Taking Care of Younger Ones

Out here in the villages you often see younger children and babies in the care of their older siblings. It isn't something you see so much in the city, especially with middle and upper class families who might have staff working for them to take care of the kids. But I remember being the oldest of four and essentially being responsible for my younger siblings when my mother had something else to do. I guess it's a bit of a lost art some places now.

Dwarfed

The mosque of Ibn Tulun is one of the largest mosques in Cairo and also one of the oldest. Built in about 880 AD it was attached to the royal palace of the Abbasid ruler of Egypt at the time, but it is the only building of the era that still exists. It is one of my favourite mosques, its clean lines and open spaces give a sense of isolation from the chaos outside. Click for a larger version of the picture and you will have a better sense of the size when you see the two people in the upper left corner of the courtyard. The Gayer-Anderson museum is attached to that corner of the compound.

Riverfront Property

Along the riverside that parallels the island of Zamalek are lined old houseboats, one of the more exotic and romantic varieties of housing available in Cairo. These are near the northern tip of the island along the Giza shore. It looks more like a resort than one of the craziest cities on the planet.

Little Things Mean a Lot

Most farming families in rural Egypt don't own a car, a tractor, or anything more complicated than a bicycle or a motorcycle. The family donkey is a vital and not always well-understood part of the farmer's equipment. Flies can cause eye and skin infections and flies are endemic in farming areas. Most of the farmers make a sort of makeshift halter/bridle using chain across the nose area. Chain is cheap and unbreakable but hard on the skin so there are a number of lovely women who make these nose fuzzies to cover the chain and shield the donkey's nose. The Donkey Sanctuary distributes locally made flymasks (thus also providing jobs in an economy that really needs them) when they join The Rural Wellness Initiative Egypt's mobile vet clinics on Tuesday afternoons. The Rural Wellness Initiative is a group based on Facebook that provides free medical care to farmers in the area near our farm. Our staff works on these trips as donkey hoof trimmers, cow wormers and chicken holders, while I am the chief goat hoof trimmer. These clinics are making a difference in the health of the farmers' animals and thus with their productivity.

I want to apologise for not posting for a long time but my internet has been so terrible for the past month it's been really hard to get online.

Opposite of a Post Card

In the villages, when a member of the family has made the pilgrimage to Mecca, a painting is often added to the front of the house, sometimes showing the means of transport, but always showing the Kaaba. Rather than taking photos there, they come home and then record it.

Pyramids Make People Silly

 The panoramic point at Giza always has bizarre photo opportunities.  Maybe a Japanese tourist jumping high into the air from a wall. I don't know why.

Or people standing posed to touch the top of a pyramid...or maybe a tourist bus. At the correct angle you get the shot of someone touching something untouchable but at another, complete nonsense.

Movers And Shakers

Many of the farmers in rural Egypt rely on their donkeys to carry manure to the fields, to carry their crops home, to carry the farmers and their families on visits and errands. These patient and undervalued creatures are the prime movers of Egypt.

Sharing Sunlight

This was Tuesday and Tuesday afternoon is the Rural Wellness Initiative mobile vet clinic. A friend of the group came along with us and took a break sitting on an upturned rowboat.  She found herself sitting among a group of women and children who took great delight in trying to teach her Arabic. Yes, the woman in niqab as well, who turned out to have quite the sense of humour.

We Are The Eggmen

While a group of us were out riding the other afternoon a pickup truck carrying what must have been at least a thousand eggs passed us on the way from a chicken production warehouse to wherever it is that they take this many eggs. They will be left in their cartons standing in warehouses and stores for a number of weeks or until they are bought. Eggs, oddly enough, stay fresh unrefrigerated for months UNTIL you refrigerate them....and then they must be kept cold.

What Camels Really Do

Out on a ride the other day we saw a farmer leading his camel with a huge load of berseem clover. One camel can carry almost as much as a cart.

Apologies for being away. My annual case of bronchitis laid me a bit low.