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

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Be All That You Can Be… Unless You’re Me

I spent most of 2024 flirting with the idea of bootcamp. Not Zumba bootcamp, but real bootcamp. Army bootcamp. “Be all that you can be” bootcamp. Over the course of the year, my unlikely thought-obsession took on a life of its own. It started out innocently enough—a mere entertainment of the possibility (more like the absurdity) of someone like me joining the Army. 

Me. Forty-one-years old. Unconventional and nonconformist. Irreverent. Snappy. Spicy. Analytical and unpredictable. Feminine but not always feminist. What could I offer the US Army other than a Brooklyn attitude and a decade of surviving the metaphorical jungle-gym of Cairo? 

I thought about it and concluded this was more than enough. 
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Posted by Luna of Cairo at 6:49 AM 0 comments
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