Mega-Cities

 Apparently I live in a mega-city.

Sounds scary right? Cairo is crowded but, I do not have agoraphobia so its cool. 


Quick synopsis of the article linked above: as huge cities get more and more crowded they become a breading ground for dangerous politics and social unrest. At the same time nations are forced to give undue attention to their own mega-cities and ignore the outlying areas, which causes resentment towards the national government. The lack of public services present in these cities is filled by religious and political organizations who provide schools and social services-this is what groups like Hamas and Hezbollah do on the ground and why people are attracted to them. Consider the local chapter of Hamas a little like the local YMCA, only they recruit for suicide missions and not just the summer baseball league. 


Cairo is crazy, there is a noticeable lack of public services, and I have no idea how everything functions. Except that it does, vaguely, in a beautiful sort of chaos. I am sure I am not privy to the greatest tragedies in the city, but articles like this are always very negative about situations on the ground. Come visit and see for yourself, I will let you know if Cairo disrupts into absolute social chaos anytime soon.


Link to the article here and above.

Interesting

I know I said I would hold out on judging Israel, but then the Israeli Keffiyeh popped into my inbox. 

For background's sake...
 I subscribe to an email list serve, Cairo Scholars. It is very handy for apartment hunting, weird questions, and entertaining arguments. Someone sent out a link to a website advertising an Israeli Keffiyeh with the original subject line "they stole history and culture, and kill the Palestinian people." Needless to say a debate ensued about whether the email was appropriate for the list, does it have anything to do with Cairo, are we offending any Jewish students that might be in Cairo, blah blah blah. The highly unorganized email debate brought up a few relevant questions-are you anti-Semitic if you slightly criticize anything Israeli and how serious of an offence is it to co-opt a nation's symbol of resistance.

Let's examine the facts I learned from wikipedia...

The Keffiyeh can be found all over the Arab world. Various tribes and groups wear different colors and patterns, and they can be tied around the head in different styles. You could relate them to a Scottish tartan as the weave, color, and how you wear it are indicative of your family's origins. They are generally worn by men and veiled women do not typically use them. The scarf became a symbol of Palestinian resistance in the Arab revolt of the 1930s, Yasser Arafat used the keffiyeh as a national and personal symbol, Lawrence of Arabia wore one, the British army apparently wears them, and  Leila Khaled, a female member of the armed PLO, was seen wearing the Keffiyeh as a hajab (headscarf) after the TWA Flight 840 high jackings. With her it was seen as a statment of her equal footing with militant men of the time.

Here is some current knowledge gleamed from my own observations (and wikipedia love)...

The keffeyeh is still seen as symbol of resistance around these parts and when the Israeli strikes on Gaza happened last year you could buy one on any street corner in Cairo. They are also a semi-outdated hipster trend. Maybe this trend was started by socially conscious hipsters or Jewish Americans and non-Jewish Americans who were trying to display their anti-Zionist feelings. Apparently “keffiyeh kinderlach” are "young left-wing Jews." Young Americans can purchase them at the local Urban Outfitters or maybe Claire's (I have been out of the country for a while) in all colors. Even in the Middle East it is hard to find one not made in China, most things are made in China. But, you can pay a little more to get handmade scarves and it is worth the extra money. Either way they are sort of a sold out trend, but still relevent enough that when I bought some in Jordon and wore them around Israel I felt weird in  parts of the city (OK I felt weird when I wore it by the Wailing Wall on Friday, but that was a coincidence and not a statement).

But, finally the point. Apparently there a Jewish rapper/label owner/producer based out of Brooklyn who is hawking the Israeli Keffiyeh on his blog and somehow I got an email about it from a list serve here in Cairo. God damn I love globalization!

Now an Israeli wearing a keffiyeh, to be blunt, a lot like a white person wearing FUBU. Apparently the scarf says "Am Israel Chai" in Hebrew, meaning "Jewish People Live." Symbols get co-opted all the time and as an American I can't really claim I am not a huge part of it. As I see it the difference lies in the intention of co-option. When a some random guy wears a Che Guevara shirt he does not want to change what the handsome Latin rebel in the green hat stands for, he wants the coolness of Che to rub off on him. However, taking the basic design and reworking it with different colors and adding Hebrew changes what the keffiyeh stands for and could potentially obliterate the original meaning. You can't call a keffiyeh a keffiyeh when it is a totally new design under the same name.  


Innocently then the above scarf is just an Israeli hipster/national pride scarf and similar to football scarves, or an American flag speedo. Not so innocently the above scarf is another attempt on the part of Zionist Jews to obliterate the Palestinian culture, language and pride. At this point after hipsters, urban outfitters, men in the markets selling hot pink keffiyehs, and semi-political white chicks like me have muddled the symbolism does it matter if an Jewish rapper/label owner/producer does the same? The debate is still going on the email list, although the moderator is trying to stop it. Ahh petty expat student politics, you could just stay wrapped up in them forever, no? I have no answer for the debate, but my gut reaction tells me that this is not right and a little to nationalistic for my tastes. I am sure there are Israeli scarves that could create their own symbolism, no need to take someone else's. Or maybe this is just another example of how similar Palestinians and Israelis really are.

New year, still in Egypt

This update is long overdue. I left the Sinai and the castle, ultimately we were not a match made in desert hipppy castle heaven. Luckily the timing was perfect and I was able join cousin Ted and dad David on a fairly epic, historical, round about trip through Cairo, out to the Sinai, through the waters of the Red Sea to pay homage to Indiana Jones at Petra, a little further North to float in the Dead Sea, then across a bridge to Israel and all the old religious stuff that Israel entails.

Let me just say that could not have imagined a better trip. Kudos for Ted for just being awesome to travel with, really into fun stuff, easy going, and enthusiastic when we needed enthusiasm! As for dad I don't think there are many other people I would have rather visited the Holiest of Holy lands with and the much needed daddy-daughter time was much appreciated and loved. My friend Katie joined us for the Israel adventure and was an amazing trip buddy, cheerful, fun, picture taking snap happy silly bus! All in all a lot of love went into the trip and I enjoyed every minute of it. Causalities were low; besides a few annoying modes of transportation and delayed flights most things went smoothly. I have not yet organized my thoughts about Israel and am really waiting to pass judgement until I visit another part of the country. I hate it when people judge America based on New York or Florida, so I am reserving judgement until I am more traveled. I will say this though the Crowne Plaza Jerusalem has the worst customer service of any hotel I have ever stayed in. Never go there, ever.

After the trip I returned to Cairo and began a new job search. Why am I staying in Cairo? Who really knows. I have found a job, but will reserve judgment on it until a few weeks or months have passed. Am I staying in Cairo for the job? Maybe, the pickings seem pretty slim in America at the moment. Am I staying in Cairo for the fun? Maybe, there are beaches, craziness at every turn, and good friends around. But, ultimately I don't have an exact reason why I am here other than I feel like I should be for the moment. The other day someone asked my why I was here, I have no real answer for them. So, maybe I will search around for a few months and come up with a reason to stay or leave.

Until then I am apartment hunting! Frustrating in any country, it is even more so here. The first step is having friends who will help you, thanks be to the universe I have these. The second, third, fourth, and so on step involves wandering around neighborhoods you want to live in and asking doormen if there is anything open in the area. Then phone calls are made, hands are shaken, streets are walked, names are called across the streets, and maybe you find an apartment to look at. So far I have only looked at a few and did not like them, but I do have plenty of promises of showings tomorrow, inshallah. My budget is not very high and one bedrooms are really hard to find, people get lonely here quick or something. I may have a roommate, but who knows. Life is fickle, minds change, and you never know what an Egyptian day will bring you (thanks Rebecca W for that quote).

Honestly my head is full right now. Between leaving a job, traveling, being a semi-permanent house guest at a few houses, starting a new job, looking for an apartment, and being a little homesick I cannot evaluate my life right now. I realized that I have not unpacked all of my bags, has everything in one room or lived in the same bedroom for more than seven weeks since I packed my bags to travel in June 2009. I can handle change, I can adapt, I can fluctuate, but really this is getting old. I want all my shoes in the same house and pictures on the wall. The urge to nest is strong. Hopefully things will calm down and I will find a place. Then, life will be put on blast and I can figure it out, inshallah.

Inshallah. What a great word.

Dreamy Egypt

Overlooking Islamic Cairo.

The Citadel in the background of Al Azhar Park.

Near Luxor, the Colossus.

Paul, Katie, Chrissie, and Faye.

Of course the Pyramids and the Sphinx!

I took these photos with a Diane 120 format camera. I have no real skills and am just getting used to the camera so they are all double exposed and not top notch. Fun though and that counts for a lot.

In other news I have left the castle and am no longer working there. The timing was perfect because instead of rushing back to work for New Years I was able to join my dad and cousin on their trip to Israel after showing them around Cairo and the Sinai. So, after three weeks of epic travel around with cousin Ted and my dad I am back in Cairo and starting the job search again. This time I approaching the job search with less of a need to just stay here for the hell of it and am instead I am committed to only staying if I find the right job. If I find nothing I will become a snow bird and spend my winter on the beach, returning to America in spring. Well, that is the plan and who knows what will really happen.

wonky posts

I do not know why the fonts are so messed up in the post below and if I was an html whizz kid I would fix the problem. Instead I did not show up to the final session of my North Seattle Community College "continuing adult education" html class. Far from a whizz kid am I and even further from an adult.

Al Tarfa Eco Lodge

I have been away from home for a long time now and when you are away from home for so long you start to think about why you strayed from home in the first place and why you stay away. This morning, the start of my off day, as I was eating cookies, drinking coffee and preparing to lounge by the pool I realized why I was still away. The larger reason of why I left is complicated, but one simple reason to travel sticks in my mind: stereotype fulfillment. Crude and rude I know, not politically correct or really a sexy reason to get on a plane.

Not so deep down inside we go to places for stereotypical reasons. We go to Paris to fall in love. We go to South America to get a taste of communist rebels. We go to Africa to see the “real” while living in the comfort of former French and British colonialism. This past weekend I was able three reasons to travel to Egypt right on the head-ancient ruins, desert, and former colonial glitz at quite possible the most luxurious hotels I will ever stay in-Al Tarfa Eco Lodge in the Dakhla Oasis.

My most gracious boss was invited to the one-year anniversary of Al Tarfa, which was built and is owned by his good friend Weal and his lovely wife Mona. With a bit of prodding I convinced Hany that we should go, despite the long travel hours (five hour drive to Cairo, one hour flight to the western desert and then a four hour drive to the resort), and enjoy the weekend.

We got in a taxi, then a plane, then a car and then arrived at the resort nestled in the outskirts of a green palm oasis. Our greeting upon arrival, by staff with warm towels to wipe the travel dust off of our faces, set the tone for the rest of the stay. Which went a little like this: watch the sun set over various desert scenes, eat a three course meal served on fine china and silver, listen to the French soprano and her conductor husband serenade the guests, have a few drinks, chat, fall fast sleep in large white four poster beds, wake up to sun and coffee by the pool, go see some interesting desert site, chill at the spa or pool, eat ,and you can imagine the rest. Wash, rinse, relax, and repeat.

I was very homesick the week or so before this trip. I try, but I do not deal well with sadness. I get sad about one thing and it just cascades from there. Somehow just moving West made me feel better. I was 14 hours closer to home, and the green landscape and momentarily gray skies of the oasis did my heart some good. This post is already long so I will let the pictures show tell you the rest, 1,000 words and all that jazz. Side note, I finally found my camera battery charge which means more photos soon!

Al Tarfa Eco Lodge Photos

The walk up to the pool and main lodge

Restaurant

My bed is on the left

Sunset

Red sky at night, sailor's delight has relevancy in the desert too.

Silver moon behind the clouds

Poolside at all hours

Ancient Roman/Egyptian city

This minaret is 800 years old and constructed with a sand clay formula that is no longer known.

Tiny alley ways, twisted sand filled stairways, and impossibly standing mud structures filled our day excursion to this ancient city near the resort.


Our host Wael and Hany.

Ancient or current graffiti? Glass half full or empty? You decide.

The only really environmental use for car parts.

Dune wandering, sneaky Hany took this photo. I must also give Hany photo credit for all of the above. At this point I still had no camera battery :(