Here in Sohag we are visiting weavers. Big time weaving.

The Akhmim weavers work on huge hand-and-foot-and-assistant operated looms. We watched as the shuttle flew across the great width of the fabric, and the assistant manipulated the pattern by pulling on wooden bobbins hanging along the side. It was incredible to see. The fabrics they created were beautiful natural cotton and linen colors with patterns of subtle colors—gold, blue, brown and light green—heavy and fine. There were tablecloths large and small, bed covers, and clothing. Anwar, the owner of the workshop, showed us the newer, bigger building under construction that will house 17 looms that he will build himself. He employs not only weavers but several to string the looms, young women to finish the edges of the fabrics and others to iron and package the pieces. He hires a tailor to make the clothing too.

We made a quick visit to a Coptic Orthodox organization that teaches weaving to people who need assistance but don’t want to take charity. Proceeds from the goods they produce provide monthly salaries to the weavers and the young women doing the finish work.

Back at the workshop Anwar cleared the tables in his finishing room and began bringing us lunch—trip after trip from the kitchen with platters and bowls of traditional Upper Egyptian foods. There was fresh bread, tomato-cucumber-parsley salad, bamya—a soup of okra & tomatoes, rice and pasta, molakhaya—the green soup that apparently only I like, pigeons stuffed with barley, roast duck, grilled duck, and watermelon. It was all delicious and we were reminded of the great generosity of our Egyptian hosts.

If there is such a thing as a slow day on this whirlwind tour, this was it.We were able to sleep in and didn’t need be on the road until 10:30 or 11:00.

Our destination was the nearby village of Hagaza to visit a woodworking group.I was eager to see their shop and to compare it to the shops I know back home.We had an easier time finding this group since the owner met us in Luxor and rode with us in the taxi.We turned down narrower and narrower streets until we came to the work place which was small, and busy.Three young men were doing finish work (final shaping and sanding) on some wooden birds.The shop owner showed us around and I took lots of pictures of tools and supplies and carpenters at work. They make lovely trays, toys and decorative sculptured pieces.He took us to his lovely home—still under construction after six years.After our conversation, as we were getting up to leave we asked him what the outdoor temperature was today and he said “50”—that’s centigrade, folks.My companions with conversion skills told me that equals about 120 degrees F.The saying about mad dogs and Englishmen and the noonday sun made a lot of sense!

We returned to Luxor and set up temporary quarters at the hotel we had checked out of this morning.They were so accommodating!Amr had some computer work to do so Denise, Carrie and I went for a walk to find a cool place for lunch.We enjoyed delicious mezzez (all the appetizers you would associate with the Middle East) and mango juice which could only have been better if the room had been air conditioned.Keep thinking 120 degrees.

Amr called as we were walking back toward our hotel so we detoured to the nearby “fancy” hotel where we enjoyed a beverage in their comfortable air conditioning while waiting for the evening train to Sohag.And after a pleasant (air conditioned) three hour ride we are here.Our hotel room balconies overlook the Nile—a beautiful view for the next couple of days.Did I mention the rooms are air conditioned?

We had just one group to visit on Monday, but I was really looking forward to seeing where those wonderfully soft Egyptian cotton scarves and shawls are made.

The Nagada weavers were about an hour’s drive from Luxor and we hired a van to take us there. While Luxor is filled with tourists, they don’t go where we were headed We knew there would be checkpoints and though security keeps track of foreign travelers for our own safety, sometimes their good intentions keep you from going where you need to go! Sure enough, the driver and Amr had to do a lot of persuading to get permission for us to pass. We got to the village and made the requisite number of phone calls and inquiries for directions and finally saw Mariam waving to us from the street. We followed her to her family home where we met the people behind my favorite Egyptian craft—Mariam, her sister, and their elderly parents, all weavers. There were two looms in a back room, low to the ground, and when I looked at the women weaving I realized they were sitting in holes in the floor so they could operate them. Mariam demonstrated how the cotton threads are spun onto bobbins. She told us that she buys the different colors in Cairo and decides what stripes and checks will sell. She is a very smart business woman and it is a testament to her father and the rest of the family that she is given this responsibility for their business. They hire others from the village as weavers, finishers (tying fringe), and ironers. They pay good wages and charge fair trade prices for the products so they can continue to do that.

The parlor table was loaded with samples of scarves and shawls in every imaginable color and stripe. We all purchased some and I bought a nice variety to show shop owners back home.

When we got back to Luxor we were hungry and looking across the street from our hotel I saw the Oasis Café—where I had eaten on my one previous visit to Luxor.I looked on down to the corner and there was the Presbyterian church. Suddenly I felt like a Luxor veteran! Denise and I walked down the corniche and back after lunch. It was hot but we just strolled. Fending off the offers of taxi and horse drawn carriage rides (all the drivers baffled when we turned down offers to get out of the heat!) we made our way back to the hotel where we cooled down and rested.

A really nice day.

As we made the short drive from Aswan to the village, I noticed the same basic style of buildings but they were painted in wonderfully bright colors.

The Nubian basket weaving group gathered for our meeting at what appeared to be a school—rooms surrounding a large open courtyard.We were met by a man who worked as director of the association located there.The women started arriving one by one.They were all dressed in black (I have to remind you that it is hot, over 100 degrees, most every day in Aswan) and in varying degrees of covering.Most wore a head covering; a few I could see only eyes with hands and feet covered as well.The women were all ages; two were "supervisors"; most participated in the conversation with enthusiasm; they even took a vote while we were meeting.Whatever demeanor I might have expected from such an austere appearing group was soon proved wrong.They were quick to laugh and smile and tease, and eager to show us their craft.They demonstrated braiding, dying, basket weaving—if we asked a question they scurried to gather materials and show us rather than tell us.The baskets were colorful and I wished I had room to pack some to take home!As we left, one of the ladies reminded us that Egypt and the US were playing in the big soccer tournament in South Africa tonight and we told her we were already betting among ourselves.She shared her cell phone number with Amr so we could be in touch when Egypt beat the US!

Back in Aswan we caught the afternoon train to Luxor and checked into our hotel with time to shower and relax a bit before the soccer match.Amr found a "fancy" hotel where we could watch.Egypt took the first shot at a goal, but from then on the US dominated the game.It was a bit of a puzzle why so many people in front of the television were cheering for the US--I think the three of us were the only American's in the room!Amr’s phone rang several times as friends called to commiserate—one of the calls was from the woman in the village of West Aswan who offered us her good natured congratulations.

I'm going to bed at 3 a.m. after a quick koshary dinner—and I’m a long way from where I started this morning!

Still in El Fayoum, we visited a women’s group making olive oil soap and a community of basket makers.We had to cut that last visit short (which is not easy to do in Egypt where even this brief stop brought out bowls of juicy honeydew melon and fresh apricots).

I really enjoyed the soap making group.The women were waiting for us when we got there and we soon were talking and laughing together.They told us that they learned to make soap as an offshoot of an education initiative in the community.They have tried different recipes, and were interested in the sample soaps Carrie brought from the US (they remarked "ours is better" when they smelled the olive oil soap sample!).It was obvious that they felt empowered by their commercial venture, and sales were good.Carrie had some suggestions for improving production and adding some pizzazz to their packaging.I love watching the looks on faces as new ideas are introduced.

We got lucky on the traffic returning to Cairo considering it was Saturday afternoon and the end of the weekend, so we had an hour or so to spend back at Ramses College before flying to Aswan for our Upper Egypt leg of the tour.Amr joined us at Ramsis and off we went.It was only an hour flight, following the Nile all the way. I love where we are staying tonight—the Paradise Hotel.(Now I can truly say I’ve been to Paradise when I get back home!)We walked the corniche looking for a place to eat before realizing we all wanted koshary instead of a sit-down meal.

So look on your maps and you will see that we are down, down, down—make that up, up, up!—about as far south as you can go and still be in Egypt.That’s where I am for the next several days

Today was pottery day.We visited three producer groups around El Fayoum—one was truly special.

Rawya Pottery was our first stop.Rawya is a 33-year-old woman who began her career as a potter in her teens when she made friends with the daughters of a Swiss woman who had a ceramic workshop near her village.“Madame Evelyn” eventually gave her some clay to play with and found Rawya’s little animals to be charming.She began teaching her how to use a wheel and after she became proficient Rawya was offered a job in Evelyn’s workshop.Rawya’s creations were good enough to sell and Evelyn began to market them for her.When she was 22 they took the pottery to France for an exhibition and a four month stay.Other young women who had started learning the craft had married and dropped out by then, but Rawya had refused the marriage planned by her family because her art was so very important to her.She eventually left Evelyn’s employ and opened a workshop of her own.She is a woman to contend with—a creative powerhouse!

Rawya told us her story from the beginning, and we met her two daughters who also seemed very at home around a pottery wheel.In fact Sarah, the eldest, had some small pieces in the showroom with her mother’s.The pieces I am bringing home will always be special to me.

Down the road was another workshop and some extraordinary art pieces we enjoyed seeing.After lunch we drove about 30 km to a community where about 300 craftsmen made more functional unglazed pottery.They produced the very traditional, very Egyptian utilitarian pots and jugs used by rural folk all over the country.The kilns were wood fired, sadly by very young boys that day, and the smoke poured out of centuries-old chimneys next to equally antiquated workshops.

I’m seeing places I would never have known about were it not for this opportunity to travel with Carrie on our just trade tour.I am looking forward to tomorrow—and the next day, and the next!

The interview and assessment of producer groups is a very interesting process.

Our first meeting with one of the Egyptian Hands producers—a brass and leather workshop—took place today.We traveled across Cairo to a three room shop where the owner and ten employees make brass jewelry and accessories and leather purses, computer bags and wallets.The products were nice quality—I had seen some of them last year in the Egypt Crafts shop.But when the questions, answers and analysis got underway I saw what a comprehensive process it is.Carrie really tried to get to know the group and the craftspeople were very eager to show her what they had to offer and how they understood fair trade principles.I know there were gaps in fair trade ideology, but I am hopeful that dialogue can continue and Partners for Just Trade can see ways to accommodate cultural differences, and producers in this part of the world can see the value in the models PJT employs in Peru.

The meeting lasted five hours! If it hadn’t been for the hard wooden bench where I was parked for most of that time, I don’t think I would have noticed how long we talked.I suspect each of our upcoming meetings with the various producers will be equally involved.It is a really great experience.

We headed out from the meeting for El Fayoum—with a “fast food” stop for shuwarma, and falafel.The traffic was horrific—Thursday night is the beginning of the weekend.We did the usual dance trying to find our lodgings for the night, asking directions from people who don’t really know but want to help anyway, and we finally found it.We’re staying at an ecolodge, located on a nature preserve near the Valley of the Whales (a tremendous fossil sight), and Lake Quarun.The buildings are quirky, sort of southwest freeform adobe-like, decorated with pebble designs and children’s drawings. I love it!We enjoyed a great supper of shish kabob, lentil soup and all the extras.We have a big day tomorrow, visiting area pottery groups, and Carrie and I have a night of lost sleep to catch up on…