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 →

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 →