Cairo Cats

Danny; Cairo, Egypt

We landed at the Cairo international Airport after a few hour flight, feeling exited and amazed that we were entering out last country of our Mid East tour. I remember feeling similar when we got Malaysia, which was the last stop on our South East Asia tour last November.

We drove from the airport into Cairo towards our hotel. I was immediately struck by the lack of traffic patterns, there seemed to be no rules of the road. I would be hesitant to drive here and I'm a New Yorker.

As we got into downtown, I recognized the square where the protests had been centered during the Revolution in the Spring. Tahrir square was crowded, but seemed quiet as we drove past. I could see the television building that got burnt down during the revolt.

We got to our hotel and I was happy to go to my room and rest for a little while before venturing out to get local sim cards for our phones. The hotel was quite beautiful and my room had a balcony that overlooked the Nile river.

We rested for a bit and then ventured out on foot to find the Vodafone store, which was supposed to be right by the square, not too far from the hotel. Well that walk became quite an adventure and eventually two of us staid the course and accidentally found the store. Asking directions here with a map that is in English is not an easy task. People are do friendly and helpful, but no one really knows where anything is located, unless it is a big square or hotel etc. We asked on such helpful person and he said he would show us where to get sim cards. Of course it became apparent that he was leading us somewhere else and even though I knew that, I was too polite to protest. We ended up in a small salon that sold natural fragrances, made from plants in this shop owners garden. He made us drink tea with him and tried to sell us bottles of these essences. It was clear now, that there wasn't going to be any phone sims.

He was actually a nice guy and the bottles we bought were quite beautiful. The fragrances were so subtle and clean. I tried to haggle with him and failed miserably, which set the precedent for the other guys. Well at least my girlfriend and the guys wives will have some more very nice presents from our tour. Sorry to ruin the surprise ladies;)

We left his shop and struck out again in search of this elusive store. As I walked around I was really getting a sense of the city and it's commerce. It was obvious that they have been doing buisines for thousands of years. The streets are like mazes and you can buy anything and everything imaginable. I saw some magical Cairo cats and thought about how long the cat species has been around in Egypt. They certainly don't hold the same stature as they did during the time of the Pharoes, but I'm not sure the cats care;)

Two of us kept on dwarfing for the phone store and we finally got our sim cards, but unfortunately they didn't work out for us and we had to go back out the next evening and try another company. All in all, it was quite an adventure and at least we got a feel for the city and it's streets.

On the way home we took a cab and driver was talking to some traffic police while we were stopped. He told us that there was a big disturbance a few blocks away.
We had heard the chanting and shouts of the crowd earlier, but thought at the time, that it was a nearby group demonstrating for better wages. By the time we got to our hotel, we found out that things had turned quite serious and if you have been keeping up with the news, you know what has been going on here in Cairo. We stayed in for the rest of the evening planning for our trip to the Pyramids the next day. We had a scheduled day off before we begin a rigorous schedule of traveling, workshops and performances. I love sight seeing on the rare days off, but I really do miss the music and connections we make during our shows and workshops. Well I'm sure I'll get my wishes soon;)

'Whenever I See Your Smiling Face I Have To Smile Myself..'

Brian; Jordan, Djibouti, UAE, Bahrain

  A smile can do so much,

 It's the most human and universal reaction to joy the world over.

A simple smile can drastically change things.

Smiles reach accross the generations..

..they can bridge, cultures, customs and symbols.

 A smile has the power to melt away differences between people,



...they reveal the humanity we all share,

...they bring us closer together





More than anything we're trying to bring people music that makes them smile.

..and in turn hearing theirs make us smile.

I think a smile is the essence of peace.

Splish Spash

After our first workshop at the youth center in Bahrain, we played an event at the PA officer's residence for US embassy personnel, alum and invited guests. We set up inder a canopy by the pool and I thought how nice it would be to take a dip.'it was beautiful outside and the setting was perfect for an event. We played out set and near the end Johnny called one of our favorite songs, Ain't no Sunshine. To end the tune, he usually jumps in the air or off the stage and when he lands, we hit the final note. Well that night the song ended in a way that we never expected. he signaled the final chord which we held and while we were waiting for his ending cue, he ran across the stage area towards the pool and dove in. Of course when he hit the water, we hit the final note.
Needles to say, I think everyone was amazed and we definitely made a splash at the party;)

The pool and a still soaking wet JR after jumping in the pool.

The next day was a rest day for the band and I got a chance to do some swimming of my own at the hotel pool.

By the next day we were ready to get back to work and play at the first English language teachers conference in Bahrain. It was sponsored by the US Embassy and included professional educators from all over the the island. They loved singing along with us in language and afterwards, we signed CDs and took pictures with some new friends.

It seems that even English teachers have dreams of being rock stars;)

The director of the event presented us with a beautiful award.

Hopefully he won't take it away after checking my grammar in the blog;)

That evening we got all our gear packed up and left to play at the beautiful Bahrain fort museum on the gulf. When we got closer, the traffic got very heavy and all the roads were closed leading to that area of town. Janan, our wonderful local national embassy liaison, decided to make some calls and it was decided that the concert should be cancelled. We were happy to find out that it would be rescheduled for the next night and when we got there the next evening, the setting and the weather were beautiful.

The stage with the old fort in the distance

The Portuguese had built the fort around 300 years ago

Because the concert had been rescheduled, we didn't have enough tint to do a scheduled masterclass at a local music store. We were happy that the music students were able to come to the concert and afterwards we were able to talk and jam with them.

We really made some connections last night and during our other events. We have already been sharing some fun times on Facebook. I was really moved by the sincerity of everyone's comments on the Johnny Rodgers Band Facebook page and when we were reading some of them this morning, I felt sad to leave our new friends behind. It is these connections and new friendships that make it all worthwhile for me. We are so blessed to be able to travel the world and present our music to these beautiful people in these wonderful places. Thank you to Brad, Shana, Janan and our drivers from the US Embassy. Also thank you to the Bahrain ministry of culture and it's liaison, Mubarak for hosting our stay and allowing us to share our music.

Pulse

Danny; Manama, Bahrain

We played an event for a youth center in Manama Bahrain. We set up in their gym/auditorium and when the Students walked in, I got a sense of a diversity in the crowd. Matter of fact, I realized that since u had come to this country, most of the people we had met were from another country. Most had come to find work, become citizens and find a better life for themselves. Sound familiar? Up to this point, I still hadn't gotten a sense of what this country was about? I couldn't find the pulse as easy here as I have in other countries we have visited. I have since read the paper, asked some questions and now I understand some of the dynamics, but I haven't felt it yet. The more I travel, the more the borders of places get blurred for me and the global/corporate culture seems to obscure the local culture. Also, certain countries have become multicultural because of immigration and this can also blur the lines. As a touring cultural exchange musician, I deal with a lot of people from the service industry as well as embassy personnel, diplomats and and local government officials. This gives me a wide range of diversity in each place I visit. I put all this questioning and thinking out of my mind for a while and then it came to me. The individuals that I meet each and every day, waiters, drivers, sound guys, teachers, audience members. are where the pulse lives, not in the history, stories, the news. For me, each contact I have, each personal encounter goes beyond stories, beyond history and lives in the moment. The thank you's, the smiles, the communion of the sense of being which goes beyond language and words. This is the pulse, that place where we are all human.

This is also the place where creativity and the sharing of music lives. The barriers of race, language and cultural differences quickly drop away when we are all sharing in music.
Rhythm, harmony, melody and texture become the language that we all speak and even though the lyrics might be different, the emotion is still felt. This again became apparent as soon as the students heard the music and the room began to rock.
You could see it in the smiles and faces of everyone in the room.

Group photo at Youth Center

A student gets a chance to show us his groove

A guitar student gets his Latin feel on

The students performed a traditional Arabic dance for us. Their teacher and mentor told us that he was concerned that this traditional form of dance was in danger of fading away. The students were great and you could sense the pride on their faces as they performed for us.

The students in most countries are shy, but here it took at least a half hour or more to get them to even ask a question. Once we got them going, they were able to relax and even sing along with us. There were some musicians who got a chance to perform on a song with the band.

Joe and Johhny have a cutting contest on their new axes ;)

We left the center knowing we had made some new friends and connections.