November 14th, 2005
A look out any window of my apartment produces a view of tangled concrete buildings and smog. The buildings here are quite ugly, as most structures built during periods of modernization in the 1950-70’s all over the world have the same drab, square, brown, lifeless look. I’ve seen the same buildings in Marrakech, Guatemala City, San Jose (Costa Rica), Caracas, Miami, Madrid, Baton Rouge, and San Salvador. What makes the buildings more human is the laundry billowing from the clotheslines outside the shuttered windows and the women who hang it. I love to watch these hard workingwomen who have no idea they’re being admired from afar.
Luckily for me and other inhabitants of the largest city in both Africa and the Middle East, Cairo has many trees. In an act of pure genius or just necessity, condensation from the millions of air conditioners is collected in little tubes running down the sides of buildings. The tubes lead either straight to the plants or into buckets that is used to water the plants. I live on the third floor and my only solace is that the tops of the trees block my view of the street and therefore the street’s view of me. I don’t feel as exposed as the people who reside on floors above my own when relaxing on the balcony. Outside my balcony, if your eyes don’t focus too much on the distance and your ears don’t listen to the noise, you can almost feel like you’re on a pleasant street in a quiet city. Headphones help, as well! I’m usually not electronically inclined (and have been labeled electronically retarded), however my newly purchased Ipod has saved me. Otherwise I might have died from the noise of incessantly honking horns, screaming children, cheering soccer fans, screeching brakes, blaring music, the call to prayer, and all the other sounds that create the city’s identity 24 hours a day. But for now, it’s my city and I’ll call it home.
Here are some pictures of/from my apartment.
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November 9th, 2005
This is my friend and I over Turkish coffee before iftar.
These are pictures of my friends celebrating a westernized iftar.
Here is the shesha man. All shesha bars have men whose sole job is to care for your hooka and tobacco.
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November 7th, 2005
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November 4th, 2005
Being in Africa and feeling somewhat empowered to have an opinion, I’ve decided to take it upon myself to make another political and maybe inflamatory statement. (My first being the anti-war blog.) Really, I love making such statements because not enough people do. I was reading the Independent of London, a great UK news source, and an article captured my attention. The article is titled “Climate Change Could Ruin Drive to Eridicate Poverty”. The URL is as follows: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article321757.ece
In short, the article states: any financial aid effort made to eridicate poverty in Africa will be nullified by the increasing demands made on nations to care for the struggling environment. Meaning that a poor environment will cause more money to be spent on healthcare and environmental cleanup. This got me thinking. It seems that governments, especially the United States’, will not take the necessary drastic steps to slow pollution. While token baby steps are made to pacifiy liberals, mostly for show I believe, drastic measures must be taken to stop the growing problem of the earth being covered in pavement, live animals only living in zoos, genetic disfigurement because of the plethora of chemicals we consume, etc. If governments will not lead, the people must lead and the leaders will follow.
There are some governments that lead, however. In northern European, if one does not bring their own grocery bags to the grocery store, a tax of 15% is added for using plastic or paper sacks. This is a powerful move dictated by government, but this will never happen in the U.S. even though plastic bags are the single bigest pollutant worldwide. So what do we do… bring your own bags to the grocery store!
Another interesting fact. Government issued milage standards for cars. Did you know that even though the government places minimum milage standards for SUVs and trucks, the car manufacturers can skirt these restrictions because the government measures milage standards per fleet. This means that an SUV can get 5 miles to the gallon as long as the company makes a car that gets 40 miles to the gallon to even out the fleets’ numbers. Pretty slick, if you ask me. So what can we do? Don’t purchase cars that get less that 30 miles per gallon! If the cars aren’t selling, then companies won’t make them - there won’t be any incentive to produce them.
If nations’ GDPs are eaten up by health care costs and environmental cleanup costs that come as a result of a dirty planet, then what money will be left over to aid the nations that need help? Some may say “Why should we help them?” Well, the history of colonialism is a powerful reason… Also, come visit Egypt. Look around at the pollution and how you can’t see the Nile somedays because the smog is so thick. Do you think that just affects Egyptians? What do you think?
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October 26th, 2005
They’re just so good, I want to include many… More interesting than the city, if you ask me.
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October 25th, 2005
Sorry about the delay! Here are a few White Desert photos to whet your appetite! More are on the way!
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October 20th, 2005
When I woke up from the best night of sleep in ages, it was still dark out but the dawn was quickly approaching. I was sleeping on my back and when I opened my eyes planet Mars was directly above me in all its red splendor. I watched it move towards the west for some time until I got up to walk around. The moon was just above the eastern horizon and while the whole of it was visible, only a sliver was lit. Ramadan is certainly approaching with the new moon.
The sun began to lighten the earth around us and it became apparent that foxes raided our camp’s trash. We saw some of these foxes the night before and they are certainly not afraid of humans. I imagine tourist groups have been camping there for years and Bedouins have ruled the desert for hundreds of years, so of course they’re not afraid. Like all desert animals, their ears are very large and their bodies small. I picked up their mess, watched the sunrise, and returned to my desert bed to get a little more peaceful desert sleep.
When the sun heated the desert floor to an uncomfortable temperature, I woke up sweating and squinting from the light. We ate a simple breakfast of bread (hobbs) and tea (shai) and loaded up the truck. I felt so damn good! I was sad to return to the city, but avoided those thoughts because we still had the day’s adventure ahead of us.
It began with a stop at a hot spring near the edge of an irrigated area filled with palms and dates. The warm, sulfur water was pumped from the ground into a big cement pool which then ran into a series of irrigation canals throughout the farmland. I wanted to swim in the pool, but it would have been inappropriate. The pool was filled with local men and boys bathing, so I sat near one of the canals and put my feet in the water - it was certainly relaxing enough to cool my feet. I watched the donkeys parked like cars near the pool waiting for their owners to climb back on their backs and take them home. I was curious to know where they lived. The desert is so immense and bleak - their lives must be hard. At the same time, their lives are unquestionably simple and I envy the simplicity. I noticed that the guides don’t seem to have any hang-ups about anything. There were certainly small problems during the trip, but nothing got them too excited. I think Americans, myself included, could learn from simpler lifestyles. We get too confused by our consumerism and desire for tangible goods that lead us astray from life’s truest goal - peace.
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October 18th, 2005
Our two guides set up camp deep in the White Desert and we were surrounded by particularly beautiful sand-sculptures. The sun was setting and the desert changed colors every minute, from white to beige to pink and finally purple. I quickly fell asleep on a mat - I really needed a break after the activities of the past 24 hours, activities that could last anyone a week. The others wandered off and I was happy to be alone with the guides. They worked preparing dinner while I slept peacefully. I awoke to the group returning and the smell of roasting chicken.
The meal was awesome. And I’m aware that food tastes better outside because I do a lot of camping in America, however this food was really great while simple: BBQ chicken, rice, and a mixture of cooked tomatoes and potatoes. I was disappointed that the guides only served us but would not eat with us. There was certainly a communication barrier, but there was also an artificial divide that I couldn’t understand. Maybe because these men do this everyday and tourists are always coming and going out of their lives - why try to communicate with us in particular?
After the meal, the guides took us to one of the many campfires dotting the landscape. This camp was particularly lively with a drumming circle and the Bedouins singing loudly into the night. They urged us to dance and everyone refused but me. I never pass up a chance to dance and I also understand that there is an entertainment exchange in these situations. When I camped with Berbers in the Sahara Desert of Morocco it was similar: they drum and you dance for them. I danced and convinced some of the others to dance too. It was wonderful.
I was disturbed by one conversation exchange between two of the other Americans. They assumed the Bedouins were making fun of us in their singing. I was not only sad that their thoughts were consumed with such negativity, but I was also sad at their projecting a bitter attitude onto the guides that seemed very kind to me. I refrained from pointing out their illogical conclusions and instead stared at the stars.
I really wished that I knew the stars better. I could pick out the constellations Scorpio, the Little Dipper, Orion, and that’s it! What makes my limited knowledge particularly depressing is that I took Astronomy in college and worked as a lab aide on the telescope excursions! But, I could explain to the group was a shooting star and a binary star were. We saw many shooting stars, satellites, and constellations real and imaginary. The moon did not rise on the eastern sky until early morning, so the stars were even brighter. I fell asleep in the silence of the night with the comfort of the universe and the sand underneath my body.
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October 12th, 2005
When we arrived in Bawiti, we only got to see the town from the bus because we were actually dropped off near the edge of town closer to the Bahariyya Oasis. What I saw of the town was totally great. It was green with palm trees and flowering plants, irrigated from the fresh water of the oasis. We passed by a humble mosque during prayer and it was filled with pious men and boys. All remaining space outside was also covered with prayer mats and bowing bodies. The younger boys couldn’t help but to glance at the approaching bus and I was sorry we broke their meditation.
There was a mob of guys who worked for desert safari outfitters waiting to pounce as soon as our feet hit the ground at the bus station. Luckily Jeff had called ahead and arranged our guide and he was there to rescue us from the confusing mob. We jumped in the back of his Toyota land cruiser and bounced towards the first camp just on the outskirts of town. Badr, the owner/operator of the tour company, greeted us. He was dressed in a traditional blue galabiyya that matched his striking blue eyes. We had a lunch of pasta and cucumbers and tea. Before we had a second to catch our breath, we were back in the truck and heading for the Black Desert.
About 50km south of Bawiti the desert floor turns from beige to black. It was formed through the ages as wind eroded the mountains and spread a fine black powder over the ground that makes the area famous. A fault line cuts through the desert and the mountains (hills, really) that were created by it stand tall against the empty expanse. We stopped to climb one of the taller mountains, but I only went half way and let the others ahead. I didn’t want to talk or take photos, I just wanted to meditate and soak in the surroundings. I found a nice spot to sit and stare over the hills, relaxing in the first peaceful state of mind I’ve experienced in Egypt.
From there we headed further south into the White Desert towards Farafra. The change from black to white was incredible. While the Black Desert was brown and black dotted with the occasional hill, the White Desert was stark white with huge stalactite-type formations that had been sculpted by the wind and sand. You could stare at each formation and see objects in the shapes, like when you look at the clouds and see the shape of something tangible. My meditative state only intensified when we were able to stop and wander around. The silence was deafening and the landscape celestial. I will forever remember the peace I experienced there.
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