The solution to finding a snappy title is always to steal someone else’s. Preferably one relating to a blockbuster Hollywood flick. After 9 1/2 weeks of spending time in Egypt and around the region (not including the few good weeks of empty time I spent being stuck in Beirut in a mini civil war, dealing with traveller’s illness, and cleaning out my Cairene apartment), I thought it was about time to assess the data accumulated in a numerical way.

++Professional Data++
- Artists met in Egypt: approx. 40
- Curators and other art professionals met in Egypt: 15
- Gender ratio: 30% F, 70 M
- Shows, festivals and other events attended in Egypt: approx. 21
- Books, magazines & catalogues bought/received: 12
- Recommended: Maria Golia’s Cairo: City of Sand, Max Rodenbeck’s Cairo: the City Victorious, Alaa al-Aswany’s Yacoubian Building, Ahmed Alaidy’s Being Abbas el Abd, Bidoun

- Artists met in Palestine: 24
- Curators and other art professionals met in Palestine: 7
- Gender ratio: 40% f, 60% M
- Shows and other events attended in Palestine: 3
- Books and catalogues bought/received:7
- Recommended: Joseph Massad’s The Persistence of the Palestinian Question, The Second Riwaq Biennale catalogue, Al Hoash and Reem Fadda’s Palestinian Women Artists, the wonderful collection of essays on contemporary art and culture, edited by Palestinian artist Kamal Boullata, titled Belonging and Globalisation.

- Artists met in Lebanon: not applicable
- Curators and other professionals met in Lebanon: not applicable
- Gender ratio: not applicable
- Shows and other events attended in Lebanon: 5
- Books and catalogues bought/received: 10
- Recommended: Ashkal Alwan’s HomeWorks III catalogue, Etel Adnan’s experimental novel In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country, Alexandre Najjar’s civil war childhood memories: The School of War.

Artists missed because travel/foreign residencies/other:
- Egypt: 8
- Palestine: 7
- Lebanon: not applicable
- Gender ratio: 50%f, 50% M

Professional event participation: 4 (a lecture in Alexandria at Cleotronica, a screening in Beirut at the FIFVC festival, portfolio critique session at Cairo’s CIC, workshop feed back for the Townhouse’s Curatorial Program, Cairo)

- Preliminary number of identified artists to meet upon return to Cairo: 12
- Preliminary number of identified cultural professionals to meet upon return to Cairo: 7
- Gender ratio: 35% F, 65% M

- Number of articles written: 7 (including reports, reviews, interviews and feature articles)
- Number of blog posts: 7 (including this one)

Art & Culture events/things impressed most by:
- Zeina Maasri’s excellent exhibition “Signs of Conflict: Political Posters of Lebanon’s Civil War (1975-1990)”, shown as part of HomeWorks IV in Beirut.
- Hearing Mahmoud Darwish read in Ramallah
- Marwan Rechmaoui & Emily Jacir’ installations at HomeWorks IV, Beirut
- Hassan Khan’s lecture/performance at Homeworks IV, Beirut
- Coffee chat with Michael Rakowitz
- Mahmoud Refat’s zen-like stage presence and Biya’s funky music, at the 100 copies festival at the Goethe Institut in Dokki, Cairo
- The Townhouse Gallery’s Open Door Policy
- Tarek Atoui rocking the air-conditioned tent at Art Dubai with a blazing performance
- Egyptian artist Ayman Ramadan’s Cinderella story
- Egyptian artist Basim Magdy’s work
- CIC’s director’s Edit Molnar’s energy and intellectual generosity
- Khaled Hafez’ crash course in Egyptian political history and his spicy coffee brew
- The fresh design scene in Cairo: MoFa, Mahmoud Hamdy, George Azmy, Marwan Fayed, etc
- The drive and passion of the guys at Medrar
- Samar Martha’s guiding me around in Ramallah
- The coolness of Idioms Films and Zan collective in Ramallah

++Travel Data++
- Number of flights: 8 (Cairo, Tel-Aviv, Beirut, Damascus)
- Number of airlines used: 4 (KLM, MEA, Egypt Air, Air Sinai)
- Number of train rides: 1 (Cairo - Alexandria)
- Number of cities visited: 7 (Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Damascus, Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Ramallah)
- Number of borders/checkpoints crossed: 5
- Amount of passports: 2 (1 normal Dutch passport, 1 business Dutch passport)
- Temperature average: 34

++Personal Data++
- Number of sim cards: 4 (NL, EG, IL. LB)
- Number of languages, most mixed-up: 4 (English, Dutch, Hebrew, Arabic)
- Amount of accidents: 2 (one car crash, one slip down the stairs – no real casualties)
- Number of insomniac nights: 40 (in Cairo mostly due to heat, noise and pollution)
- Days at the pool: 1 (Nile Hilton in Cairo)
- Days at the beach: 1 (el Sokhna in Egypt)
- “must-do” urban experiences in Cairo: Kowloon Restaurant in Downtown, Felucca trips on the Nile, Crossing Tahrir Square with a20kg suitcase, Cairo Metro women’s carriage, Cairo rush hour, fteer in Downtown, pedicures at Tarek’s Nail Place, finding tofu at Zamalek’s Alfa Market, ISIS/SEKEM organic products, rooftop at the Greek Club in Downtown, Mugamma, AUC Bookstore, 2am shopping at Metro market in Zamalek, hanging out at Bodega in Zamalek, coffee&cake at the Mariott, Abdel Zaher bookbinders, escape to Alexandria via Ramsis train station, koshary at Abu Tarek in Downtown.
- “must-not-do” urban experiences in Cairo: anything involving Khan Khalili, Cairo rush hour, eating tirmis at Horeya café, overpriced manicures at snooty Villa 33, looking lost in Wust el Balad as a woman by herself, expecting service/quality at Omar Effendi (or any other shop), “Made in Egypt” household appliances (avoid!), leaving windows open during khamseen, leaving the house without a scarf, Mugamma, expecting courtesy from men on the street, witnessing the busloads of scantily dressed tourists at the Egyptian Museum (haram!), coffee at Groppi’s, expecting the noise to die down, public praying, getting caught up in a demonstration critical of the government, Egyptian police.
- Number of dates: 1,5 (success rate: poor, numerically not representable!)
- Number of shopping sprees: 9 (success rate 80%)
- Number of bad food experiences Cairo: weekly, Beirut: none, Ramallah: none
- Number of fights with cabbies: Beirut: 1, Ramallah: none, Cairo: weekly
- Number of political conflicts during stay: 3 (civil strife in Lebanon, occupation of Palestine, dictatorship in Egypt)
- Number of evacuations: 1 (from Beirut in May to Damascus)