If All the Cabs in NYC...

...looked like this:

...do you think New Yorkers would be in such a rush? Have I posted this Cairo taxi photo before? I just came across it recently and thought I'd share it. The dog days of summer in NYC are making me ask myself again why I chose to marry a man from Egypt--just kidding, F! Even if Cairo's taxis are not the cleanest or newest driving machines, some of them are pretty hot!

Restoration in Islamic Cairo

The building on the right is the Madrasa of Sultan al-Ghuri and the one on the left is the Mausoleum of Sultan al-Ghuri. Both built in 1505, restoration is underway. Holly is a wee figure in the bottom left of the picture below.

Bird flu has hit Egypt, the world still erupts with anger over the cartoons of religious figures, and spring riots through the streets of Cairo! Amidst all the chaos, there is still time to go to the opera. My first! The Cairo Opera House is a 5 minute walk from my apartment. I often amble through the quiet grounds while walking to and from work. The complex holds a music library, the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art, other buildings dedicated to fine arts plus many statues and a fair amount of trees and greenery. It's quite the repose from the busy streets of the city. The opera house itself, built in the late 1980s, stands grand like a domed mosque, white and delicate like the Taj Mahal, and respectfully quiet like a gallery. Congrats to the architects for successfully combining old regional architectural features with the modern! And, thankfully, the Italian opera, originally set in small villages of rural Italy, was successfully relocated to rural villages of Upper Egypt. Love, betrayal, heartache, murder--in any language the plot remains the same, so the Italian lyrics and Arabic subtitles didn't preclude enjoyement of the sounds and sights. (The top photo I did not take, but you get the idea. It's even more elegant at night because it is subtly lit and serene. Thus, here is an odd photo of the front gate of the grounds taken from a moving taxi.)

Current Photos

I took some photos recently. 1) The front room of the Rare Books Library, including the reference desk and co-workers Mona, Asmae, and Ayisha way in the background. It's a big room; the ceilings are really tall. 2) In the garden of the Rare Books, some co-workers at our holiday lunch. I never mentioned that the Rare Books Library is housed in an old Belle Epoque villa. It's kind of classy. 3) One morning this week I woke up to find the most incredibley thick haze surrounding the city. Here's what it looked like on my way to work in a taxi. The smoke or haze or whatever it is cleared within an hour. It smelled like burning tires. The mysterious burning of things and the presence of haze is nothing that alarms Cairenes.

Cool Weather Inspires Walking Tour

One afternoon I went for a walk to the Citadel, the compound built on a high limestone shelf overlooking the city. Over the past century, through the various rulers of Cairo and the empire, palaces and mosques, including the soaring 19th century Mosque of Mohommed Ali, have been added within the compound walls. Quite famous for being beautiful and overrun by bus-loads of tourists, I have yet to visit the interior grounds. My walk included only the mosques that dot the area outside the walls, through the busy neighborhood streets.

To find all of these things, you can discard your map and follow your nose. I was given good directions to a place from where you can curiously follow the minarets as they appear before you, behind buildings or around the corner. It was too late in the afternoon to go inside, but I was lucky enough to walk past a mosque under restoration. The doors stood wide open; a sandpit spilled down into it, and I left the traffic on the street behind. The scaffolding and dusty rubble didn't dissuade me from shooting pictures of the calligraphy on the ceilings, the molding, the stainglass windows. Enthralled, I hovered near the entrance, a little bit of trespassing into a place that later I could not find listed on the map in my guidebook.

I ended up at two more well-known mosques at the base of the Citadel walls where three nice young teenage girls picked up me and my camera. Kids here are super friendly with strangers and love to have their picture taken, a service I am more than happy to provide in the world of instant digital gratification. After a brief photo session, we spoke in broken languages, and it came clear that they wanted to take me into the mosque, Ar-Rifai (featured in the background of the photo with them). Closed to visitors, the gate keeper took us instead to view the tombs of royals from the 19th and early 20th century.

A nice little tour on a not so hot afternoon! Next time I will have to go during open hours and get a nice somebody to take me to the top of a minaret. In'shallah, they say.

More visual aids!

Some more photos! The view from my apartment (the building in the center is the AUC dorm I used to live in). The kitties I live with now, the fully one is Pasha (Sir, or a title of respect) and the abyssinian is El Monhandes (the Engineer). A picture of the moulid, the saint's birthday festival described in a previous entry. And a shot of us dancing at the Palmyra, the seedy club of bellydancing fame. Enjoy!
~jen

Photos ~(but only 2)~ And stories!

Adventures continue in Cairo! Unfortunately, I am stuck on a dial-up connection in my apartment, and I have yet to transfer photos onto a faster computer. SO, all you have here are 2 lovely shots of Al-Ahzar mosque. The interior photo is the madrasa, known as the oldest university in the world. Beautiful, all around. But that was last week! In a city that has defined many ages in the recorded history of our planet, I have been doing a lot of catch up. The archival manuscript part of my work takes me into Cairo between the wars and into World War II; the other half introduces me to photographs of Islamic architecture that may not exist anymore or provides a glimpse of a building as it existed before the country began national restoration projects. This is quite an amazing way to learn of a city in the modern age because I have to research all aspects of the historic--from religion to politics to art and architecture--to understand what I am reading and looking at. Laying down these tracks of history next to what I already know, I do believe the English speaking world (of Western persuasion) does not fold perspectives on this region and its relationship to the development of the 'world' into history at any level worthy of praise.

And now, back to the touring log: recently, I was on the Nile in a felucca, a one-mast boat with the famous whistful sail that reaches high and gracefully curves in from the bow. There may not be a more appropriate thing to do than take an evening sail with wine, mezzes and friends after work on the last day of the work week. Felucca rides are common for anyone, locals and tourists alike, any day of the week, even for birthdays and weddings. I am kicking myself for passing my first month here before I boarded a felucca. The Hudson River could use some of these.

And finally, she went to the Giza Pyramids! I cannot wait to post the wonderous photos of the Pyramids with Cairo in the background. No matter how you slice it, there is no separating the past from the present. Though we could have taken a taxi, we took the Metro to Giza, which is really just another neighborhood, practically its own borough, of Cairo. After hitching a ride on a minibus, we ended up at the camel depot, bargained for a good rate, and hopped on the lanky beasts for our final approach to the Giza plateau. Sneaking in through the back fence of the pyramid grounds on a camel that I am sharing with my 10 year old guide is like, uh, hmm, climbing up the Great Wall of China without paying the entrance fee? Well, ok, not that physically challenging.

It being August, there is no way to avoid the heat. Likewise, being the desert, there is hardly a way to avoid the sun. I was surprised, however, at the light breeze coming across the sands, making the dry, hot air pleasantly, well, albeight, arid. A welcome respite from the clamorous, muggy city. I didn't go into the pyramids, but we view the Solar boat, a huge (huge!) wooden boat built for transport into the afterlife. It was found in the ground next to the main pyramid, excavated and reassembled in a building which mimicks the shape. The planks and oars of this thing are immense--to be on the Nile in that thing after work one day!

Saturday me and a couple mates entertained ourselves at the Egyptian Museum. Some things of note: the Tutankhamen display and Royal mummy room. (Mom, some of the pieces from Tutankhamen are on loan for the US tour you saw. The necklaces and breatplates are really something). So many pieces of Ancient Egypt are housed at this museum it is really hard to take it all in, especially because it is crowded and un-airconditioned. I saw cuneiform tablets--the first known diplomatic records kept in the earliest known written language. A real pilgrimage in my professional world. Seeing these was one of the greatest, geekiest things I have done yet.

Though my life seems to be operating on automatic pilot these days, none of this would have been possible without all of the great folks on the ground level, those that speak Arabic (and are teaching me the colloquial way), who know this city either because they were raised here or have lived from 5 months to 5 years in the city. My love for you continues like the sun! And to everyone back home who supported me with words and generosity. Thanks a million ~ Alf Shokran.

Garden City Pictures

1) Attached are some really nice buildings found in the neighborhood of Garden City, the area of residence for British officials and their ministries governing the occupation in the early 20th century. Similar to the large mansion type stone structures found in my neighborhood across the Nile, the trees lining the streets shelter one from ever getting a complete shot of a building (but are they ever a haven from the bold sun). I can only imagine what the interiors of these places are like--currently and back in the day.

2) Also in this batch of pictures you will see an arial view of the bridge I cross everyday to get to work, taken from the rooftop terrace of the Nile Hilton. I live on the island on the right side of the picture. There's some serious traffic--and I promise, it's the same thing at 3AM.

My Favorite Green Car in Cairo

Some photos for your viewing pleasure, listed in an order that they may not appear:
1) The title track, my favorite green car in Cairo.
2) The University Archives and my boss, Steve. I work on the side of the room with those posters.
3) Me at a contemporary art gallery in an all Lego dress.
4) A view of downtown from a co-worker's terrace.

Nailclippers and the Nile

(Of all the things I thought I would do, starting a blog is not one of them. Thus begins the experiment!)

After a run in with a few brusk Alitalia flight attendents, a nice 8 year old Tunisian boy, a cool jazz trio from Georgia, and many hours later, I made it to Cairo without incident. The flights were nay bad, and there was a person waiting at the airport with my name on a sign. Cake, really. And, if anyone is wondering, you can take nailclippers on board a flight. I tried to surrender them at security and the guard laughed at me and would not take them!

I am staying at the American University (AUC) hostel. It is a huge, 10 story marbled-front building in a fairly residential neighborhood called Zamalek. I took a few photos of the facade but a guard came over to me and kindly told me to erase them. Attached are some photos of the neighborhood--tall trees, tall buildings, and the Nile, which is a couple of blocks from the hostel.

My first night here I had dinner with my supervisor. If you can imagine, my first supper was Italian! A charming little place around the way, the restaurant has been around for a while and serves quite good pasta dishes. It is popular with residents and students. Even though the waiters wear white shirts and black vests, and the chefs in the open kitchen wear tuques (not the Canadian kind!), it's all very cheap and lovely. We took a walk around the neighborhood afterwards, through the streets, ignoring the sidewalks and avoiding the honking cabs. The cabs, by the way, are my favorite car here: Peugeots, black and white, old school. I'll get a shot of them soon.

Still trying to catch up on my sleep, but happy to sleep in a nice cool room whose AC I don't pay for, till next time!
All the best,
Jennifer