By Vicky Ahn, courtesy of Kent News
Ms. Lynch, Kent School Art Department Head, and students from her AP Art History Class, Do Hyun Kwon ’08, Elaina Chai ’08, Paul Kim ’08 and Vicky Ahn ’09, spent a week during Spring break in Cairo, Egypt. The initial purpose of the trip was to study its wealth of art, but the students ending up learning so much more. This trip was suggested to the entire AP Art History Class by Ms. Lynch as an exciting way to supplement the knowledge of the historical sites that they had acquired in class through their texts. What intrigued the students the most about the trip was the chance to be able to see an Islamic culture first hand and, as Ms. Lynch hoped they would, “form their own opinions” and break down walls of misunderstanding.
The group’s itinerary was very dense. The days were structured “to provide a chronological approach from 2700 BC through the 19th century.” The group toured various pyramids of the Pharaonic period, rode camels and visited a papyrus school. In nearby Alexandria, they visited The Greco Roman Museum, catacombs and the vast modern library of Alexandria. In the Coptic quarter of Cairo, El Girgis, the group saw Coptic churches, the Coptic museum and, in the same day, they visited the overwhelming Egyptian Museum. The group was also able to learn a lot about Islam during a tour of several mosques by Ms. Lynch’s “devout friend, Noha.” From Hassan, their tour guide, they learned the thoughts of a young Muslim fiancé; from the hotel receptionist, the frustration of being a French law major in Egypt; and from children on their own school trips, friendliness and warmth.
Apart from the sites, what made the trip extraordinary were the people that they met and the things that they learned about the culture. The trip participants decided that it would be best for all to wear loose, covering clothing and for the women to wear hijabs, the Muslim women’s head scarf, in order to blend in. Elaina reflected on how much of “a hassle it was to put on”; however, I personally found it comforting as it made me feel part of the local society, together in their powerful statement of “submission” to a higher power; I particularly enjoyed it as a new fashion accessory. During the trip Do Hyun fell in love with the beautiful calligraphy of the Arabic language and soon was able to read some of it. Back at Kent, he is doing an independent study on Arabic, and Elaina is putting together an ‘Original Works Artist book’ with Ms. Lynch based on the things that they saw in Cairo. Paul has been provoked to start thinking about a lot of things of which he has written about in a separate column in this edition. All of the travelers are grateful for this opportunity to have “drunk from the river Nile” made possible by Ms. Lynch, the school, the Partridge Fund Grants and to Mr. Schmitt ’44 and Ms. Richards who funded the trip through the Christie’s auction.
