The Onion Field

A group of farmers are working together to weed an onion field. It's backbreaking work and all done by hand. These will be beautiful red onions in a week or so.

The masklike object on the left is a donkey bridle. Many horses and donkeys work without bits here.

Help The Horses? Go Riding!

I just know that this post is going to get me into trouble. I was passing through Nazlit Semman today on my way back from doing an errand in Mohendessin. We stopped at the corner of the Mansureya Road and Aboul Hol Road (the road into the Sphinx) so that Catherine could take a photo, and we noticed a huge crowd of horses and camels crowding around a feed shop where bags of corn were being distributed and hauled off on horse and camel back. Four Paws, from the Princess Alia Foundation, was distributing and a camera crew were there filming. There has been a huge deal made in the press about the starving work horses of Giza and many animal groups have come to help. I've met Princess Alia of Jordan once and she is a very fine woman...I was very impressed with her intelligence, concern, and down to earth manner.

Now for the part that will get me into trouble. I've lived here for many years and am a horse owner, so the businesses of Nazlit Semman have always interested me. I know stable owners there and I used to take people riding to Giza...but I stopped doing it a number of years ago when in the midst of a perfectly good tourist season I had to ride my horses past the bodies of at least 30 dead horses who had been left where they'd dropped dead in the desert and then at least another 20 carcasses at the rear entrance to the stable area there next to the desert. There are people at Giza who take care of some of their horses, others who take care of none of their horses, and people who board horses there and work like the devil to see that their horses are cared for. I've accompanied friends to the pyramids as tourists and watched how the businesses run. Most of the 15 thousand tourists a day who visit Giza are hauled in on buses and hauled out on buses to meet appallingly tight itineraries and they go nowhere near the stables. There are very few of the stables who are licensed to have horses inside the Giza plateau walls. These are the few horses who actually service the tourists. Most days when I've been down in the stable areas, at least 60% of the clients there have been locals, their guests and friends...not the busloads of tourists who visit. If the tourism has stopped for these stables, then much of the shortfall has to do with their local clientele not coming.

The story put out in the press is that the stable owners are starving and because of this the horses are starving. So why not provide food for the stable owners and their families so that they can buy food for the animals? That would make some sense and perhaps imbue a sense of responsibility in them. In fact, during the revolution, all of us were having a very hard time finding horse feed because the truckers weren't hauling it in from the provinces. Anyone working with animals was having a really tough time. One friend of mine who boards horses for foreigners living here was stuck with over a dozen horses when the owners evacuated with out bothering to leave money for board or horse feed. She was scrambling, borrowing from friends to try to scrape together funds to feed her charges...and then scrambling to try to find something available.

I don't deny that there are and were horses dying in Giza. My point is that there are always horses dying in Giza...with or without tourism. The issue isn't the tourism, it's the education of the stable owners who would rather let a horse die than care for it. I talked about this with the vet accompanying Four Paws. He's Egyptian and conceded that my points were valid but said...and I had to agree with him...that if you don't try, nothing will ever happen. This is what he said he'd learned from the people who went to Tahrir in protest. He had thought that there was no hope for change in Egypt and didn't even teach his children to speak Arabic. Now he's giving them lessons in their own language because he feels that there is some hope for the country. It's a good lesson.

Busy Streets

Generally the sidewalks near the post office in Maadi have been kept quite clear of the entrepreneurs who make maneuvering streets in Cairo both interesting and sometimes aggravating. But recently with many, many fewer police on the streets, the vendors and others have been able to expand a bit. Here a shoe shine man works on one client while another waits his turn.

On The Phone in The Ferry

We were driving down the Mariouteya on the way to a man who sells those wonderful rag rugs. I like them for covering chairs and cushions. On our way I noticed a small iron ferry boat and made a mental note to try to get a photograph of it. On our way back I spotted it again and we stopped. Sometimes there is quite a way between bridges out here and these homemade ferry boats are important. The woman in the boat was chatting on her mobile phone.

Soon Appearing at a Midan Near You

We were driving into the city today to do some necessary errands and to see what was going on for the first time in a few weeks. The traffic was occasionally even worse than usual Cairo traffic. We found out later that there was a fire in the Ministry of the Interior downtown (rumours are that a records room burned...how convenient!) and a demonstration at the Ministry of Agriculture. Not sure what that one was about.

On our way into the city on the Moneeb Bridge we spotted a pickup truck with a wrought iron sculpture in the back. The young people holding it up were cheering and we weren't the only ones shooting pictures. A young man was sitting in the window of the passenger side of a car and following the truck. The sculpture was created by Mohamed Allam of Fagnoon and I'll have to keep my eye out for it.

Fruit Of The Winter

Friends of mine from outside of Egypt usually look at these things and simply wonder what on earth they are. The English name for them is Cape Gooseberry, although I don't believe that they are actually related to gooseberries at all. Locally they are called "harankash". They remind me of the tomatillo that is used to make chile verde in Mexico, sort of a small green tomato that has a similar covering. They have a sweet tart taste and are very refreshing. With the police still not really in evidence in the streets, the vendors have been busy.

What Do You Suppose?

If you live in an area of Cairo where there are villas you might see this, but you will definitely see it. And what is it? Gardeners will tie a line to the upper branches of a bougainvilleia, tie a brick to the other end of the line and then toss it over a wall. Walking past the wall, you can see what appears to be a floating brick against the wall.

Back To Business

It's been an exciting few weeks here and doesn't necessarily look like it's going to get boring any time soon. Egypt is sort of working...just as it has always sort of worked. The people are amazingly adaptive and resilient. The government shutting down the mobile phone lines was a serious problem for all of us here. If you look closely, you will notice the shepherd on his mobile and his son texting as he drives the flock. You know you shouldn't text and drive.

Do It Yourself Daily Photos

I think that right now there are a million incredible photos being posted on the net from Cairo. I urge people to take the time to see them, while I take a hopefully brief break in the peace and quiet (so far) of the farmland. Don't worry about me. I'm fine.

The Upside of Civil Unrest?

It's been almost a week since banks have been closed and Egypt has been in the grip of civil unrest...to say the least. Despite the images of riots on television, there are moments of calm, like this quiet Wednesday morning in Maadi when the shopkeepers were sweeping up Road 9 and washing sidewalks and streets. We went into town to find a rumoured open ATM to try to get some cash, help a friend collect the key to her new apartment, and generally check things out. The neighbourhood watch groups have been incredible and have done a great job. And the upside? Finding a parking place at 10 am on a Wednesday on Road 9!