5th
Rain stopped work!
When we got up this morning the sky was very grey with thick cloud cover and it soon started to rain. The wind was also strong so we decided it wouldn’t be worth driving the 15km to the site if work might not be possible – our experience over the last 20 years at Balamun told us that the bad weather would be around for at least today, and so it has proved. The survey went so well yesterday that losing a day’s work shouldn’t be a problem.
We’ve had a useful day, however, as during a dry spell mid-morning we walked along main roads into the centre of Kafr es-Sheikh so we’ve been able to explore the town more, finding out where useful shops are, and getting our bearings generally since maps of the town don’t seem to exist! We found a cafe (not far from the SCA office) at which we had a very good pizza lunch, but we had to dodge showers, some quite heavy, and take shelter where we could.
Patricia sheltering from the rain in the doorway of a ‘digital photo’ studio.
While in the centre we went to an internet cafe and looked up weather forecasts for the Delta – it looks as if tomorrow should be fine, but then more rain seems to be coming for the weekend. We returned to the hotel by a different route, bringing us though shopping and residential areas and ending up in the streets near the hotel - on the way we did some shopping for food to take to the site for our next breakfast there (hopefully tomorrow).
Jeff stocking up on bananas and cheese at a local shop
Several people have asked in e-mails about the ‘security’ situation in Egypt, following the recent revolution. Everyone’s experience will vary but we’ve felt no increase in tension and everyone here in Kafr es-Sheikh is very friendly and welcoming. On our drive from Cairo, via Balamun, we saw no signs of burned-out police stations and the one we went to in Riyad yesterday morning (to register being here as an expedition) clearly hadn’t been damaged at all. The police seem to be working normally and sent one of their blue vans to Daba while we were working, as has been the usual practice with archaeological expeditions over the last 15 or so years. The only outward difference we’ve noticed (apart from the absence of portraits of former President Mubarak) is the large number of ‘25 January’ car stickers in Egypt’s national colours – red, white and black.
