Fishing in Egypt

Hello All,

Wow, it's been a long time coming. I am finally on to the blog thing. There has been so much happening the last few months, I have decided to keep you updated...

I have just arrived in Sri Lanka after spending the last month and a bit in Egypt. Time seemed to fly by there so quickly. I guess it does that when you're having fun, eh? It was absolutely fascinating to see the contrasts within the country itself.

I spent the majority of my time in Cairo and Alexandria, but did all the fishing out of a small fishing village called Bruolos up north where the Nile meets the Mediterranean. There, we were fishing on small sail boats called Faluccas. Behind these, smaller boats called Marcabs were towed for use once the Faluccas were far enough out where the fishing was good. It was brilliant to be on a boat where all you hear is the flapping of the sails and the laughter the fisherman's nephews who also worked aboard the boat.

The fish that were caught seemed to be too small to eat, but oh was I wrong. A lot of the perks of this film have come from the dinner table. After spending the afternoons selling fish from the roadside, we would pack up what was left and head for home where the fire was lit and the fish were fried/boiled/barbecued/broiled/etc. Delicious doesn't begin to explain.

It was interesting to see Ali, the fisherman I documented, in his home environment. There were 3 families under one roof: His immediate family consisting of his wife and daughter (Mai, whom the fishing boat was named after,) his sister's family consisting of husband and 3 children (2 of which worked on the boat with us,) and his brother's family who also had wife and two daughters. Ali seemed to be the center of attention in that house. When he arrived home the kids would surround him, asking him questions and waiting to be hugged. Ali and I would eat together in a separate room, away from the rest of the family, but the children were never too far away. Most of the time I could hear them giggling just outside the door.

After dinner we would go around the corner to the tea shop where I would order Turkish Coffee and Ali would order Shai and a sheesha. (Sheesha being a huka or water bong with very heavy tobacco.) We would sit and watch an Arabic film with other fisherman until the sun went down. The whole time I would get taps on my back from the locals who had come up with questions in broken English. I found that they weren't really looking for answers. They seemed content communicating in a language they had only heard from that little black and white screen that played in the cafe. "What time is it? Where you come from? You like Egypt?" they would ask through grinning teeth. When I answered, more often than not I would get blank stares. I think they were thinking of the next question and skipped the listening part of the conversation!

I won't spoil too much of the story on here, but will add some pictures and video occasionally. Feel free to stop by anytime and check in. I will do my best to update on a regular basis.

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