Returnee Blues #1, 2026 – Mixed Media on paper, 50 cm x 65 cm | 19.6” x 25.6”

Thought I'd finally found a housekeeper to pop in once a week to assist with cleanup. But that was three Fridays ago, and every time she doesn't show up even though the date and time were of her very own choosing. Similar situation with the plumber who first promised to show up two weeks ago. I've set three different appointments with the mirror place, every time they say they'll call me the day of to confirm and never do. Carpenter too been dragging me on for four weeks now.

Not sure why the need to hound someone to do work for you before they do it even after they promise doing it is such a widespread phenomenon in Cairo. I remember only needing to contact a housekeeper back in Houston just once to agree on the day, time, and fees, and she stuck to the same schedule like clockwork for three years before I had to move (Tidyqueen, if anyone in Houston is reading this and looking).

It's such a tedious energy-sucking thing in Cairo, because on any given day I'm expecting someone to show up, I find it extremely difficult to lock in and really get into the zone of whatever project I have on my table; the anticipation of impending distraction lingering in the back of mind all day.

And some of the stuff that needs tending too isn't superfluous. We've got pipes blocked with weeks full of piss and shit at this point.

Now I know why all my homies have moved into compounds; a virtually non-existent development less than 10 years ago. They tell me whenever anything needs fixin', all they have to do is call a number and help is on the way in less than 24 hours. That's enough of a perk to explain the seemingly unquenchable compound craze that has taken over the country in recent years, but I still can't stand that shit. Nothing spells a seething distaste for “the plebs” quite like a gated “community”.

#journal #work #Cairo

Two belated additions to the new studio that are difficult for me to function without: a wall clock and notice board!

Small victories can be so satisfying sometimes.

#journal #studio #cairo

Public talk at Medrar in Cairo tomorrow.

Hopefully dentist doesn't fuck me up today. But whatever he does it'll surely be better than the don't-put-anything-in-mouth stage of gum-pain I'm currently in.

#event #Cairo

Life these days.

#journal #Cairo

Debris cleanup was a full 3-day process after electrician tore into walls. I'm starting to believe that the vast majority of Cairo dust is really the result of construction debris. There's so much across the city and it never ends.

Will no longer look down on drywall. Perhaps there are some benefits to using it after all.

#journal #studio #cairo

Two long trenches cut through my place now, the result of a plumbing job. Already got the tiles to cover them up, but don't want to do that before I'm through with the electric work which will involve tearing into the walls. No drywall around these parts, it's all brick and concrete, so it's bound to result in a big mess. Four days' worth of a big mess to be precise.

Electrician was scheduled for this morning, but he never showed up and wouldn't even answer his phone. Dude just threw away a big payday for some reason. By the time he called back, I'd already given the job to someone else, who comes through end of the week.

That's many more days than I would've liked to be living with these trenches in the house. Cairo's the kind of place that tests your limits in more ways than one.

#journal #studio #cairo

If you're even mildly OCD—and I probably fall a little higher up on the spectrum—Cairo is not an easy place to be.

But damn does the place have its charm. It's buried under multiple layers of tired dust and obscene filth, but it's undeniably there.

#Journal #Cairo #Egypt