I went to see my pulmonologist the other day, who was very pleased with the progress my lungs have made on the new ferris wheel o’ drugs I’ve been taking.  I’m even allowed to stop taking the vile syrup, hallelujah!  However, I did complain about a mysterious lump-type feeling in my throat.  He’d previously instructed … Continue reading →

My friend the salsa-dancing teacher Allison invited me and my roommates to a Dushera festival with her at the British International School in Maadi on Friday night.  (What’s Dushera?  Unfortunately the Indian Community Association of Egypt wasn’t very descriptive about why the festival was taking place, so I’ve no idea.  But there was dancing and … Continue reading →

“What’s Cairo like?” people sometimes ask me.  At first I felt there was really nothing in my experience to which I could compare this city.  But then I had a thought: it’s like the Bronx, times a bajillion. In the higgledy-piggledy quality of the streets often full of neglected garbage, in the presence of animals … Continue reading →

Today I traveled to the golden Nile Pharaoh boat in Giza to meet my belly dancer friend Lorna.  She is a Scottish expat who has been living and working as a professional belly dancer here for over a year.  We got to spend some time together between sets on the boat painted to look like … Continue reading →

I looked down at my finished ballot with relief.  After looking up all the crazily-worded initiatives and unknown local politicians I had to pass judgment on for the current election I’d finally finished casting my vote and I was ready to fax it back to the Pinellas County elections office.   This morning I headed out … Continue reading →

My roommate Eva arrived home yesterday looking like she was about to pass out.  She said as they were driving in the minibus back from AUC it was possible to make out the visible outline of the bubble of pollution surrounding Cairo.  It looked like a wall facing them, and when they passed through the … Continue reading →

Last night I went to see a concert at the El Sawy Culture Wheel with some friends of friends.  Hamid, his cousin, his brother and some friends agreed to meet me around nine and take me to see Black Theama.  The band is Nubian and they have a large Nubian following, including Hamid and the … Continue reading →

On Friday I went to meet some family friends who are visiting Cairo.  On the way back I got in a huge strop with the taxi driver because I accidentally told him the wrong turning in Zamalek and we ended up in an hour-long taxi jam.  (The link is for those unfamiliar with British slang … Continue reading →

Baghat ‘Ali Street is one of my favorites during the day, a wide verdant and quiet avenue full of trees, climbing flower vines and stately old embassy houses set back from the road.  At night, though, much of it is so poorly lit it’s almost pitch black until a car comes along.  Some of the embassies … Continue reading →

I was in the doctor’s office.  He did your standard pulmonary-doctor things,  frowning as he listening to my chest as I breathed sharply in and out, taking my pulse, taking my blood pressure.  After listening to the burbling and whistling coming from my lungs, he took his stethoscope off and looked at me gravely.  “This … Continue reading →