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.
I’ve had a heart-wrenching morning. Over time in Egypt I have had to learn not to be swayed by sad events and sad stories – there are too many. However, my guard was down this morning as I went for a stroll in Khal El Khalili. The Khan is the Aladdin’s Cave of Cairo –…
Been watching the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) providing video and verbal evidence of what happened in Maspero. A reporter just asked what SCAF intends to do now to ensure Maspero-like incident does not happen again. For a fleeting moment a tired expression passed across the Army Spokesman’s face. The question made me…
Once upon a time, in a beautiful green land (which I didn’t appreciate at the time 🙂 !) I used to be an Irish country-girl. But I roamed here and there around the globe, met new people, experienced different cultures – by the way I think everyone should travel while they are young – so…
I haven’t blogged for a while – been writing some articles for other sites and I have also made some in-roads on my book! This blog is a rant and also an expression of “I don’t know, I just don’t know…..” I am just going to let ‘it’ pour out.. It all depends on where…
The stupidity of little men with power knows no bounds. There has been a revolution in Egypt, you have all heard about it. What you don’t hear so much about is the misery people are living in since February in the towns completely reliant on the tourist industy, now completely in the toilet.Towns like Luxor…
There is one big danger in what is happening Mubarak now. He ruled for 30 years, not everything was bad. There was stability which allowed the country to gain popularity in tourism as it was safe. I am not going to argue for Mubarak.I just want to point out that if a person holds a…
4 a.m. I fly into Cairo, hop in a taxi and 30 mins. later I’m letting myself into my apt. – “Home at last, cup of choc and I’m off to bed!” says I to myself……..well, uh…nooo! What is that smell? I drop my bags and follow my nose……”WTF?!” Before my astonished eyes – my…
Ancient Egyptians relied on the river Nile for it’s survival and prosperity. The survival of modern day Egypt relies not only on the Nile but on the Aswan Dam. The dam protects the country from floods and drought. It protects from famine as it ensures a constant, reliable source of water for land irrigation therefore…
My customer queuing ticket read 13.58 (should have read 12.58 because Egypt did not change the clock this year) queue number 463 and number of people before me 84. That’s ok – I scanned the row of cashiers and counted approx. 8 or 9 apparently working. Found myself a seat and made some phone calls. …
Why is there a sexual harassment problem in Egypt? Why revolution and civil unrest? Why do some people protest in the streets and other people don’t? Why do some people want to work and other people don’t? Why do some people commit crime and other people don’t? Why do some people have ideas and other…
My mother used to say that nobody except myself would ask people for what he/she wanted at the wrong time – but somewhere else I got the belief that “if you don’t ask, you don’t get, so what have you got to lose by asking?” With that thought in mind, I headed off to see…
EGYPT MOVING FORWARD – major step in the right direction……………THE “ARAB Spring” has prompted the Sunni Muslim world’s most venerable institution of religious learning to issue a declaration of independence from the Egyptian government and to state it supports demands raised by uprisings in the Arab world. An 11-article document written by clerics and learned…
In my endeavours to return to my former positive-thinking, optimistic self I have stopped watching CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and Press TV – though 5 – 10 minutes watching Press TV does give me a pretty clear picture of the day’s events without instilling the same fear engendered by the other stations. I briefly check…
So, what was the ‘not such a good thing’ that happened me on my Egyptian life adventure? It wasn’t something that happened overnight, it was a training I received from “living like an Egyptian” that gradually instilled in me an expectation for nothing to turn out the way I wanted, to never get anything to-day…
I will continue tomorrow (in’sh Allah!) with my “Personality” blog as promised but in the meantime I must let you know that we are all very excited here in Cairo………..when I say “all” I mean those of us who are involved in the tourism business. WHY???? Because tomorrow the 15th June 2011 after 5 months…
I don’t walk around the house naked, I never wore a bikini, was even shy about wearing a swimsuit! Didn’t expose myself to my children and my husband really only had a good look at me between the sheets! Last time I flew to Ireland I found myself pushed into a body scanner machine, at…
There’s nothing like a ride in a Cairo taxi to renew your wish to stay alive! Went to visit a friend in Maadi this morning, had a great day – she’s Irish, lovely woman. Taxi trip out there went fine, except for the usual nonsense of the taxi driver lying about knowing where I wanted…
Retirement, forced retirement, unemployment in a country experiencing economic disaster, losing a business, physical incapacity, old-age resulting in deteriorating physical mobility, imprisonment, losing children or family whether because they have grown up, moved away or lost through divorce etc. – it strikes me that for a person with an active mind accustomed to leading an…
The good days can be wonderful but the “bad” days can drive you nuts. There are days – like today – when trying to get something done is like wading through mud, have you ever tried it? When I was young I used to have what I came to interpret as “frustration” dreams (no, not…
If I wanted to take growth hormones I would go to the doctor not the supermarket! Exploding watermelons in China – poetic justice from Mother Earth towards greedy farmers as far as I am concerned. They injected too much growth hormones into the melons – read the story here http://shanghaiist.com/2011/05/18/exploding_watermelons.php And what the hell are…