tying up loose ends…
I am writing this from Amsterdam sitting on the Prinsengracht on a perfect sunny day. Life doesn’t get much better than this. An incredible ending to a wonderfully memorable trip.
I haven’t done anything really noteworthy in the past couple of days. Just trolling around the city without a map, acting like a Europhile. Amsterdam offers all the elements of a perfect marriage – security, a sense of humour, mutual attraction and just enough of a naughty streak to keep things fresh and exciting. I may end up spending so much time here I will be coerced into learning Dutch 😉
Apparently I also need to learn how to make Dutch pancakes. This is the first time I’ve had them. Have now had three different versions of varying quality and Peter taught me how to eat them like a local rather than a tourist 🙂 At least I can ride a bike, know how to dance at some passable level, drink beer, am learning to appreciate football and have a sense of humour – so I am partly on my way to becoming Dutch. I will draw the line at wearing orange however. My least favourite colour of them all.
The point of this posting though is mostly to pull together the missing pieces from Egypt…
I realized that I had missed Abu Simbel in my temple list. Built by Ramses II (the longest reigning pharaoh) and moved from its original location and reconstructed as part of a UNESCO project to protect it from water damage after the Aswan Dam was constructed, it is one of the most iconic sites in Egypt.
I am still working on getting all the gods straight – and following their path through the Pharaohs, the Greeks, the Romans, the Ottoman Empire and everybody else that wanted their piece of the famous country on the Nile. I think Abu Simbel is in honour of the falcon god along with another one or two others… the cow goddess maybe? What is really impressive are the statues of Ramses II at different ages (he lived into his nineties, a really impressive feat at that time).
We did a few other things that did not involve sand, sun, temples or tombs. One of the most relaxing activities was a felucca ride on the Nile. This is how most Egyptians tour the Nile. We were all a bit concerned we had to wear life jackets for the ride but it was very calm and peaceful so we decided they were more for show.
Our other cultural adventures were less relaxing for me. On the second night on the boat they organized a belly dancer and a whirling dervish. Taking photos of both of them definitely a challenge but watching them highly entertaining. We were particularly wowed by the whirling dervish. Obviously he doesn’t get dizzy very easily!
I must look too friendly because I was perfectly happy just taking photos of the belly dancer – but, no, I had to be dragged up with her immediately. I was really impressed by her ability to shake her booty but I was more the comedy act part of the show 🙂
Apparently my lousy belly dancing was easily overlooked because the next night was “Egypt night”and we all dressed up in gallabeyahs and were supposed to be entertained by Egyptian music after dinner. The tour info DID say everyone would be dancing. What I hadn’t appreciated was that I would be dancing EVERY song!
I just wanted to get some good photos but that made me obvious so Khalid had me on the dance floor by the second song. I kept trying to leave but if I managed to sit out an entire song I would be dragged back up.
Luckily for me the guys were great dancers so I just had to try and not step on their toes. A few times they got a whole crowd on the floor and tried to teach us complicated dance moves. I imagine it looked pretty funny if you were lucky enough to be sitting on the sidelines.
I had taken advantage of our relaxed schedule that day and actually got more than four hours of sleep. What I hadn’t realized is that all the gallabeyahs left would be size L and up. Tito tried to convince me if I had woken earlier I could have purchased something in my size. I’m not sure… He was very gracious and tried to see if he could make my size 4 garment (I was a size 1 according to him) seem less like a sack… apparently it didn’t stop people from asking me to dance…
The highlight of the night for me was when they played YMCA. The guys knew ALL the moves – I had forgotten there were so many. Since I couldn’t get anyone on the dance floor at my party, I finally got to dance to one of the songs on my birthday soundtrack! And I can still twist! Almost to the floor… and back up again – without breaking a hip. The Egyptian guys were impressed!
Tomorrow Egyptians go to the polls for their historic elections. Let’s keep our fingers crossed they will get a decent government that can steer them down the path that will rid them of that pesky “developing economy” label. There are definitely parts of Egypt that feel like a developed western economy. But lots of Egyptians are still struggling economically.
The Egyptians I met were easy to fall for and to use their lingo – it will break my heart if they don’t get the kind of government they so richly deserve and valiantly fought for.
We end on a personal note – a huge thank you to Riccardo, Sonia, Sameh, Tito and Mohammed for taking such amazing care of me in Egypt – my mom really didn’t need to worry – but they all know about her 😉
Will post some more photos over the next couple of days to provide some visual cues for the text.
life on planetm 
bringing the globe to life…
I’m not sure the exact origins of my obsession with travel but even as a child who got carsick, I just popped the gravol and waited anxiously beside the car waiting to leave my neighborhood behind. I used to spend hours exploring an actual globe planning all the places I would see when I grew up and was in charge of the agenda.
That globe is now politically inaccurate. I never imagined that world would change and borders would be redrawn and countries renamed. I thought that only happened in history. As a child, I thought the world was a static place and didn’t appreciate that you needed a historical date to understand if a map was actually correct.
As a modern traveller, it’s hard to imagine the wonder – and confusion – of the early explorers. We get there faster, with a much higher level of comfort and – hopefully – with a greater understanding of the history and culture of the place we are arriving in.
Of course, not every traveller does that. Talking about Egypt on three continents over the past few weeks has really illustrated the divide in the average person’s knowledge of what is happening in the world at large. I’m not sure if it’s the same of everyone but I find once I have actually visited a place I am more personally invested when I hear the name in the news. I have usually engaged with some of the locals and it’s now a place where I know someone and where I understand the culture. I have context to the information in the news report.
I was proud of myself in Amsterdam as I managed to figure out Oude Kerk likely meant “old church” in Dutch so looked for a tower that might be an old church and found the World Press Photo exhibit without having to ask for help at the hotel!
The exhibition is incredible. You can see photos on the website and the exhibition starts in Amsterdam and then travels the world so you might be able to catch it in some other locale. I had heard of World Press but didn’t know much about it. The headquarters are in Amsterdam and its goal is to celebrate photojournalism around the world. The exhibition I saw was the annual photo contest winners.
http://www.worldpressphoto.org/
At the end I bought a few postcards as a memento and told the person at the register how great the exhibition was – which resulted in an interesting conversation about how we connect with and learn about the world. The photos were stunning. It was, of course, a contest to judge the work of the world’s best. What I hadn’t anticipated though was the impact of the story, the journalism part of the word.
One of the most poignant parts of the conversation was talking about Rémi Ochlik. He was the first prize winner in the general news – stories – category. The story that garnered him the prize was “The Battle for Libya.” You look at the photos and think – wow, there are a lot of big guns in those photos! I like my travel a little less dangerous. The reason we talked about him is because he was killed in Syria in February. A number of photojournalists were killed in the last year and there was a tribute to them as part of the exhibition.
I don’t have the personality to want to report from war zones. But I have a lot of respect for the people who do. Without them, information would not be exchanged and there would be little hope for improvement in so many parts of the world.
I don’t think it’s necessary to become a photojournalist and report from Homs to have a positive impact on the world. A few decades ago, I met a retired school teacher as part of a school assignment. She lived in a small prairie town but she had been to almost every country in the world, including communist Russia back in the cold war days. I was fascinated. She gave me great advice that I continue to use every time I travel. Know the local laws and customs. Follow them. Be friendly, curious and respectful. You will not come to harm. But you will learn about the world.
Last night I met a guy who has been to 68 countries! I was humbled. It was so refreshing to talk to someone from North America who shared my opinion that the timing of my trip to Egypt was brilliant. It was exciting to stand in Amsterdam at the World Press Photo show and see all the photos from Egypt… and know I was just about to step into history in the making, not just read about it later in a dusty textbook.
And getting out there in the great wild world and paying attention expands your world view and makes eavesdropping more entertaining 🙂 While waiting for the bathroom on the plane home, I overheard part of a fascinating conversation. A Dutch guy telling a very well-dressed African guy – “your countries are the future.” I’m not sure where the African guy was from. The Dutch guy was talking about opportunities in Namibia and how Africans are waking up to the economic potential of their countries instead of letting themselves be exploited by dictators and western multinationals. An “African spring” would be good for the entire world. Here’s hoping… 🙂
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