onilecraM | Marcelino
Morning begins w/ Samy driving us across town so we can video tape Cairo during the day. It’s easier to shoot the video w/ a driver that we know than a cab because cab drivers might report us. Shooting goes fairly well – I sit in the back of Samy’s SUV so I can film from both sides of the road. Got a good shot of the pyramids in the background with a billboard of a woman w/ blue eyes in the foreground.
I have to hide the camera every time we pass a police checkpoint. Even though we’re technically tourists, the police might not be too pleased if they see us shooting. I also got some good shots of the Nile, including one where some kids had abandoned their small fishing boat so they could go swim in the reeds. Samy then drove us into town, where we shot the exteriors of some of the places we have been to. This was a little bit tricky because we were unable to avoid the police seeing us shoot in broad daylight. We definitely got their attention, and although they watched our every move, none of them said anything.
While we were wrapping up this portion of our shoot, Nahla once again text messaged us to let us know that she had made reservations at Abul Sid, a famous Egyptian restaurant for lunch. She also offered to pick us up, which was great because that meant that we wouldn’t sweat in a cab all the way over to the restaurant. (Today was pretty hot – it was about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.)
Lunch at Abul Sid was good. The restaurant is decorated in a traditional Egyptian fashion. Antique tin signs and old photos and paintings adorn the walls.
Nahla ordered the entire appetizer menu for us as well as a shisha before the appetizers. By the time the main course of
John left lunch a little early to meet up with Kristin. My runny nose was still persisting, which now at day 2 in full effect, was truly beginning to annoy me.
After lunch, which Nahla graciously (and insistently) paid for, we walked over to the Diwan bookstore to pick out some music. She wanted to recommend some local Egyptian flavor to take back home and possibly use in the film. We ended up going with three albums by a famous Egyptian composer. I plan on getting more music to bring home, though much of it will be through the connections from the awesome guys at Cairo Jazz.
Speaking of which, later that evening John and I met Nahla and Shireen over at Cairo Jazz, which is celebrating their third birthday. (They’re actually making a whole weekend of it.) The DJ was spinning some awesome throwback tunes from the 80s remixed with some crazy down-tempo beats. I’m becoming a regular at the Jazz club – Akram (one of the owners) came over to do some shots with us (two for John and I because the girls don’t drink) and hung out for a bit. Everything continues to be cool in Cairo (I’m finally over my sinus headaches….)
- M
