wayfaringwordhack | Entries tagged with glimpses: egypt

We've been enduring a sandstorm for two days now. The house is covered in dust, except where we have walked it off, then you can see--in the feeble, filtered light--where no one treads or crawls because of the dirt accumulated there. And if anyone questions my housekeeping, fine, but don't question my housekeeper. :P She does a great job and was just here on Monday. Thankfully she comes again tomorrow, but if the storm is still raging, it'll be as dusty a couple of hours after she leaves. The old windows and doors are not barricades but sieves.... And I'm just back from closing the French doors that lead onto the front balcony. The wind is so strong and the latches so weak, the doors get blown open every so often (as do some of the windows), letting in yet another dusting of dust.

For

asakiyume, who wanted to see dogs sleeping on cars.

Not just our feline friends who enjoy a nice perch.

I didn't forget about Snippet Sunday this week; I just didn't take (make) the time to snap photos due to a combination of other things to do and freakish (for Egypt) weather that resulted in bad lighting. I mostly did the drawing challenge I mentioned, but I also took time to do a couple of blind contour sketches in prepartion of doing a funky family portrait (I need to buy a good marker first) and resumed painting Sprout. The painting was to be my main focus last week, but because of the extreme pollution and rainstorms, lighting was not conducive to that undertaking. Perhaps this weekend...if my sewing projects don't take over.

Anyhow, you aren't here to hear about snippets but to catch a glimpse:

Little green bee eaters, Cleopatra subspecies, I believe

I lugged a step-ladder downstairs and hauled it around and around (and don't you know the locals were confounded by what the crazy foreign lady was doing), trying to get a good shot of these beauties but because of a wall and the exposition of the early morning sun, I was not successful in getting a really nice view. I'll keep trying. :P

Yesterday, we went out to Wadi Degla for Sprout to do her annual birthday painting. She wasn't able to paint one on the big day this year because of our trip to the States, so we waited for the right moment to do it here.

I'll do a post about our day another time, otherwise this would not be a glimpse of Egypt but one of our family life.

So, the wadi, our best chance at nature and the outdoors in Cairo's backyard:

You can just spy the city in the distance where the two sides of the wadi appear to meet.

The Egyptian answer to the ice cream truck*:

Cotton candy (and balloon) vendor. That is a kazoo-like horn at his lips, and he blows it while walking the streets, usually around the time school lets out, alerting those with a sweet tooth that he is in the vicinity.

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* Actually there are ice cream carts here. I need to get a pic of one; they are quite decorative, usually in the form of a swan-like bird. Don't ask me why.

Despite bans on the importation and use of tuk-tuks in Egypt (Cairo?), the little buggers persist and are being driven in streets where they were (are?) forbidden, i.e. right in front of our apartment building.

I don't have anything against them per se, except their drivers are typically Egyptian, thinking they own the ~~world~~ roads; and whether because it is some unspoken law or because the drivers tend to be young boys/teens, the tuk-tuks are equipped with monster speakers of dubious quality that blare out obnoxious music or "other" sounds.

Your glimpse today comes to you courtesy of a tuk-tuk with a noise of the obnoxious "other" category.

As this guy was driving along, his speakers kept playing, at full-blast no less, a service message the likes of which you hear at an airport. Given the aforementioned dubious quality, despite the volume, I was unable to make out the words, but this should give you an idea of the sound and rhythm: "Bing bing bing, flight 432 now boarding at gate 12; bing bing bing."

And of course, he "drove along" s.e.v.e.r.a.l. times and stopped to chat with the bawab of the facing building.

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* Without googling, who knows what song this comes from? :P It's been playing on repeat in my mind ever since Sprout watched Aladdin the other day.

Current Music: Jeff Buckley - Forget Her

Because we were on the road Wednesday, here is your glimpse of Egypt a few days late.

"Hey, look! There's the Nile!"

We've sadly been unable to explore much of the Egyptian desert due to instability in the country and safety restrictions imposed by J's work. On a trip to Fayoum, however, we went to Wadi Al-Hitan (Valley of the Whales), a World Heritage Site, and spent a night camping surrounded by fennec foxes.

Junebug was only 7weeks old at the time, so it was a speedy visit. Camping with a 3-yr old and a newborn in a 2-person tent = interesting, but not worth repeating unless strictly necessary. :P

Whale fossils in Wadi Al-Hitan

( Tis but a glimpse, tis true. Gander-takers, this way... )
Oh, and what the heck, why not a camping pic and one of a fox:

( Naturiste is the term, I believe )

Been awhile since I gave you a glimpse of Egypt.

Here is an early morning shot of some kids in the village of Tunis, not far from Fayoum Oasis. We hope to return to that village soon(ish) to take pottery lessons.

O the myriad ways of peddling wares and getting one's work done in Egypt:

Any idea what the guy in the photo on the top left is doing?

( Answer under the cut )

I'm not sure what the guy with the green cart is selling. The cart and donkey driver is a trash collector, and the man with the yellow Dayun get-up sells foul,* an Egyptian specialty made from fava or broad beans.

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* Pronounced kind of like "fool," the O's stretching out just a bit more.

If you don’t feel like taking advantage of free water, you can also buy tea, roadside, here in Cairo. Tea is spooned, loose leaf and powder-fine*, into glasses with a generous helping of sugar (two, usually three, spoonfuls is the typical dose in those small glasses unless you ask for none or less) and then the whole is left to settle as it steeps. The last drink is tricky, trying to get the maximum of tea without ending up with a mouthful of dregs.

One thing I absolutely love is seeing how people still use glass glasses and mugs instead of plastic. Cheaper in the long run and sustainable. I’m not sure you can tell but even in the first glimpse I posted, the worker who arrives with his tea is using a glass mug. You often see taxi-, micro bus-, and tuk-tuk drivers with their glasses in hand.

BTW, I’m uploading the picture in large format so that if anyone curious can zoom in and look at the set up: the homemade stove on bricks, the copper teapot... Sorry for the quality; I snapped the pic from a moving vehicle.

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* It is actually labeled "dust tea" on the package.

P.S. I must be feeling parched. I just realized that all of my glimpses thus far either feature or include water or something to drink. :P With today's temperature reaching 40°C/104°F, I don't guess it is any wonder. And speaking of tea, think I'll have a last cuppa before bed...

From the very beginning of our stay here in Egypt I've been fascinated and impressed by the various ways water is provided for the public at large. I've planned on taking a series of photos to highlight these methods but have yet to do it. Today's picture is actually courtesy of my husband, so thanks, J. :P One of these days I'll get around to taking my own pics.

Terracotta water jugs, curbside, for anyone who wants a drink:

If you were to offer a thirsty man all wisdom, you would not please him more than if you gave him a drink. ~~Sophocles

Felucca ride on the Nile. A nice thing to do when there is a bit of breeze (no motoring about, thank you very much, with all the noise in Cairo; you go on a felucca to get away from that!). Hmmm, I think we are due for another cruise before we leave for holidays...

He who rides the sea of the Nile must have sails woven of patience. ~~ William G. Golding

Seven years ago*--minus 10 days to be specific :P -- I started doing "glimpses" to show people a bit about where I live. I kept it up pretty faithfully in Mayotte but failed to do so in France. Most long-time readers of my blog will have figured out that I haven't exactly fallen in love with Egypt, but I got to thinking the other day that it might be a good exercise in observation and fondness-kindling if I brought back snapshots of life here. To try is to know, or at least get a better idea, so back to giving glimpses I shall strive to go...

“Work to eat. Eat to live. Live to bike. Bike to work.” ~ Unknown

Bonus photo: You can't see it very well--and I'm too tired to reframe the pic--but the cyclist arrived at "work" hauling not only his lawnmower but also carrying a mug (yes, a real glass mug) of tea, which he is setting on the seat of the scooter.