The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-09-09

"a .t- ~. tS+ o.,
reyerie. The big pyramid is on one
side, the sphinx on the other with its
immense shadows under the silvery blue
OF the sky and stiffness is over all.
Oh! one could rave like a sentimental
girl over a sight like that!'' S 5s.*ss>e
In the Oldest University. l'
One of the most ia.eresting places
the. Minneapolis tolriat visited was the
IN Of FL Azs one Of the old
seven to mime Thousand people study
there the year round. g. ~ 4 81 :
This university, - says Seignior Per
era, . is entirely different from any
other in the world. There one may see
old men, as well as children only 4
years old; the period Of instruction be-
ing indefinitely extended. The -univer-
slty is divided into compartments for
the use of different nations, butsall, of
course, must be .Mussulmen:E I was
for their blackboards tin of the Stand
ard OIL company. The main study is
the Koran, every verse of which is
learned by heart and studied from its
scientific and theological point1of view.
my friend and I went, thru this
odd college and several times ] sur
prised some Of, the scholars by writing
my name for them in, Arabic. - =
Ito. Illustrate the fanaticism Of
these students and their strong belief
in their :.dogmas, I may say that il it
had not been for m knowledge Of the
language, by which I was able to pacify
a mob of enraged students, my friend
and I might have had very bad ex-
perience. In going thru the university,
which besides being a school is also q
mosque, strangers are requested to
wear big slippers over their shoes in
order to keep the floor immaculate, Of
course we had to do as the rest did
and wear those enormous slippers, but
1T happened that in going from one Of
the rooms into another we had to pass
an alley, a few feet long, which Sep
arated the main building from other
class-rooms. The moment we stepped
into the alley dozen students came
furlously towards us and threatened
to strike us because we had attemptd
to walk few steps in the alley with
the slippers which were to be used onlv
thru the university. I Immediately ex-
cused myself in Arabic and told them
that they were perfectly right and
eomplimented them on their desire to
have their customs respected. This
pacifed them. If 1--WE had failed to IN
! derstand or objected to their behavior
we might have hadt trouble. It was
strange to think afterwards that those
boys, examples Of cleanliness at school.
were probably as dirty as could be at
home.
How They Shop in Cairo.
HOwing to my previous experience
and the knowledge of the language,
my sightseeing in Cairo was accom-
plished without guides or. dragomen.
They are an everlasting nuisance. The
bazars, Of course, were among the first
things visited with my friend. The
Musky and the Hal Hall are the most
important. Tho interesting from a tour
ist point Of view they would certain
~ drive a poor Minneapolis woman
crazy if she went shopping there be-
cause different trades and nationalities
have separate quarters, and one is LA
BILE to lose whole morning looking
for couple Of simple articles. =
"The department. store has not vet
made its way into the east. In one
quarter are red slippers, nothing but
! red slippers, hundreds of shops hung
with them. There are the silk bazars'
the, goldsmith g bazars, the silver.
smith s. bazars:: Every one Of these
bazars is nothing but a narrow lane,
crooked or winding, a Irregular labyrinth
where thousands Of shops no bigger
than shop window in America. sue
coed one another, and where thousands
of dollars worth of business is trans.
acted every day. Some Of the 4Arabians
confessed to me that they have never
seen better times before The tourists
are fascinated by their bright displays
Of goods and. buy constantly at exorbi.
tant prices and rather enjoy the idea
Of being cheated. assstsY9.s z7,i
The first day Invent thru all these
DlaceS with nv friend. and all fhs' 49,.
pie addressed me in English but later
when I.rode on donkey thru the mar
row streets of the bazaar and gave them
the sSalaam in Arabic. they all adj
dressed me in their native tongue, and
III was called in here and there NV; tha