In the middle of downtown Cairo is a huge and imposing gray building known as the Mugamma.­  If you search for it on Google most of the sites that pop up are other people’s blog entries about trying to get visas renewed or do any other bureaucratic task that involves a government office here in … Continue reading →

On Sunday my phone rang at 6:30 in the morning.  “Hnh?  Snzx!”  I said, looking at the screen to see that it was a number I didn’t know. Waking up a little more I thought to myself, “who on earth would be calling me from an unfamiliar cell number on Sunday morning at 6:30?!” And … Continue reading →

The other night I decided to go to a dinner party with some friends of my roommates.  Before we leave Eva warns me for asthma-related purposes that in the apartment there will be a kitten.  I happen to love cats despite being deathly allergic to them, so I am pretty excited. We arrive at the … Continue reading →

One of the women I am most grateful to for her general kindness, welcoming spirit and active interest in my research is my dancer friend Lorna.  She always invites me along to dancing events, always allows me to badger her guests and friends and herself about dancing.  She is always interested, always willing to help … Continue reading →

It’s raining.  It’s raining!  It’s raining here in Cairo! A more unexpected shower I’ve never seen.  The air is cooler now and suddenly the view looks clean with the pollution all tamped down by the rain.  Now I can see what it should really look like without all the soot.  Rain, rain, rain…lazy rainy weekend … Continue reading →

A few evenings ago I received another unsolicited flirtatious text message.  Here’s how it happened: I picked up a phone call from a phone number I didn’t recognize.  “Miss Catlin?  Miss Catlin?”   “Yes?  Who is this?”   “Miss Catlin?  Are you where now?” “Who is calling?”  They hung up.  About ten minutes later I … Continue reading →

On the way home from my encounter with the costume shop queens I caught a taxi in Doqqi.  As usual, I flagged him down, told him my destination while standing outside the cab so the driver could agree or disagree, then plunked myself down in the backseat.  On this occasion, the driver went about half … Continue reading →

Sorry it’s been a few days since I last wrote.  I shall make up for this in typical style, by writing a bunch of entries in quick succession.  Starting with a trip to the belly dance costume shops of Cairo! Yesterday I met my friend Lorna and a group of British belly dancers who are … Continue reading →

Around two PM I got antsy.  I’d been doing some boring PhD stuff on the computer and I’d resolved not to leave for lunch until I’d finished the task of updating my eProfile.­­ I could feel myself getting increasingly irritable because I was hungry and the internet wasn’t working consistently, but I buckled down.  On … Continue reading →

My new photo album from the last fifteen days can be found by following this link.  I decided I couldn’t wait until the end of the month to share the crazy chandelier and the Dushera dancing with you all.   In other news, I realized earlier that I am now exactly two months away from … Continue reading →