A Working Farm Retreat

Have I mentioned that Anafora is "a working farm retreat?" Having grown up in the South, I miss the "country air" and the feel of the "great outdoors" ... the sunshine kisses on my face and watching God's luscious bounty growing up around me. At Anafora, I reveled in helping with some of the farm chores... feeding the animals, picking olives, and weeding the vegetable gardens. When I picked olives, I had so much fun filling my wicker baskets and feeling a sense of accomplishment when they were full. When I fed the animals, I fell in love with Jojo the baby donkey.  Had there been a way to take Jojo home with me, I would have done it! But alas, he would have been miserable in my highrise flat, so I left him there wriggling in the dirt and enjoying life on the farm. Given the choice, I would've stayed there wriggling in the dirt too.  LOL.

Date Palm Trees were heavy with dates ready to be picked!

I chose to pick olives instead.

Olives were ripe for the picking!

A productive pickin'.

Bella.

Freckles.

Latte'.

Dolly and Jojo.

Wish Jojo could've come home with me!

A Coptic Christian Farm.

Little Coptic Church in the Desert

I would have been remissed if I did not do a blog post on Anafora's little chapel in the desert. I loved the retreat's Coptic Christian Church, not only because of its unique architectural attributes but its church services that were given twice a day. Notably, outside of the church were 12 different mosaic tile crosses that went all the way around the exterior.  The interior of the church was not typical of a Coptic Christian Church. Colorful handwoven Bedouin mats dominated the interior, which represented and welcomed "diversity" for all people that sought entrance.  Instead of pews, there were rows of Bedouin floor pillows and wooden sitting stools that made church services relaxing and inviting. My favorite service was the evening's, because beeswax candles and terra cotta globes were lit that made the service beautiful and dream-like.  Coptic service is similar to Greek Orthodox. Although I did not understand the prayers that were said in the Coptic language, the love for God and humanity were conveyed and spiritually moving. At the front of the church was the eye-shaped window that made me feel as if God was looking down on us. When I reflect back on that little desert church, a feeling of peace washes over me, and makes me yearn for its serene enclosure.

The front of the church had a whalebone-like archway that had terra cotta globes on both side that glowed beautifully at night.

The pottery garden in front of the church.

One of the sisters walking past the church.







The pottery garden lit at night.

The "eye of God."

Back corner of the church, which provided more seating.

Beeswax candles and terra cotta globes that encircled the front altar.

The symbolic "Tree of Life" was kept lit during the entire service.

The church smelled of incense and beeswax candles.

Back of the church.

After the evening service, I would climb the circular steps to the rooftop and continue my communion with God. So loved, loved, loved that little desert chapel....

Anafora Retreat

Last month over the 3-day Columbus Day week-end, I left  the bustling grind and city smog of Cairo and headed north towards Alexandria, where a working farm retreat was nestled in the country 20 miles from ancient Egypt's former capital.  Anafora was ran by Bishop Thomas, a respected Coptic Christian leader, who opened up the retreat in 1999, because of a dream that he had in which God told him to build it. Think "Field of Dreams," but instead of a baseball field think of a small working farm comprised of acres and acres of olive, fig, mango, orange, lemon, pear, apple, and date palm orchards; vegetable, herbal, and flower gardens; adobe-mud hut lodgings; and farm animal livestock. The farm is labored by Egyptian field workers and managed by a religious order of Coptic sisters or deaconesses from Bishop Thomas' parish in El-Qussia. The sisters took care of  the visitors that came from around the globe weekly, cooked the meal time fares, and made the products from the farm that were sold to keep Anafora viable. Some of the items that the sisters made were jams, herbal teas, body oils, organic soaps, hand sewn items, and candles. And while Anafora is a place for visitors to relax, meditate, read, and/or bask in the tranquility of good ol' country living, guests could also volunteer to help the sisters with the farm chores.  The latter was not something the sisters expected, but genuinely did appreciate.

Entry into Anafora.

Directional signs in Coptic, Arabic, and English.



Gateway into the retreat had 2 giant pigeon-hives on either side.





The adobe-like mud huts were comfy and charming.

Loved the stairwells that led up to the adobe rooftops.

The T-shaped pool was refreshing in the afternoon.

The backside of my adobe-like quarters.

My bedroom was lit at night by home-made beeswax candles.

 

View through the mosquito netting.



A much clearer view outside my window.

The adobe-like mud huts that guests stayed in were snug and very comfortable. The quarters, as well as all the interiors, were decorated by colorful hand-woven Bedouin rugs that cheerfully brightened up the rooms. My quarters had a view of bougainvilleas that were also commonly found throughout Anafora. At night, I would climb the stairs to my rooftop to star gaze or sit outside on my patio and listen to the sounds of crickets chirping and frogs croaking that played like a country symphony to my ears. It was a little piece of heaven for this country girl, and I soaked it up as much as I could.  Stay tune for more of my Anafora visit....