Crisis for Animal Care in Egypt (ACE)

Dear Friends,

Animal Care in Egypt is one of the charities that I try to support on a regular basis. They do incredible work here in Luxor to make life a little easier for the animals of the area. All CH cats are neutered/spayed ;] there. The carriage horses and donkeys in Luxor are visibly healthier because of their work. I am attaching their plea for assistance in this time of unrest in Egypt. Please consider donating to the cause.

Dear Supporters

At the beginning of the year, we were delighted to welcome Martin Clunes, to Luxor as the first Patron of ACE.  We are excited to welcome Martin to our charity, and honoured that he has chosen to support ACE.

Sadly, just a few weeks on, we are extremely concerned about the situation all over Egypt, and the knock on effect it will undoubtedly have on the hard working animals of the region.

Martin has kindly written this personal appeal to you, as one of our supporters:

Since I visited the ACE centre recently with my family, I have followed the great work of the hospital with interest and admiration. The events that have unfolded in Egypt over the last few days will put even more pressure on the hard working animals in the Luxor area, making the work of ACE all the more critical. I have been in contact with the ACE team, who have already started planning a response for the days, weeks and months that lie ahead.

Please put your weight behind this wonderful charity and support these poor animals, who need our help, now, more than ever.

Martin Clunes
Patron of ACE

This is an emergency bulletin on the current situation at ACE in Luxor.  We cannot thank you enough for all that you do for us, we appreciate it, and hope that you are able to continue to help us at this time of great need.  Please also, pass on this appeal to friends, and family members.  Perhaps you could hold a collection at work?  Arrange a quiz evening?  Or bake sale?

Anything that you can do to help us raise these much-needed extra funds will help.  Every single pound counts.

Thank you all.

Kim

P.S.  "Hello" magazine, which is out now, has a full report and plenty of pictures from Martin's visit to us in Luxor.

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 To donate to this appeal NOW, online:   Please click here.  THANK YOU

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BULLETIN on emergency situation in Egypt

We are sure that as supporters of ACE, you will have watched, with growing dread, the events in Egypt. Sadly the ACE centre has not been immune from the unrest, and Sunday morning we took the difficult decision to temporarily close the centre. A skeleton staff will maintain a service for critical cases and animals caught up in the current situation, however our UK volunteers are being evacuated.

In the days and weeks ahead the service that ACE provides will be more important than ever for the hard working animals and the people of Egypt.  ACE's team will continue to provide emergency care for as long as the situation allows and prepare to care for animals in the aftermath of these troubles which will no doubt come. 
 

For this reason we are appealing to all the friends of ACE to dig deep and continue to support us through this difficult time.

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We need your help to save ACE

PREPARE AND PROTECT - ACE GETS READY FOR THE ONSLAUGHT

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The ACE clinic is already stretched dealing with over 100 new cases per day, can you help us be as prepared as possible for what is to come? 

ACE believes that animals and humans are inextricably linked – in Egypt the survival of one often depends on the survival of the other. 

It is vital for the welfare of both to protect animals in times of crisis. 

People affected by poverty are most vulnerable to disasters such as that affecting Egypt at the moment, they frequently lack the skills, knowledge and resources to rescue or protect their animals. 

The staff at the ACE centre have the expertise and local knowledge to get help to these animals. In the aftermath of the unrest in Egypt, it is more than likely that there will be an influx of animals which have inevitably been caught up in the troubles. 

ACE has already begun to prepare for this, but we can’t do it alone, additional funds are needed for drugs, dressings and feed, to name but a few of the essentials. 

At Night, Protest Gives Way to Poetry

The Egypt and the Egyptians I have come to know and love are nicely portrayed in this NYT article:

At Night, Protest Gives Way to Poetry
By ANTHONY SHADID
Published: February 6, 2011
Some protesters collapse in exhaustion at the end of the day, but no one else seems willing to surrender a moment that feels imbued with the idealism of defiance.

Read the article here

Where are they going?

The most popular joke making the rounds here:

Helwa Ya Baladi...

Just a moment of pleasure in the midst of a sea of ugliness... Dalida sings about the beauty of her country against a backdrop of its ancient and natural wonders:

The Cats

I've been asked by several people to let them know how the CH cats are. They are all OK, eating well ;] and looking forward to our other cat ladies' return next week!

Alive and well...

Just a quick note to let everybody know that we are alive and well and living in peaceful Luxor, as the saying goes! Such a relief to have Internet back, even if it's only for a short time...

Grand Opening!

Last Thursday, I was able to attend the "grand opening" of the Aboudi Bookstore across the street from Luxor Temple. Until last year, Taher Aboudi was located in the "shopping mall" on the ground floor of a building just south of the temple. But the plan for downtown Luxor, especially in the vicinity of any of the antiquities, called for the destruction of this building. So Taher acquired space next to the MacDonald's behind the temple and created a modern storefront with clean lines and a wonderful display of merchandise. He had delayed this grand opening until everything was just right.

It was quite the party! A good time was had by all despite the cancellation of the appearance of the guest of honor, Dr. Zahi Hawass. Speeches were made, ribbons were cut and delicious food (and drink) was distributed. Here are a few pictures of the party:

The new Aboudi Bookstore

Ribbon-cutting

Food...

...and Drink!

A proud Taher Aboudi

Jaap van Dijk with some of Zahi's books

Aboudi bookstores over the years

Yarko with his Zahi look-alike photo

The lovely staff

End of a fine party!

Congratulations, Taher!

A Call to Action...

There had been a call to action today (Police Day, a national holiday) in Egypt--a call to make it "a day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment". A video was produced to promote this event. Even if you can't read Arabic, the footage is quite moving:

Take it to the light...

Over the Coptic Christmas holiday weekend, one of our shopping expeditions was to our friend Badr's shop in El-Souk--variously known as "Aladdin's Hule" or the "Old Arkhashom Shop" or simply "the brothers'". This is the way their business card describes what awaits the visitor once he/she has crossed the threshold: "Enter the paradise for collectors and amateurs of Finest Egyptian and Bedouin Carpets, Silk carpets Needle work, Cotton and Copper Wares." And that's not the half of it! If you're lucky, Badr or another member of the family will take you to the back room and open a treasure chest of bedouin and other jewelry. I have indulged more than once over the years! That same room holds the kilims. (This is where I was introduced to the process of selecting and bargaining for these textiles when I was in the market for one for my room at CH back in 2006. My post "Carpet-Bagging It" describes that process.)

But there is so much more in this "warren of wonders"--from the sublime to the slightly ridiculous. A couple of samples:

But this day, three of us were on a mission--to find just the right carpets (not kilims). So we ascended to the upper floor where the carpet room is located and settled in for some "hard work". Of course, the process becomes even more time-consuming when three people are shopping for carpets at the same time. But Badr et al are always up for the challenge, and piles of carpets were soon unrolled on the floor. Some were considered "No's" almost immediately, but others were left out as the narrowing-down process unfolded. The upstairs room is equipped with adjustable lighting. But there's no substitute for daylight when it comes to final decision-making. So, to the accompaniment of the phrase "Take them to the light!", we got several of them down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk:

After some serious head-scratching and viewing from all angles, decisions were made and the carpets were lugged back upstairs. Then the critical business of pricing went forward. One which was purchased (if it had not been, I would have bought it!) is pictured below:

 

With at least five carpets acquired, we had to pile into a LARGE taxi to get the spoils back to the house. A very satisfying experience, even for those of us who didn't buy.

Strolling in the (Tourist) Souk

Over our long weekend (Friday was our Coptic Christmas holiday) a few of us spent some time wandering through the tourist souk here in Luxor. It's always an adventure as we are importuned at every turn to buy! buy! buy! Luckily, over the years we have mastered the art of refusing without rudeness (unless the salesmen get really aggressive!). Sometimes a hand on the heart and a simple "La, shokran" (No, thanks) suffices.

Others of our group were actually shopping for stuff so I had the opportunity to stand back and observe--and snap some photos of the scene. Here they are, along with a few from past seasons. This first is the "new" entrance to "El-Souk":

And here's one of the side entrances, before they completed all the refurbishment:

Some shops:

"Believe it"... or not

Aladdin's lamps?

There are plenty of places to "add a little spice to your life":

The global financial crisis is affecting the merchants in Luxor too. The sign which reads "Prace que la crise" should actually be "Parce que la crise" and means "because of the crisis", which explains all the "small money" signs in this window:

We spent quite a bit of time in this next shop, and some spent a bit of money here too! I guess you could label these shots as "Genuine Fakes"!

This is a shot I took on one of the side streets. For some reason, the merchant did not want his wares photographed, so I only have this one to share:

And as the sun sinks slowly in the west, we leave the souk for another day... :

I just uncovered some photos I took in the people's souk a couple of years ago. I'll share those in another post. I think you'll be intrigued by the differences.

Au revoir, Ozzie!

As of last Friday afternoon, Ozzie has gone to live with his new person. It's a strange feeling not to have him cuddling and tearing around like a bat out of hell! But he's living nearby, so I can visit... These are a few of the photos I took in the couple of days before he departed.

Here's looking at you, kid!

Happy New Year! Meilleurs Voeux! Feliz Ano Novo!

Once more couldn't decide which card to post, so here they both are!

This photo was taken at the Convento de Christo in Tomar, Portugal.

This photo was also taken in Portugal, in the lovely town of Castelo de Vide (Alentejo).

Meet Ozzie!

When a young Polish egyptologist was returning to Poland after a lengthy stay in Luxor she asked me to help find a home for her young cat, Ozymandias*. We managed to identify a new home for the little guy, but his new "owner" (or should that be "servant" or even "slave"?) was going to be out of town for a while, first at Esna and then in Cameroon for the holidays. So guess who ended up fostering Ozzie (we obviously had to shorten the name, since it was bigger than he was)?

Well, one thing I discovered right away was that his appetite was at least as big as his name! K. had said to me when she first approached me to assist with the adoption that he ate very little. NOT! He's now got a cute little pot belly...

And absolutely everything and everybody is a toy, as far as he is concerned. Two of his favorite non-toy toys are my laundry basket (above) and my bath towel (below). It is the funniest thing to see him lying on his side and spinning the basket using both his hind and front paws!
He wrestles the bath towel around the floor of the bath-
room and can often be found completely hidden under-
neath--just an Ozzie- sized lump!
He does the same thing with the bath mat, but I don't have any photos of that.

And he's a real "snuggle-bug"--such an affectionate cat, often to the point of waking me up in the night for some nose-rubbing! I can truthfully say that I will miss him when he goes to his new home, but it will be a bit of relief as well!

*The reference in the poem (below) is to the ruins at the Ramses II mortuary temple, or Ramesseum, on the west bank at Luxor:
    I MET a Traveler from an antique land,
    Who said, "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
    Stand in the desart. Near them, on the sand,
    Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
    And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
    Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
    Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
    The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
    And on the pedestal these words appear:
    "My name is OZYMANDIAS, King of Kings."
    Look on my works ye Mighty, and despair!
    No thing beside remains. Round the decay
    Of that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bare,
    The lone and level sands stretch far away.                
              --Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias

Seasons Greetings! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!

I couldn't decide between these two cards this year, so I decided to post both! 

This sunset photo was taken from the roof of CH looking towards the West Bank.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this great graffito on a door in Porto (Portugal) when I was there in July. It's the Barcelos rooster (galo de Barcelos), often used as a symbol of Portugal.

Be well...Be at peace...Be loved...

Back in Luxor Again!

It's hard to believe that I've been back in town for just a little over a week now. Last Saturday I left behind a beautifully crisp and sunny fall day in Paris and ended up in an unseasonably "warm" Luxor. I always feel a little ridiculous landing here with my Turkish leather jacket, but it came in very handy in France, so that's the trade-off.

Except for one trip to Vodafone, the pharmacy and the bank by a very circuitous route--thanks to all the destruction, construction and reconstruction--it's been too hot and I have been too concerned about what I am likely to see to take my initial walkabout. But now that the weather is starting to cool down a bit, I won't be able to put it off too much longer. Maybe next weekend.

Here are a few of the images that greeted me this week.

Buttons was eager to help me with my unpacking last Saturday night:

A street scene across from the Vodafone store:

These scarecrows mean business as they stand guard over our vegetable garden:

Extended families of sawhorses:

Our white bougainvillea is starting to turn a little pink:

This is what it looked like when it was still pure white:

Despite the heat and the changes it's good to be back. As I have said to members of the Egyptian staff: Ana hena wi ana mabsuta! I'm here and I'm happy! Stay tuned for a post with photos from a wedding held last Thursday night...

Conserving Egypt’s past at the Hearst

If you will be in the Oakland/Berkeley/San Francisco area at any time over the next few months, you might want to check out this exhibit at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology--The Conservator's Art: Preserving Egypt's Past.