Today is the release date of the new film The Last King of Scotland. It is a story about Idi Amin's dictatorship in Uganda and his personal relationship with a (fictionalized) White physician. It occurs to me that we have seen a lot of Western-made thrillers in the last few years with African crises of one sort or another functioning as a supporting character, while white Westerners enjoy the lead roles and get the screen time. This new self-proclaimed thriller comes on the heels of The Interpreter, The Constant Gardener, and Lord of War. It will be interesting to see what the balance is in The Last King of Scotland between a story about Amin and Uganda and a crowd-pleasing thriller. Hopefully both aspects are interesting.
I thought I'd point out a very interesting 1974 documentary on Idi Amin, General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait. The title ironically refers to Amin's charm, naivete, and charisma; his assumption that he is in command of all social situations, including the making of the film. Based on the kind of unguarded moments that most filmmakers could only dream of, the German director Barbet Schroeder allows Amin plenty of rope to hang himself. He even went so far as to score the film with accordion music made by Amin.
9.27.2006
9.22.2006
The Global Day for Darfur
September 17 was the Global Day for Darfur coordinated by major human rights organizations across the world to pressure the government of Sudan to accept UN troops within their borders. Cairo was one of several cities that hosted the Day for Darfur, which took place at the American University in Cairo, hosted by Student Action for Refugees (STAR). Sudanese music, dance, food, crafts, and a film festival on the Darfur issue marked the occasion. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Research summarizes their reasons for participating in the Day for Darfur here (English version).
It was wonderful to see the mingling of Sudanese and other residents and students who came together to celebrate these shared concerns. I thought of taking pictures but recognize that this is a politically sensitive issue in Egypt and that many people may not have been comfortable with their photo being taken. The internet is full of commentary on Darfur, but I'll just write a little blurb here on the major issues as I understand them.
Currently, various rebel groups based in Darfur fight with the Janjaweed militia, who are paid by the government to destroy villages and assisted in their operations by the government's air force and police. Some rebel groups in Darfur have signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government but this has intensified the fighting of other rebel groups with the government. The African Union recently extended the mandate of its 7,000 peacekeeping troops until the end of 2006. But this is not an adequately provisioned or mandated force to effectively deter fighting in a region the size of France.
Though the atrocities in Darfur have been reported by human rights NGOs and many media outlets for years, the adequate political will necessary for finding a workable end to violence and dispossession of land has not been found. The violence stems from political and economic marginalization of the Fur and other ethnic groups in western Sudan, a separate decades-long civil war between the government and rebels in the south, and the government's expanding interest in land for oil exploration. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the conflict, with millions internally displaced and others becoming refugees in Chad and other neighboring states. Rape, property destruction, poisoning of wells, and theft of livestock are widely established allegations as to the government's tactics in addition to murder. As many refugee camps are unreachable by humanitarian groups after the recent increase in fighting, malnutrition and starvation have become more likely among camp residents. See what Doctors Without Borders has to say about their decreasing access to Darfur camps here.
The recently-passed UN Resolution 1706 would add peacekeepers to the UN's current humanitarian role in Darfur. Unfortunately, this resolution hinges on the consent of the Sudanese government, which has not been granted.
It was wonderful to see the mingling of Sudanese and other residents and students who came together to celebrate these shared concerns. I thought of taking pictures but recognize that this is a politically sensitive issue in Egypt and that many people may not have been comfortable with their photo being taken. The internet is full of commentary on Darfur, but I'll just write a little blurb here on the major issues as I understand them.
Currently, various rebel groups based in Darfur fight with the Janjaweed militia, who are paid by the government to destroy villages and assisted in their operations by the government's air force and police. Some rebel groups in Darfur have signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government but this has intensified the fighting of other rebel groups with the government. The African Union recently extended the mandate of its 7,000 peacekeeping troops until the end of 2006. But this is not an adequately provisioned or mandated force to effectively deter fighting in a region the size of France.
Though the atrocities in Darfur have been reported by human rights NGOs and many media outlets for years, the adequate political will necessary for finding a workable end to violence and dispossession of land has not been found. The violence stems from political and economic marginalization of the Fur and other ethnic groups in western Sudan, a separate decades-long civil war between the government and rebels in the south, and the government's expanding interest in land for oil exploration. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the conflict, with millions internally displaced and others becoming refugees in Chad and other neighboring states. Rape, property destruction, poisoning of wells, and theft of livestock are widely established allegations as to the government's tactics in addition to murder. As many refugee camps are unreachable by humanitarian groups after the recent increase in fighting, malnutrition and starvation have become more likely among camp residents. See what Doctors Without Borders has to say about their decreasing access to Darfur camps here.
The recently-passed UN Resolution 1706 would add peacekeepers to the UN's current humanitarian role in Darfur. Unfortunately, this resolution hinges on the consent of the Sudanese government, which has not been granted.
9.12.2006
Two Weeks at The Lotus Hotel
The dominant color schemes of the Cairo Airport's Terminal 2 are alternating shades of grey and smudge. Though adequate in design, it is apparently a far cry from its glamorous, well-lit older sister, Terminal 1. The day I arrived in Cairo, customs was apparently a voluntary process for foreigners and I quickly emerged from the baggage claim area with all my bags intact to find Ahmed, a Lotus Hotel driver, in a small sea of drivers and Egyptian families and friends. He was holding a sign with my name on it. How wonderful to know that this was written in English and all had gone according to plan. Lufthansa, the Cairo Airport, and Ahmed were a wonderful combination.
The cab ride to the hotel was very exciting since, as a foreigner, I was not accustomed to the radical driving and pedestrianship which make Cairo streets so festive. Once at 12 Talaat Harb, I paid Ahmed and proceeded to take the ascinsir to the reception desk on the seventh floor. And thus began my strange romance with the Lotus Hotel.
The visual culture of the place spoke volumes about the hotel's history in an arcane dialect. 1956 was the year of the revolution and the hotel was founded well before then. Yet much of the Hotel - from its strange and unkempt "Solarium" on the rooftop, to the Polo Bar and Lounge with its satellited classic Arab films and gaudy comedies, to the worn wallpaper and tile of the rooms, the whole package seemed to achieve a 1970s aesthetic that was looking back to the 1940s. It was like going to the living room of grandparents, or an old Elks Lodge, or into a Ben Katchor comic strip.
And it was comfortable. Near the university and sort of in the center of Wust-Al-Balad, the downtown area, this is a good section of the city to get one's bearings in. And once the AC is on this time of year, the Lotus Hotel is a good place to sleep and recover from those first exhausting excursions. Its also a good place to get something to eat and to chill with staff when they are on break. Both of these became real pleasures for me.
I would look into apartment listings, poke around in the Wust-Al-Balad and Garden City areas, and then return to the Lotus to chat with staff in my very limited Arabic and some English, and to eat dinner. This usually involved soup, a delicious buttery plate of rice, a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers and then the main entree, usually chicken and french fries. I tended to top this off with a large bottle of water. From my conversations with Ibrahim and Samiira the cleaners, Ayman and Achmed the bellhops, and the two Muhammads in the dining room, I had some wonderful exchanges and got some good help with Arabic. I learned that tourism in Egypt is in decline and that during this recession, money is scarce. Many people had taken multiple shifts or were working six days a week to make up for a decline in tips, which is really where the money is if you work in a hotel here, or anywhere, I would guess.
When I finally left for my apartment, I was beset upon by some of the staff asking for additional baksheesh (tips). This left a strange feeling in my stomach; a combination of a sense that I'd been duped, and maybe that I just hadn't been tipping enough throughout my time there. Even my taxi driver caught the whiff of a wayward Amrikki and demanded far more than I would have expected, just because I was leaving a hotel. But I was just leaving the Lotus Hotel, I had thought to myself, as if it was my house or something. Ah, well. I still plan to go back and visit.
9.01.2006
The Death of Naguib Mahfouz
The Egyptian writer, intellectual, and civil servant Naguib Mahfouz died of old age on August 30. A very prominent and sometimes controversial figure in modern Egyptian literature and society, Mahfouz became the first Arab recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.
His famous book The Cairo Trilogy was only published in English in 1991, over 30 years after it first appeared in Arabic. This is one of maybe five books I brought with me to Cairo and I regret to say I haven't finished it yet.
Al-Ahram's coverage of his passing is here. You can find the Guardian obituary here.
I took this picture of a statue of Mahfouz in Midan Sphinx (Sphinx Square).
A Note on the Links
My reasons for posting the links on the right are probably clear enough based on the rest of my blog and my little prologue. Most links go to English language sites, and for the news sites, some link to coverage of the Middle East and Africa instead of a home page. Hopefully, these links will pique your curiosity and provide for some interesting reading on human rights, current affairs, or perhaps just what's happening for me here in general. At the risk of sounding a bit defensive, I don't necessarily condone every viewpoint you'll find in these.
I'll likely change some of the links over time to make them more coherent or relevant, and suggestions are welcome.
I'll likely change some of the links over time to make them more coherent or relevant, and suggestions are welcome.
Prologue: Cutting the Blog Ribbon
I've had two weeks of firsts here, since arriving in Al-Qahirah on August 19.
I took my first Cairo taxi, stayed in my first Cairo hotel, saw the Nile for the first time, ate many local foods for the first time, made my first visit to campus and met professors, heard my first muezzin call out from a mosque, made my first apartment search, purchased my first ever cell phone, took my first trip on the metro system, fought valiantly against diarrhea for the first time in a long time, saw my first Cairene bachelor party, met my new roommate for the first time, was "invited" into a perfume shop for the first time and learned quickly how to refuse a sale, took my first Arabic lessons, and exchanged my first Arabic words with native speakers.
And I'm starting this blog, another first. You can imagine how long I took struggling to find a good title. The Cairo Connection seemed too espionage-oriented. The Nile Monitor seemed too tongue-in-cheek. And to my dismay, From Cairo, With Love was already taken. So, since I'm interested in the everyday details of life here, I thought Cairene Routines would be a fitting rhyme. As you probably know, I tend to be skeptical of Westerners -- particularly grizzled expatriates or wild-eyed backpackers -- who revel in being informed guides to an Exotic or developing society. Respect for local people and culture is one thing, but I can't somehow become a "native" tourist e-guide for foreigners and don't think this is even a worthwhile goal. So my intent here is basically to keep you posted on what I'm up to, what I'm learning and thinking about, and who I'm spending my time with. I also want to use a form that you can refer to at your own pace and that won't stress your email account with too great a demand for memory.
I plan to post when I feel I have something good to share, maybe every week or two. I want to give snapshots, reflections, anecdotes, and fragments of things, because I think these may be more interesting than political diatribes, or on the other extreme, too-precious personal feelings. If you want to leave comments, anyone is now able to do so (following my approval of the comment).
Its good to be starting this little project and I hope you enjoy it. But we can't let it substitute for email or letters or phone calls or skyping . . .
An Epilogue for the Prologue:
If you ever want to start your own blog, you can do so for free at blogger.com. Even though it seems like these are sprouting like weeds, as my Dad is wont to say, "There's always room for a good one." In case you are interested, Reporters Without Borders offers an interesting handbook for bloggers in particularly difficult places.
I took my first Cairo taxi, stayed in my first Cairo hotel, saw the Nile for the first time, ate many local foods for the first time, made my first visit to campus and met professors, heard my first muezzin call out from a mosque, made my first apartment search, purchased my first ever cell phone, took my first trip on the metro system, fought valiantly against diarrhea for the first time in a long time, saw my first Cairene bachelor party, met my new roommate for the first time, was "invited" into a perfume shop for the first time and learned quickly how to refuse a sale, took my first Arabic lessons, and exchanged my first Arabic words with native speakers.
And I'm starting this blog, another first. You can imagine how long I took struggling to find a good title. The Cairo Connection seemed too espionage-oriented. The Nile Monitor seemed too tongue-in-cheek. And to my dismay, From Cairo, With Love was already taken. So, since I'm interested in the everyday details of life here, I thought Cairene Routines would be a fitting rhyme. As you probably know, I tend to be skeptical of Westerners -- particularly grizzled expatriates or wild-eyed backpackers -- who revel in being informed guides to an Exotic or developing society. Respect for local people and culture is one thing, but I can't somehow become a "native" tourist e-guide for foreigners and don't think this is even a worthwhile goal. So my intent here is basically to keep you posted on what I'm up to, what I'm learning and thinking about, and who I'm spending my time with. I also want to use a form that you can refer to at your own pace and that won't stress your email account with too great a demand for memory.
I plan to post when I feel I have something good to share, maybe every week or two. I want to give snapshots, reflections, anecdotes, and fragments of things, because I think these may be more interesting than political diatribes, or on the other extreme, too-precious personal feelings. If you want to leave comments, anyone is now able to do so (following my approval of the comment).
Its good to be starting this little project and I hope you enjoy it. But we can't let it substitute for email or letters or phone calls or skyping . . .
An Epilogue for the Prologue:
If you ever want to start your own blog, you can do so for free at blogger.com. Even though it seems like these are sprouting like weeds, as my Dad is wont to say, "There's always room for a good one." In case you are interested, Reporters Without Borders offers an interesting handbook for bloggers in particularly difficult places.
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