Hays Travelogue

Last weekend, we went to Zamalek to shop for Ali’s birthday, and this is a little detail from one of her gifts. On the way back to Heliopolis, the taxi driver had to stop for gas, so I entertained myself by taking pictures of the things I bought. The pretty teal blue background is just the seat cover.
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Originally uploaded by tamra hays

21 - Practice Room in Beit al Oud
Originally uploaded by tamra hays

One of the reasons we came to Cairo was because Mike wanted to study oud in an Arabic country. He first saw one of these ancient instruments about 15 years ago in John Truitt’s office at Albuquerque Academy. It was old and had no strings, but it was love at first site. He eventually bought it from John, but then came the problem of how to play it. There were no oud players in Albuquerque then, so he found a guy in New York who agreed to give lessons by telephone. Needless to say, that didn’t work too well. Luckily, Rahim al Haj moved to Albuquerque, and he agreed to give Mike lessons. In Cairo, Mike has been able to take lessons at Beit al Oud as well as private lessons with Ghassan al Youssef.

Here are some oud links for those of you who want more information.

For the history of the instrument and an extensive list of musicians and luthiers, see Wikipedia’s article on the oud.

For a sampling of music, here are two musicians we like: Naseer Shama and Rahim al Haj. Both are Iraqi, and both studied at the Baghdad Conservatory with Munir Bashir. Naseer Shama lives in Cairo, and Rahim lives in Albuquerque. Rahim’s album, When The Soul Is Settled was nominated for a Grammy award.

To buy an oud, check out Maurice Shehata Ouds. Mike bought a beautiful ebony and spruce oud from him. The workshop is a tiny place near Demerdesh Metro Station in Cairo.

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Originally uploaded by tamra hays
This is the tea shop near Beit al Oud. We were at a concert given by Mike’s oud teacher.

Lewis Lapham, the former editor of Harper’s Magazine, has a new project, Lapham’s Quarterly, a journal in which each issue is devoted to a single question.  The question is then examined by many voices and in many points of view. As Lapham says,

“An acquaintance with history doesn’t pay the rent or predict the outcome of next year’s election, but as the season or occasion requires, it makes possible the revolt against what G.K. Chesterton once called “the arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about”; instills a sense of humor; and brings with it the tray of “examples and warnings” offered by the Roman historian Livy as, “fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid.”

Volume 1, Number 1 is called States of War. The issue, divided into five sections — Call to Arms, Rules of Engagement, Field Reports, Postmortems, and Essays — begins with this quote by General Helmuth von Moltke: “Perpetual peace is a dream, and not even a beautiful dream, and war is an integral part of God’s ordering of the universe… Without war, the world would become swamped in materialism.”

It ends with a map of the fringe benefits of war: the longbow, the microwave oven, canned good, interstate highways, sideburns, yellow journalism, Switzerland, Canada, Israel, history, Western literature, twenty-four hour news, khaki pants, croissants, and the Red Cross.  In between, are reports from artists, writers, cartographers, list-makers, and correspondents across time and around the world.

A sampling from the correspondents: “Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle.” –General George Patton

And: “There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer by crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.” –Joseph Heller, Catch-22

And: “As regard war, the Scythian custom is for every soldier to drink the blood of the first man he kills. The heads of all enemies killed in battle are taken to the king, a head being a sort of ticket by which a soldier is admitted to his share of the loot–no head, no loot.” –Herodutus, the Histories

And: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan–to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” –Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address

States of War is a riveting and urgent reminder to know our history, because as Cicero said, “Not to know what happened before one was born is always to be a child.”

The topic of the second issue of Lapham’s Quarterly, due out at the end of March, is Money.

I’ve got to thank Clint for all of the help with this move. I couldn’t have done it alone. Hope you like the new look of the Travelogue.

Fruit and vegetables are inexpensive and plentiful in Cairo. There are stands on almost every corner, and they are all as colorful as this one. There is very little crime here, and at night the stands are covered but not locked.

To Wadi al-Hittan (Whale Valley)
Originally uploaded by tamra hays

45 million years ago, Egypt was under the sea. When the sea dried up, some whales were stranded, and their fossized bones are in Whale Valley. We also saw fossilized mangrove swamps, coral reefs, a swordfish, a sea turtle, and billions and billions of nummulites.

As you can see, there wasn’t much of a road. The whole photo set is on flickr, Whale Valley.

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Originally uploaded by tamra hays

Sub pay! Yahoo! This school pays us when we sub instead of expecting us to trade out subbing for each other. Lots of teachers are going to the job fairs, so there is lots of sub work now. It’s easy, fun work, and I don’t miss the prep time because I can usually do the prep work while I’m subbing. I’ll spend this for our weekend trip to the Whale Valley south of Fayoum Oasis.

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Originally uploaded by tamra hays

We went to Rhoda Island today to visit the Umm Kulthoum Museum and to see the Nileometer. Umm Kulthoum was a famous Egyptian singer who was so adored that 4 million people attended her funeral.

Speaking of famous Arabic singers, don’t forget to watch the Grammy Awards tomorrow night. Good luck, Rahim!

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Originally uploaded by tamra hays

The most popular pic of last week: What can I take to work for lunch?