was a heaving ramadan crowd, midnite on a friday in front of Al Ahzar Mosque.

giant Mamluk style minerets and thinner Ottoman style needles cut up on the horizon - a donkey stopped traffic, the lights i call christmas lights they call ramadan lights blinked warmly - it was all very postcard.

"shes looking at you"
"who"
"ahhhh HELWA - zat one!"
"ah"

a girl complex pattern on her hejab, a beige outfit, and huge almond shaped arab/persian eyes smiled at me, whipped a turn and cut through the crowd of ramadan night revelers.

a man stood from a chair in some kind of spontaneous comedy routine, i followed her through the crowd.

she cut left through the medeviel back streets, through the now closed spice market that still stung my eyes, there was a dead end alley with a fire burning in the end, we past ancient gates and catfights, the constant boom-tikka-tikka-boom of egyptian drums and the singing of smiling ancient men made me dizzy for unclear reasons, and she kept on looking back, smiling, then whipping around and striding gracefully like a deer in the forest. she cut towards a large crowd quickly, they were gathered around a drummer joining in on the chorus "ya.. habibiii" and i kept up the pace and

she waved me along

suddenly i realized ahmed was next to me, and had been trying to follow me.

"where you going?"
"the girl"

the girl was feigning interest at some jewlry at a nearby silvershop window.
i approached, she whipped around dramatically, like an arab woman should, smiling. a curl of blue black hair curled out of her hejab - something like a tit falling out of a tight dress in the states.

she smiled and tucked it in.

"hello"
she said