and there's more....

It's just a little clip- but it gives and idea of another costume at least....

so here goes- my second youtube upload.... I'd add the one with the bride and groom- but only after i have their permission!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay7CeWazYpY


at least you see the Scarlet o'hara/Scottish wedding dress inspired costume that i had Eman Zaki make for me!!!!

a first...

I've never before decided to share a video clip that i have had taken of myself before today... Ever my own worst critic, I am never content with what i have done. So I have decided that this is not a healthy way to be and trying to change that!

I performed on Saturday night at a Sudanese Wedding,at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, here in Cairo. It was a fabulous event... with a very warm and welcoming crowds from Cairo, Sudan and Canada... amoungst other countries!

The zeffa started with the bagpipes- i tried to get a photo, but it didn't come out very well...

in fact the video clip i have uploaded onto youtube hasn't the best image quality either- and i will try to get that rectified if i can.... but in the meantime here you go- hot off the press- a performance not even 2 days old!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YkPvKXQInE


So......... considering i had never before even met those particular backing dancers, and despite my band forgetting my stick, the one thing I asked them to bring for me, and despite having a small girl with mobile in my face all the time, who I quite frankly lost my affection for throughout the course of my performance and wanted to have cross words with her parents.....

i think it looks ok......

Birthday Bliss!

I spent 4 days last week in Sharm with some of my friends. The hotel (Delta Sharm) has 6 swimming pools and was beautifully laid out. Days by pool, evenings wandering shops and restuarant in naama bay and old market. wonderful!

Photo of my pals in the pool; On the afternoon of my birthday the girls had bought me an ice cream cake and we ate that with champagne in the sunshine after a day by the pool. What more could a girl ask for?

well- except that one of my friends got very sick later that night... and ended up sampling the local hotel clinic, which blew us all away- VERY well equiped and well run with the latest technologies and even a lab on site to do blood testing etc etc. Couldn't have been better really. She ended up getting 3 drip bags, a ton of meds and care that made her feel comfortable and better. Unfortunalty it wasn't cheap- 2500le !!! Thankfully she did have good medical insurance!!! Unfortuantely she still felt unwell enough to continue the rest of her holiday and flew home directly from Sharm. That was the worst bit about the trip!

so....... if you are in sharm and have medical insurance go to delta sharm resort- if you dont have insurance go to sharm hospital which is also fairly new and seemingly very good, as well as a LOT cheaper!!!!

I came back to Cairo on thursday (with a 2 hour delay on flight- grrr) and hit the ground running. Work EVERY day....... which is great. I have had some lovely audiences and been working on some new songs with my band too so it's all good. On saturday I had a photo shoot with Amera el Kattan (of pharonics costumes) so I couldn't perform the lunch time sail - but my riend Marte covered for me and seemingly it went really well! Well done Marte!!!

The photo shoot was fantastic. I was there with my friend Zsofia and we were the only 2 girls there to model who were not Russian! Was strange being surrounded by all these girls and not understanding what was going on! We modelled LOTS of costumes- and as soon as the shots have been put onto Amera's website I'll let you know ( or maybe you can let me know- since I cannot access the website from within egypt- a measure added to prevent other designers copying ideas!!!) .

There were 3 photographers AND a video camera. I have no idea what its all going to look like- but it was a lot of fun! The new saaidi and melaya costumes especially were stunning and a lot of fun- I'll be going this week to put my order in!!!! Not sure why almost EVERY costume I had to model was chiffon. I am NOT a chiffon fan and therefore wafting this full skirt about wasn't my thing at all... however posing with the sword was a lot more fun!!!

Oh- and I went to a wedding on saturday night with a friend at the Semi-Ramis Intercontinental. I got there after work expecting to have missed a great deal- but by 12.45 the bride and groom had only just entered the ballroom and Hakim had just started his set! The dancefloor was packed- but hardly anyone other then the bride and groom actually danced! How could you NOT dance to Hakim singing live???? I didn't but only becuase I didn't want to attract attention away from the happy couple!!!!

Then came Dina... stunning. She looked the best i have ever seen her and she was fantastic with both pleasing the crowd and with crowd management.... one wee girl ran accross the dancefloor mid Dina performance and almost got a slap (not intentionally!!!). Her entrance was seriously lacking in dance moves but packed with energy and attitude. She did a lovely baladi which actually had people standing and watching quietly- drawn in for a change rather than just trying to grab her attention! She did her job very well... and the only problem was the guest contunally trying to crowd the floor, which meant she couldn't move and no one else could see. Frustrating! I thnaked her afterwards for a lovely performance and she was fairly chatty... doubt I would have been after an hour of fighting of people! One wee boy was totally chuffed with himself as he handed her a flower from the side of the the stage and she rewarded him with the biggest smile ever. He walked about with his chest puffed up high all night after that!

I assumed Dina was the final act, but no- then came the Moroccan singer Ganet. She was very sweet. With a lovely voice. Not the same crowd control or stage presence as Dina, but then she is probably half her age and experience!!

It was a fabulous night- I left at 4am when Ganet was still singing... couldn't keep my eyes open any longer!!!

So its been a busy week. Sharm, work work work, modelling. wedding.... and of course wee 13 day old kitten (we still dont have a name for it!!!) has finally opened his/her eyes last week and is now developing a huge thirst, an inquisitive personality and demanding lots of attention. Marte is a fabulous mum1 and I try to do the mum2 duties as best i can! This is him/her at what we think was 4 days old!! (cotton bud for scale!!!!)

Love my life.

Scottish wedding in Cairo

On Saturday night I attended a wedding in Maadi. Ruth, from Aberdeen, and her husband, Mohammed, were celebrating in Egyptian style in their flat.

There was a select crowd…. With many people flown over from Scotland (and one from Australia!) especially for the event. I felt it a pity it coincided with a holiday weekend that meant many of her friends from here in Cairo were out of town. They had a Saaidi band play (one large drum and 3 mizmars!!!!!!!) you can only imagine how loud that felt in their living room!!! They also had a whirling dervish and the 'backing dancers' not to mention the pantomime horse!!!. I did the bellydance duties…… stick dance first –getting the bride and groom up to dance etc etc… and then I danced again later with a cd (to do the oriental set in my new tartan costume!) All went very well and I enjoyed dancing probably as much as people enjoyed watching! We had sparklers and party poppers for the cutting of the cake and many zaghareets….. heaven only knows what the neighbours all thought about it all! If anyone who was there sends me there photos I'll add one in here!

The following day we met up again to spend a couple of hours in style on the Nile. They had hired a yacht 'the Christina' (which I highly recommend and will definitely do with future groups) and in wonderful luxurious style we cruised up the Nile for 2 hours while the staff on board served us drinks and acted DJ so we were all bellydancing on deck! I felt on top of the world- a yacht on the Nile, with lovely people, wine, music and dancing my heart out. It was a wonderful feeling… total decadence!

A Sudanese Wedding in Cairo

A Sudanese Wedding
On Wednesday night I went with a friend to her cousin wedding. It was at the Grand Hyatt (VERY nice! Views of the Nile from the ceiling to floor windows and fairy lights everywhere). The couple are Sudanese so I was interested to see how this would be different from an Egyptian wedding. What they did was a mix of the two. There was still the Zeffa- with drummers and singers walking the couple through the foyer into the room- but they were singing and playing Sudanese rhythms rather than Egyptian- and the Zaghareets were more African screams than the usual Egyptian tounge waggling. The outfit was amazing- lots of beautiful woman in beautiful dresses and also some in the traditional dresses which have huge lengths of brightly coloured material wrapped around themselves. The bride worn an Italian cream coloured dress and was stunning. After the first dance- and the bride dancing with her father etc, there was the sherbit (sickly sugary drink to toast the bride and groom) It was a completely dry wedding- ie no alcohol. Then there was a bit of dancing with a mix of music- r&b into Egyptian. I escaped at the Egyptian part because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist dancing and want to save it for the performance. After the cutting of the cake… and the buffet being served I danced. It was a gift from me to the couple… ie not paid work… but I did wear a costume and did a 20min set. It went down very well and I got lots of compliments and photos taken (I'll attach them once I receive them!!!) then the bride and groom left and ther was an Egyptian singer performed (didn’t catch his name- just sang to a backing track) then 2 of the brides family sang solos- FABULOUS voices…. It was lovely to see talent being appreciated and given as a gift to the wedding couple. A nice idea. Then a Sudanese band played. They were ok to start with – nice backing music- but not lively enough to dance to – at that point. For the next half hour- 45mins the bride and groom had vanished to get changed into the traditional central Sudanese outfits for a wedding. I couldn't understand what could take so long in what was essentially a costume change- BUT them they appeared. WOW. She just looked like an Indian princess- with the gold headdress and chain that attached to her nose… huge gold earrings… and stunning lengths of red and gold material wrapped around. Her attitude and dance matched her dress- elegant and sophisticated- but 100% a woman, and not to be messed with! Inspiring! They had all the customs- incence… and strings of bead put over their heads etc etc- all of which it was hard to ee because of the crowds gathering round them… and since I don't know any of the custom or why these things are done- I'll save that for another blog, another day!. However- the night ended with lots of Sudanese music and dance (which is largely shoulder bouncing and shimmying- but often in a fantastic bent over position where you show off how long and strong your back is!!! A wonderful night!!!

Outside emotions

I was mooching around the flat today- still feeling low and sorry for myself when I heard really loud music and lots of hand clapping going on outside my front window... I stepped onto the balcony, looked down, and there was a large boat, with it's top deck crammed with people all dancing and singing, having the time of their lives. Every colour in the rainbow was represented in their clothing and the sunset was made special for me by seeing them enjoy it all so much.
Even now I can still hear music filtering out of a variety of venues along the Nile, and car horns tooting some happy couple along to their engagement or wedding party.

Cairo always seems so alive. So bursting with all aspects of live. And it just struck me why. You have wonderful celebrations and sad commemerative ones every where in the world, but usually there are large enough 'appropriate' venues for people to go and do these things in private- ie just with their own family and friends... but here, with so many people in one city, there couldn't possible be enough function halls to hold the all the weddings etc etc so everything is outside. The good stuff, and the bad stuff, in your life is shared with so many other people, outside.

So very different from the British, keep yourselves to yourselves, type of lifestyle.

Scottish Music

I'm so glad to be here in Cairo and learning about my own culture- because everything that seems new here in Egypt reminds me of how we do things differently at home in Scotland.

Even to the point of being in a Scottish wedding in St Andrews during my recent visit home, and seeing people up ceilidh dancing, which has never been my favourite thing. The energy and enthusiasm, not to mention the levels of skill, all reminded me of everyone up dancing at an Egyptian wedding- the style is different, and the music… but the enthusiasm is exactly the same. Its all about the socialising aspect of the dance and the fun of it. Not about the technique or the look of it all. Seeing it all from that Egyptian perspective, as it were, gave me a much greater appreciation of my own Scottish heritage…the dance and the music, to the point where I even listened to Scottish folk music on the radio one night while I was driving home to Edinburgh, rather than switching it off as I would have done normally. I even enjoyed it!

I guess you don't appreciate your own country, and what you have there, until you leave it!

Weddings- part3!

I thought I had talked about all there was to talk about concerning the custom of marriage here- but apparently there is more!!! Our teacher in Arabic class told us the story of how he met his wife and told us some stories about traditional Saaidi and Nubian weddings in Upper Egypt which is where he is from.

After a series of relationships, he wanted to marry, and seeing how it hadn’t worked for him going down a modern route of courtship he decided to go down the traditional one. So, he saw the girl over a crowded room at a wedding- asked around to find out who she was- then went to her father to ask to marry her. He had spoken to her once by this point! The father agreed, and so did the girl- even though it wouldn't have been a big problem from the families point of view if she hadn't since the father had agreed anyway!, and so a 6 month courtship began- with his visiting once a week for a couple of hours a time and sitting across the room from his future wife, with most of the family in the room at each visit. At no point were the 2 alone before the wedding. They are still now happily married with 3 children.

At a Saaidi wedding the bride and groom stand on their wedding night (Farah) in the centre of the party, with their parents either side of them, in front of 6 drummers, then all the youngest single people (teenagers) stand either side of them- boys on one side and girls at the other, with the older and married men and women behind them- each on their own side- imagine school disco to get the picture….. Everyone sings and dances. The oldest man in the family stands in the middle of the group beside the bride and groom, holding a whip- this he uses on the boys/men if they get too excited by the music and start dancing towards the girls………..Literally whips them back into place. If you see a girl on the other side of the circle you like you move back towards the older men- ask around who she is then tell her father you are interested – he walks around the outside of the circle to find the girls mother who agrees or not, and then the arrangement is made for the 2 of you (plus families) to meet the following Friday. The girl's agreement is seldom needed for such an arrangement to be complete.

Then there is the wedding gift money. 2 days after the wedding, the bride and groom and called to a meeting with the rest of their families and they sit with a long list of names and are given a bundle of envelopes, one from each man in the family, and from friends. Each envelope has the name on it and as you receive each one you write down how much that person has given you……… so that on their wedding day you have to give at least the same amount in return!!!

Another bizarre custom in traditional Nubian wedding is the whipping of the groom (called 'Bisharea') where the man is stripped to the waist and whipped 3 times- to prove to everyone that he is indeed a man and a strong brave one at that. This still happens to this day!

And that’s all for now……………………… but if I hear of anymore strange customs I'll be sure to pass them on!!!

Courting couples- the marriage contract!

After receiving some questions about this after my blog entry on weddings I thought I'd pass on the info we were given in our Arabic lesson last week about the way things are done here (a cultural aside during the language lesson- much more fun than verbs!). I've already written all about the party night, this is what leads up to it….

عazib / Aanisa- the word for a single man or woman ( putting the men first- since that’s what happens here!). Used as a way of describing someone, but also a form of address just like using 'miss' for a girl. At this point you may well have a girlfriend or boyfriend, but they have no such word for this type of relationship- they just call them sahib for a male friend and sahabiti for a female friend. Usually at this point the families don’t know anything about it!

Khatib / Makhtuba- By this point the family know, and you are officially engaged (it translates- it is written- and for the female- it is written for you!!!!). A friend of mine (non Egyptian) was recently attending a wedding with her 'boyfriend' and Egyptian, and his family introduced her to the rest of the table as his fiancé! This freaked her out somewhat- since they had only known each other a matter of weeks and that wasn't on the cards at all but it was explained that here, it is better to have been 'engaged' many times rather than admit to having a 'boyfriend/girlfriend'!

Shabik / Masbuka- In western culture this stage would be the same as the giving of the engagement ring (especially when you think of all the 'social' etiquette of that and that’s its supposed to be a percentage your income etc) Except that in most Arab cultures it involves quantities of gold rather than just one ring. It’s the dowry paid, or the daughter paid for in a way. Sometimes the gold is known as 'Dibla'- although that can be the name given to the engagement ring too. In Morocco this name (Dibla/ Debleej) applies to the 7 gold bracelets traditionally given. The gold can be seen as an insurance policy for the girl. If the guy does something stupid, e.g. go off with someone else, the girl has the right to keep all the gold she's been given. If, however it is she who breaks it off with him, then she has to return the dibla. After marriage, the gold is the woman's own property for the rest of her life and the man has no claim on it at all- again an insurance policy in case he leaves or dies.

Katib Kitabuh / Maktib Kitabha- This literally means written. The register is signed. And again- it is the man who does the signing and the woman is signed for. Up to very recently she did not even have to be present at this stage and her father or other relative could sign her away to someone she potentially had never seen. Because of the problems this could cause, they have changed the law here (very recently!) so now the woman must be present and sign too, with 2 witnesses. This part can be done at the registrar's office or in your own home. If it is an Egyptian marrying a foreigner it must be done at the government office so that a legal document can be signed which means both are agreeing to the marriage terms in the other persons home country as well as by Egyptian law (e.g. to allow women to initiate divorce etc). At this point you are legally married in the eyes of the government and the religious authorities.

Mitgowwiz / Mitgowwiza- Married- i.e. by this point you have actually spent at least one night in the same bed.

And parting comes in one of 2 ways-

Mitallaq / Mittalla'qa- divorced. I didn't before realise that one of the few reasons a woman can ask for a divorce in Islam is if her husband has not had intercourse with her in 6 months (same obviously applies the other way round). Also Coptic Christians cannot divorce at all.

'Armal / 'Armala- widowed.



Oh- and then there's the 'Gowez Orfee'- which is a legal contract written between 2 people, which doesn’t have to involve the government or the families which states you are married. It is easier to get, but much frowned upon by majority of people. However, it's as binding as a real marriage unless the lawyer is corruptible or the contracts get 'lost'.

Well I thought it was all very interesting- hope you did too- anything I've missed out?

Weddings in Cairo

Since I have now experienced a few I have to tell you about the engagement parties and wedding receptions here. First- the engagement party is a huge affair usually here- and is almost like a dress rehearsal for the wedding, or for those families who can afford to have one, it is. The dress will be as large and as elaborate as the actual wedding dress- so sparkles and layers galore. In fact to me it seems the only difference between weddings and engagements seems to be the colour of the dress (lots of stunning and not so stunning colour combo's can be seen here!) - they even have a big white, multi-layers of cake (i.e. identical to the wedding cake) at the engagement party!

So onto the Big Day- The Wedding- and I have attended a few now, both at expensive hotels and cheaper affairs- but they all seem to run by roughly the same pattern (street weddings are very common in less well off families and are something else!!!)

The wedding cars- you should see the amount of flowers they put all over them- its amazing the driver can actually see out the window- its frighten-ly reminiscent of a hearse! The wedding procession in various cars (taxis/mini buses/mopeds- if poorer wedding- yes I have actually seen a bride, in full dress on back of a moped!!!!!) drive in formation to the wedding, all tooting their horns like crazy through the streets- all the way- because basically Cairo doesn't have enough noise without it!!!!!

So the guests and the Zaffa band (not sure how to spell it!) wait at the entrance to the hotel and when the bride and groom arrive the band strikes up. The zaffa is usually just LOTS of boys/young men with drums- it's very loud! ( I even saw a bagpiper at this point at one wedding in the Sheraton!!!!) Sometimes there will be a dancer at this point in the proceedings- although from my experience, usually not. The bride and groom will stand next to the musicians and the guests will circle round them looking at them, zaghreeting and calling words of encouragement and congratulation. Many photos are taken and much intrusive video recording will be done at this stage (actually, that continues for the entire night). The bride is bejewelled in diamante everywhere- including the tiara, and the (usually very puffy) big white wedding dress (same as styles at home- although depending on the family income- often styles from the 80's!!! The posh wedding dresses are a sight to behold though- stunning!) The hair is left uncovered for this occasion (although not always!) I have never seen a couple relaxed at this stage in the proceedings. I usually just feel sorry for them being centre of attention when they obviously don’t want to be!! The band lead them into the ballroom/garden- wherever the wedding reception will occur, then leave (after maybe half hour to an hour!!!!). In street weddings I have seen the zaffa lead the couple around a few of the streets in the neighbourhood to get to the street they will party/eat in (still bride in the puffy dress!!!) Oh- and its at this point when if there is a dancer they would be wearing the shamadan (candelabra) on her head whilst dancing- to light the way- a lovely concept. Unfortunately I am yet to experience that yet, but would love to!

The next stages I may get in the wrong order- but they all happen at some stage in the evening's events.

The sharbat- or shared drink - amid much loud music (techno-fied), flashing lights etc the waiter brings in a tray with 2 glasses of very sickly sweet fruit drink for the bride and groom ( the guests often get given a drink at the same time) and they hold the glass for each other- so they share their first drink together in public – the guests drink theirs- a bit like a toast at home- but they don’t actually raise their glasses to the couple or say anything in particular ( and its not alcohol!!!!)

There is the First Dance- exactly as it is back home- the couple on the dance floor alone (almost- the video man is like the 3rd person in the equation all night- right up there!) Sometimes the music is Arabic, sometimes western corny stuff. I saw one dance which was beautiful- Arabic music, and the groom sang every word to the bride whilst gazing lovingly into her eyes, (miming the words even!!)- it brought a tear to my eye! It's not usually like that! They don’t tend to have a 'parents' dance- but I have seen a couple of weddings having a couples dance- so after the first dance all the couples get up for their turn.

Then the circle begins. The circle is basically everyone piled onto the dance floor (esp. the young people) and the 'happy' couple are in the middle and pull guests in to dance with them……….. Sometimes good dancers amongst the crowd will take over at this point and let the bride get out the heat from the video camera- which roams round the room so everyone sitting down can see on big screens and on the video afterwards, what's going on in the circle (which is often about 6 people deep!!!) The dancing section lasts most of the evening……. I.e. for hours- remember this is usually completely without alcohol!

There is THE CAKE. Written in bold because that is how it is presented too….. Really- loud techno style music again, fake smoke, special lighting (often with strobe!!!!)……….. you name it- the cake is carried into the room as though it were a pop star! The couple cut the cake and lots more photos………
Often now there is the show- if there is one. A band, or bellydancer, or 'Russian' show ('dancing girls' in very revealing costumes doing not much- except embarrassing the majority of the room)…….

Then the best bit (well the bit I think sums up the culture most and which is most surprising to a westerner) Unlike in the UK ,where the food is at the start of the evening so people are not drinking alcohol on an empty stomach, here they don’t serve the food (buffet) until Just before the end of the night (about 1/2pm ish) Why? Because as soon as everyone has eaten they leave! (in much the same way as a wedding at home ends when the bar closes!!!!) The bride and groom are again put on show during the meal- really. They have a small table for 2 set up completely in the centre of the dance floor so that everyone can watch them eating………. How lovely. No speeches or anything like that at least- but the bride does do the throwing of the bouquet for the girls to catch (same meanings there as for us in U.K.!)

In fact- this is a major element of the the whole event- not just to send the couple off well- but for families to meet other families and introduce their son to someone elses daughter etc- this is the most common way of someone in Egypt meeting their future husband/wife!!!!

And that’s it- can't tell you what happens by the end of the night because I never stay long enough to see!!!!! Please feel free to ask about anything I may have missed out!!!!