Monday, October 25, 2004
Urban Renewal in Cairo
A new park has opened up in Cairo since I left, which is also part of bigger scheme to "preserve the ancient neighborhood's character, yet not just in terms of aesthetics: the trust's aim to pinpoint spaces where the community could rebuild itself, and begin to foster a deeper sense of shared identity."
From the NYTimes, In a Decaying Cairo Quarter, a Vision of Green and Renewal:
The trust's approach is to attack urban blight with a kind of surgical precision rather than the brutality of the bulldozer. Its unspoken mission, in essence, is to stem the relentless flow of Western modernity. But this view of history is narrow. The vibrancy of cities like Cairo or Casablanca, Beirut or Baghdad, sprang from their rich absorption of influences: these are places where cultural frictions between East and West, modernity and tradition, spawned outbursts of remarkable creativity.
Cairo is a particularly cosmopolitan example. Its ancient city is a mix of Coptic churches and Arabic mosques. To the east spreads Ismail Pasha's Europeanized late-19th-century city, whose straight boulevards and English-style gardens - inspired by Haussmann's Paris and now almost all gone - were built to impress foreign dignitaries arriving for the inauguration of the Suez Canal. Nearby are the neo-Classical houses and lush overgrown yards of the Garden City district, an early-20th-century interpretation of Ebenezer Howard's suburban vision for London's outskirts.
These conflicting visions and historical ghosts are what gives the city its magical, dreamlike aura and its humanity.
Can't wait to go to the park when I get the chance to be back in Egypt!
Peace Corps
A PC trainee in Senegal tells it like it is:
Being in Africa is what I imagine being part of a huge family must be like—at it's worst, loud and smelly with never a moment of privacy. At it's best, always hospitable and dynamic, infusing you with energy and motion.
Click here to read more about her experiences, which have only just begun (hey Mom, that means you!). Gives me a good idea of what might be in store...
