An Eventful End to February

Hi Blog!

This post is going to be a lot because well, a lot has happened! I can honestly say its felt like a year since the last post. Since the last update I have visited the president of the University of Dimerdash to award a professor on behalf of the Pope, been offered a job to work for a bishop, attended an engagement reception in Egypt, and also unfortunately a funeral for my uncle’s wife’s father.

Starting with the trip to Alexandria, it was actually a bit of a funny story really. My job includes working under this priest whose name is Fr. Bolos and while he is truly one of the smartest people I have ever met he is also one of the busiest. This results in some things getting lost in translation at times. This trip was one such instance, he told me the day before that “they” were going to Alexandria tomorrow to see a professor and that I was welcome to join tomorrow (the following day) and that I just needed to arrive at 8 am sharp. The way that the invite was offered I assumed there would be a group going and that it would include some sort of van for transportation. I arrived the following day at 8 am and as it turns out it was just Fr. Bolos, me and the driver who would be taking us. I also found out while on the way there that this professor was responsible for the preservation of Coptic archaeology and that we would be going to honor her with an award on behalf of the president. I really appreciated that abouna allowed me to come experience this as the entire conversation was extremely enlightening . In the end we sat in the university for hours while various professors came and spoke with abouna about different projects they wanted BLESS to partner with and I was dutifully taking notes and getting contact information. Because the meeting was going so well we were invited to meet the president of the entire university and discuss the initiatives in a more official way. The entire interaction was extremely pleasant and I got to try peppermint and mint tea which was great!

This leads to the next part of the story because once we finished our meetings and headed back towards shubra, which takes about 3 hours. Abouna let me know he was selected to be ordained a bishop by the pope and asked me if I would like a job as his secretary ( a huge honor to be asked). It was really special to be considered as I really look up to Abouna even if it won’t be possible due to law school committments.

The next really cool thing I got to experience was an Egyptian engagement in Egypt! It was very different then my own Egyptian engagement but overall really fun and memorable. Egyptians sure know how to have a good time! Unfortunately the very next day I had a death in my not so immediate family and experienced for the first time mourning with larger family. It was truly heartbreaking to see so many of my loved ones who were upset and not being able to offer much in terms of comfort. It was challenging to go home that night and process it all.

I feel as if February has flown past and I can’t believe there is only one short month left. I am really going to miss Egypt.

Thats all for now Blog,

Until Next Time,

Nardien Sadik

Cairo, Egypt