In the morning of our third day I decided to go on alone because my friends planned to head on with their high speed which I found too stressful. Besides my knees had started to hurt because I had no possibility to adapt to this long distances and small breaks. And, last but not least, as the only smoker in our group I always had to hurry to finish coffee, food and cigarettes and not make them wait for me. So here my first relaxing cigarette break, just before I go and buy a map to find my way home.

The map and me had some problems first, what made me stop again and again and drive pretty slowly. Additionally the road signs were far from perfect...

Orchids everywhere.

Nobody around, relaxing speed, no need to talk. That's holidays!

Sleep over in the Flussbett Hotel, having excellent organic food.

We were driving pretty fast and had almost no breaks, but at this organic supermarket we got coffee and wonderful chocolate cake.

And then, all of a sudden, we stood there: A bridge in the middle of restauration, no way to just cross it by bike. And my friends had only a map which did not help to find an alternative route. Fortunately it was possible to cross the bridge by foot though only by ignoring the fences. So we removed our bags and carried every single bag and bike past the fences, over the gaps betweens street and bridge and to the other side. As you can see: We had a sense of humor about the unexpected disruption.

The evening came with some more surprises: The camping ground we headed for did exist but the people there did not allow us to stay. The owner was not present and the women managing a christian youth group for some reason seemed to be afraid of us three travelers and did not show any grace of charity. However, we were happy then to find this old farmyard about three kilometres away from the camping ground. The old owner told his dog that we are okay, allowed us to stay and use the water pipe next to to door and by sunset even brought us three bottles of beer to welcome us.

Three days ago I did not even know I would be travelling. I had so much work that I decided to need a break and told a friend that I did not exactly know what to do except leaving town for some days. She invited me to the trip she and her boyfriend had planned months in advance and here we are, biking and camping about 90 kilometres from our hometown on our first evening.

I bought a new tent because I only had a big one which weights to much for biking. So I decided for the Coleman Rigel. I do not understand how two people should sleep there comfortably even if they like each other very much. Rain becomes a problem when you try to get your stuff out of the tent - you have to decide if either you get wet or you stuff. Although I have to say: It stayed tried also during heavy rain. But even if it does not rain the condensation water wets you and your sleeping bag. Still, the tent is fast to fix, small to pack and really very light. So I will keep it for later loner tours.

Two things I like about Germany:

1. Taking a cab and entering the front seat like a duck takes to water. One thing I would never dare to do in the Middle East. In Germany I think nothing of doing so. Every taxi driver would consider me vain and snobbish not sitting next to him and chatting about the weather, family, jobs, whatever. Besides the sight is a lot better than from the back seat. In Egypt or elsewhere in the Middle East taking the front seat would most likely be understood as an invitation to harass me.

2. Imagine a crowded place in Germany, a placid evening, everyone chatting, smoking, trinking. And in the middle of this urban scene imagine a small cat searching for food in the rubbish. Apart from the fact that there would hardly be any rubbish bag lying in a German Downtown - it would be unthinkable for anyone to kick the cat for all the world to see. Not everyone may love animals, but no one would dare to torture an animal in public. I have seen incidents like this not only once in the Middle East. I always wanted to hit or kick the animal abusers back. But I never did because I was on my own and not any one of the passerbys would have understood why I was angry, arguing and certainly screaming. In Germany it would not only be me showing the bad ass that he is doing terribly wrong.

There are certainly more important issues to discuss about, but both are about respect.
Respect between men and women.
Respect for any living creature.

I do not claim that Germany is perfect. I do not claim that respect is present everywhere, for everything, for everyone.
But still I realize the small contrasting things I love my homeland for.

just for the fun of it... who knows when I will ever have such a good and interesting view ;)

Cairo

al-Iskanderia / Alexandria

I already posted the pictures of the traces of the revolution but I also talked a lot with Egyptian friends and other people about their hopes and fears. I arrived just after 77 per cent of the population voted "Yes" for the constitutional referendum and exactly the day the Ministry of Interior burned. The revolution is still everywhere - a newpaper article is pinned at the hotel reception and in the elevator, people are discussing the latest revolutionary events in other Arab countries, e.g. Syria and Yemen, whereever you go you the TV is turned on and does not show soap operas as one year ago but the news by Al-Jazeera or Al-Arabia. And then there was this silence well after midnight. Silence in a city that is know as the one that never sleeps. No traffic, no honking, no laughter, only the screams of fighting cats during the night because of the curfew.

Most of the people I talked to had voted "No". Young liberals who had been at Tahrir square, some for all of the 18 cold, cold nights, some only a few times, but all with high hopes. Did you know that coke works against tear gas? I did not and my new friends did not either. But some Tunesians knew already and helped their egyptian friends by telling them. Some of the people I asked now started to work at the grassroots, talking in their neigbourhood about the coming events and political decisions, planning to campaign for promising parties and candidates or just keep talking with family and friends because they lack time to be engaged more. Most of them fear the influence of islamists, even the moderate ones as the Muslimbrotherhood, but none of them denies that especially the Brotherhood will play a important role in new Egypt.

So I also met the Muslimbrothers because writing my PhD about Egypt means that I need all the information I can get. I confess that I was a little trouble by the thought of going to their office and meeting them. For me it felt like walking into the lion's den. (No offense to anyone! Just my feelings!) It was interesting though. I did not get this much new information because we had a little misunderstanding when I asked for an appointment with an official some days before. But it was important anyway because now my personal fear is gone and I can handle them with reason although I am still pretty sceptical about their ambitions. And it was interesting to see how many people are visiting the office and try to get into the network of the brothers - memorable especially to see the western visitors.

The strangest encounter came when I did not expect any more. Heading for my flight back, drinking my last coffee in Egypt in the crowded lobby I accidentally shared my table with a young woman who catched my attention before because of her stylish clothes. It turned out she was an actress on her way to Casablanca to present her new film. "I hate the people of Tahrir" she told me and "I want Mubarak back, he is so sweet and good." I was not surprised because I knew already about the role of the state owned media and a lot of entertainment VIPs like actors and singers during the revolutionary days. I did not ask for her name. But I realised that the girl that traveled with the blonde, sunglassed actress, her "friend" and stylist, did not participated in our talk although I invited her to. The second girl stayed silent, ate her meal and then as a matter of course took the big bag of the starlet when the two of them left for the gate.

So what will happen next? I have to change the design of my PhD to catch the changes caused by the revolution. Hopefully I will be done by the end of the year and then gather my data in Egypt. I do not expect to travel before Octobre, but who knows - maybe we will have a litte summertrip for a week or so :)

So, what I really was here for was searching for the traces of the revolution. Entering my hotel I smelled the scent of fire as well as when first heading for Tahrir. In the lobby of the hotel some windows are crashed, near the egyptian museum the building of the ruling party was burnt. After a bit, I did not smell the agone fires anymore - habituation works...
What I see and hear instead is the proudness of most Egyptians. At Tahrir the do not only sell t-shirts that say "I love Egypt" but also lots of theses badges that remind of the start of the revolution.

At Tahrir I also found a single remaining leaflet showing the wishes of the angry demonstrators.

If I did not know better I would have thought: "Well Egypt is a third world country, it is normal that the streets are broken, even downtown."

 

 But I know better. These are the traces of the fierce battles between the demonstrators and their counterparts paid by the regime. A friend of mine spent his nights at Tahrir and told me how they removed the pavers, crashed them and prepared this way for the attacks they knew would happen. We all know the pictures of the people of Tahrir who tried to protect themselves. To walk where formerly the street was neat if not tidy feels weird, especially because you find broken spots all around the square and in the neigbouring streets and know you are walking a battlefield.

I came also across a very touching gesture: All around Tahrir people had hung little plastic baskets at lampposts and other pickets to say "We wil keep our country clean - now and for the rest of time." Rubbish very often just lies at the ground because the is no convenient number of dustbins all around. And although my best fried in Egypt told me: "Well people did this but I do not think that keeping the streets clean is our business." I think the little coloured buckets are not only a try to keep the streets clean but are clear political claim.

I miss my old cat so badly.
I know I should not get a new cat now since my life will be too unstable for some more time to take this responsibility.
I kind of freak out everytime I see a cat - especially the stray ones in the streets of Cairo, sick and dirty as they are.
I can hardly resist the wish to feed and pet them.

But I did not.
And I did not bring one home.
Not even this little sweety.

Although I really wanted to...

when you are a friend of mine you know already what comes next. I love nature, I love green, I love plants, I love animals, I cannot live without any of them, I love to take pictures of them.

And since this was never meant to be a political blog I feel free to show you the green banks of the river Nile in the middle of Cairo. I found these plant shops at the isle Manial/Roda.

I do not know what kind of bird it is but its blue feathers were shining like jewelry in the sun.

And that's what it looks like when you cross the bridge back to downtown:

I could not resist, I had to go to Khan Khalili again. It is a tourist trap of course but in the same time it is the best place to get lost, be overwhelmed and part of arabic culture. Besides I went there with a German guy I met in the hotel and since it was his first time in Egypt I could kind of advise him not to tap in every trap that came along the way ;)

Some pictures from the part where the golden stuff is made and sold. Since this is the only part of the bazaar where the streets are this narrow I understand the architecture as a quiet simple but very effective safety concept.

spices of course

the guys who do the waterpipes (Shisha) - I always thought all the Shishas in Egypt come from China, but obviously at least some of them are Egyptian and handmade...

A walked the ancient quarter for hours when I came first here. This time we only strolled around a bit and had a coffee. Seeing these big new pipes for gas was ambivalent. On one side I consider it a progress that the state invests in the quarter and tries to keep up with the needs of the people. On the other side it looked like this building lot is not very well thought through and blocks the street and entrances since a long time already.
 

did I ever mention that I love to fly? I know that it is everything but a sustainable way of travelling but still, I like the feeling and the view:

I will be traveling again!

Just a very, very brief visit in Egypt but nevertheless I'm moving and can explore the "new Egypt" my egyptian friends promised.

So, very soon there will be some new pics, some new words and still the plan to do my research by the end of the year. We will see ;)

Start: March, 22nd

Time is running so fast, I almost forgot to blog about it. So friends, don’t worry, I am fine.

I am a teacher finally. I do not believe in signs, but I love the fact that my first class is Iraqi. The DAAD and the TU Dortmund cooperate with Iraqi universities and I am the lucky one who takes care of eleven young men and women and makes them understand and speak my mother tongue. They are amazing! Very willing to learn, curious and always ready for a joke. We laugh a lot while we work together.

And luckily we also have the possibility to visit different places in the region to make them understand why Germany is the country it is. Examples: brewery museum, fairground hall , concert house, Anne Frank comprehensive school, Dortmunder U, disposal site.

Besides I am still working for the radio station and read and write and read and write and talk and r…. for my PhD. So I never feel bored but still have the time to do things I can not earn money with. I recently got a new idea about my future plans that will change my daily business a lot but it is too early to talk about it. So stay tuned :)

P.S. something sad: My cat, brave Leroy passed away. We lived together for 13 years. He was sick but the vet said it would be okay with the help of one tablet a day. In the end everything happened very fast and now I often feel strange sitting at my desk and wondering for the split of a second where he sits or sleeps.

Friends of mine moved and live now in a beautiful flat with a tiny garden. While they went to Italy I had the keys to work sitting in their winter garden and take care of flat and post box.

During these two weeks the plums got ripe, so tried to preserve fruits for the first time of my live. The cook books of my mother, older then I am, told me what to do and how.

I confess that I underestimated the quantity of plums so after having preserved about five kilos alone I asked my boyfriend, who is an excellent cook, to help me. I had experimented with vanilla, chocolate and rum. Together we made one sweet and one hot plum jam. The last one is with curry, garlic, green pepper, mustard and other stuff and tastes absolutely gorgeous. Needs to be done next year again!

Six days relaxation. Although the weather was a little bad tempered. We had storm, rain, a soaking tent, dog roses, some sun and a good time.

About the reactor that lies hidden in the dunes I read only later.

What I really love about Germany?

Walking home, alone, in the middle of the night ... and nobody cares or wonders.

I went with my language buddy to see Heliopolis, which is still called "New Egypt" although it is already 100 years old. And it appears a bit odd to see next to gross tower blocks typical for modern architecture these beautiful buildings that where meant to create an atmosphere of relaxed richness and a new way of life. I'll show only the old ones ;)

We almost got trouble when I took this picture from the other side of the street because we were standing in front of the presidential palace that is used to host foreign VIP such as presidents and monarchs and the military guard did not like us to stand in front of the wall for more then two minutes...

The Baron Palace is under construction at the moment so we could not enter, but the mix of architectural styles was impressive even from the distance. If I ever will have the possibility I would love to see it from the inside too!

Heliopolis is located about 20 minutes from Downtown and I could tell just by walking around that it is the area of the upper middle class - even the cats look cleaner... Another thing that stood out was the number of unveiled women. Still I saw mainly women with hijab but obviously many Christian Egyptians live there. So here are some churches - again, we almost got trouble, because one of the guards did not wanted me to take a pic...