Travel | reframe

Jesus visits the U.S. Embassy

// October 31st, 2005 // 2 Comments » // Travel

On Friday night I was standing in a line outside the U.S. embassy surrounded mostly by Americans keen on a Halloween party. In front of me was a guy dressed as Jesus; robes, sandals, beard and a massive wooden cross he had made from pieces of his own bed. There is an incredibly large number of jokes that can be made while waiting in a line with Jesus and I ensured that all of them were made in due course.

The highlight occurred when entering the embassy and venturing through the security and registration area. My notes from the evening, hastily scribbled upon parchment, read-

And Jesus was stopped by a U.S. Marine who looked at the large cross and said unto Jesus, “You know this can be used to hurt people?” Jesus responded, with head downturned in knowing pain, “Only unto Me”.

That, my friends, is a parable for the modern age.

Injustice Morning

// October 18th, 2005 // No Comments » // Travel

Woke up, came online, tore my phone connection out of the wall. Internet cafe down the street is almost slower than the dial up. Still no word from the guys Im waiting to hear from. Outside hot … Im fasting, no water, trying not be grumpy…sentence structure defeated.. Children destroyed by plague, forced to live in belly of large aquatic mammal, picked to be parable for “testing”… Man, who gets picked for testing? Couldn’t I get picked for “rewarding”, or “unjustifiable discovery of playstation three?”. Damn.

Not so Fast

// October 10th, 2005 // 1 Comment » // Travel

I managed the first two days of Ramadan fasting with no problems. But then I went to Dahab. Swimming in the very salty Red Sea and spending most of the day in the sun while not drinking any water would have been all bad. So I decided to have a reverse fast and eat ungodly amounts of wonderful seafood dinners, massive three course breakfasts and a general level of debauchery that can only fall comfortably in such pleasurable surrounds.

Now I planned to return to fasting as soon as I left Dahab, but I hit another snag. Our microbus didnt get back to Cairo till 4AM, so by the time I got to the train station the following day I was dying for water. In the Koran travellers are allowed to break their fast, just one of the logistical pragmatics of Islam, so I grabbed a bottle of water. Not wanting to temp people who were fasting I hid facing the corner of a small room in the station, behind a phone box and sculled the water in no time.. But not fast enough to not get hissed at by two guys walking behind me. Again I wished I had insta-Koran knowledge and could have shouted at them the rules for travelling during Ramadan. Insta-Koran would be handy in Egypt, I would love to quote some scripture at guys on the street who hiss at women for being unveiled, or for being alone at 8pm, or being western.

One more thing before this rant ends. Egyptian guys dont wear shorts. Whats the deal? Its like 40 degrees and everyones in long pants. I say they need to get over the ol’ timey colonial days and bust out the hibiscus okanuis. I’m told that Egyptian guys consider it manly to wear pants and consider that shorts imply a lack of masculinity. This is great. Egyptian guys are generally incredibly homophobic, BUT the guys hold hands in public, not just holding it’s better described as cradling. They kiss each other hello and theres a lot of general man-man cuddling going down, but would often hiss if a man and a women greeted in such a fashion… And they think shorts aren’t masculine.

So today I’m back to fasting, still have an hour before I can drink anything and am getting a bit cranky… which is against the rules. Damn… Shorts or Pants: One Love.

Instamatic Focal Point: Dahab, Egypt

// October 9th, 2005 // No Comments » // Travel

I just returned from a beautiful weekend in Dahab, Egypt. Three days of snorkeling incredible reefs and chilling in a more than luxorious lifestyle by the Red Sea at the edge of the Sinai desert. Less talk, more photos.

And finally, so you too can chill by the Red Sea, here’s some video fotage of the scene (5 mb)

First Days Fast

// October 4th, 2005 // 2 Comments » // Travel

Well I’ve just returned from my first Iftar- literally meaning “break fast”, and no it is not ok to call it “ramadinner”, although if I was the marketing manager things might be different. The first days fast was not too bad, a bit tired by the end of the day as my brain ran out of sweet, sweet glucose to power itself upon. Iftar is a big family affair so everyone is off the streets of around sunset. I thought it was more in my sabbatical style to head down to the end of one of the piers into the ocean and break my fast surrounded by the rolling sea.

But while I sat reflecting and listening to the crash of water upon rock I met some hungry cats, so we breakfasted together on falafel and fuul. If the cats had turned into three wise men who told me to rebuild a long destroyed temple it would have been a parable.

” Fasting is an institution as old as Adam. It has been resorted to for self-purification or for some ends, noble as well as ignoble.”- Gandhi.

// September 20th, 2005 // 4 Comments » // Travel

They know how to bling in Alex. This is the 3 foot flamingo next to the pool at the cafe I dined at this evening. “Oh my Charles, the Flamingos! How Ionian”.

// September 20th, 2005 // No Comments » // Travel

A salute to the Omar, the 10-year old Oman born Egyptian who taught me how to count in Arabic

The Great Tao doth provide

// September 18th, 2005 // 3 Comments » // Travel

Two wonderful weeks in Africas biggest city led me to believe that I would not find the mental space I sought there- so I have turned north, towards the Mediterranean where for thousands of years people have sat and drank juice/traded grain/compiled existing written knowledge/looked up and thought “hmmm”. I have come to rest in fair Alexandria- or “al-ʼIskandariyyah”- a “little place” of only 3.5 million (or 6, or 9 depending on the city limits). I have only been here a few days but from the moment I felt the warm sea breeze I knew that this is the place I came for. Much more to write in days to come, but so far Im set up in my own wonderful apartment 5 minutes from the sea so there is plenty of everything for all. A salute to Deinocrates of Rhodes, committee president of the “Found Alexandria” project.

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