Alexandria & kushary

Today is the day I am heading back home to Colorado. It is hard to believe it has come so soon, and I feel a surreal feeling as I now have to prepare to reenter. Yesterday I was able to experience the great ancient city of Alexandria. The Great Alexandria Library was different than I had expected, modern and being used by students now, but such an important piece of history here. I had this idea that it would be half standing and the architecture old and worn. But then I had to remember that it had been destroyed by fire and other things a few times over the last 2,000 years and so they just finished rebuilding much of it in 2002. Some say it was Julius Ceasar who burned it down during the time of Cleopatra...It was just wonderful to think that this modern city was built on the ancient city underneath. The great lighthouse is now underwater because of an earthquake, but you can still see a castle/fort in the distance off of the peninsula running into the Meditteranean Sea. It was used to light the seas for so long. I am grateful for all I have learned here.

I also got to eat some kushary,(in photo with the food), a staple here in Egypt made up of chickpeas,lentils, vermicelli, rice, tomato sauce, grilled onion, spices, and da'a(lemon/olive oil) added. :) It was just as everyone said....filling and delicious. I paid about 1 dollar to eat a small bowl full. It wouldnt be Egypt without it. Fuhl (beans inside esh shamy(bread)) and falafel filled with tomaya, a garlic sauce is just wonderful too, although it fills my stomach for hours and isnt something I could eat everyday! Hence the reason so many live off of this food...filling, inexpensive, and comforting.:)

I became much more aware yesterday as we walked through the Souq (market) in Alex, of how asleep so much of the world is and is becoming. I see trash and pollution everywhere I go on a daily basis, am breathing such toxic air, amidst some of the most ancient and beautiful things on this planet. It comes to me that we must continue to educate others of being more aware of how we treat the earth and what we are throwing out the window. It is as though it is just no thought at all to throw a gum wrapper out the window, or consistently walk through garbage and think nothing of this. I try holding my judgments and yet, it is so apparent to me, so obvious that as I walk through neighborhoods here and the downtown city, the ground is filthy, covered in garbage and toxins. I am reminded to think about what I value and feel on the inside is what outpictures in the world around me. And this reality is on a global scale, that takes one person at a time to shift.

Another thing I am working through is integrity and accountability and what that means in relation to others and to myself. Ive always felt that words are powerful, but action is as well. I see this happen often here of justifications and excuses made for how we treat each other and why we may have hurt someone else...why someone feels justified for being late, breaking an agreement, or just not taking responsibility, period. As I have seen it show up quite frequently here, I am seeing it mirrored to myself and has me questioning my own integrity and how I follow through with my own commitments and responsibility. It feels at times that people are afraid to be honest, afraid to take responsibility for hurting someone else, protecting pride, ego, shame, guilt....whatever is covering the truth. Why not own up to your actions? It means we have to become awake...aware..conscious....aware that we are aware...to evolve. Because being exposed is too vulnerable for most. It is even more exaggerated for me when the culture and language are different than mine because misunderstandings become more obvious and real, and I am called to try communicating differently than I could have ever known and sorting through the layers upon layers of other people's excuses and justifications for not being true to themselves or for not showing up completely as they are. It can be a bit draining. You cant ask someone to be accountable or to have more integrity if they dont know what that means to them...if they dont know what being accountable is all about... All of these things I know I will continue to process as I return home....for now, please hold me in light and peace as I travel across the world...Thank you Egypt, for bringing me many gifts to see....

Savi