Egypt with Mara Blog

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…

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…

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…