Thoughts while flying to Egypt

From Dammam to Cairo - a bird's eye view

Flat sand as far as the eye can see
Ripples in the sand - as if a side-winder has moved along the dunes
Irrigated crop circles near the western border are the first sign of civilization
Mountains rising up from the desert are black and gold, looking like volcanic remains rounded by the wind
Sun glinting off the water as we leave Saudi Arabia and cross the Red Sea to the Sinai Peninsula
Clearly spotting the Straits of Tiran, and identifying Mt. Sinai - the tallest peak
Then sculpted sands and scrub desert to the Red Sea again - a huge expanse
Looking back to the jagged coastline of the peninsula
Huge barges and tankers waiting off the coast of Egypt
Planned beach front community -- a green oasis with houses set in the shape of a flower - first sign of civilization in Egypt
Mining making craters of white in a mountain, then flat terrain filled with houses, highways and industrial parks before we touch down in Cairo.

--Barb

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String Quartet Broken String

We attended a marvelous concert last night, at the Porto Museum of Casa do Infante , a beautifully-renovated 1325 building near the river. At one point it served as a customs house. The government sponsors Portuguese musicians to return from other European orchestras to perform in their homeland. We heard and saw this group play a traditional piece – Haydn string quartet Opus 20 #2. Then the modern Benjamin Britten's Three Divertimenti – the stunning last movement of which they performed as an encore. They performed (and I recorded) the Shostakovich Quartet #9, during which the first-violinist broke a string (it features several strongly-plucked chords!) and had to retreat&repeat!

EUA: tanto estrago em tão pouco tempo

As part of my effort to learn about Portugal, both the country and the language, I'm subscribing to the centrist newspaper, O Publico . There are plenty of newspapers: conservative tabloids, and socialist and communist-sponsored daily papers; I find O Publico to be most sober, with consistently interesting columnists and opinion pieces, in addition to some local (Porto) news, with just enough sporting news to keep me chatting with the taxi driver. Today's opinion piece sums up, I think, European pundits' view of the U.S. government. As the title puts it: so much damage in so little time. I shudder at the rank incompetence and corrupt behavior, demonstrating a cynical attitude toward public service, showing indeed that the cruelty is the point. What scandal, what damage will be the tipping point to collapse this government? And what will it take to recover from the damage? Who will be able to trust the US government again, ever? Only ni...

Música Tunas e Boémia

We attended an unusual concert last night: Música Tunas e Boémia (bands and parties) University student folk-music groups — big groups of 40 and more each! put on a great show of singing, playing, flag-twirling, tambourine-swinging, all at the major (private) concert hall. The most unusual thing about it was that nobody used any electronic device (except for microphone amplification)—no electric guitar or keyboard, no big drum set…every instrument and prop was hand-held. The singing was quite good, given the effort to synchronize 40 voices.

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