Mara’s (Marie Vaughan) personal diary of daily life running a hotel in Luxor – Egypt as lived day to day, not as a destination: the people, the setbacks, the small victories, and the long relationship with a place she now calls home.
Hi! 🙂 I know some of you are following my posts here for the political info they contain but this post is a little different. You see I am ‘into’ the alternative. I keep coming across info and mostly I forget to bookmark it, remember where I found it or whatever. I take on board…
Synchronicity is when several events happen at the same time and create an optimum time for something to happen. I’ve been experiencing some synchronicity these days. Not everyone reading this will understand the implications – only those with open hearts and minds willing to let in the Light of Knowledge that passeth all understanding. 1. …
Apologies in advance – I feel I am bordering on a serious case of verbal diarrhea which could last at least 3 – 4 days depending on outside contagious or infectious circumstances…..former English speaking guests of Mara House will have had to suffer through some bouts of this, happens when I have not had a…
“I just want my life back!” must be the cry of so many people around the world today. Syria, Yemen, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mali, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, Gaza, Egypt and now possibly Lebanon, Turkey; all suffering from mild public unrest to outright civil war. From floods in Canada, India and right across Europe which have…
See end of this post for latest update 23 June 2013 Sometimes I wonder if I am one of the few sane people left on Planet Earth or if I am totally insane and simply under the illusion I am sane, intelligent and HUMANE. Maybe those who personally know me can help me with that…
Do you feel the change? I feel it. I am home in Ireland, with my family for Christmas and New Year – the best in my entire life……and I can feel the change. It feels to me like the entire world is slowing down, like the systems we have known and lived under are grinding…
Haven’t written in ages – simply had nothing I considered interesting to say. Been in Ireland, then Cairo and now back in Luxor. In light of all the media hype the last few weeks I wanted to write something but couldn’t muster up any enthusiasm for it. However, my friend Edward has taken the time…
I opened up my Twitter this morning and one of the first tweets I found was the following: “There have been riots in Cairo over the presidential election results:” and the headline on the paper itself when I clicked on the follow through link was Anger in Egypt: riots in Cairo over election results Naturally my…
Making a film in Khan el Khalili about Napoleon
Internet app developers sometimes don’t know when to leave well-enough alone!
“Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness” grand words, great aspirations, magnificient vision! Do you have these natural and “unalienable rights”? We have gone through a revolution of sorts in Egypt and I am questioning the validity of it, the sense of it – was it of value? Will there be change? Will Egypt be…
I haven’t written much on any social media over the last few weeks – impulse to write just dried up and so I let it be. Then I woke up this morning talking to myself – this is how I end up writing stuff down, to stop it going round in my head 🙂 What…
Luxor people want the tourists to return
The day did not start well for me….5.30am I am woken up by what sounded like a crowd of angry people shouting in the street outside….I wait about 10 mins and instead of fading away in the distance it had become louder…so I hopped out of bed, grabbed a jacket, unlocked doors and rushed to…
If a picture paints a thousand words…..
Been out shopping this morning – to my local food and veg market etc here in Cairo. The atmosphere seems to have shifted somewhat…..everyone I spoke to had two things on their minds. Firstly, they are all happy that the newly elected parliament have actually gone to work today!! I am watching them all been…
One year later – what is the reality of the “Arab Spring”? Who has gain what? Who has lost what? What is the future for Tunisia? Egypt? Libya? Syria? Yemen? Iran? Saudi Arabia? I’m not a political analyst but some things are pretty obvious…..Tunisia? A year ago one young fruit seller set himself on fire…
A couple of weeks ago protestors once again decided to camp out in Tahrir Sq.- clashes ensued for several days in one of the streets leading to Tahrir Sq. Much media coverage and many photos circulating in the various media once again led to the closure of the Egyptian Stock Exchange and I received quite…
I can’t remember the last time I saw Luxor as alive as it is this morning – I am talking about the atmosphere. There have been long lines of men and women waiting outside polling stations since before 8 am this morning to cast their vote in the first free elections. Some of the lines…
MY PERSONAL ‘take’ on what is going on in Egypt this week? I have a few comments to make, mostly based on the nonsense that I have been watching on Twitter and the various TV Stations. 1. Political Parties suspending their campaigns, people boycotting elections or asking for them to be put off until a…