Friday,
June 25, 2004. I debated whether to join the group for this
day's scheduled outing to the pyramids and Sphinx on the Giza
plateau. I had seen these sights on a previous trip to We were told we could expect to return to the hotel by about 2:30 or 3:30 in the afternoon, which would allow us plenty of time to freshen up before going on the Nile Maxim dinner cruise. The Pyramids I returned to the bus within the allotted time, and was frustrated to see some people weren't back yet. It became even more frustrating as 5 minutes dragged into 10 minutes and dragged into 20 minutes. Let's just say that sitting on a bus full of 40 people in the blazing Egyptian summer heat waiting for inconsiderate people who don't return within the time allowed is not my favorite thing to do. Next the
bus took us over to the smallest of the 3 pyramids, and those
people who wished to go inside had an opportunity to do so. I
did that when I was in Once again we sat around on the bus for 30 minutes waiting for people who didn't bother to return by the time the guides had set for returning. Once again I found myself feeling very irritated with selfish people who didn't respect other people's time. Grrrr.
Once again, certain people took much longer than the time allocated. It became apparent there was a pattern of repeat offenders. I wonder if these people even noticed the sullen, resentful expressions on 40 faces when they finally sauntered onto the bus. In the morning, the guides had said our camel rides would occur while we were at the Sphinx. However, instead of taking us to the camel rides, they took us to a jewelry shop. In addition to jewelry, the shop offered a diverse range of the customary souvenir shop merchandise. The group as a whole went into shopping frenzy. The
Papyrus Shop Before we
went in, the guides told us we should not order any custom-painted
papyri, because there wasn't time for the work to be done before
we needed to leave. They told us we should take only 15 minutes. Well,
by now you've probably guessed it. The Nile Maxim The show opened with a performance of a theatricalized (very theatricalized) tannoura (whirling dervish, Egyptian style) by a male dancer named Hakim. It seemed a little incongruous to me that the band was playing Mohammed Abdel Wahab's song Cleopatra as he whirled, because normally, whirling dervishes use religious music even in a secular presentation. But to his credit, Hakim was skilled at spinning and doing the expected "tricks" with the frame drums and skirts.
The Oriental dancer for the evening was Hanadi. Hanadi had
a playful stage personality, and was enjoyable to watch. Her
style reminded me of a blend between baladi and Dina. She
opened the show wearing a yellow bra/skirt outfit. The current
fashion among the young dancers in
Not only did Hanadi frequently incorporate the jewel into her dancing, she added further moves to emphasize her own shapely gluteus maximus. One move in particular involved bending forward from the hips Dina-like, then using little hip twists to slowly move her body in its own circle until her rear assets were directly facing the audience. In this position, she did just a few more little twists to make sure everyone got a good look before returning to a more mainstream series of moves. On the one hand, it was kind of cute and worked well with her personality. On the other hand, it seemed to extend the sort of invitation that I would rather not extend to my audiences. At the end of this set, Hanadi breezed offstage and disappeared. Her band kept playing, which was our signal that we could expect a second set. Hanadi returned before long wearing a brilliant white costume that contrasted well with the scene around her. She was accompanied by two musicians in folkloric garb, one playing a mizmar (oboe-like folk instrument) and the other playing a tabla baladi (folkloric drum). The musicians on stage played along too. En route
to the stage, she captured two members of our group, Della from
Omaha, Nebraska, and Tarik Sultan from New
York, and urged them to accompany her to the stage and dance
with her.
For this second set, she wore a white bra/skirt ensemble. This skirt was a very sheer chiffon fabric with one slit up the front over one leg. Under it was a pair of boy-leg shorts to cover the necessary parts. It looked odd to me to see those shorts under the skirt throughout her set, but she isn't the first Egyptian dancer to wear such an ensemble and probably won't be the last! The shorts emphasized Hanadi's gluteal jewels (I'm referring to the hip twist jewel movement here) even more than her earlier yellow costume did. Fortunately, her well-muscled body didn't seem to have an ounce of fat and she managed to look fabulous even when twisting her ass-ets right in my face as I knelt at the side of the stage with my camera. I didn't take a picture of that particular rear view, but I snapped one when she did the move facing a different angle later in the show. In hindsight (pun intended), I somewhat wish I had captured the moment when she was right in front of me. Once the
show ended, there was still a little time before the boat returned
to dock. Many of us headed out on the deck to enjoy the beautiful
night air and offer ourselves to the mosquitos for a dining
experience of their own. At least one member of our group was
a bit green around the gills from seasickness, but most people
were enjoying the beautiful night and the gentle rocking motion
of the boat on the water. Eventually, the boat docked and
we returned to our hotel to rest up for the serious shopping
that awaited us in the morning. Have
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us a letter! Ready
for more? Last
years report- 6-29-03 Photos
from the Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival, The Opening Night
Gala by Tahseen Alkoudsi and Shira 6-25-04 Romancing
the Road (The Bousada Troupe Tours) by Yasmela 6-24-04 Saving
Grace, Belly Dance Comics by Alexandria |
The
Gilded Serpent presents...
The
Perfume Shop
Lunch,
The Sphinx, The Jewelry Shop
By
the time we were done at the jewelry shop, it was almost 5:00
p.m. Although we were originally scheduled to return to the
hotel around 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., the guides had one more place
they wanted to take us: a shop that sells papyrus. The place
closes at 5:00, but the guides called it and said they had a
busload of 40 people, so the shop decided to stay open for our
benefit. 
Some
people went ahead and requested custom-painted papyri in spite
of the guides telling them not to, so the rest of us had to
wait while their pieces were done. A stop that was supposed
to take only 15 minutes dragged into 45. We finally returned
to the hotel around 6:00 p.m., a couple of hours later than
originally intended.
