I leave for my fifth summer in Egypt on June 7. I'm eager to get on the ground and see what impact a revolution, a regime change and sectarian violence are having on the people and places that I know well. I find myself thinking these days about the beautiful young women who work at the dry cleaners who always greet me and remember my name after an 11-month absence. I wonder how this year has changed them. Will I notice or have a chance to learn how the changes in their country are affecting them in their daily lives? I wonder how the growing sectarian violence is impacting my students as they prepare for their calling as priests in the Coptic Catholic Church.
I'm thinking also about the changes I've experienced in the past year: a new knee as well as my own personal and professional challenges and changes. I am not the same person returning to Egypt this year either. How will the changes that I've experienced affect me as I encounter this familiar, yet strange, place?
Some of you in asking about my travel plans have expressed concern for my safety. Please be assured that I have consulted diligently with people I know on the ground - Egyptians and westerners. I've been given multiple assurances that the area around the seminary remains quite safe. Of course, I will be on heightened alert and awareness this summer. I will be more cautious than I have been in the past. My fellow teachers and I have agreed that if any of us feel unsafe or uncomfortable in Egypt we will work to facilitate a prompt return.
While I expect to encounter many changes this year, what I don't expect to see changed are the warm smiles of my students when they return to the seminary. I don't expect that I'll see a loss of curiosity or an eager desire to learn to communicate in a new language. I don't expect that I will experience one bit of change in the great hospitality and kindness that I have come to know from the Egyptian people.
As always, I'll do my best to share some of my stories and pictures along the way. Your prayers are always appreciated!
