So where to begin?

Relocated to Egypt almost two years ago. Found new work, started to photograph more, got involved with refugee related issues, read lots about the Middle East, traveled around, slept under the stars, dove in the Red Sea, saw the fall of one regime, waiting to see what will come with the next.

That's about it in a nutshell.

Since there's really no ideal place to start backtracking from, I figure I'd compile a list of the things I love and hate about Cairo. I've been meaning to do it for awhile since it's a city that will overhaul one's senses and test the last of your patience. I was told when I first arrived that I would either love it or hate it, because that's how people often feel about Cairo. There's no real in between, no compromise. You either fall into the vortex that hosts over 14 million people and you come to adore it, for all it's glory and it's underbelly; or you wind up despising it, sometimes vowing never to return.

I fall somewhere in between, though I probably lean more towards the 'hatred' end of spectrum. I have days where I really like this city and days when I want to pull my hair out from the roots, stick a spoon in my eye and get on the next plane heading anywhere but here. The things I adore the most include the weather (excluding months June thru September), beach and desert access and learning Arabic in a relatively modern and progressive city where enough people speak English when I trip over my own tongue or forget phrases in their entirety.

The things that get me going about this place though, really get me going. They include: the pollution; horrific traffic; lack of consistency in restaurants (with reference to good service, good food and good wine options); the fact that women are harassed quite often in public and that I can't really wear shorts/short skirt and a sleeveless shirt in public (even when it's +35 degrees in the shade) because of it; +35 degrees in the shade; lack of public space; no respect for pedestrians; and, did I mention the traffic?