Hey long time no talk....a few things have been happening. We're right in the middle of a referendum on a new constitution....the first vote was last Saturday.....there were 24 hour line ups at the polling booths.... one was just down the street of Kim's apartment so road nine into Maadi was a bigger mess than usual if you can imagine that.
The new President (Dictator) Muhammad Morsi wants to know if people will except his new constitution which is Muslim religious conservative and would more closely follow Sharia law....the progressive Egyptians see this as throw back to bad old times even before Sadat and Mubarak...they mostly live in the cities....the more consertvative Egyptians much like home in Canada live in the rural areas....this first roaund of voting was in the cities...the next round goes in the rural areas. The locals I've talk with say the vote was very close here...so things don't look good if you don't want a more Muslim government.
Anyway....a few of us decided to rent a falucca for a nice little sail on the Nile....this was on Saturday as well....it's good deal....you get this big old beat up dow with lantene sails...it's about 24 feet long and eight feet wide...with a table and cushioned bench seats around it...you get a bunch of snacks and wine and beer and you float around on the Nile for about 10 bucks an hour.
You have to tip the driver a little something...but these guys are right out of the Arabian nights....turbanned long flowing jelibyn and a rotten old Egyptian tobacco cigarettre hanging out of his mouth...he knows his stuff...but all you kind of do is tack back and forth...there was a good wind...but it was cool.
We drove over in a taxi...a long ways (90 cents Canadian) and we get out at the big intersection where the falucca harbour is...and as I got out of the cab I turned around and was staring down the barrel of a big T-34 tank...beside it was a maching gun carrying armoured vehicle with a soldier sitting behind the gun....Kim was still in the car when I said "oh shit" she "what" then she got out and looked and so "oh shit". I looked around..... things seemed normal and everybody was going about their business...so we walked across the busy intersection...and I pulled out my cell phone to take a picture and the young soldier on top of the tank shook his finger and said no....so I took one anyway and disappeared into the crowd. When we got to the boat everyone was talking about the election and the tanks....there were a few old Egyptian hands there ...teachers who had experienced last year's revolution and they said everything was alright...
So after the boat ride we crossed the road again in from of the tank and the armoured car....and the last thing I'll always remember seeing is two tank men playing cards on top of the tank...and the machine gunnner....soundly asleep behind his weapon....only in Egypt....ali akbar!
The new President (Dictator) Muhammad Morsi wants to know if people will except his new constitution which is Muslim religious conservative and would more closely follow Sharia law....the progressive Egyptians see this as throw back to bad old times even before Sadat and Mubarak...they mostly live in the cities....the more consertvative Egyptians much like home in Canada live in the rural areas....this first roaund of voting was in the cities...the next round goes in the rural areas. The locals I've talk with say the vote was very close here...so things don't look good if you don't want a more Muslim government.
Anyway....a few of us decided to rent a falucca for a nice little sail on the Nile....this was on Saturday as well....it's good deal....you get this big old beat up dow with lantene sails...it's about 24 feet long and eight feet wide...with a table and cushioned bench seats around it...you get a bunch of snacks and wine and beer and you float around on the Nile for about 10 bucks an hour.
You have to tip the driver a little something...but these guys are right out of the Arabian nights....turbanned long flowing jelibyn and a rotten old Egyptian tobacco cigarettre hanging out of his mouth...he knows his stuff...but all you kind of do is tack back and forth...there was a good wind...but it was cool.
We drove over in a taxi...a long ways (90 cents Canadian) and we get out at the big intersection where the falucca harbour is...and as I got out of the cab I turned around and was staring down the barrel of a big T-34 tank...beside it was a maching gun carrying armoured vehicle with a soldier sitting behind the gun....Kim was still in the car when I said "oh shit" she "what" then she got out and looked and so "oh shit". I looked around..... things seemed normal and everybody was going about their business...so we walked across the busy intersection...and I pulled out my cell phone to take a picture and the young soldier on top of the tank shook his finger and said no....so I took one anyway and disappeared into the crowd. When we got to the boat everyone was talking about the election and the tanks....there were a few old Egyptian hands there ...teachers who had experienced last year's revolution and they said everything was alright...
So after the boat ride we crossed the road again in from of the tank and the armoured car....and the last thing I'll always remember seeing is two tank men playing cards on top of the tank...and the machine gunnner....soundly asleep behind his weapon....only in Egypt....ali akbar!
I trust you wore a tank top....can you send the photo? OD
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