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You may have noticed that I have not posted anything in this tribe since June 25 (at least, not before last night when I went on a posting rampage).
The reason: I just spent a delightful week in Egypt with my friend Caroline Afifi and her husband Sherif. Their family has a flat there, and she invited me to come experience with her the side of Egypt that tourists never get to see.
Things we did:
* Went to the Mediterranean coast, to a villa owned by one of her friends. (It was WONDERFUL!) I gave Caroline's friend (our hostess) a nice backrub - she was having back pain, and I figured it would be a nice way to thank her for having us!
* Went to a hairdresser in Heliopolis (suburb of Cairo). I got my hair trimmed, shampooed, blow-dried, and curled. I also got a French-style pedicure. (In Egypt, when you get a pedicure, they not only do all the things you'd expect of a pedicure in the U.S., but they also use threading to remove hair from your toes!) I didn't take pictures, but I can tell you that it looks like any salon you might see in the US, with hairdressers having individual stations, some hood-style hair dryers, some shampoo sinks with the indentation for your neck, etc.
* Went to Eman Zaki's atelier one day, where I ordered a new purple dress custom-made for me. Eman looked me over and sketched out a design that she felt would be right for my body. I liked it, and I'm looking forward to receiving it!
* Went to three different night spots that only Egyptians go to and witnessed "real" shaabi dancing. One of them is so determined to avoid being overrun by tourists that you have to have an advance reservation, and the only way to obtain the reservation is to call the owner on his mobile phone. One of the three clubs had belly dancers performing, while the other two were just places where the patrons would get up and dance. I loved watching the dancers at the club that had them!!!! I think there were about 6 or 7 of them altogether, each dancing in turn, and the instant she left the stage the next one would come out. My favorite was the one who balanced a beer bottle on her head!
* Visited Sara Farouk, originally from the UK and now living in Egypt. She currently works for Eman Zaki, helping her run the business. I've met Sara briefly a number of times in the past, back when she was helping Raqia run the Ahlan wa Sahlan festival, but until now I'd never had a chance to have a real conversation with her. It was great fun!
* Visited the vending portion of the Ahlan wa Sahlan festival and ordered 2 custom-made-for-me dresses from Hanan Mahmoud. She's the one who made the midnight blue dress and the burgundy dress in this tribe's photo gallery.
* Had lunch one day with Morocco.
Anyway, Caroline's and Sherif's flat didn't have Internet access, and we were too busy to go to an Internet cafe. So I didn't get online at all while I was in Egypt. The week flew by, and I had a fabulous time. But I swear, I will NEVER NEVER NEVER again consider EgyptAir when booking flights between the US and Egypt. The last time I used them was in 1999, and that was such a bad experience that I've avoided them ever since - until this year. And I was punished for softening and trying them again. They took off 2 1/2 hours late, which made me miss my connection to the US and delayed my arrival home by 19 hours. Grrrr. And then they screwed up some of the details of rebooking me on a new flight.
The reason: I just spent a delightful week in Egypt with my friend Caroline Afifi and her husband Sherif. Their family has a flat there, and she invited me to come experience with her the side of Egypt that tourists never get to see.
Things we did:
* Went to the Mediterranean coast, to a villa owned by one of her friends. (It was WONDERFUL!) I gave Caroline's friend (our hostess) a nice backrub - she was having back pain, and I figured it would be a nice way to thank her for having us!
* Went to a hairdresser in Heliopolis (suburb of Cairo). I got my hair trimmed, shampooed, blow-dried, and curled. I also got a French-style pedicure. (In Egypt, when you get a pedicure, they not only do all the things you'd expect of a pedicure in the U.S., but they also use threading to remove hair from your toes!) I didn't take pictures, but I can tell you that it looks like any salon you might see in the US, with hairdressers having individual stations, some hood-style hair dryers, some shampoo sinks with the indentation for your neck, etc.
* Went to Eman Zaki's atelier one day, where I ordered a new purple dress custom-made for me. Eman looked me over and sketched out a design that she felt would be right for my body. I liked it, and I'm looking forward to receiving it!
* Went to three different night spots that only Egyptians go to and witnessed "real" shaabi dancing. One of them is so determined to avoid being overrun by tourists that you have to have an advance reservation, and the only way to obtain the reservation is to call the owner on his mobile phone. One of the three clubs had belly dancers performing, while the other two were just places where the patrons would get up and dance. I loved watching the dancers at the club that had them!!!! I think there were about 6 or 7 of them altogether, each dancing in turn, and the instant she left the stage the next one would come out. My favorite was the one who balanced a beer bottle on her head!
* Visited Sara Farouk, originally from the UK and now living in Egypt. She currently works for Eman Zaki, helping her run the business. I've met Sara briefly a number of times in the past, back when she was helping Raqia run the Ahlan wa Sahlan festival, but until now I'd never had a chance to have a real conversation with her. It was great fun!
* Visited the vending portion of the Ahlan wa Sahlan festival and ordered 2 custom-made-for-me dresses from Hanan Mahmoud. She's the one who made the midnight blue dress and the burgundy dress in this tribe's photo gallery.
* Had lunch one day with Morocco.
Anyway, Caroline's and Sherif's flat didn't have Internet access, and we were too busy to go to an Internet cafe. So I didn't get online at all while I was in Egypt. The week flew by, and I had a fabulous time. But I swear, I will NEVER NEVER NEVER again consider EgyptAir when booking flights between the US and Egypt. The last time I used them was in 1999, and that was such a bad experience that I've avoided them ever since - until this year. And I was punished for softening and trying them again. They took off 2 1/2 hours late, which made me miss my connection to the US and delayed my arrival home by 19 hours. Grrrr. And then they screwed up some of the details of rebooking me on a new flight.
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Re: On my way home from Egypt!
Fri, July 3, 2009 - 8:32 AMWelcome home, Shira!
Thanks for sharing your info with us and get all rested up!
Hugs,
Azeeza
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Re: On my way home from Egypt!
Fri, July 3, 2009 - 1:58 PMI'm so jealous, but happy that you had a good time. Would love to hear more about the shabbi and other dancing that you saw. There seems to be a lot of mixed messages about the dancing coming out of Egypt these days. Would love to hear your observations and POV.
Tammy
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Re: On my way home from Egypt!
Sat, July 4, 2009 - 3:36 AMSounds like you had a great time! I'm hoping to go again in September ;o)
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Re: On my way home from Egypt!
Sat, July 4, 2009 - 10:11 AMAhhhhh, I finally finished the trip home, and am writing this from my living room! It usually takes me about 24 hours to get home from Egypt, from the time I leave my hotel until the time I walk in the door at my house. This time it took 41 hours, and it's all because EgyptAir had a 2 1/2 hour delay in leaving Cairo that caused me to miss my connection in London. Grrrrr.
I drank more Pepsi in one week than I normally do in a whole year!
Tammy, to answer your question... in Egypt, shaabi is considered a musical style, NOT a dance style. Shaabi dance, in the eyes of Egyptians, is simply getting up to do social dancing with your friends. Now, social dancing isn't something you would put on a theatrical stage, so you don't see people in Egypt claiming to perform shaabi style.
I'm rather bemused by all these "shaabi dance" workshops people are offering in the U.S., because they're basically teaching generic belly dance to shaabi music.
I think it's easiest to explain the concept by drawing an analogy to another dance form. Think about the waltz. Waltz music is played at many a wedding reception and people dance to it. But the waltz is also one of the dance styles used in international ballroom competitions. The dance technique employed by a champion on the ballroom dance competition is likely to be much more refined and elegant than that employed by the typical wedding guest at a reception. And so it is with shaabi - shaabi is like wedding guests waltzing at a reception, while Oriental is like the people on the ballroom competition circuit. One is ordinary people moving in ordinary-person ways, while the other is highly stylized.
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Re: On my way home from Egypt!
Sat, July 4, 2009 - 4:57 PMWelcome back! I do have a question - I have always wanted to go to Egypt and now that I dance, I have a great reason. The thing is I would love to go with my family to experience the country but also for me to experience bellydance opportunities (learning opportunities, costume shopping, etc). Does anyone out there offer an event that would allow for something like this? Or shall the twain never meet? (and feel free to delete this and tell me to put it as a separate post if applicable) -
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Re: On my way home from Egypt!
Sat, July 4, 2009 - 5:22 PMCheck out the MANY dancer sponsored tours to both Egypt and Turkey. And the ASWS (okay, my spelling chip just had a brain fart) Festival. They allow plenty of dancer "experience" but also usually have a provision for a non-dancing accompanying guest. I know Oasis Dance Camp is going to Luxor in February 2010 and may have a couple of spots available (I was going to go but unfortunately had some injury issues and lack of work issues and won't be able to go). Morocco also runs regular trips to Egypt.
There's LOTS of opportunities, just keep your eyes open.
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Re: On my way home from Egypt!
Sat, July 4, 2009 - 5:32 PMIn the past, Morocco has organized some of her tours to allow for time at the Ahlan wa Sahlan festival followed by an optional Nile cruise. That sort of thing would be perfect for they type of experience you're looking for.
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