A post with no name...

I've been in Cairo for the past week and a half, today I finished packing up my flat in Aswan and tomorrow will be my last day at the office.  The process of going home has felt long already, the goodbyes started last week, and I've got two weeks to go before I hear a welcome that doesn't include the word Egypt.  This post has no name because even as I write this I can't tell you exactly how I feel about going home without it becoming a confused rambling collection of the thoughts and emotions that run through my head everyday like someone put my ipod on shuffle.

I did find this today though.  Someone gave it to me more than 10 years ago when the life of a 13 year old felt complicated.  Turns out 24 isn't that much different, the lessons just appear differently.

After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul

And you learn that love doesn't mean security

And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts

And presents aren't promises

And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open

With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child

And you learn to build all your roads on today, because tomorrows ground is too uncertain and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight

After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much

So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone else to bring you flowers

And you learn that you really can endure

That you really are strong

And you really do have worth

And you learn and learn

With every goodbye you learn

Two weeks to go.  See you soon.

Symbols of Egypt

As a foreigner stopping over or passing through a country such as Egypt, a place so different from what might be considered 'home', it can be easy to give in to the temptation to make judgements, justified or otherwise, of the life we find ourselves surrounded by.  Nine months does not by any means make one an expert, in reality I have barely scratched the surface, however every now and then you happen upon a symbol that explains things better than words could.

That being said my friend Emily lives in downtown Cairo across from a massive rundown and abandoned house.  Sitting on the balcony having a drink before dinner we decided it needed to be explored.  All it took was 10 LE and a smile and we were in.  

It turns out it was built in 1899 for Prince Saiid Halim Pasha, whose father would have ruled Egypt had his nephew not upstaged him.  With the British occupation Prince Halim's assets were confiscated and the palace was turned into a boys preparatory school in 1939 and was considered the chosen place of education for the sons of the Egyptian elite.  "With the extinction of titles and Egypt's old bourgeoisie, the palace became the unlucky ward of the ministry of education. Thereafter, the deterioration came in steady increments fueled by ignorance and greed. A dispensary here, an office for the ruling party there, plus the indiscriminate building of brick walls on the balustrades and the pilfering of the priceless pink marble and other rare historical rarities. The rest is shameless history."

Wandering through the house you can imagine how grand it must have been in the beginning when it was well cared for, although the cartoon drawings on the walls might not quite fit the architect's intended style.  Inefficiency, neglect, chaos, nepotism, wealth and a losing battle with time and the desert dust, all in the life of a building in Cairo.  We also thought it'd make a great spot for party.

There was supposed to be pictures with this post but I'm in Egypt...enough said so if you want to see what I'm talking about check it out here.