You're here too, oh fresh air...

Walking in Cairo's picturesque Al-Azhar Park last friday night, I had was struck by the uncanny feeling that I was breathing Colorado air. The park's air was crisp and dry and unencumbered by the usually inescapable weight of Cairo's pollution, so much so that my brain hyperlinked to memories of strolling Pearl Street on summer nights back in the Mile-High. Perhaps it helped to be walking on a clean stone path with trees lining my way, but either way, I had a distinct "You're here too..." moment in that instant. Like Borges's King who found a comforting sense of home in his epiphanic "discovery" of the Middle East's most ubiquitous plant in the soil not of his home, I found the feeling of Colorado's summer nights here in the sweet air of Al-Azhar's gardens.

Sitting above the pollution of Cairo, the view from our picnic spot just after sunset of just one part of Al-Azhar's gardens with some of Cairo's landmarks in the background.

I'll write more and post more pictures of the Park after I go back next time to take more pictures while the sun is still out! For now here's another picture from the night in the park. As we were finishing up dinner, Hemeida, our friend from Siwa, remarked that the music we had been hearing in the distance sounded like "Upper Egypt music," meaning more traditional sounding music. Well after we finished eating we strolled on over to where the music was coming from to find these:


"Whirling"* Dervishes!

*I'll explain my snooty academic reasons for putting the quotation marks and a little more of what I know about Sufi Dervishes later.

...who can even go double decker:

And then during their finale, they decided to bring the show right up (and above) to the audience:

We'll see if I ever have a "You're here too, oh whirling dervishes..." moment back in the states.

I hope so.