Kittens everywhere! Kittens for everyone!

The title of this post is kind of a joke. But at the same time, it kind of is not.

There are cats all over the place in Alexandria, particularly around the dorms. And as we all know, when you get a lot of cats together, more cats tend to appear. Hence, kittens. Yesterday we (Adrian, Joe, Nadar, and myself) tried to rescue a kitten that had unwisely climbed inside and up a rain pipe (why a rain pipe is necessary in Egypt I do not know). The story that follows is one of daring, bravery, and sacrifice.

Here's the shake down: Adrian, Joe, and I came back from hanging out a cafe and saw a mother cat with three kittens gathered around a rain pipe opening. Drawn by the overwhelming adorableness (that's a word folks), we walked over to oogle. It was then that we heard a mysterious meow. At first we thought it was coming from one of the three kittens but they were not making any noise. We then figured that the catamily (cat-family) had gathered around the pipe because one of their own was in the pipe! (Daring. On the part of the cat that is).

We were not sure what to do so we went and got Nadar, one of our Egyptian hallmates. He loves cats. He came down and stuck his hand up the pipe. (Bravery. Who knows what's in there. Certainly not water.) The kitten was not within reach, unfortunately. We then tried a series of unsuccessful kitten-retrieval methods. We started with trying to coax it out. The cat was not buying that so we gave it up. We next tried shaking the pipe thinking that maybe the cat had become stuck. After some hearty shakes (and more coaxing), there was no kitten. There was still one last option. Sacrifice.

Apparently, cats like raw eggs. We cracked an egg and left it at the bottom of the pipe hoping the scent would draw the kitten down. We were right in some respects. The scent did draw cats. The previously mentioned catamily must not have thought much of our strategy because they ate the egg. Curses!

Thankfully, the kitten found its own way down. We saw it this evening at dinner.

For those who did not want a story about kittens but pictures of kittens, I apologize. I did not take a picture. I do have a picture though of my friend Ali doing his best cat impression.


I went to a Sufi dance tonight. Explaining Sufism would take a big effort (if I even could). I can tell you how they dance though. They spin in circles. Over and over and over and over. Watching them made me dizzy. No joke. It was interesting to watch though. They could do some pretty incredible things all while spinning. The dancers wore colorful, ornate skirts that they would twirl either with the motion of their body or with their hands. Imagine a human kaleidoscope or perhaps a mad scientist creature created from tire swings, crayons, and a thumping bass. I was nauseated but impressed at the end of the show.

Liquified oreo, plastic bottle robots, and spinning in circles.