EID

Wall at the Egyptian Museum

I have 5 days off – all because of the Muslim holiday of Eid–Al-Adha. It’s also called the festival of sacrifice – when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son for god. My religious roots are sadly pretty shallow but was reminded of Dylan’s Highway 61 and it  all came back. Now-a-days it’s celebrated by visiting family, giving gifts, making donations to the poor and killing a sheep – not just in the villages but apparently right in the courtyard of my apartment building. I heard an uncharacteristic bleating out my window last evening - then didn’t. I take solace that the sheep don’t really know what’s going on.

I spent yesterday with some workmates riding the metro intodowntown Cairo to visit the Egyptian Museum.  A very nice Egyptian man greeted us when we got off the train and told us the museum was closed because of the holiday…but… there was a market open that he could take us to on his way home to his family after a long night of work. We visited the market, got the hard sell, then walked around Cairo until we found ourselves in front of the museum, which to our surprise was open! Feel like a sheep - did my part for the holiday.

On the bridge to Zamalek

Tourist boats on the Nile

Lions on the Zamalek bridge