Eshta Belhabal! (The Cream of The Milk!)

It seems to be these days that my modis operandi of writing is my mini iPad. It's comfortable, and the intimacy of the two thumbs involved seems better suited to the immediacy of expression than the full keyboard of a laptop which consumes, for me at least, more finger placing brain power.

My preference has always been pencil on paper, but I have grown used to the flow of this current approach. Maybe I should be using paint on papyrus given where I am, but in some things, at least, things have evolved under the Egyptian sun.

And my goodness, it's been hot here today. You can tell by the way the cucumber and carrot sticks served with the savoury dips visibly age before your eyes; arriving youthful, tender and fresh and, in no time, appearing haggard, curled and withered on the plate.

The dry air and sun has long wreaked this effect on humans in Egypt as well. Thirty years ago, as I sailed down the Nile on a felucca, we would stop at villages on its sandy banks and encounter old hags as if attending a 'Tam O'Shanter Revival'. But they weren't old, as we were to shockingly find out. They were only in their mid-thirties and already half preserved. The parched earth would do the rest in reasonably quick order, as the expectancy that blood would continue to flow through such crinkled arteries for any length of time was greatly reduced.

Oh, Nile, such a succulent temptress, powerless beneath the Master Sun!

In other news, and before the paragraphs above arrived unbidden, I spent the day inside doing work proposals and then took the big camera, hidden in a laundry bag, across to the local cafe. Yes, things have come to that...and although it may seem funny, please think deeply on it. It's a direct result of 'our' reporters, and they are all our reporters, being jailed here yesterday. Maybe, I am being too reactionary (try telling that to Dd!) but let's just say I'm being realistic for once, although it makes my shutter release stick, if not my pen, to say so.

In any case, the 'big boy' camera is more then welcome in the local coffee shop where the employees are now lining up with their Kit-Kats in hand for the 'Nice Mister' to take their shot, including the manager and these two lads above.

That I may generate such enthusiasm and engagement through this simple act only serves to highlight the complete derogation of leadership this country has experienced during the last 50 years!

Eshta Belhabal! Rise, and lead on!


PS
'Eshta Belhabel' also has a slang meaning of 'very, very cool and sexy!' I think we all agree that these two qualify!