Coronavirus on the Nile : A Coronavirus December “Live updated"

It is the end of  November and the beginning of December.

The official number of coronavirus cases in Egypt is increasing as expected.

The unofficial number of coronavirus cases is also increasing and here we are speaking about the cases that tested positive and decided to be treated at home without going to the hospitals

Already I expect the number will jump those two weeks following the huge celebrations of our Ahly SC fans in the streets till the early hours of the morning following it won its ninth African Champions League title.

I am Ahly SC fan and I am very proud and happy.

I also understand why those guys are on the streets but I am worried about their health.

An Egyptian man wearing his mask at Al Azhar mosque
on Friday " AFP

Health officials warned that December and January may see the peak of cases in the second wave of coronavirus.

Please stay safe and stay home as much as you can.

Wear your mask when you are outside.

Winter is here : Hail, rain and thunderstorm in Great Cairo

Winter is officially in Great Cairo, we have just had a hail storm and thunderstorm.

At Mid-day Wednesday, probably there were million Egyptian mothers screaming at the same time “The laundry” in Great Cairo area horrified that the laundry they left to dry in the balconies would be soaked wet.

Those mothers head after the quick rescue mission to the kitchens to make hot lentil soap, the unofficial meal of Egyptians when it rains.

In Downtown Cairo by Ahmed Hassan

But it was not like any rain because it is more of a hail storm accompanied by a thunderstorm.

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority has already warned a couple of days ago but not all people like to listen or read the weather forecast.

Kodak Agfa Presents : Egypt’s Temple of Luxor 2012 in photos “Part 1”

This is a very belated post, truly belated post.

Remember when I visited Luxor and Aswan in 2012 and how I shared photos from the trip especially in Aswan!?

I shared photos from Aswan’s High Dam, Temple of Philae, Kitchener’s Island, Temple of Kom Ombo and Temple of Edfu. I shared also photos from Luxor’s world-famous Karnak Temples complex.

I remembered that I have not shared or uploaded the photos of other landmarks in Luxor: Luxor Temple and Hatshepsut Temple. I visited the Valley of the Kings too, but I followed the instructions then that said explicitly “No photography”. Now, people take photos and film videos easily thanks to mobile phones.

Yes, I forgot to post them all those years and I do not have any good excuse, to be honest

Anyhow, I guess now it is the perfect time to share those photos especially it seems that we are on the verge of another possible wave of coronavirus lockdown in the world and we may have to stay at home once again till the vaccines are distributed fairly and freely hopefully.

Kodak Agfa will go back in time to February 2012 and visit the great and marvellous Luxor Temple in two-parts posts.

There is a little reminder here: The photos are not that great as Kodak Agfa was still finding her way with photography using baby Sony Nex 5.

The Temple of Luxor's great pylon with its famous obelisk 

I do not know where I shall start the story of Luxor Temple. It is uneasy to recount the history of one of Egypt’s oldest temples that still standing after 3,000 years of its construction and inauguration. The history of that temple complex is like a layer over layer.

Most of the Temple Complex of Luxor was constructed during the New Kingdom but it may go further than this.

Some say that its area which is close to the bank of the Nile was considered scared and was dedicated to the cult of Amun since the 11th dynasty in the Middle Kingdom but the actual construction itself of the current temple complex was during the New Kingdom especially during the 18th and the 19th dynasties aka the Golden age of the New Kingdom.

The construction in the temple complex did not stop after those two dynasties, on the contrary, it continued playing a role in the city of Luxor and Egypt itself till the Greco-Roman era and even beyond as you will see.

The avenue of Sphinx outside Luxor temple

Here is my best attempt starting with the first photo I took for this majestic place from our bus.

There we were in front of the iconic entrance of the temple and in front of it the famous Sphinxes avenue.

The sphinx avenue used to connect between the Luxor temple complex and Karnak temple complex.

Coronavirus on the Nile : A COVID-19 November

It is the second half of  November and the official number of coronavirus cases in Egypt is increasing as expected.

Salah wearing the Liverpool FC mask 

Every week, there are warnings from the officials that we should not abandon the preventive measures; otherwise, we may have to have another partial lockdown.

The challenge is that it seems very few people across the country who are following the preventive measures as recommended by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health.

Even the officials and celebs do not follow those measures to set an example to the public in Egypt.

Last week concluded on Friday with the big news that Egypt’s top international footballer Mohamed Salah contracted coronavirus after allegedly returning to Egypt.

Photos and videos of Salah not wearing a face mask or following the social distancing rules are viral and they are providing good material for memes and online jokes as well.

Please stay safe and at home as much as you can.

Anyhow here is our 14-days live update for all things coronavirus in MENA. Please stay safe and stay home.

Concerning Trump , Biden and the Middle East

Trump’s presidency was actually a reality TV show from the beginning, thus it was natural to have this ending the world is currently watching.

I am happy that Trump is gone and honestly it is a good radiance in 2020. Yes, Biden is not the greatest choice but this is what has got. 

Donald Trump will go in history as one of the most demagogue chauvinist racist misogynist populist presidents the world has seen in the 21st century.

Trump’s true danger was making demagogue racist populist far-right the new normal after being “Far”.

He is the President of the United States, what else those guys need.

For four years, misinformation and truly fake news were normal in the social media and believe me if I tell as Arabs we know what misinformation and propaganda mean first hand.

It is God’s mercy that Trump stopped right now and his cronies like Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon are stopped before creating more chaos in time of the coronavirus and what followed.

Already in case, you do not know but coronavirus is reshaping the world for real.

We, as world population can’t afford now having far-right Nazis in the command of the West once again.    

I hate to say it but the world needs balance again

Kodak Agfa presents : Halloween 2020 Blue Moon

Do you know that last October 31 Earth has its full blue moon !?

Yup, we had a full moon on Halloween night.

The last time we had a full moon on a Halloween night was from 76 years ago in 1944.

Coronavirus on the Nile: Nine months of COVID-19 in Egypt in graph

Another monthly post as part of the COVID-19 coverage in Egyptian Chronicles. “I know you can’t take anymore when it comes to numbers and percentages after the US elections 2020 circus.”

This time it is a quick look into COVID-19 numbers in Egypt after nines months, after the month of October that witnessed the return of students to schools.

The students on the first day in school on 15 October by 
Mohamed El-Raai

They are all based on official numbers released by the Egyptian Health Ministry.

Click on the tabs to move to each graph.