49. Cairo, 1998 - Light and dark
In which Eleanor escapes to Cairo.
Cairo a place of holiness? Jerusalem the unholy city? Makes sense in this topsy turvy world.
Eleanor
It’s wonderful to be back in Cairo again. Waking up and hearing the call to prayer, then going back to sleep, then emerging to Wendy’s warm hospitality: it feels like coming home. I refuse to be like Francois, making work my life. Work is not my life. And I need this break from work, so much.
The trip here was….adventurous. I decided to try driving, just to see what it was like.
Well, now I know. Arduous.
The driving itself was fine. And coming across the Sinai was beautiful. But the border crossing at Rafah was hell. Fifteen minutes of rude Israelis on one side of the border, one and a half hours of interminable Egyptian bureaucracy on the other. The soldiers on both sides relaxed but menacing. I’ve never lived where guns are so in your face all the time. Welcome to Israel and the Occupied Territories.
Now that I’m here in Cairo it’s like an oppressive burden has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel physically lighter. And instead of an oppressive darkness there’s light.
I can feel.
I can think.
I can just be.
From this distance, as I picture Jerusalem on its hills, I see it sitting under this dark, heavy, oppressive cloud. Cairo feels full of light and life and energy; Jerusalem a city of dark. The relief is palpable. I just want to stay here and soak up Wendy’s company, riding in the desert, rowing on the Nile, and not go back under that dark cloud.
It’s strange to think of Cairo, this city that never sleeps, this city of chaos, tumult, and din, as a place of holiness. Yet that’s truly what it feels like. Jerusalem is the unholy city. The oppression, the hate, the ugliness encase it like a dank heavy Dickensian fog, seeping into everything, making it difficult to breathe. Cairo’s air sparkles in the morning light—sweeping away the last tendrils of fog in my brain, in my heart.
Everything inside of me lifts.
Book Club returns
After a hiatus for ski season, Book Club returns March 22. 10am ET.
Is there anyone in particular you’d love to have as a guest? Leave a comment or hit reply and send me an email.
Save the date for our last two book clubs:
May 31, 10am ET
August 9, 10am ET
March Indie Collective
Other Indie authors have been so kind to me, sending me MANY new readers as they let their readers know of On the Road to Jericho. Let’s return the favor. Check out March’s Indie collective.
(And yes, please do click the link! It builds my reputation as an indie author who supports other indie authors, so 🙏 in advance. Every click counts. Thank you!)
It was fortunate that Eleanor had the privilege of movement across those borders,..and the help of a friend with a comfortable haven!