Tannura dance

Tannura

Have you ever seen Tannura dance? It’s spectacular and the music is very beautiful! Moreover, it has some strange effect on me: my head starts spinning and waging !

Lucky me… recently I attended a party where organizers invited a band of artists. Among the performances was the Tannura dance. By the way, Tannura is an Egyptian folk dance derived from the whirling dance performed as a Sufi religious practice. The dancers are men only in large skirts who constantly spin. They spin for a prolonged period (can be up to 40 minutes of continuous spinning). In this dance, they actually do not do anything but spinning but you cannot take your eye off them.

My cell phone allowed me to record almost the entire dance. But to be able to upload it here I had to compress the file. That is why the quality is low. Nevertheless, it gives an idea.

Marsa Matrouh

Last week we spent in Marsa Matrouh – this was my first visit to Matrouh.

Three hours on a bus and you are there. A beautiful place with fine white sand, clean turquoise sea, little to none tourists. The water is calm with small ripples and gentle current. I spent hours of swimming and was not afraid that the current take me far away as it frequently happened in Agamy or Zomoroda (other cities on the North coast of Egypt).

What is also important - the temperature there is around 5 degrees (Celsius) less than in Alexandria - nice break from the heat of Alex. Pleasant warmth, light breeze, and no, pardon me, sweating.

Frankly speaking, I cannot understand why people choose Hurgada or Sharm for summer vacations. These places are for winter breaks. In summer time the best place is the North coast of Egypt.

My husband' company has guesthouses located all over Egypt. We stayed in Matrouh in one of them. I have to say that the staff of the guesthouse was not used to foreigners and my arrival blew them away. They checked and re-checked my documents telling to each other: “heya mish masrya – heya agnabya” (she is not Egyptian – she is a foreigner). However, the documents were all in order and they left us alone to enjoy the place.

Here is the view from our apartment.

Beach. Empty…. What else you need to relax?

Rocks in the sea serve as a natural wave breaker. That is why the sea is so calm over here. And they look very dramatic.

Alexandria library - the Exhibition of modern art

There are plenty of exhibitions inside the Alexandria library. Two of them were particularly close to my heart :) I liked one that displayed clothes and jewelry from various parts of Egypt. I wish to have some of these beautiful dresses (I like sometimes to look “local”). The other one was the exhibition of modern art that displayed small ceramic figures. I could not resist and took a few pictures. Here are some of them.

This is just the general view on the hall.



The same but from different position.



These are the items displayed:








This one was among the few I actually recognized - it's a frog!



And, of course, painting. I love this style!

Inside the Alexandria library

1. The main hall of the library



2. Another part of main hall


3. Information desk



4. One of many sculptures. It’s named “Key of life” (Ahmed Abdel Wahab)

Alexandria library

At last, after one year of living in Alexandria, I went to Alexandria library. Egyptians are very proud of it and they have all reasons to be proud. They put a lot of efforts to keep all premises clean. You can always, at any time of day can see people wiping floor, glass roof, passages. So, it is modern, shiny, full of culture and people. The library occupies a very large area with many other facilities in addition to book repository: a lecture theater, museums, planetarium, a restaurant, café... There is an entrée fee, by the way. It’s 4 Egyptian pounds for Egyptians and EP 10 for non-Egyptians. Plus, all belongings like bag or purse must be left in lockers. That is why if you decide to visit the library wear something with pockets to carry with you a cell phone and money. There is a nice book shop in the library that sells also nice souvenirs. I was unable to buy any although there were some attractive items because my purse was locked in a locker.

To cut it short, I took some pictures of the library. Have a look.



1. Front side of the library.



2. Part of glass roof that is wiped regularly by employees to allow light inside.



3. People admiring the view of the roof.



4. Bust of Aleksander Makedonski with Planetarium dome on the background



5. Monument in front of the library


6. Same monument from the library site

So frequently I hear how young girls with plenty of insecurities and low esteem go into modeling and acting. The latest example is Demi Moore (program “True Hollywood story)”. It’s just totally contradicts my perception of models. I’ve always believed that they are self-centered and confident girls. A girl who does not like her looks goes for auditions and photo shoots? Sounds very strange!