Egypt Blog
Tunis Village, El Fayoum, Egypt – February, 2009
In February, 2009, JoAnn, Kirsty and I traveled to the rural town of Tunis in el Fayoum which is about an hour and a half’s drive heading southwest out of Cairo. We met up with Kirsty’s husband Tim and our friend Islam who’d arrived a few days earlier to help build a well at the Fayoum Art Centre, a place that Islam, also an artist, often visits. Our friend and driver, Mahmoud, decided to stay for the weekend as well. He was even inspired to let his creative juices flow through some chunks of charcoal onto found pieces of wood.
It was a lovely weekend that brought us some much needed respite from our busy teacher lives in busy Cairo. We spent our time relaxing at Zad al Mosafer ecolodge; we went for walks, horseback riding along the largest lake in Egypt, Lake Qarun, and at night sat under the stars in the chilly February air curled up next to a warm fire. On Friday, JoAnn and Tim serenaded us in an intimate domed clay room, part of the art centre. Over the weekend Islam introduced us to a small group of artists from all over the world gathered together to create new works of art and learn from one another’s individual areas of expertise. Islam also showed us the collection Faces of Fayoum, a series of portraits created in Fayoum using traditional Egyptian painting techniques. Part of the artists’ process is to make the paint themselves by mixing colour pigments with melted beeswax.
On our drive back to Cairo we ended up in the thick of a wicked thunderstorm – apparently the worse rain/hail storm Egypt has seen in over five years! Naturally, Mahmoud wasn’t accustomed to driving in a torrential downpour, but his expert wet-weather-co-pilots instructed him in the fine art of defogging the windows. Our fantastic weekend retreat from Cairo climaxed as were heading back to Maadi through Giza and saw dramatic forks of lightening shatter the dark night sky and illuminate the great pyramids.
It was a weekend I’m sure none of us will soon forget.
M.
2010: Officially a Blogger!
Life is very busy here in Cairo and things tend to happen so quickly that finding a moment to sit back and digest it all often feels next to impossible. And despite earnest ambitions of journaling and blogging on my experiences, I’ve barely found the time to keep in touch with friends on e-mail since arriving 5 months ago. Each week I say to myself “I’ll do better…” but it just doesn’t seem to happen. I even broke down and signed up on Facebook in an attempt to “stay connected,” but that too hasn’t helped. So though it’s almost the end of January and it would’ve been nice to have started this blog upon arrival in Egypt, because of a puppy, today I’m officially becoming a blogger. There are so many things I want to write about and share while the moments are still fresh. And most of all, there are people whose thoughts and feedback I really miss hearing. Hopefully this blog will motivate me to sit down and write about at least some of the crazy, beautiful, discombobulating, and inspiring daily moments here in Cairo, and that friends and family will on occasion feel inclined to respond.
Happy New Year!
Meag
Entry # 1 – Reverence for a Puppy
As I was leaving my flat Saturday afternoon en route to visit some Cairo friends, I was surprised to see my friend and neighbour Joanne outside my building talking to my bowab’s children. I learned that she had just rescued a puppy from being beaten by a few boys up the street. Joanne was very concerned about this young pup, and I could see that she had brought it food from her home. Within a matter of minutes she flagged down two young women off the street to act as translators between her and Imaan, my bowab’s wife. Joanne explained that if Imaan’s kids were willing to take care of the puppy and protect it, she’d buy its food and pay for any other expenses. Imaan quickly shook her head to say no – her hands are full enough with her own four kids. Joanne understood and asked 9-year old Badr to do his best to protect the puppy at least for the afternoon and to shoo away any boys intent on hurting or menacing her. Once the arrangements had been made, we all sat outside and played with the cute little puppy. A few more of the neighbourhood kids joined in and the puppy seemed to relish in all of the attention. She bounced up and down pawing at each of us then busied herself tearing apart some tissue found on the ground. I had a camera with me so I took a few pics. It was a great moment and one of many with the kids that required no spoken language. We all laughed and giggled at the puppy’s silliness. Eventually, Joanne and I both had to rush off, so after a short while we waved goodbye to the puppy and the kids.
JoAnn and Badr watching Puppy at play
When I returned home Saturday night the puppy was gone but when I left for work Sunday morning she was once again bouncing around outside my building. I was tempted to stop and play with her but couldn’t risk missing the bus to work. Once all of my colleagues were on the bus I made an announcement about the puppy, asking if anyone was interested in either adopting her or helping to find her a home. A few people had suggestions and one guy seemed quite interested in her, so I pulled out my digital camera to show him the pics I had taken. I was feeling optimistic that together we could find this pup a home.
Neighbourhood kids who joined in the fun
I arrived home from work shortly after 6pm on Sunday and Michael, Joanne’s husband, called to let me know that Joanne, Badr and another little boy (brace yourself!) had just buried the pup outside. Apparently, the boys found her dead on the street and were waiting for either me or Joanne to come home from work to let us know what had happened. Michael said Joanne was crushed. Later that night Joanne called and explained that after the boys showed her the limp puppy, she mimed to them that she wanted to bury her. Not having a shovel or any other tools, the boys dug into the sandy earth with their bare hands and helped Joanne lay her to rest. Joanne said she was balling her eyes out and though the boys weren’t nearly as upset, after digging, Badr looked up at her with tears in his big brown eyes.
Naturally, I was really sad to learn about the puppy’s end, sad for Joanne, and sad for the boys. But the point of this entry is not to share a sad tale of life in Cairo. What sticks out for me is how one little puppy brought all of us together and incited us to take a moment out of our day just to play. Joanne, Badr, Imaan, me and eight other little kids despite all our differences stood together in a shared moment of joy. No matter how fleeting that moment was, the little puppy gave each one of us reason to smile, and in that moment, we were all in synch. It was such a simple moment, yet the more I think about it, the more beautiful and significant I realize it was. Thanks, little puppy.
Rest in peace