Bernadette Simpson's Blog, page 12

L: Lemon Juice

عصير لمون

3asseer lamoon

Lemon juice…a refreshing drink on a hot day! I enjoyed this one at a restaurant on the shore in Dahab. Lemon juice, or 3asseer lamoon as its called here, is by far my favorite Egyptian drink. Fresh seasonal juices, like mango, watermelon, and strawberry, are popular beverages here, and lemon juice is one that is available year-round. As noted in this Egyptian Lemon Juice with Mint recipe, Egyptians like things sweet.  So if you prefer your juice more tangy, be sure to a...

F: Floods, Fruit, and Fettah Part I

Interested in learning more about the Bedouin and the recent floods in Sinai? Read my story Floods, Fruit, and Fettah Part I (more words than I usually write to accompany my photos! posted over at Bedouin History Desert Safari.

D: Date Palm

The most abundant "tree" in Egypt is the Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera), known in Arabic as Nakhl el-Balah نخل البلح . And Egypt is the world's top producer of dates, producing over a million tons a year!

I liked this description from The Street Trees of Egypt by el-Hadidi and Boulus: "The date palm likes its feet in water and its head in the oven."

Learn more about dates in Egypt in my book or on my website.

B: Buildings

This is a pretty typical example of the newer apartment buildings in Degla, Ma'adi – constructed sometime in the past 10 years or so. This building is located on Road 199, a street lined with these tall buildings. And, as you can see, they're built pretty close together. Years ago, we looked at several flats in this area when we were shopping for a place. I remember liking the design/floor plans of many of them but couldn't deal with such small balconies and the lack of sun and sky. In fact, ...

T: Taxis

A typical street scene in Cairo – a driver and his taxi waiting for a passenger! Black and white are the usual colors of Cairo cabs…but if you look behind this taxi, you'll see what looks like an older, all-white taxi. Some may be all-black. Private cab companies have popped up in the last few years and their color of choice is yellow. And white is the color of the "new taxis": the government has been buying old run-down taxis from the drivers and giving them incentives to purchase new and...

Sinai Safari Slideshow

Photos and video by yours truly.

Music by Dahab from their Spirit of Sinai album, CC-BY-SA-3.0.

Video released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license (which is slightly different from the CC license of this blog).

K: Kiosk or Kushk

Your one-stop shop for cigarettes and snacks – a kiosk, or kushk as it's called in Arabic. You'll find these small shops on numerous street corners in Cairo and other cities in Egypt.  You can purchase soft drinks, chocolate, phone cards, batteries,  matches, gum, dice, shampoo, laundry soap…and other random items depending on who stocked the shelves! Besides providing items for sale – and a little bit of shade – kiosks are popular meeting and gathering places for young people in Cairo.  I t...

Travel Etiquette

Travel Etiquette for Tourists in Egypt

by Guest Contributor Nick Steele

Egypt is the most popular tourist destination in the Middle East. Almost everyone wants to see the pyramids or take an Egypt Cruise on the Nile. It's a country with a long and rich cultural history; however, the behaviors and customs are different from those in the United States or Europe. The old saying about being like a Roman when in Rome is particularly true in Middle Eastern countries like Egypt.

Family and religion a...

F: Flora of the Flood Paths

A collage of desert blooms seen on a morning walk through Wadi Digla – a protected area near Ma'adi, Cairo. Like Sinai, the wadis around Cairo also received some rains early this year.

Imported from flickr.com

Click image for full size

T: Toot

T is for Toot or M is for Mulberry

Mulberry is a popular tree in Egypt, with its fruit eaten fresh or made into jam or juice (my favorite!). Their leaves are collected and fed to silkworms, who will munch on nothing else! Ripe mulberries come in a variety of colors – white, pink, red, and even black.

When the mulberries are ripe, school kids  on their way home in the afternoon will shake the trees and gather the fallen fruit. And after a quick rinse under a nearby hose – the perfect after...