Faith, Names & Travel

Nava Hendricks a friend of Catherine's came over to our flat this afternoon and was sharing some aspects of the Bahai faith that I find interesting. The more I relate to Muslims and Jews I realize how so alike we all are. Today I listened to Mohammed praying in the gym as he always does when he is reading the Quran aloud. He is ardent at what he does in building a relationship with God. I marvel at his dedication and believe that God does not ignore it, yet I also believe very strongly in the fact that Jesus is the way to the father. In many ways I am glad I don’t have the faith to keep a routine in order to be close to God, because I would be rubbish at it. Yet I admire the faith that Michael my Jewish friend and Mohammed my Muslim friend have. Faith is often an aspect of life that I believe helps people live on. Mike, Steve and Raquel came over for grapes. It's so good to see Steve again after three years. We never got to spend time together in NY but at least he lives on teh floor above me, and their study room window is right opposite my bedroom window. This is going to be bad as I have ten friends living on my building now. Yet it also feels good that I do not have to take trips out of the building to visit friends. El Fardous feels like a dormitory now! Several people complain that they get fed up of being called Mzungu or Oyibo or whatever name locals in a country have of the Caucasian person. Well I get called Samara every single day in Egypt. No matter whether am holiday in Sinai, Nuweiba , Dahab, Alexandria or just living and walking in Cairo people call me all sorts of things. I ignore it and live on, it does not bother me because I am used to it. Just turn it into something beautiful. Maybe we all need to experience being called a name, the Jews had one, the Irish had one and the blacks had ‘Nigger’. I think it’s only Nigger that has turned out to be a cool thing to be, today in America the young folk want to act like the Nigger and be hip and hop. Names are just names, no matter what they mean and the connotation they carry, it is up to us to turn it around. Someone once said, ‘in the cycles and seasons of life, attitude is everything.' Its twenty minutes past midnight Cairo is still loud, the honking and traffic lights with Cairenes speeding to where no one knows. I like Cairo, I like being in a city I have no attachment to. I am kind of glad I did not come searching for a home here, because I feel absolutely detached from everything. Every time I walk on the streets I am Samara, a Sudanese, a Burkina Fason, a Nigerian or an American. I am black – plain and simple. I get yelled at, sometimes I have had stones thrown at me, yet I keep coming back. Why? My sister often wondered why I shed tears at the airport; she often said “you keep crying when you are leaving, why do you leave?” They say once you start to travel, you just keep going. When you get the travel bu, it's incurable. Now, it does not help that I am from the Nomadic Tribe of the Cushites. We are cattle keepers that have to constantly find greener pastures for our cattle that is my heritage. We don’t get attached to places, because we have to learn to wake up and go, we don’t get attached to things because we have to travel long distances and less is easier to handle. And so I move, I keep moving until I find that place where my cattle are fed and tendered. I am nourished when I find an oasis, but that does not mean I stay there, I may be glad when I meet new people and experience new cultures and traditions, yet I must be ready to leave, and I am only content when what I live for is fully satisfied. My soul finds satisfaction in my faith, it is settled yet my heart is restless. It knows but one place and when I get to that place I will know for sure that it is enough for my heart.