Martha Stewart in Cairo

Summertime has been pretty quiet in Cairo. I haven't been traveling for work nearly as much as usual, and it's been way too hot to get excited about doing anything outside, so I've spent a good bit of time inside my flat.

I've taken on a few projects around the place and now have all kinds of ideas for painting walls and redecorating and the like. (You may need to refer to this post to understand why I feel the need to redecorate.) You might say I've been paying more attention than usual to the Martha Stewart-esque side of my personality. My most recent project has been to re-cover most of the furniture. I guess blue and yellow floral stripes just aren't my thing. And neither are black and gold Asian prints.

I started with the dining room chairs since they seemed easiest and posted the progress a while ago. Recently I decided to tackle the living room furniture. I knew this was an entirely new game for me. The dining room chairs project required nothing more than a pair of scissors, a hammer and a staple gun, but I knew the living room would require an actual sewing machine.

I thought I might want to purchase a sewing machine so I began looking. After about three weeks, I concluded that a sewing machine must be an incredibly difficult commodity to track down in Cairo, because I hadn't been able to find a single one. Thankfully, one of my colleagues told me that she had one and offered to loan it to me. I was thrilled at the prospect and took her up on the offer, ignoring her warnings that it's "a little old". I assured her it would be just fine.

I stopped by her flat one day after work to pick up the machine and quickly discovered that it was more than just "a little old". The machine weighs about 46 pounds (ok, that may be a slight exaggeration), comes with a bag of random metal pieces and a can of oil, and I'm pretty sure it hasn't been used in several years. I was terrified I would break it and intimidated, to say the least.
But thankfully, the antique sewing machine came with a small instruction booklet that, while also antique itself, was quite helpful, even if I was scared that the book itself would disintegrate any second!
Anyway, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected. I haven't finished quite finished the seat cushions, but I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments so far, so I thought I'd post a couple pictures of my progress.
(I know this is a little off the usual travel/social justice/health subjects about which I usually write, but it's another side of me and has taken up a lot of my time lately, so I had to go ahead and post it. Hope it's not too boring!)

Contruction elevator

There is no way that packing this many people into a tiny elevator over twelve stories in the air on a construction site can possibly be a good idea. It made me nervous even just to catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye while at dinner tonight.

S...l...o...w...

I'm discovering that something strange happens in this region during the summertime.

Things....slow.....down...... Almost to a standstill (not that things move particularly quickly during the rest of the year, but that's a whole separate issue and conversation). And people think you're nuts if you imply that they shouldn't.

The reason? Simple. The heat. It's just too hot to do anything.

I suppose it's the same reasoning that's used to explain why we Southerners speak and move a little slower than the rest of the country, but in this region of the world, this excuse takes on an entirely new meaning. It really is unbearably hot. And so people don't work or shop or gather socially until the sun goes down. I now understand why the Egyptian population is pretty much nocturnal. It didn't make since during the winter months, but now it does. Quite simply, it's just too miserable and unbearable to be outside during the day.

The heat as certainly taken its toll on our work. Even though I've stayed just as busy as ever in the office, my work outside the U.S. Naval compound has pretty much been stopped dead in its tracks. No trainings for laboratory or hospital staff. No sample collection. No assessments of new facilities. No travel to meet and develop new collaborations. And there's practically no one in the office. Apparently everyone saves their vacation time for the summer and uses it to escape from the heat for two, three, four weeks at a time.

The Djiboutians "strongly suggested" in May that we not return to their country until September at the earliest. The Ghanaians haven't stressed the issue as much as other countries, but it's pretty obvious that things will move more smoothly after a couple more months. And here in Egypt, people look at me like I'm crazy if I try to set a timeline for anything to happen between now and October.

Up until now, the heat as been the primary factor in all of this, but I'm afraid another factor is approaching that will slow things even more. Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, in which Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from sunrise until sunset, will begin in late August. The Ramadan fast isn't like the version of fasting that most of us claim during Lent, when we give up chocolate or sweets or television; Ramadan is true fasting - not a morsel of food, not a drop of water, not a single cigarette (which I expect to be a huge deal here, where every single man chain smokes from sun up til sun down) - every day for a month from sun up til sun down. As much as things have slowed down over the past couple months due to the summer heat, I expect the few things that are still moving forward to grind to a complete stop when Ramadan begins.

Slaughterhouse samples

(WARNING: There are some graphic pictures in this post that may offend or nauseate some of you. On the scale of pictures that I could have posted, they aren't so bad, but I still feel like I should give a warning.)

I can proudly say that I have survived two weeks of working in an Egyptian slaughterhouse (first mentioned in this post). The study that we're doing in the slaughterhouses in Egypt is designed as a risk assessment, to see what diseases are being carried by the animals and insects in the slaughterhouses and determine whether the employees who work in the slaughterhouses may be at risk for catching some of these diseases. (For those of you in the medical field, we're specifically interested in Rift Valley Fever, West Nile virus, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, Q-fever, Brucella spp., Leptospira spp. and two sandfly fevers.)

We decided to collect three different types of samples to analyze in our laboratories for these diseases: (1) blood samples from slaughtered animals, (2) ectoparasite collection (ticks, lice, biting flies, etc.) from slaughtered animals, and (3) insect collection (mosquitoes, flies, etc.) using light traps and sticky traps. I recruited a team from NAMRU-3 (mostly made up of vector biologists, laboratory staff and summer interns) to help with sample collection, and we spent four long days at the slaughterhouse. Slaughtering begins at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. every day, so we had to be at the site by 4:00 a.m. and we worked most days until 9:30 a.m. I suppose that's not too many hours, but it's a lot of time to spend in a dark, smelly, bloody, hectic Egyptian slaughterhouse.

NAMRU-3 study team

As I mentioned, the first component of the sample collection was to take blood samples from slaughtered animals. In four days we collected blood specimens from over 500 animals, including cattle, buffalo, sheep and camels. To avoid any stigma or controversy, we decided to collect blood samples after the animals were killed rather than before, lest one of the butchers think we were using needles to inject the animals with something. By collecting the blood after slaughter, we were able to avoid using needles at all.

In Egypt, as throughout the Middle East, animals are slaughtered according to halal methods to meet religious requirements that forbid such things as the consumption of blood or of meat from an animal that has been strangled, beaten or gored. Animals are therefore killed by having their throats slit with a sharp knife (in all reality, their throats are cut all the way through to the spine so the animals are practically beheaded). Since the animals bleed for qutie some time after they are killed, it was rather easy for us to step in and collect blood directly from the jugular vein while the animal was laying on the ground after slaughter.

Inside the nicest area of the Muneeb abattoir

The second component of the study involved a group of vector biologists from our team. After we collected blood from each animal, the vector biologists checked the animal's body for ecoparasites like ticks, lice and biting flies. This was truly a messy job, to comb over each slaughtered animal's body searching for tiny little bugs and then removing each critter with a pair of tweezers and placing it in a tube. I was really impressed at how many ectoparasites they actually found.

Vector biologists examining an animal for ectoparasites

The third component of the project also involved collecting vectors, though in a less messy way. By examining the animals, we were able to collect insects that attach themselves to animals for a longer time period, but we were also interested in the insects that attach themselves for just a short period of time - insects like mosquitoes and flies. The vector biologists used two types of traps to collect these vectors. The first type of traps are called CDC light traps. The second type of traps are sticky traps, which look like a piece of cardboard covered in a stucky substance, attached to a stick and stuck in the ground. Both types of traps were set all around the slaughterhouse grounds.

Vector biologists setting CDC light traps

Vector biologists setting sticky traps

Clearly sample collection for this project wasn't a clean job, nor an easy one. It wasn't a pleasant thing to do; it didn't happen in a pleasant location; it didn't happen at a pleasant time of day (those of you who know me well can only imagine how excited I was to set my alarm clock for 2:30 a.m. every morning that we had to go out to the slaughterhouse); it didn't smell pleasant; in fact, there was nothing pleasant about it, except for one thing, and thankfully, that was one huge thing. My study team for this project was absolutely incredible. They were so great to work with, and I mean that in the very, very best way possible. Each person was meticulous and diligent with the work, followed direction without question and, somehow, in this environment, maintained a positive attitude, made jokes, smiled and laughed throughout the days. It was truly a pleasure to work with each and everyone of them and somehow it almost makes me look forward to the next time we have to go out and do this!

NAMRU-3 study team

NAMRU-3 study team

Comino

I decided to spend my last night on a little island on the north side of Malta. The island is called Comino, and it's home to the Blue Lagoon, which is a breathtaking site!
Unfortunately the lagoon had pretty much been taken over with European university students on summer vacation when I was there, so I spent most of my time on the other side of the tiny island, where my hotel was located. I'm not usually one to hang around the hotel, but I loved laying on the beach in the sun in the peaceful quiet.

H1N1 in Malta

All the newspapers I’ve seen in shops today have a huge headline that reads “4 cases of swine flu in Malta.”

Even now, I’m sitting in a small café in Valletta, and a woman, who is obviously a friend of the owner of the café, walked in and said “they have just taken my son to the hospital to be tested for the swine flu.”

Try as I may, I just can’t get away from it!

Castille Hotel

I do love the little hotel where I've been staying in Valletta. It's nothing too fancy, but the owners are so kind and it's in a great location. Plus breakfast is served on the roof and gives a terrific view of the city!

Marsovin summer wine festival

Maltese wine + Italian food + a Spanish guitar and mandolin duet + perfect weather + fireworks = the most perfect night I’ve had in a while!
Earlier this afternoon I found out that Marsovin, a large wine producer in Malta, would be hosting its annual wine festival tonight in the Hastings Gardens, which are located just on the edge of the old city of Valletta, atop the city walls overlooking the sea. The event was described as a fusion of four Mediterranean cultures – Italian, Spanish, Maltese and Moroccan – over a celebration of Marsovin’s 90th anniversary. The gardens were divided into four areas, so that each culture could present food and entertainment to accompany the wine tastings. The Italian area served pasta and salads while classical music was performed by a pianist and flautist; the Spanish area had tapas and paella with a duet of Spanish guitar and mandolin, occasionally interrupted by Flamenco dancers; the Maltese area served traditional Maltese dishes, consisting mainly of rabbit and pasta, while two young men performed on the keyboard and guitar (mostly American music, oddly enough); the Moroccan area advertised shisha, falafel and belly dancing, but I have to admit I did my best to stay away from those reminders of Egypt.
It was a perfectly lovely evening. I wandered from area to area for a while, but settled for most of the night in the Spanish section of the gardens, listening to the hauntingly beautiful music of the guitar and mandolin and sipping on good wine. The scenery was beautiful with an incredible sunset over the harbor, and, just when I thought the night couldn’t get much better, fireworks began in the distance! I love love love fireworks, so this really made my night. Cheers!

St. John's Co-Cathedral

After spending most of the day visiting prehistoric religious sites, I wanted to see St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, which is considered an impressive example of Baroque design. On the outside, the church is stately, but simple.
After observing this simple exterior, the incredibly ornate interior is almost shocking! Every inch of the walls and ceilings is covered with intricate carvings and beautiful paintings, primarily designed by Mattia Preti, a member of the Order of St. John (more on that in a minute). The ceiling tells the story of St. John, with eighteen scenes from his life. The sides of the church are divided into eight chapels, each dedicated to one of the langues (or sections) of the Order of St. John. Even the floor of the cathedral is decorated with intricate marble tombstones of members of the Order of St. John.

Main altar

Chapel of Italy, dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria

Chapel of Germany, dedicated to the Epiphany of Christ

Tombstones in the floor of the cathedral

Now, although I loved exploring the symbolism and detail in the artwork around the cathedral, what I really found fascinating about St. John's was the history of the Order of St. John's, which was also known as the Knights of Malta or the Knights Hospitaller. The Order was founded around 1080 in Jerusalem to provide care for poor and injured pilgrims to the Holy Land. During the Crusades, the Order became a religious-military order with the purpose of protecting Holy Land, but after the Holy Land was conquered by Islamic forces, the Order was forced to move its headquarters and eventually landed in Malta. The history of the Order seems filled with stories of riches, military forces, religious relics, European monarchies, piracy and all those things that fill the pages of books like the DaVinci Code.

Tarxien Temples

After visiting the Hypogeum, I wanted to take a look at the temples that had been built above ground around the same time. Malta is also home to a series of prehistoric monuments called the Megalithic Temples of Malta, which were built between 3,500 and 2,500 B.C. The three temples built at Tarxien were built around 2,500 B.C. at the peak of temple civilization.

Carving of a bull on an altar for animal sacrifice

More carvings of animals on the altar

Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum

This morning, after a relaxing breakfast on the roof of my hotel in Valletta, I took a bus out to the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, which is just a short distance away. The Hypogeum, first discovered in 1902 by construction workers digging a cistern, is an underground structure from approximately 3,000 B.C. (You read that correctly – over 5,000 years ago!) It is a collection of underground burial chambers and temples that were carved by hand with only torchlight for guidance by some of the earliest settlers of Malta. Though you might expect from that description that the Hypogeum would be a series of rough caves, it is an impressive collection of smoothly carved rooms and temples carved with perfectly rounded curves and straight edges, with chambers that extend three levels under the Earth's surface and walls that are covered with carvings and paintings.

Unfortunately no photography is allowed in the Hypogeum, but I think you can find some on the internet if you're interested.

Valletta

I’m spending my first two nights in Malta in Valletta, the country’s capital. My flight landed around 4:30 this afternoon so I checked into my hotel quickly and then decided to walk around town a bit. The town is a wonderful grid of steep, narrow streets lined with shops, museums, churches and homes. It’s built on at the tip of a peninsula, so if you walk too far in any direction (well, except one, I suppose), you run into the bright blue Mediterranean Sea.

Yet the town was almost eerily quiet. The streets were almost empty of people, and most of the shops had either already shut their doors or were preparing to do so shortly. It took me a few minutes to remember that most shops in South Carolina also close by six or seven o’clock. Perhaps it’s that I’ve been living too long in Egypt, where the streets are full and the shops are open until almost midnight.
Still, I was able to browse a couple shops before finding a little wine bar at the top of a street so steep that it’s built not as a long slope, but as an enormous set of stairs. The wine bar was as little, with a small bar at one end and only about six or eight tables in total, as it was cute, with walls covered in abstract oil paintings and musical instruments. The best part, though, were the tiny tables outside on the street, where I enjoyed a glass or two of wine and a selection of local spreads and dips.

The little wine bar is at the top of this road

Evenings like this make me never want to go back to “the real world” and stay on holiday forever.

Malta

Hamdulillah!! (Thanks be to God!!) It’s a long weekend! Although I have a ridiculous number of official days off from work since we take holidays from both the Egyptian and American calendars, it’s been about six weeks since we’ve had a holiday, and this long weekend (for the 4th of July) is much needed with all the work that we’ve had lately.

To get away as much as possible from work and from the Egyptian summer heat, I’m spending the weekend in Malta, a small island off the coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. To be completely honest, I didn’t know much of anything about Malta when I bought the plane ticket (and to be even more honest, I still don’t know much!), but now that I’m here, I’m sure I’ll learn more very quickly. Here’s my first lesson…

While waiting for my flight at airport in Cairo, two men and a woman sat down nearby. I noticed by their dress and their look that they didn’t appear to be Egyptian, yet they were speaking Arabic to one another. I reminded myself that I should be studying more so that I can someday be one of those people who doesn’t look Egyptian but speaks Arabic well. After a few minutes, though, I caught them speaking French, or at least a phrase of French, and not long after that, their speech sounded Italian. I concluded that they must be Europeans with business in the Middle East, so while their native tongues may be French and Italian, their Arabic was quite good. But I still couldn’t figure out why they would be flying to Malta, so I was thoroughly confused. Little did I realize at that point in time that they were actually speaking Maltese!

Malta, from what I’ve gathered, has been influenced over the years by Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Crusaders, the French and the British. The language that has developed as a result of all these influences is a Semitic language that has borrowed a lot from the Romance languages. It’s most closely related to Arabic, but is still written using the Latin alphabet.