Sniffing the Breeze
A lot of people have asked what happens in Egypt during Easter. Well, for a start, the Coptic Christian Easter kicks off a week later – so it all starts […]
NOTEBOOK
Canter past Patagonian icefields. Sail the tranquil waters of Lake Como in Italy. Sip coffee in a Palestinian village. Listen to the ancient voices of Australia’s Arnhem Land. Climb the mountain paths of northern Albania. Let’s go!
Life in Cairo, as the newspapers see it
Cairo has a number of rather slim English language papers, mostly condensed versions of their Arabic bretheren, including Al-Ahram, the Egyptian Gazette and the Daily News.In a quick flick through […]
The Oracle speaks
The wind rustled the dusty palm trees and tickled the waters of the salt lakes down below as I stood on a hilltop, surveying the Siwan oasis. The hill has […]
Veiled truths of Siwa women
Out here in the remote oasis of Siwa, the women of both dominant species – donkeys and humans – are kept under wraps and away from temptation. The women are […]
Oasis life: Siwa
What is it that makes people fall in love with Siwa? Is it the isolation? With an 11-hour bus journey, or eight hours by car, Siwa’s not exactly on the […]
Match making
The locals say that Egypt lost the 2010 World Cup (that’s football/soccer, to the unawares) largely because its taxi system was so bad (the meter is but a decorative concept, […]
Getting hitched, Part II
For those of you who can’t get enough of weddings, the latest wedding I attended was that of Mokhtar and Samira. This time, I actually knew the couple getting married, […]
Forgiveness, pleasure and grace: a lesson in Arabic
“The Arabic language is very rich,” said didactic Nael, one of my first friends in Egypt, and himself a French teacher. The more I learn about Arabic, the more I […]
The Sun City
I realise I haven’t written much – if anything – about my new place, and the point of this blog was to get a bit up close and personal, unlike […]
Getting hitched…
Last night was the fourth wedding or engagement I have attended (or inadvertently gate crashed) in the past fortnight. The first was while I popped into a hotel to pick […]