I met Dina during my brief stay in Jordan, as I traveled to the border town of Mafraq, close to the Syrian frontier. She is 22 years old, and when she arrived to this run-down city one year ago, she had already relocated 25 times across different areas in Syria, trying to escape the conflict that...
Llegar al Cairo significó, por primera vez, traer a la consciencia y a la reflexión mi condición de mujer. Hasta este momento, nunca lo percibí como una diferencia significativa. Lo sentí apenas salí a la calle y me enfrenté al acoso de los hombres, lo sentí cada vez que me recomendaban caminar por las calles siempre acompañada,...
A staggering 70% of the adult population is obese in Egypt. Publicly shamed, ill-advised, and often unable to exercise in private or public spaces, Egyptians seldom find a solution to a condition that can lead to a wide array of chronic diseases. Nov 12,2015 Bassant El Qassem walks the streets of Haram, her long black 3ebaya swinging...
Magda walks the unpaved streets of Tucuman in Argentina’s north, swirling the stick around as she makes her way to dance school. It’s 1993, and she is only 10. Her dreams have the tinkling sound of her hip scarf and ripple like the Nile. She knows all the songs by heart, but she cannot understand...
Volver a Perugia, tres años después. Volver a sus grandes murallas de piedra, a sus arcos y recovecos, a las ventanitas ínfimas que se asoman sobre sus callejones perdidos, a sus colinas verdes, a su eterna juventud. Volver a Perugia es como recordar un sueño que duerme desde hace siglos, un sueño que visita las...
The sun is falling on this rainy afternoon as we approach the Maasai village in Western Kenya. Perhaps because of the hills framing the mud houses on the opposite side, it feels like we are at the edge of the country. We go past a pack of goats as they are herded by a tiny...
From the Arab Spring, to the Charlie Hebdo attack and the refugee crisis, Sudanese artist Khalid Albaih is turning heads across the world with his viral cartoons. In an interview with CairoScene, he discusses censorship, stereotypes, and what it’s like to do post-Arab Spring political commentary. Oct 23,2015 A symbol of a generation of cartoonists...
PRIMER DÍA EN RUSIA: Una comedia. Perdida en estaciones de metro que parecen museos de arte, pescando gente que hable en inglés para saber qué línea tomar, la gente que no habla y yo que río, “chu chuu, chu chuuuu, the train”, mis cualidades para la mímica cada vez más refinadas, el frío que se...
The room was dark. As he tried to keep his children away from the cockroaches leaking through from the kitchen, Abou Adnan* looked at the door. A shaft of light was slowly appearing as it opened, offering some relief from the musty air impregnating the apartment. It was yet another family trying to squeeze in. About...
A city of contrasts, a city of cultural encounters, and the symbolic point where Europe and Asia shake hands, Istanbul offers a fascinating chance to delve into the secrets of not one, but three cultures: ancient Byzantium, Constantinople, and modern-day Turkey. There are fabulous things to see in Istanbul in one day; and here are the top 10: 1) With the...
