“pigeons are rats with wings” is a common sentiment in the US but they are an art form for the pigeon fanciers of Cairo. I talked my way up to one of the ubiquitous wood slat roosts that are visible across the city and have learned that their obsession reaches across the region, lasts for […]
Mahraganat Music
Through the warren of Cairo’s unplanned neighborhoods, mahraganat (festival) music blasts from tuk-tuks, cigarette stalls and cranked up cellphone speakers; auto-tuned voices mixing with heavy electronic rap beats. The sound quality is low and the lyrics are unmistakably vulgar. Egyptians can’t get enough. Sha’abi music (literally translating to the music of the ‘poor’) is the […]
Uighur Identity in Xinjiang
Persecution in Xinjiang The Uighurs of Xinjiang are one of 55 minorities in China, but they are ethnically and historically closer to the Muslim Turkic groups of Central Asia. In 2008 the Chinese government was starting to cement its hold on the resource rich Xinjiang by suppressing cultural and religious differences in schools and workplaces […]