Blog posts about Egypt

Video Montage: Crazy Cairo Streets

Submitted by chris on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 23:49

This is a purely comedic video I made while in Cairo showing the lighter side of Cairo traffic. For all intensive purposes it's really stupid, but nonetheless does include a fairly accurate depiction of what Cairo is like at night.

I should also say that this was taken during Ramadan and was one of my most memorable evenings in Cairo.

what is interesting anymore

Submitted by chris on Sat, 03/01/2008 - 16:31

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to notice that I haven't made a post to this blog since I left Egypt. One of the reasons is that I have been extremely busy doing things like, moving back to the US, getting all my crap out of storage, finding an apartment, getting a new job and all the other things required to survive. The other reason is that I have to change my mindset as to what is worthy to write about. In Egypt things were easy. Everyday there was something new happening that I was sure would entertain the casual reader. (sheep in the back of a car for example). However, now that I am back in the U.S. and living in Southern California, things just don't seem to be as important on a day to day basis.

farewell to Cairo - a poetic attempt

Submitted by chris on Sat, 12/29/2007 - 21:25

I wrote this before I left Cairo, but didn’t post it until now. Something about it just doesn’t seem right, but I figure if I don’t post it now, it will never happen. Here it is, an overly poetic attempt.

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December 21, 2007
Since I arrived I have been trying to somehow capture the essence of the city so that those reading my posts, viewing my photos or watching my videos could somehow get a feel for what it is like here. Nonetheless, I feel this is simply not possible.

Holy Sheep! Ramadan & Eid in Cairo

Submitted by chris on Wed, 12/19/2007 - 09:29

One of my best stories from a trip to India a few years ago was the site of 3 men and a goat riding in an autorickshaw (a 3 wheeled 2 cycle taxi) on the streets of Bangalore. This week I saw something equally amusing, two boys stuffing five live sheep into a four-door sedan.

Stuffing Sheep

Normally I might pass by something like this as a fact of life. After all, if you need to transport sheep, and all you have is a car, than what is funny about it? However, in light of the sheep putting up a bit of resistance and the local men finding it equally amusing, I figure I can find some humor in the situation.
In you go!

buying a tent in Islamic Cairo

Submitted by chris on Wed, 12/12/2007 - 05:48

We have entered the last two weeks of our stay here in Cairo, which means all the things I have been putting off either need to happen or be forgotten. Over the past few months I have gone back and forth over whether I should buy a tent. Fact is, having a hand made Egyptian tent is completely sweet! However, I have been a bit concerned about how to get it home. I finally decided to stop being wishy washy and just get the darn thing and take it home on the plane. Rather trivial actually.

We purchased the tent in an area of Islamic Cairo aptly named the "tentmakers street"(Sharia Khayyamiya). They have been making tents here for hundreds of years and the shop itself sits in the oldest covered market (souk) in Egypt. After some bargaining and looking around we finally made a deal with the seller and agreed to pick up the tent in 2 to 3 days, giving them time to make it.