Journey Back to Eden.pdf - St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Chicago

A TIME OF UNCERTAINTY 11I’m also eating the food that the Egyptians eat, no longer feelingthat I can afford to eat in hotels or restaurants where touristsgo, as they are much more expensive. There are plenty of smallshops that sell a bean-and-bread combination called fule wa tamayawhich is very tasty, especially if they put some spices and herbs onit. I remember how the Hebrews were longing for the leeks andgarlic of Egypt when they were in Sinai, and now I know why.There are plenty of good spices here, which people add to a sandwich-likeaffair on pita bread. They also make very good juiceshere from fruit they crush in a hand press to mix in a delicious concoction.The very thing I was told by the travelogues not to drink,the very food I was advised not to eat because I could get sick fromit, I have surrendered myself to eating and to drinking. Otherwise,it would be a very difficult year, not to mention a pricey one. Myonly option is to live as the natives do, which, of course, is what anthropologistsare required to do.A Fruitless TripSEPTEMBER 9, TUESDAYAfter asking a lot of directions and walking a very long way (itseems halfway across the city), I arrived at the Patriarchate only todiscover that Pope Shenouda is not in today. I was told I should tryto make an appointment, but that it may take a couple of days tonegotiate! (The Western reader should note that the title “Pope” isas ancient a title of the Coptic Patriarch as the Roman Catholicone; likewise, both prelates are called “His Holiness.”) I was intendingto solve the problem of my placement in a monasteryby dealing with lower ecclesiastical officials, but virtually everybodyhere insists that I will have to see the Pope! But as is the casein very centralized institutions, access to the central office here isdifficult.I had to sit and wait and talk to a whole series of secretaries.Most of them are lay women; one or two of them are clerics.They told me to come back tomorrow and continue waiting andthat they would do what they could to arrange a meeting. I gathernothing here is going to be set in stone in terms of scheduling.This is something I’m just going to have to negotiate day byday.