WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN...

In 2007, Max and I travelled to Cairo to visit some friends and to record. We didn't have any particular musician in mind; we just had a dream. Our friends, Mo and Val Abdelaziz, resided in a beautiful apartment in the upper class area of the city and possessed a great knowledge of the customs and language, having lived in Egypt for some time. They also had free time so we visited many locations and restaurants.

We cruised to the Great Pyramids, and the Sphinx and stopped at small cafes and street vendors on the way. Chicken barbecued, pressed under a tin foil wrapped brick was common and succulent! Green falafel, so fresh and mouth watering, was sold on each corner. People were happy. People were accepting of us. We were the only people they saw the entire week in Egypt, who had colored hair, dreads and tattoos...no one else. Once, we saw a young boy with a skull on his shirt, but that was about it. The city was beautiful and busy. People going to work, going shopping, relaxing in hookah cafes; Egypt was bustling and booming. I watch the news now and see confusion, litter, looters, poverty...why did they let this happen?

Max and The Sphinx

The nightlife was colorful, lit up and musical. We took a boat down the Nile and had dinner while dancers twirled around us. The streets were packed with cars, honking and driving with no rules in place. There was action all around us, on every corner. We visited a hookah bar up high on a cliff overlooking the city. It was warm out and the golden red sun was setting below us.

Val, Me, and the kids inside the Mosque

Mosque

The Cairo Museum of Archaeological History was next. Here we visited room after room of sleeping mummies, even little baby mummies and tiny little sarcophagus!! Golden objects evicted from years of tomb nesting were everywhere. I never realized how many mummies there must have been! It was a dream to walk through the corridors lined with statues of Gods and animals.

Max recorded sounds on the boat and from the street and it added spice to the then unreleased Conquer album. We bid farewell to our newest conquest and adorable hosts and boarded the plane to Russia. Siberian music or Cossack.....?

Class dismissed...