Maya had a great day at the park today, after a nice breakfast at Lucille's in Maadi. We took her to al-Azhar park, which is in Islamic Cairo on the edge of the desert on top of an old landfill and with a gorgeous view of the Citadel and of Cairo with all its beautiful minarets.
Al-Azhar park was built by the Agha Khan foundation and it is the most well maintained park in Cairo, with manicured lawns and fountains and several great restaurants including one in a caravanserai-style stone building. They have a nice playground, although it is aimed more for older kids and not really great for toddlers. They also have live music.
But the main reason parents bring their kids to al-Azhar park in the summer heat -- maybe even the only reason -- is to let the kids play in the run-through fountain. There is a stone courtyard at the park where the water bubbles and shoots up from tiny holes in the stone. The kids love it. Every time we go to al-Azhar park there are kids playing in the water. It was clearly designed with kids in mind. It's also great because the kids from Islamic Cairo -- one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Cairo -- get a special residency card so they can get into the park for a fraction of the entry fee charged to others. This fountain is probably the closest some of them ever get to a swimming pool.
So today when Maya spotted the fountain, and all the other kids splashing around, she started sprinting toward it. It was all I could do to get her sandals off. She had a great time. She jumped in the water, splashed her feet, sat down in the puddles, splashed her hands, stuck her face in the water to drink it, got her hair wet, jumped up and down. She was having a terrific time.
Then, all of a sudden, the man we will call the "Water Nazi" showed up. He was a security guard at the park and he was determined to prevent the kids from even getting a little toe in the water. He screamed at all the kids to get out of the water, even dragging a few out by their arms (He was smart enough to stay far away from Maya though, picking mainly on the kids from the neighbourhood).
So the kids all backed up to the edge of the fountain, keeping close enough to the water that their feet were still wet but they couldn't have any fun. Then he barked at the kids again to get further back. Mean, mean, mean.
So we all went to sit on the benches to see if "Water Nazi" would go away. He stood there glowering at everyone and guarding his beloved fountain to make sure nobody could enjoy it. Any time a child so much as looked at the water, or ran in for a quick splash before running out again, he would glare at them.
Finally, after about 20 minutes he left, and within seconds all the kids, Maya included, were back in the water having the time of their lives. Maya was having so much fun, but within about 15 minutes "Water Nazi" was back shouting at the kids and pulling their arms to get them out of the water.
Seriously, the high temperatures this week have been between 98 and 104 degrees. Why ruin some poor kids' day at the park. Grrrr. We left and took Maya to run around in the grass before eating dinner at a terrace restaurant in the park called Trianon. When we walked back down to go home after dinner, that evil security guard had actually found orange cones to block off the fountain area so the kids couldn't enjoy it. I could have strangled him. Does he seriously have nothing better to do than prevent some poor kids from playing in a fountain that was built in the middle of a courtyard for the apparent specific intention of having kids run through it.
Al-Azhar park was built by the Agha Khan foundation and it is the most well maintained park in Cairo, with manicured lawns and fountains and several great restaurants including one in a caravanserai-style stone building. They have a nice playground, although it is aimed more for older kids and not really great for toddlers. They also have live music.
But the main reason parents bring their kids to al-Azhar park in the summer heat -- maybe even the only reason -- is to let the kids play in the run-through fountain. There is a stone courtyard at the park where the water bubbles and shoots up from tiny holes in the stone. The kids love it. Every time we go to al-Azhar park there are kids playing in the water. It was clearly designed with kids in mind. It's also great because the kids from Islamic Cairo -- one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Cairo -- get a special residency card so they can get into the park for a fraction of the entry fee charged to others. This fountain is probably the closest some of them ever get to a swimming pool.
So today when Maya spotted the fountain, and all the other kids splashing around, she started sprinting toward it. It was all I could do to get her sandals off. She had a great time. She jumped in the water, splashed her feet, sat down in the puddles, splashed her hands, stuck her face in the water to drink it, got her hair wet, jumped up and down. She was having a terrific time.
Then, all of a sudden, the man we will call the "Water Nazi" showed up. He was a security guard at the park and he was determined to prevent the kids from even getting a little toe in the water. He screamed at all the kids to get out of the water, even dragging a few out by their arms (He was smart enough to stay far away from Maya though, picking mainly on the kids from the neighbourhood).
So the kids all backed up to the edge of the fountain, keeping close enough to the water that their feet were still wet but they couldn't have any fun. Then he barked at the kids again to get further back. Mean, mean, mean.
So we all went to sit on the benches to see if "Water Nazi" would go away. He stood there glowering at everyone and guarding his beloved fountain to make sure nobody could enjoy it. Any time a child so much as looked at the water, or ran in for a quick splash before running out again, he would glare at them.
Finally, after about 20 minutes he left, and within seconds all the kids, Maya included, were back in the water having the time of their lives. Maya was having so much fun, but within about 15 minutes "Water Nazi" was back shouting at the kids and pulling their arms to get them out of the water.
Seriously, the high temperatures this week have been between 98 and 104 degrees. Why ruin some poor kids' day at the park. Grrrr. We left and took Maya to run around in the grass before eating dinner at a terrace restaurant in the park called Trianon. When we walked back down to go home after dinner, that evil security guard had actually found orange cones to block off the fountain area so the kids couldn't enjoy it. I could have strangled him. Does he seriously have nothing better to do than prevent some poor kids from playing in a fountain that was built in the middle of a courtyard for the apparent specific intention of having kids run through it.
No comments:
Post a Comment