The monkey cometh

So I was showing my new blog to my pet monkey Izmir and he was like "Dr. Harry, your blog is totally boring. You should let me help you."
Honestly, I think he's right. He's always right, cause he is one smart monkey. From now on, I'm going to let him contribute.
Okay Izzy? Are you happy? Do you have to poo-poo everything I do?
Stupid monkey.

A fast way to heaven?

So, here is the thing. Everyone around me is fasting, ie. not eating, drinking, smoking, or having sex during the daylight hours. So I kind of feel like I should too, as a social parity sort of thing. But, Muslims have a clear reason and inspiration for their sacrifice. I would imagine this helps when it is 3:30 and you are really thirsty and there is a cold bottle of water in the fridge...but no, do not drink it. God is watching.
I do not have this, however. So what angle do I take? Self-sacrifice? Weight loss? If anyone out there has any suggestions, please throw them out. Unless they are good suggestions, in which case you can post them as comments.

Ramadan al-Karim

As you may or may not know, it is Ramadan right now. As you probably don't know, it is about 4 in the afternoon and I have been walking around a bit and checking out all the grumpy people. I have fasting myself today, so perhaps I too am a little grumpy.
Muslims aren't supposed to drink, eat, or smoke during the day. I think the third condition is especially difficult for a lot of people. I saw a guy trying to pull into a parking space and instead backing into a parked motor scooter and knocking it into another car, making a big dent.
It will all be worth it once iftar arrives and the party gets started. Just another couple of hours...

Welcome to all

Hello. I am Mr. Harry and this is my new blog. I should perhaps explain that while my real name is Harald, I often go by Harry here in Cairo, since it is much easier to pronounce for Arabic speakers. And there are a lot of Arabic speakers around. Last year I taught at an elementary school, where I was promptly dubbed "Mr. Harry". I have also been known as Dr. Harry, but this is a topic for another post.