A couple days ago I had a horrible time getting to school on Qasr Al-Aini St., my usual route to school. The road was completely gridlocked for many blocks, and I had rather a hard time getting through the tightly packed cars. I had originally thought that it had something …
Long-Range Resistance at UCSC
I was heartened to hear about this action at my alma mater, the University of California at Santa Cruz. It was a long time in coming. The Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), proposed by the Regents of the university, has long been the subject of considerable ire on the part …
Biking in Cairo, Take 2—ركوب الدراجة في القاهرة، الڤيديو الثاني
Here’s another attempt at filming my daily commute, to and from school (down Qasr Al-Eini—قصر العيني and back on the Corniche—الكورنيش). This one is not as crooked as the last, but rather more shaky. The traffic is a bit more exciting, though. More pedestrians, more wheelchairs, more crazy drivers, more …
Collecting places—مجموعة الأمكنة
There’s something insidious about this website (click on the map to go to it) that will generate such a map for you based on the states you click, designed for you to be able to show off the states you’ve visited (there is another version for the world traveler). And, …
A Video of Biking in Cairo—ڤيديو ركوب دراجة في القاهرة
This was a bit of an experiment. I decided to see what would happen if I strapped my little digital camera to the shoulder of my messenger bag. Below is evidence of what happened. The video came out alright, and you can get a sense of what it’s like biking …
Islam and Capital—الإسلام و الرأسمال
A perhaps too-authoritative title for a post that is much more of the beginning of an exploration than an unequivocal pronouncement. I came across a number of readings over the past weekend that have piqued my interest in the subject. The first was a forthcoming essay (by a for-now-unnamed author) …
Maggots in the Cherimoya—دبان في القشطة
I ventured out today to get some fruit and vegetables at the Sayida Zeinab Suq. I have to admit that i walked around for a while and then chickened out and just went to the smaller market off of Falaki, near AUC. I barely feel confident ordering food in Arabic, …
The Pyromania of Cairo—هوس القاهرة الحاري
Maybe i’ve just been lucky, but i feel like i’ve seen a lot of pyrotechnics here.
Embarrassing my future self
Let this post function as a sort of caveat. I’ve just posted a whole bunch of stuff on this here blog, most of which was culled from emails I’ve sent to people over the last several days. Lacking the time or the patience to fully edit this material and tweak …
Cats in Cairo—قطط في مصر
They are friggin’ everywhere! At first, we thought that they were actually a different breed of cat because their heads seemed to be a different shape and they were more sleek. Then, we talked to a few people who had adopted local cats off the street and it turns …
Desperate Housewives
You know, there’s all sorts of things that i would never do in the US that a combination of boredom and isolation have driven me to do here. Riding bikes with a bunch of petroleum industry dudes is one. Another is watching Desperate Housewives. I was a bit resistant to …
Motor Scooters—دراجات بموتور
Another thing i like about Cairo: the efficient use of motor scooters. I can’t tell you how many times i’ve seen a family of four packed onto a Vespa. Mother and father with kids hanging off in precarious ways, everyone all grins (well, i can only imagine the mother’s grin—she’s …
Everyone loves a bidet—يحب كل واحد شطافاً
There are some things about this country that i really appreciate, like the ubiquity of bidets. I have to say, however, that i was a little embarrassed the first time i discovered this. I was in a newly-remodeled bathroom with a fancy toilet that didn’t have the flusher in any …
A couple questions for the Caireens—بعض اسئاة لقاهريين
I have a couple questions for y’all: WHY DOES NO ONE EVER HAVE CHANGE IN THIS FRIGGIN’ COUNTRY!?! Gratefully, now that i’m not having to take taxis everywhere anymore (riding my bike is so much more pleasant), i don’t have to worry about this problem, but it’s still a bit …
Biking in Cairo—ركوب الدراجة في القاهرة
Despite not hanging out much with people, i seem to have made something of a name for myself. And it didn’t even require carrying a doll around. I’m apparently now well-known as the guy who rides his bike to school.