Cairo Mandala 2

Aswan...

... Beautiful Aswan...

Getting to Aswan is a whole story in itself... which began with getting into probably the only taxi in Cairo that didn't know its way to the bus station at 4:30 in the afternoon... and ended pulling into the Aswan bus station at 9:30 the next morning, heads floating from sleeplessness and tail bones numb and sore... Thankgoodness for ipods is all I have to say. And despite the monotony of endless sitting, looking out of the slimy windows into the night... seeing the stars- Scorpio, tarus, the false cross- constellations beckoning from the southern hemisphere, watching the contours of the shadowy landscape rise and fall was magical. The reality of the situation would hit me and just make me smile... "Am I really here?? An I really sitting crammed on this "luxury bus" driving from Cairo to Aswan in the middle of the night?? IN EGYPT? How can this all be?!"

At one rest stop- one of many- we got out... and the wind...!! I walked out behind the busses back toward the road- which got me a severe scolding from a sweet young Egyptian woman with beautiful english... but the wind drew me out anyhow. It wasn't a rhythmic wind-ebbing and flowing, or a gentle wind... it was a strong, constant blowing wind... as if you were standing in front of an industrial strength fan turned on high. You had to hold your ground... it was a desert wind... much like the winds of my childhood in northern Kenya.

I honestly didn't sleep at all... sometimes in such situations you doze in and out... but no, not that night... I was awake the entire time. Nothing was more welcome than the realization that the darkness of night was lifting with the grey light of the early morning.... watching a rosy blush spread across the sky with the warmth of the sun. And with the anticipation of the sun, the anticipation that this bus ride would soon come to an end... By the time we rolled into Aswan- several long and painful hours later, the sun was bright and hot and the air was clear- devoid of the cloud of smog that hangs over cairo. Ahhhh.... Aswan... the beautiful Nile, the swath of green on either side, and beyond the yellow sands of the desert....

We found our selves a sweet little hotel where we crashed for a couple hours before venturing out--

The day was low-key... with a long walk along the Nile... drinking lemondades... planning the following day, dinner at a little restaurant in the souk (market) and hanging out on the roof of our hotel.

Some mosques from the roof (would that I could add the soundtrack):


The following morning we went to the high dam and then the temple of Philae:








Later that afternoon we took the ferry over to Elephantine Island, which feels like coastal east africa to me... with its mango and palm trees, open air mosques, and a town much like an old Swahili stone town....





That evening we took a long faluca around the islands... it was gloriously peaceful and perfect. The perfect time of day--the end of the heat, the mellowing of the colors... feeling tired and sunkissed and happy to be moving, but not of ones own accord... The "captain" pulled out a little burner... and made us shai- sugary, black tea... and later pulled out his shisha pipe... adding the sweet smell of apple tobacco to the breeze. It was wholly good...



Oh to soak in moments like those and make them last forever...! To know that they will be the moments that will sustain you over the next months in places that seem so terribly far away...

At 9:00pm we boarded the train- the GLORIOUS, spacious train- for a three hour ride to Luxor...

Cairo Mandala 1

mandala is a sanskrit word meaning "circle" or "completion."



The structure of a circle is grounding, strong, complete. I start- sometimes loosely, sometimes much less loosely- with the form of a circle, letting my thoughts roam back through the experiences of the day, letting the remembering inform my mark making.... a fluid, organic sort of processing- stream of consciousness, using marks instead of words. It has become a way of centering and focusing myself as I process information and seek to understand my actions and reactions to experiences.

El-Qahira... (Cairo)

Six years ago I was in Cairo for my 21st birthday. It was the first weekend of MESP, everything was still new and I was bright eyed and eager. Six years later I was back for my 27th birthday-- still bright eyed and eager, but full of the sweet goodness of familiarity and return.

Mike and I walked around Zamalek- down familiar streets finding my old flat and numerous other landmarks... the ice cream shop, the book shop, the funny little itallian al dente place, coffee shops, the ruzz b'leben place...

looking up at my old flat...

We found several cool spots along the way to stop at for mango smoothies... books... pizza.... and ended up on a nice patch of grass at the Marriott- which was lovely spot just to chill and chat. Good conversations... We met up with the rest of the gang later at this crazy shisha place that was going strong into the wee hours of the morning... Ahhh Cairo- where it bustles at 1:00 in the morning like its 8 am rush hour. The city does not sleep!

So Cairo- hot- but heat thats infused with the grit of the city, the exhaust and dust- so that it coats you and makes you feel like a sticky, slobbery mess even though somehow you know its not as hot as all that... the flame trees were beautiful- striking red blooms against the bright and deep greens of the leaves, woven in between the dusty sandcolored buildings and framed by the Cairo blue sky...

Walking through the streets of Cairo is a full body experience... The side walks could qualify as an aerobic step class, stepping up, down, up, down down, up, around... into the street -HONK- swerve to miss getting plowed down by a car- back up onto the sidewalk...over a pile of this, skirting a puddle of that... up, up, down, around, and back again... nothing lines up, curbs are high, and every store front is at a different level. Air conditioners drip...The smells are thick- frying tamaia (falafel) fish, rotting fruit, exhaust... you can't get away from it... with Ramadan starting in a couple of days- the decorating process has begun- bright colored hafla cloths were hung... lights strung up... gaudy lanterns glinting in the sun... excitement building. Bodies bodies brushing as they bustle by... faces... eyes...

Some photos of Cairo:

Meeting up with Sandra for the day and going to the Khan el Khalili

A faluca ride on the Nile one evening... escaping the insanity...

Cramming into taxis going here and there...

And a few of the streets of Cairo wizzing by from the inside of a taxi...

Egypt. There and back again...

How it all began:

A couple of months ago I was on line chatting with a friend who was in the process of finishing up two years of peace corps service in Jordan. The subject of birthdays came up, as his was right around the corner, and I was asking what his plans for it were. He asked when mine was. September 7th. Ahh... I'm gonna be in the middle of trekking around Egypt at that time, he tells me. You lucky dog you, I reply. You're more than welcome to join me he says... Seriously?... Yeah! Wanna come?... Yeah I do!...

I think I surprised even myself and bought a ticket... September 5-15th... Watch out Egypt, watch out Mike... here I come!

Now I'm back... after a crazy fun week and a half of connecting and reconnecting in the land of the pharos. I have way too many pictures and as many fun stories. I'm going to blog a section at a time... to make it a little more manageable and to drag out the reliving... to make my week and a half stretch into to and three weeks... and keep the madness of reality at bay.