EGYPT

I'm amazed at the things going on in Egypt right now. While there, all I noticed was intense national pride and pervasive poverty. What I'm imagining is that the poverty was a result of the government corruption everyone is now protesting. I sent myself a postcard from Cairo that said "one dollar, one dollar," and "one Egyptian pound," along with "how can I take your money today?" In retrospect, I suppose this was the voice of a very resourceful people making the best of a sad situation.

It was similar in Jordan, although in Amman we didn't see the poverty we saw in Cairo. I'm hearing that Bedouins in Egypt are providing ad hoc security services.. That's scary. I remember being in Petra (in Jordan) and having the cops there tell us not to be caught down inside Petra after dark, presumably because of the Bedouins.

It will also be interesting to see what happens with Israel after the emergence of this new Egypt, especially if the new Egypt is more aligned with hardline Muslims, Perhaps it will make the US recognize that Egypt is no the only stable democracy in the region, and perhaps it will make the US consider some of our other options there.

Time allowing, I'll write more (prayerfully with more reflection) in the days to come.

But I want to say two things before I close: 1) they say the internet is down there, but I can get to the site of our hotel, the Santana (http://www.hotelsantanaeg.com/); 2) I'm simply amazed to see items from the Egyptian Museum being looted and destroyed. People seemed so proud of it when I was there. I'll have to go back and re-post the few pictures I took inside -- I thought I took a picture of a boat that has since been looted....

we'll see. May God bless the people of Egypt as they struggle for peace and equality.