Sesame and Little Girls

They call out "Saa kam" "What time is it?" because, I believe, it's such a novel idea that someone wears a watch and knows all the time. So I tell them, knowing full well that it is utterly irrelevant information. The tepee shaped things behind them are stacks of this summer's sesame crop drying for a month before they harvest the seed. 

Sad Commentary

For the first time in Egypt I've seen a situation where a gas station had to take in the display if such valuable items as Kleenex and window cleaner.

A Quick Look Is Plenty

I'm not entire sure what the guy owning the truck had in mind, but I'm pretty sure that misspelling "ingestion" wasn't it. Still, with all the aggravation of driving in Cairo traffic, it gave me the giggles and I was delighted to catch it.

Craftsmanship

This is a detail of a door at Rifaii mosque in old Cairo. The mosque was built during the late 1800's and early 1900's. It houses the tombs of the royal family of Egypt and also the tomb of the late Shah of Iran.  The door is made out of small pieces of wood and ivory that have been fitted together to form the pattern. If you touch it, you can feel each piece of wood or ivory move independently.

Light My Fire

I've barbecued a lot of ribs, hamburgers and chicken in my time, but I never stopped to think where the charcoal came from, other than from a nice bag at the grocery store. Out here in the farmland, however, there are small corners of land where the owners of trees that have to be trimmed can sell their wood to the charcoal burners. These people layer the wood carefully and then cover it all with wet straw. The wood and straw are then covered with a layer of dirt and old charcoal and the wood is set alight. It burns very slowly over a number of days and then the fire is put out. When everything is cool, the mounds are opened and the charcoal is taken out and put into bags, but usually old feed bags out here.  And that's how they do it.

Signs Of Uncertain Times

Signs for a nursery school and a store selling BB guns share a tree in Maadi. BB guns have always been legal in Egypt although regular firearms are not. But over the past few years both have become more common. 

Location, Location, Location

Passing by the mosque on Road 9 in Maadi one morning I noticed that a shoeshine man had set up shop there. Since those who enter the mosque to pray remove their shoes, this is a perfect place for his business. Why not get your shoes cleaned at the same time?

King Of The Mountain

During the summer, especially during Ramadan that is our July this year, the farm is a great place to relax and enjoy the denizens. Google, our Nubian/Alpine buck likes to regard his domain from the top of the wall. Mindy, the Dane, on the other hand, is either curious about what he's doing or trying to encourage him to get down. Google, quite clearly, is having none of it.

A Water Tree

Wood is expensive in Egypt so many things are made from wrought iron. This rack carries earthenware jars that keep water cool by evaporation through the clay. During Ramadan these jars would be upside down and empty until just before sundown.

Everybody's Bruce Lee

The perfect playground for some twelve year old boys...a plain white plastic drop cloth for a stage and someone with a camera! One of Jan Nikolai's photos of the Abu Sir children.