cairo and the eye of the beholder

as i mentioned when posting from cairo, it's a big, fast-moving city. for a short while, i had begun to wonder if it was the smartest way to start the vacation. i'd come off a very, very busy stretch at work, plus i'd just moved. i realized after a few days that i was working as hard at trying to relax as i was when actually working.in addition to the kind of heat you'd expect from the middle east during summer, there was crazy traffic and pollution and noise. i'd started to wonder if maybe i should have gone to a beach somewhere and totally vegged out.
but after a few days, things changed. the company of newgy and her friends was certainly a major factor. also, though, i started to accept the city for what it was, and get into the mission of exploring...starting with the ancient relics. another avenue of exploration was egypt's islamic heritage. instead of church steeples, minarets dominate the skyline. calls to prayer punctuate the days at regular intervals, and you don't need a watch to know that it's noon, or 4pm, or a couple of hours after sundown. but it wasn't just about buildings...living things -- people, animals, plants -- caught my eye as well, each showing a unique kind of beauty

in the end, the cairo I captured in my lens held more beauty than the cairo I remember actually being in. maybe my camera served as the means by which I'd appreciate the experience in ways not readily apparent to me while there.