Objavljeno: 04 Jan 2009 14:12     Naslov sporočila: Razno...v angleščini :)

Prekinitev konvojev - Stop of convoys

Not known in the Sinai, but in the rest of Egypt it had been a regulation for tourists to travel in police accompanied convoys throughout the country. Not any more.

In the wake of the 1997 attack at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, the Egyptian government obliged all foreigners travelling overland between the country’s main tourist centres to join armed convoys. This visible security was intended to dissuade attacks and reassure visitors, but it has long outlived its usefulness.

Ironically, in the absence of any attacks, the convoys have become the biggest danger: in high season, as many as 100 coaches and minivans have raced across the desert from the Red Sea resorts every day.

The effect of this rally on the antiquities, particularly in Luxor, has been disastrous. In spite of new parking facilities, neither the Valley of the Kings nor Karnak Temple is able to cope with the simultaneous arrival of thousands of visitors: when I visited the Valley of the Kings just ahead of the convoy a couple of weeks ago, there was only one guard on the gate to check tickets.

Things should be very different now. Even if you are only visiting Luxor, the end of the convoys should mean a (slightly) calmer visit to the main sights. Coaches will still arrive from the Red Sea, though, one hopes, not all at the same time.

Mornings will still be busier than afternoons at the prime sites, but this should spell an end to the bottlenecks to get into the Valley of the Kings and a reduction in the size of the queues outside individual tombs.

The change will be felt most strongly outside Luxor, and perhaps nowhere more so than in Dendera and Abydos, where ancient Egyptians believed the god Osiris was buried. Most hoped to make a pilgrimage there once in their lives, in the way that Muslims now hope to visit Mecca. Yet Abydos has seen few visitors since the convoy system began. Just 80 miles northwest of Luxor, it and the well-preserved Greco-Roman temple at Dendera make a perfect outing from Luxor.

Visiting temples between Luxor and Aswan has been a frustrating experience, as the convoys allowed a maximum of one hour at each site, hardly enough to visit Edfu, one of the best preserved of all Egypt’s monuments. Also, as the convoys drove straight into the temple compounds, visitors were forbidden from visiting the living towns. Now, it will be possible to visit the camel market at Daraw, last stop on the fabled Forty Days Road, the trade route up from Sudan, and to see the lively Thursday market at Kom Ombo, 30 miles north of Aswan, where thousands of Egyptian villagers and farmers come to buy and sell livestock, farm tools and life’s essentials.

Beyond the obvious temples of Esna, Edfu and Kom Ombo, a string of less famous monuments, beyond the reach of the convoy traveller, can now be visited. The best of them is El Kab, once the capital of Upper Egypt and a reminder that not everything has survived the passage of time: the city’s huge walls remain, but there is almost nothing to see inside. Up on the hills above the ruins, several beautifully carved tombs show vivid scenes from everyday life.
As for security, the lack of any attacks on the convoys over the past decade suggests that all might be quiet on that front. If you are worried, you could try travelling between 6pm and 6am, when the convoys will still be running and you will find yourself with armed guards, being hurried from one place to another.

Objavljeno: 04 Jan 2009 14:15     Naslov sporočila:

Tujci v Egiptu - Egypt: Those damn Fowegners

I have known lots of foreigners living in Egypt throughout my life. For some reason- not that I minded of course- I was always surrounded by them. But lately I started wondering about them: What makes a foreigner- and by that I mean someone of European or American/Canadian/Australian descent because we know what the arabs and the refugees are doing here- come and live in Egypt? I mean I get the ones who visit, but why live here? So, I decided to put my anthropologist hat on, and take a closer look at the foreigners that pass by me, and make sweeping generalizations about the whole population. The results astounded me. My research-which wasn’t scientific at all- has shown that there are three different types of foreigners that come to live in Egypt, each with their own habits, traits and even neighborhood. So without further ado, I present you with my findings:

1) The "I am here to make money" Foreigner: This is my favorite type of foreigner, because they come to Egypt full of purpose and they know exactly what they are doing here. This group includes foreigners who work for MNC’s and Oil companies, Embassy officials, journalists who are sent here by their chief bureau, People who do whatever it is that Elijah and The Arabist do, and those are studying here because it’s a way to get a specific job (like learning arabic in order to join the State Department or be a more hireable regional journalist or doing their masters in Polisci/Islamic Studies/Forced migration/whatever that will get them that cushy job in an American Think Tank or NGO). They are usually very smart and have their whole life planned ahead of them, which is refreshing to encounter in a country like Egypt. They live in Zamalek/Garden City if they don’t have children and in Maadi if they do. They summer in Sharm Al Sheikh and el Gouna, their favorite drug is Life, the desire for success and Alcohol, and their favorite egyptian book is "Beer in the Snooker club" by Wagih Ghaly- that is if they read books written by Egyptians at all. They hang out at extravagant Zamalek parties and sometimes the Ace club, they work out in the CAC campus and they know what’s going on in Egypt more than the majority of Egyptians do, which is funny considering that they represent a tiny minority of foreigners here, especially compared to the "I am here to find myself" foreigner.

2) The "I am here to find myself" foreigner: Kind of self-explanatory, but let’s give it a shot anyway: Those are the foreigners who tell you that they come to Egypt as part of some journey "to find themselves", but in reality are just looking to put their lives on hold for a bit and not grow up and be responsible like their fellow friends back at wherever they came from. They are usually mid twenties to early thirties, and they come to Egypt as part of a regional spiritual trip or an exchange program, and kind of never leave, mainly due to how cheap living in Egypt is compared to their life back home and the fact that here they get to retain the kind of adolescent social life they have enjoyed so much in college. They either have random jobs that offer shit pay and for which they are totally under qualified with their B.A. in 18th century Southasian philosophy (Check Nile FM, the daily news, the Ibn Khaldoun Center) or they do as every other foreigner who needs a job in Egypt does and become stringers for obscure newspapers and random news agencies, who usually don’t require of you more than having the ability to write in half-decent English. Since they don’t make that much money, they live either in Mohandeseen/Agouza or in a houseboat in Kitkat, and they summer in Dahab and Nouiba3. They lead a very communal social life, with nights that boast events such as one of them coming back from a trip to Lebanon (of course) with lots of Alcohol or scoring a really good kind of Hash through their Bawab, and they will call each other and have a "gathering" whenever one of those life’s little victories rears its shiny little head. They are usually major drug-fiends, so their favorite drugs include whatever you got on you, and they don’t have a favorite egyptian book because they usually don’t read (Paulo Coleho and Dan Brown are notable exceptions), opting instead to downloading episodes of "The Office" and "Weeds" off of the internet and watching them high as a kite. They used to hang out at the Greek Club, but ever since their new minimum charge policy of 45 pounds a person got implemented they stick to Estorel and Stella Cafe, and if they show up at L’aubergine for example they will have one beer only, unless you are paying, and then you shall discover their love for whatever is the most expensive shit that bar carries. The "I am here to find myself" foreigner has no shame, mainly because they believe themselves to be children of the Universe and that the Universe owes them something. So they will at first surprise you by their habit to ask the Universe for whatever it is they need, and when that naturally fails they will further surprise you by asking you for whatever it is they need. But other than that they are very nice people, and they eventually leave after spending between 3 to 6 years of their life in Egypt (unless you happen to marry one of them, you stupid dumb sucker), which makes them a much better breed than the final type, the " I am Egyptian" foreigner.

3) The "I am Egyptian" foreigner: That would be the type that drives me up the freakin wall, the foreigner who comes to Egypt, claims to have fallen in love with the country and wants to stay here to fix it. They exhibit certain similar traits to the "I am here to find myself" foreigner, only their condition is slightly more extreme. They usually have serious identity issues ( especially if they come from the US and super especially if from the south), and need a purpose in their lives that will give their lives meaning and piss off their parents (which is really their goal to begin with). They will go on diatribes about how this other foreigner you both know doesn’t get Egypt like he/she "gets Egypt", and they will have dick measuring contests over who loves Egypt more. True story: I once encountered two such creatures once, roommates, the first said that its true that if you drink from the Nile you have to come back, while the other countered that this is not true, because if you drink from the nile, you never really leave Egypt, cause you leave your heart there. I informed both of them that they are both wrong, because as an egyptian would tell you, if you drink from the nile, you will end up in the hospital, because that shit is super polluted. Anyway... Their favorite american author is naturally Noam Chomsky, their favorite topic of conversation is the different Zionist lobbies in Washington and they say Inshallah and habiby every 20 seconds. Where they live is a tricky proposition, since they do follow a certain migration pattern that is depended on how "egyptian" they’ve become. They start by living in Zamalek their first year here, and then they will move to Downtown the following, citing the fakneness of Zamalek and the cultural richness of Downtown as their reasons. Their third year they move to a Houseboat in Imbaba ( they will say Imbaba with the same pride reserved for being hardcore egyptians, as if Imbaba isn’t the area opposite of Seqouia), followed by a Bonus phase that not everybody takes of moving to Mukattam and discovering how awesome it is to take a Microbus to work(" Sure, I get sexually harassed and grabbed, but it only costs me 50 piasters for a ride. It’s awesome"), before finally setteling in Al Haram, either in a street off of Faysal, or if they are truly willing to go the distance to prove their egyptianness, Omraneya. Their favorite Egyptian Author is naturally Ahdaf Suweif, because they are retarded and they think her orientalist drivel is actual literature (Alaa, I know she is your Aunt and everything, so please please please get her an Editor. In the Eye of the Sun is needlessly 450 pages man. There are 200 pages of her talking about her make-up and removing her hair using Halawah. I am serious man, someone needed to say it!), they will claim that their favorite singer is of course Oum Kalthoum, even though they usually don’t understand what the hell she is saying, and their favorite hangout is the Ahwah (Shisha cafe) in front of their house if they are males and the houses of their middle-class Hijab-wearing egyptian housewife bestfriend if they are female. They rarely hang out with other foreigners- unless they are just like them, and even then it gets tense due to the aforementioned dick-measuring contests- and they would never be caught dead being seen in Zamalek or Maadi. Their favorite summer spot are Alexandria and Ain el Soukhnah, and they end up usually working as teachers in Language schools that just started a bullshit but overpriced American Diploma program and they needed any foreigner who look like a teacher in order to seem legit to the parents of their students. You can also identify them through their facebook albums, because at some point in their lives they passed by Gaza and took pictures with smiling Palestinian children, which they will show you while naming the children and telling you anecdotes of how cute and smart they are and how they formed a connection and told him/her that they never want them to leave, in denial of the fact that they are just one of the 30,000 foreigners that passed by those kids that year alone, and that they probably forget all about him/her ever existing, let alone their names. Oh, and their favorite drug is HASH, of course, cause, really, what’s more Egyptian than that?

Objavljeno: 04 Jan 2009 14:17     Naslov sporočila:

Egiptovski portreti/Characters of Egypt

On October 29, 30 and 31 in Fustat Wadi El Gemal National Park, a beautiful untouched, well preserved valley, 45 km south of Marsa Allam, a special event, The Characters of Egypt, took place.

Characters of Egypt is a festival celebrating tribal heritage, nature and cultural diversity. The event was held this year for the first time.

There are approximately 300,000 people from 45 tribes living a nomadic existence in Egypt. In this event, 7 teams repesented the tribes of Egypt. The teams gathered from tribes living in the 7 desert areas of: Siwa and Farafra from the Western Desert, North and South Sinai, Nubia, and the Eastern and Southern Deserts which stretch from Marsal Allam to Alba Mountain. All these tribes have certain things in common, but are richly diverse in their languages, customs and ways of life, reflecting the wide variety of environments in which they live across Egypt.

The three-day cultural extravaganza was an unforgettable experience, packed with things to do, see, hear and taste. One could discover the diversity of fauna and flora, marvel at the intricacy of tribal costumes and jewellery, learn how to shadow-read and navigate in the desert or participate with the tribe members in a variety of activities covering music, dance, poetry, sports, games, food tasting, a camel race,educational lectures on the tribes and environment and much, much more.

Characters of Egypt was organised by Wadi Environmental Science Centre (WESC) and the Egyptian Desert Pioneer Society (EDPS), with the support of the Ministries of Tourism and the Environment and with the expert help of many Egyptian luminaries.

After this years' success the event is planned to be organised annually.

Objavljeno: 04 Jan 2009 14:18     Naslov sporočila:

Nova prometna pravila!!!

Why new traffic rules?

Sharmers, like most Egyptians or those living in Egypt, were shocked by the new traffic rules and fines.

In June we published an article about the increasing traffic and the habits of the drivers (link). Driving in Sharm got an as difficult task as in Cairo, especially dangarous as streets are not as crowded and speeding is easy.

We keep on hearing about tourists dying in accidents but what about the many locals who nobody talks about?
According to the Cabinet Information & Decision Support Center, an estimated 32,000 people are injured in traffic-related accidents and more than 7,000 lose their lives on the road in Egypt each year. With figures like these, it’s no wonder that Egypt has earned a reputation as a particularly unsafe place to drive – many foreign nationals are advised by their governments to avoid trying. It has been stated that the accident rate in Egypt is 34 times higher than that of Europe and three times as high as that of some countries in the region.

The large numbers of cars, accidents and fatalities were part of the reason behind the Ministry of Interior’s decision to push for a new law.

Not wearing a seatbelt or talking on a mobile phone now means a fine of LE 300, while driving in the wrong direction on a one-way street could cost LE 3,000. With some accidents caused by badly maintained and old cars, drivers of vehicles more than 20 years old now have three years to get them off the road and replace them with new ones.

So, don't get too furios when you are asked about the fire extingisher next time, consider that all these rules, some more, some less will hopefully help to have safer streets. And these rules work well and are obeyed in Europe.

Rules and Fines:

• Failing to buckle in your seat belt doubles the risk of your being in an accident and subjects you to a fine of EGP100 to EGP300.The New Egyptian Traffic Law
• Hand-holding your cell-phone distracts your attention for driving and subjects you to a fine of EGP100 to EGP300.
• Besides putting you and other people in danger, driving in the opposite direction may cause accidents. You could be fined from EGP1000 to EGP3000.
• Parking in the wrong place causes traffic jams and could subject you to having your license suspended for a period of no less than 30 days.
• You could be imprisoned for a period of no less than six months and fined from EGP200 to EGP1000, if caught in the act of removing your car clampers.
• You could be imprisoned for a period of no less than six months and fined EGP300 for allowing acts of public indecencies to take place in your car.
• Driving at night without the head and tail lights and without the side mirrors subjects you to having your license suspended for a period of no less than six months.
• Driving in unauthorized processions subjects you to having your license suspended for a period of no less than 30 days.
• Having a triangle warning sign prevents road accidents when stopping at night. In the case it is absent your license could be removed for a period of no less than 30 days.
• A first-aid kit will help you take care of your injuries until the ambulance arrives.
• Failing to have a first-aid kit inside your car could subject you to suspending your car license for a period of no less than 30 days.
• Using projector headlights at night endangers other people's lives. Your license could be suspended for a period of no less than 30 days.
• Failing to wear your protective head-gear when riding your motorcycle could subject you to a fine of no less than EGP100.

Objavljeno: 04 Jan 2009 14:29     Naslov sporočila:

Varnost na prvem mestu za egiptovskega potapljaškega čuvaja - Safety first for Egypt's diving watchdog

The Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS) says improving safety and protecting the marine environment are its main priorities, as it aims to ensure the entire industry meets European Underwater Federation (EUF) standards.

Operating under the Egyptian Tourist Federation's governmental umbrella, the CDWS is the first body to officially regulate Egypt's diving and watersports industry.
'We have a responsibility to try to put order into a sector which until now has not been officially regulated,' Hesham Gabr Ali, CDWS board member and manager of Sharm El Sheikh's Camel Dive Club, told DIVE. 'We looked for existing laws and regulations in Europe. The CDWS signed an agreement with the Austrian Standards Institute [the certification arm of the EUF] so we could have a clear, internationally recognised standard set. The chamber will also be the mechanism of communication between the sector and Ministry of Tourism.'

From November 2008, all dive centres and safari boats must be members of the CDWS to apply for a mandatory Egyptian Ministry of Tourism licence to legally operate in the country. Currently, about 320 dive centres and 80 safari boats are CDWS members.

Independent auditors have already begun what is expected to be an 18-month process of checking that every dive business meets EN 14467/ISO 24803 regulations. Everything from training standards to hire equipment and air fills must meet the European requirements. Audits take two to four days to complete, and operators must pass inspections to qualify for or renew CDWS membership.

There are also plans to train skippers and crews on Egyptian leisure industry boats in seamanship to recognised standards, first aid skills and environmental awareness.

It is hoped that these measures will increase safety standards in the Egyptian watersports industry. Under its government-backed remit, the CDWS can technically investigate incidents and accidents and provide recommendations, statistics and data to help minimise accidents and improve service and safety.
However, one of the greatest challenges facing the CDWS, according to Hesham Gabr, is the push for legislation to protect and monitor the marine environment of the Red Sea.

Among the representatives on the CDWS board is the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA). Together, the organisations are calling on the government to declare the Red Sea a 'no catch zone'.

'The environmental side is a much bigger problem,' said Hesham Gabr. 'The aim is to bring the issue of illegal fishing to the surface as fish stocks in the Red Sea are under serious threat, but the fishing lobby is powerful.
'I want to see illegal fishing stopped - this would be the biggest achievement of my life.'

Objavljeno: 04 Jan 2009 14:36     Naslov sporočila:

Eid el Adha

On December 8 we celebrated another Eid el-Adha, the Big Feast or the Feast of Sacrifice. Sharm was crowded by Cairoens. Many New Sharmers do not know much about the Islamic feasts. Following what you should know.

It takes place approximatedly seventy days after the Eid el-Fitr at the end of the month of Ramadan, The Eid el-Adha coincides with the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca; the culmination of the pilgrimage, the Day of Arafat, is the day before the Eid. This is when the pilgrims spend the day in prayer and devotion on Mt. Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed delivered his last sermon.

The Eid el-Adha is a celebration of the obedience to God shown by the Prophet Ibrahim because he was ready to sacrifice his firstborn son when asked. Ibrahim was rewarded for being a true believer when a sheep appeared in the place of Ismail, and it was sacrificed instead. For this reason, Moslems slaughter either a sheep, or if they are able to afford it, a cow, to commemorate Ibrahim's trust in God. The family only keeps a third of the meat, another third is for relatives, and the rest is distributed to the poor.

If people have space to keep an animal, they will buy their sheep or cow well before the Eid in order to fatten it up, so you may hear bleating and mooing in your neighborhood in the days leading up to the Eid. Usually people make arrangements with their butcher to come and slaughter the animal, but you will also see men going through the streets yelling out "gazzar", butcher, hoping to be hired. Another thing you might notice after the Eid, if you drive along Magra el-Oyoun Street next to the Aqueduct, are the towering wooden racks of drying sheepskins, because this is the neighborhood of the tanners.

There is a special dawn prayer on the morning of the first day of the Eid. If you live near a mosque with a microphone, you will hear the congregation reciting over and over again: "Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, la illah il Allah" (God is great, God is great. There is no god but God). Then people return home for a special early breakfast of a dish called "fatta", which consists of meat and rice with sauce and bread soaked in broth. Throughout the four days of the Eid relatives all visit each other, and adults, particularly the uncles of the family, give the children gifts of money.

Everyone wishes everyone else a happy Eid with the expression 'kulla sana wa inta tayyib" to a male, and "kulla sana wa inti tayyiba" for a female, In fact, this greeting can be used for any holiday! You may also hear people say "Eid mubarak", meaning "blessed Eid".

Objavljeno: 04 Jan 2009 21:26     Naslov sporočila: odgovor

A bi lahko to prevedla v slovenščino kar si napisala?? Prosim hvala
_________________
Sem ljubiteljica egipta zato se večkrat vračam tja še posebej mi je zanimiva zgodovina le tega

Objavljeno: 05 Jan 2009 21:26     Naslov sporočila:

Yorky res nimam časa...sem pa tako zaposlena, da še komaj kaj napišem na forum...tole bi mi pa vzelo veliko časa