Diaries, Embassies And Falookas

Multi-topic-post :

- It's interesting to read someone's diary. Not their private diary of course, I mean their online diary, the one they have there for public access. It kind of feeds your curiosity without being nosy. Because one way or the other we all have a little bit of curiosity within us. At least I would like to think so, because I don't want to feel that I'm too curious and nosy.

- I was in Zamalek the day before yesterday and on my way to where I parked my car there was an embassy. I was curious to know which embassy it was because I didn't recognize the flag. So I stopped in front of it and took a look at the sign, then decided to ask the guard (3askari) that was standing in front of the building about it. He went silent for a few seconds and concentrated real hard to remember the name. And then a smile was drawn on his face as if he was secretly saying "Eureka!!". Then he said.. "The Embassy of Bab Zewela" ( that's the name of one of the fortified gates to Cairo in the Fatimid reign). It turned out that what he meant to say was Venezuela!!!

- So a couple of days ago I went with my friends on a "falooka" ride. A falooka for those who don't know it is an Egyptian name for a small boat that goes on little cruises in the Nile.


The man who was sailing the boat was amazing; He was really old, and he's from upper Egypt. His name was Shaaban. We asked him when we got on the falooka if he had a cassette player (they usually install cassettes that you put in your car in the falooka ) so we could put some music on. He said that they got so noisy that the coast guards told them to remove all cassette players from the boats. But he reassured us that it wasn't a problem because he had an alternative: he'll sing some ballads and songs from his home town. And so he did....

It was extremely fun to sit there and listen to him sing his songs and in between tell us his story and how he raised his 8 daughters and got all of them well educated and then happily married except for the youngest who is still in school. He told us about how his wife had passed away and is in heaven now. He told us stories about some of the manors on the river banks and who owned them... He was a charming old man in his own way.

OK! here's what I'm most excited about! A video of him singing one of the songs.

Enjoy :)