Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Dirt

its only been 10 days since I set up the blog so you can get all my new blog entries directly into your inbox and already i have 55 people signed up to that. Thanks guys!!!!!!!!

going this afternoon to see how Eman is getting on with my new cossies I ordered......... Trying to get a few together for when i come home to Scotland at end of Feb for my show there on the 24th!



and a note on something completely different- Cairo is SOOOOOOOOO dirty!

hehe- I said something along the lines of that to a friend and he said- 'what... don't you have dirt in Scotland?'

'Hardly, and anyway- it doesn't compare............'

The roads here are tarmaced to a degree- well- the main ones anyway....... but there are no drains....... so if it rains the water has nowhere to go. As for the dirt tracks- well- you can imagine...

Everyone here throws ALL rubbish on the ground. Really- on the street or in the Nile. I was so shocked when I 1st saw that and gave my musicians a row for doing it and they all just laughed at me.

So- when it rains- all the decomposed rubbish material which has gathered into a marinade all across the surface of the roads (and pavements- if you can call them something so grand) just turns into a mush. Much like the slush in Scotland which has all the grit and mud in it. But here you know what it is- not just sand and salt and snow- its rotten fruit, veg, papers and other stuff I would care not to think about- but lets just say there are a fair few donkeys and dogs and cats around too...........

And thats just the dirt in the street.

The dirt in the air is something else again. Sometimes when they are burning the rubbish in the fields you can taste it and the air feels heavy with it. deisel fumes helping to trap it and keep it close enough to the ground and therefore to you to breathe! Nice huh! Textured air.

And when they are not burning the rubbish... then there is always the sand particules in the air which mean that you may well clean your floor- surfaces etc in the morning- but by night you can draw a line with your finger through it! As for in April and May, when it is time for the hamiseen winds to blow from the deserts, well- thats the same problem but in extreme!

Oh- and then there is the water. The water in Cairo is safe to drink.

Well- that is assuming your intestines can handle the toxic levels of chlorine and whatever other chemicals they put into it to kill the bugs. It is so strong that you can smell swimming pools when you turn on the hot AND the ceramic on your bath corodes within a very short time if you have a dripping tap! it looks horrible- even after scrubbing and scrubbing with bleach it never quite looks clean!!! I haven't even seen plastic baths here- i guess they aren't too good an idea! Anyway- trying to find out who i can get to come and repaint my bath so all my guests dont think its me who is a dirty so and so!!!!!!!!!!!

so- do we have dirt in Scotland? YES of course- but compared to here- NO WAY!!!!

The people however- generally- I am not talking about the ones who live in the streets etc, but the average person- VERY clean! numerous showers each day is the norm......... guess thats what comes from living in a hot , dirty city- you have to be able to escape it somehow!!!!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

hello Lorna:)I'm Mandee, today is the first time i came across your blog, it is very nice and inspiring to read on your story:) hope you are doing great and please do take care. i have subscribed to your blog. I am a student belly dancer too. I hope one day i can be like you:) living like a free spirit:) Cheers~!

Lorna (aka BellyLorna!) said...

HI mandee!

Glad you like my blog.... lovely to inspire people!

where are you learning bellydance mandee?

much love- the free spirit!

Anonymous said...

well, I am learning in Malaysia. I try to go to belly dance 3 times a week, it has been a month now:) i love belly dancing, it is so much fun.. probably one of the thing that can let me forget everything else and just dance:)

Lorna (aka BellyLorna!) said...

Hi Mandee. Very pleased you are getting a chance to learn bellydance in Malaysia. One of my best friends came from there and became a fabulous dancer- but she had to return and stop dance because her family wouldn't not have approved. so sad.

so enjoy every second!
Lx

Anonymous said...

ooo.. yea very sad..luckily my parents are very supportive:)i might be leaving to work in Australia in few months time.I hope i can still continue belly dancing over there. i am practising belly roll..lol .. i look horrendously silly lol lol i will keep reading your blog ya:)