Last Few Days

Salaam,

As my final weeks and then final days in Egypt come towards me with frightening speed, i'm trying my best to make the most of my time here. Alhamduilillah the last few days have been pretty busy as I have got out and about in Cairo.

Thursday; I met up with a bro who went to Cam but has been living here for three years for a dose of the Shadili way. I met up with the bro and some other Shadili members in the Very leafy suburb of Ma'adi, home to most of the western workers in Cairo. The guidebook said that if you squinted your eyes you could imagine that you were in L.A, and it was true (not having been to L.A though...) - BMW's, Mercedes' and western shops galore...very bizarre Anyway, I went there to take part in the Latifiya that the Shadilis do (I think i mentioned this before..) and then we listened to the dars Sh Nuh had given a few days earlier in Amman. Alhamdulilla it was really really nice meeting up with these bros (most were from the UK or US) and listening to the talk, as it provided a Much needed dose of spiritualism that I had been lacking here so far in Cairo.

Friday; I went again to Masjid Sultan Hassan for Jum'ah and then the rest of the day I spent around the Khan-al-Khalili area (the main market in Cairo) doing some shopping. Usually whenever I go anywhere, I always end up having to rush shopping which I Hate, so I thought with Egypt I would try and get some of it done now. I also went to the Masjid of Imam Hussein a.k.a Sufi Mosque a.k.a Shirk mosque...(they do some Very funny stuff here...Supposedly the head of Imam Hussein is here so you get a lot of over excited Shia's coming and also you get a lot of people rubbing their faces, bowing etc etc in front of the burial location). I was supposed to go to Azhar Park after my brief stay here, but I ended up chatting to a guy in the mosque for quite a while and then it was time for Maghrib so couldn't go. He did inform me though that from today onwards for a week it is the Moulid of Imam Hussein where even More funny business will go on with the "Yawm ul Kabeer" (The Big Day) being next Friday..so obviously i'm gonna go down and check it out...

Saturday; Along with some fellow students, I went to the pyramids and did an hour or so of horse riding and the same with a camel. Alhamdulillah I really enjoyed the horse riding, especially so as I was feeling a lot more confident this time round (three years ago, after five mins, my backside was on the floor with the horse I was supposed to be riding looking over me...). As anyone who has ridden an animal wil tell you, your backside gets incredibly sore afterwards, and this too was the case here. But this time round we ended up riding the horse at a very fast pace, and alhamdulilla it was an Amazing experience...when you ride slowly or just trot, constantly your jumping up and down on the horse and end up with a sore bum, but when you go fast the horse gets into a rhythm and it feels like your floating on air, and your backside stays firmly on the horse...subhanAllah, Amazing. The camel ride too was very comfortable. I had always been wary of riding one as they just look so big and scary, but I tried it out and it was Very nice...the business class of the animal kingdom I think.


And then with Sunday it was back to the books, rushing my homework the night before, learning my vocab on the way to Qortoba and back to normality...


Salaam











Aint she pretty..? The camel I rode