Going to miss Egypt

music

Someone in the neighbourhood is playing some hardcore Umm Kulthum. Yum.

I've been on the computer for ages, and now I'm pretty dehydrated.

Sad to think that I only have six weeks to go in Egypt.
Thank you to Cairo, the crazy city in which I effortlessly lived the life I want.
Thank you to the boys and men of Egypt for being so lovely to look at.
Thank you to the people for being so sweet and warm and kind and human.
Thank you to my neighbour for leaving the internet on most of the time. I wish the signal was stronger so I could watch live streaming of tennis.

I won't miss: the cigarette smoke. Here is a country that clearly does not believe in lung cancer. 80% of people in a typical social gathering smoke. Most of them smoke continuously. I learned to stop socializing after my second party in Egypt because it's sheer misery trying to find oxygen.

I would propose: Culinary Arts. Learn from the Maghreb, the Levant, Nigeria: Feast daily and be not afraid of spices and sauces.

Speaking of the arts: Cairo is cosmopolitan. It doesn't live pure old art; it has fusion instead with every influence imaginable - from Arab and Pharaonic to Turkish, French and American. It is the city of floating, yuppie restaurants and the hip, if adulterated, Egyptian-Arabic dialect after all.

Whereas most people would prefer Cairo to Sana'a, my heart won't let me forget...Sana'a made me drunk with a place-love that maybe will never be matched.