Ok, here goes... Breaking Bellydance news from Cairo

My big announcement....



I have left the Nile Pharoah's boat, Cairo. After performing there for the last 7 years.

The Pharaohs Cruising restaurants - my old workplace!

The reason?

I left there because I have signed a new contract, to perform at the prestigious Five Star, Fairmont Nile City Hotel, Cairo.

Fairmont Nile City Hotel, Cairo, Egypt

I am very excited about this transition!

I will be performing regularly, with my band, in the beautiful oriental restaurant, Bab El Nil (and at other venues within the Fairmont too).

Bab El Nil - the entrance way to my new workplace!

They have never contracted a dancer there before, so I will be opening up a new quality venue in Cairo for bellydancers. Quite an honour and a legacy. A new phase in my life and career.


It has been a roller coaster of a year, and i will tell you the full story in my next blog entry...

....Or maybe tell you between sets at Fairmont Nile City, if I see you there first!

Health education....!

First of all, yes I will write 'normal' blog entires again... Fairly soon..all about the daily life of a bellydancer in Cairo. But just humour me for now with my silly poems please. I'm enjoying writing them! I know I am using a very basic poem format, but if it was alright for Pam Ayres, then it's alright for me (just wish I had half her talent!) 

Secondly, no I didn't use the same title for the poem in the title of the blog, just in case it came it in some bizzare search results!!!! 

Anyway- this one was inspired by today's outing ... It's an aspect of life as a foreigner here that few Egyptians or people outside of Egypt know about or I suspect even think about. If someone does not pass this test, they are deported.

That prick...

Sitting alone in the office,
Waiting for doctor to come
Of course he's stuck in the zahma
I'm stuck twiddling thumb

All us expats must face this
Our annual questioned morale
Seemingly colour of passport
Depends in whose bed you'll fall

I'm talking of course of this AIDS test
Or 'bloods test' as they gently say
Without which we've no work visa
Without which we can't collect pay

I've heard a few horror stories
When blood test, folk did not pass
Within days they had left Egypt
Horses put out to grass

Here is one urban legend
I do hope that's all that it is
one dancer who riled a bad person
He had her damned positive

Imagine the state of that woman
Thrown out of country and home
Due to the badness of others
Evicted, real result, unknown

Each time I offer my arm out
Though confident I'm in the clear
I never forget that story so
There's always a smidgen of fear

The doctor arrives with his needle
It's prick; clean, fast, painless too.
Adrenaline drops back to normal
It was nothing after all the 'to do'

The sad thing about this whole business?
the idea, AIDS is not in Egypt
That only the foreigner workers
Are trying to come and spread it

Yet this is a world situation
Not caused by us 'foreign hands'
Look to all of your people
Care for their health, take a stand.

Care for those sick in this country
Acknowledge that they exist
blame yourself, not each other
It shouldn't be shrouded in mist

Some folk are born with the virus
Others used needles unclean
transfusions of blood hit the helpless
It's never as clear as it seems

Educate young, time starts now
Don't blinker them with wrong ideas
Teach 'stay safe' with minds open
Eradicate all those false fears


For anyone interesting in reading more about the topic of HIV/AIDS in Egypt, check out http://www.unicef.org/egypt/hiv_aids.html 

• Population 15-24 year-olds who have comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS and who reject major misconceptions about HIV transmission: Females: 4.8%  Males: 18.3%

Sexy feet. A poem for bellydancers everywhere.

Sexy feet

50 shades cannot compare To all the types of pain
That I have felt over the years And know will feel again

Don't worry this is not risqué, No talk of chains or whips
It's all about the pain you get from Drops, shimmies , hair flicks

Yes Bellydance has kept me young. It also keeps me fit
Yet, 'fit to drop' I often add, then laugh and still do it!

My feet complain, they take the toll, The splinter of smashed glass
The broken beads from jangly belts. Once, fire ants on mass!

I've stepped on many yucky things, Foodstuffs that squelch and slide
Foot soles stained with turmeric, Turning slips into a glide

Ice cream feels weird, on toe not tongue, Dropped forks and Ring pulls hurt
I've even had a drawing pin, Deep in my heel! The flirt.

I've often left my DNA Upon a stage I've pranced
Red spots depict the to and fro; a peacocks mating dance

One stage was outdoors, in the sun, Black boards that stored the heat
That night at home, I had to treat The burns upon my feet

Some floors are rough,  so when you spin, Blisters appear, you find,
Friction burns upon your balls, of your feet, dirty mind !

Wear shoes you say,  yes that may help, Though high heels catch on hems,
On carpet pile,  on stage floorboards, I just can't make amends

Back to stage, barefoot again, My soles toughed though use
No sexy feet for this dancer, and that's the honest truth

Yet still I smile and entertain. Dancing, Dusk to dawn
Even with pain in my feet.The show, it must go on!

Sorry feet. More pain for you. More cuts and splinters too
Please hold out, be strong, be tough. There's Bellydance to do

When next you see a dancer, looking glamorous, a queen
Think of her feet, those suffering soles, and appreciate again..

The work involved in Bellydance. Harder than it may seem
But dancing for you, the joy it brings. Is my goal, My Dream.

"A peacocks mating dance" 

Traveling to a gig...

Written on the train to manchester to perform last night.

Traveling to a gig

No matter which mode I travel
Be it train, or bus or plane
the journey without nibbles
Will never be the same

Though it burns no extra fuel
To sit still for 4 hours
I seem to need the food of kings
So time passes fast, not sours

And so I plan my picnic
Drinks, crisps, sweeties, the lot
Sometimes even healthy stuff
Though often that's forgot

I then arrive at my next gig
Whether show, or dance workshop
Full of sugar, flying high
Dancing crazy, should I Stop?

I cannot stop, I will not stop
The energy must out
What do you mean, the bell has rung?
I'm set for my next bout!

Dance, I'm meaning, dance not bout
Oh Lorna, just calm down!
I know I should but, the mix of drugs
Has got me running round

Drugs you ask? oh yes, they're drugs
That music mixed with sugar
I'll shimmy, drop and figure 8
My Chou Chou beats the thunder

I'll fly around that stage tonight
Like the devils on my heels
I'll dance until it's time to drop
And fire, my slumber steals

I love that high, I get from dance
I love life on the road
I love eating unhealthy snacks
I guess I can't be told

I live my life for here and now
Each and every hour
Some call it zen, but yet again
Some call it immature

I'm almost done my traveling feast
The station, it draws near
It'll soon be time to hit the stage
Excitement mixed with fear

Stockport tonight, then class the morn
I'll Bellydance until
The weekend ends, and I'll eat
On Plane, train, automobile!