Al-Eid, part 1

Hello again!
I'll publish this post in parts to avoid being overwhelmingly long... I'm writing towards the end of a week of vacation in Egypt, in honor of Al-Eid, a Muslim week of feasting and celebration. "Al-Eid" is probably a complete slaughtering of the Arabic name (no pun intended... seriously.) and I don't know exactly what the word translates to, but it is a holiday commemorating Abraham's almost-sacrifice of his son to God.  Of course, since Muslims trace their ancestry through Ishmael, their version of this story is that Abraham was going to sacrifice Ishmael instead of Isaac. But God stopped him and instead provided an animal for sacrifice, so in honor of this most Muslim families also sacrifice an animal each year on the first day of Al-Eid. 

For the 10% of the country that is not Muslim, this week is not of religious significance, but it is a much-deserved break from the constant work and studying that is Egyptian life.  So what have I been doing during this week of no service at my service location?  Well, I have not been sitting in my house... let me tell you.

Monday this week: our Beni Suef coordinators, fearing that we would be bored all week, planned several day-trips for us to "local" Coptic monasteries.  The first of these was a monastery built near the Red Sea, where St. Anthony lived (the creator of monasticism).  It was slightly chilly when I woke up early in the morning, so I dressed in a nice pair of jeans and a long cardigan and went on my way--only to find out upon arrival 3 hours into the Eastern Desert that we were going to climb a mountain at this monastery.  !!  Apparently the main attraction was not the actual monastery so much as the cave where St. Anthony hid himself away from the world... which was a good several hundred steps up a desert mountainside.  I wasn't counting, I was too busy wheezing.  The cave, once we finally arrived, I will admit was less than thrilling.  Since we are not Coptic, it is not quite as meaningful for us to see icons or pray where a Coptic saint once lived, but judging by the mob of people waiting to get in, I thought maybe it was worth the effort.  20 minutes of being pushed over by said mob of people leaning all their weight on my back, I did get to crawl inside... and wished I hadn't taken up that space at all.  Once again, it was truly not as meaningful for me as for others. Ah well.
 ...I think we may have also visited another monastery on Monday, but it was such a tiring day for me that I honestly can't think of it right now!  Yikes.  I do remember sleeping most of the ride home, though.  I had a one-day illness this day as well, which contributed to my shortness of sleep and physical exhaustion from the hike... I made it home thoroughly tuckered.