A Night in Cairo

It seems so long since I posted that I hardly know what to write, or how.

This is Minkins, nicknamed 'Me me' with my dog, Maxwell, and his sister, Autumn, below. Even as we speak, the scent of cat poo wafts from the next room. I had to light a candle. My eyes are watering. They have had some kind of fungal tummy infection, and their poo reminds me of a day in Cairo, Egypt. Cairo is cat heaven, and Chelsea Ellis, of Angels of Assisi foster coordinator fame, should have her ashes spread there. She, like Cairo, is all about things Cat.

The city of Cairo is home to about 9 million people and innumerable cats, most of them friendly. Kittens wander in and out of restaurants, and we fed one at our table one glorious day. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn't get to float on the Nile, but I got to experience Cat. Every shop I went into, had it's resident cat...particularly at the cloth markets. This is pest control in Egypt. Egyptian cats are not American cats, domestic short hairs, but they look just like someone's house pet, although a bit dusty, as everything else  is, as well.

They are a part of everyday life, particularly in Cairo, as grass is here. No cat wanders the streets, they truly own the streets.


I would like to visit again. I went there in the beginning of summer, 2002, the year after the World Trade Centers fell. People thought I was a fool to visit after that event, but I found Cairenes to be particularly sensitive to the loss, and devastation America suffered. (This photo is by Lorraine Chittock)

Cairenes are particularly silly over their cats and it is easy to fall in love with the human inhabitants of Cairo, as an intelligent and loving populace, with a sense of humor of the situation, not far from the surface. Rumor has it that Cats are not so well treated since Tahrir Square, the Revolution pushing them aside. But it is hard for me to believe that a country simply so infused with the life of Cat, can put them off permanently. They have just had them for too long, and regarded them with so much love, for it to change in one, or even many, generations.

Once, when visiting me, a friend from Cairo asked to stay in the room with no access to cats. He said sleeping in the room he was in, where the cats roamed freely, was akin to sleeping on the street, in Cairo. I took it as a compliment.

After writing all of this, and searching for the perfect picture to show you, I simply long for Cairo, and its' beautiful, ancient Marketplace, Khan al Khalili, and a small cafe, named Naguib Mafouz, after the Nobel winning author. His novel is set in an alley in Khan al Khalili. And I want an hibiscus nectar, steaming so cold in the air, and some coffee.

But my only recourse is to let the kittens out, and dream.