Trailing Grouse » out of Egypt

It's all about food really..

trailing grouse — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:00:02 +0000

Fauchon’s L’éclair Rainbow (there’s some sniffing about the English word ‘rainbow’ in the title…aah, France!)

A couple of years ago I went on a short trip to Paris (promise, not all posts are going to be about Paris from now on). I was tired from a night flight but needed to stay awake. Mr S and I went out walking to stay awake and get some ice cream. As we crossed the Marais, we heard loud music. Not being the latest Nancy Ajram or Amr Diab (played so often and so loud in Cairo that there is no need to see what is going on: it’s a wedding or party at a club), I was quite excited to see what was happening. We detoured from the ice cream route and made our way over to a large crowd at the end of the street.

I realised what was happening and was knocked for six. There are times when coming to or from Egypt it’s difficult to believe that we’re only five hours away. That life can be so different in a five hour journey. I am always struck by magazines in newagents in Europe. It’s not the ‘top shelf’ selection although in my first few days I am always too embarrassed to lift my head up, it’s the covers of lads’ mags and likes of Cosmo that have scantily clad ladies: magazines in Egypt have no such covers. Standing there in Paris, I saw the gay pride march coming towards us. Fun, fun, fun! (Although Sydney does it better). How could it be though that just seven hours before I was somewhere where this march would have been absolutely impossible, even in the conception stages.

Hundreds of thoughts were swimming through my head and I couldn’t quite get a feeling for reality. It was then that I saw the banners of a group called (something like) the Parents of Gays and Lesbians in France. I started crying. I know full well the attitudes and opinions of the majority of the people I am normally surrounded by. I have had serious arguments with some of them about it. I may have at least convinced one that being homosexual does not equate to being bestial (seriously). Ultimately though, I live in Egypt and accept it for what it is. A few hours after leaving Egypt, to see parents marching down the road with large banners supporting their adult homosexual offspring was profoundly moving.

I have to cover my knees and shoulders, I have to accept that a lot of people view me as little more than a prostitute. I don’t like it, but that is just the way it goes. I don’t, however, have to hide a fundamental part of myself for fear of some pretty nasty, physically and socially, consequences. It re-brought home the suffering that some people here must go through just because they cannot be the people they are. I love Egypt, on this level however, I am much more comfortable with a society that allows self expression.

Pretty cool eclair, though, eh?

It's funny what makes you homesick

trailing grouse — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:59:52 +0000

I have never been one to get homesick. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s a deep-rooted lack of enthusiasm for Scotland’s evergray skies and its winds that seem to chill me to the bone. Perhaps. I love Scotland, I am enthusiastically Scottish, but that doesn’t mean I have to like the weather, or feel homesick.

So I don’t know what it is about this video. Perhaps it’s because it shows a lot of the places I used to spend my time as a student. Perhaps. Perhaps it’s just been a while since I visited my home town (Edinburgh – my dear North American readers, sorry, but there’s no ‘g’ pronounced at the end there, aim more for ‘Edinbuhruh’, cheers, you’ve just won a lot of friends!).

Perhaps it’s just because I’m happy to see someone in my home town do something so cool*, so utterly amazing. Go on. Watch it. It’s totally worth it.

I think most of the rest of us are but mere ‘Sunday’ cyclists!

*Of course he’s not the only one, it’s just I’m so uncool that I don’t see many!

Palestinian Dr Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish and Israel's Channel 10.

trailing grouse — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:03:26 +0000

So the war has ended? People hold their breaths.

I wasn’t going to write again about it, as I said before, this is not a political blog and other than negotiations and a handful of Gazan casualties, it doesn’t involve Egypt.

Then came footage of Dr Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish. Part of the footage is posted below. Here’s what appears to have happened (based from translated video footage): this Gazan man, Dr Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish, is a doctor who in more peaceful times trained in Israel and now speaks Hebrew and works in an Israeli hospital. He has been on Israel’s Channel 10 daily, apparently, giving updates of what is going on around him (Israeli press were also not allowed into the Gaza Strip). As he is on air, his house is bombed and three of his children are killed. The Israeli journalist holding a mobile phone in the Channel 10 studio and interviewing him is in shock.

In what is one of the most touching moments of this whole affair, where there is a 90% approval rate amongst Israelis for the war, this journalist offers to help and manages to pull some strings to allow a Palestinian ambulance access to take the injured family members to the border, where an Israeli ambulance picks them up and takes them to an Israeli hospital.

People helping people. That is the real solution, in my opinion. Most Israelis have never met a Palestinian from the West Bank or Gaza and likewise, most Palestinians from those areas have never met Israelis (outside military/violent scenarios).

What happens next is not shown on the clip that Al Jazeera put on You Tube and their own site, but they showed last night.

Dr Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish was sitting in what looks like an entrance, possibly to the hospital his children are in, but that is not clear, he has just lost three children, others are injured, and he is devastated, but giving an interview to Israeli press. He talks about how this cannot be the future, his children attended peace camps with Isreali children, killing innocents cannot be the way ahead. Midstream, a lady passing-by stops and screams at him, furiously waving her arm and then pointing at him accusingly, yelling that she has a son in the army and if he hadn’t had weapons in his home, they wouldn’t have targeted him. He looks up in disbelief, the people around him move closer in a bid to shield him, while another two men join in the verbal attacks. He shakes his head and says, “They don’t understand”.

I am not sure that I have ever seen anybody with such dignity. If I find the full clip I will post it. To be quite honest, I am not sure why Al Jazeera did not put up the full clip.

It perhaps needs to be pointed out, that if Israel, with its vast security network and lists of enemies within the Palestinian territories, thought that this man was a terrorist, or had him on a list as a possible terrorist, he would never have been allowed to work in Israel. He certainly, given the current situation, would not have been allowed to cross over the border and have his children treated at an Israeli hospital.

A little disclaimer: I do not think Hamas should fire home made, or ‘real’ rockets into Israel. I do not believe that Israel’s attack on Gaza will bring peace any closer. Unfortunately.

A note about comments: all comments are welcome. Please remember the post is about Dr Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish and the people involved in the clip, not about the overall actions of either side. If you disagree with anything I’ve written, you are more than welcome to voice it in the comments section. Any comments with disrespectful and/or derogatory language (that means of me, or of EITHER Palestine/Gaza/Muslims or Israel/Jews) will not be posted. Ultimately I decide what is disrespectful. Language-wise, if you would use the language in front of your grandmother, you will probably get past the censor!

Update (21 Jan 09): All comments posted will remain up unless the author requests their removal. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the view of Trailing Grouse. Views held by both myself and commentators at time of writing are subject to change and will not, of course, be updated. As of today, comments may be posted, but no response will be given. The ‘note about comments’ remains in effect.

Update (5 Feb 09): The BBC has published a report following Israel’s acceptance that it was it’s shells that hit the house. The article can be found here.

I'm so excited! (Wooah, wooah!)

trailing grouse — Mon, 26 May 2008 07:29:49 +0000

And I just can’t hide it! Wooah, Wooah!

I am in a state of pure childlike excitement at the moment. The sort that sends eight year old girls jumping around the house screaming and waving their arms around!

A little while ago I mentioned that I would absolutely love to be suspended from a helicopter and flown around. I wasn’t joking: if anyone has a helicopter and the equipment, my email is on the About page.

This summer we are lucky enough to be heading BC direction so I started to look for somewhere to go ziplining. If you’ve never heard of it, think of it like a GIANT flying fox that goes through forests, between cliffs and through canyons. Sometimes they are part of into tree-top adventure courses so in between flying higher than the trees, you have to cross rope bridges 70ft/30m up etc.

I was pretty thrilled by the thought of whizzing through the trees until I stumbled across King Swing! Here’s an excerpt:

“Strapped into an “ultra cool” paragliding harness, designed for the intense forces that this incredible ride generates, our bridge crew will clip you securely into a cable that extends up and above the sandstone canyon cliffs. The cables tighten as you are cinched up like a slingshot, pulling you ever closer to the 150 foot abyss.

“You launch in seconds and drop like a meteor entering the atmosphere! Start your scream with a near free-fall towards the river. The swing catches you and the thrill of speed up to 140 km/hr and “feel it to your core” G-Force, stick with you as you scream past the canyon walls on the rocket ride of a lifetime!” (WildPlay Element Park)

I’m not sure just how I’m going to contain myself for the next three months.

Oh, and did I mention, I’m scared of heights and of not having stable flooring beneath my feet!