Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Egypt has a lot problems. The economy has not kept pace with the exploding population. Freedom of religion and the press are restricted. The president's main political opponent got chucked in jail. People worry that the violence which happened ten years ago will come back. There is a lot of uncertainty about the future.
But I had beautiful time in Egypt and since this is my last blog entry about Egypt, I wanted to write something upbeat.
I stayed at Al-Minya for a week on my way out Egypt visiting some friends. The police in Minya are more relaxed. The vendors are scrupulously honest. The city clean and prosperous. Everywhere beautiful new buildings are being constructed. The whole place is overrun with university students brimful of enthusiasm.
At one of the villages near Minya an Arabic teacher asked me to give this message to my friends in America. "I'm a teacher and I have Muslim students and I have Christian students but I love them all."
That's the Egypt I wish everyone could see.
Posted by Dan Carpenter at 12:02 AM