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.  

Parents in town

It still hasn't quite sunk in that my parents came to Cairo.. in a way, it's been one unreal thing after another, but it was amazing to see them, and to show them my life here in Cairo. They actually arrived when I was in Turkey, but then headed down to Luxor to "do" pharonic Egypt. Seeing them touristed out it was my pleasure to give them the more genuine side of Egyptian life. Last Thursday, they both came to school with me. As my class had been studying poetry, this was a great way to talk up my mom as the "published poet/teacher," but her being my mom was enough for the kids, and they were attentively listening from start to finish. One of the children even said to me "Mr. Christophe I have an idea, you can go home, and your mom can stay here!" 

Aside from the school, I tried to show them as much of Cairo as possible, and we did long walks through Islamic Cairo, walking up Bab Zuwayla, one of the cool old medieval gates in the fatimid part of town (circa 11th and 12th century). It afforded views of almost a hundred minarets, and looking out onto the old crooked streets. My parents are excellent travelers, happy to walk through dirty poor parts of town, and comfortable enough in fitting in pretty much anywhere, and it was great to walk through un-touristy parts, with still amazing mosque views and old architecture. We got a fun day at the pyramids in, ending with a sunset ride. Another good day of lazily floating on a felluca. Like my dad, I took a nap. 

Turkey

Taking off for a five day trip to Turkey from the 15th to the 20th on my Easter break was a continuation of enchanting escapes out of Cairo. After a mad-dash through the second round at Mogomma, and a quick passport page addition (I had run out of space) at the embassy, I hopped on a plane and landed in Istanbul in the evening. Michaela was waiting for me at the baggage reclaim, and Ifkan, Omer's driver was waiting for us after customs. It was my second time to stay with Omer, my uncle's best friend, and his hospitality is ever present. Staying at "hotel Omer" meant having a place about 45 minutes from downtown Istanbul in a forest on a golf course, fresh breakfasts (lots of good coffee and freshly squeezed orange juices), being taken out to a fish restaurant, and a 2008 Citroen. Coming from Cairo, where I have most definitely seen the craziest driving in the world, driving around Istanbul and Turkey was pretty tame, and it was a great way to get around this incredible country. 

We were in Istanbul for two full days, took off on the 7 am ferry boat across the sea of Marmara to Bandirma, drove to Assos on the Agean sea, came back on the next day at 930 pm, had another day in Istanbul and then left at night. In all waaayy too short, but definitely planting seeds for coming back to Turkey. Very few Turks spoke English, especially outside of Istanbul, and it was so fun going through the guidebook finding phrases or figuring out how to order in restaurants. Nevertheless, everyone who we met was incredibly friendly and helpful, but Turkish really is an impossible language, though a couple words from arabic are the same. From what we saw, both in Istanbul, and on the 3 and a half hour drive through the Dardanelles to the Aegean sea, Istanbul was strikingly European (for my Egyptified eyes) with the Islamic flair. The Aegean region was essentially Tuscany, winding roads in rolling hills with olive trees and sheep, small orange and red roofed towns situated in the lush green, the only difference really was the mosque in the center of the town. 

Some highlights: 

Istanbul au printemps.. walking through a beautiful tulip garden below the enormous topkapi palace. Somehow the tour busses don't make this stop, and the park is better for it. 

The Blue Mosque, one of the only mosques with six minarets. Great to hear prayer coming from it during the noon prayer. 

The Qibla in Haghia Sophia, pointing towards Mecca. This mosque/church was sweet, built in 500 something, huge arabic letters referring to parts of the Quran, mosaics of jesus under the same roof. 

The whole drive up the coast was absolutely amazing, we drove from a port town looking out at the Sea of Marmara (which is part of the Bosporus sea route) and then headed more South. On the way we passed by Troy, which really just had some ruins and a reconstructed horse, and then made our way through this Tuscan like region to this view. Looking out onto the island of Lesbos from the town of Assos. This is a town where Aristotle lived for a short while. 

Everything about this town was amazing from dipping in the sea, eating the sticky honey things they sell, breathing in the tourist-free/non-resorty breeze, eating great fish/sticky honey like things, relaxing.. I am absolutely coming back. 

Smoking shisha and playing backgammon with Michaela.. Peacefully enjoying cafés, and sometimes hearing different music, sometimes traditionally, sometimes popular. One night we heard a solo guitarist playing turkish popular songs until he did a thrilling version in turkish of "I will survive."

rites of passage

So after a somewhat fruitless attempt at getting all my stuff done at Mogomma, I realized I had just gone through a very important Egyptian rite of passage; wasting time in the depths of Egyptian bureaucracy. No English, photo copy this here, get a passport sized photo of yourself there, pay at window number 1, and then window number 43, sign this, no you may not write in red pen, and oh, now it is 1 pm, and it is too late so come back tomorrow. The imposing, communist looking building sits right on Tahrir Square, looking out at the Egyptian museum right downtown. In a way though, everyone needs to go through this, and I'm not too put off by taking another day off from school before I fly out to Istanbul. 

This weekend for whatever reason I got in club mode. I hadn't really gone "clubbing" in Cairo, and on Friday night, it consisted of waiting outside of one place because some people were wearing sneakers, and not getting in to another one because not everyone had their ID on them. Thank you very much, I wont be back. I much prefer my favorite shabby watering holes, or the coffee shops playing dominos and smoking shisha with the locals. 

Field trip to the Sinai

As much as some days in the class room can be absolutely draining and disheartening, the field trip with my class to the Sinai Peninsula seemed to wash away all worries, and make it completely worth it. Not only were the kids actually actively engaged with the program, but they got to see a relaxed, inspired teacher side of me that is rare in the classroom, and together we were in a beautiful place in the world, rich with educational opportunities. It was unique in many ways; we were staying in an ecolodge, no electricity, little running water, ran by bedouins in the largest (of seven) protectorate in Sinai.  

[view of the Al-Karm Ecolodge in the Gharaba Valley, Sheikh Awad area]

The field trip was ran by WESC (an educational program that organizes environmentally conscious programs), so we had three "leaders" who took us around various activities. I felt like a kid doing some of these activities. Upon arrival we went on a hike through a canyon, looking and observing rocks. The following day, we met with a doctor from the valley, or in Arabic a Hakim, meaning someone wise, who explained to us the uses of the plants of the valley for medicinal purposes. It was a treat to be with him as he told stories about trial and error in understanding the uses and power of the plants, and it spoke to the Bedouin mentality of resourcefulness and surviving on the bare minimum. Each plant had it's own purpose, from treating asthma, to illness, to helping people with diabetes who are injured, to curing lethal snake bites. At one point one of the children stepped on a hose that was leading to the ecolodge from one of the wells, causing a leak, and Doctor Ahmed went off and found a plastic bag, and a something to tie it with, fixing it on the spot. 

[Doctor Ahmed, explaining about "Batharan" or "Sheeh Baladi," a plant good for Diaherra]

We also had activities making soap with a plant called Agram, learning about rocks and minerals and doing tests on them, going on a fauna trail - learning about the living creatures in the desert, a history trail - learning about the Nabatean people, and a long hike. Not to mention camel riding (where I raced on a camel), and a fortuity of a retired british man to be staying at the ecolodge as well with his 8 inch aperture digital telescope (the most high-tech telescope on the market) and the chance to check out the rings of Saturn and the craters of the moon. 

At times, it was a bit bothersome to see trash from our group, and hear the constant response from every student "it's not mine." Or when four children took the wrong turn on the way back, and got lost for about an hour. Most of all, when we were doing some activities, bedouin kids would attentively watch us, and the GVS students would shrug them off, be rude to them, or be too afraid to interact. This is an upsetting reality of rich spoiled kids who are uncomfortable of stepping out of their class. 

Bedouin women selling their wares outside the Ecolodge

I like this kid's taste. He's drinking Fanta. However, here it's saddening. A new trend of goods coming into Bedouin life when it use to be all disposable, sustainable items. 

Ruins from the history trail. This is the Nabatean village, one of the few landmarks left over from their history, one of the more famous ones being Petra. The Nabateans were a powerful people who controlled the trade routes across the Middle East, to China, from 300 - 0 bc, with a secretive ways, and completely disappeared leaving little trace. They were fearful of the Romans, who wanted to kill the Nabateans for what they saw as an unfair trade tax upon them. 

World Cup Qualifier

4$ tickets to go see an Egypt v. Zambia qualifying match for the World Cup? Why not. I realized on my way to the match that I had no idea where exactly in Africa Zambia was, other than it wasn't in the North, probably in the East we concluded.. We got to the stadium about 2 and 1/2 hours before the match started, which gave me ample time to grade quizzes, soak in the scene, get an Egyptian flag painted on my face, and decline the multitude of junk that coming by for sale for "Egyptian brice."  The match was decent, Egypt was by far the better team, and played well in the first half with a solid goal, but then let up a little in the second only to let a lucky header in from Zambia to tie the match. The angst and priceless crowd reactions continued until the end. The stadium was about 100,000 capacity, and was basically filled. It was fun doing the wave as it went around, and the stadium went nuts after the first goal. 

After the first goal.

The cheers were also pretty easy to follow. Clap clap clap clap, musri! (Egypt!)

Opa ee... opa ah... inshallah haneksib (we will win God-Willing)

These dudes were wearing one-piece suits that were in all different colors. This was the military section. We saw them get trucked in. Go figure. 

Taking a pause from grading quizzes to take a picture..