"He who has not seen Cairo has not seen the world," says a character in the Thousand and One Nights. I adore Cairo. For what it was, what it is, and what it can be. I love that its identity – both past and present - is so magnificently multifaceted, and that each of those facets has left an indelible imprint on the world’s collective imagination. Whether your notions of Cairo are shaped by the Pharaohs or medieval fairytales, the Mamluks or the mayhem of our modern day metropolis, the Caliphs, the Khedives or the lusty years of the belle époque, the souks or the songs, royalty or revolutions, the city of a thousand minarets is also the city of a thousand references.
So I found it rather intriguing – and ultimately terribly telling – that late last night, in Beirut’s Shah lounge (I’m spending the week in Beirut under the pretence of work) a Lebanese wannabe lothario attempted to get the attention of a gaggle of us Egyptian girls by showcasing his intimate knowledge of our culture with two disjointed words shouted out at us across the smoky space. The first word was…
‘Tamarai’.
The second word was…
‘Ganzoury’.
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What's "Tamarai"? And does he mean the former Prime Minister "Kamal El Ganzoury" by "Ganzoury" ?
ReplyDeleteLOL!! Wow.."showcasing his intimate knowledge" of Tamari and Ganzoury..okay.. should that make Egyptians proud?! :D
ReplyDeleteI see, apparently foreigners have special eyes that are tuned to see what we seldom see. It's the first time to know that there is a place here in Cairo called Tamarai, and even if I knew, I sure wouldn't have considered it one of Cairo's landmarks :)
ReplyDeleteseriously? poor thing doesn't know..
ReplyDeletebroke my heart with his words! ya7abebty ya Masr!
ReplyDeleteI’m actually inclined to disagree with you guys on this one. I get a lot of slack for this, but I’m prone to thinking that the likes of Tamarai and Ganzoury etc. serve to showcase a shiny sparkly side of a ‘cool’ new Cairo - an additional facet to the city that does not exist to the detriment or the demise of our historical or cultural heritage. Why can we not have one and not the other? And if there is a generation of young Arabs – both locally and internationally – to whom Cairo is cool for whatever reasons are important to them (in this case the parties and the people), what is so bad about that? When London is lauded for its nightlife, do we blink an eye? Do we shake our heads disapprovingly and say ‘That’s such shame, but what of Stonehenge?’ Of course not! So why the defensiveness in this part of the world? The two ought not, and need not be mutually exclusive. Besides, if Ganzoury really did have the clout to destroy millennia worth of culture and tradition, I really ought to be hanging out with him more often ;)
ReplyDeleteThe point is, to assume that any attention given to this blingy new world is demeaning to our culture, serves in fact (and paradoxically so) to demean the very beauty and power of that culture. As well as being one of the oldest and culturally richest cities in the world, Cairo, it seems, can also be ‘cool’, and yep, I think that’s actually something to be quite proud of...
your blog is blossoming, already :)
ReplyDeletei have a feeling it will very soon become your favorite space to write
Was the third word Enigma?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on this Amy,
ReplyDeleteWe're very well known for our history and stuff, why not change things a bit and be famous for our parties and clubs as well.
In fact we should be proud of Ganzoury and what he's doing to Cairo's night life. And I'm hoping that one day people will be flying to Cairo to celebrate new years and other events and that one day it can be a spot for great parties like Beirut is for Egyptians these days.
Bonne Chance Cairo ;)
Amy,
ReplyDeleteyalla next Blog Entry, we need a daily dose of you!!!!
its hell a lot more better to follow this blog other than Scene & Heard. At least here we know who is talking, and its not some promotional stuff. its a real "HIGH SOCIETY" blog. so tell us more !!!!
entertain us :)
oh i have a question, how come you are doing this for free. where is the advertisers, why isnt this hosted on AmyMowafi.com
Come on, you know you love Scene & Heard as well. It's totally different from Amy's blog. Amy's a writer. At scene & heard, they're just giving us gossip, advertisements and keep us updated ;)
ReplyDeleteTo Q:
ReplyDeleteThere’s an amymowafi.com?
No, no, you’re right of course, it would probably make more sense to host the blog on amymowafi.com, but my website just kind of seemed like a super intense way to kick this thing off you know? It’s like, ‘COME TO ME AT AMYMOWAFI.COM’ ;)
So I figured I’d see how this blogspot worked out for me first and than ease my way onto my own site. Sounds counter-intuitive I know, but - just like molokhia and American Idol on a Thursday night when everyone else is at Arabesque - it feels safe.