Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Spirit of Resistance

There were rules set before we could enter the temple. No photos inside, no tour guides allowed to talk inside either. As we walked through Abu Simbel, the beauty and grace of the structure was riveting. We were ready and eager to learn. As Dr. Carr was describing the scene to us, one of the guards stopped him, and pulled him to the side letting him know that he couldn't explain anything to us. He quickly obliged the guard, and after the guard walked away, he resumed his explanation. This was a common occurrence throughout the temple. What is the point of looking at pretty pictures if you don't know what they mean? It takes away from the whole experience. Eventually, I wondered off and ended up near Dr. Beatty. He was describing a magnificent scene in a hushed voice, and again, he too was silenced. Although they were silenced, it did not stop them from trying to teach us. They are the true definitions of teachers.

As I continued wandering, I became upset. I couldn't understand why we couldn't learn, why we couldn't photograph our history. My friend asked me was I ok, and I told her what happened. I ended up calming down, and I began to realize that getting mad wouldn't solve anything, and that I should appreciate the few moments that I actually had to hear their words.

4 comments:

AngiP said...

I guess the best we can do under the circumstances now is to learn about what we see before and after we see it.

James Robinson said...

This and Gavette's blog are probably the most powerful. I'll add my own reflections on it in a new post from my own perspective.

Miryum said...

It's not that they don't want u to learn... the thing is that they are trying to encourage tourists to use the Egyptian tourguides (who are usually the students at Universities in Egypt getting their degrees in Egyptology who have to intern as tourguides). That's why "outside" tourguides are not allowed.

Sarah Roberts said...

@Angi you're right, and luckily after we left they told us about what was in the temple. @Miryum we had an Egyptian tour guide, and he wasnt allowed to come in with us. The people who were trying to teach us were our actual professors, one from Howard, and one from Chicago State.