Tikhtak

Tomb Raiders

After a break of a few days we have been visiting more pyramids today. We took a taxi to Sykora and Dausha about 1 hour out of Cairo and spent our time exploring pyramids and tombs, it brought my lara croft PS2 games to life. Being with Irfana and Samra was like being with a couple of Lara's as we dodged and avoided guides to takes forbidden pictures of hierogliphics inside the tomb. We even got caught and they some how wriggled out of the situation. I ventured 65 meters down a steep slope inside the red pyramid and pulled pretty much every muscle in my legs. Since I last wrote we had a day shopping in Xan Xalili, in Islamic Cairo. The streets were bustling and narrow and full of authentic looking Egyptians!! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Another cultural experience came for all the Egyptian stall sellers who I am sure had never met their match before the tomb raiders appeared. Prices were getting knocked down to levels never seen before on the Cairo streets. Irfana bought an arabic pipe for £3 00 and a carrafe for the same. I just followed and smiled at everyone politely. Yesterday we visited Coptic Cairo, which was completely different to anywhere else we'd been. It was quiet and tranquill with impressive churches and really authentic narrow streets. This was the oldest part of Cairo and we were shown a cave where Mary, Joseph and Jesus apparently hid and a covered ditch where Moses was dragged out of the bull rushes. We have one day left  and it just feels like we have started! Tomorrow we are off to see the cave churches and the Citedel where there are 3 old mosques. If only we had another week...

Walking like Egyptians

A great way to spend our first night in a Egypt, a faluka on the Nile. Ivan and debbie live just minutes from the Nile and right by a Metro so getting into the City has been easy. We had a visit to the Cairo Museum, which was full of artefacts and statues that had no explanation written by them. The highlights there was seeing the Mummies, one of which was Rameses 2nd and the Tutenkhamun treasures. Today we ventured by taxi to the pyramids at Geezer. We arrived to a throng of sellers, hawkers and camel riders. The tactic was to completely ignore everybody and they would eventually leave you, but it took a lot of patience and self control. Cairo is a very happening and bustling city with traffic to rival even Lahore. We are looking forward to visiting  Coptic Cairo, Islamic Cairo and the Citadel. We are also going to se some more pyramids at Sekora and a Christian churches made out of caves. At the moment we are sitting in a trendy coffee shop just down the road from Ivan's having a coffee with Janice, who use to go to our church in Clapham. She actually lives and teachers just round the corner from where we are staying. It is great to see her and catch up on all she is up to here in Cairo.

Trax16 at no 16 in podcast charts

Just got this news from my colleague Mike North. Trax16 is no 16 in the Religious/spiritual podcast charts. If you open iTunes and click on the podcast button, you can then select the category for Relgious and Spiritual. Otherwise click on this picture to have a look.

Free for all on Set all Free Bulletin

Set all Free have included Free for all on their latest May e-bulletin on page 17 and I get quoted on Page 7 commending the set all free campaign. This came out of a visit to Tavistock square where I met with Richard Reddie and Kate Yates the project management team.

Winchester Cathedral and Free for all

Visited Winchester Cathedral today to look at the practical details for Free for all. It was exciting to talk through things in more detail and it made the whole project look that much more tangible. Winchester is the longest Cathedral in Europe and will be a great space to work in. It looks like the performance may have to be done in a promenade with the audience getting drawn into the action as there are no chairs in the cathedral. It is very exciting and challenging to think creatively how each performance will work in the very different spaces we will be working in. Having been to such a majestic and historial place of worship it was an interesting contrast on the way to the train station to see a church in the guise of a bank. I am sure there could be lots of good catch lines to go with this. "A good place for life insurance" for example.

Isle of Man

I am sitting in the departure lounge on the Isle of Man waiting to be called for my plane. It has been a full and rewarding few days of work here doing school assemblies, taking lessons in schools and some church training for Sunday school teachers. In the schools we have taken our microtrax recorders to get footage for next months trax16 podcast and we have got plenty of good stuff. In one school we got the children to make their own podcast and their ability to be broadcasters was plain to see.... I am now off to gate 3.... I am writing this a day later from CMS. On reflection I think the highlights from the week apart from the cup final, were doing the podcasts in schools, which included a girl who was mute in one class being so inspired by her class mates that she contributed to a rap by making some noises with her mouth, working with Sunday school teachers on Saturday where we got everydody active through putting on dramas but with a heavy condition. The idea was to encourage them to develop a creative impulse. We then unpacked it all and looked at how it related to their work. On the more challenging side we had very little time to relax, talk with people outside of the programme and reflect on things we were doing, as a result I have come back exhausted. The isle of Man is a beautiful; place and the people were extremely hospitable and freindly. We  will look forward to returning there at the end of June 07 for our cathedral free for all tour. Check out this trax16 rap a couple of kids made up from Ashley Hills school and listen to trax16 in June to hear the full story of how young people see God on the Isle of man.

Off to the Isle of Man

Off to the Isle of Man tomorrow. Connecting with churches, schools and hope to get lots of interviews for trax16. We have even made the Island churches website. Hope to get lots of nice photo's too.

The Sultan's Elephant

The Sultan's elephant came to London over the weekend and we went along to see what it was all about. It was incredible! A crater appeared in the road with a space ship sunken beneath on Friday. Out of it came and gigantic girl puppet who proceeded to walk around London, exercise in St James' park and eventually meet up with an even bigger elephant in the horse guards parade on Sunday, before   getting back into her capsule and flying off. I am sure there was more to the story but that's all I could work out, but that was the magic of it. It was a drama set in real time on the stage of London and catching up thousands of Londoners in the story. Amazing... Check out the Sultans' website for an accurate telling of the story and more... I have also uploaded pictures to have a look at in the The Sultan's album.