Updates

I've not posted in a while. I had intended to, and then time and my life got away from me.

I'm more-or-less still on Summer Vacation, in that I've not taught a single day since last June. This is due to stuff I mostly don't understand, but suffice it to say the opening of school was pushed back a month, to the end of Ramadan.

Last year during Ramadan, I was very ill and also was still adjusting to life in Cairo, so I didn't really take notice of what was going on. This year I live in a more traditional neighborhood, have a network of Egyptian friends and acquaintances, and was LIVING in Cairo, rather than just surviving; which meant a very different Ramadan experience for me.

I tried to be respectful of the fasting that was going on around me. The biggest challenge was the day of the Ramadan Photo Walk in Old Cairo.

The Ramadan Photo Walk was organized by a photographer friend-of-a-friend. We began at Sultan Hassan Mosque. The mosque, and attached school, was immense. It was grand and beautiful in the mid-afternoon sunlight, and despite the heat of the day, was cool in its shaded courtyards.

After the mosque we wandered through a nearby neighborhood below the Citadel. This was a special time, because the neighborhood was decorated with Ramadan lanterns and garland. Also, the man shown here was making these little sweet breads that my friend Chris claims are his favorite Cairo delicacy.













Finally, we wandered to the Bab Zuela (one of the original gates of Old Cairo) and into the Khan where I snapped this sign advertising Mahmoud Farag and their "other branch". The garland is Ramadan Garland. [update - I found the "other branch" in Maadi a few days ago! 10/20/09]



While the group was planning an iftar about an hour after the Bab Zuela, I could not make it. 3 hours in the heat and sun, walking the entire time, had completely dehydrated me and, in respect of those I was with who were fasting, I did not drink water as we walked along. When we got to the top of Bab Zuela, I got a bit dizzy and had to sit down, and finally just grabbed a cab back to my neighborhood where I had iftar with my good friend and her visitors instead.

I left the day with an entirely new appreciation of the beauty and challenges of Ramadan.