I left on vacation in the Sinai before I had a chance to write about last week. I did a ton, so I’ll share it through pictures…

I finished my second full week at Tadamon

View from the balcony at Tadamon

The Tadamon office - where we have meetings and where I sometimes work

Hung out a lot with my friend Susannah

Sus and I eating zucchini, rice and okra

I went to a jazz concert at the Sawwy Cultural Center in my neighborhood with my co-worker Mai

The band was called "Il Awwal Dor" which means "The First Floor" (where they used to practice/recorded their first album). It was a 6-member band and there was a sweet light show!

I attended a ‘Team Building’ workshop with my friends Mai and Amado, held at Townhouse Gallery. It was led by a German woman and translated into Arabic by one of Townhouse’s staff members.

Teams presenting their posters

I painted and re-connected with old friends at the SAWA (“Together” in Arabic) workshop at Townhouse Gallery. [Townhouse is one of my favorite places in all of Cairo. Here you are able to meet people from all around the world who have come together because of art - both the creation and appreciation of it. These SAWA workshops are free every Saturday 11am-5pm and anyone can attend.]

Painting!

My Sudanese friend, Amado, teaching oil painting techniques

More Townhouse pictures - I painted the snake and the abstract design, My friend sitting for a self portrait, A dancer painting a ballerina

Attended a ‘Strategic Planning’ meeting with the Sudanese Women’s Union, one of Tadamon’s partner CBOs (Community Based Organization)

Mai, my co-worker, and Sudanese women meeting to discuss their organization's mission

Visited my old friend Fatma, an Eritrean woman, and her daughter at their home. I went there to look at her jewelry and crafts (she runs an informal – but successful – women’s handicraft co-op). I will be working with her to start an IGA (Income Generating Activity) as part of Tadamon’s ‘Living Together’ campaign, an initiative to promote diversity and peaceful coexistence in Cairo (especially between Egyptians and African refugees). At her house we had traditional Eritrean coffee. It is literally the best coffee in the world. An elderly Eritrean neighbor came over to help make it. It is a lengthy process – grinding the coffee beans, boiling the water (in a terracotta jar) over a mini open stove with coals, mixing in ginger, burning incense, mixing the ingredients together and adding sugar, and serving it in small little glasses (smaller than a shot glass). Not to mention you must do this at least 3 times. We had 5 cups though…and let’s just say I was totally wired for the rest of the day!

Fatma's jewelry and crafts