Some Pics

[onster]

Unfortunately in all the rush of leaving Canada I forgot my SLR at home, so I had to use a really dinky camera which I had trouble taking night pics with but anyway I promised pics...so here are pics from one of my days in Cairo.

The ministry of culture had these free tannoura (whirling dervish) dance perfomances going on near Khan el Khalili (the old market I showed pics of last time) in a place called weklat il ghoori (it was a place for commerce back in the day). I'll quote now from an article online just to give you background info "The outside of the building is stunning, with intricate wood and stone work. The original center was built in 1504 A.D. by Sultan Qunsuwah Al Ghouri. According to Abdel Daym, “Wekalet El Ghouri is one of three buildings, making Al Ghouri complex. There’s El Ghouri Mosque, El Ghouri Palace and Wekalet El Ghouri. When it was built, the complex had many spaces for commerce, for a hotel, even for horses.” from http://www.communitytimesmagazine.co...ri-arts-center There are much better pictures there too (clearer) and you can see the actual structure ..my pics brought up too much dust from the flash.

Anyway here are my not so great pics

I loved the man with the 'saagaat', the metal disk things you clang together...he would tease the other performers, kind of like in a dance off but with instruments lol




Then the twirling began, I think he twirled for a whole hour it was amazing. Originally, there was religious symbolism but now its just more of a folk dance.

[onster]

The 'skirts' are actually layered and they detach them as they spin as demonstrated by the guy in the middle

[onster]

Nothing to say really, was just a great show, with great music...more twirling

[onster]

Heres another one of the 'dance off' type thing going on between the sagaat man and the tabla (drum) player. The interaction was great, gave me a good giggle.



and then these 2 just because. I took these on a Friday while my dad was at Friday prayer. Ive shared similar photos before but I just love the view and there are new members so ill share again

to the right the mosque (also previously pictured as the friendly glowing neighborhood mosque when its lit up at night) where my dad was praying. Considering how many mosques there are in every neighborhood in Cairo, I always find it amazing how there's still people spilling out on the streets during prayer time. You can make out a few people in the photo on the street praying if you look really closely. The cars are also parked for prayer, mostly people walk to the mosques for prayer (since there seriously is one eveyrwhere) but if youre caught in your car when the call to prayer comes you basically just park at the nearest mosque go in and pray and then go about your way. The exodus from the mosques is always interesting to watch too.


looking to the left from the balcony, the 6th of October bridge



That's all for now..I have plenty but must go off to class.

[hazelrunpack]

omd, I'm feeling slightly light-headed from all the spinning!!!! How do they do that without tossing their cookies at some point?

Cool pics, onster! Looking forward to more of them!

[bendyfoot]

Nice pics, looks like you had a fun trip!

[Marcha]

Welcome back and it's great to see your photos!

[14+kitties]

Marvelous pictures onster! I can almost feel like I was there with the wonderful scenes you depict.

[krdahmer]

The twirling skirts thing is awesome! And I too am curious as to how they do that without hurling!!! I can barely turn two circles without getting lightheaded!

[rainbow]

WOW ....the dance performance must have been awesome to watch.

[ancientgirl]

Those twirling photos are lovely. It looks like they are carrying umbrellas!

I always enjoy seeing your photos of your trip to Egypt!