October 2, 2003 — Mudeif Productions

*Our view of the beach from our balcony.*

The view from the Center rivals a high-class hotel. The beach, however, is is gated off due to a rather serious undertow which has sadly taken the lives of a few Egyptian Presbyterian Retreaters through the years.

*Making our way through the streets of Alexandria.*

Today was our chance to see the city of Alexandria a bit, since we will mostly be at the retreat center for the next few days. Our first stop was the Roman Amphitheater, an impressive site with thirteen marble terraces. Discovered in 1964, it is the only Roman theater found in Egypt.

After marveling at that site, we moved on to the Alexandria Museum, with treasures of the city's Greco-Roman period. Unfortunately for us, the museum is undergoing major renovations, and only a tiny fraction of its 40,000 artifacts were on display. Nonetheless, it was well worth the visit, with fantastic sculptures, textiles, and frescoes. A guide pointed out to us that the meeting of cultures in Egypt also resulted in a fusion of artistic styles, blending traditional Egyptian, Greek, and Roman elements and motifs.

From there it was a visit to nearby catacombs. Alexandria is a waterfront city, which means that underground burial was odd business. Water levels beneath the ground rose high enough to do their damage through the centuries, and the high humidity left remains which disintegrated into dust when simply touched by those excavating the site.

We met up with leaders from the Alexandria church again for a seafood lunch along the water. The Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Gendi Rizk, is on the board, as is Marthame, of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding - so are two other of the PCUSA's Middle East mission staff, so we joked about having a board meeting since we had a quorum.

Our final stop was at King Farouk's Palace, a relic from the days of Egypt's monarchical days. It is currently used as a Presidential guesthouse - democracy, monarchy, there's always room for the privileged.

Our co-workers in Jordan tried to come again today, but because the kids are in Jordan with Palestinian IDs (he's from the States, she's from Bethlehem), they were not allowed to fly on their American passports. Tomorrow we all hope they'll be able to join us.