Winter returned to Istanbul. It was cold and rainy all day long so we did our usual thing on such days and went to Cihangir to buy groceries, despite the carefully angled hills to catch the cold wind and the slopes down which the rain turns into muddy torrents over cobblestones. But that was later […]
Istanbul art scene
Last night in a fit of unusual sociability, the GF and I went with an artist friend to the opening of a show at a gallery in Cihangir. It was a tiny space, the basement of a building so very arty. The first person met was a European photographer who had just come from giving […]
Spring clean
This evening I started on my spring clean, inspired by the GF. This was clearing out clothes, largely, and as usual my mind went quite blank, unable to determine what I needed, or indeed wanted, to keep. Finally I decided on a simple rubric, whether or not I found something comfortable, which got rid of […]
Personal enmity
Murders are often attributed to ‘personal enmity’ in Pakistani newspapers, I suppose a relic of colonial reporting. Strange what lingers and what doesn’t. It was a working day in which I did most of my work in the second half. Began with a session with my trainer, then a short work call, then faffing around. […]
Weekend tombs
Among the delights of our current way of living is that weekends take on themes and routines that never become stale. Here, in Egypt, living within an easy stroll of the Valley of Kings, what is there to do but to visit tombs of a weekend. We began with a lunch of koshary at a […]
To Nubia
It was a long day’s driving, but pleasant as it passed through interesting landscapes of barren hills with a vivid streak of green between, and drab houses made of worn brick, but the walls inside the balconies were painted vivid colours, sometimes with patterns or immense flowers, so I think the houses must not be […]
The day before
The day before the election, telling that this is one of the featured stories on the Dawn website: This morning I spoke to someone in Pakistan who was in a chatty mood, clearly a little excited by the election. He asked me whom I would vote for, I told the truth that in Pakistani elections […]
After the revolution
The last time we were in Egypt was shortly after the Arab Spring, and there was a feeling of hope and dread. This time, hopelessness, of a kind that I feel I see again and again, wherever I go in the world. The mood of this age, a season of ashes. We went for dinner […]
Hard day
A hard day today, I’m not sure why. I woke up feeling trapped by work, though there was not much going on, and then was a bit caught and fumbly at meetings. I had a fairly straightforwaed piece to write and here I am still not-writing it, half an hour after the end of the […]
Not covid
The GF developed a sore throat last night and this morning woke feeling rather ill. It wasn’t covid if the test is to be believed, so we both remain free of the pest even as it rises again. What a strange time it was, and still is for some people, though I think without all […]