 |
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We
weren’t disappointed; the snow had yet to melt. This
picture was taken between meetings on the third day of our
visit.
Picture © IslamOnline.net
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It
may have been typical female behavior, or it may have been a deeper,
more primal instinct for survival, but when I first heard that I was
to go to Denmark, my immediate reaction was: what should I wear?
In
the following days, in between serious meetings with my friend and
traveling companion Arwa, on the various subjects we had to research
prior the trip, we would have equally serious but panicked discussions
regarding the merits of the various kinds of winter jackets the rather
meager and decidedly tropical market of Egypt had to offer.
Considering
the fact that the winter season was all but finished in Egypt, and
that in the first place winter in Egypt was obviously incomparable to
what we were about to experience, neither I nor Arwa had an inkling of
what to expect.
We
would stand in front of maps of the world, locate Denmark, and become
even more worried when we found it so much closer to the North Pole
than either of us had ever been. We had both traveled to Europe
before, but never so far north and hardly ever in the winter. Arwa's
single experience of a European winter was, as I understood it, filled
with ice-water coming out of the taps. What were even more worrying
were the pictures of people in Denmark we would see in the news. They
were extremely wrapped up and wearing clothes we had no idea existed.
To say the least, we felt our prospects looked dim… and cold, of
course.
Expectations
The
reactions of our friends and families varied and ranged from worry for
our safety (“Are you sure it’s safe for Muslims? It’s so obvious
you are Muslims.”) to pride and, yes, a little adoration.
“You’re
going to Denmark?”
“Um…
yeah. It’s part of this program by the Danish…”
“Oh
wow, because of the cartoon issue?” They would ask, their faces full
of awe.
“Well…
that’s sort of part of it, but…”
…and
Robert Fisk will be a regular dinner guest. |
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For
some reason, most people thought we were heroes. The recent uproar
about the offensive cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad (peace
and blessings be upon him) were fresh in people’s minds. The utter
incomprehension of most Muslims on why a country like Denmark — best
known for its dairy products and neutrality — would insult the
beloved Prophet, was prevalent.
To
many people, our trip was one step towards rectifying the situation,
and they would pray for our success, making us more than a little
nervous that we would fail to live up to their expectations. We hardly
had the heart to tell them that we were only traveling to Denmark to
try to find out what happened and how Muslims in Denmark were living.
This
atmosphere led to rather fantastical conversations on MSN messenger
between Arwa and me. One such conversation discussed a possible
scenario of our visit:
Till
human voices wake us and we drown1
says:
we
have the blessings and prayers of Prof. Shahul Hameed2…
he is soooo excited about us traveling to Denmark
Kat3
says:
we
need those prayers… this is apparently a bigger thing than how we
feel about it
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
maybe
it would be better if we go there and get shot or something....
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
then
IOL won't be disappointed in us...
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
esp.
if we don't die and say something like "we have nothing against
the people who shot us, and we understand that the Danish people are
not all like that. This incident is an example of the ramifications
of stirring up hate and using freedom of speech as an excuse to
display lack of respect. If we want an end to violence in our world,
we need to start with mutual respect."
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
"we
want only peace with the people of this wonderful country... blah
blah blah...."
Kat
says:
yeah
Kat
says:
and
it would distract everyone from what we've actually accomplished.
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
EXACTLY
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
we
would NOT have to come back with a report and much to say
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
maybe
we should ask Jakob4
if he could arrange that....
Kat
says:
and
we would become celebrities
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
we
will be HEROES
Kat
says:
risking
our lives for the message
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
MARTYRS
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
Al-Jazeera
will be GREEN with envy
Kat
says:
LOL
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
We
will come back and be on all the TV shows
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
the
BBC will film a documentary about us
Kat
says:
YES!!
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
and
because of our measured statements and calls for peace, we will be
nominated for Nobel Peace Prizes
Kat
says:
We
will be chosen as Time's Man of the Year… Women of the Year
Kat
says:
with
our pic on the cover buried in Ælfwine's5
coat and only our noses showing
Kat
says:
with
a victory sign
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
and
we will get journalism prizes
Kat
says:
and
people will emulate us
Kat
says:
many
girls will start forming special relationships with street cats
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
yes....
my brownie recipe will become world-famous
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
and
maybe as a symbolic gesture we will refuse the prize that RSF gives
us and demand that more respect for others should be emphasized
rather than just the deaf, dumb and blind phrase of "freedom of
speech"
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
we
will be given cool offices and laptops
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
we
will have personal secretaries
Till
human voices wake us and we drown says:
the
salaries of people working with us will double
Kat
says:
yes
Kat
says:
and
Robert Fisk will be a regular dinner guest
Kat
says:
LOL
Be
Prepared
When
the plane touched down in Copenhagen, the mystery of the
under-dressed Danes was solved. |
|
We
spent a lot of time preparing the editorial and promotional material
on IslamOnline.net we would take with us, and every once in a while,
one of us would stop working.
"What's
the matter?"
"I'm
just thinking… we are spending so much time preparing these folders,
but have you thought of the possibility of us freezing to death before
we get a chance to meet anyone there?"
"Yeah,
that's what I was thinking…"
"Arwa?"
"Yes?"
"How
many pairs of socks do you think we should wear?"
The
numbers we found when checking the weather forecasts on the Internet
were far from reassuring and beyond our conceptual capacities. The
coldest day in a typical Egyptian winter would probably be no less
than 9 degrees Celsius. The temperature in Denmark, several websites
assured us, would range from -1 to -9 degrees Celsius. To our minds,
we could only compare it to the temperatures found in our freezers in
the kitchen, something we do not generally deal with for more than a
grand total of 4 seconds.
Enter
the Freezer
Dressing
as warmly as I could stand, I arrived at Cairo Airport armed with my
winter jacket and Orhan Pamuk's excellent book My Name Is Red.
Once we got on the plane, we noticed that a lot of the Danes certainly
did not look as if they were going to Copenhagen. Their attire seemed
to us more appropriate to the weather of Sharm El-Sheikh or any other
sunny beach resort in Egypt.
It
was only when the plane touched down in Copenhagen that the mystery of
the under-dressed Danes was solved. Everyone got up, opened their
carry-ons, and brought out nice thick winter jackets.
Stepping
outside in the cold air was one of the most refreshing experiences I
ever had. The weather, for someone as warmly dressed as me, was
beautiful. And appropriately enough, the mandatory patches of snow
were sitting on the ground, creating the picture-perfect sensation
that yes, I was finally in Copenhagen.
Lebanese
Politics and Pasta
By
the time we reached our hotel, the entire group traveling with us,
made up of six Egyptian journalists, was ravenously hungry. Our trip
leader, a Lebanese-Dane working for the Danish-Egyptian Institute for
Dialogue, promised us dinner as soon as we checked in.
We
all decided to walk to the restaurant. On the way there, Arwa and I
found some ice-cubes on a street corner. It was the most incongruous
sight we had ever seen: ice-cubes, which we had only previously
experienced in our freezers, were refusing to melt and were just
sitting there in the street.
“So
this is what it’s like to live in sub-zero temperatures.”
As
soon as we stepped into the restaurant, a blast of hot air greeted us.
The food was warmly welcomed and we settled down to what proved to be
a long dinner filled with pasta and, thanks to our trip leader,
increasingly incomprehensible Lebanese politics.
Back
at the hotel, Arwa and I assessed the day and set the daily schedule.
We decided that every night, before going to sleep, we would spend at
least half an hour discussing the various meetings and our
impressions.
“Well,
at least we know that we did bring warm-enough clothes, Arwa.”
“Yeah,
I just hope the trip doesn't turn into an educational experience on
Lebanese politics.”
**Marwa
Elnaggar is the Managing Editor of the Discover Islam section in
IslamOnline.net and a writer. She has an MA in English and Comparative
Literature and teaches Qur’an on a volunteer basis in Cairo, Egypt.
1-
Marwa
2-
Discover Islam Consultant
3-
Arwa
4-
Jakob Peterson is the director of the Danish-Egyptian Institute for Dialogue.
5-
Ælfwine is the head of IOL’s English Copyediting Unit, and was one of
the many people offering us their winter clothes.
