Metamorphosis

Adjustments

I just realized that I have been living here in Cairo for more than three years. This is a long time for someone who never intended to live or work here. With all the uncertainty in the air about Egypt’s future, one wonders how much longer I and others like me can thrive here. But rather than speculate about the future (again), I have decided to reflect on my past and share a few of the adjustments I made as a dancer. There were many, because belly dance outside of Egypt is a totally different animal than belly dance inside Egypt. There were adjustments in technicality, musicality, and even physicality. There were adjustments in music selection and music understanding, costuming and audience. And there were changes in attitude, ethics and comportment.

False Alarm

Warning: If you have an aversion to feminine products or problems, or are generally squeamish, proceed no further.

 

I totally didn’t intend my first blog post of the year to be about my period, but hey, it’s better than some soppy post about New Year’s resolutions. Years come and years go, and I never make resolutions. They are worthless, and nobody keeps them anyway. Besides, there is nothing special about January 1^st. As far as I’m concerned, July 29^th is just as good a day to make resolutions as January 1^st. Because there is no such thing as time. Not here in Egypt anyway.

Back to my period. If anything, my monthly cycle is the closest thing to time. It is always punctual and always painful, and I can always count on it coming (that is more than I can say for most people, including myself). And, conveniently enough, it came back to haunt me on January 1^st, at the stroke of midnight, to be exact. There could not possibly be a better way to kick off the new year, could there?