OK, so my excuse for not posting is that I think someone injected me with Red Squirrel DNA. Some time back I was reading some random facts on Wikipedia and read that the common red squirrel only has a memory span of a few weeks. Many biologists think that the reason they spend so much time gathering nuts and what-not is that they forget where they stored the food. Man, that must be terribly annoying! So, yeah my excuse is that I just forget that I had a blog until I randomly stumbled upon it...how is that for an excuse? I should get something for creativity at least
In truth I have been really busy. The trip to Egypt was pretty amazing. I think it might has been one of the most intense 10 days I have spent in the last few years. We visiting over a dozen villages and held over 20 meetings. Egypt is a, in general, a very poor country. The area where we visited was even poorer than the average and had a very low education rate. It was dirty and undeveloped, but there was something very refreshing about the simplicity of it all. I'll put pictures at the end of the post.
After coming back from Egypt I was busy working with a group of volunteer doctors who were working in southern Lebanon for two days. I used to opportunity to do ministry and help and meet new people. It was quite fruitful and there was a great response, but it was very tiring. A couple days after they left we held a special conference for the women in southern lebanon. Women in Arab countries very commonly get overlooked, so we (the church in Beirut) decided to try and do something especially for them. It was the weekend of Mothers Day in Lebanon.
I have been sick for the last week and a half (not much fun). It started when I got a really back case of food poisoning. I was out of commission from that for almost 5 days. By the time I recovered my body was so weak that it made it really easy to get the flu that is going around. I am hopefully nearing the end of that as well...hopefully. I also got a really bad set of burns from an allergic reaction I had to some plants I encountered...just to top the other illnesses. I am hoping to do at least one short hiking trip before summer gets too scorching. I haven't done any kind of 'recreational' activity since the Fall, and Beirut city-life is starting to wear on me.
Things are starting to heat up here in Lebanon, in every meaning of the word. We had our first 90 degree day a few days ago. It is cooled down a bit, but it is only going to get worse...something I'm not looking forward. Summer is also going to be a busy time for me. Kids will be out of school, people will take vacations, tourism will start up, and in general people will be out and about more. All of which means we need to take advantage of the activity and make activities of our own. Tensions, unfortunately, are also heating up between Israel and Lebanon. People are talking more and more about war this summer. It is not something I want to see, but it is part of living in the Middle East.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the trip to Egypt:
People here still wash there clothes in the river.
This is a pretty common sized village, about 40,000 people. There are no paved roads, and most people get around via donkeys.
A common village scene
The Nile. It is huge, it makes the Mississippi look small, nuff said.
Me and a couple of the kids who became my friends. Olivia and Jarius