Community Times October Issue 2016

October 2016

Since 1996

In tune wIth the CommunIty for 20 years

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the genuiSeS: essam youssef’s laTesT TV show

TherapeuTic cure for The body & soul

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Publisher Live Colors, Nicosia Managing Partner Najla Riad Associate Partners Ahmed Samy Mohamed Maher

EditoriAl dEPArtMEnt Editor-in-chief Moguib Roshdy Acting Editor Najla Riad Editor & Social Media Manager Tamer Hegab

WritErS Ahmed Kafafi, Maria Krizh, Steve Gooch, Mona El Husseiny, Layal al Rostom, Enas El Masry, Basma Bishay

Art dEPArtMEnt Art director Khadiga El Badan

It is alright to make a living out of street food, but it is not alright to lug your cart, leaving a mess in the street behind you.

Senior Graphic designer Marina Raafat

SAlES dEPArtMEnt

Editor’s Note

Sales director Rania Halim Sales Manager Sayed Kamel Account Executive Michel Nagy

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his month’s issue is full of topics that will be quite an eye-opener to the reader with articles such as the story of the people of the Malahat, to encouraging stories of young people who endeavored to start an application that would be essential for a sustainable environment yet also an income-earning project for them and others like the young lady who ventured to try deep sea diving in spite of her fear of the sea water.

There are also quite a good number of events coming up this month. Every Saturday at the small hall of the Cairo Opera House, you can enjoy an opera that is played live straight from the Metropolitan Opera. This is quite exciting because with the large screen, you will get the sense that you are actually sitting among the audience in New York, watching the same opera at the same time.

The famous Antonio Gades Company will also be coming to Cairo starting October 24th to perform Carmen. Gades who died in 2004, was popular for his choreography and art form on the international stage.

Production MAnAGEr Enas Adly

AdMiniStrAtion dEPArtMEnt distribution Manager Rana Ezzat office Manager Magda Adib legal consultant Ashraf Soliman Financial consultants Hazem Abdel Tawab Ahmed Abbas

office clerk Mahmoud Abdel Aziz office custodian: Mohamed Ali distribution Al Ahram, Al Akhbar, Next Media Mohandessin, Zamalek, Heliopolis, Maadi, Nasr City, New Cairo, 6 October City, Sheikh Zayed City

The Rotary Foundation is raising funds for the Autism Acceptance Community this month with a concert conducted by world renowned pianist Ramzi Yassa. This will be held on October 28th at the Manasterly Palace at 7 pm.

Yassa has performed in halls as renowned as the Vienna’s Musikverein, the Berliner Philharmonie, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Barbican Centre, the Royal Albert Hall or the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, collaborating with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Charles Groves and Vladimir Ashkenazy. He is a recipient of the Liszt Centennial Commemorative Medal as well as the 2007 Egyptian State Prize for Music, for the first time awarded to a performing musician.

To Support the cause by attending the concert, contact: Nayera Nour (nayeranour@hotmail.com) mobile: 01001030033 Indjie Hafez (ihafez@gmail.com)

The Editor

Address: 48 Abdel Moneim Hafez Street, Midan El Sabaa’ Emarat, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt Tel/Fax: (+202) 2290 8127 - 2415 8762 Mobile: 0100 005 2322 - 0100 005 2323 E-mail: editor@live-colors.com Website: www.communitytimes.me © Copyright 2004 Community Times is a monthly publication published by LC Live Colors Nicosia, Cyprus

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Contents OCTObEr 2016 sPotlIGHt

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06 tOWN tAlK Latest talk of the town news

12 style Winter 2016/17 clothes and bags

Culture 18

Arab Films hit the international scene

20

Persepolis: A woman’s perception on war in cartoon

36

CoMMunIty

MInd, Body & soul 24

Reiki: How to energise your life Freediving: One woman’s dare

34 edUCAtION A leading academy on haitrstyling A survey on parent’s perception on education

24

36 reAl PeOPle El Malahat: A village’s woe

sCenes 40

Siwa: The other story

trAVel FeAtures 28

Salt Caves : Therapeutic cure for the body and soul

30

Al Abakara: First TV show for students competing on knowledge

28

46

Malta: A surprisingly different adventure

out & ABout 54 CUIsINe Halloween Recipes

58 CAleNdAr

October’s Culture Events

62 sOCIety

reAl estAte COVEr PHOTO dEsignEd by Marina raafaT PHOTO COurTEsy by KHOfO salT CaVE

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64

Taatweer: First Egyptian company to win Cityscape Award

Spotlights Towntalk Dusit Thani Lake View Cairo Wins EarthCheck Silver Certificate for 4th Consecutive Year Dusit Thani LakeView Cairo is riding high on the incredible success of its environmental management program as the property has been awarded the prestigious EarthCheck Silver Certificate for the fourth consecutive year.

The recognition to Dusit Thani LakeView Hotel’s commitment to protect environment has come from EarthCheck, the world’s leading environmental benchmarking and certification agency that provides training, capacity building, and consultancy services used by sustainable travel and tourism operators with more than 1300 clients in over 80 countries.

Retaining the Silver EarthCheck Certification maintains the property as a leader in the unique worldwide group of sustainable tourism operators that are certified to the internationally recognised EarthCheck Company Standard with the exclusive EarthCheckTM science inside.

In the picture from left to right: Ahmed El Hady, General Manager, Nesreen Ahmed, Director of Quality Assurance and Nairy Hagopian Public Relations Manager at Dusit Thani LakeView Cairo. p

Egypt Air Cargo Starts Freighter Operations to Ras Al Khaimah International Airport Ras Al Khaimah International Airport has announced the beginning of Egypt Air Cargo freighter operations from 8th September 2016, with a weekly flight from Cairo at first, and the expectation of further growth within a few months.

2016 has been an exciting year for Ras Al Khaimah International Airport which has already seen the Emirate connected to more than 160 destinations worldwide following the startup of passenger operations for Qatar Airways and Air India Express, and the purple patch enjoyed by the UAE’s Northern Gateway looks set to continue.

RAK Airport CEO, Mr. Mohammed Qazi, commented, “We are pleased to welcome Egypt Air Cargo to our airport, and look forward to working closely with the airline to increase the frequencies and routes through RAK in the near future. Cargo has always been high on our agenda, but finding the right partner is always a key. With Egypt Air Cargo, we feel confident that we have a great partner to work with and grow the trade between the countries. Current operations will be a weekly flight operating Cairo-Ras Al Khaimah-Mumbai-Cairo.” p

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The National Council for Women Honored the Athletes that Participated in “Rio de Janeiro” 2016 The National Council for Women has recently organized a ceremony honoring the female athletes who participated in the last Olympics Games “Rio de Janeiro” 2016 at TOLIP El Galaa Hotel in Heliopolis.

Led by Dr. Maya Morsy, President of the National Council for Women, the ceremony was attended by Mr. Mohamed El Helw, the Executive Manager of the National Council for Sports, Dr. Alaa Gaber, Secretary General of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, some parliament members as well as members of the National Council for Women.

Olympic Champions were honored including Sarah Samir, who won a bronze medal in Weightlifting and Hedaya Malak, who won a Bronze medal in Taekwondo, in addition to all other champions who participated in the games. p

Discovery of the Burial Chamber and Sarcophagus of the Mayor of Thebes and Fourth Priest of Amun, Karabasken (25th Dynasty) The Egyptian/American Archeological mission, headed by Dr. Elena Pischikova, excavated the burial chamber and sarcophagus of the Mayor of Thebes, Karabasken, who also held the position of the fourth priest to Amoun at the Western part of Luxor, South Asasif.

The descent to the burial chamber was found in the center of the cult room, which features six niches on the north and south walls and remains of the false door on the west wall.

The monumental red granite sarcophagus of Karabasken discovered by the team is a unique example of a Kushite sarcophagus in an elite tomb. It is decorated with a single horizontal band. No inscriptions were found on the exterior surface of the sarcophagus. p

Mrs. Mexico Universal visits Egypt to Promote Tourism Yezenia Navarro, Mrs. Mexico Universal 2016, who also holds the titles of Mrs. UN World Ambassador 2015, Mrs. Universe 1st runner up, 2014, and Mrs. Mexico 2014, came to Egypt on September 18th to promote tourism to Egypt. During the tour, she also visited several Egyptian NGOs including Muwahadeen Orphanage in Alexandria, 57357 Hospital in Cairo, Magdy Yacoub Hospital in Aswan.

Her goal is to put a smile on as many sick and orphaned Egyptian children’s faces.

Mrs. Yezenia›s tour is cosponsored by the Egyptian Tourism Authority headed by Mr. Samy Mahmoud, who said that the visit fits within the framework of the Egyptian Tourism Authority’s hosting of celebrities from around the world to promote Egypt.

During the tour, Mrs. Navarro was dressed and accessorized by Worldrenowned Egyptian fashion designers, Bahig Hussein and Sami Amin.

Segments of Mrs. Navarro’s tour were sponsored by local corporate and

hospitality sponsors including the Baron Palace in Sahl Hasheesh and Atta Group.

Atta Group is generously sponsoring Mrs. Yezenia›s tour of Aswan and accommodated her at the historic Old Cataract Hotel.

A native of Mexico, her career has included acting, modeling, dancing, social activism, and the world of pageants. She is also a Cross-Fit Trainer and on top of all that, she is a mother of 3 boys. Throughout her extensive career in the pageant industry, she has traveled the world and held local, state, and national titles.

She is also the founder of “Queens Without Scars”, an NGO dedicated to address the issue of domestic violence.

Mrs Yezenia will also film video clips for the upcoming “Red Sea Tourism Festival” planned for March of 2017 and organized by IBIS, its strategic partner. The week-long festival will give visitors the chance to experience the best that Egypt has to offer while enjoying some of the most luxurious resorts at several different locations along the Red Sea. p

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Spotlights Towntalk

The Sixth Season of “Cross Egypt Challenge” Rally is set to start on October 20th Marriott International Strengthens Middle East and Africa Position by Signing of 14 New Properties in 2016 Marriott International, Inc. has announced an impressive 14 new property signings so far in 2016. The signings will add to Marriott International’s current operating portfolio of 147 hotels in 20 countries across the Middle East and Africa, with the company also confirming to open 11 new properties across the region by the end of this year.

The latest collection of signings will see Marriott International expand its Middle East footprint by eight properties across the UAE, Egypt, Qatar and Kuwait, encompassing the Marriott Hotels, Courtyard by Marriott, Marriott Executive Apartments, Residence Inn by Marriott and Protea Hotels by Marriott brands.

The company has also announced further growth to its African pipeline with the signing of six new properties under the JW Marriott Hotels, Autograph Collection and Protea Hotels. Within the Middle East, Marriott International currently operates a total of 40 properties spanning eight brands. Today’s announcement will add a further five properties to Marriott International’s UAE presence as well as one property each in Egypt, Qatar and Kuwait.

Aside from the 14 new property signings in 2016, Marriott International has also confirmed that 11 new properties are set to open across the Middle East and Africa in Q4 2016.

This will include Al Forsan Marriott Hotel in Abu Dhabi, Fes Marriott Hotel in Morocco, Accra Marriott Hotel in Ghana, La Ville Hotel & Suites City Walk, Dubai, Autograph Collection; Lapita Hotel Dubai, Autograph Collection; Courtyard by Marriott Riyadh Olaya in Saudi Arabia, and Renaissance Lagos Ikeja Hotel in Nigeria.

By 2020, Marriott International plans to add a further 74 properties and approximately 16,169 rooms within the Middle East and Africa region bolstering its total regional footprint to 221 properties and 40,816 rooms. p

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This October, the sixth season of the famous rally will take place in a continuous effort to promote tourism and to prove that Egypt is safe for travels.

The 2016 season of Cross Egypt Challenge will start on October 20th and will last for 10 days. This includes 9 stages that compromise a total distance of 2,700 km, one of the longest routes in the history of the challenge.

The challenge will begin from Alexandria then head south to Cairo en route to ride the Nile Valley and the Egyptian western desert to Minya then to Kharga Oasis. The challenge will then head east to Luxor. From there, the riders will head further south to Aswan, then further east to cross the Egyptian eastern desert, one of the most difficult deserts on the surface of the planet due to its rock formations and chain of mountains, to reach the shores of the Red Sea and stop at the Marsa Alam where they will camp by the sea.

From Marsa Alam, the challenge will head back north by the Red Sea to make two last stops in Hurghada and Ain Sokhna before the last stage takes place between Ain Sokhna and Cairo under the Great Pyramids of Giza.

This year, the world traveler Stefan Hauser from Germany and his wife Annette Hauser will be joining Cross Egypt Challenge as part of their world tour that started back in 2014. Stefan and Annette are touring the world in their Mercedes G class which will be the only allowed automobile in Cross Egypt Challenge. They have been on the road for 730 days, and Egypt will be the 39th destination in their adventure. This season also includes riders from: USA, Australia, United Kingdom, India, Denmark, Nigeria, the Netherlands and Egypt CROSS EGYPT CHALLENGE Cross Egypt Challenge is an international series of endurance motorcycles and scooter rallies conducted throughout the most challenging roads and tracks of Egypt, a breathtaking experience that is equally fascinating for spectators and riders alike.

Cross Egypt Challenge is the only organized cross-country rally of its kind in the entire region and combines the best of adventure travel and extreme sport. Each season of the endurance rally introduces a new route throughout the most famous spots of Egypt; a track that nobody ever thought could be done on motorcycles or scooters. The rally is organized by the Rotary Club of Alexandria Cosmopolitan with the cooperation of the Egyptian Tourism Authority, the Automobile and Touring Club of Egypt and under the supervision of the Egyptian Ministry of tourism. p

Gerhard E. Mitrovits Appointed General Manager of Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski Mr. Mitrovits returns to Egypt with over 40 years of luxury hospitality experience of approximately 4,000 rooms in four continents. He arrives from Beijing, where he held the position of Managing Director for Kempinski’s leading property in China, Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center.

He started his career with Kempinski in 2007 and has held a variety of hotel management positions within the Group. After the grand opening of Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta, he strived for excellence, which helped him succeed in moulding one of the leading hotels in town. He then embarked on his next step and moved to Moscow as Area Director in Russia and CIS in charge of five hotels, successfully managing nine hotels for top hotel brands, such as InterContinental Hotel, Hyatt and Steigenberger Group in Germany and Austria, as well as in New York, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and Cairo in Egypt, where he did the legendary opening for the Semaramis InterContinental.

An Austrian national, Gerhard started his career in Food & Beverage, receiving several accolades for his professionalism and outstanding performance, including “Hotel Manager of the Year” in Germany. His first achievement was in 1985, receiving recognition as “F&B Manager of the Year” in Germany.

He will be responsible for the hotel’s entire operations and to continue leading Kempinski’s newest Palace. p

The Festive Autumn Holiday at Kempinski Hotel Soma Bay Soma Bay is brimming with some of the most emphatic and glittering events. Get ready to be impressed as pop music fans worldwide will enjoy quality smash hits at Soma Bay Marina, which is a few steps away from the hotel.

For the first time in Egypt, two of Europe›s most renowned bands will be performing live on Soma Bay’s stage. Thomas Anders from Modern Talking and Jenny Berggren from Ace Of Base will perform, bringing back nostalgic memories.

That’s not all; the hotel’s team is geared to prepare some sumptuous treats to satisfy all tastes during the special occasions of the spooky night of Halloween and Oktoberfest. Experience the real essences of Oktoberfest at the Beachcomber and live through an authentic German festival. p

The First Cycling Marathon was organized by the Ministry of Antiquities Under the title “Cycling to the Museum,” the first cycling marathon was organized last month starting from Tahrir Square to the Textile Museum in Al-Muizz Street.

Elham Salah Head of the Museum’s Sector in the Ministry said that a group of 400 young people participated in the marathon which highlights the museums’ leading role in raising cultural awareness through different activities among which are sports.

Dr. Mamdouh Hassa, Director of the Textile museum said that the marathon was organized in collaboration with the NGO association Misr Al-Irada and the Historic Cairo Administration as well as the Ministry of Interior, which safeguarded the marathon. p OCT 2016 | Ct

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SpotlightS towntalk The Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo Gets a Taste for Truffles Vivo, the Italian restaurant at The Nile RitzCarlton, Cairo, helmed by Michelin-starred Chef Oliver Glowig, has created a unique dining experience by bringing the flavours of the Italian Truffle Festival from 27th of October till 3rd of November.

Chef Glowing and his culinary team will infuse rich Italian ingredients to present delicious truffle recipes paired with complementary beverages and the soothing sounds of classical opera music.

Guests will experience the pleasure of the tantalizing white truffle specialty dishes, freshly prepared, which include Pumpkin Soup, Parsley and Parmesan Rizotto, Tubot with Potato Cream, Panettone with Vanilla Cream and more culinary temptations. p

Publicis Consolidates its Regional Leocomm Pr Offices under the Mslgroup Brand Publicis Communications has consolidated its six-offices LeoComm PR network in the Middle East under the brand of MSLGROUP, its strategic communications and engagement firm.

The LeoComm offices in the UAE (Dubai), Egypt (Cairo), Lebanon (Beirut), Qatar (Doha), and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh and Jeddah) will become MSLGROUP in the Middle East while remaining part of the Publicis Communications MEA portfolio of agencies. These include Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Flip Media, Arc, and Saatchi & Saatchi.

MSLGROUP’s CNC (Communications and Network Consulting) Network also has offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi which service mostly corporate and public affairs clients and will remain a separate unit inside of MSLGROUP. The Middle East expansion marks the sixth time since the start of the new year that MSLGROUP has added new markets or offices to its global network, one of the world’s largest. p

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Semiramis Intercontinental Hosts Media Dinner at Sabaya, Introducing their New Lebanese Chef, Walid Baz Semiramis InterContinental Cairo hosted an exclusive media dinner to introduce Lebanese chef Walid Baz, the newest addition to the property’s list of resident professionals.

Baz comes to the property with more than a decade of experience in numerous luxury hotels, thus revamping the hotel’s Lebanese restaurant, Sabaya and introducing a new menu. p

STYLE

black with a touch of indigo looks chic for evening wear

From statement furs to velvet and leather, this is what’s trending for

Winter 16/17 Some photos are from the websites of Elle magazine and fashionista.com

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Short velvet jackets go well with pants

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his winter, leather, velvet and furs, on their own or combined, are the “in trend”. So ladies, rummage through your closets and get out your leather skirt or pants, and your old fur jacket, have them dry cleaned and WEAR them.

Add A TouCh of fuR fRom youR lAST yEAR’S CloThES To bEComE CuRREnT WiTh ThiS yEAR’S fAShion An EvEning fuR CoAT goES A long WAy

Short skirts are not in fashion this year, so a maxi skirt along with trendy boots would go well this winter. Pants of course are still very much seen on the cat walk, along with fur coats and jackets.

Colors for 2016/2017 winter season are browns, indigos, beiges, greys and of course blacks. Spruce those colors with a little white or red if you want to. p

All vElvETy foR youR EvEning ouTing

OCT 2016 | Ct

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STYLE

Evening dresses can be all velvet or combined with a top or skirt from your closet

Long Women’s leather jacket topped with a fur collar

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Leather and fur go well together

Short Fur-Coat Jackets are this season’s choice

leather dresses are very much in

Leather leather leather worn as a jacket or coat will make you look smart

black velvet top goes with anything for the evenings

OCT 2016 | Ct

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STYLE

Tassels and velveT

Small is Big & Hands-free

This Winter Your handbag speaks much about your personality, temperament and the mood of the moment.

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louis VuiTTon cluTch BAg WeAr iT Across The Body

dior’s BlAck FlAp BAg

chrisTiAn dior

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his year, we see bags in delicate velvet, with floral embroidery and a metallic chain around the wrist and in different fabrics with loop handles.

BoTTegA VeneTA collecTion

Free yourself from lugging a big one this year and go for clutches with chains that you can hang on your shoulder or carry across your body.

Bag packs are still in. Add a tassel for fun. p

mui mui Adds color To your WinTer ouTFiT

hAppy BAgs mAke up For A drAB WinTer

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Culture Films

Arabic Films

to be shown at International Festivals

MAD Solutions Sends Three Films to the BFI London Film Festival A Day for Women | Clash | Barakah Meets Barakah Successfully released in Egyptian theatres for five weeks by MAD Solutions, Clash is competing within the festival’s Official Competition. The film also has been selected to represent Egypt at the 2017 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign-Language Film category.

MAD Solutions is handling the distribution and marketing for A Day for Women which is landing its world premiere at the festival within the Debate Strand section. The Saudi film ‘Barakah Meets Barakah’ is contending within the Laugh Gala section. MAD Solutions alongside Film Clinic-Indie Film Distribution (FCIFD) has announced the acquisition of the Arab world distribution rights to the Saudi film that represents Saudi Arabia at the 2017 Academy Awards.

A Day for Women: Directed by Kamla Abouzekri and produced by Elham Shahin, ‘A Day for Women’ is landing its world premiere at the 60th edition of the BFI London Film Festival (5 to 16 October) within the Debate Strand section.

It is worth noting that Director Kamla Abouzekri was the first Egyptian female director to take part of the festival, since she has participated at its 53rd edition of the festival with her feature film, One-Zero.

A Day for Women has been selected to open the 38th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) (15 to 24 November) where the film is contending within the festival’s Official Competition.

About A Day for Women’s participation at the BFI London Film Festival, producer and star Elham Shahin comments, “BFI London Film Festival is one of the most important and prestigious film festivals in the world, as its screenings include hundreds of films

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from all over the world. Also, one of the strongest elements of this festival is enjoying a wide turnout of diverse audiences; which puts it among the top five international film events in terms of audience turnout because one of the main goals of film participation at festivals is that the audience is engaged in the experience of watching. That’s why we are excited about the releasing of the film there.”

A Day for Women takes place in one of the slums in Egypt where a youth center decides to allocate one day at the swimming pool for women only and the consequences of this decision on the social, psychological and emotional life of the neighborhood’s women.

MAD Solutions has revealed the news on taking part of the 60th edition of the BFI London Film Festival (5 to 16 October) with three MAD films; Clash, A Day for Women and Barakah Meets Barakah. p

MohaMed hefzy to participate in the toronto international filM festival The International Financing Forum (IFF) revealed the news on selecting producer Mohamed Hefzy’s new film project ‘In The Land Of Wonder’ to participate within its events that will be held within the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

In The Land Of Wonder film project is the adaptation of the English writer Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice in Wonderland which has been translated into many languages. Written by Nora Elsheikh and Mahmoud Ezzat, In ‘The Land Of Wonder’ is a Cairo-set version of the novel that plunging the main character into the chaos of the city’s streets. The film is directed by Nadine Khan. p

coMpeting in the feature filM coMpetition ‘hepta: the last lecture’ to take part in MalMo arab filM festival in sweden Following the massive box office success of Hepta: The Last lecture, director Hadi El Bagoury’s film has been selected to conclude the events of the Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden (MAFF). Competing at the Feature Competition, ElBagoury will be in attendance, along with Hani Osama, General Manager of ‘The Producers’ (the film’s production company). The film will compete in the Feature Film Competition at MAFF (30 September - 5 October).

Hepta: The Last Lecture, had topped the Egyptian box office with revenues that surpassed 26 million EGP, becoming the highestgrossing romantic film in the history of Egyptian cinema. The film has also been released in a number of Arab countries including, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Oman.

The screenplay is based on Mohamed Sadek’s best-selling book, which portrays the seven stages of love through four paralleled stories. Mohamed Sadek’s novel topped the charts in Egypt and throughout the Arab world for several weeks and sold 36 editions.

The film received a wave of wide acclaim among social media platforms, as several filmmakers, public figures, film stars, and members of the audience expressed their admiration on their Facebook accounts and pages. p News provided by MAD Solutions OCT 2016 | Ct

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Culture Books The books were later adapted into an animated film under the same title in 2007. The film was co-written and co-directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. With Satrapi being greatly involved in the film, it doesn’t fall short in the details and visual representations of the book. Like the books, it received awards, the most prestigious of which was co-winner of the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Satrapi studied Art in France and is therefore the artist of Persepolis, which is illustrated in minimalistic black and white comic strips. She admits that she prefers the term comic book to graphic novel. In an interview with the Guardian she says, “People are so afraid to say the word ‘comic’…it makes you think of a grown man with pimples, a ponytail and a big belly. Change it to ‘graphic novel’ and that disappears. No: it’s all comics.”

The art in Persepolis immediately captures one’s attention as it vividly portrays emotions and avoids tedious exaggeration of gestures and facial expressions. I found the choice of black and white reflective of the situation in Iran: the black color symbolizes the dark times of war and revolution, of executions and religious extremism while the white color represents the martyrs, who are a recurring presence in the book, the parties, the hope of education, intellect, resilience and acceptance.

PersePolis:

A Graphic Memoir of the Girl Who Knew War By: Mona El Husseini

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n a tale about revolution, war, dictatorship, family, tradition, and coming of age, Marjane Satrapi succeeds to vividly draw a picture of growing up as a girl in 1970’s Iran, witnessing the overthrowing of the Shah, the Islamic Revolution, and the destructive repercussions of the Iran-Iraq war. Although the story evokes a heavy weight of emotions, it balances it out with wit and humor and an overarching sense of lightness. She is an Iran-born French graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children’s book author.

Persepolis is Satrapi’s first published graphic memoir that was originally published in four parts in French (2000 to 2003) and two parts in English (2003 and 2004), which were later combined in one book, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. The book received critical acclaim when it was first published in France and compared to Art Spieglman’s Maus, which is similarly a portrayal of political events.

It was very well received in the west where the first part of the book made it to the TIME’s Best Comics of 2003 list. Andrew Arnold of the TIME magazine describes it as, ‘sometimes funny and sometimes sad but always sincere and revealing.’

Persepolis is the winner of the Angoulême Coup de Coeur Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.

Satrapi was listed by the Comics Alliance as one of twelve women cartoonists deserving of lifetime achievement recognition. She is also the author of Embroideries, Chicken with Plums, and The Sigh.

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Persepolis starts by visually describing her life, a little girl who is funny and adamant. The book provides an accurate historical account of events in Iran starting with the Shah’s efforts to modernize and westernize the country, followed by his exile, the Islamic Revolution, and the Iran-Iraq war.

Marjane goes through an identity crisis throughout the book that is highlighted in the events of the Lycee Francais shutting down, the veil being imposed on females of all ages in Iran, and her moving to Vienna for 4 years when she was only 14 years old.

I found many of Marjane’s experiences difficult to fathom as I couldn’t imagine a regime being so afraid of beauty, art, culture, and all kinds of joie de vivre.

Marjane “really knew war”- a statement that is glorified in the book - and had to eventually escape it, leaving her family and loved ones behind. Even though she spirals down in vertigo and looms towards depression, she gets back up and regains her resilience and warming sense of pride.

With the country being at war and religious oppression swarming the streets, the familial bond of the Satrapis arouses feelings of warmth, kindness, and inspiration. Her parents are open-minded intellectuals whose wish is for Marjane to get a proper education and to foster her intelligence. She has a very loving and close relationship with her grandmother. To me, Marjane’s grandma is the voice of wisdom, safety, and tenderness.

Persepolis left me with a sense of appreciation and gratitude for the simple things such as the freedom to walk around with my hair uncovered, the freedom to wear make up and listen to western music on my iPod. Those harmless feminine acts posed a great threat to the Islamists and could get a woman jailed.

Eventually, Marjane goes from thinking about her long-lost freedom of speech and thought, to worrying about whether the placement of her veil might get her whipped.

I recommend Persepolis as a work of art, a personal account of the social and political events in post-revolution Iran, and an intimate encounter with the life and family of a girl who knew war but didn’t lose herself. p

Auc Acquires Rare Library Collection of Late Egyptian Journalist Mostafa Amin

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he Rare Books and Special Collections Library (RBSCL) at The American University in Cairo (AUC) recently received a donation of more than 5,000 books in several languages from the private library of the late Egyptian journalist Mostafa Amin. The collection, donated by his wife Isis Tantawi, includes all books authored

by Amin, in addition to autobiographical works, novels and film screenplays. The collection also includes original documents from Amin’s personal archives, such as a copy of his will, diaries, drafts for books, scenarios for television soap operas, personal correspondence, manuscripts, photographs and slides, as well as documents on social history and international politics.

In 1928, Amin started studies at AUC’s College of Arts and Sciences and earned a master’s in political science from Georgetown University in 1938. He received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from AUC in 1987 “for his dedication in promoting freedom of expression in the press as editor of the largest weekly newspaper in the Arab world.”

Mostafa and his twin brother Ali are considered by many to be the “fathers of modern Arab journalism.” Over the years, they established four of Egypt’s most widely circulated newspapers

–– Akhbar Al-Youm, Akher Lahza, Al-Guil and Al-Akhbar –– in addition to relaunching Akher Saa, where Mostafa Amin wrote a weekly column and served as editor-in-chief.

In most of Mostafa Amin’s reporting, he introduced the idea of free press and Western liberalism. He disregarded the government’s political agenda and critiqued rulers such as King Farouk, which eventually led to his incarceration in 1939. He was also arrested in 1965 by President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The collection donated to AUC includes diaries written by Amin during his time in prison. Such resources educate students about a journalist’s life experiences documenting collections from individuals who have left an imprint in Egypt is important for AUC to preserve history. “Acquiring rare and archival material adds value to our special collection of books that are unattainable and inaccessible anywhere else. Our emphasis is to facilitate and assist researchers in producing original and quality work,” said Croom, adding that some materials are uploaded to the RBSCL’s digital library to be accessible online.

The RBSCL also features a personal collection from former UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and Egyptian journalist Anis Mansour. “We are very keen on preserving the history of Egypt and the region,” noted Croom. p OCT 2016 | Ct

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Culture Music

Dina El Wedidi on October 27th at Geneina Theater

El Wedidi is an Egyptian singer, composer, guitarist, Daf player, actress and storyteller. She has been known as the lead performer of an ensemble of musicians who have performed extensively in the past 2 years, fusing local and global styles of music.

El Wedidi discovered her passion for music after joining El Warsha Theater Troupe in 2008 where she learned to sing a wide variety of traditional genres with the help of her tutor Maged Soliman، She then decided to leave El Warsha and began to explore the full potential of her voice, and participated in many workshops with independent musicians both in Egypt and beyond, including Grammy award-winning musician Fathy Salama and singersongwriter Kamilya Jubran.

Beginning 2011, she founded her own music group of six members.

Coincidentally, the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 broke out and El Wedidi took part in a modern Operetta, Khalina Nehlam (‘Let’s Dream’), with Egyptian band Masar Egbari, Tamer Shalaby, and Tunisian singers Mahdi Rabeh, Anis Dridi and Mohamed Bin Jemaa. The song was a great hit, capturing the Arab Spring of 2011.

In 2012 Wedidi was selected by Gilberto Gil and the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative as a protégé, which allowed her to be mentored by the great Brazilian music icon Gilberto Gil, and the two performed together – to the audience’s delight – at Back2Black, part of the London 2012 Festival. p

Carmen Ballet with the Antonio Gades Company (Spain) to be held between October 24th – 28th Antonio Gades was a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer. He helped to popularise the art form on the international stage. His most notable works included dance adaptations of Prosper Merimée’s Carmen and Federico García Lorca’s Blood Wedding (Bodas de Sangre), as well as a feature-length adaptation of Manuel de Falla’s 23-minute ballet El Amor Brujo.

In the 1990s, he toured the world with his show Fuenteovejuna, based on Lope de Vega’s play of the same name. He collaborated closely with the Spanish director Carlos Saura in the filming of these adaptations, and also with Cristina Hoyos, one of the most prolific contemporary female flamenco dancers.

Gades also co-founded and became the artistic director of the Spanish National Ballet in 1978.

He died in Madrid in 2004. About six weeks before his death, he had been decorated with the “Order of José Marti”, one of the highest honors of Cuba. p

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MIND, BODY & SOUL

By Yossra Goueli

Reiki Rising

How to Energise your Life By: Steve Gooch

The energetic healing system of Reiki is, without doubt, the fastest growing alternative therapy in the world today. Back in the 1970’s there were, outside of its homeland of Japan, only a handful of practitioners, mostly in the United States. Almost fifty years on, estimates run from hundreds of thousands, to a million plus people who have taken some form of Reiki training, somewhere in the world. Certainly, there are many thousands of Reiki Masters now offering courses, a handful of whom are teaching in Egypt.

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what is Reiki and why is it so incredibly popular?

According to the International Association of Reiki Professionals, Reiki is “…a spiritual healing art… It is not massage nor is it based on belief or suggestion. It is a subtle and effective form of energy work using spiritually guided life force energy.” Through focused application of this energy by the practitioner, Reiki instigates a deep sense of peace and tranquillity and helps to bring healing on all levels.

It is a very simple technique, based on ancient methods that anyone can learn. It has been known to help cure many different ailments – both physical and psychological, some of them very severe or even life-threatening.

The Reiki practitioner ‘channels’ Universal Life Force Energy (‘Reiki’ in Japanese) through their own subtle energy system, via their hands, to the client who is usually laying, fully clothed on a treatment bed. It can also be used for self-healing in much the same way.

Reiki’s popularity is largely due to its simplicity and its effectiveness. You don’t need any other special aids or devices, so it is always with you (flowing unhindered at the flick of a thought), and works to various degrees in all circumstances, regardless of the problem being treated.

Reiki can help in all aspects of your life, from physical health to emotional wellbeing, stress reduction and mental clarity. It’s effectiveness, whilst not easily measured by standard scientific methods, has lead it to be used in a number of hospitals and other health-care environments around the world.

In the UK, it is being used extensively with cancer patients. The Sam Buxton Sunflower Healing Trust, raises money to fund Reiki and other energy healing methods for cancer victims within the UK’s National Health Service. Practitioners are placed in hospitals or other cancer related centres and work alongside conventional medical approaches. Patients consistently give positive feedback on the benefits that they receive from Reiki. One study from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, noted that when Reiki is used on cancer patients, “…fatigue decreases over the course of treatments, there is an improvement in the quality of life, and there are significant decreases in levels of tiredness, pain and anxiety.” Chemotherapy patients who have received Reiki, also report a significant decrease in the side effects of the treatment.

In the United States, Reiki has been used effectively in helping to decrease memory and behaviour problems with victims of Alzheimer’s disease. Again the results have proven to be startling. A 2006 study, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine reported that patients showed an increase in mental functioning, an improvement in memory and an improvement in behaviour as a consequence of receiving Reiki.

fatigue, insomnia and menopausal problems. These are just a few of the reported benefits of the use of Reiki.

Whilst there is no provision for the use of Reiki within conventional medical settings in Egypt, more and more people are finding their way to Reiki. There are many people in Cairo and Alexandria and elsewhere in the country, now offering Reiki treatments to those in need. And as the clear benefits of Reiki are being felt, word of mouth is spreading the enthusiasm for this remarkable healing system.

One of the most beautiful expressions of Reiki is when it is used for someone who is on their death bed, particularly through the giving of the gift of Reiki so that the dying person can treat themselves.

Far from being able to reverse the inevitable however, Reiki has allowed the transition out of this world to take place, free of the suffering that would otherwise have been unavoidable. Reiki can be a remarkable gift to those who’s time is up.

Conversely, Reiki is also a wonderful method for helping new life into the world. Reiki has been used many times on pregnant women to ease the pains of labour and to smooth the delivery of their new child into the world.

But Reiki can also be used by those who are not suffering from serious medical or health issues, or about to give birth. The method works as a remarkable preventative health-care system.

One of the greatest health benefits of regular use of Reiki is in stress reduction and providing deep relaxation. Through daily application of Reiki, either to yourself following a training course, or by visiting a Reiki practitioner, the unwinding of the mental and physical and the reduction in daily stress can trigger the body’s own natural healing and recuperative abilities (immune system). This helps with much better sleep and an overall improvement in health and wellbeing. It helps to build inner peace and harmony, thus helping to prevent the arising of mental and physical problems later.

One of the most beautiful aspects of the system is its ability to naturally increase a person’s capacity for love and compassion towards others. By relaxing and destressing, it opens you up to those around you and enhances your relationships with them, allowing you to connect with them on a deeper, more meaningful level.

If you haven’t tried Reiki, whether you have a health condition or not, you should. It is a truly beautiful, and deeply peaceful experience. p Steve Gooch is a Reiki and Buddho Master and can be contacted at: info@reikijkdinternational.com or by calling 01091275244

Reiki is also being used in hospitals in Canada, Germany, Australia and Switzerland. And its use is continuing to grow as administrators, physicians and the nursing profession adopt a more integrated and holistic approach to patient care. In fact, many conventional health care specialists are deciding to learn Reiki for themselves, so as to provide a more holistic service to their patients.

Reiki has been used to speed up recovery from surgery or longterm illness, as it eliminates or reduces the side-effects of medical interventions. It helps to relieve pain from migraine, arthritis, sciatica and can help with the symptoms of asthma, chronic OCT 2016 | Ct

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MIND, BODY & SOUL

Extreme Mental Sport Egyptian Passante Adel started freediving about a year ago and made rapid progress from suffering a water phobia to diving 45 meters deep.

Today, she holds four National records for women in her chosen sport and is the first female instructor in Egypt, but the records that really matter for Passante are not measured in meters.

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“

I don’t know if it was living in Cairo, or was it a combination of many things, but before I started freediving, I was a very angry person, on the edge all the time. I would walk down the streets of Cairo grinding my teeth, waiting for the next jerk that would talk to me in a way I don’t like so I could smash his face. That has completely changed. I am not as aggressive anymore in my personal relations also, and not so edgy with my kid. Today, some Egyptian tourist was harassing me straight to my face and I just turned to him and I was just like: ‘Are you talking to me? Are you trying to be funny or something?’ And that is very different from how I would have reacted over a year ago.”

In June 2015, Passante decided to make a sharp turn in her life and settle in Dahab, leaving behind the strains of the big city she could not take anymore and her full-time office work as a writer. “I am a single mother and finances are not that easy for me.

I needed a job, and it was kind of obvious that if I want to survive in Dahab on a job, it has to be diverelated. I had to choose between either scuba diving or freediving. Scubadiving wasn’t really appealing with all this equipment. It was disturbing for me to hear my breathing, the opposite of relaxing. If I had to choose something related to water, it had to be relaxing.”

Passante Adel dives deep to find peace and freedom By: Maria Kirzh

One obstacle that prevented her from a new career was panic fear of swimming she had developed in her childhood: “So the next step was to get comfortable with the water enough to dive, to put my face into the water at least. I was really determined. I started applying things that friends have been telling me for years, like going in shallow water, relaxing, floating around and things like that. Then I found a freediving school here and made a deal with them. They needed someone to work at the counter, and I needed to learn, so I made a deal with them that they will teach me in exchange for my work.”

With that as a staring point, Passante continued to go deeper and deeper, training regularly 2 days/1 day off, and in six weeks she already could go down to 40 meters, which is unusually fast. “I was just a beginner, and 40 meters is a requirement for becoming an instructor. It is different from one person to another, but normally it takes from 3 months to 2 years to reach that depth. It was a big deal for me, to go from fear of being submerged, of being surrounded by water and not being able to breathe, to going down 40 meters under the water without breathing. So, to face my fear in that extreme way was a personal challenge, to prove something to myself.”

In this kind of activity, emotional balance is necessary to physically survive. “To freedive, you have to be very clear in the head. It is not a physical sport, as much as it is a mental one. It is a sport that may encounter extreme dangers. Every time you take the last breath and dive down you are alone, and you really need to pay attention to your body and your train of thought. Something can and might go wrong. Several things can happen, some are slight, some are not so bad, and some are really bad.”

Maybe it is due to this pressure that freediving worked for Passante where other disciplines failed, “I tried before to use some meditation and I could never do it. My mind was too busy whirling around. Yoga has always been for me an excercise, a muscle stretching. When you freedive, it just happens on its own.

The moment you put your head in the water and go on, nothing else exists, it is just you, your body, the way you feel it and it is really easy to get that clarity. I think that’s why a lot of people link freediving to meditation and yoga and being spiritual.” She adds, “All freedivers get that “nirvana feeling”, “zen feeling”. After a while, it becomes easier and easier to get that state of mind. For me it is a big deal. Before, I could never do it. And now all I need to do is think of it. To become a good freediver, you’ve got to experience that feeling of letting go of your emotions, your fears, your muscles. You’ve got to completely relax inside out. It is a mantra that we keep repeating even to beginners: relaxation is the key”.

As a fresh instructor with 3 months experience, Passante already had five students from different parts of the world. Up till now, all her students were men, but she would like to share her knowledge mostly with ladies, as she believes it is a way out for them from social limitations and psychological strains. “One main reason why I wanted to become a female instructor is because I wanted to teach women. I would love to see more Egyptian women do that.

Very few Egyptian women have their doors locked. Most of them have the doors wide open, but you will be surprised how many of them are just sitting there by choice. Girls, go out, dive, do stuff, don’t just sit there watching TV all day.”

Facts • Freediving is a form of underwater diving without a breathing apparatus such as scuba gear, depending on the diver’s ability to hold his or her breath.

• As a sport, freediving was introduced to Egypt about 10 years ago, although traditional activities such as spearfishing are forms of freediving, too.

• Today, there is a freediving school in Alexandria, Sharm el Sheikh, Marsa Alam and Hurghada, and four schools in Dahab, where the diving conditions are best.

• Anyone can hold their breath for a minute. Even the heaviest of smokers can hold their breath for 2 minutes. If you can hold your breath for two minutes while not moving, you can spend at least 1 minute under the water. One minute is more than enough to move down to 20 meters and come back. p

These days, Passante is training for new records. “There is always room to grow. Red Cup, which is a freediving competition, is coming up on the 3rd of November in Dahab. That’s when I am hoping for a new African record dive. The ultimate and not so far goal would be to become the first Arab to make a considerably deep dive in a world competition. My ambition is at least 70 meters.”

OCT 2016 | Ct

27

FEATURE

Salt Caves Break into Cairo Written by: Ahmed Kafafi Photographs: Courtesy of ( Khofo Salt Cave), Cairo

The benefits of salt have been tried and tested so much that we’re advised to take a break at any sea resort to inhale the salt –laden air. But what if the salt is accumulated in one place and have the same effect of salt in its natural environment? This is why salt caves are breaking into Cairo after they became popular in Eastern Europe for more than a century.

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T

he door opens and closes behind you; you’re tiptoeing into ethereal dark surroundings that pique your curiosity as you move in deeper and deeper. The dark is slowly dispelled by weak blue, red, yellow and green lights. The subdued lights suddenly reveal a talc white floor, so white that you think it is sprinkled with snow. No sooner do you pause to unravel the mystery that envelops the place, than you are asked to take off your shoes and socks.

You comply in silence, for your desire to discover what is lurking behind is stronger than wasting time to inquire about rituals. The picture slowly unfolds: walls built of pinkish bricks, ceilings made up of white rugged rocks and lit with white candles, all of which inspire the atmosphere of a cave. Carefully delving into the cave decorated with white boxy lamps and ornamented doors, I finally land in a room and begin to examine the white stuff.

Squatting to grab a handful of the powder, I soon realize it is none other than salt. I am told that not only the salt is on the floor, but the boxy lamps as well as the ceilings and the candles are all made of salt.

A few years ago, two such places were set up in Taba and Sharm El Sheikh respectively as part of a curative tourism trend. However, the trend, meant to be a complementary medication, has subsided as tourism was badly hit. Today, it thrives again as one cave started in Hurghada, and more are expected to appear with the return of tourism. Zealots of salt grottos have been launched for the Cairo residents too. One of those is Gomma El Aghouri’s, founder and owner of Khofo Salt Cave based in Hadyek El Ahram in Giza.

Salt caves are generally meant to provide patients with a treatment as well as those interested in undertaking meditation sessions.

Why salt caves?

“Meditation apart,” says El Aghouri. “Salt is rich in 84 natural elements including sodium, potassium, iodine, and magnesium, just to name a few. To breathe in salt helps you relax, as the iodine relieves tension, reduces the effects of exhaustion and cleans up the respiratory system.” I asked, “Why do I feel hot? You said salt is supposed to retain the level of coolness in a closed place.”

“It does, but you can move and sit closer to the air-conditioning for a while,” advises Gomma, informing that to feel hot is an indication that one has extra body salts that could be shed through exposure to the salt crystals found in the cave.

“We introduce minimal ventilation in the place so that the symptoms of any disorder would show up. Too much sweating should indicate you have extra body salt, light dizziness means that you are deficient in calcium. Also people who feel they have been hit by the envious evil eye come here in search of a remedy against the negative energy generated by envy. Salt can also help preserve the level of water in the body. The lighting system is designed so as to sustain the energy in the human dynamics. Each light color has a function: blue inspires calm and peace. Yellow bolsters mental agility and perception, green is for balance and harmony,” he adds.

Salt caves’ owners claim that the air within the grotto is ten times cleaner than outside. Salt is antifungal as well as antibacterial. In spite of the fact that not so many studies have been conducted to prove the health benefit of salt caves, it goes without saying that salt is a preservative purifying element. Seventy five percent of our earth is made up of salty seas and oceans. Had it consisted of fresh waters, people would have perished due to the spread of epidemics caused by the bacteria and fungi that thrive in rivers and lakes.

“Specialists argue that not all the benefits have been scientifically proven, but no side effects from salt caves have been spotted either,” retorts El Aghouri.

Salt caves have been popular in Eastern European countries like Russia, Poland and Ukrania as early as the 19th century. The first was set up 150 years ago after Dr Feliks Boczkowski, a Polish physician from Wieliczka, near Krakow, noted that local salt miners didn’t suffer from lung diseases. So a natural grotto was carved out within the Wieliczka mines, 400 feet underground. It became popular with those suffering respiratory diseases, and is still in use today. The caves became also known later in Venezuela and the United States.

“Thousands of years before Europeans got to use salt for medical purposes, ancient Egyptians were the first to have discovered the effect of the magic white powder in the treatment of many illnesses,” informs El Aghouri, “The salt crystals were mainly used in mummification and for skin care. Ancient chronicles report that Queen Hatshepsut was cured of a fatal disease through the use of salt. The Romans also used it to preserve food during their long conquests, but at the end of the day, we shouldn’t forget it’s part of our folkloric tradition, for many housewives continue to make a point of splashing the corners of their homes with salted water to ward off the evil eye and cast away any negative energy believed to have been caused by black magic.”

Married to a Russian physiotherapist, El Aghouri first experienced salt caves in his wife’s homeland, and when he heard there was one based in Sharm El Sheikh, he went there to meet its owner and learn the know-how of the business. “I then decided in 2013 to introduce it in Cairo,” he relates, “I chose the Khofo residential area located within the Hadyek El Ahram district. The area is marked by an entrance known as the Khofo Gate. The gate’s name was given to the cave to hammer home the role of ancient Egyptians in discovering the benefits of salt and also to encourage tourists visiting the Pyramids Plateau to come for a break at the cave.”

What is the treatment approach at the cave?

“Although the idea of a salt cave within a big city might sound interesting, people could lose patience if they don’t know how to make use of the place. But I, as well as other instructors, offer guidance. The visitors would sit for 45 minutes within the salt floors, ceilings and walls and we instruct them on how to conduct personal meditation. Curative music is played in the background to help meditators relax and relieve tension. We then lead them to a breathing exercise aimed at inhaling the salty air within the cave’s surroundings. There are other services like massages and salt scrubs. A salt scrub is about applying a mix of salt and olive oil to the body and covering it for 20 minutes. Then the visitor is soaked for half an hour in a tub filled with warm water. “ He points out that when several groups use the place on a weekly basis for meditation, others come to it in search of a kind of alternative medication. Those include patients who suffer asthmas and chest problems as well as those who look for the energy detected in salt for healing obsessions and other different psychiatric disorders. Each case would be looked into and given the required number of sessions. Regular visits are paid to the place by people observing the Ramadan fasting due to the effect of salt in retaining the water level in the body.

El Aghouri hopes that the salt culture would spread everywhere.

“I hope that eventually the idea of salt therapy is promoted in schools, psychiatric clinics, gymnasiums and other places,” remarks El Aghouri. “ It can help students achieve lung resistance as the salt kills bacteria and viruses. In clinics, it can help specialists reduce the tension in their patients, and in gymnasiums, it can boost the respiration of sportsmen and gym users.”

After all, we have been hearing about the boons to salt since time immemorial, so there is no harm in trying them nearby if we can’t travel to a sea resort every weekend. p

Oct 2016 | Ct

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FEATURE

Essam YoussEf:

From ¼ Gram to The Geniuses, An Exclusive Talk with Community Times A novelist, screenplay writer, and TV show host, Essam Youssef is an all-round talented artist.

The author of (¼ Gram 2008), 2 Officers (2 Zobbat 2013), Round Trip (“Zehab w 3awda” 2015), and the host of the newly showing TV show The Geniuses (Al 3abakera), while offering occasional writing workshops for novel and script writing.

By: Layal Al Rustom He was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1965 in a household of storytellers. His late parents are the pioneer writers in children’s literature Abdel-Tawab Youssef and Notaila Rashed, known as “Mama Loubna,” who, for decades was the chief editor of one of the most widely-read children’s Arab publication Samir. Youssef graduated from Port Said School in Zamalek and attained a degree in English Literature from Cairo University. He is married and has two children: Omar (11) and Mariam (6). He currently has two upcoming projects: a novel entitled Baron Palace (Kasr El Baron) and a screenplay adaptation of ¼ Gram.

From ¼ Gram to 2 Officers and Roundtrip, Youssef describes his writing as, “Stories of real people that I personally know. I am telling ‘true stories,’ and many of the events I have witnessed for myself. I write for people to benefit and learn from these experiences,” he stresses. Yet, like every artist, Youssef has his preferred medium of expression. He confessed that he enjoys writing a novel more than a screenplay because, “In a novel you have no limits, you go into details and depths of characters and events. It is an infinite sphere and an interesting experience.”

Regardless of the medium he approaches, Youssef’s aims to reach more people and share with them more stories to learn from.

In his first book ¼ Gram, Youssef addresses the consequences of drug addiction, which erodes one’s independence, weakens one’s will, diminishes family and social relationships, and ultimately destroys the lives of addicts, along with friends who similarly get involved, breaks a family who consequently suffers, and puts the community liable to destruction, yet also responsible.

Never blind from the concerns of his fellow citizens, Youssef’s second novel tackles issues of corruption, injustice, abuse of power and wealth. The lives of two officers reveal two extreme and antagonistic examples of the good officer, who implements the law versus the bad officer, who abuses and manipulates the law for his personal benefits.

Departing from the genre of novel, his third story ‘Roundtrip’ was written as a screenplay. Youssef explained that the producer was of the opinion that the story’s events created more suspense visually, and hence will reach more people as a soap

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opera. Through it, he examines another social phenomenon: the illegal transplanting of body organs by clandestine networks of smugglers, who kidnap donors from developing countries around the world. The dilemma of the story is no longer of parents whose son was kidnapped, rather an entire country whose citizens are kidnapped outside its borders to have organs stolen from their bodies. The issue therefore becomes a society-wide concern and a national and political matter.

As the pages and episodes of his works unfold, we find side stories intertwining with the plot to give more details and a fuller picture of the message being addressed. After all, the brutal and beautiful events in the lives of the characters, the story ends happily, leaving his audience with a thread of hope and optimism to hang on to.

Youssef forms an image of his characters from people around him, he says, “Superstar Ahmed El Sakka is my dear friend.

While writing the screenplay Round Trip I saw El Sakka as the hero Khaled, to the extent that I named the little boy Yassin, who played Khaled’s son, after El Sakka’s real son.”

The cover of ¼ Gram combines three known actors, “Have you noticed? [and he pointed] Eyad Nassar (top right), Amro Saleh (top left), and these two are Ashraf Hamdy (right & left bottom). I could see that their faces said something about the story behind the cover,” he adds. He further described Nassar to be a brilliant actor, “It would be an honour if he joins me in my upcoming ¼ Gram film [a project which has been on hold since 2011].”

Youssef’s fans are enthusiastically awaiting his upcoming novel Baron Palace, which he announced on his page and during interviews. “I announced it because I like people to know what I am doing. I have already started writing this beautiful love story.

The novel will be around 500 pages, like my previous novels. I will only reveal to you that it is a story about ‘when a man loves a woman, and their love story is openly out of the box.” When asked whether it is his personal story, Youssef replied with, “yes and no”, explaining, “I put parts of my life in all of my stories,” and reaffirming that like his previous works, it is a true story that addresses yet another significant social issue, which he will leave to the readers to unfold.

The brilliance in Youssef’s work is that he approaches these issues with confidence, simplicity, transparency, and insight that replaces the fear and anxiety, and for many, the inexperience of his audience of such issues with an awareness and knowledge of their circumstances. He thus gives the weapon that will enable them to overcome the corruption that they are unintentionally part of, and at times invisibly surrounded with. In relation to ¼ Gram, which is dearest to him. My name is always followed by ¼ Gram, so long as our children are reading it, and are getting away from drugs, this was the primary aim of the novel from the start.”

Youssef continues to visit schools and universities to raise awareness on drugs. Over the last 8 years, he visited over 120 academic institutions, and met with over 50,000 students between the ages of 12 and 21.

With all the social issues he addresses, he stresses on the value of education that would eventually enable Egyptians to uproot corruption, “We must reconstruct education. The entire system must be reviewed, because without a strong educational system, Egypt will never rise again, no matter what we try to do. The preliminary step is education.”

Hence, in his new TV show The Geniuses, education is the primary issue Youssef is tackling. He says, “My aim is that the education file be opened and that children be full of hope and confidence. In order to progress, their voices must be heard because their voices emerge from within the problem.” For this reason, he dubbed the show with the motto: “A national project named The Geniuses. Education is top priority in Egypt.”

The Geniuses is a TV show currently showing on Al Kahera Wel Nass channel every Friday and Saturday starting seven p.m. It is composed of 29 episodes, where a competition of knowledge in the form of question and answer is between two teams. The topics range from literature, history, science, arts, sports, to general knowledge. Hosting the show is Youssef. Sixteen schools are participating in the first season: 14 from Cairo and Giza, one from Alexandria, and one team combines eight top students from different provinces. Composing each team are 8 top high-school students from the same school, and the 4 participate in the game alternate during the next episodes with the other 4 students. The show reveals a positive spirit amongst the ambitiously smart participants, who enthusiastically and actively compete, eager to simultaneously share their knowledge. Although the students come from different school systems, Youssef did not see a difference in their level of education nor knowledge.

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) is the main sponsor of the show, and offers the equivalence of each question correctly answered 20,000 Egyptian pounds. At the end of the season, the total amount will support developing schools all over Egypt.

Youssef has taken the first step to addressing the education issue, but he insists that the reconstruction of the educational system begins with the teacher. “Teachers must be granted all their rights. For example, when the judges in Germany demanded their equality with teachers, what did Merkel reply? ‘Do you want to be equal to your teachers?’” This answer reveals that they understand their value and importance. He gave further examples of Singapore and Japan advocating that education ‘must be a national action plan, so that we succeed in the end’.

Youssef calls on everyone to be part of a solution, suggesting that everyone’s problem is everyone’s responsibility, and so Youssef’s message is ‘Education for the sake of our country’. p

The idea of The Geniuses came from Youssef’s father, who presented a similar competition in the 1960s and 70s called The Cup is Whose? (El Kas le Meen?), and he suggested to Youssef a modified version of it. Abdel-Tawab Youssef was a source of inspiration to his son, from whom he learned that ‘nothing is impossible’. Youssef continues, “I saw in my father a full life, where he started from below zero with the death of his father who left him indebted and responsible for three young sisters, into a man who in 1974, the late president of Egypt, Anwar El-Sadat, requested that he holds the position of Minister of Education. He refused saying that he will not succeed in what Dr. Taha Hussein, the previous minister of education failed in. He was aware that the corruption was stronger than him, and it is still to the day.”

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Entrepeneur

Q&A

with Go-Go Car founders By: Mona El Husseini

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any of us have had instances where we had to cancel trips or change our travel plans due to lack of a ride. In a consumerist social class where it is normal for every family member to own a car, it is difficult to imagine carpooling being a valid possibility. However, with increased awareness about pollution and with the relentless traffic situation in both Cairo and seasonal travel destinations, more solutions are starting to emerge amidst the crowded smog.

Ibrahim Khater and Lucy Wafaai, like many emerging entrepreneurs, have found a solution to a problem and decided to make a business out of it. While having difficulty finding a ride to their travel destination outside Cairo, Khater and Wafaai started thinking of a solution and remembered using ride-share services before. They decided to co-found Go-Go Car: a travel rideshare mobile application that connects drivers and passengers in search for a ride to a destination outside Cairo.

Khater and Wafaai both have experiences with start-ups. Khater founded a startup in Singapore called Triple Edged Project: a night-life based marketing, branding, promoting and lifestyle company that ran up to five events per week. He had to shut it down upon leaving Singapore. Wafaai also cofounded a startup in Egypt called E3zemni that is currently still operating, organizing events and providing party supplies.

What Is Go-Go Car’s Vision/Mission And What Does It Bring To The Community?

Go-Go Car is a travel rideshare mobile application, which will soon be available on iOS and Android. The concept is pretty simple: we connect drivers who have space in their car with passengers looking for rides.

The way it would work is a driver would login to our app and post the time, date and price he would like to receive for the journey. The driver would also mention details like his flexibility on time in addition to his smoking, music, and pet preferences. This would allow our users to find the most suitable ride.

Why Did You Choose This Business?

We came across a project that we are both passionate about as we both had amazing experiences carpooling. You can make money from almost anything nowadays. Besides from the business aspect of it, we also believe we are doing something good for the community. Two major factors we plan on tackling are traffic and pollution. By introducing our service, we do hope we would be able to decrease the amount of cars on the road.

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We envision GoGo Car as a fun, trusted and social community. Anyone you would find on the app has been through a thorough check on personal ID, driver’s license, car license, phone number, email and Facebook verification.

Who Is Go-Go Car’s Target?

Go-Go Car is targeting a young crowd between the ages 16 & 30 years old and we estimate our target market to be 1.8 million.

We are looking for drivers who might not want to travel alone or would like to meet someone new; might want to cover the travel expenses; or perhaps want to make a little profit while they are already traveling.

We are also targeting passengers who might not have a car, not want to drive or have problems with their car.

How Long Has Go-Go Car Been In The Making?

As Entrepreneurs, Do You Have Any Mentors Or Previous Experience In The Field?

We have been in the making for the past seven months now. We both have had our own startups and were successful and we do have several mentors who have been a great help.

What Is Go-Go Car’s Business Model?

The driver chooses the pricing of each trip. We provide a recommended price for each trip and a maximum amount they can request per trip. We receive EGP 20 booking fee for each trip.

Has Go-Go Car Received Any External Financial Support?

No, we have fully funded it ourselves so far. We have actually rejected three investments in the early stages.

We are not in any rush to receive financial support but we might open our first round of funding after operations have begun.

How big is the team at Go-Go Car? The team currently consists of five of us. Lucy and I are the co-founders and we pretty much work on everything, and three marketing executives. We are recruiting our customer service team at the moment and are looking to bring in a CTO on board as a third partner.

There Have Been Similar Projects In Cairo That Were Not Successful And Had To Shut Down. Do You Plan On Taking A Different Angle Than Those Projects?

We envision Go-Go Car as a fun, trusted and social community. Anyone you would find on the app has been through a thorough check on personal ID, driver’s license, car license, phone number, email and Facebook verification.

We have done our research and I believe we have learned from the mistakes of the previous projects.

Our survey results show that 8 out of 10 of our target market are willing to try our service.

When Will The App Be Launched And How Will Users Be Able To Interact With It? We are entering our two-week testing phase this week offering exclusive rides to invited guests to fix any bugs that we might face. We plan on launching our service in Ras Sedr sometime next month. We have a little surprise planned for the community there.

What are some of the challenges and privileges pertaining to Go-Go car?

The current petrol subsidy that is going to be removed is a major issue. People’s salaries remain the same, yet the price of petrol is going up. This is going to be a problem for people who plan on traveling. We do believe Go-Go Car would allow people to travel at more affordable prices.

One of the major challenges we are going to face is building trust. We have a very strict verification policy which will allow us to overcome it.

I Came Across A Comment On Go-Go Car’s Facebook Page That Reads, “I Don’t Want To Sound Negative, But Even This Can Be Manipulated By People And They May Enter Wrong Info”. Is This A Challenge That May Face Go-Go Car? If So, How Do You Plan On Facing Such Challenges?

We verify the car license to ensure that the car is not stolen. We verify both the passenger and driver’s IDs to ensure that they do not have any previous records. We match both the drivers and passenger’s information with his Facebook, email and phone number as well. It will be very difficult for a user to provide incorrect information without it going undetected. p Go-Go Car Facebook: gogocareg

We are looking for drivers who might not want to travel alone or would like to meet someone new; might want to cover their travel expenses; or perhaps want to make a little profit while they are already traveling.

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Education

Behind the curtains of Mohamed Al-Sagheer Academy Mohamed Al-Sagheer has become a household name, sometimes even synonymous with the term for a fancy hairdresser

Having nearly 20 branches scattered across the country catering to the middle and high class, it is humbling to remember AlSagheer started as one little salon in Heliopolis in the 60s, after he was well trained by his uncle at the then famous Normandy Salon.

With expansion came big plans, where he decided to open a training academy, initially meant to train his own personnel, yet expanded to offer select courses to outsiders.

“Naturally, we keep some things exclusively for our own staff, to preserve our own style,” Rolande Chenouda, manager of AlSagheer Academy tells Community Times in an interview at their headquarters. Chenouda has been working with Al-Sagheer for 5 years. The academy has been running since 2004.

Offering an extensive range of specialized training, from haircuts to pedicures, the Academy is where all their hairdressers continuously attend workshops to sharpen their skills. The mentors are often students who were taught at the Academy, and later traveled abroad for more experience that they brought back to the staff in training. Some of the workshops are seasonal, such as a British barber who comes to offer training twice a year. Some workshops are compulsory for all staff members, while others only target those who need it.

“My communication is with the branch managers. I ask them to send me the new staff that needs training, or those interested in specializing, and anyone who was the subject of any complaint from a client,” Chenouda, who is also the Academy’s Induction and training consultant, says.

The classes are not limited to styling skills, but also include etiquette. Al-Sagheer got lucky when Chenouda, joined his team. “I was previously working at the French Embassy, where experience with etiquette was a must, and so I was able to introduce it here.” She adds, “The induction part (etiquette) is not a course, but the essence of it, and we teach the staff what we consider to be the art of interacting with the clients, to standardize our service,” she says.

Some of these essentials include body language, how to welcome a client, and guidelines in cleanliness and hygiene, among a

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By Soha Elsirgany

number of other fine points that are imperative to make their clients as comfortable as possible. These workshops are a chance to refresh and upgrade the staff’s skills, as they practice on real models. “If a staff member had the chance to travel abroad, he would hold a workshop and share what he learned on the latest trends, we also have competitions sponsored by companies with rewards,” says Chenouda.

There are also courses offered to Al-Sagheer’s new generation, the assistants who are eligible for promotion to be stylists or barbers.

For a full year, these personnel are immersed in learning about everything from dyeing to hairstyles and hair cuts to makeup.

The academy’s courses for outsiders are structured differently, typically offered for a period of three months, twice a week.

Usually having around 20 students, the courses include make up, cutting, and acrylic nails, but leave out some of the special hair treatments and styles that are exclusive for the staff trainings.

“Some outsiders get interested to work with us, but in case they don’t, the courses prepare them for separate careers. Courses like acrylic nails and make up can be easily done as a freelance job,” Chenouda says. According to her, Al-Sagheer is not the only such place giving classes; competing salons also have similar training centers, such as Kriss salon and Mohamed Abdel Hamid salon.

When asked how they wish to be differentiated from the others, Chenouda says, “We are creative.” She then explains that learning the hard skills and ground rules must come with sensibility.

She gives an example on contouring, (applying makeup to define and sculpt the face), has rules and shouldn’t be applied blindly.

“You can’t just contour any bride; they must know if it’s suitable for her face and when to use it. Many make up artists feel like they should contour for fear of appearing to the client like they don’t know how to,” Chenouda says.

In the future, a bigger academy will emerge in a new venue. Until then, Al-Sagheer continues to expand his outreach and, as more and more stylists and make-up artists are being certified from his namesake Academy, he is building up a legacy on the beauty scene. p

62% of parents are willing to get into debt to finance their children’s education • Parents in Egypt perceive paying for their children’s education as more important than contributing to their own retirement savings • 9 in 10 parents in Egypt are funding their children’s education from day-to-day income • Nearly half (48%) have paid into a savings account specifically for their children’s education

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espite the different burdens borne by parents in Egypt, education for their children is perceived by most as one of their biggest and most important commitments. Parents are doing what they can to ensure their children get a proper head start for their careers, hoping that education will increase their chances of employability and income generation in the future.

their own country for higher education opportunities at this time unless they are able to secure financial assistance.”

With the growing presence of private learning institutions (especially undergraduate), education in Egypt is clearly becoming more costly than it used to be. Funding it requires better preparation and increased resources.

The Value of Education: Foundations for the Future, a survey of 6,241 people across 15 countries and territories, including 353 parents in Egypt, provides insights into parents attitudes and behaviours toward their children’s education around the world. The annual report published by HSBC found that parents in Egypt are willing to go into debt to finance their children’s education.

The vast majority of parents (90%) are funding their children’s education from day-to-day income and given the high cost of education this option seems unsustainable. As a result, over three in five (62%) parents would be willing to go into debt to support their child through university or college education.

Aspirations of parents An overwhelming majority of parents in Egypt have a preferred occupation in mind for their children(91%), and this preferred occupation is mostly based on income-earning potential (52%), and the perceived benefit to society(52%).

To improve their children’s employability, most parents(88%) agree that their child gaining work experience specific to their chosen occupation will increase their chances of finding full time employment in that occupation. Learning a foreign language (90%), completing an undergraduate degree (90%), taking an accredited training course (88%), as well as post-graduate degrees (81%) are all seen by parents as strong drivers of their children’s employability.

While a majority of parents (93%) view completing a university education abroad with benefits such as increasing confidence (49%), foreign language skills (49%), and improved incomeearning potential (45%), only 10% of parents in Egypt would consider a university education for their child abroad, compared to a global average of 35%. This number can be attributed to economic factors, culture, and the existence of a number of relatively strong educational institutions in Egypt.

Allan Goodman, President and CEO of the Institute of International Education comments: “Egypt has not had a strong tradition of pursuing education abroad, and, despite growing interest, recent economic challenges and currency fluctuations make it less likely that Egyptian students will look outside of

Funding – where does the money come from?

Mustafa Ramzi, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management of HSBC Egypt, commented on the report, saying: “It is encouraging to see that nearly half (48%) of Egypt parents have paid into a savings account specifically for their children’s education. However, considering a majority are using day-today income and 62% are willing to get into debt, parents need to not only start saving early, but they also need to save wisely.

Planning ahead and speaking to expert financial advisors will help parents avoid surprises and allow them to meet the aspirations they have for their children’s education and careers.”

Balancing commitments Parents in Egypt prioritise saving for children’s education over retirement savings (59%), or paying household bills (59%) and credit card bills (58%). This varies with gender. Mothers (64%) are more inclined than fathers (55%) to believe that paying for their children’s education is more important than paying the rent.

This variance manifests itself across different income levels.

Households with a monthly income of more than 10,000 EGP are more likely to put funding their child’s education ahead of their own retirement savings (71%), than households with an income of less than 5,000 EGP (57%).

Yet when it comes to holidays, parents would be more likely to sacrifice paying for their children’s education than sacrifice paying for their holidays, if they had to cut back on their expenses. 9% say that their child’s education is the financial commitment they would be least likely to sacrifice, while in contrast 14% would not give up paying for their holidays or other trips. p Oct 2016 | Ct

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Scenes Real People

The plight of Bab Elabeed Written and photographed by Ahmed Kafafi

Very few Alexandrians might have heard of Bab Elabeed, a small village tucked away in the coastal city’s Malahat area. Once upon a time the Malahat (salt ponds) provided the villagers there, mostly Bedouin fishermen, with a worthwhile livelihood. Today, the village has been swept away by the invasion of urbanity as well as industrialization that have left the Malahat with unprecedented levels of pollution, coupled by the vagaries of fierce winters, has reduced the place to a deplorable condition that requires the immediate intervention of all concerned authorities.

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hen Shaker, a poor fisherman at Malahat, Alexandria, got hold of one fish he had just hooked, he didn’t realize he was almost on the point of losing his life. Shaker was needled by one of the fish’s thorns, not knowing that it was contaminated with a chemical poison. He rushed to the closest health unit, where he was injected with a medicine that blocked the effect of the deadly poison. But this was only one case in the area that is continually witnessing the unexplained deaths of many fishermen. A few months ago, Abdel Gawad, went home with acute skin rashes that began to develop after a long fishing venture, and in a week, his system stopped functioning and fell into a coma that resulted in his death.

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Marked by the strong smell of the decomposed reeds and the presence of capped fishermen on their canoe-like boats and ‘faloukas’, the Malahat, regrettably, harbors the sufferings and tribulations of the fishermen who belong to the tiny village of Bab Elabeed that overlooks the Malahat. Literally translating into (slaves’ gate), the place is home to 10,000 Bedouins who have since time immemorial settled in this remote area to break with the traditional professions of their desert compatriots.

A few kilometers before Carrefour supermarket, a small turning ushers us to the start of the road to the Abis area where Bab Elabeed village is located. There, you will find large areas of arable land that stretch for more than 20km along the road lined by several villages and hamlets which make up Alexandria’s countryside.

There, no fields or deserts are seen, only the stagnant waters that have provided the Bedouins over the ages with a worthwhile livelihood. But they can no longer rely on them

after they have been damaged by the remains of neighboring gas companies that dump in the Malahat, as well as the drainage of agricultural irrigation and sewerage, let alone the encroachment of several mega stores.

“I spend hours selling those few kilos of bolti fish,” sighs Shawki, who has set up his stall in one corner of the Bab Elabeed Bridge, built across the Sidi Bou Ghazi Canal that divides the village in two parts. “Also, think of the effort made to catch them from the Malahat that no longer yield the plenty of its heyday due to pollution,” he adds. Adjusting his Bedouin head wrap, he adds, “Many types like Buri, mullet or sea bass have disappeared and we are only left with the Tilapia fish that can live in dirty waters. Many times I get fish at Rashid and sell it at a loss because people here refuse to pay more than what I buy it for! We can’t count on the Malahat anymore. We should find another job.”

The locals who had once taken to the Malahat are now realizing it’s about time to find another occupation. Sayed, 55, has launched a mobile shop, Islam, 30, is learning how to install satellite dishes, Abdel Khalik is busy attending to the frequenters of his coffee shop that commands a view of the Sidi Bou Ghazi Canal. Mechanic shops, vegetables and fruit stalls and workshops for making fishnets, as well as other minor activities, have all been spotted in the village. But to change one’s profession in such a small market is a true challenge, for the people’s incomes are limited. “We’re the most unfortunate of all Bedouins,” regrets Islam. “The locals in the neighboring villages in Abis are selling their land for millions. Our brothers in Borg El Arab are prospering, having integrated into Alexandria’s city life and found jobs with the different investors.

In the past, the Malahat used to be the bread and butter of everyone here, but now impending threats are making us feel less secure about our future,” he adds.

The Malahat that face the east side of the Sidi Bou Ghazi Canal are lined up with rooms that are used to keep the fishermen’s equipment and serve as outlets for selling fish. At 2 pm, only few are paddling their way amidst the reeds and the burning sun in search of a good catch. One of them is Harbi, whose room shelters a big basin filled with his live breed of the wild eel fish. “I only work in summer selling the eel which I bring young to my modest farm in winter and leave them to grow away from the polluted waters. The eel is very popular here.”

Why don’t you establish fish farms instead?

“It’s difficult due to the lack of space, for every inch in Bab Elabeed is now occupied,” says Gaber, 60, a fisherman, “In the past, many parts of the Malahat were used as hatcheries, but now they have all been damaged by pollution. I think we’ll have to leave soon. Our livelihood is in danger and the invasion of businesses will never stop until all Bab Elabeed is claimed by investors. Now the biggest threat is land reclamation companies,” grumbles Gaber.

A considerable part of the Malahat has been taken to establish the mega malls near the entrance to Alexandria. Both the governorates of Alexandria and Beheira share the Malahat which are now subject to the threat of land reclamation companies. Says Gaber, “They are aiming to turn the water surface into arable land. After they had managed to bridge part of the Malahat near Bab Elabeed, the project was blocked

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Real People Scenes

in line with an Alexandria court decision, but attempting to find loopholes in the verdict, they took the case to the Beheira Courts. We don’t mind if they want to take all the area, provided we are compensated for our losses. We could be content if they promise to employ us, but, ironically, they’re offering it for sale!!

To who! To us!”

The suffering of Bab Elabeed has been compounded with last year’s torrential rain that hit Alexandria. The water level in the Malahat had risen and flooded the Sidi Bou Ghazi Canal as well as the main road. The water spilled out into the fragile houses on both sides of the canal, that are mostly covered with reed and the villagers fled their homes leaving behind their belongings. The access to the village was blocked and people were marooned for almost a month. Aid had to arrive through the Sidi Bou Ghazi Canal as no vehicles could muddy it to the Abis villages. “We were the worst affected by the disaster,” says Islam. “We had to quickly react and the men started by raising sand barriers on both sides of the canal to save the houses. Our effort was instrumental not only in saving Abis, but the entire city of Alexandria, for the area here is situated on a higher level than the coastal city. Hadn’t we resisted the flooding water, it would have rushed to the Cairo- Alexandria desert road and parts of Alexandria.”

High-ranking military officials had flown over the area with helicopters to assess the situation. They were on the point of ordering the houses be removed to save the people, but were faced with the problem of where to accommodate them.

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Bab Elabeed witnessed a similar disaster 20 years ago, but the villagers’ life is usually at risk every winter when all the north coast is hit by rains, storms and floods. The village is surrounded by water, and to get out, people have to paddle through the canal to the main road. Several school children were drowned, and fearing for the life of their dear ones, parents stopped them from going to school. The entire season is usually one of instability: no work in the troubled waters, no clear road to the city, no local production to rely on.

According to reports, many charity organiziations provided blankets and food to the Abis villages in winter including Bab Elabeed. One company volunteered to construct concrete roofs for the houses in 2014. Many officials visited the area promising a major facelift including the introduction of fresh services, but the situation hasn’t changed and no one knows what the next winter is hiding for the helpless villagers.

Where Does the village name come from?

The locals don’t exactly know the source of the name. Historical sources relate that Bab Elabeed or ‘slaves’ gate’ was home to a large group of black slaves recruited by prince Touson to undertake the digging of the Mariout Lake into which pours the water of Sidi Bou Ghazi Canal. They appealed to the Alexandria Governorate to change the name into ‘Horiya’ (freedom) and though the governorate complied to their wish, the village continues to be known as Bab Elabeed. “How can it be Horiya, if we remain slaves to poverty, pollution and isolation!” remarks Shawki. “Let’s pray there will be a way out soon.” p

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Scenes

Misconceptions About Siwa Far away from Egypt’s modern societies, an ancient community lies in the heart of the Western Desert, preserving not only its virgin, natural beauty, but a rich human experience as well. Like many exhilarating escapades, the oasis of Siwa is hard to fathom or fully grasp unless lived for what it is – a unique experience

By Enas el Masry

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riven by curiosity to find out more about the rich life and cultural heritage of one of Egypt’s most famous oases, I quit my job and set out on a six-weekjourney to Siwa, an endeavor that was spiritually awakening to say the least. Whereas solid online research would usually prep any traveler for their ventures, the internet is herein draped in faulty interpretations of the Siwi history as well as its modern-day society, rendering it inevitable to learn about the oasis first-hand.

As different as Siwa was from the lifestyle and social life I was familiar with, my family and friends would often get in touch with concerns that seemed nothing short of alien to the actual experience I was living. Time and time again, as more friends visited, they would express how Siwa was farthest from what they had expected. Meanwhile, many more back home with little interest to endure the 12-hour bus ride to the oasis continue to live with various misconceptions on what life in an Egyptian oasis is like.

The Primitive Desert Life “How far is the town from Siwa?” my friend would inquire a few days before arriving to the oasis for the first time, making me pause and think: “Uhm, Siwa is the town and the town is Siwa?”

The first challenge that faces many people is imagining what Siwa looks like at all. As a child, I always based my imagination of oases on those I saw in animated movies – vast deserts and a few palm trees engulfing a spring.

At face value, Siwa is a very simple town with a mixture of mudhouses and two or three-storey buildings. Although barely as consumerist and commercial as Cairo or any of the big cities, Siwa’s markets provides right about every single need I thought of during my stay.

As far as Siwi logic goes, living in a mud-house does not mean you can’t have an Internet router and one of the latest smartphones.

Rigid Bedouins So Siwis are not Bedouins who set up tents in the desert?

As a matter of fact, Siwis are not Bedouins at all. Unlike Bedouins who wander the deserts in search of water and greens, Siwis have established a very concrete culture that dates back to as far as Ancient Egypt and even farther. Today, Siwa is considered to be the easternmost extension to the North African indigenous Berber culture, commonly known as Amazigh. This explains the seemingly foreign language they speak, which is a local dialect of Tamazight that has been greatly infused with Arabic.

Seeing as how Siwa was always an important station on the most commonly traveled trade routes, the oasis acted as a hub where many cultures met, broadening the horizons of the locals and influencing their views on life without changing the core of the culture.

A Conservative, Close-Minded Society Although many Siwi generations have lived under the rich exposure to the various cultures brought about by the trade routes, living in the heart of the desert has allowed them to preserve their culture whilst appreciating cultural differences and paying them due respect.

One of the earliest things first-time visitors will notice is the almost absolute absence of women on the street. Eventually, one will notice that Siwi women only walk the streets covered in their traditional blue sheets. This observation oftentimes breeds assumptions that women in Siwa lead an oppressed life where they barely have any rights.

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Scenes Quite the contrary, many Siwis, women and men alike, have attested to the fact that women in Siwa are highly respected and valued. While male visitors have little to no access to the world of Siwi women, I was lucky enough to see beyond the blue sheets and drapes where vivid colors and vibrant souls flutter.

“Are you married or engaged?” a 17-year-old mother asked my 25-year-old friend. Holding wisdom beyond her age, the young mother expressed her complete understanding that my friend remains single. “You have your study and professional life to take care of,” she said. “But here, most of the girls drop out of school after middle school, that’s why it’s plausible to get married at a young age.”

As for Siwa’s male community, many of whom have traveled near and far, domestically and abroad, only to reach the same yearning to go back home. While their stances differ, one friend who does plenty of business in Cairo would always say that his visits to the capital city always made him appreciate Siwa more.

Hundred Years of Solitude Although I’ve always enjoyed a very rich social life, the one I had in Siwa was double as exhausting, yet double as sincere as the one I had back in Cairo. Unlike the big city where people hide behind walls and closed doors, communicating mostly via texts and social media stories, Siwa gave me a taste of the real social life.

Residents of Siwa tend to be quite varied in their interests and especially how they spend their leisure time. From private parties to movie nights or just star-gazing, there is a place for almost everyone.

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Except for women, men spend most of their time between work and socializing with friends in cafeterias or visiting one another where possible. Such social life setting has allowed my real-life social network to quickly and organically grow.

The social life in Siwa does not solely stop at the locals, but includes a rich expat community as well, varying between non-Siwi Egyptians and non-Egyptians. While many would think that they have nothing in common to discuss with Siwi locals, you’d be surprised at the richness of experiences they have derived from their proximity and connectedness to nature, as well as their exhilarating folk culture.

The strange thing about Siwa is that it seems to have an invisible filter of people. Those who choose to stay almost always tend to be like-minded. So if you enjoy your stay there, rest assured that there are so many people you’d be eager to meet – possibly ones you need to meet.

Even in their similarity, residents of Siwa tend to be quite varied in their interests and especially how they spend their leisure time. From private parties to movie nights or just star-gazing, there is a place for almost everyone.

Nothing But Desert While there may be some sense to this misconception, given that Siwa lies in the heart of the Great Sand Sea, it is fair to say that Siwa is one of the greenest places I have yet visited.

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Scenes

Depending greatly on their produce of olives, dates and their derivative products, the skyline in Siwa is finely defined by its endless fields of palm trees.

Besides the fields of green, Siwa is also home to expansive salt lakes as well as various wells and springs scattered across the city and its desert outskirts.

However, it is undeniable that the Great Sand Sea holds grandeur and magic that are sure to breathe life into the most dormant souls.

Between the desert life, and that of the green city, there are multiple activities that one can engage in. Whether you’re into safari tours, meditating, or chilling under the stars, there is plenty that Siwa can offer you. p

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If your faulty ideas about Siwa have been holding you back, I suggest you drop the expectations and dive right into the experience head-first.

While the big cities may be fun for their mind-numbing activities, the disconnection from modernity you experience in Siwa is guaranteed to connect you to what really counts – to life.

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TRAVEL

Malta

Written and Photographed

By Basma Bishay

a differently surprising experience When my parents first told me we’ll be going to Malta this summer, I must admit I was apprehensive: what could a small, colonized island have to offer us big city Cairenes? But I’m writing this hindsight, so its safe to say that all my apprehensions were down the drain.

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The Trip to Malta

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rowing up, the only thing I was taught about Malta was that it is the island on which Saad Zaghloul was banished.

And given that banishment connotes as punishment in my mind, Malta was the last place I would have imagined visiting on vacation. Egyptians have been staying away from the small island, so much so that the direct onehour flight was cancelled many years ago. It’s painful to realize that a direct flight would have taken us one hour and a half, as opposed to the ten and a half hours the whole trip lasted— transit in Turkey included. We finally arrived at the Maltese International Airport: Luca. Just like most everything else on this island, the airport was very small and cozy. I remember seeing a couple of small duty free shops on both of the two floors of the airport, as well as a few small restaurants. We made it downstairs to collect our luggage, which came in pretty quickly. Next, we rented a car, which, surprisingly proved to be one heck of an adventure. Like they do in the U.K., Maltese drivers drive on the right side of the road. Thus began the pleasingly surprising summer vacation.

St. Julian’s & Sliema Instead of booking a hotel, we rented an apartment in one of the most popular areas on the island: St. Julian’s. So, we made the right-sided drive from the airport to the apartment, driving through hilly roads and scenic backgrounds, occasionally catching a glimpse of the sea, until we finally made it to the apartment building. The city is built in a semi-circle around a large marina. All around the water are cafés, restaurants and pubs, catered specifically for the largely touristic population.

Along the same pedestrian walk, meandering by the sea Sliema begins where St. Julian’s ends.

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TRAVEL

In recent years, Malta has been receiving high touristic traffic, mostly consisting of a younger generation. I found out during my stay that Malta has been hosting the MTV music festival for a few years, attracting individuals interested in the party and music scene. Being a main hub of bars and pubs, it only made sense for St. Julian’s to be more densely populated than many of the other places we visited.

We spent the first afternoon strolling down the marina sidewalk, restaurants, pubs, and cafes left and right teasing our curiosities.

One of the most important factors that determine my enjoyment in any given country is the cuisine—duh! So after about an hour or so of walking through the sunset, we finally chose the “Seaside”, which actually turned out to be a three-story mega restaurant overlooking the sea. As it turned out, the size of the restaurant wasn’t the only ‘mega’ thing about the place; the waitress welcomed us with four almost book-sized menus from which to choose. The food ranged all the way from pizzas and pastas, to steaks and ribs, and all kinds of seafood. I decided to go with the honey barbecue stack of ribs. My parents and sister ordered pizzas and salads, and we all waited eagerly for our first meal in Malta.

By the time we were all done, the sun had completely set, and the beautiful deep blue sea was reduced to a black abyss, whose crashing waves were the only loud-enough indication of it’s existence. We decided to stay put for coffee and dessert, and by the end of the most rewarding dinner, we had collectively spent 60 Euros.

My family and I have been travelling to Europe for years now.

We’ve been almost everywhere across the Mediterranean, and that is where we were able to see how reasonable dining prices were in Malta compared to Europe.

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Days in St. Julian’s and Sliema consisted more or less of the same routine: after breakfast, we would stroll along the marina, taking in all the beauty of the sea until it was lunch/dinner time. But throughout our daytime strolls, I noticed something that the Maltese innovative thinkers were probably bothered by, the fact that the marina could only be utilized as such, and therefore decided to place ladders on the rocks at the edge of the water turning the sea into a swimmer friendly body of water.

Right underneath, a sea-view restaurant, lay a hidden, but far from deserted café/bar that served SHISHA! Being all Egyptian and curious, we decided to give the cafe a try, just to place Maltese shisha under Egyptian scrutiny. The café was located directly by the water, with an Arabian floor seating.

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TRAVEL Mlieha After having spent a couple of days alternating between St. Julian’s and Sliema, we decided to give the beach a try. So, after conducting some research, we spent the day in Mlieha. Swimsuits on, towels in hand, we made the twenty-minute drive to spend the day soaking in the sun. To our dismay, however, the beach didn’t live up to our expectations at all. Made up of four or five medium-sized beaches, Mlieha was 100% packed—and by ‘packed’ I mean long chairs were set up right next to each other, allowing zero space for any sort of privacy, so we decided to have lunch at any of the overlooking restaurants instead.

I can’t tell you how surprisingly wonderful our day ended up being. Of all the restaurants, we probably picked the nicest: Munchies. We sat at a sea view table, with literally nothing obstructing the view. We ordered a Maltese-style pizza, a Parmesan and rocket leaf focaccia, a salmon steak, and fried baby calamari. For dessert, we had a large Nutella pizza with blueberry jam to share.

The food was delicious. We spent the entire day in that one restaurant, given that we had already made the drive to Mlieha and everything about the place was relaxing.

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Rabat & Mdina Rabat and Mdina are located directly next to each other, with one parking lot in between. Together, these two cities make for my favorite places in Malta. The twin cities are very much alike, architecture wise. Displaying the island’s history in the light beige stonewalls; Rabat and Mdina were the most authentically Maltese cities, in my opinion of course. We began our excursion in Rabat, where we strolled down the narrow meandering streets. There seemed to be very few people walking our same path, which added to the homey feeling of the place. At around lunchtime, we walked into an all-white restaurant, took our seats, and ordered what was to become an addiction of a meal. It was by mere chance that we all ordered the Gorgonzola gnocchi plates, because literally every other item on the menu sounded just as exquisite. The potato pasta was equal parts chewy and soft, leaving the perfect room for the delicate Gorgonzola cheese taste to penetrate every taste bud. By the time we had all finished our plates, we had already decided on the date of our next visit to the same restaurant, for the same meal.

Afterwards, we happened across a beautifully scenic café, located on a high hill in Rabat, hosting guests onto its panoramic outdoor balcony. Spending a little under an hour enjoying the wind and warm weather, it was finally time to walk to the other side. Mdina beckoned.

We felt like royalty walking towards the city of Mdina, not only because it was practically as though we had time travelled to a century much older than our modern 21st, but also because the city welcomed us with an old, stone bridge into the authenticity of culture. And behold, the very first thing we saw was a beautiful wooden horse carriage, carrying tourists past historical frames of time. The city of Mdina is most famous for its handmade glass works of art.

Everything from marble in all shapes and sizes to vases and chandeliers are handmade in the most vibrant colors. There is a big, two-story glass store right as we got off the bridge.

We ended up buying four candle holders, two paper weights, a centerpiece, and a few beautiful marble pieces.

We spent the second half of our day walking through streets that very closely resembled those of Rabat, except for the fact that we noticed one small detail: the city of Mdina seemed to have an overall quietness to it that seemed to overtake everyone there.

At first, I thought it just had something to do with the breathless affect of the old architecture, but then I started noticing signs engraved into the cobble stones saying along the lines of, “Please remain silent in respect for the Mdina Residents”.

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TRAVEL The Blue Lagoon & Marsaxlokk A little under one week into our stay in Malta, we still hadn’t been able to spend a day out on an actual beach. So we did some more research and decided to go visit the Blue Lagoon. Online, reviewers advise visitors to avoid visiting this beach during weekends, claiming that it gets too crowded for comfort. So we thought we were doing the right thing by going on a Tuesday. In order to get to the Blue Lagoon from St. Julian’s, we had to take a 20-minute boat trip, and given how much I love boat rides, the day was already starting on the right foot;. But everything changed the minute our eyes caught the first slight glimpse at where the boat would be docking to let us off.

Hundreds of people filled the small white-sand beach in a way that made it almost impossible to set foot, let alone actually find seats.

What’s worse is that the boat had dropped us off and sailed away, meaning that the next pickup was an hour and a half away. Thankfully, a short tanned young man walked up to my dad saying he would offer us four long chairs at the very reasonable price of 60 Euros. The approximate equivalent of 750 Egyptian pounds for the opportunity to spend an hour and a half squeezed in between two groups of people, and surrounded by sticky humans in the heat. We had no choice but to take the man up on his offer, and thus began the world’s most uncomfortable beach experience.

At some point, my dad decided to take a dip in the sea, because all other things aside, the water truly was crystal clear aqua blue. I decided to follow in his footsteps shortly after, feeling all excited about breaking the heat with some refreshing water,.

Believe you me, all it took was for the water to touch the edge of my toes for me to sprint in the opposite direction. The water was freezing! Anticlimax for sure—which I didn’t even know could exist given the already not-so-great circumstances.

We got ourselves something to drink, quenching our thirst in the August heat, underestimating the complexity that would arise at our need to use the bathroom. Sitting at the lowermost area by the sea, my sister and I had to climb rocks, squeezing our way past the tens and tens of crammed humans, all for the slightest hint at the presence of a toilet at all. Finally, in the far distance was a small crooked W.C. sign with a queue of about twenty women waiting in line. By the time we finally made it back, our escape boat had arrived. Next stop, Marsaxlokk (Aka: Fisherman’s Village).

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We heard about Marsaxlokk being the place to be for a taste for fresh fish. Located right by the sea, the view made for a very colorful, and pretty primitive atmosphere. Filling the sea were cute little fishing boats, with the many restaurants so close that the fish would probably still be kicking by the time they got to the kitchens. We ordered Maltese style oven baked fish, which were all so fresh and absolutely delicious.

The Blue Grotto The Blue Grotto is one of the most beautiful sights to see in Malta. We took a boat from St. Julian’s to the small marina from which we took the boat into the sea to see the caves naturally embedded into the edge of the Maltese island. The tour from one cave to the next took no more than one minute, but the water seemed to be getting bluer and clearer with each one.

Valletta Valetta is the country’s capital city. Made up of more metropolitan-looking buildings and streets than is the rest of the island. More than any other Maltese city, Valetta is the city with the most European stores.

Walking around, my eyes caught a glimpse of a beautiful, large public library. This educational resource is available to all visitors at no cost. It turns out that the building is a historic reservoir of an old Maltese king’s works and collections. The very large books were locked away in ceiling-high wooden cabinets, sealed with a think layer of metal that obstructed my view almost entirely. All I could identify was the fact that each book was almost as tall as I was. I wanted to learn more, but there was no one there who could help me.

We spent the rest of the evening having dinner at a restaurant that played beautiful live music; As we were heading back to our car, we noticed an impressive gelato store, so we made the detour and each got ourselves a flower gelato cone, colorful petals and all.

Language Among the few pieces of general knowledge that I have is that over the course of history, the island was occupied by a number of different countries. Being strategically located in the Mediterranean (just south of Sicily, Italy), it acted as an ideal harbor in times of war. That being said, Malta proved to have been trodden by people from across the globe over the course of its existence. Needless to say, such international exposure allowed for the country to inhabit characteristics of many different countries.

The Maltese language is the unique combination of Arabic and Italian. I overheard a few conversations in which the numbers “wahed and tnin” were used. I remember we once had a conversation with one of the waiters at a restaurant who, turns out, was Italian. He said that it doesn’t take Arabs or Italians longer than three months to become fluent Maltese speakers.

Even still, the official spoken language in restaurants or any public facility is English. You will never feel alien.

Malta was an all around interesting and enjoyable experience. It was nice getting a taste of all things European, all in one place.p

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Out & About Cuisine

n e e w o l l a H s e p i c e R n Fu

Halloween Blondies Ingredients:

Slimy Bog Balls

• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more, room temperature, for pan • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar • 1/2 cup granulated sugar • 2 large eggs • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract • 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled) • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt • 1/4 cup each orange, yellow, and brown candycoated chocolates (mms for example)

Ingredients:

Directions:

• 3/4 cup (7 ounces) pesto sauce • 2/3 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, basil, tarragon, or cilantro • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest • Salt and pepper • 10.5 ounces fresh goat cheese • Belgian endive leaves, for serving

Directions:

• Spread pesto on a serving plate. In a small bowl, combine herbs and zest and season with salt and pepper.

• Roll cheese into 12 balls, then roll in herb mixture to coat. Place on top of pesto. Serve with endive.

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• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush an 8-inch square baking pan with butter; line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter paper.

• In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugars until smooth. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; stir just until moistened. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top.

• Arrange candies in 12 rows (2 rows per color, repeating once) on top of dough.

• Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

• Set pan on a wire rack and let cool completely.

Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and transfer to a cutting board; cut into 16 squares. p

Orange Pumpkin Face Cookies Ingredients: • • • • •

Crispy Parmesan Chickpeas Dry your chickpeas as thoroughly as possible before cooking to ensure a satisfyingly crisp result. If you’re planning to pack these flavor-coated, fiber-filled poppers as a to-go snack, be sure to allow them to cool completely on a flat surface first.

Ingredients:

• 1 (15-oz.) can unsalted chickpeas • 2 tablespoons olive oil • 1/2 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 Tbsp.)

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder • 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

• Drain and rinse chickpeas; pat dry with a paper towel.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chickpeas to pan; cook 17 minutes or until golden brown and crispy all over, stirring occasionally.

• Transfer chickpeas to a bowl. Add cheese, garlic powder, lemon rind, oregano, salt, and pepper; toss gently. Serve immediately, or cool chickpea mixture in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet before storing in an airtight container. p

140g butter , softened 175g plain flour 50g icing sugar Finely grated zest 1 medium orange Orange

For the filling: • • • • • •

100g mascarpone (or any cream cheese) 1 tsp icing sugar 25g plain chocolate, melted For the glaze 50g icing sugar about 1 tbsp orange juice

Directions: • Preheat the oven to medium. Put the butter in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the flour, icing sugar and orange zest and beat together to make a softish dough. Knead into a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill for 1 hour.

• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 3mm. Cut 24 circles with a 7.5 cm round plain cutter. Put them on a couple of baking sheets.

• Using a small sharp knife, cut out Halloween faces on 12 of the circles. Gather up the spare biscuit dough and press into pumpkin stem shapes, trimming with a sharp knife. Press to the top of each biscuit with a knife to join. Make lines on the face biscuits with the back of a round-bladed knife, to look like the markings on a pumpkin.

• Bake all the biscuits for about 15 minutes until pale golden. Leave to set for a while, then cool completely on a wire rack.

• Mix the glaze ingredients to make a smooth, runny icing, adding a bit more juice if needed, then set aside. For the filling, beat the mascarpone with the icing sugar, then stir in the cooled melted chocolate.

• Spread the filling over the cooled plain biscuits, then press the ‘face’ ones on top – do this just before you want to eat them, otherwise they go soft. Brush with the glaze, using a clean paint brush or pastry brush. Eat the same day. p Oct 2016 | Ct

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Out & AbOut Cuisine Pumpkin Soup Ingredients: • • • • • • • • •

2 tbsp. unsalted butter 1 large potato 1 small pumpkin 1 large onion 4½ c. chicken broth Salt Freshly ground pepper ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg ½ pt. heavy cream

Directions:

• Cut pumpkin in half. Scoop out the inside and cut into cubes.

• Boil water and place the pumpkin cubes over medium heat until the pumpkin is soft. Drain from the water and mash.

• In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter.

Add potato and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

• Stir in pumpkin. Using an immersion blender, purée mixture until smooth. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and nutmeg. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil.

• Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and heat thoroughly.

Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve hot. p

Chocolate Halloween Mice Ingredients: • • • • • • • •

4 (1 ounce) chocolate baking squares 1⁄3 cup sour cream 1 cup chocolate wafer, finely crushed 1⁄3 cup additional chocolate wafer, finely crumbled (for dark mice) 1⁄3 cup confectioners’ sugar (for white mice) 24 silver dragees (small silver, edible balls for eyes) 24 sliced almonds (for ears) 12 licorice, strings (for tails)

Directions:

• Melt the chocolate, and combine with sour cream.

Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate wafer crumbs. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate until firm.

• Roll by level tablespoonfuls into balls. Mold to a slight point at one end (the nose).

• Roll dough in confectioners sugar (for white mice), or in chocolate wafer crumbs (for dark mice).

• On each mouse, place dragees in appropriate spot for eyes, almond slices for ears, and a licorice string for the tail.

• Refrigerate for at least two hours until firm. p

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Sep 2016 | Ct

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Spider Web Chocolate Fudge Muffins Ingredients: • • • • • • • • • •

50g dark chocolate 85g butter Butter 1 tbsp milk , water or coffee 200g self-raising flour ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 85g sugar 50g brown sugar 1 egg Sour Cream

For the topping:

• 100g dark chocolate • 100g white chocolate

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to medium and line a muffin tin with 10 paper muffin cases.

• Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl, add the butter and liquid. Melt in the microwave on Medium for 3045 seconds (or set the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water). Stir and leave the mixture to cool.

• Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and both sugars in a bowl. Beat the egg in another bowl and stir in the sour cream, then pour this on the flour mixture and add the cooled chocolate. Stir just to combine – don’t over-mix or it will get tough.

• Spoon the mixture into the cases to about three quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes until well risen. Loosen the edges with a round-bladed knife, let them sit in the tins for a few minutes, then lift out and cool on a wire rack.

• For the topping, make two piping bags out of greaseproof paper (or cut the ends off two clean plastic bags).

Break the dark and white chocolate into separate bowls and melt in the microwave on medium for 2 minutes (or over a pan). Put 2 spoonfuls of dark chocolate in one bag and the same of white chocolate in the other.

• Working with one muffin at a time, spread with dark chocolate from the bowl, letting it run down a bit, then pipe four concentric circles of white chocolate on top. – Using a small skewer, drag through the circles at regular intervals, from the centre to the edge, to create a cobweb effect.

Repeat with four more muffins.

On the remaining five, spread over the white chocolate and decorate with the dark. Best eaten the day they’re made – even better while the chocolate’s soft. p

Halloween deviled eggs Ingredients: • • • • • •

6 hard-boiled eggs, halved 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 1⁄2 teaspoon ground mustard 1⁄8 teaspoon salt 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper black olives

Directions:

• Cut eggs in half lengthwise. Slip out yolks and mash.

• Stir in mayonaise, mustard, salt, and pepper.

• Cut whole olive in half.

• Put one half on mashed yolk for the spiders body.

• Thinly slice the other half for the spiders legs. Put four legs on each side. p Oct 2016 | Ct

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CALENDAR oct.

2016

OctOber 14th

music

Kazazian ensemble OctOber 1st – 13th

belgian artist nadine Flevet

ART

Nadine Fievet exhibits 45 pictures which are all inspired from the Nile.

The Belgian artist continually sees the joy and intoxication by the projections of colors. Each painting plays on both the design effect and depth in a strange vocabulary of color signs and archaic traces through demanding techniques to become a thought.

Playing together since 2010, the Kazazian Ensemble is coming back to Egypt to perform SABIL in a tour of concerts.

Over the years, the artists’ exchange have led to a development in their music compositions, mixing Egyptian with Swiss, and folk with world music. With Georges Kazazian on the oud, Patricia Draeger on the accordion, and Luca Sisera on the double bass.

El Genaina Theater, Al Azhar park Time: 8:30 pm

Cordoba Art Gallery, 3A Degla St. off Al Furat St. from Game’et El Dowal St. Mohandiseen. Tel: (02) 3338 1005 daily from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. except for Fridays.

OctOber 2nd tO 17th

ART

Artist Ahmed Mounib OctOber 13th

music

donia Masoud An Amazing artist who is famous for her unique voice and one of the things that definitely added to her success is her choice of music and lyrics. She has traveled all over Egypt, from upper to lower, villages, countryside, and gathered the folkloric music and lyrics that have been performed hundreds of years ago, and managed to deliver those folkloric treasures to us in an amazing style that captures our hearts from the minute she gets on the stage until she gets off.

El Genaina Theater, Al Azhar park Time: 8:30 pm

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Showing 30 oil paintings where revenue will be donated equaly to: Sir Magdy Yacoub Foundation, 57357 Cancer Hospital and Tahia Misr Foundation “His style is … a poetic impression expressing the artist’s love of the place and his happiness with nature’s splendor, and the language of its elements.

His touches are neither random nor unplanned, every touch is sure, eloquent and well directed.” As quoted by late artist Bikar.

Duroub Art Gallery 4 Latin America Street (Tawfik Diab Street), Garden City Tel: (202) 27947951

OctOber 8th

clAssicAl/pop music

Pop and Opera highlights

OctOber 17th tO 27th

The Best of the Beatles and Suite of Italian Opera for Saxophone and Orchestra by Roberto Molinelli (World Premiere) Soloists: Federico Mondelici, saxophone, Inès Abdel Daim, flute Conductor: Nayer Nagui Cairo Opera House, Main Hall Time: 8 pm

ART

Mohamed Damarawy Solo exhibition Al Kahila Art Gallery, 15, El Batal Ahmed Abdel Aziz St. Mohandessin Gallery Hours: Saturday to Thursday 11 am to 9 pm and closed on Fridays.

Opening night: October 17th @ 7 pm.

SAturDAy OctOber 15th

Maria Pomianowska (Poland) Milosz bil Arabi

music

Khatab mixes between painting, video art and installation in his artworks. Khatab held a couple of solo exhibitions, the first one called (The Box) at Gazeira Art Center 2013, followed by (Selem El-Elizeh) at Art Lounge Gallery 2015.

He also participated in many group exhibitions in Egypt and abroad.

Maria Pomianowska holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer and teacher. She founded the groups Raga Sangit, Zespół Polski, San-Nin Trio and Arcus Poloniae. She took part in the reconstruction of the Biłogoraj suka and the Płock fiddle and is a professor at the Academy of Music in Kraków and director of the international Cross Culture Festival.

In 1994, together with Professor Ewa Dahlig and the luthier Andrzej Kuczkowski, Pomianowska reconstructed two forgotten ancient Polish string instruments: the Biłgoraj suka and the Płock fiddle.

She used her rich experience of playing Asian fiddles when she was reconstructing the technique of playing these forgotten instruments.

Safar Khan Art Gallery, 6 Brazil Street Tel: (02) 2735 3314

El Genaina Theater, Al Azhar park Time: 8:30 pm

OctOber 10th – NOveMber 10th

ART

Alive Memory by Ibrahim Khatab

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CALENDAR oct.

OctOber 22nD

homage à William Shakespeare “A Midsummer night’s Dream”

2016

opera

Opera in Three Acts. Libretto adapted by: The Composer and Peter Pears. Music by: Benjamin Britten Concert Performance Cast: Tytania (Rebecca Bottone), Oberon (Jake Arditti), Helena(Rebecca von Lipinski), Demetrius (Richard Burkhard), Lysander or Flute (Pascal Charbonneau), Quince (Steven Page), Flute or Snout (Christopher Gillet), Bottom (Jonathan Best), Theseus (Mathew Hargreaves), Hippolyta (Emma Carington), Women of the A Cappella Choir.

Choir Master: Maya Gveneria Conductor: Ahmed El Saedi

OctOber 15th

classical music

tchaikovsky’s Great Symphonies (II) Prologue for Full Orchestra: J. Ibert Flute Concerto: P. I. Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 in E minor op. 64 Soloist: Mina Ghobrial, flute Conductor: Nayden Todorov Main Hall, Cairo Opera House Time: 8 pm

Main Hall, Cairo Opera House Time: 8 pm

OctOber 9th tO 25th

art

A Dream by Wagih Yassa The paintings of Wagih Yassa are full of joy and optimism.

We feel that he is painting his subjects afresh as if discovering them for the first time, and putting his feelings in the painting before he loses its freshness.

Picasso Art Gallery, 30 Hassan Assem St. Zamalek. (off Brazil St.).

Tel: (02) 2736 7544 Open daily from 10 am to 9 pm except Sundays

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OctOber 27th

DInA el WeDIDI

music

El Wedidi is an Egyptian singer, composer, guitarist, Daf player, actress and storyteller. She has been known as the lead performer of an ensemble of musicians who have performed extensively in the past 2 years, fusing local and global styles of music.

El Genaina Theater, Al Azhar park Time: 8:30 pm

OctOber 15th

classical music

cairo Symphony chamber Orchestra (I) Italian Flair by G. Rossini - “Il Barbiere di Sivigla” Overture F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor op. 64 Muzio Clementi, Symphony No. 3 in G major “The Great National” WoO 34 Soloist: Laura Rodriguez Moreno Conductor: Gabriele Pezone Main Hall, Cairo Opera House Time: 8 pm

OctOber 24th – 28th

ballet

carmen ballet by antOnIO GadeS cOmpany Carmen is a one-act ballet created in 1967 by Cran choreographer Alberto Alonso. Alonso’s scenario centers on Carmen, Don José and the bullfighter Escamillo. Carmen is a passionate, free-spirited woman in contrast to the temperamental and fickle Don José. Fate, a ballerina dressed in black and a representation of Carmen’s alter ego, tells Carmen’s fortune with a deck of cards. A fight with tobacco dealers leads to Carmen’s arrest by Captain Zúñiga.

In jail, she seduces Don José and convinces him to release her from jail. Carmen is subsequently caught in a love triangle between Don José and popular bullfighter Escamillo.

Main Hall, Cairo Opera House

FrIday OctOber 28th

music

Jazz & Oriental tunes El Dor El Awal presents a new mixture of Jazz & Oriental tunes, which results of totally new and amazing melodies that capture your sensation.

El Dor El Awal is one of the first bands in Egypt that has its original music of oriental jazz. They have a rich style of mixing music showing multiplicity of tonalities.

El Dor El Awal is not your typical Egyptian band. Even its formation is unusual. Two percussionists that play an original set with bongos, congas, kakhon, tabla and elements from the drums, a keyboard that uses a piano sound as well as electronic effects to add colors to the music. And finally a flute, a violin, and a saxophone, that create a very particular brass section.

El Genaina Theater, Al Azhar park Time: 8:30 pm

OctOber 8th

tristan une Isolde

opera

Live opera from Metropolitan Opera This is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Strassburg.

Cairo Opera House, small hall Time: 7 pm Oct 2016 | Ct

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Society Al Dau Development Hosts Biggest Concert for Hamaki and Jannat in the Red Sea A press conference was held on the sidelines of the successful event organized by Steigenberger Al Dau Beach Hotel at Al Dau International Conference Centre, in which singers Mohamed Hamaki and Jannat gave an exclusive performance at the concert.

The concert served as part of an ambitious plan adopted

by Al Dau Development to contribute to the flourishing tourism in Egypt. p

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Real State The finalists were chosen by a panel of industry experts and regional professionals and, in the category of Residential Low Rise – Future projects, Tatweer Misr was competing against the two shortlisted projects “ID residences” from Brazil and “Fumba Town Development”, Tanzania.

Notable is that Tatweer Misr represents the only Egyptian Real Estate Developer shortlisted in all 13 categories of this prestigious global award.

The award was presented to Dr. Ahmed Shalaby, Tatweer Misr Managing Director and Board Member at the Cityscape Awards Ceremony, held at the Conrad Hotel in Dubai, with more than 500 people attending the event. Commenting on the award Dr. Shalaby said, “We are extremely proud to be recognized for the pioneering work we are currently undertaking in our flagship project IL Monte Galala in Sokhna, Egypt. Achieving best in class amongst such illustrious competition in the world is an incredible achievement and we are delighted to have accomplished this recognition which proves to us that we are on the right path.

This award reflects the growth that is happening in the Real Estate Market in Egypt and in the country as a whole and what makes it so special is that we got it in our second home the United Arab Emirates.”

The shortlisted finalists are judged by some of the most respected and experienced names in the real estate industry.

IL Monte Galala Sokhna is considered one of the leading touristic real estate developments in the Sokhna region along the Red Sea Coast.

The 2.2 million square meters gated, year-round destination offers exclusive resort communities with a world-class high-end experience. The common thread of this master planned residential community is a real estate development defined by the three distinctive zones; sea front, mid-level and high altitude that capitalize on the stunning topography of the Galala mountain range. Each area offers a variety of entertainment and leisure options reflective of the natural landscaping and flora and fauna of this level.

First Egyptian Company

to Win Cityscape Residential Global Award Tatweer Misr was awarded the highly-coveted Cityscape Global Awards for Emerging Markets in the Low Rise — Future category, at the 2016 ceremony, for its flagship project IL Monte Galala – Sokhna.

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At the base of the development the Seafront area will focus on beach and water sport activities, offering a beach camp and a wildlife and ecology discovery center. Moving up to the Mid-level, cultural development will be a prime feature with the district boasting an Archeology Centre, a Museum of History on Ancient Man. Whilst at the peak of the development, the High-Altitude Level will feature a first of its kind quaint mountain lodge, an internationally acclaimed Spa, the wellness retreat and a range of high-adrenaline mountain sports and activities.

Every effort was taken to protect the environment by preserving the natural resources while enhancing the community with a human scale identity, ecofriendly buildings, details and equipment’s thus creating and inviting guests and residents to use outdoor open spaces all year around. The contemporary architectural design and a strong and clear development concept have been the drivers to achieving this vision. p