Saturday night's art gallery opening was well attended even by the American Ambassador She didn't seem all that interested in me but was very courteous to my fellow Egyptian art colleagues. I got to meet Gazbia Sirry, the petite 80 something dynamo whose passion for painting has not ceased. She said her next showing of new work is slated for February 2010. Unfortunately, I won't make the opening but maybe her work will still be up when I return to Egypt for my presentation at Alexandria University March 2 to celebrate Women's History Month. I was really thrilled with the attendance of my Fulbright colleagues: Karl, Kathy and the kids, Karl Schaefer, Zohair, Dominique of course, Sussan and many others. Thank you all for coming. Shayma brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers - I felt like a rock star. Also my friends from the jewelry class of Women's Association in Zamalek. So impressed with the fact that they braved the horrendous traffic as it was the Egypt-Algeria finals. I loved seeing my friend Mounira because it's been a year and she has been so busy with with conferences in England, Austria and the U.S. just in the last couple of months.
Here are the artist's works that I felt were pretty fabulous: Gazbia Sirry, Khaled Hafez, Gamal Lamie, and Mostafa Razzaz. I have to get to the gallery tomorrow to take some photos as there were so many people there, I didn't get around to it. I want my readers to see it too. The other thing I wanted to mention was the ride home. It was difficult because all the taxis were full of people either going downtown where all the action was or from October 6 City that the U.S. Embassy issued a warning about since people get pretty worked up over soccer or football as they call it here. The rematch is tomorrow so more traffic woes. Anyway, we were finally picked up by a taxi whose wife and young daughter (with her face painted with Egypt's colors) were riding in the front seat. The photo I am posting will shock you as the mother had the baby daughter perched outside the window as if she was a dog needing air. I had given the child a few flowers from my bouquet and she, just like a femme fatate, had them in her mouth.
I just finished reading Taxi about taxi drivers in Egypt. The real life stories never cease to amaze me in terms of my own experiences. That child could have been decapitated at any time or at last made limbless as she put her little arm to pat the van next to the taxi. Sigh.
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