Trip to Egypt

View of Islamic Cairo from the Citadel

Thursday, February 17, 2005.

3:45 p.m. EST -- Well, here I am in Dulles - we're going to board in about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, my stomach has decided to get a head start on the Cairo experience.... I feel BAD. Please God, let this not be a portent of things to come - I really do not want to be sick in Cairo. I'm so excited, though -- I've never been out of the country before, let alone halfway across the world, and I just hope the next 14 hours or so pass quickly!

7:17 a.m., Paris Time -- I'm in Paris. More specifically, I'm in a very generic-looking terminal in Charles De Gaulle. So far, the only way I can tell that I'm not in the US anymore is that everybody is smoking inside the terminal (despite the "no smoking" signs). Even the fact that everybody is speaking a foreign language isn't all that out of the ordinary for me- I live in DC, so I'm used to hearing a thousand different languages! I'm totally disoriented time-wise, though - I hope I get my bearings by the time I'm in Cairo.

Saturday, February 19, 2005.

2:00 a.m., Cairo Time -- I'm here!! Cairo was fascinating from the first moment I stepped off the plane - it was so hot, even inside the airport, and the energy in the air was different. When we drove from the airport to the hotel, I had a hard time absorbing that I'm really here at last! Cairo looks much the way I expected - vast, smoggy, dusty, sprawling. I realized in the taxi that I'd already managed to get grit in my mouth, just by breathing the air. The smog and fumes are overwhelming - I needed my inhaler before we even got to the hotel. View from the balcony of my hotel

View of the street from my balcony at the hotel - after midnight.

I couldn't have picked a better location for our hotel - it's on 26th of July Street downtown, centrally located. The neighborhood is very baladi - definitely not a tourist destination. We went for a walk around the neighborhood once we stowed our bags upstairs, and I was exhilarated by the energy on the street - the people are loud, boisterous, pushy and full of life. The contrast with stodgy DC could not be greater! We got our first experience with dodging Cairo's taxis - it reminded me very much of that old Frogger game! Headlights are used only rarely, but horns are used incessantly. Traffic signals are seemingly meaningless - lane markers mean nothing, one-way signs mean nothing. Crossing the street is quite an adventure!

Everywhere we went on our walk, we were greeted with, "Welcome to Egypt!!" or wolfwhistles or catcalls. One guy yelled after me, "Hey, I love you!" and I couldn't help but crack up. We must have been quite a sight - 13 unveiled women walking down the street. 98% of the women we saw were veiled to one degree or another - some had only their hair covered, and wore quite fashionable clothes. Others had headscarves that came past their shoulders, to mid-back, or even farther. I had heard that Egypt has become increasingly conservative, and I guess this is the proof. Kay, the tour leader, said that it wasn't like this even a few years ago. I was very intrigued, though, by the contrast between the veiled women and the multiple stores that sold incredibly racy lingerie. Frederick's of Hollywood has nothing on Cairo!

Okay, time to head to bed - we're visiting Mmes. Hekmet, Abla and Hannan tomorrow, plus seeing Soraya at the Casablanca, and I need to get some sleep!

7:15 p.m., Cairo Time -- We visited three costumiers today - Hekmet, Abla, and Hannan. To get to Mmes. Hekmet and Abla, we went to Muhammad Ali Street. We were stared at by people on the street the whole way. I only bought a black folkloric headpiece from Mme. Hekmet - nothing else really worked for me. But Mme. Abla - ah, a different matter! I bought two costumes from her, both dresses. Kay forewarned us about the procedure at Mme. Abla - you arrive, are ushered into the atelier, and then sit for a half an hour or so. Then a servant appears with chai (tea) for all, and Madame Abla herself appears. She doesn't have much stock, but I lucked out with my costumes as both of them basically fit me. All I need for the red one are a silver bra and belt that fit - they're otherwise fine.

Waiting at Madame Abla's.

We took the metro to get to Hannan's, as taxi drivers can never seem to find their way to her studio. There are two cars at the front of every train that are women only, which was actually quite nice. On the street, it's mostly men and boys that approach us - the women hang back. On the train, however, they felt a bit freer and were emboldened to talk to us. Not a single other tourist on the train, and I can't say that I'm surprised - half of the stops weren't shown on the station map, making it very difficult to find your way if you don't already know where you're going!

Hipscarves everywhere! Hannan's studio.

Hannan's was fun, although I didn't find any costumes that fit me. I did buy four CDs off of her brother as well as an apple-green veil. Several of the other girls bought costumes, though, that were altered as we waited. Hannan was generous enough to buy us all dinner - fool, falafel and baba ganoush sandwiches. Her brother also paid our metro fare for the return trip.

Off now to see Soraya at the Casablanca!

Sunday, February 20, 2005.

3:00 a.m.? Rapidly losing track -- Just got back from seeing Soraya at the Casablanca. Soraya is Brazilian and danced VERY Dina/Raqia Hassan - the only time her personality really showed was during her drum solo. Word came down before the show that no pics were allowed. This is truly unfortunate, as there was the most godawful Russian floor show after Soraya's show finished. Remember the robot girls in the first Austin Powers movie (the ones whose heads blow up)? Well, that's basically what the Russian girls looked like. Spacey, frozen, and skimpily clad. I felt sorry for them - their eyes were totally dead.

8:00 p.m. -- Today was killer - first, the Cairo Museum (2 hours), then the Citadel, lunch there, then two mosques, a visit to the tent-makers', a trip to the Khan i Khalili open-air market, and tonight - Dina at the Semiramis! I was really disappointed by the Cairo Museum - they have an abundance of wonderful artifacts from ancient Egypt, but they are very poorly cared for. Maybe one artifact out of twenty-five had any sort of label or explanation as to what it was, and many items were not encased within protective glass, leaving them available to grubby hands. I wish I could have gotten an explanation as to what we were seeing in the Museum, but unfortunately our guide, Nibel, did not have a museum guide's license, only a tour guide's (yes, they really do check these things). I didn't like the Citadel - it was a total tourist destination. And yes, I'm a tourist too, but I tend to avoid the obvious places when I travel. What I liked least - the evening call to prayer happened while we were there, and several janitors came the front of the mosque to pray. Tourists were standing there snapping pics like crazy - like they'd never seen anybody pray before! Ugh. Anyway, the Khan i Khalili was absolutely insane -- it's hard to even describe the experience. Almost anything you could ask for is on sale there, but I was afraid to even look or touch some of the goods for sale because the proprietor would immediately come swooping down, offering me tea, coffee or Pepsi, if only I would come into his store for a moment (no charge for looking!). Some of the proprietors have wised up to the ways of westerners, and take a more laid-back approach with tourists. This definitely worked for me - I bought perfume and a galabeya from the two shop-keepers who didn't harrass me.

Off to see Dina shortly - I can't wait to see her live again!

Monday, February 21, 2005.

Sadly, this travel diary isn't getting much attention, as we're too busy DOING things for me to write it all down!

Anyway, saw Dina at the Semiramis last night - she was amazing, as she always is. I had a picture taken with her before the show, and afterward she autographed it. She pulled some of her old music out of the vault, using Ya Nawaem as an intro (this is the intro she uses in the Dina at Monte Carlo video). Her costumes were relatively non-controversial except the last one - she wore a brass bra! It just looked too painful, but that's Dina for you... always pushing boundaries. We didn't get home until around 4 a.m.; I fell asleep, and then the 5 a.m. call to prayer woke me up again.

I dashed out around 11 to Eman's -- I loved her costumes! She designs for Soraya and Leila, among others. I bought one fuschia costume, a peach one with a ton of stones, and a fun Fifi Abdo-style galabeya. So costume count currently at 5 - 2 Ablas, 3 Emans. Then Claire, Hannelore and I headed out to Amira's (Pharonics). Thankfully, she speaks excellent English. I bought one red and silver costume - so costume total is now at 6! Amira is a total perfectionist - she even has stage lights set up in her studio so you can see what your costume will really look like on stage.

Came back to the hotel absolutely starving around 5 p.m. - went to a take-out place and bought something that was supposed to be falafel, but turned out to be a pita with french fries inside! It actually wasn't half bad, and I was ravenous so I ate it.

We're going to see Camilia tonight on the Grand Hyatt cruise. Tomorrow we are supposed to go see the pyramids, but to be honest, I'm not too excited about them! It's a full day trip and I don't particularly want to spend an entire day just hanging out with other touristy types. So I may yet jump ship and navigate Cairo by myself for a day.

The fumes from the cars are giving me horrible headaches - I don't know if I could stand to live here if only because of that. I feel stinky and grimy all the time - and all of my clothes and suitcases smell like diesel.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005.

Saw Camilia last night on the Grand Hyatt cruise - it was a pretty early evening, thank God. She's very young - 22 - and very saucy. I think she has the potential to be a great dancer in 10 years or so, but right now, she's a bit rough around the edges for my taste. Very good energy, though, and at least she did shamadan with zills (although the shamadan had electric lights, not candles, and the lights weren't lit!).

Camilia on the Grand Hyatt cruise.

Today was a pretty laid-back day - I skipped the pyramids in favor of doing my own thang. I slept in (which was a blessing after several late nights), then went to Eman's for a fitting - my fuschia costume is almost ready, so I tried on the bra and it fits! I ended up buying one last costume from her - a gorgeous turquoise blue dress with lots of rhinestones. I think I gave her a heart attack for ordering yet another costume this late in my trip! That only gives her two days to get it finished, and I know that's almost physically impossible. She keeps saying that she'll have all four of my costumes done by Thursday, though - we'll see!

Claire and I then took a long, smoggy ride out to Pyramid Road to meet Aida Nour. I tried on some of her costumes but nothing really suited me, except some way cool saidi dresses. And I think I now have enough of those! I mentioned to Aida that Dee Dee (of Little Egypt) was in town, but that I hadn't been able to get ahold of her because when I tried dialing her cell phone, I got a message saying it was out of service. Aida told me that she'd had no problems getting through, so now I'm puzzled. I guess I'll try calling her again when I get back to the hotel - it wouldn't surprise me if the problem is on the hotel's end, since the phone service is so unreliable.

The group splits up a little bit more every day - partly from illness, partly from different interests. There's one woman here who got bitten by mosquitoes so badly that she's been in bed pretty much since the second day. The poor thing missed Dina and Camilia! The mosquitoes here must have a preference for British blood, as Hannelore and I are the only ones who haven't been chewed up yet.

Going to Amira's (Pharonics) yesterday was fascinating - she speaks excellent English, so thankfully there was no language barrier. She told us how the costumes are made - she employs 400 people at a farmhouse outside of Cairo to do most of the work. There are four shifts a day of 100 people, so production literally goes on 24 / 7. She said that when she started out, nobody approved of her being in business for herself. Now she just gets a lot of jealousy from other people because of the level of her success. It was great to be able to talk to her and understand the rationale behind her designs as well (since there definitely is one!). Still, out of all the designers so far this week, my favorite has definitely been Eman - not only is she wonderful to work with, her designs also look very different from one another. If you buy a Bella, for example, it definitely has that "Bella" stamp. Not so Eman - so you could get all your costumes from her and not worry that they all look alike!

So now, I'm back at the Nile Hilton near the Cairo Museum, on my own. I'm going to do a little shopping here, and then head to the Khan i Khalili again for music. That may be very interesting - the Khan solo! Anyway, I'm going to try to get the check here so I can head out!

Wednesday, February 23, 2005.

Rapidly losing track of days/time - I definitely need to bring a watch with me next time I come to Cairo. There are no clocks ANYWHERE - I'm so used to seeing them in front of banks and in public places around DC - it never occurred to me that I would have such a hard time finding out what time it is in Cairo! I guess the 5 daily calls to prayer serve to give a sense of time to Egyptians - or they really don't pay attention to what time it is, which wouldn't surprise me.

Leila on the Nile Pharon.

We went to see Leila on the Nile Pharon boat last night, and then hung out with her afterward at a really nice coffee/shisha kind of place. She was very kind to put up with my 1,000 questions about living and dancing in Cairo and what it's "really like." Also nice to have no communication difficulties with someone for the first time this week - I feel very alien around the Brits since they really do speak a different language than me, complete with slang that I don't understand. It's amazing how quickly the American accent comes to sound uncouth to your ears when you hear British accents all week!

>After coffee with Leila, a group of us headed out to the divey club near our hotel to see some distinctly UN-five star dancing. However, I know that I was pleasantly surprised - yes, the place was a total dive and the atmosphere definitely was pretty seedy (until we showed up, the only women there were the dancers themselves). But I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed the dancers! The first one had pretty good technique (although she looked about as bored as could be). Once we started tipping, though, her face lit up. The second dancer (in brown) was my absolute favorite of the night and perhaps, other than Dina, my favorite of the week - she was very much like Fifi Abdo in looks, energy, style and presentation. Kind of bawdy, balady, and fun! I tipped her 100 LE (about $20) at the end of her set.

Doesn't she look just like Fifi??

The last dancer came out already smiling - obviously she'd been apprised of the tipping that was going on before she came out, because she danced to us almost immediately.

The tipping situation was interesting - if you did a money shower, the manager would immediately come out, pick up the tips, and put them in a box. However, I tried handing him a tip directly (and gestured that it was for the whole group), and he put it in his pocket. One of the musicians saw, stopped the show, and raised hell, until the manager very shame-facedly put it in the box. I would have just done a shower to ensure that the tips went into the box for everyone, but all I had by this point was 100 LE notes. So when we left, I tried to do the same thing (gave it to the singer with a "for everyone" gesture) - he nodded and apparently put it in his pocket. I can't say that I really blame any of them for trying to get away with it - these people obviously live a totally different lifestyle than the five-star dancers and musicians we saw the rest of the week. I have a feeling that my tips eventually got where they needed to go, though - all of the people on stage were watching like hawks to make sure they got their fair share.

I was wide awake and ready to party all night, but the rest of the group was ready to go back to the hotel part-way into the third dancer's set, so I reluctantly left when they did. Hannelore and I stayed up watching music videos on TV and talking until the 5:00 a.m. call to prayer - it was at that point I finally realized that I really should go to bed!

Thursday, February 24, 2005.

So this is my last day - I leave tomorrow at 7:15 a.m. to head back to the U.S. I'm very sad to leave Cairo - my time here has been amazing.

Madam Abla and Lucy.

Right now I'm back at Madame Abla's for my final fitting - it took Claire and me 55 minutes to get here from the hotel (normally a 10 minute trip) because the driver got COMPLETELY lost (and very likely didn't understand where we wanted to go in the first place). So we ended up taking the tiniest little back streets I've ever seen to get here - it would have been hilarious if we hadn't been so worried about ending up stranded somewhere in farthest Cairo. As I write this, I can hear the midday call to prayer coming from a thousand minarets across the city - it gives me goosebumps.

I finally managed to connect with Dee Dee and Catherine last night - hooray! The operator at the hotel finally had to call her cell number for me, and after only 5 or 6 tries, I got through! Somehow we managed to meet up at the tannoura show at the Minaret, and then had dinner together at this fabulous public park not far away afterwards. The food was incredible, even if some of the choices were a little odd (very sophisticated fish dish accompanied by rice and... french fries). No alcohol since we were in Islamic Cairo - I was disappointed because I seriously could have used a drink by then. I'm SO TIRED - it's hard to even describe my fatigue. I almost passed on the tannoura show to sleep, but I'm glad I went (even if I started nodding off part way through).

Tannoura show at the Minaret.

So today, I have THREE final fittings at Eman's - I swear, I've spent more time in her atelier than I have the hotel! I'm still not certain that these are going to be finished - I just don't see how it's possible. I also have one final fitting at Amira's. So, my last day is pretty much costumes, costumes, costumes. I'm bummed because there's SO much more I wanted to do here in Cairo - go back to the Khan i Khalili again, make another trip to the divey nightclub, see more shows. Alas, time is short. I am cramming in everything I can, though, to the very last minute - we have a dance party tonight at Yasmina's house (she's a British dancer who is currently taking a break from public performance), then I need to go to Eman's for my last fitting, then back to the hotel to pick up my bags, then out to the Parisiana to see Lucy perform. Unfortunately, I know I will miss the last part of her show because I need to leave around 4:15, and her show doesn't even really start until 3:00 a.m. or so. I have no bloody idea how I'm going to manage to stay awake that long!

Friday, February 25, 2005.

Well, I'm back on the plane, heading home. What a wonderful trip - I just wish I could have stayed longer.

Stayed up all night long last night to watch Lucy's show, so I didn't get any sleep. I'm so tired right now I can barely keep my eyes open, but I wanted to jot a few last lines.

Claire, waiting around at Madame Eman's atelier.

Before heading to Eman's for my final fitting, we headed over to Yasmina's for a dance party. Oh my God, I think this may have been the best part of the trip. She had part of her band there (probably 10 or so musicians) and they played the most amazing music for us - I danced to Lessa Fakir, Ehel Rusek, and lots more. The bandleader has a little girl, Heba, who is only 10 years old but can already dance like a pro. I mean, like a five-star dancer pro! We were all quite intimidated at first, but as soon as the band played Lessa Fakir I couldn't help but dance.

After that, Claire and I went to Eman's. Amazingly, she DID finish all four of my costumes, and they're absolutely gorgeous. I will be the envy of every dancer in town, coming home with SEVEN new costumes! And they're all absolutely lovely- I just wish I could wear them all at once!

Lucy at the Parisiana.

Finally, off to Lucy's - she was the dancer I wanted to see most in Cairo, since she was the first dancer I ever saw (on TV, when I was 13 or so). She's changed a LOT, but when she danced to Lessa Fakir, she was wonderful. Her khaleejy number was also great - she got up on our table and danced! I only wish I could have stayed for her entire show. Unfortunately, at 4:15, I had to leave for the airport. I ended up paying $350 extra for all my luggage! It was all I could do to stay awake long enough to get on the plane.... and now, I think it's time for "bed." So, signing off for now....