“If you’re a smart person, the smart way to behave is as if you know nothing. Everything is a mystery at some level.” – Amit Varma, The Seen and the Unseen
Notes
Opening quote: From Episode 281 of The Seen and the Unseen, writer and journalist Amit Varma’s amazing long-form podcast. I generally think of myself as stupid about most things, so his suggestion that this is a positive attribute to be cultivated lit me up. (Here’s his Substack, too: India Uncut.)
Arabic: The word written in Arabic here is “shukran,” which means thank you.
People who felt like they could be friends: Egyptologist Mohamed Farrag, one of the many amazing people I met in Egypt, showed me living scarabs on a henna bush when we visited Philae, and told me about the beetle’s significance as a symbol of good luck in ancient Egyptian mythology. Close observers of the natural world, the ancient Egyptians connected the life-giving orb of the sun, rolling around the earth, with the life-giving ball of dung – simultaneously food store, egg incubator and recycling system – that scarabs roll along in front of them.
Books: While in Egypt I read Cairo, The City Victorious, by Max Rodenbeck (published 1998). When I came back I read Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth, by Naguib Mahfouz (published 1985, translated by Tagreid Abu-Hassabo 1998). On my list: Chronicle of a Last Summer, by Yasmine El Rashidi. Please let me know what you’re reading that’s great!
Podcast: “From Cairo to Delhi” (The Seen and the Unseen, 13 June 2022) – a 4+ hour conversation with the author of Cairo, The City Victorious that covers Egypt, the Middle East, South Asia, writing, international politics and economics, career development as a process of oozing, and so much more. Hit me with your recommendations for other podcasts that cover Egypt, the Middle East, writing, ex-US geopolitics, culture or any combination of those.
Playlist: The super nice young person running music at the American University in Cairo Book Fair turned me on to Dallo and El Waili. My playlist also includes The Musicians of the NIle (who I first heard in the beautiful film Latcho Drom), Zaid Khaled, Ruby, Angham, and Umm Kulthoum. I would love more recommendations, especially with chill beats.
Followed a writer: Abdelrahman Elgendy writes powerfully about social justice, politics and culture. A friend also recently shared with me Samantha Childress’s newsletter The Cairo Dispatch, which I’m now subscribed to.
Paper on a pole: The paper had a url on it, PGMOC.org, which for me raised more questions than it answered. If you can enlighten me I’d love to hear from you.
A pigeon missing one foot: It’s not uncommon to see pigeons with damaged feet in New York and other large cities. There are various theories about why, most of which have to do with human activity. One interesting study correlated fewer toes with more hair salons.
9th century mosque: The lovely and impressive Mosque of Ibn Tulun, which is also adjacent to the Gayer-Anderson House museum.
Little Egypt: I met several people in Egypt who had walked the same streets I do, including tour guide Mo Salah (no, not thatMo Salah!), who went with me to Giza, Saqqara and Memphis and made my first days in the country warm and welcoming.
Beautiful!
Jen, this is so exciting, cool, and feeds my soul. I heard about your adventure from Bob and this magnificent way of sharing made it alive for me!! I have been wanting to have more connection with you and I feel blessed, this is it!
Cheers to your first edition! Janie