LEBANON’S SOOTHSAYERS  In the last of the video stories I produced in Lebanon, New York Times reporter Hassan Fattah and I met with a TV astrologer and a well-known psychic who are among numerous soothsayers and fortune tellers  followed closely by the public there.  Clairvoyants have become Lebanon’s unlikely political players in a country […]

…so I’m posting it again. Melissa asked her students to write captions for it. I’ll have to ask her what they thought the camel was thinking/saying.

Here are some photos from my trip today with dad to Sakkara and Al Azhar park overlooking Cairo.

Early this morning — just after 3:30 — I heard a knock on the door. My father, breathless after walking up two flights of stairs with his bags (he got in the elevator that only goes to the 4th floor… I live on the sixth), had enlisted the aid of a Mcdonald’s delivery boy who

When I first learned I would be spending nine months in the Middle East, I was very keen to spend some time in Lebanon. I had long heard it is a beautiful country, and that its capital, Beirut, is cosmopolitan and pleasant, having rebounded in style after Lebanon’s 15-year civil war. But when war broke

Mr. Ibrahim rang my doorbell the day after I arrived in Cairo. He explained that he could get me beer. Or water. Or anything I needed in quantity. If I ever needed him, I should ring door 16. A few days later, before I could think of what I’d need, or figure out which floor

The angle of the eyes is a barometer of attitude. When we’re positive, things are looking up. When we’re blue, we’re looking down. But looking down is a survival skill in Cairo. The sidewalks are not contiguous pathways, more like obstacle courses where a smooth section will have low hanging branches followed by a meter

Here are some images from Luxor, the first stop in our tour of upper Egypt. We visited the temple of Medinat Habu the day before we boarded a boat for a cruise. Rafik, the tour guide for the cruise, took us to Karnak and Luxor Temples, the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings

Did I mention I got a Christmas tree? Guess not. But here it is. Laura (sister) finally caught a flight today from Frankfurt to Cairo, so Mom and I went out to see the world’s oldest pyramid at Sakkara, about 20 miles from the heart of Cairo. Next stop Luxor, and a cruise on the

My Mom arrived yesterday.  Sister missed a connection in United Airline’s holiday snowstorm mayhem, so she’ll come from Frankfurt today. Heading to see the pyramids at Sakkara this morning.  Will show you some photos later on.  In the meantime, here are some shots of some Islamic sites in Cairo.