After an incredible trip to Turkey, I am back in Cairo. Once I get my act together I will be posting a little a day about my trip-at least the highlights. Also look for an update on Sunset soon.
ttyl (haha)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Hey you zomibe fans!
I wanted to let you all know agagin about this good zombie online book I read recently. It is called Empire by David Dunwoody. It is about zombies and the end of the world but it peronifies death as a character rather than just as an event. This makes for a really intruiging character (who has thoughts of its own) and really cool battles!
I felt that the 2nd half of the book was very well done. The characters, plot, action, and development really came together to create an incredible tapestry.
Check it out! (By the way you can order this book to own and I have linked the author's website on my blog on the right.
I felt that the 2nd half of the book was very well done. The characters, plot, action, and development really came together to create an incredible tapestry.
Check it out! (By the way you can order this book to own and I have linked the author's website on my blog on the right.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
A Pause
I will be away from a computer for a week (traveling to Istanbul), therefore unable to blog. (sigh) This has grown to be something that I enjoy. I have challenged myself to post at least once a day or its equivalent (post twice, skip a day).
When I am not writing about what has happened here. I write or at least think about writing reactions to articles. And sometimes just how I feel, which is why you look at some things and go Huh? why is that on there.
If you get bored without having posts to read, you can always reread my story, of which there will also be a skipping of a posting for the aforementioned reasons.
Life is good here, very much routine, but I am close to coming home, and I am ready for it. It has been a long time away from my family and friends and I miss them.
On a side note, I am thinking about new environments to live in. I have done suburbs (my life) a city (Cairo) and now I want to try country. (maybe next summer).
When I am not writing about what has happened here. I write or at least think about writing reactions to articles. And sometimes just how I feel, which is why you look at some things and go Huh? why is that on there.
If you get bored without having posts to read, you can always reread my story, of which there will also be a skipping of a posting for the aforementioned reasons.
Life is good here, very much routine, but I am close to coming home, and I am ready for it. It has been a long time away from my family and friends and I miss them.
On a side note, I am thinking about new environments to live in. I have done suburbs (my life) a city (Cairo) and now I want to try country. (maybe next summer).
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Paintball Poetry
Alex P.,
I guess you put this together. You are the man. It is the paintball poetry trip organized by Alex B. Which, coincidentally was also attended by Alex H. Watch on you tube!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=w2x_im3AHL0
I guess you put this together. You are the man. It is the paintball poetry trip organized by Alex B. Which, coincidentally was also attended by Alex H. Watch on you tube!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=w2x_im3AHL0
Monday, April 14, 2008
Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones
Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady you know who I am
You know I can't let you slide through my hands
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away
Wild wild horses couldn't drag me away
I watched you suffer a dull aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or off stage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away
Wild wild horses couldn't drag me away
I know I've dreamed you a sin and a lie
I have my freedom but I don't have much time
Faith has been broken tears must be cried
Let's do some living after we die
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away
Wild wild horses we'll ride them someday
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away
Wild wild horses we'll ride them someday
http://www.rollingstones.com/discog/index.php?v=so&a=1&id=137
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady you know who I am
You know I can't let you slide through my hands
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away
Wild wild horses couldn't drag me away
I watched you suffer a dull aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or off stage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away
Wild wild horses couldn't drag me away
I know I've dreamed you a sin and a lie
I have my freedom but I don't have much time
Faith has been broken tears must be cried
Let's do some living after we die
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away
Wild wild horses we'll ride them someday
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away
Wild wild horses we'll ride them someday
http://www.rollingstones.com/discog/index.php?v=so&a=1&id=137
Story by Arthur C. Clarke
You gotta love science fiction. This is a story by the recentely deceased Arthur C. Clarke. The link goes to the original source (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v402/n6757/full/402019a0.html) but below is the story:
Improving the neighbourhood
Arthur C. Clarke1
Abstract
The death of a nearby star system comes as a relief — and a warning.
At last, after feats of information processing that taxed our resources to the limit, we have solved the long-standing mystery of the Double Nova. Even now, we have interpreted only a small fraction of the radio and optical messages from the culture that perished so spectacularly, but the main facts — astonishing though they are — seem beyond dispute.
Our late neighbours evolved on a world much like our own planet, at such a distance from its sun that water was normally liquid. After a long period of barbarism, they began to develop technologies using readily available materials and sources of energy. Their first machines — like ours — depended on chemical reactions involving the elements hydrogen, carbon and oxygen.
Inevitably, they constructed vehicles for moving on land and sea, as well as through the atmosphere and out into space. After discovering electricity, they quickly developed telecommunications devices, including the radio transmitters that first alerted us to their existence. Although the moving images these provided revealed their appearance and behaviour, most of our understanding of their history and eventual fate has been derived from the complex symbols that they used to record information.
Shortly before the end, they encountered an energy crisis, partly triggered by their enormous physical size and violent activity. For a while, the widespread use of uranium fission and hydrogen fusion postponed the inevitable. Then, driven by necessity, they made desperate attempts to find superior alternatives. After several false starts, involving low-temperature nuclear reactions of scientific interest but no practical value, they succeeded in tapping the quantum fluctuations that occur at the very foundations of space–time. This gave them access to a virtually infinite source of energy.
What happened next is still a matter of conjecture. It may have been an industrial accident, or an attempt by one of their many competing organizations to gain advantage over another. In any event, by mishandling the ultimate forces of the Universe, they triggered a cataclysm which detonated their own planet — and, very shortly afterwards, its single large moon.
Although the annihilation of any intelligent beings should be deplored, it is impossible to feel much regret in this particular case. The history of these huge creatures contains countless episodes of violence, against their own species and the numerous others that occupied their planet. Whether they would have made the necessary transition — as we did, ages ago — from carbon- to germanium-based consciousness, has been the subject of much debate. It is quite surprising what they were able to achieve, as massive individual entities exchanging information at a pitiably low data rate — often by very short-range vibrations in their atmosphere!
They were apparently on the verge of developing the necessary technology that would have allowed them to abandon their clumsy, chemically fuelled bodies and thus achieve multiple connectivity: had they succeeded, they might well have been a serious danger to all the civilizations of our Local Cluster.
Let us ensure that such a situation never arises again.
Dedicated to Drs Pons and Fleischmann, Nobel laureates of the twenty-first century.© Sir Arthur C. Clarke 1999.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke is chancellor of the International Space University and the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. He is the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and many other novels and stories, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for inventing the communications satellite. His latest book is Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! He lives in Sri Lanka.
Improving the neighbourhood
Arthur C. Clarke1
Abstract
The death of a nearby star system comes as a relief — and a warning.
At last, after feats of information processing that taxed our resources to the limit, we have solved the long-standing mystery of the Double Nova. Even now, we have interpreted only a small fraction of the radio and optical messages from the culture that perished so spectacularly, but the main facts — astonishing though they are — seem beyond dispute.
Our late neighbours evolved on a world much like our own planet, at such a distance from its sun that water was normally liquid. After a long period of barbarism, they began to develop technologies using readily available materials and sources of energy. Their first machines — like ours — depended on chemical reactions involving the elements hydrogen, carbon and oxygen.
Inevitably, they constructed vehicles for moving on land and sea, as well as through the atmosphere and out into space. After discovering electricity, they quickly developed telecommunications devices, including the radio transmitters that first alerted us to their existence. Although the moving images these provided revealed their appearance and behaviour, most of our understanding of their history and eventual fate has been derived from the complex symbols that they used to record information.
Shortly before the end, they encountered an energy crisis, partly triggered by their enormous physical size and violent activity. For a while, the widespread use of uranium fission and hydrogen fusion postponed the inevitable. Then, driven by necessity, they made desperate attempts to find superior alternatives. After several false starts, involving low-temperature nuclear reactions of scientific interest but no practical value, they succeeded in tapping the quantum fluctuations that occur at the very foundations of space–time. This gave them access to a virtually infinite source of energy.
What happened next is still a matter of conjecture. It may have been an industrial accident, or an attempt by one of their many competing organizations to gain advantage over another. In any event, by mishandling the ultimate forces of the Universe, they triggered a cataclysm which detonated their own planet — and, very shortly afterwards, its single large moon.
Although the annihilation of any intelligent beings should be deplored, it is impossible to feel much regret in this particular case. The history of these huge creatures contains countless episodes of violence, against their own species and the numerous others that occupied their planet. Whether they would have made the necessary transition — as we did, ages ago — from carbon- to germanium-based consciousness, has been the subject of much debate. It is quite surprising what they were able to achieve, as massive individual entities exchanging information at a pitiably low data rate — often by very short-range vibrations in their atmosphere!
They were apparently on the verge of developing the necessary technology that would have allowed them to abandon their clumsy, chemically fuelled bodies and thus achieve multiple connectivity: had they succeeded, they might well have been a serious danger to all the civilizations of our Local Cluster.
Let us ensure that such a situation never arises again.
Dedicated to Drs Pons and Fleischmann, Nobel laureates of the twenty-first century.© Sir Arthur C. Clarke 1999.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke is chancellor of the International Space University and the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. He is the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and many other novels and stories, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for inventing the communications satellite. His latest book is Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! He lives in Sri Lanka.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Aikido Seminar in Egypt
This weekend I had the privliege of attending a seminar at the Shooting Club Dojo led by Kumagai Shihan. He is a 7th dan Shihan who lives in Japan but who has lived and taught in Cairo (for one year) and Turkey (for six and one half years). He is a small Japanese man whose kiai toatlly caught me by surprise. We were warming up doing our stretches and then we were going to do our aikitaiso (basic movements). His powerful kiai roared throughout the dojo and soon we were all joining in. I would describe him as a spirited and spry person who really knows his Aikido. He is very animated whether instructing or while watching testing and likes to atemi (light tap/smack) you if you are doing a technique incorrectly and are leaving yourself exposed.
The seminar was three days long of which I went to two of the days. Friday and Saturday-Friday was one class and Saturday was two classes. The Saturday class felt like the seminars back home as I came back beaten and exhausted. We learned a lot of great stuff and did many techniques, many starting with the cross hand grab and many finishing with some sort of iriminage. The coolest part about Friday's class was at the end after we bowed out, Shihan said "See you tomorrow!" and everyone shouted back "In sha' allah!"
I also got to see a lot of testing and devlivery of certificates. The testing was all for black belts from shodan (1) to sandan (3). This means that I got to see good aikido, really good aikido, and great aikido from those taking the tests. What Shihan did for the nidan (2) and sandan tests was give nidan testers ten minutes to display what they know in Aikido and sandan testers 30 minutes. That does not mean that they had to fill those ten or thirty minutes. He would stop them as soon as they had demonstrated to him that they knew Aikido. For one aikidoka he did all ten minutes and will have to retake the test tomorrow. For the others they ranged from maybe around 2 minutes to 5 minutes.
The chief instructor at the shooting club is Hasham Sensei who is very nice and helpful. He knows his Aikido and helped me in the beginnig get through the gate to the club (with its very rule-abiding guards). The one different thing I have noticed about this dojo and my home dojo as well as my Shihan's dojo is that there is less formality in terms of the instruction and in the formal parts of testing. That does not mean that the senseis are not repsected but it means that there is more talking during instruction, people motioning the techniques by themselves behind the line of students while the sensei is instructing, and that the test candidates did not know the proper method for bowing in during testing.
This has just given me a different taste of the way a dojo is run and allowed me to see the different styles of various senseis. Despite any differences, I have really come to feel accepted and beginning to be friends with many of the students in the dojo very quickly. They are all easy going and open to newcomers, and I feel very fortunate that I have been able to find this dojo and fit in.
I still miss my Shihan, senseis, and classmates a lot, and really can't wait to go back and practice and learn with them in the summer.
The seminar was three days long of which I went to two of the days. Friday and Saturday-Friday was one class and Saturday was two classes. The Saturday class felt like the seminars back home as I came back beaten and exhausted. We learned a lot of great stuff and did many techniques, many starting with the cross hand grab and many finishing with some sort of iriminage. The coolest part about Friday's class was at the end after we bowed out, Shihan said "See you tomorrow!" and everyone shouted back "In sha' allah!"
I also got to see a lot of testing and devlivery of certificates. The testing was all for black belts from shodan (1) to sandan (3). This means that I got to see good aikido, really good aikido, and great aikido from those taking the tests. What Shihan did for the nidan (2) and sandan tests was give nidan testers ten minutes to display what they know in Aikido and sandan testers 30 minutes. That does not mean that they had to fill those ten or thirty minutes. He would stop them as soon as they had demonstrated to him that they knew Aikido. For one aikidoka he did all ten minutes and will have to retake the test tomorrow. For the others they ranged from maybe around 2 minutes to 5 minutes.
The chief instructor at the shooting club is Hasham Sensei who is very nice and helpful. He knows his Aikido and helped me in the beginnig get through the gate to the club (with its very rule-abiding guards). The one different thing I have noticed about this dojo and my home dojo as well as my Shihan's dojo is that there is less formality in terms of the instruction and in the formal parts of testing. That does not mean that the senseis are not repsected but it means that there is more talking during instruction, people motioning the techniques by themselves behind the line of students while the sensei is instructing, and that the test candidates did not know the proper method for bowing in during testing.
This has just given me a different taste of the way a dojo is run and allowed me to see the different styles of various senseis. Despite any differences, I have really come to feel accepted and beginning to be friends with many of the students in the dojo very quickly. They are all easy going and open to newcomers, and I feel very fortunate that I have been able to find this dojo and fit in.
I still miss my Shihan, senseis, and classmates a lot, and really can't wait to go back and practice and learn with them in the summer.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Autumn by David Moody
Hey
Checking out another online story called Autumn by David Moody.
Here is the link to different formats of the book: http://www.djmoody.co.uk/Formats.htm
Here is the online version: http://www.djmoody.co.uk/Intro.htm
looks creepy
peace
Checking out another online story called Autumn by David Moody.
Here is the link to different formats of the book: http://www.djmoody.co.uk/Formats.htm
Here is the online version: http://www.djmoody.co.uk/Intro.htm
looks creepy
peace
Empire by David Dunwoody
I have finished the novel Empire by David Dunwoody. It is an online serial posted on blogger.com published in 2006. Overall, I would say that I liked it. Death plays an interesting role in this zombie serial, by death I mean the Reaper and not just death death (which is kind of like the Reaper). Anyway, when I first started reading it, I wasn't drawn in right away but I stuck it out. This paid off because the later sections of the book were amazing. Everything really came together nicely, and I really feel that Dunwoody came into his element as he closed out the last 1/2 of his book. With these chapters I could not stop reading. He also left it open for a sequel, butI haven't had the chance to see if there is one yet.
I would recommend this book for any zombie lovers especially if you are looking for something a little different than a typical zombie narrative, but I would not recommend it for younger readers. There was of course a lot of blood and gore which is the case in any zombie novel, but there were "adult situations" as they say on tv, meaning sex scenese in the novel that I wouldn't want my little brother reading.
But if you have even the vaguest interest, you should try it out!
I would recommend this book for any zombie lovers especially if you are looking for something a little different than a typical zombie narrative, but I would not recommend it for younger readers. There was of course a lot of blood and gore which is the case in any zombie novel, but there were "adult situations" as they say on tv, meaning sex scenese in the novel that I wouldn't want my little brother reading.
But if you have even the vaguest interest, you should try it out!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Protest
Here is what I have heard about the protest that happened on Sunday April 6, 2008:
That there were about 200 lawyers protesting in Tahrir Square who were all arrested as soon as they started shouting. The rest of the day I walked around all I saw was lots of police officers. Many would be in a formation which three or four groups at each of the main squares. In each group were about 20-30 possibly. These groups would be decked out in riot gear, including helmets and batons. Mostly they looked bored. Then there were the big trucks. They are big metal with small windows at the top. There were some to carry the police-imposing so you know they are coming, and some to carry away prisoners. My roommate told me 4 people were killed in a small town in the rural area because of the protest, and many others say the strike failed. The whole intent was to stay home and not go to work. Some the streets were emptier and some Egyptians I talked to said the 6th of October Bridge was almost empty-which as the main bridge in Cairo never happens.
Here is what others on the web are saying-both news and blogs:
http://www.omraneya.net/node/40394
It is a call for a strike listing the grievances that this blogger has with the government. It is found on an Egyptian blog aggregator. The blog is by Queen O Danile. It has an oppostitionist and religious viewpoint. And if you look at some of the other posts, you can find links to other articles.
http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/boy_shot_dead_in_egypt_protest_544543
Austrailian news source which reports on the town that my roommate told me about-Mahalla. It says that a 15 year old boy has been killed and many others wounded and arrested.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0409/p07s02-wome.html?page=1
An article that provides a little more information than the previous two. The article is about the election and it focuses on how the Muslim Brotherhood have been kept from running in it, but it also talks about the ritos that happened just prior. It seems that several protests were organized aroudnt he same time. Intellectuals and actviststs tried to coordinate with labor but the protests mainly was disorganized and failed. It started in Mahalla at the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company, in upper egypt. And then the protest was put down violently.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/06/africa/egypt.php?page=1
Slightly different article than the CSMonitor. It takes a view that the protests were more successful and that there is more potential for the masses. It is a more optomistic. The protests occured at the universities, syndicates in Tahrir square, and in Mahalla. It reports similar events but talks about how technology was used to facilitate the spread of the strike. And the street they mention, Adly, is right near mine.
http://arabist.net/archives/2005/02/22/protest-follow-up-egyptian-press-review/
This is a popular Egyptian blog. This post covers the protest at Cairo Univesity (at which the author attended) and then analyzes the coverage by the Egyptian press. This and the previous post also mention the Kifaya group which helped organize the protests.
Links for Egyptian press:
Can't find anything on Ahram in english about the protest
Al Masri Al Youm (English-but nothing may come up for this link)
AlWafd (I think this is the article-its in Arabic)
Many groups are claiming this is the largest protests yet against Mubarak, but I have heard just as much that the strike failed. Maybe it's both, but it shows that the government still has a clamp on the oppostition activity. But regardless of opposition or governmental activity nobody has stopped food prices from rising, people from living in poverty, or the suffering in Egypt in general.
That there were about 200 lawyers protesting in Tahrir Square who were all arrested as soon as they started shouting. The rest of the day I walked around all I saw was lots of police officers. Many would be in a formation which three or four groups at each of the main squares. In each group were about 20-30 possibly. These groups would be decked out in riot gear, including helmets and batons. Mostly they looked bored. Then there were the big trucks. They are big metal with small windows at the top. There were some to carry the police-imposing so you know they are coming, and some to carry away prisoners. My roommate told me 4 people were killed in a small town in the rural area because of the protest, and many others say the strike failed. The whole intent was to stay home and not go to work. Some the streets were emptier and some Egyptians I talked to said the 6th of October Bridge was almost empty-which as the main bridge in Cairo never happens.
Here is what others on the web are saying-both news and blogs:
http://www.omraneya.net/node/40394
It is a call for a strike listing the grievances that this blogger has with the government. It is found on an Egyptian blog aggregator. The blog is by Queen O Danile. It has an oppostitionist and religious viewpoint. And if you look at some of the other posts, you can find links to other articles.
http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/boy_shot_dead_in_egypt_protest_544543
Austrailian news source which reports on the town that my roommate told me about-Mahalla. It says that a 15 year old boy has been killed and many others wounded and arrested.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0409/p07s02-wome.html?page=1
An article that provides a little more information than the previous two. The article is about the election and it focuses on how the Muslim Brotherhood have been kept from running in it, but it also talks about the ritos that happened just prior. It seems that several protests were organized aroudnt he same time. Intellectuals and actviststs tried to coordinate with labor but the protests mainly was disorganized and failed. It started in Mahalla at the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company, in upper egypt. And then the protest was put down violently.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/06/africa/egypt.php?page=1
Slightly different article than the CSMonitor. It takes a view that the protests were more successful and that there is more potential for the masses. It is a more optomistic. The protests occured at the universities, syndicates in Tahrir square, and in Mahalla. It reports similar events but talks about how technology was used to facilitate the spread of the strike. And the street they mention, Adly, is right near mine.
http://arabist.net/archives/2005/02/22/protest-follow-up-egyptian-press-review/
This is a popular Egyptian blog. This post covers the protest at Cairo Univesity (at which the author attended) and then analyzes the coverage by the Egyptian press. This and the previous post also mention the Kifaya group which helped organize the protests.
Links for Egyptian press:
Can't find anything on Ahram in english about the protest
Al Masri Al Youm (English-but nothing may come up for this link)
AlWafd (I think this is the article-its in Arabic)
Many groups are claiming this is the largest protests yet against Mubarak, but I have heard just as much that the strike failed. Maybe it's both, but it shows that the government still has a clamp on the oppostition activity. But regardless of opposition or governmental activity nobody has stopped food prices from rising, people from living in poverty, or the suffering in Egypt in general.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
AHHHH!!!
http://io9.com/369286/when-will-joss-whedons-villanous-cyber+musical-strike-next
Check this out. Joss Whedon. Nathan Fillion, and musical.
Check this out. Joss Whedon. Nathan Fillion, and musical.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
think your air is bad? take a deep breath...
feast you eyes on this bad boy! taken today around 12pm near my university and favorite cafe. the khamaseen of cairo. notice the man in the picture, with the mask on. people were breaking these things out left and right, especially the guards at AUC. kind of creepy because my mind immediately jumped to an end of the world scenario. it like the mosque the other day was definitely just a little surreal. i felt a little ill after walking home, maybe from the air.
yet another online novel
i've picked up reading, well clicking another book. it is an online serial called Empire by David Dunwoody. the premise is that the undead have risen and now death has come to collect it's due from those who refuse to die.
i am only a couple chapters but it has promise. i'll keep reading and we'll see where it goes.
i am only a couple chapters but it has promise. i'll keep reading and we'll see where it goes.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
sunday's protest
sunday there is going to be a protest here is the email i got from the univesrsity even though everyone has been talking about it already. my class was canceled for this.
"We would like to advise the AUC community that the university will be open and will operate as usual this coming Sunday, April 6, 2008.
As many of you are aware, a general strike has been called by several groups in Egypt and the university is encouraging the AUC community to be aware of the possibility of increased activity in Tahrir Square and to plan accordingly. Foreigners should also be aware that they should avoid getting involved in any demonstrations in any way — it is forbidden by the Egyptian authorities and may be dangerous."
What they (the laborers and workers) are protesting is the rising prices and stagnant wages. Luxury item prices haven't changed but these people aren't buying luxury items. They are buying bread and oil, which have gone up-some even dramatically. Also, there are shops which will buy all the reduced bread which sells at 10 piasters and sell it at 50 piasters so that when the people who have been waiting in line for hours to get bread, find that instead of 10 it is going to cost them 50. This is for families that live on very little money. A police officer here makes about 300 pounds a month, which is barely enough, if not enough to make ends meet-put his kids through school, pay rent, buy food. So these rising prices are really hurting. One interesting note: it is these same police officers which will be in charge of maintaining the protest. Kind of a conflict of interest.
I read an article in my book today Re-Envisioning Egypt that said that Egypt with its social and economic problems today is facing a very similar situation where to that of 1952. 1952 was the revolution by Nasser and the free officers. That overthrew the king with the goal of taking out of power the elites who were disconected from the masses and serving the interests of the people. It sounds like not a whole lot has changed from what I have seen and what other Egyptians have told me. One girl who goes to university who belongs to this upper class said that her bowab (doorman) coming in killing them and eating there food is a very reall possiblity. She said like this (sort of jokingly) but it seemed a very real possiblity that something like this could happen.
Makes you think what is going to happen tomorrow.
"We would like to advise the AUC community that the university will be open and will operate as usual this coming Sunday, April 6, 2008.
As many of you are aware, a general strike has been called by several groups in Egypt and the university is encouraging the AUC community to be aware of the possibility of increased activity in Tahrir Square and to plan accordingly. Foreigners should also be aware that they should avoid getting involved in any demonstrations in any way — it is forbidden by the Egyptian authorities and may be dangerous."
What they (the laborers and workers) are protesting is the rising prices and stagnant wages. Luxury item prices haven't changed but these people aren't buying luxury items. They are buying bread and oil, which have gone up-some even dramatically. Also, there are shops which will buy all the reduced bread which sells at 10 piasters and sell it at 50 piasters so that when the people who have been waiting in line for hours to get bread, find that instead of 10 it is going to cost them 50. This is for families that live on very little money. A police officer here makes about 300 pounds a month, which is barely enough, if not enough to make ends meet-put his kids through school, pay rent, buy food. So these rising prices are really hurting. One interesting note: it is these same police officers which will be in charge of maintaining the protest. Kind of a conflict of interest.
I read an article in my book today Re-Envisioning Egypt that said that Egypt with its social and economic problems today is facing a very similar situation where to that of 1952. 1952 was the revolution by Nasser and the free officers. That overthrew the king with the goal of taking out of power the elites who were disconected from the masses and serving the interests of the people. It sounds like not a whole lot has changed from what I have seen and what other Egyptians have told me. One girl who goes to university who belongs to this upper class said that her bowab (doorman) coming in killing them and eating there food is a very reall possiblity. She said like this (sort of jokingly) but it seemed a very real possiblity that something like this could happen.
Makes you think what is going to happen tomorrow.
field trip today
hi y'all,
everything is wonderful here today. i bought salad materials today and didn't get ripped on prices. it really helps to be a regular customer here. i have one grocery-esque store that i go to in which they recognize me, one vegetable stand which they are starting to recognize me, but i haven't found a fruit place yet. if i don't get scammed the first time for being a foreigner and the food is good i will usually go back and make myself a regular.
i went on another field trip today. this time to darb al ahmar. this is a street outside the 2nd south walls of cairo. we went through baab zuwela which is something like door of the saddlemakers (i am not sure) then hit up some mosques. they were all pretty cool. i've got pictures of them and will post and label them as soon as i can either a remember or b figure out which ones they are. the coolest was the mosque of prince al maridani. it has a closed off mecca wall (where the people pray) with this huge and fabulous mashrabiya screen. then there are trees growing where the cistern used to be, so when you look in the door it looks like something fantastical in there. as if it was one of those places where you step through the door hear the birds and realize that you are on a different world. it was almost surreal at somepoints too.
everything is wonderful here today. i bought salad materials today and didn't get ripped on prices. it really helps to be a regular customer here. i have one grocery-esque store that i go to in which they recognize me, one vegetable stand which they are starting to recognize me, but i haven't found a fruit place yet. if i don't get scammed the first time for being a foreigner and the food is good i will usually go back and make myself a regular.
i went on another field trip today. this time to darb al ahmar. this is a street outside the 2nd south walls of cairo. we went through baab zuwela which is something like door of the saddlemakers (i am not sure) then hit up some mosques. they were all pretty cool. i've got pictures of them and will post and label them as soon as i can either a remember or b figure out which ones they are. the coolest was the mosque of prince al maridani. it has a closed off mecca wall (where the people pray) with this huge and fabulous mashrabiya screen. then there are trees growing where the cistern used to be, so when you look in the door it looks like something fantastical in there. as if it was one of those places where you step through the door hear the birds and realize that you are on a different world. it was almost surreal at somepoints too.
Friday, April 4, 2008
The Inaguration
The first section of my story is finally online! You can check it out here.
I feel I can now begin to review wordpress.com. It is a great website with lots of options, but it can be overwhelming. I will continue to use it (mostly because I spent 5 hours today trying to get everything right, and when it was right to get it to work). I am glad I am came to blogger.com first because everything is a little easier. At least that has been my experience (of course I didn't try to set up a story format here). But nonetheless it is finished, well actually begun.
Now I need to go do homework.
I feel I can now begin to review wordpress.com. It is a great website with lots of options, but it can be overwhelming. I will continue to use it (mostly because I spent 5 hours today trying to get everything right, and when it was right to get it to work). I am glad I am came to blogger.com first because everything is a little easier. At least that has been my experience (of course I didn't try to set up a story format here). But nonetheless it is finished, well actually begun.
Now I need to go do homework.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
keep the change
here's my quandry. i owe this man lots of money, let's say around $400. i am not even going to tell you why. you wouldn't believe me. but hey its egypt, so there is an explanation. he's kind of a shady character and runs with a not so great crowd. if you can tell i have kind of fallen in with a bad crowd. i know this is incredibely stupid, its relieving the whole mustafa debacle all over again. but anyway he leaves for new york tomorrow and he knows where i live. i have twelve hours left before he goes i am trying to think what to do. i can't really go to the police but i can't go home. should i just hang out on the streets for twelve hours at auc and then cafes until morning. or ride the subway until tomorrow. or pay him. neither of these three seem particularly appetizing. (neither was the sushi) so anyway...april fools. yes, its days late and not even that funny, but its something. sorry.
here are some observations and my real debacle.
-the bottled soda top is the bane of the cairene street. they are littered everywhere and are crushed and pressed into the road. it is the equivalent of the spit, dried up, and blackened gum on the streets in the united states.
-the $1 menu at mcdonalds is the 5 pound menu here in eygpt.
which leads me to my problem. there exists plenty of small change here in egypt. i have even had my hands on a bit of it. but what is the problem is that the bank machines give out notes in 50 and 100 pounds. this creates a problem for me, shopping for one person for every meal about how to go about getting small change. it is about as elusive as the black-breasted puffleg. small notes are critical because everywhere requires them, but everything is so cheap that when buying for just yourself you can't walk into a ful shop order two tamiya and hand over a benjamin (well the egyptian equivalent of a benjamin-so an andrew jackson).
this is my problem, i am constantly trying to think of ways to break down the big bills. so far my solutions have included timing my shopping for a set of groceries with using a big bill (which somethimes doesn't work out with the shopkeeper) to going to mcdonalds ordering something for five pounds (which is how i know about the 5 pounds menu) and keeping the change. yes i admit i have been to mcdonalds here-3 times more than i have been in the united states within the past year or maybe two-i find that funny. they usually don't give me trouble for getting change. so my question to you is-do you have any ideas for getting small change? humerous or otherwise.
thanks a million, oh and here are some awesome definitions from answers.com:
skein-
A length of thread or yarn wound in a loose long coil.
Something suggesting the coil of a skein; a complex tangle: a twisted skein of lies.
A flock of geese or similar birds in flight. See synonyms at flock1.
shrewdness-
The quality of being shrewd.
An aggregation of apes. See synonyms at flock1. (© Houghton Mifflin Company)
Usage: The noisy shrewdness of apes surrounded the delighted anthropologists.
ruck
A multitude; a throng.
The undistinguished crowd or ordinary run of persons or things.
People who are followers, not leaders.
Sports.
A play in Rugby in which a mass of players gathers around a ball dropped by a tackled ball carrier, with each player attempting to gain possession of the ball by kicking it to a teammate.
The mass of players during such a play. Also called loose scrum.
here are some observations and my real debacle.
-the bottled soda top is the bane of the cairene street. they are littered everywhere and are crushed and pressed into the road. it is the equivalent of the spit, dried up, and blackened gum on the streets in the united states.
-the $1 menu at mcdonalds is the 5 pound menu here in eygpt.
which leads me to my problem. there exists plenty of small change here in egypt. i have even had my hands on a bit of it. but what is the problem is that the bank machines give out notes in 50 and 100 pounds. this creates a problem for me, shopping for one person for every meal about how to go about getting small change. it is about as elusive as the black-breasted puffleg. small notes are critical because everywhere requires them, but everything is so cheap that when buying for just yourself you can't walk into a ful shop order two tamiya and hand over a benjamin (well the egyptian equivalent of a benjamin-so an andrew jackson).
this is my problem, i am constantly trying to think of ways to break down the big bills. so far my solutions have included timing my shopping for a set of groceries with using a big bill (which somethimes doesn't work out with the shopkeeper) to going to mcdonalds ordering something for five pounds (which is how i know about the 5 pounds menu) and keeping the change. yes i admit i have been to mcdonalds here-3 times more than i have been in the united states within the past year or maybe two-i find that funny. they usually don't give me trouble for getting change. so my question to you is-do you have any ideas for getting small change? humerous or otherwise.
thanks a million, oh and here are some awesome definitions from answers.com:
skein-
A length of thread or yarn wound in a loose long coil.
Something suggesting the coil of a skein; a complex tangle: a twisted skein of lies.
A flock of geese or similar birds in flight. See synonyms at flock1.
shrewdness-
The quality of being shrewd.
An aggregation of apes. See synonyms at flock1. (© Houghton Mifflin Company)
Usage: The noisy shrewdness of apes surrounded the delighted anthropologists.
ruck
A multitude; a throng.
The undistinguished crowd or ordinary run of persons or things.
People who are followers, not leaders.
Sports.
A play in Rugby in which a mass of players gathers around a ball dropped by a tackled ball carrier, with each player attempting to gain possession of the ball by kicking it to a teammate.
The mass of players during such a play. Also called loose scrum.
April 1
So for those of you who don't know this is what went down across the street from my house on April 1st.
This is an email from my dad to me:
"This was an interesting experience. I first heard about it on the internet yesterday and talk with - soon after it happened. Apparently - had seen a group of guys chasing each other, one screaming "call 911" when they passed her on the street. Then she heard a gunshot.
When I got home from work, the crime lab was still at the house, taking fingerprints, taking out bags of whatever as evidence (?), yellow crime scene tape surrounding the house, news reporters - almost like a movie scene. It really seemed like a very eloborate April Fools Day joke, but alas no.
The police said that drugs were most likely involved, all cars that belonged to the house inhabitants were impounded and towed, and all people who were in the house, who earlier were portrayed on the news as "hostages" who were bound and gagged, were all taken away in police cars, some in handcuffs!
Later in the evening a sense on normalcy came back to the neighborhood, but the house itself is a mess - fingerprinting dust all over the front door, screen door wide open, blinds in the windows a mess. - spoke seveal times on the phone with - and I got an email back from her saying she didn't know what was going on! But, she will be trying to get the current residents out sooner rather than later (their lease is up in June) and that her in-laws will be moving in shortly thereafter.
Hope you're having a quiet day and talk to you soon.
Dad"
http://wjz.com/local/baltimore.county.home.2.689549.html
Nothing like this ever happens on my street. We have had some problems every once in a while but nothing this serious. Although, I haven't talked to anyone on the street except my family, I am sure a whole mess of people are shaken up about it. From what my folks say, the police presence on the street has been stepped up. The one good news from this whole story is that there were two boys kidnapped by whoever did the kidnapping. Thankfully they were found alive, though they still have a lot of their own troubles from what the reports say (drugs and assault and arrests).
I am worried what this will do to our street. We don't know what kind of activity went on in that house and who was there. There were always people coming and going at odd hours as well. But how will the neighbors of the street perceive this? Will they still let their kids play outside or will there be more rules? I hope not too much changes because the threat seems to be over. It kind of feels like the little world our street existed on has been invaded, but I know it is just a part of the real world that lots of people deal with everyday. It makes me angry and frustrated that they would bring this down upon themselves and our street. I am not saying keep the drug use in the city, I'd rather not have it all, but this just shows me once more that people don't consider others around them in their life and that their choices affect one another. What is worst is the dangers it brings to the kids on our street. I can't even begin to imagine what life in the bad parts of cities are like where children grow up.
We, in fact, are a selfish human race, but there are some people out there who shine for others. That gives my heart some respite.
This is an email from my dad to me:
"This was an interesting experience. I first heard about it on the internet yesterday and talk with - soon after it happened. Apparently - had seen a group of guys chasing each other, one screaming "call 911" when they passed her on the street. Then she heard a gunshot.
When I got home from work, the crime lab was still at the house, taking fingerprints, taking out bags of whatever as evidence (?), yellow crime scene tape surrounding the house, news reporters - almost like a movie scene. It really seemed like a very eloborate April Fools Day joke, but alas no.
The police said that drugs were most likely involved, all cars that belonged to the house inhabitants were impounded and towed, and all people who were in the house, who earlier were portrayed on the news as "hostages" who were bound and gagged, were all taken away in police cars, some in handcuffs!
Later in the evening a sense on normalcy came back to the neighborhood, but the house itself is a mess - fingerprinting dust all over the front door, screen door wide open, blinds in the windows a mess. - spoke seveal times on the phone with - and I got an email back from her saying she didn't know what was going on! But, she will be trying to get the current residents out sooner rather than later (their lease is up in June) and that her in-laws will be moving in shortly thereafter.
Hope you're having a quiet day and talk to you soon.
Dad"
http://wjz.com/local/baltimore.county.home.2.689549.html
Nothing like this ever happens on my street. We have had some problems every once in a while but nothing this serious. Although, I haven't talked to anyone on the street except my family, I am sure a whole mess of people are shaken up about it. From what my folks say, the police presence on the street has been stepped up. The one good news from this whole story is that there were two boys kidnapped by whoever did the kidnapping. Thankfully they were found alive, though they still have a lot of their own troubles from what the reports say (drugs and assault and arrests).
I am worried what this will do to our street. We don't know what kind of activity went on in that house and who was there. There were always people coming and going at odd hours as well. But how will the neighbors of the street perceive this? Will they still let their kids play outside or will there be more rules? I hope not too much changes because the threat seems to be over. It kind of feels like the little world our street existed on has been invaded, but I know it is just a part of the real world that lots of people deal with everyday. It makes me angry and frustrated that they would bring this down upon themselves and our street. I am not saying keep the drug use in the city, I'd rather not have it all, but this just shows me once more that people don't consider others around them in their life and that their choices affect one another. What is worst is the dangers it brings to the kids on our street. I can't even begin to imagine what life in the bad parts of cities are like where children grow up.
We, in fact, are a selfish human race, but there are some people out there who shine for others. That gives my heart some respite.
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