So in the last week I've gotten food poisoning and a car accident, been to a farming village in the nile delta and hung out with a grammy-winning record producer. I was in the village all day monday, and when I came back I called him up and he was at a concert featuring various African groups, so I went and met him up. I had been up since 6 that morning, and I went to sleep maybe 6 or 7 the next morning. niiiiice. We got into the car wreck on the way up to the village, but no one was hurt in the slightest alhamdullilah. Today I'm going to Sharm el Sheikh, which is a resort town on the red sea, to play a gig with a little reggae band here. We're going for 3 days and it'll be great to get to the beach after two months in cairo. this village, which I went to two years ago, was nice and quiet, and I will go back sometime. apparently the people in the village, who are all farmers, had been asking about me for the past two years too. Egyptians do not forget.

I've finished my first week of gigs with Juliet Annerino here in cairo. Last night our last show was at a place called After 8, a bar in downtown Cairo. If only every week I could play four nights. Maybe that will happen at some point, but for right now I'm just gonna have to keep making my connections and getting people together and seeing where I can find a gig. I think sub work will be a good way to break in, and I can talk to my friends and let them know that they can call me if their regular drummer can't make it. It's already rediculously hot here. yesterday I left the house at 4 in the afternoon and I almost couldn't stand it. but it's nothing compared to what it will be like in june, July and August. good lord. I'm thinking about Ramadan now, and how many cranky people there will be out during the day. So May is half over, and I can't belive it. April didn't go by too quickly, as I was still figuring things out, but now that I'm familiar with the scene and things are going on, time is just flying. It's totally crazy. Tonight I'm getting together with Wa'el to have one my prized lessons, and I say prized because they're few and far between, as he's very busy. We will work on some music and maybe set a date to get some studio time too. I've got my recording gear, so we can do some of that at home. I'm gonna check out some friends playing at a studio today too. And maybe head to Wa'el's house from there. Wa'el lives on the other side of the world from me, and I live in the center of Cairo. It might take him two hours to get to my house depending on when he comes. I'll probably go by cab today, which will take forever also. But I'm just happy to get together with him.

crazy thangs

Haven't been too good about keeping up with this blog lately. I'm on a crazy schedule, in bed at 5 every morning and getting up at 2 in the afternoon. But it's great to be surrounded by musicians again; I had been out of the game for so long that I'm finally starting to get back in the groove, and getting inspired, and working hard to get rehearsals together with Wa'el and other guys. This week I have four gigs, my first gigs in Cairo, with an American singer named Juliet, who has booked her own tour through the middle east, first here, then Beirut, and finally Dubai. Apparently she put the whole thing together on Facebook, which is pretty amazing. The band made of guys from a working band here in Cairo called Cucun, which plays Latin jazz, and we're playing all her songs. Four different venues this week: a Cultural Center called Sakia El-Sawy, the Cairo Jazz Club, a big park in Cairo called Al-Azhar, and finally another bar called After 8. So this is great, because through the guys in the band I've gotten to meet all kinds of other dudes that will be great connections to have. I'm really hoping I'm going to get to play more, but at the same time my arms are a problem, because I don't think they're really ready to handle a ton of playing. I've been meeting some great musicians too, there are good players in Cairo. And everybody loves all kinds of music which is great. I've caught Wa'el at a bad time, cause he's about to have a kid and is trying to deal with all kinds of other things in his life, but I'm working to get together with him whenever possible. He's still the man! I'm planning a trip to Morocco for two weeks at the end of June, to go see a festival of Gnawa music, the traditional music of Morocco, which I've been listening to for a long time. That will be amazing.

one month down

It's kind of funny how things come around. I played in Jahfe in miami for two years, and now here in Egypt I'm playing with another reggae band of all Sudanese guys called United Nile Reggae. This band is just starting out to, and it makes me remember how it is at the beginning, trying to get a band together, learning the songs, getting your first gigs, etc. I'm not really in the band, as they have a drummer already, but I went with them to their gig last night and sat in on a couple tunes. Wednesday night I went to what I thought was a language exchange program, that these I met told me about, and it turned out it was the last night of their course, and they were having a party. The course is called Face to Face, and it's for Nubians to interact with Americans and for each to practice the other's language. Arabic, not Nubian. So they had the party and there was drumming and dancing and everybody had a good time. They are starting the new course today, and I will attend as this should be a good way to get serious about learning the language. I know a lot of phrases but I can't really speak freely yet. The people from the program are all cool and the other Americans there were cool too. I'll probably see most of them again today, as all the Nubians at least were really into it. It's crazy, I've already been here for a month. Still looking for a job, and hoping the gigs come through.