A ridiculous night

It was just one of those epic nights that showed that a little bit of bullshit and pushiness goes a long way. It was one of the last nights of my friend Samy, so we hatched a ridiculous plot to get into a Dj Geutta Concert on Thursday night at the four seasons hotel in Cairo. There were five of us. 

As I was wearing a tie and fly shoes, I posed as the manager, Cameron David Gallo (I had a business card), Samy was Dj Samy Y - he had just signed on to Virgin Records and was doing most of the talking, Sean was Samy's best friend, Anna was the agent, and Ali was the driver/body guard - he was wearing one of my wrap around ipod headphones... 

We pulled up in Ali's car, he drives an Audi with diplomatic plates, and it's game time. As the manager I am wearing sunglasses, chewing gum viciously, and giving off big-swinging-dick-not-going-to-take-your-shit vibe. A lot of people are outside, but a couple of police officers immediately push them out of the way. Immediately budging up to the front of the line where there were about 4 huge bouncers, I drop a line to them like this. 

"We're on the guest list, our tickets should be here, party of five." Heavily giving the bouncers the impression that I belonged inside and they were failing at their job by not letting me in... 

This brings out one of the concert managers... "Hi, my name is Carmen David Gallo, I'm the manager of Dj Samy Y, we're with the label, we landed from New York tonight, I was told that our tickets would be at the door."

Her response: "I checked the guest list this morning, it's overbooked, I didn't see your name on it... wait who are you with?"

Me: Virgin

Her: Virgin megastores?

Me: No, Virgin records, I'm the manager for Dj. Samy Y (Samy's arms are crossed and he looks cold), he just signed on the label. I was told that if there were any issues I should speak with Mr. Mataran, go check the list again, we will wait here." 

Mr. Mataran was apparently the name to drop - he was the CO of this concert. If she was calling my bluff, she failed. So this got us passed the line of bouncers which were holding back the crowds while she returned inside. 

At this point, Anna is yapping to someone on her blackberry about how the flight was late and there was no one to pick us up at the airport, Ali shows up from having parked the car (he's wearing the earphone so the bouncers let him right in. Then Sean starts flipping out in a loud angry American voice. 

"Look dude, we've been traveling for NINE FUCKING hours, this is BULL SHIT! Dj Samy Y is in the fuckin HOUSE" 

I turn to him to calm him down. Then I turn to another guy who is checking tickets. 

"Look, it's been a long flight, my friend feels very uncomfortable being outside here, our tickets are on the way, can we just wait inside?"

Him: "You still have to go through two checkpoints."

Me: "Not my problem. We're on the list. Our tickets are coming."

At this point he leads us up inside the four seasons. We walk through the metal detector, setting it off, and then I head straight to the VIP table. I nod towards the guy who brought us through. 

"We're with the label, we're on the list."

And as easy as that we have our wristbands and a free pass to an 800 pound section. And it actually was a great show. 

Dj Geutta

From our section

Korba Festival

This weekend there was a festival going on in my neighborhood, so I went to check it out. It was in a part of town that already has a European feel, with wide avenues, arabesque architecture, and upscale shops and restaurants, and with this festival it felt like an escape from Egypt. Just because we could, we stopped at one of the restaurants that had tables set up outside and ordered beers. For Egypt, beers on the street is rare if not unheard of. 

To top it off for feeling like Americans, Josh got a burger. 

The theme of the festival was Peace, and there were a bunch of stands from different countries -with ethnic specialties, like the Belgians selling chocolates, or one from Indonesia where David and I got some cho pao. On both ends of the closed off street there was a stage, with bands from around the world playing all day, and by night, the area was totally packed with an Egyptian band rocking it hard. Music and supporting human rights. I dig it. 

During the day, lots of people were drawing with chalk. This actually happens here every Friday.

It was a great reminder of the many faces of Egypt, and very refreshing to see a successful show put on advocating for the common good.

Zar Music

I saw a great live show the other night. It was traditional Egyptian music known as Zar music. It was in a place called Makan (place), one of those cool venues with excellent acoustics. Upstairs loft looking down over the stage, and pillows wrapped around the stage for sitting, then stools, then chairs and tables. The music was pre-Islamic trance music that was used in healing rituals of drumming and dancing, that some sheikhs have condemned as decidedly un-Islamic, but that any type of music (especially this) is distracting from God couldn't be further from the truth. Some of the songs would start slowly with just female singing, or accompanied by a flute, and build up into the most ridiculous poly-rhythms getting faster and faster. The band we saw was one of the few groups continuing the musical tradition of Zar, as in all of Egypt there are only around 25 people who continue to practice this knowledge and tradition. 

Field Trip to Fatimid Cairo

(A GVS bus in the Fatimid neighborhood)

As a break from school - both for the teachers and the kids - we took a field trip to Fatimid Cairo to see Islamic architecture in mosques and old famous houses turned museums. This is one of the areas that has been part of an enormous clean up projects of historical landmarks in Cairo, as cars and trash find themselves getting appropriately kept outside of the fortress walls. It is one of the best "outdoor museums" that I have seen. The Fatimids, who were descendants from Prophet Mohamed's daughter occupied Cairo from 969 to 1171, and were actually responsible for giving Cairo it's name (the Victorious) from Al-Mansurriya.

 Walking passed a gate built in the 11th century, Bab al-Nasr (Victory Door), and entering Bab Futuh (Conquest D00r), we headed in to the old medieval area of Cairo. I had actually been here a couple times, and knew my way around more than the other two teachers on the trip, but with the children it was totally different. At one point we had some teenagers following us and harassing the children, so I happily told them off in Arabic (gaining popularity points with the kids). What was upsetting though was the general lack of respect that my kids had for the mosques. Instead of standing back and having reverence for what we were looking at, the fun thing to do was to rush into the Mihrab which houses the Qibla  (the part of the mosque that points towards Mecca) and see how many people could fit in it to take a picture. At one point, some of the kids were playing tag around the pillars, or sitting exactly how one of the men was who was relaxing in the mosque... and these children are Egypt's future.  

The old Mihrab in the Mosque of Al-Hakim completed in 1012 ad. 

The courtyard of Al-Hakim 

The entrance to Aqmar mosque (moonlit mosque) 1125. I had actually been in this mosque before and climbed up the minaret in the fall. It was cool to look at it closer and see some of the decorative adornment, like the "Star of David," predating the Jewish adoption of the star as it was a symbol just as much in Islamic architecture as Solomon is also a prophet in Islam. 

This room was inside a cool palace house called Bet el Suhaymi. There were numerous rooms with beautiful architecture, stained glass windows, a calm courtyard, and unique lattice work (mushraba) on the outside. It was a great example of Islamic architecture.