Karkedeh Tea and Fig Juice

Woke up late again! I wake up early, then think, 8:30 is a little too early and then ... After being up for 10 minutes Shayma called fresh from the auspices of the U.S. Embassy. She had been there from 8:00 am until 1:00 pm, mainly waiting for her visa challenges. In the end, she was given her visa, no problem. And now, poor thing, her external hard drive crashed with all her documents and work that she had worked so hard to put together in one place. Dominique and I put blessings on it after she picked it up from the computer shop who had it for one week. And the dirty rotten scoundrels charged her 250 LE! they did give her a video disk with the data but it nees to be converted somehow and retrieved. She has to go to yet another computer place to see if they can help. So hopefully, my asking the universe will work.

Anyway, went first to the Marriott to get some money out of my Egyptian account Left the Marriott to get a taxi. Hailing a Marriott taxi would cost 54 LE from the hotel, walking outside would be around 20 LE I was told. I determined that I would pay no more than 15 and so a man just inside the confines of Marriott volnnteered a taxi. So we established the price, we walked across the street to a fleet of taxis. I asked for a new one and off I went with a nice taxi driver. A man who prays, as one can tell by the callous and bruise on the forehead. Of course, I wanted to get to the Townhouse Gallery and the directions weren't clear but got on the phone to Shayma and met her at a well known coffee shop called Groppi's with glass cases full of cakes and cookies.

Shayma was a welcome jolt of color, oranges and sunshine. We did the happy dance for her success. Off we went to the Townhouse Gallery - she showed me her work stacked up in storage. They were getting ready for another exhibition opening on Tuesday. We went upstairs to see the staff and I met William, the British gallery director. I also got to meet many other congenial staff members. I especially liked meeting Amina - Shayma, I hope I am spelling this right - he is now directing the children's workshops and will let us know about the next one. We also want to collaborate on other children's workshops. William was a mine of information about contemporary Egyptian artists who use traditional materials and methods in their own own work like the artist who lives in area where they produce baskets and mats - he used the technique to create animals and tableaus. Another artist had all the women of the husbands who did work in the gallery, building walls, making stands for sculpture -make dolls - the dolls are used for protection and are integral to the lives of the women and others living here. It reminded me a bit of the Fabric Workshop and Museum's work with artists translating their usual mediums of paint or sculpture to thread and silkscreen innovative expressions.

Then we went to the Mashrabiya Gallery nearby. Both galleries are the top galleries for contemporary art in Cairo. However, most of the artists promoted are well established. There really needs to be a venue for emerging artists, no kind of support currently exists for them. So Erin, what you do at the Barnstone Gallery in Phoenixville for new artists is a wonderful thing.

Shayma took me to a great fresh juice place called Mohamed Ali, it was established I think, in 1934. She wanted me to try fig juice. I love how she introduces me to new things. It came to 5 LE for the two of us and we got two glasses of chilled, freshly made fig juice. They have all kinds of juices that they make from fruit and even dates. She was reading to me the health properties of dates - pretty amazing - good for the blood, digestion, full of vitamins. As we were sitting on a planter surround of concrete, who came our way but Dominique, printmaker extraordinaire. Shayma turns everyone on to this grand juice house and she got another juice as we sat and talked about art and life! Dominique and I were hungry - I had eaten a Trader Joe's granola bar so we went back to the place we had had dinner last week - the area is called the Bursa that in the late afternoon puts out tables for people eating, drinking tea, smoking sheesha. We ordered, I got a hamburger on a bun with tomatoes and cucumbers, well cooked and Dominique got a fried egg sandwich with fries. I thought I was getting hibiscus tea but I got juice.

The funny thing or actually sad thing is that a bread delivery boy lost his balance and half his baladi breads fell on the floor of the "restaurant." So some was clean, relatively so, and the rest, well it was scooped up and brought inside. OK, you might be icked out at this but my brother told me when he worked in a drive-in they were told if a pizza fell on the floor while they were making it, to put on more cheese and serve. So don't think this is only Egypt. It did give me cause for thought though. I just said a prayer for my innards.

And then, a fight broke out. It couldn't get better. NOT. A dispute between two shops with bystanders joining in and others pulling the two fighters apart, a short teenager trying to prove his manhood. Testosterone flying everywhere, glasses breaking. Kind of a sticky ball that kept gathering more and more guys. As they were starting to get closer to our table, we stood up for safety inside the juice/tea shop. It went on for quite a while. It shook me up but Shayma says it's these guys who want to prove something, they yell and push but no one gets killed like they would in West Philly.

My taxi driving going home - a metered one was sooooo cheap and it was so easy. I wondered why the others kept taking me all over before "finding" where I wanted to go. Well, later on today, it's 12:17 am now, I need to go shopping for the mundane things like laundry soap, milk and other supplies. Did you know that my washer takes over 1.5 hours to wash a load. Be grateful my friends, for your conveniences. I know I am. Good night!