Leaping Lizards!

In truth, it wasn't lizards that were leaping when I went into the bathroom this morning, but rather my heart! The beautiful new vanity attracted two (!) geckos that I found starring up at me. I was embarrassed that I neglected to clean the bathtub last night before their visit! I like geckos, but not inside my home (they poop on the walls) and not near Cat (they make her very ill). I'm hoping they will find their own way out. Ugg. Welcome to a new day! One that's bound to be full of surprises!


Is this a mating dance or a 'circle the wagons' defense strategy? Since my two 'guests' were still in the tub an hour later I figured that they couldn't pull themselves up the sloping wall. I used a broom to bring them over the edge and left them to find their own way out of the bathroom. I realize now that a better plan would have been to capture them in a box while they were trapped and then free them outdoors. As it is, I cannot be certain that they have actually left the premises.


But I did leave. Beside our building I noticed that what I had thought was simple a pile of detritus at the side of the road is, in fact, a manger. A gamoosa (water buffalo) had the prime location under the lean-to.


Their guard must have had a busy night because she was fast asleep on top of the manger's roof, technically still on duty.


And here are rooftop kitties that guard my favourite cafe.

The Other Side of the Tracks

The search for screening took me over the railroad tracks that divide Luxor city.


Not only did I find a length of screening to use as a paint spreader, I also found a unique door. I love the colour and the crocodiles. I believe that the crocodiles symbolically protect the household.


This is the same idea interpreted on the West Bank. As you can see, the people here are a little more 'down to earth'. This beast is not, in fact, a crocodile but a Nile Monitor lizard. Crocodiles are now rare in the Nile so householders must look to big nasty-looking lizards for protection. Works for me.


From my new vantage point, I got a great view of the construction of the Coptic cathedral. It is an amazing edifice hemmed in by buildings so I usually cannot see it from the street level. It is being constructed over a smaller existing church where services are still performed while work goes on.


And here's another new view for me of another amazing edifice: Luxor Temple. I usually walk by the Snack Time restaurant because it looks like a fastfood joint. I had no idea what I was missing until someone said we should meet here for coffee. (By the way Mom, the cigarettes are not mine.)

In Celebration of Pilgrimages

With a slathering of Vichy 60-proof sun block and a spritz of Chanel No. 19 (must dress for an outing), I was out the door at 8:30 this morning to buy white cheese (mistakenly called "feta" here) at the government store for the workmen's lunch. I enjoy the 15-minute walk to the main road with its colourful houses.



Every Muslim aspires to fulfill their religious duty to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. In celebration of that journey, some decorate their homes with lively images on their return. These Hajj paintings are most prevalent in the villages of Upper Egypt and out in the oases in the Western Desert. The central focus of the pilgrimage and the art is the Ka'bah in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah.



In addition, the pilgrim often asks artists to document their journey, hence images of airplanes and boats.



It would seem that one pilgrim had a particularly rough ride on high seas judging by the artist's telling of the event.



And I am particularly fond of the painting of the dancing horse, which probably performed during the pre-pilgrimage send-off.



Completely unrelated to this post, but just to add some excitement, here is a Nile Monitor sunning itself on the bank of the canal this morning. Either that, or it is waiting for the fox to come out of its den. I keep a close eye out for these 'crocs' when walking. They're big (this one is about 5' long) and they're nasty. You can see that this one is looking at me with lunch on her mind.



And speaking of lunch, I should not have been surprised when the workmen didn't show up today. Bokra Insha'Allah. (An all-too-common expression meaning "Tomorrow, God willing".)