Cairo calling
How do you describe a day that began with 25 hours of sleep deprivation? When we hit the ground in Cairo we literally hit the ground running. It probably had something to do with the suicidal nature of the traffic. Have you ever been in a city where you feel unsafe even if you're standing on the footpath? Cairo makes you feel like locking yourself in the bathroom mightn't be enough to avoid a road accident. I made the mistake of sitting in the front seat on the way from the airport to our accommodation. Never again"
I don't know if Cairo is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, but it certainly gives a good impression of being so. High rise, low cost apartment blocks are crammed cheek-to-jowel on every block. It's not unusual to see the lower levels festooned with the laundry of occupants even while the builders are still constructing the upper floors. In many cases the developers have left concrete pylons and steel reinforcing jutting out of the flat roofs in the event that more floors will need to be added. And satellite dishes fill every other available space, covering the city blocks like a crop of over-sized mushrooms.
Filming in Cairo can be difficult with public officials and police offering often conflicting opinions on what is possible and what is not. In many cases their flexibility is determined by how willing you are to part with the content of your wallet. Personally, I'm not too worried about this. In this country a public servant's wage is so low that a certain level of bribery is tolerated, if not expected, as a means of making ends meet. Consequently I like to refer to it as "tipping in advance'. You end up paying for the additional service you expect to receive rather than what a person might have already offered you.
We've had a very busy couple of days filming crowded city bazaars, mosques and of course the obligatory visit to the pyramids. Climbing into the burial chamber at the heart of the great pyramid of Cheops was an awesome experience. Two particular things caught my attention. Firstly, this unquestioned ruler of Old Kingdom Egypt chose the same rose-flecked granite to construct his sarcophagus as my mother-in-law used to surface her kitchen benches. Secondly, here was a man who had at his disposal the riches of one of the greatest ancient empires and the strength of a million unquestioning servants " and yet was unable to beat death. His passage-way into the next world is now a tourist attraction and a salutary warning to those who believe they can get their on their own.
However, the highlight of our trip to Cairo would have to be our visit to the Coptic Museum. After some intense negotiations we were able to get access to the Museum's collection of Gnostic Gospels, second and third century commentaries on Jesus' life. For a short space of time I held in my hands the actual 1,700 year old piece of papyrus known as the Gospel of Philip which Dan Brown had used to assert that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. A neat trick considering that the authors of the same document despised the idea of romantic love "
It's hard to think what else to include " eating a thoroughly welcome dinner while floating on the Nile; dodging in and out of cars as we filmed in the markets; watching John Dickson thrilled to the point of vibration over an ancient papyrus. Best maybe to end on an observation of our little crew. I'm working with a man we've begun to refer to as the Apostle " that's Andy the sound recordist. As we were heading out of the city on our way to the airport we were talking about prayer. Andy light-hearted chap but a serious thinker, and the topic of this documentary series has him thinking carefully about God. He told me how he considered holding back speaking to God until he had something that he really needed help with. It made me consider how different his picture of God was from the eternal Father who had been blessing us in even the most seemingly inconsequential matters. My God was clearly more generous than someone you had to mind your favours with. I'll be looking forward to seeing him display his generosity more over the coming days as we zig-zag across time-zones to arrive in Oxford.
See you at college"
