by Luna

by Luna

Luna

Luna

Blog Intro

Hello, I'm Luna, and I'd like to welcome you to "Kisses from Kairo,"* my blog about living and working as an American belly dancer in Cairo.

Life in Cairo isn't easy for dancers, foreigners, women, or even Egyptians. It is, however, always exciting. That’s why after living here for seven years, I've decided to share my experiences with the world. From being contracted at the Semiramis Hotel to almost being deported, not a day has gone by without something odd or magical happening. I will therefore fill these pages with bits of my history in Cairo—my experiences, successes, mistakes, and observations. Admittedly, my time here has been rather unique, so I want to stress that while everything I write is true, my experiences do not necessarily reflect the lives of other dancers.

In addition to my life as a belly dancer, I will write about developments in costuming, performances, festivals, and, of course, the dance itself. I will also make frequent references to Egyptian culture. I should note that I have a love/hate relationship with Egypt. If I make any criticisms about the country, please keep in mind that I do so with the utmost love, respect, and most of all, honesty. Egypt has become my home, so I want to avoid romanticizing and apologizing for social maladies, as most foreigners tend to do. Nothing could be more misguided, patronizing, or insulting.

I hope you find this blog informative, insightful and entertaining, and that we can make this as interactive as possible. That means I'd love to hear from you. Send me your comments, questions, complaints, suggestions, pics, doctoral dissertations, money, etc., and I will get back to you. Promise. :)~



My Videos

Monday, June 11, 2012

The Politics of Harassment

“Egyptian women sexually harassed at anti-harassment rally,” read this week's headlines.  Well isn’t that ironic? 

On Friday, a few hundred women staged an anti-harassment rally to protest the sexual harassment that is ubiquitous in Egypt.  Male supporters formed a protective circle around them, only to be overwhelmed by hordes of violent young men who sexually assaulted some of the protesting women.  

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when women stand up for themselves in Egypt.   

Wait, maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to condemn.  Let’s look at the bright side.  Some Egyptian women and men are starting to recognize that sexual harassment is a HUGE problem and are willing to do something about it.  It’s unfortunate that it took several instances of revolution-related gang rape for them to wake up, but at least they’ve awoken.  Better late than never. :/


Monday, June 4, 2012

"No Justice, No Peace"

In the words of New York City firebrand, Al Sharpton, “no justice, no peace.” This is what came to mind upon hearing the verdict of the Mubarak trial two days ago. I have never had much use for the Reverend Al, but his words reverberated in my head as thousands of Egyptians took to the streets, enraged that Mubarak and Co. were let off the hook. Mubarak was facing life imprisonment for failing to stop the shooting of protesters during the initial wave of the 2011 revolution. So was Mubarak’s Minister of Interior, Habib Al-Adly, and Mubarak’s sons, Gamal and Ala. The six officers charged with actually pulling the trigger on protesters were also let off scot-free.

If that’s not getting off the hook, I don’t know what is. You would think that after thirty years of robbing the country, they could come up with enough charges to put him in the electric chair. Or to wrap a noose around his neck and mete out justice in Tahrir Square, Iraqi style. Which is basically what a lot of Egyptians clamored for (especially the relatives of those who died in the revolution). Instead, Mubarak was found guilty of only one crime but innocent (!) of numerous corruption charges.

As if we really needed a trial to prove that Mubarak was one of the most corrupt dictators in the world. One need only look at this place to know the extent of the damage. The education and health systems are a joke. The economy is in shambles. Unemployment and illiteracy rates are embarrassingly high. Traffic is a nightmare. Pollution is out of control. That’s all the proof of Mubarak’s corruption you need right there. But no. Egyptians are having a trial, knowing full well all the judicial finagling that will occur. Alas… us moderns and our obsession with process. :/ 

What I find most intriguing is the collective Egyptian reaction. Of course, Egyptians have the right to be outraged. But outrage implies surprise. For the life of me, I cannot figure out what is so surprising about any of this. From the very start of the trial, it was clear that things were fixed in Mubarak’s favor—Mubarak appointed all the generals, prosecutors and judges! Even without these appointments, we would still have a sense that things were fixed, because that’s just how things work here. This time, however, it was a little more obvious and therefore insulting to the national intelligence. 

Yes. That’s it. Insulting. Egyptians are insulted, not surprised. They are insulted that the powers that be think they are as stupid as to believe that Mubarak only did one thing wrong in his thirty-year tenure. They are insulted that even after a revolution, it’s still business as usual in conspiracy-prone Egypt.

This is why there will be no peace. Because there is no justice. Until the guilty and the innocent trade places behind bars, Egyptians will not stop raging in Tahrir. Don’t get me wrong. I fully understand that in this part of the world, in these times, manipulating political events to ensure more desirable outcomes is necessary. It may not be “right,” but it is better than letting nature take its course. Letting nature take its course (i.e. free and fair elections), would result in Islamists gaining complete control of the country. That would have disastrous affects for everyone, including the people who voted them in. Hence, I fully support rigging the presidential elections to ensure the victory of a secular candidate. This is probably really un-American of me to admit. Then again, I’m not exactly a (small d) democrat these days. 

That being said, Egypt could have afforded to conduct the Mubarak trial with less overt manipulation; convicting Mubarak for murder and corruption would not have jeopardized the future of the country the way fair elections would. If anything, conducting a fair trial would have been a nice gesture…a symbol of goodwill toward the Egyptian people. It would have communicated that the revolution was not fought in vain. At least not entirely. 

Not to mention, the timing of the trial was all wrong. The verdict came directly between the first and second rounds of the presidential elections, both of which are (rightly) perceived as rigged.  If Egyptians were outraged at last week’s election results, this verdict basically guarantees that this time around, Egyptians will approach the polls with a vengeance. And it’s the Islamists who stand to benefit. 

Here’s why. Last week’s election results put Egyptian liberals in the unfortunate position of having to choose between the two evils they have been trying to extinguish—Mubarak and the military, on one hand, and radical Muslims, on the other. Liberals must now choose between the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsee, and Mubarak’s former Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq.

Or, they can start a new revolution…

I’m willing to say that before the verdict, liberals would have voted in droves for Ahmed Shafiq. Not out of conviction, but to prevent the country from falling into the hands of radicals (and because this would be easier than starting another revolution…and because liberals have tacitly admitted defeat). The revolution did not preside the way they hoped it would, and it is too late to save it. Their only option would be to prevent Egypt from turning into Afghanistan. If that means electing a Mubarak crony, then so be it. 

After hearing the verdict, however, many angry liberals will vote to Morsee. Also not out of conviction, but out of spite. They are disgusted with all things Mubarak. Though Morsee wants to impose Shariah law, everyone knows that he is also the ancien regime’s staunchest opponent.  Right now, this is the most important thing for disillusioned Egyptian liberals. 

Casein point, Mr. Ayman Nour. He is one of Egypt’s most influential liberals who publicly endorsed Morsee. Ayman Nour is a hardcore secularist who made a career out of opposing Mubarak. His activism landed him in jail for being the first person to ever challenge Mubarak for the presidency in 2005. After hearing the verdict of the Mubarak trial, however, Nour declared his intent to support the Morsee campaign. 

So there we have it. Basically, this means that if the second round of the elections is not rigged, Morsee gets in. Now, I’m willing to believe (and sincerely hope) that the elections are fixed in Shafiq’s favor, but if they are not, we can kiss this country goodbye. 

If the elections are fixed and Shafiq wins, things will get ugly fast. We can expect more protests and more violence. Though Egyptians have historically had a high tolerance for corruption, a sham verdict on the heels of a rigged election was just too much, even for Egypt.

But if Morsee gets in, things will get ugly slowly. Women and Coptic Christians will be stripped of their rights and dignity. The economy will shatter even more than it already has, and life will become as miserable as it is in other Islamist countries. Slowly. Wahda wahda. That is more dangerous than any protest, or dare I say, any isolated massacre. Massacres come to an end, and people lose their enthusiasm for protests. But gradual Islamification lingers on for decades, destroying people’s livelihoods and lives. 

This is why this mockery of a trial was the biggest mistake since the onset of the revolution. It has angered people so much that they are now willing to throw their support behind the candidate who will most definitely destroy Egypt as we know it.

No justice, no peace.  

Friday, June 1, 2012

The Lesser of Two Evils

“El-Tet” 24/7 Belly Dance TV

Sorry, this is going to be long. I have a lot to say. 

If there’s anything positive coming out of post-revolutionary Egypt, it is the new belly dance channel, “El-Tet.”  Based in Bahrain with an office in Cairo, El-Tet features performances by Egyptian and foreign belly dancers 24 hours a day. That’s right. Shimmies and undulations around the clock on national Egyptian TV. The channel, which is a little over a year old, takes its name from the Egyptian Arabic word for the accordion/tabla section of a baladi piece. It is actually pronounced “tit,” but for obvious reasons, you’ll almost always see it transliterated as “El-Tet.”  Short “e,” not “i.”

I first encountered the new channel last December, when some of my musicians insisted they had seen me dancing on TV. I hadn’t heard of the channel before, and I had no idea why they were saying this, although I found the idea of a channel named “The Tit” quite hilarious. So, I assumed they probably saw another dancer who resembled me. I was right. My tabla player showed me the clip of the dancer in question, and sure enough, it wasn’t me. I don’t know how he confused us, but then again, Egyptians tend to think all of us foreigners look alike.



Dancing to "Ya Helwa Sabah" on El-Tet