The view of the beautiful Cairo Opera House. They love their up lighting here! This is a real pearl of the city and I am so surprised that on this holiday evening (it is the prophet Mohamed's birthday) that it is not more crowded. I am here on a whim to see an artist I have read about online Fathy Salama. I come hoping for the best but not exactly sure what I will see. It is great to be out in the evening and to see this city buzzing under lights. There is little traffic on the way in and my taxi is a new vehicle - smooth ride - I am learning to really appreciate this any time I get one!
Here is the view from my cafe table at the Opera House. This is the Cairo Tower. It starts to light up at 7pm - just in time for me to sit and have the most expensive cup of tea ever - 10LE! Oh well - the view was worth it. The lights on the tower change from purple to blue to pink to green and it is quite the show. The Opera House has a lovely courtyard entrance to the Main Hall and my seat provided a good people watching vantage point. In the main hall there is a celebration show for the prophet's birthday. Many people are coming and are very nicely dressed (Jacket and tie are required) I notice that almost all the women, young and old, are veiled meaning they are wearing a head scarf. The whole night I never see a woman with a veil covering her face. I wonder about this and the socio implications. The class system and the religious - political implications. I imagine that people who cover their face think music is haram - forbidden or shameful - so that may be why they are not represented here? No answers for me just lots of questions. I do want to say that veiled women seem to "hang out" with unveiled women. Some even are in the same family. This is the case tonight - I see veiled and the few unveiled arriving together. At one point - out of my site - a woman's raised voice punctuates the murmurs of the crowd. Without translation I can tell she is pissed! Yikes! She is laying someone out but for what I do not know. The others who CAN see her stop and watch. I wait to see their reactions. If they duck and cover I am diving under my marble top table. But . . .they all break out in smiles. I see security guards scurry around and talking into their walkie talkies and still the woman is yelling. I am comforted by the smiles on the bystanders - no weapons visible I presume. However, I have seen what I would deem a completely inappropriate response to a person in need in my own students. They will laugh. At first I would indignantly correct them but I have seen it so often I chalk it up to a cultural difference that I cannot comprehend and should not try to Westernize. This woman is seriously upset and her compatriots chose to smile gleefully about it. It is what it is. I can continue to sip my tea and do so. The yelling fades and people stop gawking and continue inside. I decide to make my way to the "Small Hall" where I will see Fathy.
Two statues of Sekmet flank the entrance to the Cairo Opera House. She is dramatically lit in each of her niches. The complex has many buildings and plaza filled with an eclectic collection of statues. My taxi rides to and from will cost 100LE but my ticket to the show is 20LE. So, in one way it is completely affordable but if you do not have the luxury of getting here somehow then . . . it is not accessible to all.
Here is a large iron statue of a man playing the traditional two stringed instrument.
Even the trees are part of the art. It is lovely to walk around in this well manicured part of Cairo. A real showcase for what could be in this city. A rest for the eyes and mind.
Night before a full moon.
I love looking at all the statues. One is of Jesus on the cross made of many machine-looking bits of metal - a dramatic collage of course and perfectly portraying complexity and somehow pain. One is a white slab of a woman lying - a naked woman I am curious to see. It reminds me of the plaster casts of the empty spaces made in the lava of Pompeii where the bodies of the victims were covered and later left cavities that perfectly describe the person who tried to escape. There is modern art as well. At first I think I am looking at a large metal octopus but then see it is an abstract. As I walk along one statue moves - stands up! and I realize I have come upon a security guard at rest. Yikes! Time to go to the theater.
Looking at the ticket (sorry it's sideways I can't figure it out!) I see that this complex is more Islamic looking than ancient Egypt looking. It has the feel of a mosque. As I wait to go in the small hall I realize that in complete reverse of the crowd headed to the main hall the women here are unveiled. There are VERY few veiled women and the ones who are veiled are ALL young. What this means I do not know but it cannot be a coincidence. I just observe it. A man sits next to me and we chat. He is traveling here from Stockholm and his opinions are soooo typical. He likes the ancient history and is completely turned off by the pollution - filth in the streets - and aggressive hawking and begging found at every turn here in Egypt. He agrees that the people themselves are some of the nicest, most friendly people of any country ever. He, like me, wonders aloud how can Egypt survive itself? It seems to us both that a change has to happen - just what change will it be? I almost tear up when his response to my telling him my plans to be here to June is a shocked - "Well, that's toooo long!!" My sentiment more and more at this point but . . . a commitment is a commitment.
Luckily we are treated to one of the best evenings I have had in Cairo! A wonderful 2 hour - no intermission show of Asian / African / fusion jazz I don't know what. One keyboard player - one accordion player - one electric base and no less than FIVE percussionists! WOW! and one tiny little female singer with a giant voice. So great. They spoke and sang in Arabic and French so I understood very little. But appreciated it all. I will go again and am happy to have one more thing on my list of things to look forward to these next 4 months - Insha'Allah.
