Friday, November 18, 2011

Libyan Joy v's Lumber Pain.

I am fed up having a never ending cold- and just in case that wasn't hard enough to perform with, I managed to pull something in my lower back too.

I have been resting all week, hoping it would get better by itself, and yesterday I accepted defeat and started phoning round to find a good physiotherapist.I managed to get an appointment for Saturday, so my plan for Friday was lots of socialising... but no dancing. By the time I finished lunch with friends I was dizzy from the pain, despite (or maybe because of!) all the ibuprofen so took myself home to bed.

I had called the Pharaohs at 1pm and been told the Nile boat wasn’t sailing, so I knew I could have an evening to myself... but at 5.15pm I got a call from a manager there saying I had to be therefore 7.30, that it was sailing after all. I won’t type here what I said to myself as I hung up from that call!
2 hours notice... ok, if it’s just for me ok, but I have to get together my 6 piece band in that time, and not all of them live close to the boat. Eventually, at 6pm I had confirmation that my band would be there.... a stressful 45mins? Yes- you could say that! Added to the stress I already had wondering how to dance with a back that made me dizzy just sitting!

I arrived to the Pharaoh in record time; thank god the roads are so clear on a Friday. Today they were even more so since so many thousands of people were in Tahrir square today protesting against military court trails for civilians and to get a fixed date when the army would hand over power to the voted in government. Many believe that the army are turning the revolution into a coup. The Islamist groups were protesting today because some of the guidelines mean that even if they are voted in, then they will not have full powers to rule.

Anyway... I arrived at the Pharaohs at the same time as the National Libyan football team. Lots of very excited young men in tracks suits with far more energy than required for a Nile cruise.

I have to say that I survived tonight due to them. The energy was immense. They were all loving the show, but at the same time were very respectful to me. I heard none of the usual rude comments that I might overhear from a group of Egyptians of about the same age. I tried to get some up to dance but they wouldn’t dance. I think perhaps they had been warned not to do anything that might bring down the image of their country. That wasnt a worry for Zidane dancing with me a couple of weeks ago when the management for the Zamalek club brought him to my boat.. He was shaking his stuff with the rest of them! Mind you, that particular night there was also a large group of bellydancers in from UK, and they overshadowed him somewhat! To be honest, I didn't even know who he was, until i saw him a couple of days later on the addidas advert on TV here!

Tonight, after my show finished I went back at the end to watch the singer, and she sang waka waka. Wow, what a great music choice. These Libyan boys just went totally mental. Everyone was up dancing and loving it. Guests from other tables jumped up and joined in too. It was a fun night and the team were lining up to have their photograph taken with me before they headed off in their bus.

The adrenaline of it all kept the pain away until I sat in my taxi to head home. It was an unexpected night... but a good one. Let’s hope I wake up still able to move in the morning!!!

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