30 August 2021

"On Your Side: Nurturing Your Professional Relationship with Casting Directors"

 

[As part of Rick On Theater’s occasional series on the work of professionals in show business with whose jobs most audience members are probably unfamiliar, I’m posting three related articles from SAG-AFTRA magazine, the quarterly publication for members of the union for actors in the film and television industries.  They relate to the work of casting directors, the professionals who help find the talent for roles in film, television, theater, commercials, and other related performance work.  They negotiate contracts, manage a casting budget, and coordinate and hold auditions. 

[Casting directors play an essential role in the entertainment business, providing a short list of candidates for consideration by the director, producer, and, in theater, the playwright, who make the final casting choices.  They coordinate and hold auditions according to the relevant union’s rules and screen the dozens and even hundreds of actors trying out for the roles.  Most casting directors periodically hold their own auditions (or, nowadays, solicit taped auditions—see below) to maintain a file of actors upon whom they can call when a suitable project starts casting.

[As readers can see, developing a good relationship with casting directors is an important part of an actor’s career management.  The article below, from the Summer 2021 issue of SAG-AFTRA (vol. 10, no. 3) is based on the advice of several casting directors who work in film and television (though most casting agencies work in all performing media, including theater) on establishing and maintaining that professional relationship.]

For today’s working actors, cultivating and maintaining professional relationships is as important as it’s ever been, none more so than the ones with casting directors. At times, it may feel like this dynamic is one-sided, but the truth is casting directors greatly value their relationships with actors. Not only will they advocate for performers, but also some remain invested in a performer’s career well beyond the duration of an initial project.

“When we meet someone and see something in them, we more actively follow that actor’s career to see what they’re doing and where they’re getting hired,” said former Casting Society of America [CSA] Co-President Russell Boast. “There are actors who I’ve been trying to hire, literally, for 25 years.”

As in any other field of work, maintaining these relationships requires constant effort. The best way to build a rapport with casting directors is to have great auditions under your belt — after all, casting directors are sought out by directors and producers for their unique connection to talent, and building a positive reputation through auditioning can be a career-changer.

The first thing to remember is that every audition requires preparation. As an actor, it’s easy to focus solely on rehearsing your lines — and taking time to rehearse is important. But take some time to also do a little research. Review the director’s past films or, if auditioning for a television series, be sure to watch several episodes to understand the show’s tone.

Casting directors will be doing this as well, and Angela Peri, CSA, and Lisa Lobel, CSA, of Boston Casting in Massachusetts note that this research helps them better understand a project.

“All directors have a style, and when we’re working with [someone new], we’ll watch two or three of their movies beforehand,” said Peri. She advises actors to, “Really do your in-depth analysis, because the deeper you go, the better the performance.”

For those working in larger markets, it’s a good idea to research the casting director. That may mean looking back at your past work to see if you’ve previously auditioned for a casting director, or even finding articles and interviews about them. Taking these extra steps can prevent you from committing certain faux pas and lets you know more about what casting — and, ultimately, the director — is looking for.

Said former CSA Co-President Rich Mento, “Social media is a really good way that actors can get to know casting directors. There are a lot of us doing podcasts and interviews now, and there’s so many things I learned from listening to my colleagues, [and] actors can really make use of what’s out there.”

Auditions are the best way casting directors get to know you. But to make the most of your professional relationship with casting directors, it’s important that you also take time to get to know them as well.

No two auditions are alike, and every type of role — television, film and commercial — requires a different approach. But the one thing that every casting director is looking for is connectivity: Do you understand the character? In what ways are you bringing yourself into the role? And how quickly do you show that in your audition?

“I always say to actors that it’s about the first five seconds,” said Atlanta casting director George Pierre, CSA. “Whether it’s a live [audition] or even via Zoom, I should be able to turn my back to you and feel what you’re presenting.”

Connectivity is even more important when it comes to self-taped auditioning [see article below]. Casting directors are aware that self-taping presents some difficulties, including fewer opportunities to give actors direct and timely feedback. But Boast and Mento note that remote auditioning offers opportunities as well.

“If you’re in the room with me, I’m probably redirecting you — and even if you get the job, you’re [following the director’s cues]. So, really, that first self-taped audition is the only time in the entire process you’re completely in control,” said Mento. “There’s power in that, and I think that actors should be more excited about [having that aspect] than disappointed that they can’t be in the room.”

Mento’s words should be taken to heart when it comes to aspects of your delivery such as your emotional range and character choices. But for all other aspects of your self-tape — lighting, background and clothing — remember that the opposite is true: Keep things simple and subtle.

“People start to get really elaborate with their auditions, but less is more,” said Lobel. “Give nods to the world that you’re portraying through your clothing, but don’t go all-out with costuming, don’t try to recreate the set and stick to your lines — don’t improv!”

Added Boast, “And remember that, in addition to the business of it all, this audition is another opportunity to act; be bold and try to enjoy the creative process! Don’t get too caught up in the technology of self‑taping; we’ll see beyond the setup if you’re doing great work.”

Above all, remember to review the tape before you send it!

Still, even with research and preparation and taking the proper steps to deliver great in-person and self‑taped auditions, you can still be passed up for a role. Handling rejection isn’t something only actors experience; casting directors also face rejection, whether it’s being turned down for a project or having an actor they recommended ultimately not be chosen. But what’s important is to not let a setback affect you too strongly. Always be looking ahead.

“[Auditioning] is a constant interview,” said Pierre. “Don’t let one rejection — or 100 rejections — deter you from pursuing what it is that you love. There’s eventually going to be a ‘yes,’ and that one will turn into [more work].”

Instead of focusing on the part you didn’t get, take effective steps to ensure you’re ready for the next opportunity that can — and will — present itself.

“I’m a retired actress, so I really know what [experiencing rejection] is like, and, if I can, I try to [advise] actors on what they can do moving forward,” said Peri. “Really become a contender and be your own manager. Start actively looking for work and peacock a little bit: Change your headshot and update your resume, get on two or three online services, and look for an agent.”

“And if you’re constantly being asked to audition for multiple projects at the same office, take that to mean a casting director sees something in you and is choosing to spend [their] time on you,” added Mento.

There will come a time when a “no” becomes a “yes,” and you’ll find yourself working on-set, but that doesn’t mean your professional relationship with a casting director is over. Your conduct on set is not only a reflection of your professionalism, but that of the casting director. Instances of poor “set-iquette,” whether to the director or crew, can make its way back to casting and lead to long-lasting consequences.

“If I hear word from the set that [someone I cast] was actually rude and disrespectful for no reason, that hits home, /because I’ve had that done to me as a [production assistant],” said Pierre. “Don’t just show the producers and directors respect because you feel they’re the ones that are going to make it happen for you. You’re only as good as your last project, and the PA on set one day can end up being a producer [on another set] the next day.”

There are few constants in the industry, but one thing that remains true is that casting directors are invested in actors’ successes.

“We miss the actors and [in-person] sessions; I miss giving that direction,” said Lobel. “But auditioning is part of the process and I think that . . . us calling you in should show you that we are on your side and believe that this role could be perfect for you.”

[CSA is the professional association for casting directors in all media.

[Russell Boast is a former president of CSA and the head of its Equity in Entertainment and Training and Education committees.  As co-founder and owner of Manwiller/Boast Casting, his television and film credits include FX’s The Fix and No Ordinary Man.

[Richard Mento is also a former co-president of CSA.  In a career of over 20 years, Mento has cast theater, film, television, music videos, and new-media projects.  He’s best known for Remember Me, Dear John, the Step Up franchise, and U2’s Song for Someone” video.

[Angela Peri and Lisa Lobel, both members of CSA, are co-owners of Boston Casting, the New England region’s largest casting agency.  Boston Casting specializes in film, television, commercials, and more.  Their previous projects have included Knives Out, American Hustle, and The Equalizer movies.

[George Pierre, a CSA member, is the owner of George Pierre Casting in Atlanta.  He’s been involved in BET’s Being Mary Jane and Creed.]

*  *  *  *

“WATCHING YOUNG PERFORMERS GROW”

If you’re a young performer moving away from children’s roles, landing a gig can be especially difficult. At times, it can even feel as though the odds are stacked against you or that your career is ending. But know that casting directors are on your side, even as you’re moving through that phase.

Casting directors understand that you’re in a unique time in your career during which you are developing new skills. Oftentimes, they are using the audition to provide you with feedback to make you better.

“We want to help nurture [young performers] and see how their [performing] changes over time,” said casting director Suzanne Goddard-Smythe, CSA, during SAG-AFTRA’s Audition Tips for Parents and Young Performers livestream on Jan. 5 [2021]. “So, if we keep wanting to see you, that’s good!”

And while many young performers worry that a less-than-stellar audition or taking a hiatus will cause permanent damage to their careers, the casting directors said that’s not necessarily the case.

“If there’s a period of time where an actor feels like they need to take a break or would rather be doing other things, they probably should, and that’s okay,” said casting director Howie Meltzer, CSA. “But if it’s someone we feel passionate about, we’ll likely call [their representative] and find out what’s going on.”

“We want you to feel great about the audition and that it’s a great experience. If you get the part, that’s great — but if you don’t, you’ll be remembered for something else,” added casting director Monika Mikkelsen, CSA.

*  *  *  *

“THE CHALLENGES OF SELF-TAPING”

[Self-tapes are what many actors and casting directors refer to when an audition is done through digital casting—rather than trying out in person, performers submit video of their audition.  For some actors, this can be more daunting than an in-person audition while for others, it can be less stressful. 

[At present, self-taped auditions seem to be most popular in the casting of television and film work, but as it increases in popularity with both actors and casting directors, it will most likely become common in stage casting as well.  There are many websites, including SAG-AFTRA’s, with tips and advice for making audition self-tapes.]

In the entertainment and media industry, change has always been the one constant. While it would be nice if performers could focus on their craft to the exclusion of all other concerns, actors have always had to be flexible, as the profession demands they run their careers like a business.

Over the past year, with social distancing and lockdowns, audition self-taping has risen in prominence. But the pandemic only accelerated a trend that was already on the rise, and it’s clear that self-taping is unlikely to go away completely. While there are certainly advantages of self-taping, SAG-AFTRA has heard from members about the artistic, technical, financial and time-related challenges self-taping poses for many of them.

The union understands those challenges and is engaging with industry partners at Directors Guild of America [DGA] and Casting Society of America to determine a path forward that works best for all parties, because it’s clear that there will be a hybrid model going forward, with some casting directors preferring self-tapes and some projects requiring them.

The union understands that fighting technology is not a winning strategy; SAG-AFTRA wants to make it work in your favor and help you to be as competitive as possible in this new reality. That’s why SAG‑AFTRA and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation have offered numerous panels and workshops on the topic, as well as articles in SAG-AFTRA magazine and on the website.

Whether it is self-taping, the threat of deepfakes, the dramatic increase in the use of streaming services or any of the thousand other ways technology is impacting the industry, the union will continue to do everything it can to work on your behalf and provide tools to help you adapt.

[The importance of self-taping auditions was already on the rise before the pandemic, but it’s now becoming an ever‑more-critical skill for actors.  Additionally, you can edit your video on your phone.  There are a lot of resources online that offer advice on how to make a great self-tape, including some SAG-AFTRA-sponsored panels.  View them at https://www.sagaftra.org/videos.

[DGA is the professional association for directors in television and film; it should not be confused with the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), formerly known as Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC), the association of theatrical directors and choreographers.]


25 August 2021

German News Clips About My Father

 

[In “Home Alone, Part 2” (posted on Rick On Theater on 15 June 2015), part of a three-part posting of letters my father wrote my mother from Germany in 1962, I included translations of two local newspaper articles about Dad’s arrival in Koblenz when he took up his post as director of the Amerika Haus there.  My mother joined him in October, but he spent September alone getting started with his job and seeing that their house was ready for occupancy.

[I explained my dad’s position in the U.S. Foreign Service in “An American Teen in Germany, Part 1,” posted on ROT on 9 March 2013 (Rick On Theater: An American Teen in Germany, Part 1).  To reiterate briefly, the Amerika Haus (the plural is Amerika Häuser; its official designation was U.S. Information Center, but we habitually called it by its colloquial German name), a facility with a library and auditorium/meeting hall for concerts, readings, lectures, receptions, and performances.

[Dad’s agency was the United States Information Agency (USIA), known abroad as the U.S. Information Service (USIS), the cultural propaganda—officially called “public diplomacy”—arm of the U.S. Foreign Service. 

[The two local papers, the Rhein-Post and the Rhein-Zeitung, ran profiles of my dad, the new Information Center Director (the official job title), and he sent them home to Mom with one of the letters.  I translated the articles and posted them with the transcribed correspondence.

[When I helped my mother move to a new apartment in 2013, I went through a box of odds and ends saved from the decades up till then—going back in many instances to the years before my parents even met, including their childhoods. 

[That’s where the Koblenz letters had been stashed—but also in the cache of memorabilia were three more clippings from German papers with other articles on my father or his job from the years he was posted in Koblenz (1962-65).  I’ve been looking for an opportunity to translate and post them as well.

[The 1962 articles were both about the same thing: the reporting for duty of the only U.S. civilian official in the region.  (There was a small detachment of army signal corps soldiers and two liaison officers, one from the army and one from the air force, attached to the German III Corps, which was based in Koblenz.)  The articles below are each different; my dad was a figure of local news interest! 

[The three articles report on several of the many aspects of Dad’s work as Information Center Director.  We’ll hear about his commenting on American history and politics, hosting a performance by American artists, and presenting a prominent U.S. official giving a talk on U.S. economic policy—all, of course, for local German audiences.

[One article, for instance, came out the weekend after our Independence Day (Jahrestag der Unabhängigkeit; literally, the ‘Anniversary day of independence’).  The Fourth of July was an official event for my father while he was in Koblenz; he hosted a reception at the Amerika House for the Koblenzers whom he was meant to cultivate as the focus of his job. 

[A few words about the translations below: Though I will be as accurate and precise as I can be, I want to make the English renderings as reader-friendly as possible.  Toward that end, I’ll take the liberty of occasionally translating freely.  German can come out stiff and formal if rendered literally.  I’ll also use American standard punctuation rather than follow the German practices in the articles.

[I also don’t want to interrupt the flow of the reports, so when there are things I think need explanation or comment, I’ll save them for an afterword following each translation.]

Rhein-Zeitung [Koblenz] Saturday/Sunday, 6/7 July 1963: “187 Years USA: The Words were also followed by Deeds.”

Reception at the Amerika Haus — Warm Bond with the Community

The day before yesterday, the 187th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America was celebrated.  In Berlin with a military parade and gun salutes at the Airlift Monument, in Koblenz a more civilian, but just as cordial connection with the German people.  Once again, quite a large number of their representatives accepted the invitation to the Amerika Haus.  For the first time, the members of the Amerika Haus Association could also be welcomed.

The Director of the Amerika Haus, E. M. K*****, said in his brief commemorative speech that 187 years ago, the U.S. Declaration of Independence triggered a permanent revolution.  It continues to this day.  But the mere proclamation of a number of principles does not guarantee that they would actually be implemented.  It is necessary and essential that actions and procedures accompany the declaration, otherwise one would have nothing more than a beautiful-sounding document of limited value.  In the archives of the world, there are many documents like that gathering dust.  The principles of personal freedom and independence set out in that Philadelphia document are so universal and all-encompassing that it is unrealistic to assume that they can be achieved in one go or in a single effort.  The history of the United States over the past 187 years has been an ongoing effort to achieve and expand these original goals.  The actions of the United States for the benefit of large parts of its own population and in support of other nations, new and old, around the globe, have demonstrated abundantly its deep commitment to universal principles and concepts.

As the spokesman for the German participants, Regierungspräsident Dr. Schmitt underlined the importance of Independence Day as a revolutionary event in human history.  The astonishing rise of the United States of America to be the premier leading political and economic power in the free world has at all times been subject to the law of the freedom of nations and individuals, as it was epically expressed in the stunning proclamations of the great statesmen of this nation, of a Jefferson and of a Lincoln.

Today, the national holiday of the United States is an event that also directly affects Europe and Germany.  For the free people of the world are joined with the United States, and the assertion of European freedom is not possible without the alliance with the U.S.  On the national holiday of the USA, the German people also made known their gratitude for the crucial help for the German economic and political reconstruction which the New World rendered after the war.

[I can’t shake the feeling that this uncredited journalist was reporting my father’s own words in part of this article.  (The other part was the words of Reigierungspräsident Schmitt.)  Dad probably would have written a speech in German, with the help of the Amerika Haus staff (who, except for him, were all Germans) rather than in English, which the reporter would have had to translate.  (I assume that, as with most official speeches by government representatives, the press were provided written texts of Dad’s remarks.)

[By the time he held this reception, Dad had been in Koblenz for nine months.  He arrived with a knowledge of spoken German and he would have had time to improve since.  In addition to his office staff, he was surrounded by Germans; we didn’t live in an American compound—our neighbors all were German and so were the service men who kept the house running (fireman, gardener, carpenter, and so on)—and his job was to reach out to the community leaders of Koblenz and the surrounding region. 

[I witnessed many of the occasions when he had to converse or speak in German for his work, and we spoke German when we were in town for any number of reasons such as dining and shopping.  I was also present when Dad gave a lecture in German to local students on the American Civil War—so I know he was capable. 

[Dad’s remarks were clearly consonant with his official duties, praising the United States and its founding principles, and presenting it and the purpose of the celebration in the best light.  That, in a nutshell, was the job description for the Information Center Director.  Not, of course, that he didn’t believe his own words.

[I was present for one Fourth of July reception—I’m pretty sure it was his first, which makes it 1963 (which happens to be the date of this article).  Mom and Dad, who were encouraged to entertain in as an “American” way as possible, decided to introduce Germans to American cocktails—mixed drinks weren’t a thing on the Continent in the early ’60s—by serving Orange Blossoms (gin and orange juice) as the tipple of the day.

[Now, accompanying the article is a photo of a man, presumably the Regeirungspräsident (RP), introducing my father, standing to his left.  [Dad is a shockingly young man, being only 44 at the time.]  Schmitt is behind a lectern, turned slightly to his left and my father, who’s wearing a slightly self-conscious grin.

[Schmitt’s holding a glass in his right hand as if he was just completing a toast; one can just make out that the drink in the glass is opaque, suggesting that it’s an Orange Blossom, rather than, say, a glass of good Rhine or Mosel wine, the more common Koblenz reception drink.  (Koblenz is situated on a triangle of land formed by the confluence of Germany’s two premier wine-producing rivers—the Rhine on its east and the Mosel on its north and  west.)

[Now, a note or two from the article: The Berlin Airlift Monument (formally, in German, Denkmal für die Opfer der Luftbrücke, Monument for the Victims of the Airlift, or simply, the Luftbrückendenkmal, the Airlift Monument) is a commemoration of those who served in the 1948-49 Operation Vittles, otherwise known as the Berlin Airlift (24 June 1948-11 May 1949).  The airlift was launched to relieve the blockaded West Berlin when the Soviet Union cut it off from its supply sources in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). 

[(Readers may note that the German word for ‘airlift’ is Luftbrücke.  Literally, that means ‘air bridge.’  That’s a means of delivering material from one place to another by air as if over a bridge in the sky.  An air bridge is the means by which an area in a hostile or threatened territory is kept supplied by flying over enemy held territory.  West Berlin was in hostile territory because it was 110 miles inside the German Democratic Republic (the GDR or East Germany.), a Soviet satellite; it was threatened because of the blockade which halted deliveries of food, fuel, and medicines.)

[Constructed in 1951, the Airlift Memorial was outside the entrance to Tempelhof Airport, which was also a U.S. air base and served as the Berlin end of the air bridge.  (The other end was Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt.)  Tempelhof is now closed, but the monument’s still in the landmarked Platz der Luftbrücke.

[Coincidentally, ten years after this article, I was stationed in West Berlin in the army.  (I was there for two Independence Days—1972 and 1973.)  During my tour in Berlin, the commander of Tempelhof Air Base (1970-74) was Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen (b. 1920), who’d flown in the Berlin Airlift.  He became a hero to the children of Berlin—who became the adults running the city by the 1970s—and was known as the Candy Bomber because he dropped Hershey bars from his plane.  

[(Colonel Halvorsen also once flew me back to Berlin after I’d used an air force flight to go on leave.  I call this incident “my little brush with actual history” and I recount it in “Berlin Memoir, Part 7,” 29 March 2017.)

[The reason Berlin’s Independence Day celebration was so martial was that it was a major army and air force post for U.S. forces during the Cold War.  (Also French and British.  The Soviets had a large military presence in East Berlin, of course, and their headquarters was in Potsdam, 22 miles southwest of Berlin in the GDR.)  There may have been as many as 10,000 U.S. troops in West Berlin when I was there.

[The Amerika Haus Association (Amerika-Haus-Verein) was established to promote intellectual and cultural exchanges between Germany and the United States.  It promoted events at the Amerika Häuser such as lectures and conferences on developments in contemporary American politics, culture and society, and economic policies.  The association also promoted arts programming at the Amerika Häuser such as concerts, readings, art exhibits, and theatrical performances that complemented this mission.

[The Regierungspräsident of Koblenz to whom the article refers was Dr. Walter Schmitt (1914-94).  (Schmitt’s doctorate was in law; he’d previously served as a district court judge.)  He was appointed RP in 1957 and served until 1967.

[A Regierungspräsident, the head of an administrative district, was a uniquely German political office.  The closest we could come to it in the United States would be a county executive, but the parallels are inexact.  A Regierungsbezirk is a district within a state, in this case the Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), the German state of which Mainz is the capital and in which Koblenz is located. 

[There were three Regierungsbezirke in the Palatinate: Koblenz, Rheinhessen-Pfalz, and Trier; they were dissolved in 2000, like most Regierungsbezirke in the reunited Germany.  Currently, only four German states out of 16 in total are divided into Regierungsbezirke.  The RP is an appointive managerial office, under the jurisdiction of the Minister President (Ministerpräsident) of the state (Land), the equivalent of a governor in the U.S.).

[I guess it’s self-evident that the Jefferson and Lincoln whom RP Schmitt named are Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States (1801-09), and Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), the Great Emancipator, leader of the Union during the Civil War, and 16th President of the United States (1861-65).  They were also two of my father’s historical heroes.

[Finally, I imagine it’s also obvious that “the war” to which the article refers in the last sentence is World War II (1939-45).  The help the article mentions is almost certainly the Marshall Plan (officially, the European Recovery Program), which provided economic aid to countries of Western Europe between 1948 and 1952 to rebuild the region.  Aid went to nations on both sides of the conflict, Allied and Axis.  The Federal Republic of Germany received one of the largest parcels of financial assistance.  Then, too, came the Berlin Airlift.

[Politically, the U.S., with its wartime allies France and Britain, established the FRG as a liberal democracy from their occupation zones in 1949 and guaranteed the freedom of West Berlin.  The Western Allies accepted the FRG into NATO in 1955. 

[Furthermore, when President John F. Kennedy (1917-63; 35th President of the United States: 1961-63) delivered his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in the divided city on 26 June 1963—an event at which my father was an official guest—he made a powerful statement about the U.S. and the West’s staunch support of Berlin and the FRG—and endeared himself eternally to the German people.]

*  *  *  *

[The article below is not directly about my father, but it’s about his work.  The report is on a speech given by the U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic at the Amerika Haus in Koblenz.  Municipal dignitaries attended the address and my father, as director of the Amerika Haus, was the official host of the event. 

[The article is accompanied by an uncaptioned photo of Dad standing to the left of the ambassador, who was, of course, the senior U.S. Foreign Service officer in Germany and my father’s ultimate boss in country.

[The Rhein-Post, a regional newspaper that published local editions in towns around the district—this clipping was from the Koblenz edition—ceased publication in 1964.]

Rhein-Post [Koblenz] Thursday, 7 November 1963: “USA pushes for European Integration.”

Ambassador George McGhee spoke before the Chamber of Commerce and Industry

KOBLENZ – On Tuesday, the President of the Koblenz Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Barth, greeted His Excellency the Ambassador of the United States, George C. McGhee, who came to Koblenz to give a speech on " Commercial Expansion and Economic Growth in the Atlantic Community," a joint event of the Amerika Haus and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

What attention was paid to the address of His Excellency can be seen from the fact that numerous representatives of public life from politics, administration and business, including Regierungspräsident W. Schmitt; Mayor Macke, who is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Amerika Haus; and General Gaedke were present.

Mayor Macke outlined the extremely sensitive position of the America House in his address.  While reading the thoughts and political maxims on the memorials of Presidents Lincoln and Jefferson, he realized that despite culture and history, Europe had not yet had statesmen like Lincoln and Jefferson. 

In Europe, power has always been the instrument of politics, in the United States, on the other hand, humanism is put into effect and practiced.  It is not so important that the Mona Lisa has been brought to the U.S., but rather it is more important to bring humanism to Europe.  This seems to be the mission of the Amerika Haus.

Ambassador McGhee gave a detailed speech on trade and the economy of the past ten years.  It could rightly be said that the EEC was an economic success and initiated a strengthened exchange of goods among the member states.  The U.S. decided in 1957 to endorse the EEC and to support its formation, despite recognizing the possibility of discrimination against goods from non-member states.  Nevertheless, the greater goal of European integration justified this cost.

The slowdown of the European integration process would be deeply regretted.  He [i.e., Ambassador McGhee] hoped to reflect Germany’s position accurately, saying that both countries, the U.S. and Germany, hoped for an opportunity for renewed talks on the question of Great Britain’s admission to the Common Market.

In the EEC, the U.S. is facing a partner of almost equal strength for the first time, and precisely because they are so similar to one another, these two economic bodies have to work together if they do not want to split up.

In the forthcoming negotiations, the United States and the European Economic Community could expand mutual access to their markets on a basis that would be mutually beneficial.  Major tariff reductions by the United States, the EEC and other trading nations can go a long way towards alleviating problems such as those arising from the so-called “customs gap” between the EEC and EFTA.

[Gustav Adolf Barth (1900-77) was President of the Koblenz Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Industrie- und Handelskammer [IHK] Koblenz) from 1960 to 1965.  He was a Doctor of Law.

[George C. McGhee (1912-2005) was United States Ambassador to West Germany from May 1963, just after my father arrived at his post in Koblenz, to May 1968, after Dad returned to the States.  (While Dad was at the Amerika Haus in Koblenz, his immediate superior was the Consul General in Frankfurt; when he was transferred to the embassy in Bonn as the Cultural Affairs Officer, the ambassador became his ultimate boss in Germany.)

[A sidelight: the embassy staff officer who oversaw the consular activities, including the Amerika Häuser, was the Deputy Chief of Mission, the embassy’s second-in-command after the ambassador.  During McGhee’s tenure, the DCM in Bonn (1963-67) was Martin J. Hillenbrand (1915-2005); he was effectively Dad’s day-to-day boss.  

[West Berlin, which wasn’t officially part of the Federal Republic—it was still occupied territory from World War II—had a U.S. Mission, our diplomatic office in the politically sensitive city.  The ambassador to the FRG maintained an office at the Berlin mission and in June 1972, about a year after I arrived in Berlin as an army officer, a new ambassador took up his post in Bonn.  He was Martin Hillenbrand.  One afternoon when Hillenbrand was in Berlin, I paid a call to say hello and reintroduce myself to him after a decade.

[It was part of USIA’s mission to present all aspects of American life—its arts, its politics, its history, its core values, and so on—to the German people, starting with their civic leaders from all sectors of the society.  Addresses like this one and performances like the one in the article below, as well as other events, both formal and informal, were the bulk of my father’s work.

[Willi Werner Macke (1914-85) was Mayor of Koblenz from 1960 to 1972. Lieutenant General Ludwig Heinrich Gaedcke (1905-92) was Commanding General of the III Corps (Bundeswehr), headquartered in Koblenz, from 1961 to 1965.  These and the other men named in these three articles were all people that my father met with and occasionally socialized with, among numerous others from various sectors of Koblenz society, as part of his job. 

[At one time or another while we were living in Koblenz, I met Mayor Macke and General Gaedke; the general and his wife were part of the social circuit on which my parents often traveled; his Weinabende (the German equivalent of cocktail parties, literally ‘wine evenings’) were legendary for their strict adherence to German-style rules of etiquette and comportment. 

[I don’t recall ever having met IHK President Barth or RP Schmitt, though I may have.  Over the three years of Dad’s tour in Koblenz, I met many of the Koblenzers with whom Dad made contact as part of his job.  They were the leaders of the various segments of the community—and some were our neighbors, such as the director of Koblenz’s largest department store, the Kaufhof, Hans-Josef Kaesbach (1918-2012), who lived next door to us.

[In Koblenz—the set-up was different when Dad was transferred to the Bonn embassy—we lived in a U.S. government-owned house, but there was no U.S. residence compound.  We lived, as the expression among Foreign Service people is, “on the economy,” and our neighbors and the local business people with whom we did daily business were Koblenzers.

[Dad was mandated to cultivate the local residents and, as part of his responsibility, so was Mom.  The wives of the men such as those who attended the ambassador’s lecture were the province of my mother, who was an integral part of Dad’s work.  Mom was known to us in those days as “Mrs. Fifty Percent” because during his training, Dad was told that spouses were 50% of the USIA officer’s job. 

[On Tuesday, 8 January 1963, 10 months before this article was published, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” made its first appearance in the United States, exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

[The EEC, or European Economic Community, was the forerunner of the European Union; it was sometimes referred to as the European Common Market, or simply the Common Market.  The EEC was created in 1957 and was absorbed into the E.U. when it was formed in 1993.

[The “customs gap” is defined as the difference between the theoretical import duty that should be collected and the actual import duty collected.  Any gap in customs-duty collection must be made up by higher Gross National Income contributions from member states and ultimately borne by European taxpayers.

[EFTA is the European Free Trade Association, formed in 1960 by nations which weren’t members of the EEC, including the United Kingdom, to be a counterweight to the EEC.  Since 1973, with the admission of the U.K. and Denmark to the Common Market, and the subsequent membership of many of the founding nations of EFTA, only four remain: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.  With the departure of most of its members, EFTA has lost its importance with respect to the EEC (or, later, the E.U.).

[The “forthcoming negotiations” referred to in the article were probably the Kennedy Round, the session of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) multilateral trade negotiations held between 1964 and 1967 in Geneva, Switzerland.  Named for U.S. President Kennedy, who was assassinated six months before the opening negotiations (I call your attention to the date of the article above, just 15 days before the president’s death), the discussions officially opened on 4 May 1964.]

*  *  *  *

Trierische Landeszeitung [Trier regional newspaper; Trier (Treves)] Monday, 9 March 1964: “German-American Library Director K***** introduced himself.”

Reception in the German-American Library

At a reception he gave, the new director of the German-American Library in Koblenz and Trier, Eugene M. K*****, took the occasion of the chamber music evening of the American Kroll Quartet, hosted by the German-American Library in the Treviris, to introduce himself to a larger circle in Trier.

Personalities from the intellectual life, the cultural and intergovernmental organizations of Trier, the armed forces and the trade unions had come to the German-American Library, along with French friends led by Consul Marcel Schublin.

A lively exchange of ideas quickly ensued, and those present found the opportunity to thank K***** for the work of the library and the events it had held.

K*****, who came to Germany from Washington about a year-and-a-half ago and then took over as director of the German-American Library, assured the TLZ [Trierische Landeszeitung ] that the few visits he has been able to make to Trier so far have made him aware of Trier’s great cultural importance.  The German-American Library would have a special task in Trier, however, especially due to the border location of the city of Trier and in view of Trier’s importance as a school town.  In books and lecture events, it [i.e., the library] strives to impart awareness of the American way of life and to present the view of the U.S. on contemporary problems and desires to have a conversation with the Germans about them.  That is why he [i.e., Director K*****] is pleased with the interest that young people in particular are showing in this work.

[Accompanying the report is a photo of my father among four men dressed in white-tie-and-tails.  All five men are holding wine glasses as if making a toast, and I presume the four in evening dress are the musicians of the Kroll Quartet.  The caption reads: “The director of the German-American Libraries in Koblenz and Trier, Eugene M. K*****, took the guest performance of the New York Kroll Quartet as an opportunity to introduce himself to a larger circle of Trier’s leading figures.”

[Trier, formerly known in English as Treves, is a city on the banks of the Mosel River in the Rhineland-Palatinate, 100 miles southwest of Koblenz.  The German-American Library in Trier (known in German as DAB, for Deutsch-Amerikanische Bücherei) was a satellite facility of the Koblenz Amerika Haus, so my father was its director ex officio.

[A word about the materials in the DAB’s, including the Amerika Haus library in Koblenz: the collection was divided into two general categories of books and other publications.  One category was works of literature, but only American literature.  They may have been in German translation or in English, but library patrons wouldn’t find Cervantes, Dumas, Dante, or Mann on the shelves. 

[The second category of holdings were books and other materials about the United States.  Covering as many aspects of the U.S. as can fit in the facilities, this material would also be available in German or English—but these materials could be authored by writers from anywhere in the world.  For instance, a reader would be likely to find Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America in the DAB as well as John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage..  

[The Treviris was the common nickname for the Katholisches Vereinshaus Treviris (Catholic Association House), a monumental secular building erected in 1895 and demolished in 1974.  (Treviris is a Latin name for Trier from the time it was a Roman provincial capital.)  After Trier’s municipal theater was destroyed in World War II, the Treviris served as an event venue from 1947.

[The Kroll Quartet was an American classical string quartet active between 1944 and 1969.  Its membership in 1964 comprised William Kroll (1901-80) and William Stone, violinists; Harry Zaratzian (b. 1922), violist, and Avron Twerdowsky (1915-78), cellist.  It was part of Dad’s responsibilities, and a major element of the USIA mission, to present American performing and fine artists and the works of American artists, writers, and thinkers. 

[Among other events my father hosted, in addition to this concert by the Kroll Quartet, was a reading (in German) of Edward Albee’s 1960 absurdist one-act play The American Dream and a performance by actress Celeste Holm and her husband and partner Wesley Addy, who were on a State Department-sponsored goodwill tour.

[Dad also arranged for performances by young American artists to show off our artistic accomplishments.  Nearly every German town has at least an orchestra or an opera troupe, and larger towns, like Koblenz, had both, plus a ballet company and a municipal theater.  Because the U.S. doesn’t have the same cultural environment, American artists come to these small companies to work when their careers are just beginning.  So when an American singer, musician, or dancer was part of one of the Koblenz companies, Dad tried to arrange for a recital at the Amerika Haus. 

[Marcel Charles Schublin (1920-94) was a French diplomat who served as French Consul and Chief of the Chancery in Trier from 1957 to 1965.  (In the diplomatic field, the chancery is the building of a foreign mission that houses the diplomatic offices.  The embassy is actually the ambassador’s residence.  No one observes this distinction, however, and it’s commonly understood that the embassy is where the offices are and the ambassador’s quarters are simply called “the residence.” 

[Chef de la Chancellerie, Schublin’s French title, seems to be the equivalent of what we’d call the Chief of Mission, the senior diplomat at the post.  Schublin, who spoke fluent German, was also instrumental in founding the Deutsch-Französischen Gesellschaft/Association Franco-Allemande (German-French Society) in Trier in 1957.  The “French friends” of which the report speaks were probably members of this organization.

[Trier, or Trèves in French, was seized by the Franks from the Romans in 459 and became part of the Kingdom of Eastern Francia, the successor to Charlemagne’s empire, in 870 until it was absorbed into the Holy Roman Empire in the 9th or 10th century. 

[In the 17th and 18th centuries, Trier was coveted by France, which finally succeeded in taking the city in 1794.  France held onto Trier until after the Napoleonic era ended in 1815.  Then, after World War II, Trier, Koblenz, and all of the Rhineland-Palatinate became part of the French Zone of Occupation until 1949.  After that, France continued to maintain a presence in the Palatinate, both militarily and diplomatically.

[Dad arrived in Koblenz to take up his post as Information Center Director (aka: Director of the Amerika Haus) at the end of September 1962, 17 months earlier—just shy of 1½ years.  Incidentally, while he waited for our house to be readied and my mother to join him, Dad stayed at the French Club, which was the former French officers’ club from when Koblenz was part of the French occupation zone; it was renamed the French Club and opened to all, becoming one of our favorite places to eat.  (I had escargots [snails] there for the first time, and salade niçoise.)

[The city of Trier’s “border location” is that it sits only nine miles from the border with Luxembourg, and 30 miles from France and 58 miles from Belgium.  As to why Dad referred to Trier as a “school town” (Schulstadt), his point isn’t clear.  The University of Trier was founded in 1473, but closed in the 18th century; it was reopened, but not until six years after this report was written.  Two other university-level institutes operate in Trier today, but they both post-date Dad’s tenure in Germany.

[As in any city, there are dozens of kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools, including Realschulen and Gymnasien, but that doesn’t seem a rationale for characterizing Trier as a “school town.”  (A Gymnasium is a university preparatory school much like a prep school in the U.S., a college in the U.K., or a lycée in France.  A Realschule is a step below that in the German school system, preparing students through 10th grade for entry into vocational school, technical college, or the mid-level civil service.


20 August 2021

Travel Journal: Israel & Egypt, 1982 – Part 12

 

[“Travel Journal: Israel & Egypt, 1982 – Part 12,” posted below, is the final installment of my account of my journey around Israel and Egypt almost 39 years ago.  Those ROTters who’ve read along with the postings since Part 1 I hope will agree it was an extraordinary experience; I hope, too, that I’ve conveyed that on the blog.  

[Remember that this trip was only possible in 1982 because of the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty signed just 3½ years before.  My parents had gone to Egypt several years earlier, but they couldn’t have gone from Egypt to Israel or vice versa at that time—and, in fact, never got to Israel in their lifetimes.

[This final section of the chronicle, which also ends the recovery of my uncompleted contemporaneous journal (see my note on Part 3, posted on 17 July), covers the last day of my cruise down the River Nile and my departure from Egypt and return to the U.S.

[If you’ve not been among the visitors to Rick On Theater who’ve been following along with the whole account, I invite you now to go back to 11 July and start with Part 1.  The sections are posted continuously, with a break after Part 5 (23 July) for a topical report on theater news; the journal entries recommence with Part 6 on 2 August and continue till this last entry.]

Day 4 of Sheraton Nile River Cruise/Luxor – Wednesday, 29 December

The visit to Luxor—another ancient capital of Egypt under the Greek name of Thebes (during the period of the New Kingdom, ca. 1570-ca. 1077 BCE)—started first thing.  We went ashore at 8 a.m. to tour Luxor’s West Bank (we’re talking the Nile here, not the Jordan, of course). 

Luxor, often called Egypt’s “open-air museum” because of all the historical sights in the immediate area ought to take a couple of days to see comfortably, but the river cruises only allow a day at most (I imagine some stick around for less).  The West Bank contains one of the largest collections of archaeological treasures in the world.  Hence, the early start.

The Nile cuts Luxor in two.  On the East Bank is the city, where both ancient Thebans and modern Luxorians live and work, and where the two famous temple ruins are found and where visitors will find most hotels, restaurants, and shops. 

The West Bank of Luxor is where the ancient Egyptians buried the dead.  Every night, the sun sets on the West Bank, so this became the Theban Necropolis, containing mortuary temples, monuments, and tombs, and including the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. 

(Mortuary or funerary temples are temples erected next to or near royal Egyptian tombs to commemorate the reign of the deified pharaoh for whom they were constructed.  The New Kingdom temples were dubbed “Mansions of Millions of Years” or “Temples of a Million Years” as an expression of the pharaoh’s intention to live for eternity in the afterlife.)

As we arrived on the West Bank of Luxor, right near the parking lot, we were greeted by the Colossi of Memnon.  These monumental twin statues of Amenhotep III (reigned: 1390-1352 BCE) look eastward towards the Nile.  The two seated statues, erected in 1350 BCE, tower 60 feet in height. 

The statues are badly damaged; the features of the pharaoh are nearly unrecognizable.  They were intended to serve as guardians for Amenhotep’s mortuary temple, the largest and most lavish temple complex in Egypt, which stood behind the colossi.  Little remains of the temple, however, due to erosion by the flooding Nile, cannibalization by later rulers, and earthquakes.

The Valley of the Kings is a royal burial ground for pharaohs from the New Kingdom, as well as powerful nobles and the wives and children of the pharaohs.  Famous kings from this period include Thutmose III, Tutankhamun, Seti I (reigned: 1290-1279 BCE; he may have been the pharaoh at the start of the enslavement of the Hebrews, during the time of the abuses which led to the Exodus), and Rameses II.  

Their tombs, over 60 in this small area, were constructed between 1539 and 1075 BCE.  (And, yes, this is the legendary burial place of King Tut, discovered in 1922 by British archeologist Howard Carter [1874-1939], whose house is on the West Bank just outside the necropolis—kept much as he left it.)

Though the Valley of the Kings may have included the burial place of Hatshepsut, Egypt’s second known female pharaoh (reigned: ca. 1479-1458 BCE; the first was Twelfth Dynasty Sobekneferu, reigned: 1807-1802 BCE), the Valley of the Queens was the burial site of the pharaohs’ wives.  

The tombs here are smaller and lack some of the grandeur of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings . . . with one big exception: the tomb of Queen Nefertari, wife of Rameses II and the dedicatee of the Small Temple at Abu Simbel (see Part 10).  It’s one of the most spectacular tombs in Egypt, with remarkable architectural detail and more vibrant colors in the wall paintings than in many tombs, temples, and pyramids in the country.

Among the wonders of the Theban Necropolis is Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, her most famous architectural achievement.  Her actual tomb is in debate—there are several burial places in the necropolis, including some in the Valley of the Kings, that may have been her final resting place, and one mummy, buried with that of another female associated with the queen, that’s been identified as Hatshepsut.  But her mortuary temple is undisputedly one of the monuments on the cliffs of Deir el-Bahri, part of the necropolis.

The colonnaded structure has a much different appearance than many other temples in Egypt, but that’s part of what makes it so noteworthy.  Nonetheless, most of the ornamental statuary is missing—her successors Thutmose III (her nephew and stepson) and his son Amenhotep II had launched a campaign to erase Hatshepsut’s reign from the historical record—and a mistaken attempt at restoration in the early 20th century has altered the temple’s original appearance.

Living up to its sobriquet as part the world’s greatest open-air museum, there are scores of sites on Luxor’s West Bank worthy of seeing (though, I have to confess that unless you’re a professional or amateur Egyptologist, the temples, tombs, pyramids, and burial sites all start to seem alike at some level).

Among the monuments of note are the Mortuary Temple of Rameses III; the Ramesseum, the mortuary temple dedicated to Rameses II; and the Mortuary Temple of Seti I.  Of further interest is Deir el-Medina, the ancient village where the artisans who worked on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings lived.  Tombs were built here for some of the most prominent workers. 

Excavations of the artisans’ village, particularly those around the same time that the world was fascinated with the revelations from the tomb of King Tut, provided the most information ever gathered on the community life among the working people of ancient Egypt.  Details about every aspect of the lives of the ordinary Egyptians in the village, occupied from the middle of the 16th century BCE through the end of the 11th, were revealed.

Finally, in another gathering of burial sites are the Tombs of the Nobles, carved into the rocky hillside.  These were the tombs of high-ranking Egyptians, servants of the pharaohs, officials of Thebes, or other dignitaries.  Like the workers’ village, the nobles’ tombs offer a change from the grandiose repetitiveness of the royal monuments.

We returned to the boat at noon-ish for lunch, then at 2:30, we went into the East Bank to see the Temples of Karnak and Luxor.  (Karnak was another site that figured in the Roger Moore Bond flick The Spy Who Loved Me which was filmed on location here in October 1976.  Readers who are Bond fans will remember the scene at Karnak as Moore’s big fight with Jaws [the late Richard Kiel].  Scenes for the 1978 film version of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile were shot in some of the same locations in late 1977.  See my remarks in Part 9.)

Formally known as the Temple of Amun, Karnak was a complex of temples built over 2,000 years and dedicated to Amun and two other deities.  (Amun was the patron god of Thebes who ultimately was combined with Ra, the sun god, and thus became the king of the gods.  The Greeks associated him with Zeus.)

Started in the Middle Kingdom, around 2000-1700 BCE, and continued into the Ptolemaic period, 305-30 BCE, the temple complex is a ruin today but still shows evidence of its former magnificence.  It was the largest religious building ever built, covering nearly 300 acres.

When the Persians conquered Egypt in 343 BCE, followed by the Greeks (332 BCE) and then the Romans (30 BCE), Karnak diminished in importance and was slowly abandoned.  By 323 CE, Roman emperor Constantine I (ca. 272-337 CE; reigned: 306-337) recognized Christianity, and in 356 CE, Emperor Constantius II (317-361 CE; reigned: 337 to 361 CE) closed all pagan temples throughout the Roman empire, including Egypt.  A number of the abandoned temples at Karnak were converted to Christian churches.

Luxor Temple, also known as the Southern Sanctuary, was unique in that it was dedicated not to a god or a deified pharaoh, but to the rejuvenation of kingship.  An annual religious festival involved a procession of the statues of the deities Amun, his wife, and their son from the Karnak temple complex.  (Reminds me of the San Gennaro Festival in New York’s Little Italy which starts with parading the saint’s statues through the streets.)  Later celebrations would see the statues travel down the Nile by sacred boat, and a ceremonial re-coronation of the pharaoh.

Built around 1392-1213 BCE, the Southern Sanctuary is a graceful temple complex, though far simpler than Karnak.  In ancient times, the temple would have been surrounded by mud-brick houses, shops, and workshops, but after the decline of the city, Luxorians moved into the partly covered temple complex and built their city inside it.

We were back on board the Tut by 5 in the afternoon (for Afternoon Tea, natch), followed by dinner and the usual evening’s pastime.  This was our last night on the Nile and our penultimate night in Egypt.

Day 5 of Sheraton Nile River Cruise/Luxor – Cairo – Thursday, 30 December

On Thursday morning, we had breakfast on the boat, said our good-byes, and checked out, putting ourselves back in the hands of Egyptian Express and Unitours.  We had a couple of hours to kill in the morning, so I wandered a little around the East Bank and essentially window-shopped.  With a population of around 260,000 in 1982, Luxor’s a bustling little city—even if it is surrounded by hordes of ancient monuments (“the world’s greatest open-air museum,” remember?)—and the sightseeing doesn’t allow much time just to look around at the modern surroundings.  So I did.

But I had to keep my eye on both my watch and where I’d wandered off to, because I had to be back to catch our transport to Luxor International Airport at 2:30 for our 3:45 EgyptAir hop back to Cairo.

It was a short flight, so we landed at quarter of five and were whisked right off to the Sheraton Heliopolis Hotel [now called the Sheraton Heliopolis Hotel, Towers & Casino—it seems gambling has become the attraction for coming to contemporary Cairo], the hotelier’s airport hotel where we spent the night. 

The upscale enclave of Heliopolis, established in 1905 by a Belgian industrialist as a suburb of Cairo, is now a district of the capital city just 15 minutes from Cairo International—handy if you have an early flight. 

DEPARTURE & HOMECOMING

Cairo/New York (and points between) – Friday, 31 December

Everyone had different flight schedules, and I don’t remember my departure time or what airline I was flying.  (It wasn’t Alitalia, which I flew to Israel, because I didn’t stop in Rome.  The itinerary was written for Olympic Airways, the Greek carrier, but I didn’t fly that, either, since I didn’t stop in Athens.) 

What I do remember is that my flight left Cairo and stopped in Istanbul (suggesting that I was flying Turkish Airlines, but I don’t recall that being the case) and went on to Brussels.  I changed planes there and flew on to JFK in New York. 

I remember this because when I first looked at my ticket, I thought, ‘Wow!  I’ll be setting down on four continents!’  Cairo is in Africa, Brussels is in Europe, and New York, of course, is in North America.

But I’d been thinking that Istanbul was in Asia Minor, which is western Asia—but, of course, it’s not.  It’s in the tiny part of Turkey that’s in Europe.  (In my defense, poor as it is, I hadn’t been to Istanbul yet.  I got there in 2010 [see my report posted on 24 June 2010].  I just . . . Don't know much about geography—with apologies to Sam Cooke [1931-64].)

In any case, I got home after something like 15 hours of flying-and-waiting.  (I don’t recall another five-hour lay-over like I had in Rome on the flight over.)  According to my passport, that got me back in New York City sometime in the late evening New Year’s Eve.  It was probably the wee hours of Saturday, New Year’s Day, by the time I got through customs and got back to my apartment in Manhattan.  I took an airport bus out when I left, so I probably did the same to get home.

I imagine I was exhausted and jet-lagged when I got to the apartment.  But I was also satisfied.  This trip in 1982 and the one to China in 1980 were both before traveling got unpleasant.  I don’t mean going places—that’s almost always great.  I mean the getting there.  It’s turned nasty and brutish, to coin a phrase, sometime in the ’90s. 

[This concludes my transcription and recovery of my travel journal of my trip to Israel and Egypt in December of 1982.  The latter part, the reconstruction of the trip after I stopped writing the journal, was much harder than I anticipated. 

[It took not only reliance on the Unitours, Egyptian Express, and Sheraton Nile Cruise itineraries, but some research (mostly for the specific sights we saw because without contemporaneous notes, I wouldn’t have remembered most of the details after 39 years) and some occasionally extensive Internet searches regarding locations like hotels and the Nile cruise ship to determine if they were still around under the same names.

[The personal reminiscences, as well as the consequences of aspects of the voyage in the ensuing years, are entirely from my memory of the experiences.  As I wrote the post, I was a little surprised at what I recalled.  The journal was supposed to be an aide-mémoire, but I wasn’t prepared for it to have worked so well.

[As I’ve said, I intend to transcribe the other two old travel journals sometime in the near future.  I’ll be continuing with the 1980 journal of my visit to the People’s Republic of China, the second-oldest of the three chronicles, and then transcribe the account of my high school trip to Poland and the USSR from 1965.  (As I observed in my introduction to this post on Part 1, ROTters will know about this last trip from “Going to a Swiss International School, Part 5.”) 

[Both of those journals were completed as I made the trips, though I’ll still provide present-day commentary as I transcribe them.  I hope you’ll all come back when I post those accounts in the coming months.]


17 August 2021

Travel Journal: Israel & Egypt, 1982 – Part 11

 

[“Travel Journal: Israel & Egypt, 1982 – Part 11” covers my second and third days on the Nile River cruise, with visits to Aswan (which I missed, as you’ll read) and the temples at Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Esna. 

[Again I urge readers who haven’t followed along for the whole journey to go back and read the preceding parts of my account.  Parts 1-5 were posted on 11, 14, 17, 20, and 23 July, and Parts 6-10 on 2, 5, 8, 11, and 14 August.  There will be one more installment of the journal after Part 11.]

Day 2 of Sheraton Nile River Cruise/Aswan/Kom Ombo – Monday, 27 December

When I retired last night, I felt a little punk—nothing serious, so I chalked it up to a very long day (which, you’ll recall, started at 2 a.m. and lasted till past 9 p.m. or so—19 hours; see Part 10).

When I woke up this morning, I was head-achy and my sight was a little bleary.  I was on the cusp of feeling a little queasy, too.  As I said earlier, I don’t normally suffer from tourista, so I assume that wasn’t the cause of my discomfort.  The boat hadn’t gone anywhere yet, so I discounted seasickness—to which I’m not usually susceptible, either.  (Can you even get seasick on a river boat?)

At breakfast, the cruise guide made a suggestion: heat or sun stroke.  We’d been in the desert all day the day before—pretty much all of Egypt is in the Sahara and we’d tromped around Abu Simbel for a couple of hours and then added the rest of that long day.  I concluded that that’s what it was

I decided it would be better to stay aboard the boat for the morning rather than risk getting any worse and ruining the whole trip down the Nile.  The boat was cool and the lighting was low, especially in the cabins.  So I stayed below and, as the French say, j’ai pris mes aises—I took it easy.

Well, I did say that the desert clime eventually got to me, didn’t I (see Part 7)?

By the time the rest of the group got back around noon, I was feeling much better. 

(I’d missed the High Dam and the older Low Dam—built in 1909—the Philae Temple, and the granite quarries.  The temple was another ancient monument, from the 7th or 6th century BCE, moved to save it from the waters of Lake Nasser and the granite quarries of Aswan, which today serve as outdoor museums or sculpture gardens, once supplied the stone for many of the monuments we’d seen elsewhere, such as the burial chambers of Zoser in Sakkara (Part 7), and Cheops, Chephren, and Mykerinos in Giza (also Part 7).  London’s famous Cleopatra’s Needle was also hewn in Aswan.)

While we ate lunch, the boat set sail for Kom Ombo, about 30 miles downstream from Aswan.  At 3 p.m., we disembarked at the Temple of Kom Ombo.  I was feeling well enough that I rejoined the travelers; I was just a little careful about sun exposure and over-exertion for the rest of the day.

There is a town of Kom Ombo, a farming community (mostly sugarcane and cereals)—almost all of Egypt’s crops are grown in the narrow strip of arable land along both banks of the Nile—but the temple is on the river bank and the boats dock and unload right there.  We only stayed an hour before reboarding and setting sail for Edfu.

The Temple of Kom Ombo appears to be a rarity among ancient Egyptian temples because it’s dedicated to a number of deities rather than just one.  (There are also architectural anomalies in the design of the temple as well.)  It dates to the Ptolemaic period, around 180-47 BCE (when the Greeks ruled Egypt)—though there was an older temple on the site from the reign of Thutmose III (reigned approximately 1458-25 BCE) and there are echoes of that past. 

Thutmose’s temple was dedicated to the crocodile-headed god Sobek who’s associated with pharaonic power, fertility, and military prowess and also protects against the dangers of the Nile.  Among the finds in the ruin were the mummies of several crocs.

At 4 p.m., we set off for Edfu, 40 miles farther down river from Kom Ombo, where we docked for the night. 

After tea and then dinner, instead of the disco, the cruise held a Galabia Party.  It was named for the floor-length robe worn by Egyptian men and women that’s a loose-fitting, traditional Egyptian garment from the Nile Valley.  Most, I believe from my brief observation, are made from Egyptian cotton, considered among the finest varieties in the world.

While I was still in Cairo, it seemed almost everyone I saw, from guides to workers and merchants, was wearing a galabia (pronounced ga-la-BEE-yah), which came in white for summer and heavier fabrics in plain grey, dark green, olive, blue, tan, or striped patterns for colder weather.

The thing was that the galabia looked so damn comfortable and easy that I decided to get one to wear at home.  Many street vendors were selling them, so I shopped while I was out walking on our free day (Part 9) and bought a dark blue-on-light blue striped one to take back with me.  [I wore it so much around the apartment that it eventually fell apart.]

The Galabia Party on board the cruise ship was essentially a cocktail party, but with silly games emceed by the boat’s staff.  The games all had an Egyptian motif . . . if you don’t mind cultural stereotyping: walking like an Egyptian painting or statue [inspired somewhat, I assume, by the Steve Martin “King Tut”sketch on Saturday Night Live; the song “Walk Like an Egyptian” didn’t come out until 1986—but the painted and carved images were all around us every day], belly dancing, dressing like a mummy, and other nonsense. 

Points were awarded and prizes handed out at the end.  I confess that I skipped this event because I felt I’d already pushed my still-slightly-shaky condition a little during the day.  It was a bit of a shame, too, since I actually already owned a galabia.  Most of the others had to buy one or rent one for the night from the ship’s “bazaar.”

Day 3 of Sheraton Nile River Cruise/Edfu/Esna/Luxor – Tuesday, 28 December

After breakfast, we disembarked at 8 in the morning and made for the Edfu Temple.  Once again, there’s a modern town, and here even an archeological tell south of the town with ancient pyramid ruins; but we spent only two hours at the temple, dedicated to the god Horus, depicted as a man with a falcon’s head.  Horus is one of the most significant gods in Egypt’s pantheon, the god of kingship and the sky among other functions.

Built between 237 BCE and 57 BCE, into the reign of Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE; reigned: 51-30 BCE; this is the Cleopatra of popular imagination and stage and screen), the Ptolemaic temple is the most intact of all the ancient temples found in Egypt.

One reason for its state of preservation is that the temple was abandoned after 391 CE when all non-Christian worship was banned in the Roman Empire (of which Egypt was a part).  The disused temple was buried by the shifting desert sands and river silt deposited by the Nile.  Standing at 118 feet high, by 1798, only 79 feet were visible above ground level.  The temple was uncovered in 1860.

A sidelight: The inscribed temple texts include a mention of what could be construed as a theatrical performance.  There’s no archeological evidence that the ancient Egyptians had any kind of theatrical or dramatic performance tradition, but they did have religious festivals at which some scholars posit there could have been enactments of religious myths and stories.

One such could have been the “Sacred Drama” that recounts the unending conflict between Horus and Seth mentioned in the Edfu temple texts.  No one actually knows from any evidence found so far that there were dramatic performances in these religious festivals—but I note that the Edfu temple was built during the rule of Greek pharaohs, and the Greeks essentially invented drama (which, I should add, grew out of religious worship and was considered sacred to Apollo—with whom Horus was associated during the Greco-Roman period in Egypt). 

I’m just sayin’.

After the visit to the Edfu Temple, we returned to the boat and set sail for Esna at 10 in the morning, another 32 miles north along the river, arriving at around 2:30 p.m.  As at Edfu, there’s a modern town, but Esna’s temple is in the midst of it about 220 yards from the river.

Built starting during the reign of Thutmose III and completed in the Greco-Roman period (between 40 BCE to 250 CE), the temple is consecrated to ram-headed Khnum, the god of the source of the Nile and the creator of the bodies of human children, plus his wife and son.  The Esna temple, built of red sandstone, is considered outstanding for its location and its architecture.

We returned to the boat and during five-o’clock tea, we embarked for Luxor where we docked at 8 that evening for the night.  On the route downstream, the boat had to negotiate the Esna Lock about two miles down from the temple.  As we waited for the lock to drop the boat to the lower level, there were peddlers that sailed out to meet the cruise ships to sell their goods.

I said that we saw lots of feluccas on the river (Part 10); they’re sort of the workhorses of the Nile.  (Some river cruises sail on large feluccas, which are slower and more leisurely, and usually more expensive with fewer passengers.  Smaller feluccas serve as water taxis, delivering visitors from one river town to the next.) 

We usually moved too fast for the river peddlers to catch up to us except at the locks, and they took advantage of that.  The sellers, yelling “Yallah, yallah, yallah!” threw the goods up to the decks and the buyers threw the money down—and somehow it all worked out.

We docked in Luxor at about 8 p.m. during the dinner service.  Tomorrow would be my last day of tourism in Egypt.

[This was the next-to-last section of my chronicle of this trip; “Travel Journal: Israel & Egypt, 1982 – Part 12” will be published on Friday, 20 August, and will conclude this recovered journal.  The final installment covers my visit to the Theban necropolis, the ancient temples of Karnak and Luxor, my return to Cairo, and my departure for the U.S.]