice is widely associated with more radical trends of Islam.

The niqab question reportedly arose when Sheikh Tantawi was visiting a girls’ school in Cairo at the weekend and asked one of the students to remove her niqab.

The Egyptian newspaper al-Masri al-Yom quoted him expressing surprise at the girl’s attire and telling her it was merely a tradition, with no connection to religion or the Koran.

Source: BBC

I dont understand. Even if he was to consider this a cultural practice, how does it mean it should be banned?

May Allah Guide us and Keep us on the straight path.

Allahu ‘Alam

SLIDESHOW

From Cairo -

Today marks the halfway point of this unexpected traveling time, back home to regroup, reback and head to Sinai. But As far as Aswan and Luxor are concerned, I can only say that our travels were marked with familiar faces in unfamiliar situations since from the moment we set foot on the 16 hour train ride down.

Managing to make a few friends who we bumped into between cities, train stations, ruins – the generalities of our situation as tourists all trying as much as we can to avoid the tourism industry – Jay and I were rarely alone.  Whether the old American guy Doug (who unfortunately didnt make it into my slides) or our desert tag alone Hassab, people rather than stone made this short trip worth while. Watching old men creep on belly dancers, in by-far the sketchiest bar I’ve ever laid eyes on, was as much an Egyptian experience as the Karnak temple. We caught a glimpse of our innkeeper down in that little haunt Jay showed me. He looked embarrassed as hell, but managed to deal in a friendlier way afterward.

But most of all, this trip was characteristic of most of mine, and I am glad for this. Food, drink, shisha, getting local, and getting sold brown rubbing alcohol dubiously named “Chefas Rigal Whsky.” Once again, Welcome to Egypt.

Venerdi 24 Luglio 2009, ore 8.30. Questa mattina ho deciso di visitare il museo Egizio, culla della storia millenaria di questo paese, ricolmo di reperti ritrovati qua e là per questo grande paese nordafricano. Il museo egizio si trova a circa 10 minuti di auto (considerando che il venerdì mattina, fortunatamente, non c’è anima viva in giro fino alle 14) dal mio albergo nel cuore del quartiere Zamalek. Prendo il primo taxi e sono là. Il biglietto costa 60 Lire egiziane (per gli studenti 30, bisogna mostrare tessera studenti e carta d’identità). Vietato portare fotocamere all’interno, bisogna lasciarle nel guardaroba di fianco alla biglietteria. Per questo non ho potuto scattare neanche una foto nel museo, ma solo qualcuna all’esterno. Passati i vari controlli di sicurezza, si accede alla sala principale, sotto la cupola. Sulla destra si può ammirare una copia della stele di Rosetta (l’originale è a Londra custodita nel British Museum), il cui ritrovamento servì per decifrare finalmente la scrittura geroglifica. Il museo si articola su due piani, la sua forma è rettangolare. Il piano terra offre un percorso temporale partendo dall’Antico Regno, poi il Medio Regno e infine il Nuovo Regno. La struttura del percorso è articolata sui quattro lati del rettangolo nei quali si aprono delle sale dove è riposto ogni genere di reperti, dalle statue, ai sarcofagi agli strumenti di lavoro ritrovati. Sempre al piano terra, nel grande salone centrale sono ospitate sculture di pietra di ogni epoca. Ai quattro angoli del piano terra, sono presenti le scale per salire al primo piano, a mio parere il più interessante. Il consiglio è di visitare prima quest’ultimo, in quanto si rischia di perdere molto tempo nel piano terra per la miriade di oggetti presenti, e non godersi le bellezze del primo piano. In esso si possono ammirare, previo pagamento di un secondo biglietto, le mummie reali. Esse sono dislocate in due sale diverse (collocate in due angoli diversi del percorso), ma vi si accede con lo stesso biglietto. 100 pound (60 per gli studenti, stesso discorso di prima) il costo. Ma ne vale la pena. In ogni sala (condizionata e controllata a vista) ci sono 5  o 6 mummie, in ottimo stato di conservazione. Le più importanti sono quelle di Ramses II, Tuthmosis e Merithamon, tutti delle famiglie regali egizie. Altra sala molto interessante è quella delle mummie animali, suddivise per categoria (animali divini, votivi, di compagnia). Addirittura si possono ammirare coccodrilli lunghi 3 metri mummificati. Ultimo punto di interesse è la sala Tutankamon, dove oltre ai gioielli ritrovati nella sua tomba, si possono ammirare i sarcofagi del faraone (egli era riposto in 3 sarcofagi uno dentro l’altro).

Per concludere, un museo non molto ben organizzato dal punto di vista prettamente informativo: molte etichette sono mancanti sui reperti, altre sono scritte solo in arabo, assenza di spiegazioni storiche. Molte guide improvvisate si offrono per accompagnarvi nel giro del museo, ovviamente dietro pagamento di cospicua mancia. Parlano un pò tutte le lingue dall’italiano al tedesco al russo e qualcuno anche giapponese. A mio parere una buona guida cartacea e tanto spirito d’avventura e potrete ammirare tutto lo splendore dell’antico Egitto senza spendere una fortuna.

Suatu saat Syaikh berjalan kaki pulang dari Masjid Al-Jaami’ Al-Kabier. Di depan sebuah toko, di sebuah perempatan, Syaikh melihat seorang pemuda Mesir sedang merokok.

“Hai, anak muda. Merokok itu haram hukumnya. Apalagi ini kota para santri, sangat tidak baik merokok, apalagi di pinggir jalan seperti ini.” Ujar Syaikh, dengan suara lembut, dengan senyum.

“Hey apa urusanmu? Kalau ini haram, yang berdosa aku, bukan kamu.” Bentak pemuda itu kasar.

“Ya, terserah kamu saja.” Ujar Syaikh lembut.

Saat berjalan beberapa langkah, beberapa orang menyalami beliau. Syaikh menyambut dengan senang. Namun dibelakang mereka, terlihat wajah di pemuda itu pucat.

“Apa dia itu Syaikh Muhammad Sholih Al-Utsaimin? Kenapa hanya berjalan kaki?” tanyanya.

Pemuda itu segera mendekati Syaikh dan menubruk kakinya. “ ’Afwan Syaikh. Saya tidak tahu kalau Anda adalah Syaikh….”

“Heh. Saya tidak peduli Anda kenal saya atau tidak. Seharusnya Anda takut terhadap yang haram, bukan karena saya melihat Anda. Biarkan hanya seorang anak kecil yang mengingatkan Anda, seharusnya Anda tetap menerima. Tadi saya tidak marah. Tapi begitu melihat Anda mengiba-iba hanya karena melihat saya, justru saya menjadi marah. Pergi sana, sebelum saya betul-betul marah….”

“Ya…ya Syaikh….” ucap pemuda itu terbata-bata.

“Rokok sial. Seumur hidup aku tidak akan menghisapmu lagi….”

Beberapa orang pemuda di belakangnya, tertawa tertahan-tahan.

Sumber: Majalah ElFata – edisi 05 vol.9 – 2009 – Rubrik Senyum

***piko.amikom.info***

The “Hand of God” – “God’s Wives of Amun” – Ancient Egypt – Karnak Temple Complex

“I had recently become very interested in the religious role of ‘God’s Wife of Amun’ so I set off for the northern part of Karnak to investigate their shrines. At least this was away from the more crowded areas of the temples, which became more deserted as I walked past the open air museum on the path towards the Temple of Ptah. There are several chapels of the Gods’ Wives on the left hand side of the path, in various states of ruin, but some still had some interesting reliefs.

During the Late Period the wives of kings are rarely represented, but in Thebes, the female office of the ‘God’s Wife of Amun’, or ‘Divine Adoratrice’ is often seen as supremely important, a figure holding a position of power and wealth even greater than that of the High Priest. The title of ‘God’s Wife’ can be traced right back to the Middle Kingdom, but the office became more prominent at the beginning of the New Kingdom, with Ahmose-Nefertari, wife of Ahmose I, whose donation stele found at Karnak, tells us much about her role. At that time the title was usually given to the wife of the reigning king, her names were written in a cartouche and she was often succeeded by her daughter. Many royal ladies of the New Kingdom were associated with this office, at least nominally, including Queens Hatshepsut, Tiye and Nefertari.

Duties of the God’s Wife were essentially religious, associated with musical ceremonies and titles such as ‘Chantress of the Abode of Amun’, and often with fertility connotations. Her function was to play the part of the consort of the god Amun in religious ceremonies, stressing the belief that kings were conceived from the union between Amun and the Great Royal Wife. The title ‘The Hand of the God’ was also sometimes used when referring to her relationship to Atum in a creation myth – Atum’s hand being regarded as female. The regalia changed through Dynasties XVIII to XX, but usually included the vulture headdress with uraeus and often the shwty plumes, or falcon tail feathers worn by Amun and Min, or sometimes the sundisc and Hathor horns on a modius, a sort of circular crown. In the later new Kingdom a pleated robe with a red sash replaced the earlier slim sheath dress. Her insignia included the sistrum, menat, a variety of musical instruments and the flagellum.

From Dynasty XXI onwards it was always the king’s unmarried daughter or sister who was given the title of ‘God’s Wife’ and the role became increasingly important. Maatkare, daughter of Pinudjem I is depicted as God’s Wife in the Temple of Khonsu at the southern side of Karnak. Her titles were ‘Divine Adoratrice, sole wife of the god’. Henuttawy, daughter of Pinudjem II is also depicted here. It was from this time on that the God’s Wives adopted a coronation name as well as a birth name. During the reigns of the Libyan kings, their sons were given the office of High Priest of Amun and their daughters the title of ‘God’s Wife of Amun’. Some of the daughters of Libyan Chiefs and Egyptian elite were called ‘Chantress of the Inner Abode of Amun’ and presided over a college of priestesses, which seems to have been a kind of upper class convent.

At Karnak, several chapels were dedicated to Osiris and to Amun who was, by the Late Period, associated with him. They were mostly built during the period when Nubian kings ruled at Thebes and were dedicated by the reigning ‘God’s Wives’. The first shrine I came to on the northern path, the chapel of Osiris Neb-ankh (Lord of Life) dating to the Dynasty XXV reign of the Nubian King Shabaka, is in a fairly ruinous condition. Although there is now little remaining of the pylon entrance, courtyard and two inner chambers, the cartouches of Shabaka and the God’s Wife Amenirdis (I) can still be seen on the entrance.

The second structure here is better preserved with some good reliefs. This is the (earlier) chapel of Ankhnesneferibre who was a daughter of King Psamtik II of the Saite Dynasty XXVI and sister of King Wahibre (Apries). We know from surviving texts that this lady arrived in Thebes at only seven months old (in 595 BC) and was eventually installed as ‘High Priest’ of Amun. The next structure is her later chapel which is larger still and originally had a four-columned hall and a sanctuary at the rear. Parts of the gates survive and reliefs of Ankhnesneferibre before various deities can be clearly seen, including cartouches of Kings Ahmose II and Psamtik III. In one of the reliefs she is followed by her chief steward and fan-bearer who is named here as Sheshonq. There are also some lovely depictions of a lion-headed cobra and a strange underworld deity with two duck’s heads.

Next to Ankhnesneferibre’s chapel is another tiny shrine, also a chapel of Osiris Neb-ankh. This is like a little dolls-house, dedicated by the God’s Wife Shepenwepet (II), a daughter of King Taharqa of Dynasty XXV. Said to be perhaps the smallest religious monument in Egypt with a doorway only a little over a metre high leading to a tiny inner chamber, it is difficult to imagine any ceremony taking place here. There are some superb deeply-carved reliefs inside this little shrine with cartouches of Shepenwepet (II) and her sister the ‘God’s Wife’ Amenirdis, (II) as well as a cartouche inscribed for Osiris Neb-ankh.

Bypassing the Temple of Ptah I walked over to the next Osiris structure, an enigmatic little chapel, now just a small single chamber, dedicated by Amenirdis to Osiris De-ese-hebsed, also dating from Dynasty XXV. There were two God’s Wives named Amenirdis, the first a daughter of King Kashta and the second, who constructed this monument, was daughter of the Nubian King Taharqa. I had already seen the chapels at Medinet Habu belonging to this royal lady. Moving on I passed the scant remains of a Ptolemaic Temple of Osiris, no more than a lintel and two door-jambs.

Against the eastern enclosure wall is the largest remaining and one of the earliest chapels dedicated by the God’s Wives at Karnak. This is the Temple of Osiris Heka-djet (’Osiris, Ruler of Eternity’) which was built by the Libyan king Osorkon III and his son, the High Priest of Amun, Takelot III of Dynasty XXIII. This structure has high walls and I had to find a guard to let me inside through the locked door. Though there was once an entrance gate and a courtyard, these are now gone and I went straight into the first of three small rooms, the two innermost rooms being the earliest part of the temple. High on one wall there is a lovely relief of Shepenwepet (I) presenting an image of Ma’at to Amun and receiving a menat necklace from the goddess Isis, while her successor, Amenirdis (I), receives an ankh from Amun and Mut. There are some very unusual reliefs in this temple, including the only known depiction of a God’s Wife, Shepenwepet, wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, complete with royal uraeus, normally a strict prerogative of the pharaoh. Another beautiful and unique dual-scene shows the two rulers, Osorkon and his co-regent Takelot, back to back under two ished-trees, while the gods write the kings’ names on the leaves. There is also an unusual series of seven false doors each one carved inside the other. I loved this little temple, it was just a pity that the combination of shadows and shallow reliefs did not offer a good opportunity for photography.”

http://egyptsites.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/the-hand-of-god/

Reproduced courtesy of  http://www.EgyptSites.co.uk/ with thanks.

—————————————
http://www.Amunirdis.net/
http://www.Amenirdis.net/
http://www.Amenardis.net/

Peshuper held the title of “Scribe of The Divine Adoratrice Amenirdis I” and a wonderful quartzite statue exists in the British Museum, which can be seen here:
http://www.Amenirdis.net/peshuper_scribe_of_the_divine_adoratrice_amenirdis.html  

However, I can find no information regarding this noble.

As is explained on http://www.Amenardis.net/ I am trying to locate information on Amenirdis I (Amenardis I, Amunirdis I or Amunardis I), and her Officials – including Harwa (TT37) and Akhamenerau (TT404) but I am desperately trying to find the tomb and information on Peshuper to add to the page crated for him on http://www.Amenirdis.net/

If anyone has information that could be added to the web site, please e-mail me? Research@Amunirdis.net
Thank you for any information, sources or corrections.

I should also take this opportunity to explain that the following three domain names are all ‘pointed’ at the same web site:
http://Amenardis.net/
http://Amenirdis.net/
http://Amunirdis.net/  
This is because of the different spelling of this Kushite Queen’s name.

For a wealth of information on Harwa, “Great of the Greats”; “Grand Steward of the Divine Votaress”; High Priest and “Doorkeeper in the Temple of Amun”, take a look at the official excavation site here:
http://www.Harwa.it/

The www.Amunirdis.net
web site is still being designed and the current site should be regarded as
a ‘temporary’ site.

Here are some links to Amunirdis I’s Officials:

Harwa

Akhamenerau

Peshuper

Etisalat Misr, the Egyptian subsidiary of UAE-based telecoms group Etisalat, has announced that it surpassed its subscriber target for 2008, with the cellco reaching seven million customers by the end of the year, according to online portal MEED. The cellco had set a target of 6.8 million sign-ups by end-2008, and its end of year total represented a 126% rise against the same time a year earlier. Etisalat Misr CEO, Saleh Abdooli, has said that the cellco is now aiming to reach ten million subscribers by the end of 2009, and has claimed that the company is on track to generate its first net profit in 2010.

Observações feitas pela plataforma orbital TERRA, que faz parte do programa Earth Observing System (EOS), da NASA, fez algumas imagens dos eventos acontecidos em Santa Catarina. Essa plataforma tem como objetivo adquirir dados que possam aumentar nossos conhecimentos sobre a dinâmica atmosférica global, sobre a interação terra, oceano e atmosfera.

As imagens capturadas pelos sensores MODIS, ASTER, CERES, MISR e MOPITT, mostram-nos dois cenários diferentes, em especial a região de Itajaí e Joinville e foram captadas com diferença de 10 dias, entre 15 e 25 de novembro.

A intensidade de chuvas foi tão forte que o nível dos rios chegaram a 11 m acima do normal, ocasionando o alagamento de diversas partes da cidade de Itajaí como mostra a imagem seguinte.

A imagem acima, foi captada no dia 25 de novembro e mostra com mais clareza as áreas inundadas. A cena foi capturada na faixa do infravermelho onde a água aparece em preto e os sedimentos fluviais e alagamentos em azul, explicável pela propriedade dos alvos nesse comprimento de onda e composição das bandas (7R2G1B).

Fonte: http://www.apolo11.com/ e http://www.cnpm.embrapa.br/

This is a Egyptian MISR converted to an underfolder by C&T here in Tucson, AZ. The MISR is a ban style AKM well made but no bayo lug, turned down threads on barrel and thumbhole stock.

Egyptian MISR Underfolder

http://www.ak47website.com/Articles.php?action=detail&g=content1168020374&pid=286

 .Every moslem have a bak.Every single muslim have a bak and he uses it.every single muslim is satanic,satanist and magical.Type islamic bak magic,on your google search engine(type google .com first) and get tens of results.it is online.call the mossad.A christian egyptian in 1992 called the mossad and this resulted in the new bak Vs the old bak.In which muslims males menstruate,they have their -X and the male hanes his way now baby.Also the homosexualism,across the bar.every singleone of them.either in-the-bak or outside the bak.When the bak opens a universe opens and christians are subjected to all kinds of torture and masturbation and enslavement and get killed and eaten.after the sehhraya bak is over a new person,a newone comes from the bak,and the victim lives a lesser ,muchmore pathetic life,enslaved and feeling the shame and obsolete in comparison to muslims.NO NEED.muslims are not created to start with.they are not creatures.not god created.they are bak created.moslems are baks and they create by their bak.Muslims must be killed for el bak el islami.Did you get your filmbak yet.This is how those who know know by the bak.Elbak elislami,sehhr elmoslemeine.elmoslemeine masahheer.Julie Couillard book portrays Maxime Bernier as egotistical womanizer.Maxime Bernier had visions of replacing Stephen Harper as Conservative leader and also asked that confidential government documents be tossed in the garbage, Julie Couillard says in a new tell-all book about the ex-foreign affairs minister.

Couillard also says in the about-to-be-released “My Story” that:

-Bernier was relieved he was going out with Couillard because he hadn’t had a girlfriend in two years and because some of his political colleagues thought he was gay as he was friends with an openly gay fellow cabinet minister.

- He often printed up government documents and left them at her house to be thrown out when his briefcase got too full.

-That he thought Harper had a lousy sense of style, was fat and unhealthy and that he drank too much Pepsi.

-That he believed Harper wouldn’t survive a first term as PM and that Bernier would replace him as Tory leader.

-That he opposed Canada’s mission in Afghanistan and believed the war had more to do with the heroin trade than fighting terror.

-That he believed Quebec sovereignty was inevitable and that he was ready for it.

-And that he made disparaging remarks about his constituents in the Beauce riding south of Quebec City.

In a statement released Wednesday, Bernier dismissed Couillard’s comments as “soap-opera politics and completely ridiculous.”

I’m not going to dignify this with a response,” he said.

“During my mandate and despite my busy schedule as a member of Parliament and a minister, the most rewarding part of my job has always been to return to my riding several times per month in order to meet and exchange with the people that I so proudly represent.

“Everywhere I went, I’ve always expressed the pride that I feel for the people of Beauce. It is very disappointing that this person would insult me and the people of Beauce in the way that she has.”

Couillard’s story begins with her modest upbringing in Montreal, her father’s infidelity, her struggle with epilepsy and her first great love affair, before delving into details about her foray into modelling, acting and real estate.

She describes her “happiest days” as those spent with murdered Hells Angels sympathizer Gilles Giguere and recounts the story of her brief and turbulent marriage to ex-Rockers member Stephane Sirois.”

But her grittiest accounts are saved for her relationship with Bernier which began in earnest in the summer of 2007.

“My Story” portrays her ex-boyfriend as an egotistical womanizer who often embarrassed himself in public and breached political protocol.

According to Couillard, the relationship came as a relief to Bernier who she says hadn’t had a girlfriend in two years.

“On the Hill, people are whispering that I’m gay,” she quotes Bernier as saying.

“Now they’ll see that I have a girlfriend.”

While Bernier has publicly denied any knowledge of Couillard’s biker past, she insisted she “confided those details” early on in their relationship and that his reaction suggested he already knew.

“There were no ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs,’ not even so much as a raised eyebrow,” she said. “No questions. He seemed only barely surprised.

“Say what you will but not everybody can claim to have had a spouse who was murdered”.

As for the “forgotten documents” that eventually led to his departure from cabinet, Couillard said Bernier pulled them out of his briefcase the morning after a tryst – they’d been broken up for four months but still slept together occasionally – and asked her to toss them out on garbage day.

“That blend of vanity and flippancy was just like the Maxime I knew,” she said.

“It was as if he had said to me, ‘Look at me, I’m a minister of the Crown. I’m somebody incredibly important walking around with ultra-confidential documents in his briefcase, but I’m above all that. You see what I’m doing with them?”‘

She said he didn’t own a laptop and often had large files sent to her unsecure home computer to be printed off. His briefcase would often become too full and it wasn’t the first time he’d left paperwork with her to be tossed out.

Couillard writes that Bernier often criticized Harper for his weight, his hairstyle and his choice of clothing.

He also showed little respect for the Tory leader’s wife, Couillard said, adding he once ran right into her at a function in Ottawa without apologizing or even acknowledging her existence.

“At one point, he was even convinced that Stephen Harper would not survive a first term as prime minister, that there would be a leadership convention before the next election call and that he would win it,” she writes.

While his disdain for Harper was relatively subdued, Couillard said Bernier was more overtly hostile when it came to his dealings with the Prime Minister’s Office.

Ordered to clear all media interviews before hand, Bernier said he was once sent an email reprimand for going ahead and meeting with a TV reporter.

“Maxime decided to have a bit of fun with that,” Couillard wrote, adding he ran into the reporter at an event, showed him the message on his BlackBerry and offered to forward him a copy.

“Luckily for Maxime, all this was going on under the watchful eye of another guest at the event… When he realized that Maxime was about to commit a blunder of monumental proportions, he went over to him and said, ‘Maxime, you can’t do that.”‘

Couillard also alleges that Bernier whispered the disparaging remarks about his own constituents at a corn roast in his home riding of Beauce, where he is seeking re-election on Oct. 14.

“Whatever Maxime didn’t like about these people, they were still the people who had elected him,” she said. “It seems to me that, even with me, he should have been more circumspect and kept his reflections to himself.”

She also describes Bernier as a reformer with libertarian values who was “more vain than 10 Hollywood actors put together.”

She said he opposed Canada’s decision to send troops to Afghanistan and believed the war was “simply a battle for control of the worldwide heroin trade.”

And Couillard says she was “completely flabbergasted” when he offered up his views on Quebec independence.

“Of course it doesn’t frighten me at all, that’s where we’re headed,” she quotes him as saying. “It’s obvious. And I have no problem with that. I’m ready. I’m expecting it.”

Couillard also claims Bernier thought himself something of a ladies’ man and that he was having an affair with an Ottawa journalist while they were dating.

She said she also caught him embracing a married guest, though it’s not clear whether the woman was a willing party to the embrace, during a dinner party in Paris at the Canadian ambassador’s home.

WordPress.com. g!

Egypt maps.google.ca

YouTube – معمّر القذافي يسأل المسيحيين (نصارى اقباط مصر … a اغتصاب روبي mark_at2002 وَامْرَأَةً مُؤْمِنَةً محمد متعه … 43 sec - www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8N3wv3BCM8

After an enjoyable weekend in Amman while basically living out of Book@Cafe, I took a bus to Aqaba and ended up waiting 10 hours for a ferry across to Noueba, which left at 4am, and unloaded at 1pm.  That was the worse experience of the trip so far, and if wasn’t for the fact that a friendly Syrian (who also happened to be a Druze from Souada, go figure) helped me out, I may have just totally gone nuts.

Cairo has been an enjoyable experience, as after spending some time here each summer I am finally mentally prepared for the insanity that is Cairo before arriving.  Cairo is essentially the same size as New York, only you take away the infrastructure and add heat.  

My host last week was the morning DJ for Nile FM, the largest english radio station in the Arab world.  After a few days, she invited me into the studio to talk about the hospitality club we are in for such hosting (www.couchsurfing.com), and I also got to talk a bit about the chapter we are working to start in Cairo for World Faith.  It was funny to do an interview on the radio that wasn’t focused on World Faith, but rather talking about someone else’s project.  The interview will be posted on the World Faith website soon.

So after getting settled here, I met with Mustafa Abdullah, the leader of the World Faith chapter in Winston-Salem, and with Catherine Manfre, who is going to be our new Regional Director for Egypt.  After some meetings we came up with our plan of attack, and are hosting an interest meeting for the chapter this Tuesday at Pottery Cafe, across from American University of Cairo (Where Catherine had studied).  We already have quite a few interested people, and I think it will be a very interesting meeting… these sort of things get me re-inspired and remind me why I even do this in the first place.  More to report as afterwards.

Finally, after going to the Sudanese Embassy, I found out that my application for Sudan has to be personally signed by President Bashir, who was indicted by the ICC the same day I applied… I have no idea if I am going to get this visa or not.  Furthermore I have spent most the money I set aside for this trip already, so I am digging a little deeper than I feel comfortable with, but c’est la vie.  STILL reaching out to funders and seeing if we can get some real funding behind World Faith, as we still have done all that we have on less than $20,000 in the past two years.  I apologize that most of my blogs right now are commentary, but I hope to expand into more exploratory discussions when I am not traveling… Right now I am using the blog to keep people updated that I haven’t been able to single out and update.  More to come, as usual…