in skopje, macedonia

Just arrived from Kosovo, where I admit it was a bit unnerving handing over my diplomatic passport to a busdriver to register with the border guards. I watched his crew have a bit of a conversation over it at the restaurant while they ate soup and discussed god-knows-what. But it turned out fine, as Kosovo is run by the UN and anyone is welcome. Now we have moved to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, and tomorrow we head to Lake Ohrid for a visit. Then Sofia, Bulgaria for New Year's, and back to Cairo for two weeks before heading off to Nairobi, Kenya for safari and whatever else it is one does in Kenya when on vacation.

off in belgrade

finally, clean air. i no longer gag when walking down the street. we went to shabbat services this evening in the only synagogue in belgrade, after receiving an invitation from the rabbi earlier in the afternoon. we met a beautiful jewess, but the community is small here in belgrade. at a techno>driven internet cafe now, and it's packed because a concert is soon to commence upstairs. not sure what the national drink is here, but shlivovitz is on the menu. visited the citadel and am staying in, as the rabbi put it, the cheapest hotel in belgrade - leave it to the jews.

A couple of cars wait for Secretary Powell outside the conference center.

The action never stops in Sharm, and here an intrepid press officer leads a gaggle of journalists for a photo spray.

Sharm is filled with paparrazi and Mona had had enough.

downtown cairo

children on a field trip at the citadel

The guards at Sadat's tomb.

Sadat's tomb

el-fishawy coffee shop

Friday prayers in tent makers bazaar. I priced a nice tent, by the way, fits two or three people, about $150, lovely for the living room.

the khan al khalili

outside the khan

coptic cairo

old cairo from the citadel

view from the citadel

tourists storming the citadel

sharm from the hallway of the hotel

Got lost recently while walking near Al Azhar mosque. I went right instead of left, and ended up walking down the kind of winding roads you might imagine an old middle eastern city to have. Usually I sit in a coffee shop and watch the people walk by, but this time I decided to sit in one on a thoroughly normal everyday street. I sat right outside the shop, smoking sheesha ma'asl, a dank mess of black tobacco and honey. Across from me a man sat in a chair making cheap jewelry boxes for sale in the khan. In fact, every shop seemed to be a factory of men making something for the khan - boxes, silver, copper, beads. Horses, donkeys, bikers, mopeds, and cars tried negotiating the narrow street, while kids played ball and walked about. Two guys sat next to me, and began asking me questions. Where do you live, where are you from, why are you here, are you muslim? I replied that I lived in Dokki, was a Christian, here studying arabic, and born in new york--at least half true. They were very happy to learn that I voted for Kerry, and wanted to know why Bush was starting wars. mish-aarif, I don't know. The shop closed for fifteen minutes during the call for prayer, no one prayed, and then opened back up. No one spoke English, and my broken Arabic didn't facilitate too much conversation, but there were lots of smiles and nods and slaps on the back. Then I think they invited me to a wedding, who knows.

rent control in egypt. i've wondered how egyptians get by on such little money, then i found out a bit about rents in cairo. apartments here are passed down through the generations, and stay rent controlled, so you can pay about a dollar a month for a 3 bedroom apartment, and so my 5 pound taxi-fare to work, about 75 cents, doesn't seem that low. a lady in the embassy owns a whole building, fully rented, but loses money every month paying the doorman's salary.

Blue hotel on lonely highway...Blue hotel that don't work out my way ...aaaaaa

Friday noon, listening to NileFM Flashback Cafe. All their dj's sound like Downtown Jule Brown, and mideast accents are not heard. Lots of DuranDuran. As for other radio, before coming I planned to buy some Um Kulsum--never got the chance. When I arrived I found her on the radio constantly. At first it was charming - Um Kulsum and Naguib Mahfouz everywhere - now...

First Friday I've been in Cairo awake before 3pm. When I went outside for cake I found almost all the shops closed. The sidestreet had turned into a mosque, carpets on the ground, cars pushed back, and 100 men sitting crosslegged facing an empty shop being used as a preacher's dais. Some were praying, latecomers I imagine, but most listened to the preacher's amplified voice. He was giving quite a sermon.