At the Marriott

We have moved out of our flat today, people have been visiting over the past few days to collect the bits and pieces they needed. Today was the final push so we gave a second load to the church, the tv went to an orphanage and my Matron Tara from school came and took all she could towards her daughters wedding. With an Egyptian wedding the woman buys all the household items and the man the electricals. Mohamed the Bahweeb got quite a few items as well so the house was empty by the time the landlord turned up.
To be closer to the airport and avoid the demonstrations we are at the J W Marriott. I made a small mistake of sorts with the booking and we are in an executive room with access to the executive lounge. Here they provide us with free drinks and snacks. The term snacks should be applied quite loosely as there is a continual buffet all day and a complimentary breakfast included so we had dinner in there and found the patisserie to top up with.
Outside there are the obligatory swimming pools and a beach area and a golf course. People can pay 150 le to stay for the day and use facilities.

Cave Church

The cave church is next to garbage city and has grown over the last 40 years to a weekly congregation of 5000.

Garbage City, is a slum settlement at the base of Mokattam Hill on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. Its economy revolves around the collection and recycling of the city's garbage. Although the area has streets, shops, and apartments as other areas of the city, it lacks infrastructure and often has no running water, sewage, or electricity. 

Coptic Christians were originally the predominant inhabitants of Garbage City, though in recent decades the area's Muslim population has grown. The Christians were well known for herding swine within the city, which were fed edible pieces of garbage and marketed across Cairo to Coptic Christian establishments. However in the spring of 2009 the Egyptian government, in response to the worldwide threat of swine flu, embarked on a massive program to cull the herds of pigs so now they have none.^[1]

The Cave Cathedral or St Sama'ans Church, used by the Coptic Christians in Garbage City, is the largest church in the Middle East, with seating for 15,000 people

The carvings in the wall were started 20 years age by a man from Poland.

Moving On

It is nearly time to leave and move onto fields anew, with leaving comes the round of goodbyes.
On Thursday evening we went on a felluca ride at sunset with Pritti ans Marsis, who are going to Cambodia, and Lisa, who is staying, and Terez.

Today we went to Lisa's flat for a goodbye lunch with some of our friends from church, good food and good company I will miss them.