Back to Life

I’m finally back to life. After a crazy and hectic couple of weeks (with a 5 day vacation in between), things are slowing down a little bit. I’ve been swamped at work with 5 major projects running in parallel, with problems and issues happening in the middle of all of this. It’s also been a hectic and stressful time on the personal level too.

But, I see light at the end of the tunnel. The craziness is subsiding and the clouds are clearing up. I will be blogging again and I’m looking forward to reading and commenting on all my favorite blogs again.

See you all very soon!

Springtime in Cairo

Spring is finally here. And even though the concrete jungle of Cairo dominates, beauty still seeps through the trees and flowers that are thankfully planted in every street and in the outskirts of the city. Here are some pictures I captured of the Cairo spring.

Only in Egypt

Walking around the streets of Cairo, one finds comedic treasures that I feel should be shared around the world. I will be posting these whenever I find them.

My first treasure is a sign advertising a language school. I wonder what language they use...

Movie Review: Bosta

I had heard about this Lebanese movie called “Bosta” a couple of months back. I read a couple of reviews that were very positive, so naturally, I jumped at the chance to see it when I could. Let, me tell you: I was impressed! What a wonderful movie.

First of all, any movie that has Nadine Labaky as a star is probably going to be a good movie in my books. I admire her so much. Not only is she a top director in the music video world (stars are fighting to have her direct their videos), but she is also quite the hot babe. She is also a very talented actress. What more could you ask for?



Now for the movie itself: a really sentimental, human story set in a musical setting. The main theme explores the Lebanese identity and the main question involved is : who’s the “real” Lebanese? However, it does so in a very entertaining way, with music, dance, drama, and visual appeal. The movie is about a Lebanese guy who starts a Dabka (Lebanese dance) group that is quite untraditional: a fusion of Dabka with techno and hip hop dance styles. They called it Digi Dabka. You should see these dance pieces: the way they jump between the different styles is seamless and very interesting. It brings life into the dance pieces, so does the music. Very creative stuff. The group enters into a Dabka competition, but the judges kick them out because their style is very untraditional. The judge tells them “Do you want to waste the last part of authenticity we have left in our lives?”. They tell the judge that he doesn’t get it and that Dabka is a living breathing part of their lives that evolves with everything else – they are not wasting anything. The members of the group are a wonderful diverse set of characters – a cross section of Lebanon. You have the past-her-prime diva, the talented male dancer who’s originally from a small village and haunted by his family’s rejection of his choice to dance, the traditional guy who reluctantly joins the group, the overweight girl, etc….Of course you also have the Christian, Sunni, Druze, etc…. Each character is so well written that you feel they are living, breathing, souls. The group then travels around the country on a quest to gain recognition, aiming to eventually reach the top festival “Baalbeck Festival”. They travel around in an old restored bus (Bosta means bus in Lebanon) from city to city, and you get to know the characters better in the process and the interactions between them: the persistence, exhaustion, love, admiration, jealousy, and flirtation. I loved the the message of the film: your love for your country can be expressed in so many ways and just because you choose to express it in a different way doesn’t mean it’s any less than that of somebody who chooses the traditional, expected path. The group was as Lebanese, and their love for Lebanon was as real as those who danced the traditional Dabka.

Overall, an excellent movie. Everything was excellent: the script, the performances, the music, the dancing. The only drawback was the cinematography – it was a bit lacking.

Go and see this movie now!

New Toy in Action

So, I was in Dubai last week when I got my new toy (see post below). The following day, I found myself awake at my hotel room at 6 am. I looked out the window and saw the sun rising from behind the airport tower. Jumped out of my bed, got my camera, and started snapping.



Obviously, I couldn't go back to sleep even though I had 3 more hours before my meetings were scheduled to start. So I quickly got dressed and jumped into a taxi and headed to Dubai Creek. This Creek is a bay of sea water that splits the "old" part of Dubai into 2. Alongside this creek, you can hop on a boat (they call them Abras) to cross to the other side of the creek on the cheap (half a dirham). Thus, I proceeded to snap some more...





Crossing to the other side of the creek, I found myslef at an old souk-style area with shops selling handicrafts, carpets, etc....





That's just a sampling of what I took that day - I took so many more photos (the beauty of digital photography). It was such a blast! Jumping around from one place to another, the thrill of capturing a good shot, was just out of this world. This has completely got me interested in photography again and I will be taking many, many more photos.

My New Toy

I just got myslef a new toy, and I'm loving it!

I've been wanting to get a digital camera for a while, and finally I took the plunge.

I really into photography in the past, but I've been too lasy recently. Now, that is all going to change. I'll be posting pics soon.

Stupid Neighbor

Our upstairs neighbors are morons. They’re idiots who live on a flipped schedule: they wake up at 9 pm, stay up all night long – every night - then they sleep at around 10 am. Two issues here: 1) they are EXTREMELY noisy people, and 2) our walls are not sound proof at all. We can hear everything that happens up there in their apartment: the TV shows they watch at 1 am, The Koran recitals and religious tapes they have on at 3 am on full blast, the stupid songs that the guy sings to his whining daughter, the carpentry work he gets off on at 4 am, and the fights he has with his wife. The fights are the worst. The other night H couldn’t sleep at all from a major fight they had (thankfully, I’m a heavy sleeper). The reason for the fight? Apparently the woman received a couple (relatives of her) in the house while her husband wasn’t home! He was telling her: “This is Zena (adultery)! Zena!! You are heading straight to hell”. He freaked out because there was a strange man in the house – even though the guy is a relative and was with is wife. So stupid. He was shouting at her, humiliating her, threatening her with divorce, and all around bullying her for around 3 full hours. All throughout what was her response? She was begging for mercy. Idiots like this have reduced religion to such trivial things - it disgusts me.

We don’t really know what to do with this guy. We have spoken to him numerous times – he promises to be better every time. We sent over the security guards to him. We wrote notes. If the police were of any use we would have filed a complaint. Grrrrrrrr.

The Bird Flu Incident

What would you do if your dog came over with a dead bird in its mouth in the middle of the huge bird flu scare we’re experiencing in Egypt these days?

That is exactly what happened to us the other day. Can you imagine that – a dead bird! Naturally, H (my wife) freaked out. Big time. Unfortunately, I was away at the time so she had to handle that on her own. First thing she did was call the bird flu hotline number that is shoved down our throats a Gazzilion times a day. Nobody answered! So much for the heightened state of readiness of our government. We start calling up vets that we know and most confirm that dogs have not so far been known to be infected by (or carry) the virus. We calm down a bit. Next question: what to do with the bird? Answer: careful handling of the carcass (with gloves) and burning the bird in the garden with the assistance of H’s dad. Poor D (our dog) had to be quarantined for a while and so far things look OK (some time has passed since then). Freaky, isn’t it?

A Monastery, an Eco-lodge, and A Day of Exploration.‎

We decided to go exploring yesterday. I had read before about the monasteries of Wadi ‎El-Natrun and had always seen the sign to them when traveling to Alexandria. I read that ‎this group of monasteries, 100 km north of Cairo, were the oldest monasteries in the ‎world – dating back to the 4th century AD (the monastic tradition was born there and then ‎later spread to the rest of the world). And since yesterday was a nice and sunny day, it ‎seemed like the perfect day to go and explore the area.‎

We only had time to visit one of the 4 main monasteries, so we went for the oldest and ‎most famous: the Monastery of Anba Bishoy. My first reaction when we reached there ‎was one of surprise. It was much larger than I expected. It was actually a compound ‎with very high walls enclosing three chapels, a castle, a visitors' centre, a gift shop, the ‎monks' quarters and a garden. I had expected something much smaller. I was also ‎surprised from the number of crowds visiting there. Hundreds of Christians, many ‎coming in groups from all over Egypt, were there on pilgrimage. I had expected a quiet ‎and reflective atmosphere. Inside on of the chapels, religious icons lined the walls, as the ‎pilgrims were praying and getting their blessings. As we stood inside, a couple of ‎pilgrims started on a religious chant – the lyrics were posted on the wall for those that ‎didn’t know them. Gradually, more and more people joined them, and before we knew it, ‎there were like 40 to 50 people, all chanting together. It was such a spiritual atmosphere, ‎that we found ourselves chanting with them even though we’re not Christian (couldn’t ‎help but wonder then what some of our more religious relatives would think about this!). ‎Even my 2 year old son was chanting with us! It reminded me so much of the time I was ‎in Tibet and I went into a Buddhist temple there and attended a session of prayers and ‎chants with around 100 monks – another amazingly spiritual experience. You completely ‎lose yourself. I think that there are so many ways and routes to achieve spirituality that ‎it is just too limiting to try to reach God from the way you were taught to do. As they sy, ‎God speaks many languages.

On the way back from the monastery, we found signs on the road leading to an eco-lodge ‎called Al Hammra Eco-lodge. Naturally, we had to check it out.

Turns out it’s a really ‎nice and cozy lodge built close to a salt water lake by an ex army General. His car got ‎stuck there one day, and he loved the place, so he bought the land and built an eco lodge ‎on it! The chalets there are all built from natural materials and we had a great time ‎walking around, enjoying the scenery, chatting with the owner and his guests, and eating ‎some nice home cooked food. I just love eco-lodges. I would take them any day over ‎fancy resorts. Other eco-lodges I recommend in Egypt: Basata in the Sinai, Zad Al ‎Musafir in Tunis (close to Fayyoum), and I hear that Adrere Amellal in Siwa is amazing ‎‎(but still haven’t been there though).‎

It was certainly my kind of day. No plan, no schedule, but you learn and explore and enjoy so much more than you would if you had one.

Jimmy’s Engagement

The talk of the town these days is about Gamal Mubarak’s engagement. Finally, he’s ‎getting engaged to a hottie 20 years his junior. Everybody’s talking about the venue of ‎the engagement party, the dress the bride ordered from Paris, the ring, the girl’s family, ‎etc….. In typical fashion, Egyptians have started to make fun of the event. I found some ‎great stuff in the readers’ comments section of the Al Arabiya article on the event. My picks:‎

ألف مبروك يا جيمي و بالرفاء و البنين أهم حاجة ماتكونش البنت طمعانة في مصر قصدي في ثروتك

الف مبروك يا جيمى يادوبك 42 سنه لسه مكون نفسك ومجهز الشقه الله يكون فى عونك‏

جيمى عندة 40 سنة ولم يتزوج لحد دلوقتى اذا دل فانة يدل على انة راجل عصامى حاول يبنى نفسة بنفسة لحد ما ‏وصل للمنصب الكبير اللى هو فية‎ ‎
‎ ‎
القفص+ دخول جمال مبارك القفص الذهبي = ا علان مملكه مصر ‏ayman nour ‎دخول

Ya Beirut Ya Sett El Denia‎

Just got back from a week in Beirut on business. My first time there in 7 years. God, has it changed since then. Some observations:

- The restaurant and club scene still remains as buzzing as ever. I went to some Fantastic restaurants: Cuban, Japanese, Lebanese, Italian, Seafod, and French. It’s true they’re expensive as hell. But it’s worth it for the great ambience, great food, and amazing décor. They’re packed even on week nights (the Lebanese do know how to enjoy life). I wish we had such variety and quality in Cairo.
- The Lebanese people are still the biggest complainers. They still complain about everything: life, politics, inflation, crowds, work, other people, etc……….. It really struck me that many Lebanese people have sort of taken the blessings they have in their country for granted and can only see the bad side. Couldn’t help but contrast that to the attitude of so many Egyptians who are living in miserable conditions and still manage to smile and joke in the midst of their misery.
- Faraya is amazing. I went up to a place called Faraya up the mountain (an hour’s drive from Beirut) to try my hand at skiing. It was amazing! It was a hot, sunny day and the snow was everywhere – an amazing contrast. Some people were skiing in tank tops!! They have several slopes in Faraya ranging from very easy to very difficult. Obviously, I took the easiest slope with an instructor and managed to go down the simple slope without falling. The skiing scene is such a lively and fun scene. Beautiful scenery, an incredibly fun sport, beautiful people, and great food in mountain lodge style restaurants. The Lebanese are lucky to have all of this so close to their homes.
- Yes, the babes and hunks are as stunning as they appear on TV. And yes, plastic surgery is rampant over there (even the male waiter in the corner coffee shop had a plaster on his nose from the nose job he’s had).

Cover Your Ass

In the professional world, one of the most widely-practiced business principles is CYA – Cover Your Ass. When people are scared of being blamed for any decision at work, they cover their asses in a variety of ways. I am experiencing this CYA business first hand these days - by my boss and some colleagues of mine. You see, there’s a project I’m working on right now which everybody was fully aligned to. The initial results are coming out and some of them are freaking out because they’re thinking it might not work – that’s when you see CYA in action.

There are several ways people Cover Their Asses:
- When committing to a decision, they leave themselves an exit door: for example they would say I agree to this, but I’m not sure it will work. i.e. I agree but don’t really agree. This way if it works, they can celebrate and say I knew it would work all along. If not, they can still say I told you so.
- They can say the concept was great but you screwed up the execution.
- They can flatly lie and say I never agreed to this in the first place, when they did all along. These people avoid written documentation like the plague.

Don’t you think it’s pathetic what people will do for a paycheck at the end of the month?

Tunis, Egypt

I went to Tunis last week, and it only took me an hour and a half to drive there from Cairo. How did that happen? Well, it was simple. The Tunis I went to is not the North African country, it's a small village close to Fayoum on the shores of Lake Qaroun. Tunis has a very interesting story: many artists and writers have chosen to live there because of the beautiful scenery, the peace and tranquility, and its proximity to Cairo. They built beautiful houses there in traditional style (mud houses) with leafy gardens and fanastic views overlooking the lake. Living and mingling with the villagers . One of the residents in particular fascinated me: a swiss couple that have been living there for around 40 years. The wife is an acclaimed pottery artist who exports her art around the world. She set up a pottery school that teaches many of the local village youth pottery as an art, and not as a craft. I visited this school and I met a couple of her students and the passion they had to the art truly inspired me. Some of these students have even displayed their work outside Egypt (one of them is travelling to France soon). Not only does this couple live in the village, they put their kids in the local schools and the kids grew up to be like any other Fayyoumi villager. Can you imagine a blond swiss girl speaking Arabic with a fayoumi accent wearing her gallabiya and running around with the other kids? This couple loved the place so much that they purchased lands and properties that they wanted to preserve. They bought a pigeon tower (borg hamam) when they found out it was going to be torn down in order to preserve it. Their son dropped out of school and is now running a succesful landscaping operation out of the village. The husband set another operation where he exports silk clothes woven at a certain village in Upper Egypt to Europe, saving that village from bankruptcy since their craft was dying. Overall, a really amazing story.

Over there, we stayed at a nice, cosy guest house called Zad Al Musafir, which is owned by a writer. A truly peaceful little place that I highly recommend. Another good thing you can do in Tunis bird watching, since many migrating birds come to Lake Qaroun for the winter. I saw a flock of flamingos on the lake and that was a truly amazing scene - more than a hundred of these gracious birds lounging around the lake, absorbibg the nice winter sun. I went with a guide (a local guy from the village) that was a bird-watching expert - he was also very passionate about his field. A grant from the EU gave him courses to develop his expertise, and I was impressed by how much such a grant helped him, his community, and the environmnet. So, some of that aid really does make a difference after all. All in all, I had a great time visiting Tunis and its people. Highly recommended.

First Post

So this is my first post. I always wondered how that would come out. I've been addicted to reading blogs for months now and I always had it in the back of my mind to publish one. Now that I've done it, it feels weird. So, I'll just be testing the technical apsects of this thing before I start writing something real.