Woodwork

Egyptian crafstmen are masters when it comes to woodworking, especially in designing wood lattices and turnery (which apparently is woodworking with a lathe). The below examples are taken from the Bayt al Shuyami Area, however they abound throughout Egypt. You will often find symbols or words (like the name of God) written inside the latticework. Here's more information on The art of Egyptian Turnery from the Egyptian State Information Service.

 

Bayt el Suhaymi

Bayt el Suhaymi is a hidden gem, unbeknownst (unfortunately) to the majority of tourists who get dragged through Khan el Khalili. It is a true pity that most of Egypt's long and variegated history is overlooked by the tourists who tend to be exposed to very little other than its ancient artifacts.

Bay el Suhaymi is a restored Ottoman building dating back to 1648 AD nestled just behind Khan el Khalili amongst beautiful buildings from the Fatamid period.

This is the street that leads up to Bayt el Suhaymi

  When you enter the buildings complex, one of the first things you'll notice is how cool it is, despite the raging heat outside. The buildings were designed in a brilliant way that somehow naturally cools. It also seems to block a lot of sounds, it is very calm and peaceful inside the area, juxtaposed against the usual noise of Cairo.

Wooden window frames designed in a way to let the inhabitants
have a pleasant breeze and view the street while passerbys cannot see in

A Sunny Outlook

Optimism is the engine of hope and the driver of change, and Egypt is short on neither.

Maybe all those rays of sunshine help Egyptians always look on the bright side of life.

National Pride

Everyone and everything is wearing the flag of Egypt these days!

Non-violent protest

Here is a video: on the history of non-violence in the Arab world

Tamarind, Carob, Hibiscus, Apricot mmmmmmmmmmmm yummy drinks

I love this. In Arabic Tamarind is Tamra Hindi.
In Egypt they boil the Tamarind and make a delicious and very refreshing drink with it. Other similar traditional oriental health drinks (?I think? depending on the amount of sugar!) those made from Carob, and also from apricots and hibiscus. You can buy them easy peasy (like I do) at the grocery store in cartons such as the below, or bottled, or make it the natural way yourself.

A man walking through the streets selling cups of Tamarind drink

Window shopping

In Egypt, they take window shopping seriously, as you can see from the below storefronts.

Maybe a bit hard to see with the photo minimized,
but these are shoes on display (click to enlarge photo)