#wintershoppinginSiwa

I wanna say today was a shit day but ... despite my attitude it was fine. The only device that works at home ... went kulunk! My iphone 2. Ok so it's a hand me down. When i have a real job I'll upgrade.... Funny, when I was hanging out with Ahmed the protective case was ... well not so protective let's say and one evening as Ahmed and were sitting on a carpet drinking sweet tea of some sort (shay) in some den he ... just got annoyed and... snapped the dangling case... off.... just like when i got new jeans in NYC and my niece simply threw my 'old' fave jeans down the rubbish shoot in her X storey apartment. It was the same feeling of loss, stunnedness.... anyway. Ahmed did that look... maybe it's a whatever look, without being rude ... maybe more it's a fact of life look. Like, an i've moved on look... I had not. I sat still. After we left he took me to a phone shop to buy a new case. One shop after the other in this 2-donkey town... no one had a case to fit my old-ass iphone... Siwa phone buying public were waaaayyyy ahead of iphone 2. they done ahready on 10 or whatever. Anyhow, Ahmed's Arabic enabled us to find a man who had an old phone with a case that would fit and he gave it me. My new case ... well it doesnt sit in my hand in the same way but... hey...

Where was I so last night my iphone 2 stopped charging. The apple came on then went to black. Damn as Ulric would say!

I know a bloke with an iphone and I msged him. "By any freak chance is there a shop in Siwa where I can get a charger for an iphone or fix an iphone if it's broke". Yes any shop should have a charger. I might even have an old one if you need it." I remembered I had been given a kinda-working-iphone to use for the Behind the Scenes and holding my breath I tried to charge it.... it charged. Shit! That meant my trusted old phone... was probably on it's way out. Yes I'm old school. I believe in repairing not replacing.

First thing this morning (10:30) (it's warmer today - but the minus 3 degrees are coming), I was out and phone-shop hopping in of course, Arabic. The second shop had a guy who understood enough to say come back later when the fixit man is here. I could see a corner with a work space and those tiny tools. Come back at 6pm. Great. Badass Sara from Cairo didn't look so hopeful. She said she knew a man from Cairo who fixed phones. I should try him. Ok i said. Someone else said the Vodaphone car might help. Mr. Vodaphone was on the phone and didnt speak Arabic and wasn't particularly interested so that conversation went nowhere. I went off to see whether i could connect the half-iphone 10 to internet. As Fadi said between the iphone 2 and the 10 I actually have an iphone 12 funny... but not funny... if you know what i mean...

Anywhoooo, it was all sunny and i was now boiling hot and saying i had to enjoy it as i'd been so cold. Anyhow, I met a guy who'd been staying at Paradise and his Siwa friend dressed in his finest. OMG I must get a photo of dressed up Siwan men. Too shy to ask but ... added to list. I was in brash foreigner mode and less shy and retiring than usual... so i was asking the uncomfortable questions about how many wives they had and how they met their wives with the disclailmer that they didnt' have to answer any of my questions if they didnt want to. They happily did. But they are always polite. Interestingly enough, the Siwan man said, previously, a man would spot a young woman he liked, inform his sisters and meet said lady at festivals etc. and if he liked how she looked (interesting but not surprising ...) would ask for her hand in marriage. These days.... they can talk on the telephone and get more of a sense of her and he felt this was a good thing. His friend from out of town had one wife and likes Amerzigh people and is looking for a wife. I of course was asked whether I wanted a husband and I said no. Why he asked? Because i would probably have less freedom. But, my freedome is also overrated because frankly if i had a husband I'd give him my phones and he'd sort it all out. In Siwa, wives stay home and men do the supermarket shopping. If a wife calls a husband for bread the husband has to stop liming and go get the bread. I'm told men teach their sons to drive tuktuks early o-clock so the sons can do the errands and the husbands can continue to lime. Hence, 7, 8, 9 year-olds drive tuktuks and motor bikes round town and there (I'm told) are a lot of accidents.

Anyway, I ended up going to the date festival with the 2 guys. Imagine, a TIDCO event in Toco. There were stalls and government dignitaries galore and even activitites in the stadium for kids. It's a 3 day festival i think and all the important folk were there with military protecting them from the crowds (no course there weren't that many people). But yes that pomp and pagentry of a business festival in a rural area. The best thing was ... there were dates from Jordan, Siwa, other parts of Egypt, Sudan, Libya and the citizens that accompanied them. So i got to eat a LOT of dates and ... Siwa dates still taste the best. On the way home I FOUND SOME FLEECY (kinda) clothes. I got a great deal and then realised my purse with money and house keys was missing. I'll be back I mimed.

Now, I'm back in Ola's full of baba ganough (i keep forgetting to take the pic of said food BEFORE i eat it... one day) and found said missing in the bottom of my rucsac. Obvs too hangry to do anything. Abigail and Juanita helping me work phones out. Wish me luck with the iphone man at 7pm!!

Baraka/Blessings.

The man helping to keep me warm.... through his wares mind you!