American Kidnappers In Egypt Treated Hostages “Like Family”

Being taken as an American hostage in Egypt might seem like a harrowing experience but a recently released American says they were “not at all afriad” because her hostage takers treated her “like family.”

The unidentified women told ABC News:
“They were very nice. I was not at all afraid. They kept on reassuring us that we will be fine. … They treated us like family.”
The American was kidnapped while traveling with five other people who were traveling from St. Catherine’s Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh. Only two American women and their Egyptian guide were taken.the Egyptian kidnappers asked that 33 Bedouin prisoners be released in exchange for the hostages.
After being released the two women said the governor of South Sinai invested them for dinner and accompanies them on their drive to Sharm el Sheikh to ensure their continued safety. The Egyptian government then housed the women at a luxury hotel and took care of their expenses.
Also included in the hostages trip was a visit to Cairo to view the Great Pyramids and a stop in Alexandria.
Despite being taken hostage the travels expect to keep their itineraries in place and the one identified female said: “I am not afraid to continue the tour. I am very much ready to continue, and I will continue to bring tourists to Egypt and Jordan.”

Would you head straight home after such a harrowing hostage situation or continue to enjoy your vacation and see your plans through to completion.

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Golf pro Mike Calbot a product of another era

Long-time Southwest Florida instructor and trick-shot artist Mike still relishing on-stage showmanship, here and abroad

Trick-shot artist Mike Calbot participated in a photo shoot at the Pyramids at Giza to help promote golf in Egypt. The long-time Southwest Florida instructor is not slowing down just yet. / Special to news-press.com

At first, Egyptian tourism officials had Mike Calbot hitting fluttery plastic golf balls a good 1,500 yards from the sacred Pyramids at Giza. Even with the balls’ unspectacular flights, kids scurried off to retrieve them.

Told where to stand and where to aim, Calbot switched to regular golf balls, launching them toward the Pyramids from what was still a safe distance.

“I’m the only golf professional to hit balls in front of the Pyramids,” Calbot, a golf instructor and trick-shot artist in Southwest Florida for more than 40 years, said of his promotional photo shoot in Cairo in December.

At first, Egyptian tourism officials had Mike Calbot hitting fluttery plastic golf balls a good 1,500 yards from the sacred Pyramids at Giza. Even with the balls’ unspectacular flights, kids scurried off to retrieve them

“They’re trying to promote golf in Egypt. They’re trying to promote history and golf. (It) was fabulous.”

It also was beautifully symbolic. The over-the-top event underscored the career of an affable, all-world talker who seems more a product of golf’s barnstorming past than its buttoned-down present.

Following his photo shoot at Giza, Calbot relocated to Soma Bay Resort on the Red Sea to perform a trick-shot routine so familiar it’s a wonder he doesn’t do it in his pajamas.

Hooks, slices, high balls, low balls — all struck on command — were mixed with shots from his knees, off elevated tees, with bent shafts and balanced on one leg on a chair, among others.

“I don’t want to stop,” said Calbot, who added Egypt to the list of international locales where he has made his most-lasting mark. “I’m trying to go eight years. I want to do another world tour.”

OLD SCHOOL

Born into a “very very poor family” of Italian and Irish immigrants in Philadelphia sometime after World War II but of a charmingly dubious time frame — “I’ll give you what’s on my current license,” he said. “It says 1952” — Calbot is far from the originator of golf trick-shot displays.

But his longevity, perseverance and diligence — not to mention stories that string together like links on a Rolex — make for fascinating listening, which is good considering his trick shots don’t travel the distances they once did.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20120201/ENT10/302010010/Golf-pro-Mike-Calbot-product-another-era?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CHome%7Cs

Egypt brings new fusion culture package to India

New Delhi: The recent political turmoil in Egypt is scripting a new culture of fusion and hope, the country`s envoy said at the opening of the Egyptian Cultural Week in India.

"Now that we have put a government in place and working on a new Constitution, we have crossed the major hurdle. There is a new cultural language of the younger generation that Egypt is listening to," ambassador Khaled El Bakly said here Monday evening.

The culture gala that set the mood for the week reflected the new spirit of the country that witnessed a revolution throughout 2011, leading to the ouster of the Hosni Mubarak government.

The culture festival opened at the Kamani theatre with a performance of modern Egyptian jazz followed by a contemporary dance choreography by a deaf and mute ensemble. It ended with an orchestra of Nubian drums, Egyptian tabla and a gypsy dance.

The genre of contemporary jazz music in Egypt has travelled an eclectic path to cobble together a fusion of the Arab, European, American, Indian and North African repertoire and sounds.

Cairo-based Amro Salah, who heads the Eftekasat jazz project - a world fusion music programme - describes his music as the new sound of Egypt.

"It is contemporary world jazz. We are trying to bring world cultures together through music. Our sounds are influenced by Indian culture, North African music, Balkan music and local Egyptian music," said Salah, the director of the Cairo Jazz Festival.

His six-member troupe, however, does not forget the American roots of jazz. "I have been influenced by American jazz composer Joe Sample." 

"Egypt has a very vibrant jazz scene - especially in Cairo. One should keep in mind that the history of jazz in Egypt - a cultural melting pot - dates back to the 1930s with the evolution of modern cinema and the world wars," Salah told reporters. 

Several foreign communities like the Italian, Greek and Germans lived in cities like Cairo and Alexandria, he added.

"They brought with them the early jazz music. Jazz also featured in Egyptian cinema in the 1840s-1950s. And legends like Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie have performed in Cairo," the musician said.

He said "a new wave of music was emerging in Egypt after the revolution".

"The large number of artists who came out to join the Tahrir Square protest in 2011 are talking about issues like freedom, change and the beauty of revolution through their music," Salah said.

The dance ensemble, "Egyptian Deaf Dance Theatre Company", which presented an act on "Cleopatra: The Queen of Queens", is planning a new choreography on Hosni Mubarak, the former president of Egypt.

The 12-member troupe from El-Mallaha-el-Qubra led by dancer Reda Abdel Aziz performs dance theatres sourced from historical narratives.

"It is difficult but we teach our mute dancers - all below 20 years of age - by tapping rhythms on to their bodies," he said.

The traditional Nubian drummers presented a variety of Egyptian percussions including the tabla.

This is the first culture package to come out of Egypt to India after the political upheaval. "Egyptians like Indians respect old traditions - the new judgement comes from there. We (India and Egypt) have been friends and we will remain so," the Egyptian envoy said.

http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/art-and-theatre/egypt-brings-new-fusion-culture-package-to-india_105050.htm