On Thursday we went on our second Field trip with Fajr Center and had a blast! There was a group of 16 of us altogether plus a tour guide. We met at 9 AM in front of the school. They had a nice bus waiting out front for us. It had a microphone and speakers so the tour guide could speak to us throughout the drive. We drove through Maadi to pick up students from the Maadi Fajr branch and Sammer and I were reminiscent of the good times we had at that branch (it’s been a month since we were in Maadi…). Once the bus was full of students, we headed to our first stop: Giza and the ancient Pyramids. Entrance into that area costs 50 LE but for the fortunate students who brought student ID with them it’s only 25 (Fajr Center’s $35 USD charge for the whole trip is a flat rate though, no matter if you’re getting student discount or not…). We were each issued a ticket at the gate and if you’re not a pack rat like me who likes to save those kinda things as souvenirs, then remember to hold onto the ticket because you’ll need it later on for seeing other sites like the Sphynx.
You’ll find people from all over the globe at the Pyramids. In our group alone we had Americans, Ukrainians, Azerbaijani, Nigerians, Brits, South Africans, Italians, Asians and Egyptians. The Pyramids were supposed to be tombs right? It’s funny because so many people come to visit them and yet the Pharaohs whom they were built for are not even inside them! They had these ridiculously large monuments built thinking they’d serve as honor, protection, and tribute to themselves, yet what happened in the end? The tombs were raided and robbed, stripped of any value or worth. The bodies which they spent obscene amounts of time mummifying to preserve, ended up being stolen and removed from their tombs. They used millions of the biggest and best blocks of rock and Allah knows how many laborers to build it and yet it still didn’t protect them one bit. When I stood at the foot of the largest of the Giza Pyramids, climbed its blocks and looked up, I was taken back for a moment by it’s massive size. One huge lie - that’s what it symbolized to me. Declaring self divinity, burying wealth and possessions alongside them for the afterlife, claiming right to be venerated in life and after death by these structures. It’s as if the Pyramids themselves, blocks of enormous rocks once placed there mysteriously…meticulously…stacked towards the sun are lies built upon lies, standing to this day to serve as a clear reminder to us all: It may be that a person will elevate them self during their life only to be debased in the end. The only provisions that will last and benefit us in the hereafter will be our Eman and righteous deeds. Men are capable, by the Will of Allah, to design and build amazing structures that we are in awe of. Just imagine then what Allah has designed for His righteous servants in the afterlife…and with Him is all Might and Power.
The largest most ancient idol still standing today is the Sphynx. It’s ghastly with its womanly head and lion-like body. Birds perch themselves on its head, in the crevices of its eyes and ears…probably ‘dropping’ their lunch on it too. My first thought upon seeing it was, Haha, that’s pretty small. But then I remembered the tiny animal figurines I used to collect as a child, the ones I would find in the Red Rose Tea cartons. How tiny and carefully carved they were. Yet one year I informed my mother I wasn’t going to collect them anymore because I wasn’t comfortable with the idea that they were mini statues. Those little figurines -I’d collect them, polish them, display them and save them for years - might have in reality collected sin for me, I feared. I imagined one of the little lion figurines and how it would seem like a speck, barely a pebble, next to the Sphynx. And it scared me to think of how much more sin an idol that size could carry for the ones who built and worshipped it. The Athan sounded and I felt immediate relief. After seeing such large monuments to Shirk and pride your heart finds comfort in the Athan’s vocal assertion that God is indeed Great and there is none worthy of worship besides Him. It is only after cleansing the outer self with water and the inner self through worship, bowing, humbling, and submitting one’s entire self to God alone, that it becomes easier to make sense of the world and its peculiarity.
The Muslims among our group headed off to the restrooms to perform ablution and chuckled at the fact that you have to pay 1 pound to enter the restrooms. How absurd.
It took us a while to walk to the masjid, we walked through the poor Giza town that lies just in view of the Sphynx’s archaic eyes. The streets were lined with horses, camels, and donkeys. Some either carrying loads or were grazing from piles of grass rationed out for them by their owners, others were parked near the walls waiting for the next customers to hop on. I had to lift my clothes from dragging in the puddles on the road that I soon realized were NOT water and were in fact camel urine. After Salah we headed to an age old perfume store just at the entrance to the town still in view of the hideous Sphynx. The owners were the Sha3r Family and, as is customary, they immediately offered us anything we wanted to drink as soon as we entered - we all eagerly accepted! The owner has good ties with Fajr center so we enjoyed an entertaining presentation he put on for us about the history, process, and uses of real non-alcoholic non-oil perfumes. He spoke excellent English has tons of energy, he was a classic Egyptian salesman. Some of his jokes were a bit crude though and I wish he’d have toned it down a little, especially since we had a 10 year old boy in our group. He was also our tour guide for the Papyrus Museum next door which I believe his family also owns. He did an A+ job in there where he told us all about Papyrus, showed us the plant and did the process of making paper from it right before our eyes. We were served drinks yet again and we sipped them as we walked around the store to see beautiful paintings done on Papyrus. Sammer and I decided to buy some blank sheets of Papyrus paper that we plan to paint on to create our own artwork, insha’Allah.
By the time we were done in there it was Asr time already so the Muslims among us headed to another nearby masjid for Salah. The Imam was funny because in addition to the usual advice that they say while the jama3ah is lining up, this guy also said a couple lines about turning off cellphones for prayer, hehe. It was eloquent too because he made it rhyme. I understood it when I heard it yet I wouldn’t be able to recall it well enough to repeat it to you now.
Next was my favorite part of the trip!
The town was so poor that there were no street lights and the locals ride horses, camels and donkeys more than cars. We walked over to the parking lot of camels and horses. Little boys who were meant to be our designated steerers asked us whether we wanted a camel or a horse. I, being the American that I am, thought I can ride a horse any time in America but how often will I get to ride a camel!? So the little boy led me to my camel. The camel he gave me was growling and turned its head to snap at me and the boy next to me several times. I kept asking the boy, “Is he upset? Is he old? Is he mean?” but the little boy kept saying, “No! He’s good camel! It’s OK!” When I sat on the camel and it stood up however I got the exact opposite impression. That thing was a beast! It was extremely upset about having to stand up and didn’t seem cooperative at all like the other camels. It swayed its head on its long neck side to side snapping and growling, showing its huge teeth. I told them in English I didn’t like him, but the boy kept nodding his head reassuringly like it would be OK. So I spoke to him in my best Egyptian slang and told him “LISTEN! I DON’T WANT THIS CAMEL. GIVE ME A HORSE INSTEAD” and finally he took me seriously. I got off the beast..I mean camel and he led me to the sweetest prettiest horse in the lot. She was a beautiful horse named Warda. She was young so she wasn’t overpowering in size but I soon learnt that she packed some powerful strength in those legs! She was very affectionate and liked it when I greeted her and rubbed her forehead. I loved her immediately and not for one second did I regret switching from camel to horse!
We rode through the local town caravan style. The people from our group who rode camels were linked together by a rope and walked in a line at a steady pace. The few of us who took horses had more freedom to go as slow or fast as we wanted and we could choose whether or not we wanted a steerer. Since it was my first time, I kept my steerer, who turned out to be a pleasant young boy named Ahmed who spoke to me about the beauty, power and abilities of horses as I rode. He told me that horses see the road with their hearts and instincts not necessarily with their eyes and that this was a ni3mah bestowed upon them by Allah. When he wanted me to loosen up a little and have fun he’d ask me “you want the horse to do “cha cha cha?” to which I could either reply yes and he’d have Warda run with the wind or I could say “No! My bag will fall!” and he’d chuckle and say, “ok ok”. He didn’t whip the horse once like I saw the other boys doing. Instead whenever he wanted Warda to run, he’d tell her “Chyeeeeeeeeer” (whatever that means) and click his tongue and she was immediately responsive. He ran alongside the horse and me the entire time on foot and when I squealed that my bag was slipping from my shoulder and I wanted to slow down for a bit he needed only to tug once on the side of her reign and she knew to stop running. When we finally reached the desert I was a little more relaxed. After all, if I were to fall, it would only be on sand! Every few minutes or so some Arab men on their steeds would gallop and race and I’d watch in amazement as they rode with such speed, confidence and control past me -leaving me and a cloud of sand in the air left behind by the powerful hooves. There was nothing in view except the desert, the vast beautiful desert and the sky! In the panorama we could see the Pyramids but I could care less for them at that point. I imagined what it would have been like at the time of the Sahabah, on horseback. I imagined Amr ibn al Aas riding in the very same desert on his horse! I remembered my mom telling me “there’s something very therapeutic about riding a horse…” and I finally understood what she meant. Though it hurt a little, there’s something so natural about the movement of the horse underneath you and I felt it extremely easy to remain on the horse without once feeling like I’d fall off. She’d charge forward through the sea of sand rocks and I’d lean forward with her, blocking out everything but the sound of her galloping hooves on the earth. I loved every minute of it.
We finally reached a spot in the desert where we hopped off of our animals and took pictures. Then we watched the beautiful sunset over the desert and the Athan sounded again. This time it was from a bedouin man next to his tent with a fire ablaze, illuminating the night and warming him from the cold. It was incredibly peaceful and beautiful watching him call the Athan out into the desert from beside his little camp. I went to go pet Warda and found her nuzzling muzzles with a big brown steed. She put her head underneath his as if he could protect her and keep her warm. It was so precious! I snapped a picture of it to capture their lovey dovey moment. I remembered the hadith about Allah’s Mercy and that one part was sent down to the creation, proof of which can be seen when a mare lifts her hooves so as not to trample her foal out of mercy and love. Horses are such stunning and intelligent creatures, subhanAllah. After we finished there we mounted our animals again and rode off into the darkening night sky all the way back. The ride back was freezing cold, the temperature sure does drop in the desert at night! I wished I’d worn a sweater and gloves! In fact, my hands were getting so cold and numb that at one point I gave up holding on as I rode. I let Ahmed carry my bag on his shoulder so that I could ride faster and get back to town sooner for relief from the bone-chilling air!
I, along with two others on horseback, arrived back into town first. Since we had a while to wait for the rest of the caravan, I took the time to bond with Warda some more. I talked to her and rubbed her forehead. She closed her eyes as I did and it looked like she was sleeping. Horses can sleep standing up. It was time to say goodbye to her as the rest of our crew arrived. We gathered together to discuss how much to tip the boys, and then went back inside the perfume shop to rest and warm up. By this time I think it was past 7 PM. We were actually supposed to be back at the school by 6 PM but we were all having so much fun and we still had one more stop left so the Fajr chaperones extended the trip for us, heh. We ended our trip by getting back on the bus and heading to the Corniche next to Tahrir. It was here that we boarded a motorized Felucca and rode for an hour on the River Nile in the dark of the night. We gobbled up the bagged dinner they served us (it was the only meal we’d eaten all day), gazed at the lit Cairo skyline, and then shivered the entire time while the chilly wind accompanied us as we sailed. We boarded the bus for the last time and with sleepy minds, sleepy hearts, and sleepy eyes we rested and nodded off until we reached beloved Nasr City again. When we were close to home, the bus let us off and Sammer and I crossed the busy road to catch a taxi to take us to our apartment building, it was way too cold to walk there and we were very very sore from the horeback/camel riding. (Little did we know how much worse we’d be hurting the next day!). Alhamdulillah we made it home at around 10 PM and went straight to bed. It was a wonderful trip and a great experience.
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