Egypt

My husband Allan’s first memory is from Egypt. He was three years old and the Bible boy in his adopted sister Norma’s wedding. He remembers sliding down the bannister, having the Bible taken away because he was fidgeting too much, and wondering why Norma got married twice (because he didn’t know what a rehearsal is).

Even further back in our family story, the last port before Allan’s parents disembarked in Lebanon in 1951 was Alexandria. It was Mohammad’s birthday, there had been a strike, and one of the hotels had been bombed, so the captain advised them not to get off the ship. But one guide promised safety and you don’t know my family if you think they didn’t take the risk to go with the tour group. They saw the city and it wasn’t until the end of the day that they attracted the attention of a crowd and were whisked away by some kind taxi drivers who saw they were about to encounter trouble.

Although my father-in-law had been studying Arabic in preparation for their time in the middle east, the harbor in Alexandria was the first time they heard it spoken. They thought it sounded loud and harsh, but eventually both Bob and Mary became fluent in Arabic and appreciated the beauty of the language and especially the poetry.

There were other family trips to Egypt. I love the picture of my mother-in-law in front of a pyramid with her hair covered, showing just her young face that looks so much like my handsome husband and one of my beautiful daughters (my other daughter looks more like my side of the family).

These experiences remind me that Egypt has recent stories as well as the ancient ones, so although I picked a few sources on ancient Egypt, I also made sure I learned something about modern Egypt. I've separated them between those which are free and those which require a library card or subscription.

Free access:

· The Khan Academy has a module on ancient Egypt in its art history class: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/ancient-egypt-ap/a/ancient-egypt-an-introduction

· Search Project Gutenberg for Egypt to find hundreds of books! http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/

Library card or subscription access:

· I’m super excited that Kanopy has The Great Courses series of 48 lectures on Ancient Egypt. Pick the ones that interest you the most or watch them all! https://lacounty.kanopy.com/product/history-ancient-egypt

· As of November 2020, Joseph King of Dreams is on Netflix (this was one of my daughters’ favorite movies growing up)

· The Prince of Egypt is on Hulu (another favorite kids’ movie)

· There are many Cleopatra movies and books including several on Kanopy, Hoopla, and through your local library. If you can’t find it anywhere else, the movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton can be watched on Amazon for $3.99.

· To bring myself closer to the present, I listened to Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt by Nina Burleigh on CD from the Los Angeles County Library and appreciated the new perspective on the study (and looting) of antiquities.

· Of the many, many contemporary Egyptian writers, I chose Ahdaf Soueif and read The Map of Love (also from the LA County Library) because I wanted a novel set in and reviewing the last hundred years. What surprised me is that I could think I know so much about Egypt without knowing any of this recent history.

· You can find the current situation and some humor in Tickling Giants: Uniting Egypt through Laughter in Tumultuous Times. Dr. Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian comedian, had the most viewed television program in the Middle East between 2011 and 2014 with 30 million viewers per episode. This film on the difficulties of doing political satire in Egypt was nominated for Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival. I watched it on Kanopy.

· What archeologists are doing now can be found in Egypt's Treasure Guardians on DisneyPlus.

Here in California, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose is temporarily closed, but if you are a fan of Egyptian artifacts, it is worth visiting when they open again. Also, both San Francisco and Orange County have several Egyptian restaurants. You can find Egyptian street food at Pharaoh's Mediterranean Sandwiches in San Francisco. I went out of my way to have Koshari - Egyptian pasta with a dense tomato sauce, lentils, garbonzos, and dark fried onions. It’s good! Here’s a recipe for a slightly different version: https://www.themediterraneandish.com/egyptian-koshari-recipe/

It’s always better to eat with friends, so August 2019, Gladys, Leina, and I traveled to the Egyptian desert of Orange County to have Sayadeya fish casserole, grilled lamb chops, fried eggplant, lebne, hummus, and the perfect Egyptian dressing on the salad at Cairo Restaurant and Café in Anaheim. It was totally worth the hot day to have this amazing food on their big patio. Here are more Egyptian recipes: https://www.foodofegypt.com/

Egypt has been a famous tourist destination for thousands of years (as evidenced by the Joseph story). Here are some of the places you might want to see: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-egypt/

When this pandemic is over, you might want to plan travel to Egypt using your local travel advisor. Shout out to my favorite travel advisor, Kaitlin Darnell at Laura's Travel in Redlands. May the travel industry survive and thrive - may we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Egypt and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Simon Berger https://unsplash.com/photos/boyXZfqpwpU