Could not post anything yesterday, though wanted to write about something on Urfi marriages that I had read.
Off to Turkey tonight, will try and post before that, otherwise, once I am back!
Yesterday was last day of school, and, had 16 energetic, but slightly senti six year olds over at home for a farewell bash. It was the entire class, and, at the end of the day, there were broken toys, some tears, lots of pizzas and chicken nuggets, juice boxs and farewell gifts, lots of fun, hugs and promises, and, my home looked alien to me with a lot of cleaning up to do.
But hey, it was worth the effort, I think the kids had fun, and, my son loved it!
Would I do it again? I suspect I would....
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Pottery Cafe
Had the car the whole day today, so decided to go to the AUC Bookstore , Downtown. A friend had told me that they keep a lot of English books, thought I might find something of interest to read.
Browsed in the bookshop, and, came out armed with a large bag of purchases, including, how to speak basic Arabic to get by. The bookshop is nice, lots of interesting books (and in English! Mama, I'm in heaven!) but there is no place to sit and read or browse and have copy. Its an old fashioned bookstore. Look around, choose your titles, pay and go, though to be fair no one throws you out - if you can stand and browse books for hours, of course, you may.
On crossing the road, spotted a small sign which said Pottery Cafe. Now, I had read a write-up about this in some magazine, which talked about its young owner, his philosophy, how they change the menu regularly in response to customer feedback, how he does morning huddles with his team, etc... The article had mentioned that it was quaint, and, that they were planning to open in Maadi soon, so I decided to drop in.
The first thing that struck me was that by walking in, I had clearly lowered the average age by at least 5-7 years. The place is full of AUC students, sipping their lattes, furiously typing on their laptops (the place is wi-fi).
Ordered a Cheese and Pesto Panini (sounded yum!) served with French fries which sounded delicious. Since it had been quite hot outside, ordered a Vanilla milkshake to go with it.
At arpprox LE 11.00, the panini was good, though pesto is a msinomer. It essentially basil leaves along with cheese, but it still tasted good. Its served with lots of crisp french fries, which completes your carbohyrate fix for the day.
I would avoid the milkshake (LE11 again). Its very watery milky (I like my milkshake sweet & thick), and, the vanilla milkshake has banana.
Definately worth a visit and a meal.
Browsed in the bookshop, and, came out armed with a large bag of purchases, including, how to speak basic Arabic to get by. The bookshop is nice, lots of interesting books (and in English! Mama, I'm in heaven!) but there is no place to sit and read or browse and have copy. Its an old fashioned bookstore. Look around, choose your titles, pay and go, though to be fair no one throws you out - if you can stand and browse books for hours, of course, you may.
On crossing the road, spotted a small sign which said Pottery Cafe. Now, I had read a write-up about this in some magazine, which talked about its young owner, his philosophy, how they change the menu regularly in response to customer feedback, how he does morning huddles with his team, etc... The article had mentioned that it was quaint, and, that they were planning to open in Maadi soon, so I decided to drop in.
The first thing that struck me was that by walking in, I had clearly lowered the average age by at least 5-7 years. The place is full of AUC students, sipping their lattes, furiously typing on their laptops (the place is wi-fi).
Ordered a Cheese and Pesto Panini (sounded yum!) served with French fries which sounded delicious. Since it had been quite hot outside, ordered a Vanilla milkshake to go with it.
At arpprox LE 11.00, the panini was good, though pesto is a msinomer. It essentially basil leaves along with cheese, but it still tasted good. Its served with lots of crisp french fries, which completes your carbohyrate fix for the day.
I would avoid the milkshake (LE11 again). Its very watery milky (I like my milkshake sweet & thick), and, the vanilla milkshake has banana.
Ordered a latte (LE 9.50) which was quie decent, and sat flipping through the magazines and listening some really nice instrumental music.
The menu is quite extensive, and, reasonably priced. There is a 12% service charge.
The ambience is very nice with stucco beige walls framed by dark wood. There is a quaint round wrought iron staircase going up, which leads to another room done up similarly. Here, is where you see the entire student community sprawled out all over the place. The atmosphere is very cozy.Definately worth a visit and a meal.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Turkey here I come!!
Got my passports back from the Turkish embassy.
Halleluiah! We have the visas!!
Everyone is shocked that I actually managed to get the Turkish visa in 3 days - unheard of! A silent thanks to the ubiqutous Mr Shaheen who really helped me... God bless you, my friend.
So we're off to Istanbul this weekend..
Halleluiah! We have the visas!!
Everyone is shocked that I actually managed to get the Turkish visa in 3 days - unheard of! A silent thanks to the ubiqutous Mr Shaheen who really helped me... God bless you, my friend.
So we're off to Istanbul this weekend..
Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Center
A friend had mentioned this place near Harraniya Village, where the Center took in children, and, young adults, and allowed them to give full vent to their creativity with weaving and ceramics. It sounded interesting, so decided to go pay a visit.
Located on the Saqqara- Harraniya Road, past the new highway going towards Saqqara, the Center is about a half hour drive from Maadi.
On reaching the place, we were pleasantly surprised to see lots of greenery and lovely mud pasted structures which looked more in harmony with Egyptian / Arabic architectire than the faceless multi-storyed houses that one sees all across any large city.
A very nice lady, by the name of Yoanna, took us around, and , explained the concept to us. She is the daughter of the founder.
Ramses Wissa Wassef, a Copt from a prominent family, developed this center (in the 1950s) to create a place for local village children to express what they see in their environment through weaving tapestries. He laid down only 3 rules - no cartoons or drawings, no imiation of other works of art, and, no criticism or inteference from adults.
Today, the centre supports 70 people and teaches them to weave, and to make ceramics. When they come in, children are allowed to design and do what they want, so as to allow their inner creativity to come to the fore. Only after they have been here for a few years, does the centre teach them technical stuff. The designs are never forced, or instructed, they're determined entirely by the artisans themselves.
We saw some of the tapestry that had been woven by the inmates. Beautiful sceneries, and, lovely colours. There are large rugs, which have taken the weaver, about a year to weave.
The Center also teaches batik - the colurs are dazzling, and, the designs intricate.
While Yoanna looks after the tapestry and batik, her sister Suzzanne looks after the ceramics. The inmates have created beautiful tea services, jars, bowls, cups etc which have been painted in blue and then glazed.
Not only does the Center teach them these crafts, it also helps them with their health, their children's education, and, any other family problems or issues. A truly holistic approach.
The place is definately worth a visit, not only for the things available to buy, but just to see how one man's vision has helped many people to find themselves, and, build a better life for themselves and their families.
Website: www.wissa-wassef-arts.com
Located on the Saqqara- Harraniya Road, past the new highway going towards Saqqara, the Center is about a half hour drive from Maadi.
On reaching the place, we were pleasantly surprised to see lots of greenery and lovely mud pasted structures which looked more in harmony with Egyptian / Arabic architectire than the faceless multi-storyed houses that one sees all across any large city.
A very nice lady, by the name of Yoanna, took us around, and , explained the concept to us. She is the daughter of the founder.
Ramses Wissa Wassef, a Copt from a prominent family, developed this center (in the 1950s) to create a place for local village children to express what they see in their environment through weaving tapestries. He laid down only 3 rules - no cartoons or drawings, no imiation of other works of art, and, no criticism or inteference from adults.
Today, the centre supports 70 people and teaches them to weave, and to make ceramics. When they come in, children are allowed to design and do what they want, so as to allow their inner creativity to come to the fore. Only after they have been here for a few years, does the centre teach them technical stuff. The designs are never forced, or instructed, they're determined entirely by the artisans themselves.
We saw some of the tapestry that had been woven by the inmates. Beautiful sceneries, and, lovely colours. There are large rugs, which have taken the weaver, about a year to weave.
The Center also teaches batik - the colurs are dazzling, and, the designs intricate.
While Yoanna looks after the tapestry and batik, her sister Suzzanne looks after the ceramics. The inmates have created beautiful tea services, jars, bowls, cups etc which have been painted in blue and then glazed.
Not only does the Center teach them these crafts, it also helps them with their health, their children's education, and, any other family problems or issues. A truly holistic approach.
The place is definately worth a visit, not only for the things available to buy, but just to see how one man's vision has helped many people to find themselves, and, build a better life for themselves and their families.
Website: www.wissa-wassef-arts.com
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Whirling Dervishes & Tanoura
If you have been on the Nile Cruise or any of the dinner cruise boats on the Nile (more on that later, Nile Maxim's is fabulous), one of the entertainment items is always the tanoura. The tanoura is a display by men wearing long, large skirts who twirl around performing some interesting formations. I was intrigued about this dance form, and, decided to find out a little more (the ever reliable Wikipedia).
To my surprise, I discovered that the Tanoura or the Whirling Dervish is a form of Sufi worship. Sufi whirling is one of the rituals performed by Sufi orders.
The practice of Sufi whirling (or Sufi spinning), is a twirling meditation that originated among the Turkish Sufis, which is still practiced by the Dervishes of the Mevlevi order. It is a symbolic ritual through which dervishes (also called semazens) aim to reach the "perfect" (kemal). They try to desert their nefs', egos or personal [bad] desires by listening [to their master and sufi music], thinking [about God] and whirling which resembles the rotation of other beings such as electrons and planets of the micro- and macrocosmos.
As explained by Sufis:
In the symbolism of the Sema ritual, the semazen's camel's hair hat (sikke) represents the tombstone of the ego; his wide, white skirt represents the ego's shroud. By removing his black cloak, he is spiritually reborn to the truth.
At the beginning of the Sema, by holding his arms crosswise, the semazen appears to represent the number one, thus testifying to God's unity.
While whirling, his arms are open: his right arm is directed to the sky, ready to receive God's beneficence; his left hand, upon which his eyes are fastened, is turned toward the earth. The semazen conveys God's spiritual gift to those who are witnessing the Sema.
Revolving from right to left around the heart, the semazen embraces all humanity with love. The human being has been created with love in order to love.
So the next time that I watch the tanoura, I will probably appreciate the significance and the dance itself much more..
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Baron Empain Palace, Heliopolis
Driving to the airport and back, I always wait to pass by a strange looking building in Heliopolis. Strange looking, not because it’s grotesque or weird, but because it is so un-Egyptian in its construct and carvings. My driver was clueless and was of little help so as to the name or the origins of this amazing structure.
It looks like an ancient Indian temple - an Indian temple in the middle of Islamic Egypt? The paradox kept bothering me, so I decided to pay the structure / temple / monument a visit.
On reaching the monument, I discovered that it was a palace - the Baron Empain palace, (Qasr Al- Baron), one of Egypt’s most spectacular architectural masterpieces, a place which has always been, and remains to be, a subject of fables, legends and rumors. And guess what the palace is known as? The Baron's Hindu Palace! So I was right about the Indian temple bit!
In 1904, Belgian Baron Edward Louis Joseph Empain first arrived in Egypt with only one intention: rescuing his company’s project to construct a railway line connecting Matariya to Port Said. Although the mission failed and he lost the contract to the British, he made up his mind to stay in Egypt. It is said that the Baron had fallen in love. But no one knew whether it was with the desert or one of the Egypt’s most beautiful elites (much is talked about his love and affection for Yvette Boghdadli).
The Baron is credited with building the new city of Heliopolis, ten miles from Cairo.
Baron Empain commissioned his palace in 1907, two years after work began on the construction of Heliopolis. Empain asked French architect Alexander Marcel to build him a Hindu palace on an artificial elevation. It was completed in 1911.
The elaborate interior was the responsibility of his French associate, Georges-Louis Claude.
ANGKOR WAT
It looks like an ancient Indian temple - an Indian temple in the middle of Islamic Egypt? The paradox kept bothering me, so I decided to pay the structure / temple / monument a visit.
On reaching the monument, I discovered that it was a palace - the Baron Empain palace, (Qasr Al- Baron), one of Egypt’s most spectacular architectural masterpieces, a place which has always been, and remains to be, a subject of fables, legends and rumors. And guess what the palace is known as? The Baron's Hindu Palace! So I was right about the Indian temple bit!
In 1904, Belgian Baron Edward Louis Joseph Empain first arrived in Egypt with only one intention: rescuing his company’s project to construct a railway line connecting Matariya to Port Said. Although the mission failed and he lost the contract to the British, he made up his mind to stay in Egypt. It is said that the Baron had fallen in love. But no one knew whether it was with the desert or one of the Egypt’s most beautiful elites (much is talked about his love and affection for Yvette Boghdadli).
The Baron is credited with building the new city of Heliopolis, ten miles from Cairo.
Baron Empain commissioned his palace in 1907, two years after work began on the construction of Heliopolis. Empain asked French architect Alexander Marcel to build him a Hindu palace on an artificial elevation. It was completed in 1911.
The elaborate interior was the responsibility of his French associate, Georges-Louis Claude.
ANGKOR WAT
Marcel and Claude had previously constructed and decorated the Oriental Pavilion attached to the Royal Palace of Laeken in Belgium. The palace was set in a marvelous garden - ascending green terraces, each with its own set of erotic marble statues.
The palace architecture is of a cross-cultural nature with an extraordinary mixture of Hindu temples of Orissa, Renaissance architecture along Marcel’s own adaptation of the Cambodian temples in Angkor Wat.
ORISSA HINDU TEMPLES
The Baron died at Woluwe, Belgium, and was buried under the basilic of Notre-Dame d'Héliopolis , and, with his death, began the ruin of this magnificient building.
The palace that was built by the hands of the best Indonesian artists and sculptors has sadly been allowed to fall to ruin.
The Egyptian army requisitioned the building during the Tripartite Aggression, which further damaged the garden and interior.
Over the years, the Baron palace has become a subject of many rumours, and, tales - the palace was haunted, it was used by devil worshippers and, perhaps more credibly, by drug dealers.
The palace was sold by the Baron’s family in 1957 to the families of Alxasam and Reda and was declared a monument later in the 80s by the Egyptian government.
But, a trip to Egypt would not be complete without a visit to this beautiful structure, still so majestic and unique in its construct, in this country of tombs and pyramids.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Egyptian names of some herbs
While browsing the net to look up what corriander is called in Arabic, found this list of spices and their Egyptian names.
God bless the person whose website it was, though for the life of me, I cannot remember where I read this. I had copied it down for easy reference, and, just thought of posting it to my blog.
To that unknown benefactor, thank you for this guide, I look this up ever so often!!
Ginger = ganzabeel
Cinnamon = qerfah
Cumin = cammon
Cardamom = habhan 7abhan
Oregano = zatar
Cloves = qoronful
Coriander = kozbarah
Basil = rehan = re7an
Curry = karry hindi
Paprika = filfil a7mar na3em bared
Dried mint = na3na3
Dried Basil seeds powder = re7an 7ab na3em
bay leaves = lawry
red pepper = shaatah
sumac = sumac
tumeric = curcumin or osfor
Garlic - Toom
Coriander has 2 types
Fresh - kuzbara khadra
Ground - kuzbara nashfa
Dill - shabat
Parsley - ba'doonis
Black pepper - fil fil iswid
Salt - Mal7
Sesame - Simsim
Thyme - Za'tar
Allspice = Boharaat, Bohar
Ammonia (powder) = Nashader
Anise = Yansoun
Basil, fresh = Rihan
Bayleaf, Laurel = Wara' El Laura
Capers = Qobbar (Abu Khanger)
Caraway = Karawya
Cardamom = Habbahaan
Cayenne Pepper = Shatta
Chicory = Chicoria
Chili = Felfel Ahmar Amrikani, Shatta
Chives = Korraat Baladi
Cinnamon = Erfah
Cloves = Oronfel
Coriander, dry, seeds = Kozbara Nashfa
Coriander, fresh = Kozbara Khadra
Coriander (powder) = Kozbara Matthoona
Cumin = Kammun
Cumin, black = Habbet El Baraka
Curry = Kari Hindi
Dill, fresh = Shabat
Fennel = Shammar
Fenugreek = Helba
Garlic = Toom
Ginger = Ganzabeel
Hibiscus = Karkade
Juniper = Habb El Aaraar
Licorice = Erq Souss
Mace = Bisbassa
Marjoram = Mardagoush (Bardakosh)
Mastic = Mesteka
Mint = Naanaa
Nutmeg = Gozet Et Tib
Paprika = Felfel Roumi (mish harra)
Parsley = fresh Ba'duunes
Pepper, black = Felfel Eswed
Pepper, red = Felfel Ahmar
Pepper, white = Felfel Abyad
Rosebuds = Zir El Ward
Rosemary = Hassa El Baan
Saffron = Zaafaran
Sage = Marmareya, Akbdar Chey
Salt, cooking = Malh Kheshen
Salt, table = Malh Na'em
Sorrel = Hummad
Savory = Zaatar El Bar
Sesame = Semsem
Sumac = Soumak
Tarragon = Targhun
Thyma / Oregano = Zaatare
God bless the person whose website it was, though for the life of me, I cannot remember where I read this. I had copied it down for easy reference, and, just thought of posting it to my blog.
To that unknown benefactor, thank you for this guide, I look this up ever so often!!
Ginger = ganzabeel
Cinnamon = qerfah
Cumin = cammon
Cardamom = habhan 7abhan
Oregano = zatar
Cloves = qoronful
Coriander = kozbarah
Basil = rehan = re7an
Curry = karry hindi
Paprika = filfil a7mar na3em bared
Dried mint = na3na3
Dried Basil seeds powder = re7an 7ab na3em
bay leaves = lawry
red pepper = shaatah
sumac = sumac
tumeric = curcumin or osfor
Garlic - Toom
Coriander has 2 types
Fresh - kuzbara khadra
Ground - kuzbara nashfa
Dill - shabat
Parsley - ba'doonis
Black pepper - fil fil iswid
Salt - Mal7
Sesame - Simsim
Thyme - Za'tar
Allspice = Boharaat, Bohar
Ammonia (powder) = Nashader
Anise = Yansoun
Basil, fresh = Rihan
Bayleaf, Laurel = Wara' El Laura
Capers = Qobbar (Abu Khanger)
Caraway = Karawya
Cardamom = Habbahaan
Cayenne Pepper = Shatta
Chicory = Chicoria
Chili = Felfel Ahmar Amrikani, Shatta
Chives = Korraat Baladi
Cinnamon = Erfah
Cloves = Oronfel
Coriander, dry, seeds = Kozbara Nashfa
Coriander, fresh = Kozbara Khadra
Coriander (powder) = Kozbara Matthoona
Cumin = Kammun
Cumin, black = Habbet El Baraka
Curry = Kari Hindi
Dill, fresh = Shabat
Fennel = Shammar
Fenugreek = Helba
Garlic = Toom
Ginger = Ganzabeel
Hibiscus = Karkade
Juniper = Habb El Aaraar
Licorice = Erq Souss
Mace = Bisbassa
Marjoram = Mardagoush (Bardakosh)
Mastic = Mesteka
Mint = Naanaa
Nutmeg = Gozet Et Tib
Paprika = Felfel Roumi (mish harra)
Parsley = fresh Ba'duunes
Pepper, black = Felfel Eswed
Pepper, red = Felfel Ahmar
Pepper, white = Felfel Abyad
Rosebuds = Zir El Ward
Rosemary = Hassa El Baan
Saffron = Zaafaran
Sage = Marmareya, Akbdar Chey
Salt, cooking = Malh Kheshen
Salt, table = Malh Na'em
Sorrel = Hummad
Savory = Zaatar El Bar
Sesame = Semsem
Sumac = Soumak
Tarragon = Targhun
Thyma / Oregano = Zaatare
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