Cairo, the 4th July, 2010

Singing along with taxi driver...


You can easily hate and love Egypt at the same time. This is a country of contrasts and huge valleys you cannot fully undedstand (ever and no matter how much you try!).

It can be hard to live here.It can be devastating and overwhelming. Disappointing and MAGIC...this is Egypt!

One of the moments I will never forget took place in a taxi a few days ago.
I was preparing an Om Kolthoum song for the AHLAN WA SAHLAN FESTIVAL and had the song translated to me by several people (an egyptian friend, the chief of my orchestra and the singer) but I wanted to hear from the voice and feeling of a common person who had nothing to do with ART.

So, as I returned home from the gym, I dared to ask this old gentleman - the taxi driver - to sing along with me and translate the Om Kolthoum song as he understood it.
Coincidently - if there is such a thing called COINCIDENCE - he was a huge Om Kolthoum fan ( as it happens with most egyptian taxi drivers)and the was happy to serve my wish.

So he sang along with me and stopped in each phrase to tell me what Om Kolthoum meant by it (according to his own feeling).
Now...it's known. I am a cry baby. If I see a puppy, I cry. If I see a bird on a tree, I will stare at it for 20 minutes and then I will cry so...it was obvious that the drama would take place when this strange old gentleman sang for me and told me about love, how she missed her lover and refused to sleep in order not to loose sight of his shadow!

Ahhhh..........
And then people still ask me WHY I LOVE EGYPT!
This is why.This is WHY.