Circumnavigation

I've had visitors this winter, as I do most winters, and we've had some unseasonably warm clear days to explore the Cairo area. Of course, one of the required visits is to the Giza plateau and on one of my visits there I took a series of photos as we walked around the Great Pyramid so that I could share the experience. The imagination soars with the mention of the Pyramids of Giza and most people who haven't visited Egypt visualise three lonely silhouettes in the desert against a blue sky, a view of them that must be achieved from a distance. The reality of the pyramids is quite different, a reality that some people find disappointing but one that I find never fails to engage me.

To approach the Giza plateau, one drives up an asphalt road from Pyramids Road dodging young men who run out into the road to try to convince the drivers of incoming cars that the ONLY way to see the pyramids is by following them to an area below the plateau where visitors will be mounted on camels, horses, or carriages (sometimes at great expense if the touts are lucky) in the stables opposite the Mena House Hotel and transported up the hill. Their claims are utter rubbish and it is quite possible, and in my mind preferable, to drive up to the entrance, buy tickets for the visitors and the car and then drive on in. There is a parking lot that overlooks the camel stables opposite the Mena House which provides a good spot from which to foray out to explore the pyramids.

As we walk across the stone to the Great Pyramid on a Friday morning, the sheer size of the pyramid never fails to strike. From a distance tiny figures gather along the eastern face of Khufu's pyramid facing the Nile Valley, crawling part way up the stones...as we approach it becomes clear that these are people who are climbing the staircase that has been cut into the enormous stones so that they might enter the tiny cramped passage that leads up to the chamber in the center with the enormous sarcophagus. The impressive weight of the stones, the size of each one, the effort that must have been expended to pile all of them up, is stupifying...but still the passages are extremely uncomfortable and visits inside pyramids are highly overrated in my mind.

As we make our way along the face, we pass Egyptian families out for a day in the open air. Fathers photograph offspring with mobile phone cameras while mothers sit comfortably on the lowest layer of stones dispensing sandwiches and chips. The children are all over the place. Most families in Cairo live in apartments, so to be out in this much space with virtually nothing breakable at hand induces a state of exhilaration in the younger set that is only matched perhaps by watching a set of goat kids bouncing madly around ricocheting off each other and any other object in their immediate vicinity.

As we round the southern side of the pyramid we find ourselves in the area where iron railings protect some of the more active albeit less observant of the young visitors from pitching headlong into the pits that once held the solar boats, beautiful graceful craft made of Lebanese cedar and held together with palm fiber rope. The best preserved of these is in the Solar Boat Museum on the western side of the pyramid, an odd rather banana-shaped structure that provides a climate controlled environment to preserve the reconstructed boat.

The new regulations restrict the camel and horse men who offer the services of their sometimes rather dubious mounts to the south side of the Great Pyramid, the area around the parking lot by the middle pyramid, and the panoramic view point out in the desert where it is still possible to photograph the pyramids in their lonely majesty. After glancing around quickly to determine that a collision with one of the plateau's four footed denizens was not imminent, we had to look up and admire the view of the stones reaching up into the sky. We are so physically lazy in our lives now that it seems quite impossible that these massive boulders should have been moved simply by muscle power, but in those days there were four months during the summer when most of the population of Egypt was available for labour such as this while they waited for the Nile flood to recede. Four months is a long time to go fishing and it makes the concept of the masses of labourers much more understandable.

Rounding the southwest corner of the pyramid we could see the middle pyramid with its limestone sheath still intact at the tip and the oddly shaped Solar Boat Museum next to our pyramid. The middle pyramid always looks larger than the Great Pyramid but this apparently is because it is built on a higher platform of rock. Just before the museum a pair of female visitors were debating with some camel handlers for a ride. As we wandered past we were regaled with squeals and laughter as they experienced the seesaw action of a camel rising to its feet and starting off.

As we headed back towards the parking lot along the north face of the pyramid, we were reminded of the winter winds that we had avoided on the west face. Other visitors were coming towards us with pauses for photographs as they wandered along. At Giza, photographing photographers is inevitable. Some young men tried to look tough and strong while surreptitiously zipping up jackets against the chill of the wind whenever the sun crept behind a cloud, and later we assisted a pair of newlyweds from the Delta with a photo on a mobile phone against the background of the middle pyramid of Khafre.

As we approached our starting point on the east face of Khufu's pyramid, we noticed that the crowds were getting thicker as more and more visitors arrived. Some of them were visiting the nobles' tombs at the northeastern corner while others were making their ways in carriages, on foot, on horseback or camelback towards the smaller pyramids or the panoramic view point out in the desert.

Once back on the eastern face of the pyramid we wandered over to admire the view over the valley. My friend had last been in Cairo in 1971 and remembered how the area before the Giza plateau had been green fields. Now it is so built up as to be unrecognisable to early visitors, but the pollution had been blown away by the winds and we had a clear view of the Citadel across the valley. When we turned to the pyramid again and saw it as a backdrop to the cars in the parking lot, we were definitely brought back to reality and present day.
copyright 2009 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani

Very Bad Math

Following the news on Gaza has been disturbing. The Gazan death toll has been rising steadily but while there have been some reports of rocket attacks, reports of Israeli deaths have been lacking. The one report I could find regarding the Israeli deaths reported 12 deaths as of a week ago. One would imagine that the Israelis were suffering under heavy attack to justify the killing of so many in Gaza.
ًًً
This was passed to me by a friend and is from Al Jazeera's English edition:


"At least 300 children are among the more than 1,000 Palestinians who have died since Israel began to bombard the Gaza Strip on December 27.
Al Jazeera has obtained the names of 210 of the young victims, 44 of whom were under five years old. (The names are given and then the gender and the age.)

27/12/2008
Ibtihal Kechko Girl age 10
Ahmed Riad Mohammed Al-Sinwar Boy age 3
Ahmed Al-Homs Boy age 18
Ahmed Rasmi Abu Jazar Boy age 16
Ahmed Sameeh Al-Halabi Boy age 18
Tamer Hassan Al-Akhrass Boy age 5
Hassan Ali Al-Akhrass Boy age 3
Haneen Wael Mohammed Daban Girl age 15
Khaled Sami Al-Astal Boy age 15
Talaat Mokhless Bassal Boy age 18
Aaed Imad Kheera Boy age 14
Abdullah Al-Rayess Boy age 17
Odai Hakeem Al-Mansi Boy age 4
Allam Nehrou Idriss Boy age 18
Ali Marwan Abu Rabih Boy age 18
Anan Saber Atiyah Boy age 13
Camelia Al-Bardini Girl age 10
Lama Talal Hamdan Girl age 10
Mohammed Jaber Howeij Boy age 17
Nimr Mustafa Amoom Boy age 10

29/12/2008
Ismail Talal Hamdan Boy age 10
Ahmed Ziad Al-Absi Boy age 14
Ahmed Youssef Khello Boy age 18
Ikram Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 14
Tahrier Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 17
Jihad Saleh Ghobn Boy age 10
Jawaher Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 8
Dina Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 7
Samar Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 6
Shady Youssef Ghobn Boy age 12
Sudqi Ziad Al-Absi Boy age 3
Imad Nabeel Abou Khater Boy age 16
Lina Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 7
Mohammed Basseel Madi Boy age 17
Mohammed Jalal Abou Tair Boy age 18
Mohammed Ziad Al-Absi Boy age 14
Mahmoud Nabeel Ghabayen Boy age 15
Moaz Yasser Abou Tair Boy age 6
Wissam Akram Eid Girl age 14

30/12/2008
Haya Talal Hamdan Girl age 8

31/12/2008
Ahmed Kanouh Boy age 10
Ameen Al-Zarbatlee Boy age 10
Mohammed Nafez Mohaissen Boy age 10
Mustafa Abou Ghanimah Boy age 16
Yehya Awnee Mohaissen Boy age 10
Ossman Bin Zaid Nizar Rayyan Boy age 3
Assaad Nizar Rayyan Boy age 2
Moaz-Uldeen Allah Al-Nasla Boy age 5
Aya Nizar Rayyan Girl age 12
Halima Nizar Rayyan Girl age 5
Reem Nizar Rayyan Boy age 4
Aicha Nizar Rayyan Girl age 3
Abdul Rahman Nizar Rayyan Boy age 6
Abdul Qader Nizar Rayyan Boy age 12
Oyoon Jihad Al-Nasla Girl age 16
Mahmoud Mustafa Ashour Boy age 13
Maryam Nizar Rayyan Girl age 5

01/01/2009
Hamada Ibrahim Mousabbah Boy age 10
Zeinab Nizar Rayyan Girl age 12
Sujud Mahmoud Al-Derdesawi Girl age 10
Abdul Sattar Waleed Al-Astal Boy age 12
Abed Rabbo Iyyad Abed Rabbo Al-Astal Boy age 10
Ghassan Nizar Rayyan Boy age 15
Christine Wadih El-Turk Boy age 6
Mohammed Mousabbah Boy age 14
Mohammed Iyad Abed Rabbo Al-Astal Boy age 13
Mahmoud Samsoom Boy age 16
Ahmed Tobail Boy age 16
Ahmed Sameeh Al-Kafarneh Boy age 17
Hassan Hejjo Boy age 14
Rajeh Ziadeh Boy age 18
Shareef Abdul Mota Armeelat Boy age 15
Mohammed Moussa Al-Silawi Boy age 10
Mahmoud Majed Mahmoud Abou Nahel Boy age 16
Mohannad Al-Tatnaneeh Boy age 18
Hani Mohammed Al-Silawi Boy age 10

01/01/2009
Ahmed Al-Meshharawi Boy age 16
Ahmed Khodair Sobaih Boy age 17
Ahmed Sameeh Al-Kafarneh Boy age 18
Asraa Kossai Al-Habash Girl age 10
Assad Khaled Al-Meshharawi Boy age 17
Asmaa Ibrahim Afana Girl age 12
Ismail Abdullah Abou Sneima Boy age 4
Akram Ziad Al-Nemr Boy age 18
Aya Ziad Al-Nemr Girl age 8
Ahmed Mohammed Al-Adham Boy age 1
Akram Ziad Al-Nemr Boy age 13
Hamza Zuhair Tantish Boy age 12
Khalil Mohammed Mokdad Boy age 18
Ruba Mohammed Fadl Abou-Rass Girl age 13
Ziad Mohammed Salma Abou Sneima Boy age 9
Shaza Al-Abed Al-Habash Girl age 16
Abed Ziad Al-Nemr Boy age 12
Attia Rushdi Al-Khawli Boy age 16
Luay Yahya Abou Haleema Boy age 17
Mohammed Akram Abou Harbeed Boy age 18
Mohammed Abed Berbekh Boy age 18
Mohammed Faraj Hassouna Boy age 16
Mahmoud Khalil Al-Mashharawi Boy age 12
Mahmoud Zahir Tantish Boy age 17
Mahmoud Sami Assliya Boy age 3
Moussa Youssef Berbekh Boy age 16
Wi'am Jamal Al-Kafarneh Girl age 2
Wadih Ayman Omar Boy age 4
Youssef Abed Berbekh Boy age 10

05/01/2009
Ibrahim Rouhee Akl Boy age 17
Ibrahim Abdullah Merjan Boy age 13
Ahmed Attiyah Al-Semouni Boy age 4
Aya Youssef Al-Defdah Girl age 13
Aya Al-Sersawi Girl age 5
Ahmed Amer Abou Eisha Boy age 5
Ameen Attiyah Al-Semouni Boy age 4
Hazem Alewa Boy age 8
Khalil Mohammed Helless Boy age 12
Diana Mosbah Saad Girl age 17
Raya Al-Sersawi Girl age 5
Rahma Mohammed Al-Semouni Girl age 18
Ramadan Ali Felfel Boy age 14
Rahaf Ahmed Saeed Al-Azaar Girl age 4
Shahad Mohammed Hijjih Girl age 3
Arafat Mohammed Abdul Dayem Boy age 10
Omar Mahmoud Al-Baradei Boy age 12
Ghaydaa Amer Abou Eisha Girl age 6
Fathiyya Ayman Al-Dabari Girl age 4
Faraj Ammar Al-Helou Boy age 2
Moumen Alewah Boy age 9
Moumen Mahmoud Talal Alaw Boy age 10
Mohammed Amer Abu Eisha Boy age 8
Mahmoud Mohammed Abu Kamar Boy age 15
Marwan Hein Kodeih Girl age 6
Montasser Alewah Boy age 12
Naji Nidal Al-Hamlawi Boy age 16
Nada Redwan Mardi Girl age 5
Hanadi Bassem Khaleefa Girl age 13

06/01/2009
Ibrahim Ahmed Maarouf Boy age 14
Ahmed Shaher Khodeir Boy age 14
Ismail Adnan Hweilah Boy age 15
Aseel Moeen Deeb Boy age 17
Adam Mamoun Al-Kurdee Boy age 3
Alaa Iyad Al-Daya Girl age 8
Areej Mohammed Al-Daya Girl age 3 months
Amani Mohammed Al-Daya Girl age 4
Baraa Ramez Al-Daya Girl age 2
Bilal Hamza Obaid Boy age 15
Thaer Shaker Karmout Boy age 17
Hozaifa Jihad Al-Kahloot Boy age 17
Khitam Iyad Al-Daya Girl age 9
Rafik Abdul Basset Al-Khodari Boy age 15
Raneen Abdullah saleh Girl age 12
Zakariya Yahya Al-Taweel Boy age 5
Sahar Hatem Dawood Girl age 10
Salsabeel Ramez Al-Daya Girl age 6 months
Sharafuldeen Iyad Al-Daya Boy age 7
Doha Mohammed Al-Daya Girl age 5
Ahed Iyad Kodas Boy age 15
Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah Boy age 10
Issam Sameer Deeb Boy age 12
Alaa Ismail Ismail Boy age 18
Ali Iyad Al-Daya Boy age 10
Imad Abu Askar Boy age 18
Filasteen Al-Daya Girl age 5
Kamar Mohammed Al-Daya Boy age 3
Lina Abdul Menem Hassan Girl age 10
Unidentified Boy age 9
Unidentified Boy age 15
Mohammed Iyad Al-Daya Boy age 6
Mohammed Bassem Shakoura Boy age 10
Mohammed Bassem Eid Boy age 18
Mohammed Deeb Boy age 17
Mohammed Eid Boy age 18
Mustafa Moeen Deeb Boy age 12
Noor Moeen Deeb Boy age 2
Youssef Saad Al-Kahloot Boy age 17
Youssef Mohammed Al-Daya Boy age 1

07/01/2009
Ibrahim Kamal Awaja Boy age 9
Ahmed Jaber Howeij Boy age 7
Ahmed Fawzi Labad Boy age 18
Ayman Al-Bayed Boy age 16
Amal Khaled Abed Rabbo Girl age 3
Toufic Khaled Al-Khahloot Boy age 10
Habeeb Khaled Al-Khahloot Boy age 12
Houssam Raed Sobeh Boy age 12
Hassan Rateb Semaan Boy age 18
Hassan Ata Hassan Azzam Boy age 2
Redwan Mohammed Ashoor Boy age 10
Suad Khaled Abed Rabbo Girl age 6
Samar Khaled Abed Rabbo Girl age 2
Abdul Rahman Mohammmed Ashoor Boy age 12
Fareed Ata Hassan Azzam Boy age 13
Mohammed Khaled Al-Kahloot Boy age 15
Mohammed Samir Hijji Boy age 16
Mohammed Fareed Al-Maasawabi Boy age 16
Mohammed Moeen Deeb Boy age 17
Mohammed Nasseem Salama Saba Boy age 16
Mahmoud Hameed Boy age 17
Hamam Issa Boy age 1

08/01/2009
Anas Arif Abou Baraka Boy age 7
Ibrahim Akram Abou Dakkka Boy age 12
Ibrahim Moeen Jiha Boy age 15
Baraa Iyad Shalha Girl age 6
Basma Yasser Al-Jeblawi Girl age 5
Shahd Saad Abou Haleema Girl age 15
Azmi Diab Boy age 16
Mohammed Akram Abou Dakka Boy age 14
Mohammed Hikmat Abou Haleema Boy age 17
Ibrahim Moeen Jiha Boy age 15
Matar Saad Abou Haleema Boy age 17

09/01/2009
Ahmed Ibrahim Abou Kleik Boy age 17
Ismail Ayman Yasseen Boy age 18
Alaa Ahmed Jaber Girl age 11
Baha-Uldeen Fayez Salha Girl age 5
Rana Fayez Salha Girl age 12
Rola Fayez Salha Girl age 13
Diyaa-Uldeen Fayez Salah Boy age 14
Ghanima Sultan Halawa Girl age 11
Fatima Raed Jadullah Girl age 10
Mohammed Atef Abou Al-Hussna Boy age 15

It took me a few hours to get all of these names into a format for the blog.
These names are only some of the children who have died in Gaza through no fault of their own. At least do take the time to read them and recognise their lives.




copyright 2009 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani

Why I Watch the BBC

The last few weeks have not been kind to me either on a computer front or the internet. My hard drive in my laptop began making sounds more appropriate to an angry dog, not a comforting event. I could barely work with email, much less my usual news sources, most of which are on the net. I use Google News a lot when I want to get a variety of viewpoints on a particular issue, but my daily news usually comes from Reuters or the BBC. My opinion of the North American news is not the best and I find that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert do a fairly good job on the political issues there.

When something happens like the recent Israeli demolition of Gaza, the North American news is not the place that I look to for information, since my experience is that it will not be reasonable coverage. I've been bombarded with invitations to join Facebook groups in support of the Palestinians who have been first imprisoned in Gaza and now are being slaughtered there. I've read notes on line talking about demonstrations in support of the Gazans in Egypt, although to be honest the demonstrations I've seen have been extremely orderly and low key. On one hand, one would imagine that the obvious thing to do would be to open the borders at Gaza to let people out of the conflict but with that tiresome ability to see shades of grey that comes with aging, I can also see the incredible problems that Egypt would face were it to do so. This isn't simply being caught between a rock and a hard place, but being surrounded by them. I'm not going to suggest that I have answers. I don't. It breaks my heart to hear of the suffering of the Palestinians and I have to admit to little sympathy for the Israeli's who feel that the death of a few of their people justifies the destruction of so many others.

A friend sent me this Youtube video and I feel that it makes some very good points that people need to be aware of. And that's why I watch the BBC.

copyright 2009 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani

Learning From A Master

My neighbour decided that it was time to finish building his house and put a second story on it to provide a study for his wife and a spare bedroom. The project was complicated by the fact that when his built the first floor, he'd put a dome over the living room to help circulate the air and to evacuate the hot air that we are so good at collecting during the summer. He decided to remove the dome on the first floor and add one to the second floor immediate over the original to do the same job and to create a sort of atrium.

His design was very clever since he planned the stairs to be built outside so that all the work could be done without breaking into the part of the house that he was living in during the construction. The final thing to be done would be to break the original dome and put a railing around the space where it had been. He brought the same master bricklayer who had built the original dome to build the new one and Tuha, the bricklayer, brought his son to help and to learn how to do the work.

Tuha is a marvel. He built my barbecue for me, entire buildings for others and a gorgeous barbecue for a neighbour. You describe what it is that you want and he simply constructs it free hand. After watching ordinary construction workers, you realise that you are watching an artist. The only way to learn to do this is by doing it and his son is learning the family business after spending a number of years in school to learn to read and write. While this may seem strange, it does make some sense since the schools in the countryside are really nothing that marvelous and having a skill like his father's will assure him a good living.

Tuha, having built the main dome, put his son to work on the smaller dome for the stair well. Under his guidance the boy learned how to place the bricks precisely in place to create a slowly decreasing circle of brick that would form the dome. They work from the center of the dome standing on a wooden platform that closes the space beneath them. This platform will be removed when the dome is completed. This method of construction is the traditional architecture of Egypt and is cheaper than the non-traditional forms. A building made with the domes and barrel vaults from brick without concrete columns cannot easily be built upon to make a second floor, however, so many people like my neighbour mix it with the modern construction, making use of the air conditioning features of the dome and vault. And it never hurts that they are beautiful as well.

copyright 2008 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani

Islanders Win For Now

An article in the Daily Star today revealed that the courts had ruled in favour of the islanders on Qorsaya
who had been fighting off military dredges on their island and eviction orders. A previous suit by the islanders against the Potable Water Company asking for service to provide water had been denied because the courts ruled that as a protectorate the island wasn't entitled to civic services. This worked against the encroachers when again the island was declared to be a protectorate and immune from industrial or commercial building.

This is hardly the last word on the subject, but it is heartening.


copyright 2008 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani

A Blessing On Us All

I woke this morning at 6 am wanting to turn on the BBC to see the results in the US elections, but almost afraid. My mobile phone beeped at me and I found a simple message from my daughter in New York. "Obama wins!" As I spoke to her on the phone we both were thrilled with the event. I listened to his acceptance speech and found for the first time in many, many years tears in my eyes, tears of joy and hope from the words of a politician. Any of you who have read my note on my blog about what I feel is important in life know that politicians are not, on the whole, my favourite people. But the succession of Barack Hussein Obama to the United States presidency is of vital importance to the world as well as to the American people.

I was born in the US and was, in many ways, the quintessential American. My mother was a British war bride and my father was from an old Scots/Irish family who had emigrated to North America before the revolution. But to be honest, even when I was so very young there were things that made me quite uncomfortable about the United States. Not the least of these was the fact that in California in the 60's and 70's my interest in learning Spanish, in reading Spanish literature, was considered suspect. As has become even more the case, more recent immigrants to the US were resented. It was not considered to be useful or desirable to speak a language other than English, an attitude that as someone who considered a career in translation, I thought was terribly short-sighted and frankly rather odd. I also was a serious opponent to the war in Vietnam, a military action that I felt was nothing short of disastrous for the place of the US in the world. When I moved to Canada to continue my university education, university in California having become too expensive for me, I was enchanted by the completely different attitude towards immigrants and their heritage in Canada and I decided, having the possibility to immigrate there, to stay.

The Canadians, at least in the 70's and 80's when I was living there, were much more aware of the fact that they were a country of immigrants than the Americans were. If a school had a certain percentage of children from an ethnic group enrolled, lessons in that language were required to be made available to these children after school hours. There was no question that French and English were the official languages, but there was an acceptance and understanding that Canada was a mosaic of many languages and cultures, unlike the attitude south of the border that if someone came to the US they came to become an American and should change and lose the past that had made them what they were when they emigrated to the US. I was much more comfortable with that idea and Diaa and I used to joke that we the absolute perfect Canadians, a Sudanese/Egyptian immigrant and an American/British immigrant. I took Canadian citizenship in the mid-70's with no qualms whatsoever.

Yesterday Americans remembered that the essence of the United States is that it is a country of immigrants...everyone there has come at some point in their short history from somewhere else. Now this is true of a good part of the world, including the British, French, and Germans and even the Egyptians...the history of mankind is a history of migration and conquest. But the United States is a young country and it is so totally a country of immigrants from diverse backgrounds. It's time for the country to remember this. Barack Hussein Obama is the true American, black/white/European/Kenyan/Muslim/Christian.

This morning, along with much of the world, I feel hope for the United States. This morning I feel comfortable with my American past, proud of it for the first time in many, many years. I pray for the safety and success of President Obama and Vice President Biden. Watching the two families embracing on the podium in Chicago live on the BBC this morning I could only think how this is truly a marvelous opportunity for healing in this country that has so much possibility for good, but that all too often has used its power without thought or conscience. Barack comes from the Arab "Baraka" or blessing. May he be one.

copyright 2008 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani

Only In Egypt

In my constant scanning of other blogs about Egypt, I've found a new one today called Life in Cairo. The author doesn't post often but she had a total gem in her August post, some YouTube videos from Egypt. I went to YouTube to get one of them. Some of the humour is definitely local, with the humour only in Arabic, so this isn't a foreigner laughing at the locals but the locals laughing at themselves, which Egyptians do with great frequency, bless their hearts. But do check her blog.

copyright 2008 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani