Vietnam - in an epidemiological transition

I'm just back from a 15-day trip to Asia where I wasnt allowed access to blogs so I am playing catch-up with my blog posts...

August 17

I'm now in Vietnam with the same project that I was in India with: EPI-4. Four Swedish universities are collaborating with universities in India, China, Indonesia and Vietnam to promote evidence in policymaking to improve maternal and child health, malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS for disadvantaged (i.e. poor, rural, minorities, etc.). Just a small project! My role is to develop methodologies, work with post-doc students, and keep everybody on course. The best part is working with colleagues in these 4 countries, none of which I've visited before! It's a challenge to keep all of the cultural differences in working practices straight.

Vietnam has a hearty economic growth rate (GDP) of almost 7% (compare to Sweden, 5.5% and the sluggish U.S., 2.8%). So things are happening here. At the same time, they are facing the same problems that all the emerging economies are: wide gaps between urban and rural, ethnic mainstream and ethnic minorities. The "epidiological transition" is another aspect disturbing the Vietnamese government, and the other middle-income countries in the region. This is the state of having both a) major parts of the population exposed to infectious diseases associated with low-income countries, such as tuberculosis and b) rising rates of heart disease, diabetes, and mental illnesses such as suicide, mostly associated with high-income countries. Its an unenviable position for the Ministry of Health to have to deal with both malnutrition and overnutrition (i.e. obesity)!

I feel like a giant here as I am 2 heads taller than most women. For some reason, people like my hair here. Two women have come up and complimented me. I was only in Hanoi for 2 days. I will be back in November and hope to get out the countryside.

Testing

India!

Ahmedabad

Tried to send this from my hotel room in India but wasn't successful. Now trying again from Sweden...

First time to India! I'm in Ahmedabad with a new project I'm working on at Karolinska Institutet. The project is taking place in India, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam so I will be visiting these countries in the next month.

With about 4 million people, Ahmedabad is the largest city in the state of Gujarat and the fastest growing city in India. Its an educational and scientific center.
I was fascinated to see the contrasts on the street. Many houses look like shanties and there are people sleeping on the streets, but most of the cars on the road are new and many young people, especially young women, are riding around on mopeds or shiny vespas. The young women straddle the motorcycles in their jeans or baggy pants, while older women sit sidesaddle behind a male driver. Dress is everything from completely western style, to shalmar kammez, and saris.

I guess I was expecting something else from my first trip to India. There are some things that havent surprised me, like the oxen wandering seemingly aimelessly around the streets (although noone told me about the ubiquitous dogs) and the non-stop beeping of horns I can hear even from my 10th floor hotel room. But both Mumbai and Ahmedabad airports were incredibly well-organized and convenient. Passport control at Mumbai had more desks than any airport I've ever visited, including any of the ports of entry in the U.S. When I got on the plane at the Mumbai domestic airport this morning, after only a few hours of sleep, I realized I had forgotten my laptop computer at the security check. The staff of Jet Airways and the ground staff were incredible. They radioed to security and whisked me off to retrieve it, holding the plane until I got back.

I don't know where India is headed, but it will be exciting to watch them go there!

A Christmas Encounter

After a discussion over Christmas eve dinner about the Swedish "integration" policy, I get a ride home with a Somali taxi driver. Turns out he moved to Sweden 17 years ago so he's lived here 2 years longer than me and his Swedish was better than mine. We chatted about the difference between Californian, Somali and Swedish weather, and how driving in snow is not too different from driving in sand. He asked me about Christmas traditions in the U.S. and I said Santa Claus delivers presents to children's stockings on Christmas eve night. I realized how absurd this must have sounded when he astoundedly asked me who takes care of the costs for this? I realized that he probably thought anything could happen in the "land of opportunity" as he called it. At the same time, he said his sister lives in Ohio and she was jealous about the possiblity for all children in Sweden to get a decent education, even those who dont have money. But he liked the fact that when he is in America nobody asked him "where are you from." I hear that, brother!

Four encounters on my last day in Lesotho

Encounter 1

C-O-M-E-O-U-T!
C-O-M-E-O-U-T!

The chanting was coming from behind double-doors to my left. As young women wearing dress unusual for women in Lesotho streamed out of the room to go to lunch I stopped in my tracks to listen to a participant explain to an employee that it was a workshop on sexual orientation (actually, since they were speaking in Sesotho I heard "blah, blah, blah, sexual orientation.") In Lesotho! Fantastic!

Encounter 2

At breakfast I had heard some people speaking Swedish in a corner of the restaurant. Since they were white, and there were 2 black toddlers with them chattering to each other in a foreign language, I assemed they had adopted these children, especially since there are very few Swedes who have ever heard of Lesotho, let alone been there. I went over to talk to them and it turns out I was right. There were 2 families and they will live 200 km from each other so the children will have the opportunty to meet in the future. The couples said they were on their way home after 2 weeks of "adventures." Seeing as how they had never been to Africa, I can imagine the adventures they had dealing with the administration of adopting a child. Even getting a taxi in Africa for the unitiated can be an adventure!

Encounter 3

After breakfast I walked down to the golf course to play a round of golf. One of my colleagues had kindly arranged for me to borrow a set of ladies clubs for the day. In Africa you always have to have a caddie, whether you want one or not. Mine was a nice kid who knows that I don't like a lot of unsolicited swing lessons while on the course (on the driving range is another story). They call women of a certain age "Meh" (like the "Ma" of Ma Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana). So he would politely try to encourage me or compliment me based on how well I was doing, ever mindful of his tip I am sure (unlike the unwise ballboy in Bangladesh - there you had to have a ballboy AND a caddie. God forbid the player or the caddie should have to look for a ball - who actually said to me: "Maam, you are very good on the green, but you are very bad on the fairway." He obviously wasn't thinking of his tip. But I digress). Anyway, at one point when I was having a bad streak but trying to look on the bright side, I said to my caddie: "Well, at least I'm not duffing the ball." To which he responded in all seriousness, "Oh Meh it makes me so happy you are not duffing the ball!" So there you go. I made one person happy yesterday!

Encounter 4

After an exhausting 18 holes on the brown, dry course, I stopped by an open-air crafts market. There is a cooperative of women living with AIDS that makes beautiful jewlery out of recycled glass. There was a Peace Corps volunteer there who is helping them with their finances and marketing. He agreed that Lesotho is a pretty cushy place to be stationed. Its certainly very different from my post in Chad over 20 years ago. It's such a beautiful country. It's surprising its not overrun with tourists.

2 miles high

Grand Lake, Colorado
Elevation 8,437 feet (about 3,000 meters)
Temperature: 75 F

The Thomsen Family Reunion 2010 has gathered my siblings, our kids, spouses (spice?) and parents from San Francisco, Las Vegas, Walla Walla, Chicago, Milwaukee and Stockholm. There are 23 of us hanging out in cabins about 2 miles from the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Forest. We've spent the last few days swimming, horseback riding, hiking, and hanging out with family. This morning I played 18 holes of golf. The air at this altitude is crippling however. It doesn't matter how good shape one is in, walking up 10 steps has you bent over catching your breath.

We took a walk along the Colorado River and saw coyote spoor, bear scratches on a tree, and paw prints from coyote and moose. Unfortunately, half of the trees in the park are dead because of the Pine Beetle. They carry a fungus that destroys mature pines (mostly Ponderosa here) but leave the new saplings alone. So the hope is that when all of the mature trees die, the young ones will grow up in their place. The danger though is all of the millions of acres of deadwood that will pose an immense fire hazard.

We drove over the Continental Divide at about 12,000 feet. Rain that falls on the East side of the Divide eventually flows into the Atlantic and rain that falls on the West side flows into the Pacific. The scenery is incredibly beautiful above the treeline.

Oh, Oregon!

Portland, Oregon
Temperature: 86 F

We have had a fantastic time in Oregon. Here are some memories we will take home with us:

Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock: The sun is shining through the mist as we land on the beach at about noon. We throw off our clothes and run around in our swimsuits. We walk up and down the beach. I notice that I am the only individual over 10 years of age wearing a swimsuit. No, it was not a nudist beach, they all had clothes on! I was told that Oregonians don't wear swimsuits on the beach. That was weird. We had a wonderful time though. My family used to come to this beach on vacations so it brought back memories...

Multnomah Falls: One of the highest freefalling falls in the U.S. We climbed up to the top of Horsetail Falls and bathed in the water. The falls start from a mountain spring and not from melted snow as we thought. The view over the Columbia was awe-inspiring. One of the most beautiful places we have visited.

Portland: Powells Bookstore, the largest bookstore in the world! And tandem biking on the greenway along the Willamette River. Portland is the most bike-friendly city in the world!

Our next stop is Grand Lake, CO for a family reunion.

Oh, Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean!

Skamokawa, Washington (population 400)
Air temperature: 85 F.
Water temperature: 68 F.

We are staying with old friends from college (Polo Reunion!) on this bucolic farm in the Columbia River Basin. The Columbia River is the 4th largest river in the U.S. It starts in Canada and ends about 34 miles from here in the Pacific Ocean. Alcyon Farm is about 3 miles from the river situated in a beautiful valley. In the first 24 hours on the farm and kayaking on the river we saw the following wildlife:

Great Blue heron
Osprey
Double-crested Cormorant
Big Brown Bats
Barn Swallows
Violet Green Swallows
Tree Swallows
Purple Martins
Pacific Jumping Mouse
Various farm animals such as chickens, dog, cat, and sheep.

Kayaking on the river (Fredrika and I shared a kayak) was an amazing experience. There was apparently a seal in the water near us but I didn't see him.

Some history: From Skamokowa, Lewis and Clark looked over the Columbia (which they thought was the ocean) and said "Ocean in view, oh the joy!" But since they had 34 miles to go it was just wishful thinking.

Forty percent of wheat produced in the country is transported along the river and it produces the most hydroelectricity in the U.S. Unfortunately, the dams have decimated the salmon population.

Tahoe!

Lake Tahoe
Air temperature: 82 F.
Water temperature: 64 F.

The second deepest lake in the U.S. (Crater Lake in Oregon is the deepest). Beautifully deep, blue and clear, it is a joy to see and swim in. We visited friends who rent a cabin on the water. Kicking back on the deck, drinking a rum runner, one can easily think one was in heaven...and because of the altitude (over 6,000 feet, or 2,000 meters), the air feels about as thin as heaven. I swam out to some rocks just about 500 meters away and when I swam back the waves had picked up and I started feeling short of breath because of the altitude. Scary...

California Dreamin'

July 20, 2010
Santa Cruz, CA
75 F

Being back in the Bay Area is always a trip down memory lane. When I get on the 8-lane highways my brain goes into autopilot and I feel as comfortable as a farmer driving her combine. This time, though I was disappointed because my old favorite radio stations (classic rock of course), KSJO and KOME, were gone. What is happening to this world?

For the 4 days we were there (staying in Campbell) I just went around with a big grin on my face. I was so happy to be back where everyone says hi when they pass you on the street, and no one is afraid to look you in the eye even if they don't know you.

There are a lot of things I like about California but there are a few that are simply tragic: like the state of the real estate market (disastrous) and the proliferation of drugs for example. Crystal methamphetamine ("meth") has completely taken over and destroyed countless families. Santa Cruz was always a fairly nutty beach bum town when I was growing up but now meth is accountable for 30% of all crime in the county and 35% of all child custody cases. It really feels like the country is losing the war on drugs here.

Wisconsin Dells - Waterparkmania

Weather report at noon today: 82F (27C) and 69% humidity.

My daughter loves water and naturally begged me to take her to a waterpark. I hate waterparks, especially indoor ones, so naturally I decided if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right. We went to the Wisconsin Dells (about a 2 hour drive from Milwaukee) and spent 8 hours at Noah's Ark: "The LARGEST WATERPARK IN AMERICA!!!" I was afraid the name of the park would be prophetic and it would rain or I would end up wishing it would rain but it actually was really fun. Luckily it was hot because we ran around an amusement park in our swimsuits and bare feet all day. Most rides were totally fine for a middle-aged mom and a 9 year old child. On only one of them (a rubber saucer that they stick you in and then push you over what feels like a cliff onto a giant skateboard ramp that you slide down one side and up the other, hanging on for dear life) did my bloodcurling screams make a whole line of teenagers mock me in laughter. But it was okay! My favorite part was actually seeing a Sponge Bob Squarepants movie in "4-D" - in our bathing suits of course! I have an unexplainable love of Sponge Bob and my guffaws were surely the loudest of anyone in the theater.

My ex-colleague Dave in North Carolina asked me what one should do with a few days in Milwaukee in August. Well Dave, here are some suggestions of "typical" Milwaukeean things go do (mostly foody things since I guess you are working in the daytime):

1. Vist a Polish restaurant, like Polonez
2. Eat beer n brats at a pub in the third ward
3. Buy some brats to take home from Usinger's
4. Got to the Milwaukee Public Market downtown
5. Go to any restaurant or pub on a Friday for a Milwaukee Fish Fry (or The Comet Cafe on Farwell on any day of the week)
6. See a Brewer's game if they are in town
7. Take a walk/jog on the lake (you can also rent bikes/rollerblades/kites) there
8. Go to a festival (like Irishfest Aug 19-22)
9. Visit the Milwaukee Art Museum. If you don't like art, just go look at the building (Quadracci Pavillion), designed by Santiago Calatrava.
10. Go to a German restaurant, like Karl Ratzsch's Restaurant

If you have a couple of days off and have the kids with you then, of course, go to a waterpark!

Milwaukee: Home of beer 'n brats

Weather report: 75 F (23 C) and thundershowers

Fredrika and I are in the U.S. for a month now and I thought I would write down some impressions from the "motherland" for friends back in Sweden. Maybe some friends in the States might also find impressions from other parts of the country interesting too.

First day in Milwaukee yesterday. Started off by jogging down to the lake (Lake Michigan). Was a glorious morning. Felt like about 80 degrees at 6:30 am...There were a bunch of guys fishing. One had just pulled up a 3 ft (1 m.) Brown Trout. He got his picture taken with it and then threw it back in. The trout shook himself off and swam away. Said they had saved one that didn't make it to "throw in the smoker." I asked them if the fish from the lake were safe to eat and he said they were just as safe as the stuff in the stores. I was sceptical so I checked out the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website (see fact sheet here). According to them, Lake Michigan has overly high levels of PCBs and therefore one (who is not pregnant, lactating or under 15) may eat 8 ounces of Brown Trout from the lake every 2 months. Needless to say, that information would not entice me to eat fish from Lake Michigan...

One of the things I miss about the States is the parades. Everyone loves a parade. The only parade that Fredrika has seen is when the former communist party, the socialists, and the trade unions march on May 1 in Sweden. Now this is quite interesting and colorful but, as Fredrika noticed, people watching are unnaturally quiet (if someone knows why, please let me know). Yesterday, we happened upon a local parade in a suburb of Milwaukee so I plopped Fredrika down on the curb and let her run into the street after the fistfuls of candy that were being thrown at the kids along the parade route. There were all the components a parade should have: tricycle-riding shriners, sweaty clowns, bagpiping Irishmen (???), local beauty queens, radio personalities, marching bands playing Summertime, dancing hot dogs, local motorcyle gang members on loud motorcycles, and (my favorite) the Schlitz bike pedal-driven beer bar. All the while, the audience cheered their approval of the people marching or driving by, often by first name since they are all from the same suburb. Now that is something she won't forget!

Leaving Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Sunday, June 13, 2010
12:33 am local time

Well, we are not sure if we need to, but we are leaving Kyrgyzstan early. We feel terrible about what is happening here and wish we could help in some way but there is no way we are helping by being here.

This morning started like yesterday. We got up and took a long walk throught the green parks that are everywhere in town. We passed the Lady Freedom who is in front of the "White House" where the revolution started on April 7. And we passed Lenin, who was moved from this place to a tucked away corner next to the National Historical Museum after the Soviets left. Then we came home, ate breakfast, I went to a spa, and then we were picke up by our local counterpart who had offered to take us to the Osj market where one can buy cheap artisinal crafts. But on the way there a police car blocked the way saying that "they are throwing things in the market." So we went to a department store instead and then had lunch at a café. Everything seemed normal. Children playing, tourists milling, people spending money. We were advised by local friends not to go out at night so we bought a bunch of food and a bottle of Moldavian wine and bunkered down in our hotel room, chatting and occasionally checking a local news website in Russian that is updated every 15 minutes. Unfortuately, what we read wasn't good. The fighting has started in Jalalabad, a town neighboring Osj. Even though this is still the Southern part of the country, it just all started feeling very unstable.

We are sorry to leave our friends in this struggling democracy and wish them good luck!!!

Signing out from Bishkek...

There is NOT a civil war going on here

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

June 12, 2010

12:22 am

Two months ago there was a revolution in Kyrgyzstan. The corrupt president fled the country and is likely hiding out in Belarus. The new interim president, Roza Otunbaeva, has created an interim government but there is no parliament yet. A referendum on the new constitution, which would reduce the power of the president, effectively making the country a parliamentary democracy, is scheduled for June 27. However, last night there were clashes between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek ethnic groups in the Southern town of Osj. Most people we talked to today were convinced that this was sponsored by the ex-president's thugs who are paying young, unemployed men to attack each other. Although this can hardly be called ethnic uprising, it has unfortunately caused 42 persons to die so far.

We were hoping that the Kyrgyz would all come to the same conclusion that this is an attempt at destabilization and ignore the provocations. However, tonight, after attending an amazing concert at the National Philharmonic Hall in memory of those who died in the April 7 revolution (classical concert sponsored by the U.S. and Swiss governments), as we were eating Chinese food
we heard gunshots. When we got home we discovered that there had been a couple of thousand young men milling around trying to get supportors to go down to Osj to defend their compatriots. The gunshots were blanks fired by the police to calm and disburse them. We think it worked because things are quiet now.

The crisis will test the interim president who was planning on holding the counry's first democratic parliamentary elections in September. We hope she will get the situation under control as an unstable situation may give Uzbekistan the excuse to move into the Ferghana Valley, which is where Osj is located, and which borders their country. If not, the Russians have offered to help...

We were supposed to be flying home on Wednesday but may re-evaluate the situation over the weekend.

Your correspondent in Bishkek...

Tajikistan - A struggling post-Soviet State

Tajikistan is a former Soviet State. This lives on in the form of language (Russian being one of the official languages), infrastructure (ah, that lovely Soviet architecture), and systems. But it clearly has its own Tajik identity, culture and poverty (unfortunately). Someone said today that when the Soviets came to Tajikistan the country went directly from being an agrarian society to a modern one, skipping the social and cultural changes that accompanied the industrialization phase in many other countries. So when the Soviets left, a lot of the reforms that had been made (in, for example, women's rights and education) were not prioritized, and the country has since begun to glide back into traditional values. Unfortunately, this has meant that girls are dropping out of school sooner than boys, a shift that goes against development achievements in neighboring countries and that will eventually have an effect on the health of their children and their own future economic empowerment.

Apparently, there is some nostalgia for the old Soviet system and its stability/predictability. Apparently, during the Soviet times people would go to the bakers and buy a half a loaf of bread in the morning because they knew there would be another half to buy freshly baked in the evening. Now they buy whole loaves at a time in the fear that they next time they go there won't be bread.

In essence, as one person told me today, the sovietization of Tajikistan really was a "europization" of the country, both in terms of social issues (like women's issues) but also infrastructure. Nowhere is this more clear apparently than on the border with Afghanistan where one sees power lines and roads up to the border and then nothing on the other side...

Back to the scene of the crime!

Starbucks at Istanbul airport

My friend and colleague, Susanna, and I are on our way back to Dushanbe. Back to the scene of the crime! In case you missed our adventures in Central Asia in 2008 (and I mean adventures. We were deported, she ended up in the hospital, and we almost got into a brawl with the hotel receptionist in Almaty over a crooked housekeeper's allegations), you can go back to 2008 on this blog and read it!

This time we are chronicalling (how DO you spell that word???) the Swedish Development Agency's work here for the last 14 years since they are leaving the region. Only going to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan this time. I will be sorry to miss the Grand Bazaar in Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

I am content because I pulled a muscle in my back (doing sit-ups. How in the world???) and was in pain on the plane here. But we found one of those energy masseuses at the airport here and he fixed me up for the moment. Ah, the simple pleasures of life!

Are the Basotho doomed to die out?

One cannot be in Lesotho for more than a couple of days without the topic of HIV/AIDS coming up. The country has the dubious honor of having the 3rd highest HIV prevalence rate in the world (after Swaziland and Botswana). With one-quarter of the population infected with HIV, and 60 new infections EVERY DAY, the consequences are obviously enormous, and not just on the economy. I was told by an official in charge of HIV /AIDS here that at one point they were so overwhelmed they assumed that the whole population would eventually die of AIDS. There are almost 100,000 AIDS orphans in Lesotho (19% of all children in the country), so maybe they weren't far off.

Only 15 years ago the prevalence was "only" 5%. The reason for the high prevalence and its rapid spread are similar to other countries in the region: multiple sexual partners at the same time, low condom use, older men preying on younger women, and poverty. Low male circumcision rates are probably also a contributor.

The strange thing is that one doesn't hear the word HIV in society here. There are "testing centers" and people die young but noone talks about how. There are not many older people working in the Ministry of Health. I guess they are all dead. And yet people keep going on with their lives. They seem happy. They work and carry on. They don't talk about it much. It's spooky but a testament to human nature.

Lesotho- the Mountain Kingdom

I'm in the Kingdom of Lesotho. A tiny mountainous country completely encircled by South Africa (like Swaziland). The self-proclaimed "Switzerland of Africa." Population 1.8 million. Being in the Southern hemisphere it is winter here now and cold. The weirdest thing is seeing the maple (!) leaves turning color. I have never seen maple trees or leaves turning color in Africa, having spent 20 years living and traveling to countries with a much warmer climate. Apparently it gets down to minus 10 celsius in August. That doesn't feel like Africa! The explanation of course is that the country varies between 2,000 and 3,000 meters elevation. No wonder I feel like Bugs Bunny on ether when I try to jog here!

Lesotho gained independance from the British (it was a protectorate) in 1966. Before that it was called Basutoland. People here are very friendly and open, except to the Chinese, who have started running a lot of the garment factories that are popping up all over. Apparently, the Basotho (the word for people who live in Lesotho. And they speak Sesotho) resent the Chinese for buying up factories although they pay taxes like everyone else and provide jobs to the unemployed.

Addendum: I was later told that resentment stems from reportedly poor standards and wages for workers from the Chinese owners.

Leaving Anafora

I wrote these posts while in Anafora (December 26-January 2) but since I did not have/want internet access there, I am posting them all at once. To read in the right order, start at the bottom of this thread: "Journey to Anafora."

Today is my last day in Anafora and Egypt. I spent breakfast as I have several mornings now, in conversation with Bishop Thomas, asking him about all sorts of things. He has told me about what happens to the identities of monks when they enter monastaries by relating the story of when he was ordained. When Coptic priests are ordained they symbolically "die." The altar and the full funeral service is performed for them with a sheet over their body and face. The Bishop's description of the feeling of dying, letting go of everything and then being re-born with a new name was very moving. Because he felt it was so personal, he chose to be ordained in a remote church, and not in his home town where it usually occurs, in front of one's family. I can't imagine how that would feel to see one's son or husband die (Coptic priests can marry but they have to before they are ordained; Afterwards it is too late)!

After a moving goodbye with the staff and the Bishop (and his blessing), I went to Cairo with Katja and Anna-Clara and was given a feeling for the noise, pollution, traffic, and "controlled chaos" of one of the world's largest cities (17 million). We went to a beautiful store with handmade cotton and linen clothes in amazing colors. Later, after lunch, I was driven to the airport and had an uneventful (although delayed) trip home. I arrived home at 3 am to a white, chilly Stockholm.

Waking up, I can hardly believe I was in the desert 24 hours before, eating rice pudding and chatting with the Bishop. However, the memories will remain fresh for a long time, and the friendships I made will last forever I am sure.

Anafora is an amazing place for anyone who is interested in experiencing a community of faith, love and peace. I highly recommend it!

Pax

Anafora - January 1, 2010

The first day of the new year! I spent the day visiting two Egyptian sites with very different histories: the shiny, modern Carrefour mall (I had to get some money from the ATM) and the 4th century Coptic monastary of St. Bishoi in Wadi Natrun. I won't waste time writing about the mall since it looked like any mall in the U.S. (including chain stores like the Body Shop and Accessorize) except to say that there must be some people making money to Egypt to sustain a mall like that!

Wadi Natrun (which means 'salt valley' in Arabic), and its monastaries, is considered to be the cradle of all Christian monastic life. Sometime in the 4th century, Egyptian holy people (both men and women) began to wander out into the desert to be able to fully experience God. Some of them became stationary hermits, some wandered around the desert in solitude for their whole lives, and others began to live together in communities. At the height of the monastic period in Egypt, there were said to be 100,000 monks and nuns living in 1,000 monastaries. Today there are 4 left in Wadi Natrun (and a few more scattered around Egypt). The founder of monastic life is considered to be St Anthony but other big names are Macarius (see icon with his image, painted at Anafora) and Bishoi.

St Bishoi Monastary is the oldest and largest surviving monastary, and it is where the Coptic pope (H.G. Shenouda) comes to stay and celebrate mass every weekend. It is also where a Benedectine friend of the family, Father Mark Gruber, spent a year in the late 80's carrying out his doctoral research in anthropology. He later wrote a book about his experiences, called Journey Back to Eden. My Life and Times among the Desert Fathers (Orbis Books, 2002). A quote from that book shows why the desert was responsible for this monastic life: "The desert teaches us how helpless we are, how much we depend on one another for survival. It is with a complete sense of dependence, a complete sense of helplessness that we must approach God, and that we mush approach one another in terms of possessiveness or control." I think this idea might also explain why Anafora is the way it is.

We (a French retreatant and myself) got to St. Bishoi rather late in the day when all the tourists were gone and there was noone around to give us a tour. So we wandered kind of aimlessly around, appreciating the full relics of St. Bishoi himself and the architecture of the old part of the monastary (there is a huge new church - see picture at right below - and living quarters built in the 80's that is less interesting). As we were about to leave we were approached by a couple of laymen who asked if we would like to meet the Bishop of St. Bishoi. Of course, we jumped at the chance

and were ushered into a reception room where we met him, received his blessing, and also a blessed pen with the virgin Mary (made in China)! After this a very talkative monk (named Father Cedrac) gave us a personal tour of all of the interesting bits of the monastary that we had not seen because they were locked. So we were glad that we didn't just rush away, but were open to whatever would happen!