Sweeny Todd

Day 31 June 21 – Sweeny Todd

I got a call this morning on the home phone, this is how I discovered we had a home phone. It was Dr. Gamal inviting me to join his international group of students for their week long training program. This is the program my roommate Tim has been working with for the last few days. I said ok and headed out with Tim as he checked the pH and Ammonia levels of the six ponds left to his care. Measuring pH was easy, just stick this thingy into the water and press the pH button, easy. The Ammonia test was slightly more involved. Take two test tubes and fill them with 5ml of water. In one tube place 2 drops of Nesler Reagent which will change the color of the water based on the amount of ammonia in the water. Then place the tubes in the plastic device which has lenses you look though until the colors of the water match. Then record the number the device shows, this is the ammonia measured in ppm.
Next was a demonstration of how to remove the pituitary gland from the brain of a catfish. Been there, done that; let somebody else get covered in catfish slime and blood.
Then there was a very interesting class on tagging fish. Tagging fish is important in a research environment because sometimes it is necessary to be able to differentiate between groups of fish in the same pond. There are a few methods of tagging fish, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.
Fin Clipping – This method is simple and very non-invasive, you simple cut a simple pattern into the dorsal fin. The results of this method do not last long because the cuts simply grow back. Another problem with this method is it can only differentiate between a few groups, it is not useful to separate individual fish. This method would be useful if you need to distinguish between fish that had and had not been given a treatment. But both groups would have to be cut anyway otherwise the operation would influence some fish and not the others.
Brand – Another simple method of marking fish is branding them like cattle. Simply use a modified soldering iron to burn simple marks into the fish’s skin. Because the brand only works directly on skin, only scaleless fish can be used, like catfish. Like fin clipping this method only has a few possible combinations, the more burns the more invasive. Anesthetics are necessary to make the branding process easy and reduce the trauma on the fish.
RFID – This method is very interesting; it uses small radio chips to identify fish. A worker uses a large needle to make an incision and push in a transmitter about the size of a small pill. If the transmitter can fit inside of the fish’s abdominal cavity then the scientists can make it work. This method is great because it is able to differentiate between specific fish, each transmitter has a unique code. This method also requires the use of anesthetics. This method is invasive and has a small mortality rate. It is expensive to buy the transmitters but they can be reused many times.
Flowey – This method uses a needle, string, and numbered tag to identify fish. This is another method that can be used to identify specific fish. The needle is disinfected then poked through the fish between the lateral line and the dorsal fin. Then you pull the string through but leaving enough length for the fish to grow. Before a knot is tied a plastic tab must be put on the string to keep it from being pulled though the fish. While this method is cheap it is also very invasive, unlike RFID, the tags impede to movement of the fish.
After work I was bored and hungry so I decided to head into Abassa, the nearest town. It is about two miles away but when it is so hot I prefer to take a tuk tuk taxi, and it only costs 50 cents. I walked through town buying bags of chips, tam-may-aah, and bread. That is about all the food in town that is worth buying. As I was getting ready to get a tuk tuk back to The World Fish Center I saw a barber shop. I walked in pointed to my hair and the kid walking by who had a short hair cut. It doesn’t look great; there are funny little likes in hair. While I was in the chair I had the random urge to get a shave with the old straight edge razor. After communicating my desire I began to get nervous, I just watched Sweeny Todd. Well my worry was misplaced, he did an excellent job. The best part was the cost, a haircut and shave cost 2$, how cool is that! I took a taxi home and watched Black Hawk Down on TV, awesome.

Zagazig

Day 30 June 20 – Zagazig

To be honest I realize why the scientists here are not paid the big bucks, they really don’t seem to work that hard. They seem to do a little work then go sit in the office and drink tea and Turkish coffee for hours. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for sitting around and chit chatting, but nothing seems to be getting done. They are at work from around 8:30 am to 2:00 pm. They take at least 40 minutes for the prayer and prayer preparation, they pray twice during the working hours. Another 50 minutes is spent eating lunch and walking to the cafeteria. This leaves a four hour work day, and it is wishful in the extreme to imagine they work those whole four hours.
After a while I headed off to see a new lab, a branch of the genetics department. I was given a quick explanation of a method in which a geneticist can change something inside the egg. They can change fish into ha-bloids or tetra-bloids. To be honest I was pretty much as confused as your probably are right now. I asked “What is the benefit of having a tetra-bloid?” the response was “Yes, Yes, very good.” Here is that language barrier again. I didn’t stay long because I was so confused I wasn’t learning anything. But he did mention that he had an easier way to make YY SuperMales. Three scientist then gathered around me and each tried to draw their own diagram (at the same time) to try and explain how they would do it. I saved the paper because I thought it was funny because it was so confusing.
Well just before I was going to start walking home my friend Ahmed asked me if I wanted to come to Zagazig with him. I hesitantly agreed and drove to Abassa to get some stuff to spend the night. It turns out Zagazig is the third most populous city in Egypt, according to Ahmed. He says the city has over three million citizens and it sure was crowded. Now I have been to the three most populous cities; Cairo, Alexandria, and Zagazig. We then drove the half hour to Ahmed’s home; there I met his niece and sister. Ahmed is twenty five, his first sister is twenty; they live at home with their oldest sister, her daughter, and the grandparents. The whole three hours I was there I never saw the oldest sister or the grandparents, but they were home. I was purposely separated from them, no idea why. We had lunch there and talked about many things including the Iraq war and Israel.
After sunset I left with Ahmed to meet with some of the other scientists from CLAR for a night on the town. We drove around and saw some of the sights, then parked to walk around. After a short walk we stopped to get some fries, unfortunately it took them 30 minutes to cook fries. While we were waiting somebody, a young teenage girl, got hit by a car. It was not very serious but she was defiantly crying, her friends helped carry her away. I knew it was going to happen, it was only a matter of time, somebody was going to get hit.
After a few more hours of wandering and looking around we headed back to Ahmed’s aunts old house. The house was empty but I was ready to go to sleep. Unfortunately there was no AC and no fans. It wasn’t as hot as Tucson is right now, heat wave; sucks for you. Well I got into my shorts and just lay in bed, miserable and sweating just sitting there. Well I used Uncle Chris’s excellent method of laying a wet towel over yourself; once again Penny’s bandana was invaluable. Early the next morning we took the bus from Zagazig straight to CLAR.
During the conversation with Ahmed, and his sister we talked about how Muslims are treated in the US. I was surprised to discover that they thought Americans completely ostracize Muslims. I admitted at right after 9/11 that was true, but I don’t think that is still is. I can only speak form my experience but I have never, with my own eyes or ears, seen a Muslim being mistreated because of their religion or dress. I explained that I knew of three Muslims in my high school. Ahmed asked if I became friends with any of those three and I said no. He took this as proof that Americans ostracize Muslims. I unhappily defended myself by explaining that there were three thousand people at my school and I wasn’t friends with the vast majority of them. I also pointed out that if I feared Muslims I wouldn’t come to a Muslim country alone for two months. They remain unconvinced.

Useless

Day 29 June 19 – Useless

Today was gloriously useless, I woke up at 2:30PM (might be a new personal record.) I spent the day messing around of facebook.com and watching movies. I watched Pluto Nash and Anchorman. Both of the movies were pretty stupid but my movie selection is somewhat limited. I discovered I have a next-door neighbor, a black French woman about 35, she doesn’t speak any English.
I am so tired of bread and frozen chicken.
I have had the same conversation with about three Egyptians about the election. He asked me if I supported Obama or John McCain? When I told him Obama he makes a strange face and says “but he’s African?” I thought it was strange that an African would seem surprised that I supported an African. Sorry Opa, but McCain? Not a chance.

It's Good For You

Day 28 June 18 – It’s Good For You

Today I spent the day at the Nutrition Department laboratories; there are three of them at Abassa. One is a lab for making experimental fish foods, one is a wet lab for testing the fish food on tanks of Tilapia, and the third is a lab used to analyze the chemical makeup of foods.
Here is part of what I learned today..
1Kg of Tilapia Fingerlings Feed consists of
140g Fish Meal (ground up dried less valuable fish)
365g Soy Bean (provides plant protein)
165g Wheat Bran (ground up- adds mass to the food, filler)
195g Ground Corn (provides plant protein)
20g Cod Liver Oil (provides amino acids)
20g Corn Oil (also provides amino acids)
10g Vitamins (C K E D are the major vitamins)
20g Mineral Mix (Fe Cu Mg)
25g Cellulose (makes it all stick together)
40g Starch (also helps it stick together)
*This mixture is 35% protein
*Fish meal can be 75% replaced with dried chicken parts at 1/7th the price
*Adult fish are given 25% protein in their food.

The fish pellets are made by a quick and simple process. First, all the pieces are ground up until they resemble a powder. Then each ingredient is precisely weighed and added to a large pan. Once all the ingredients are added, everything is poured into a large industrial blender/beater. The “cook” then adds the correct amount of water to make the food just sticky enough that it will hold its shape. Then the mixture is scooped into a giant machine that spits out fish pellets. The pellets are still very soft so they must be dried in an oven for approximately one hour before the food can be given to the fish.
The water content of the food is also important. The perfect amount of water is between 9 and 10 percent of the foods weight. If the food has too much water it will mold and made the fish sick. If it is too dry the food will be too hard, making it hard for the fish to eat. If it is so hard it will also sink, most fish food is eaten at the surface; some of the food that sinks in wasted.
After another good discussion about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan I headed home. I laid around with nothing to do for a few hours until I found Gladiator on TV. After everyone goes home this place is pretty boring, especially with no internet.

Egypt is Paradise for Parasites

Day 27 June 17 – Egypt is Paradise for Parasites

Today was my third day with the people from The Fish Diseases Laboratory. I sat down first with Sofia who was messing with a bag of blood and guts. She told me she was examining the entrails of dead fish to discover what was causing the lumps, hemorrhaging, and discoloration of the intestines. This was done by using small medical scissors to cut open and examine what is inside of the intestines, especially if there are any parasites. So let me clarify, there is fish poop inside fish intestines, outside of the intestine is slimy and covered in fish blood and guts. I joined in the fun and also tried to cut the toothpick think intestines open lengthwise, not easy. Then I would smear whatever is inside onto my hand to see if I could see any little parasites. After 4 hours of work we found 5, actually she found 5; all I found was fish poop.
The lady on the other side of the table was examining another type of fish for a similar condition, a different species of worm. This parasitic infestation was much more severe, her method was to cut open the intestine and put everything in a Petri dish. Then she would use a small paint brush to pick up the worms. I would estimate she found about 500, she said this was not a severe infestation, it can get much worse.
At about 11AM one of the women closed the door, the windows, and turned off the fans. The room quickly became miserable, then she turned on a giant Bunsen burner… I asked what she was doing and she didn’t immediately answer, only when she put the cover back on the Petri dish did she respond. It turns out she was testing a tissue sample for bacterial diseases. (I’m not sure I completely understand this so please leave comments if you can clarify) This is done by taking a small tissue sample from the possibly infected fish and placing it in saline solution. Then the scientist must make a medium for each disease that might be present in the sample. The medium is a mixture that encourages the growth of the bacteria of the disease while inhibiting growth of anything else. So when the scientist smears a tiny bit of the sample on the medium, if anything grows you know the specific disease is present. The reason the fans had to be turned off was so that the medium would not be infected by any other bacteria in the air. The Bunsen burner was used to sterilize everything that comes in contact with the medium.
We finished the work at around 2PM and I headed back to my room. On the way back I had a discussion with a scientist about Israel. He believed that Israel started the Yom Kippur war with the intention of simply killing Muslims. I think that is ridiculous, I don’t know if Israel was right or wrong but I don’t believe that was their intention. I also disagree on the point that Palestinians are without blame. I think both sides are wrong.

ACTG

Day 26 June 16 – ACTG

Ok so today I worked with the genetic machine I looked at yesterday. Well the man who taught me was very nice and patient with my lack of Arabic, but we had communication issues. Most language barriers can be overcome with drawings, hand signals, or help from others; complex explanations of genetic procedures are not one of those things that can be overcome. I think the name of the machine was the PBR, PCR, or something like that. I was trying to organize my explanation of the machine and the process involved but realized my understanding was laughable, I didn’t even understand the damn name….
I feel really bad when people here buy me stuff, even if it is customary. Went into the village after work and I asked what a food item was. He insisted on buying it for me, despite my best efforts. Now the thing cost 12 pounds, a little over 2$. Now two dollars is nothing to me for lunch, it's a bargain. Then again it is one eighth of his monthly pay. It is annoying but I guess if the tables were turned i would be doing the same thing for him in the US.
When I come hope I promise to figure out what the machine did and how it works. For my own reference, look up master mix and lycera.


By the way ATCG are base pairs, I think. They are abbreviations for the four chemicals that make up DNA. Hey any scientists reading this, any help would be appreciated, or anyone with WIKIpedia and time to kill.

Abassa, Mi Casa

Day 25 June 15 – Abassa, Mi Casa

I left early with Dr. Elghobasy to head back to Abassa, I had not been back for almost two weeks. We stopped to pick up some food on the way there. I returned to my room to put away my food and found that I had a roommate; the evidence was his dirty dishes.

I was then taken to the Infectious Diseases Laboratory to spend the day. There I learned that there are two categories of diseases, infectious and deficiencies. Infectious diseases include Fungal, Bacterial, and Parasitic. Deficiencies, an example would be a vitamin C deficiency.

I was shown an example of a fungal infection in the laboratory next door. Fungal infections are usually secondary infection, meaning they get this because they are already sick. The fish can easily get these diseases due to improper handling. If the slime is scraped off of a fish, the animal becomes much more susceptible to infection. This can occur when fingerlings are moved from pond to pond or anytime fish are moved with nets. The fish I saw looked like it has cotton balls growing off of its sides, under the fungus was an open wound. The fish’s fins were also rotting and looked terrible. We scraped off a small piece of the cotton ball and examined it under a microscope.

Then I left with a geneticist to look at a machine used to compare genetic material. I think the name was the PBR machine. The geneticist told me that the basic purpose of the machine was to compare two pieces of genetic material and tell if a certain strain is present in both samples. I am looking forward to working with this machine tomorrow.

I feel bad for the lower level of scientists here, even with a masters degree they still make 100 pounds a month, yea 20$, that sucks. They work for this small amount of money in the hope that they will move up the ladder where they can make much more money. Most of them also have side jobs; one owns her own veterinary clinic, another has an internet shop. Only after then asking many times did I actually tell them that at Pizza Hut I earn their months pay in three hours.

Pictures!!

I Guess Egypt isn't so bad ;)

Dirty Disgusting animals, I nearly got flung off every time the thing would stand up or sit down. They are crazy tall.


As I expected most of the pictures of the show didn't turn out well. This one looks pretty good.

TIme Fears the Pyramids

Day 24 June 14 – Time Fears the Pyramids
Today is the big day, I’m going to see the pyramids.

I left at 1:30 to take the bus ride to the pyramids. Now unlike buses in the US you don’t have to be at a bus stop to be picked up or let off. Now because of this little fact the trip took ten times as long as it should have. Lazy people would make the bus driver stop 50 feet after the previous person so they wouldn’t have to walk so far. I guess you get what you pay for, the hour bus trip cost 50 cents in USD. Before long I could see the pyramids rising above the buildings…
The pyramids were amazing, I was not disappointed. After the 5$ entry fee, I had access to the 6 pyramids and the sphinx. There are the three major pyramids and three tiny ones. The stones are amazingly large and it boggles the mind to imagine people moving them under people and animal power only. It was an amazing sight to see and I will never forget it, a high point in my life.
But this amazing place was also marred by people looking for a quick, unearned buck. The first was quickly after the front gate, “ticket” said a poorly dressed man, I ignored him until he said “hey I’m with the government.” Of course I didn’t believe him but I also didn’t want to press my luck. So I showed him my ticket but refused to relinquish it when he tried to take it from me. I walked past him to look at some of the tombs when he followed me and started guiding me. Now this guy is already on my bad side for claiming to be with the government, so I attempted to wave him off and said no thanks. When he ignores these, really getting on my nerves at this point, I stopped looked him right in the eyes and say “STOP, Go Away, Leave me alone.” That did the trick.
As I passed between the first and second pyramid a police officer waves me over. He tells me to go part way up the pyramid and he will take my picture. Now I know he is going to ask for money and I can live with it if he takes a picture. But when his friend comes over and also asks for Baksheesh, I unhappily say “you didn’t do anything.” Well that didn’t make him very happy, and he starts angrily taking in Arabic, but he had a big gun and I didn’t so I gave him a pound to leave me alone. After waving off many camel rides I decide to head out into the desert to take some pictures. I also craved a moment with out people bugging me.
This is where I really enjoyed myself, nobody bothering me; just me and the pyramids. It was just like in the movies, sand dunes as far as the eye can see, nobody in front of me. I made a big circle all the way around the pyramids, about three miles, taking lots of great pictures. The best part was on the top of a hill, I could see all six pyramids, the Sphnix, and the city of Cairo. I put the camera down on a big rock and did a bunch of timer shots, put the camera down then jump in front of it and smile. I sat and looked around for almost two hours on top of that hill.
On the way out I feared, for the first time, I was going to either be robbed or get in a fight. Ironically, by the police. I am starting to get the typical rapper’s outlook on the local police. As I’m leaving the pyramid area, at or near closing time, an officer orders me over. He points at his friend and demands that I give him Baksheesh. First I pretend like I don’t know what he is talking about. Then claim not to have any money, growing more and more angry all the time. When ever I would try to walk away he would yell and tell me to stop. I have no intention of being forced to give anybody money. First, I’m not getting robbed; Second, all I have is a 50 pound note and hundreds, neither of which he is getting. Well eventually the officer starts saying “Give him money,” well I just flat out said No. He was furious and started yelling at me, I thought that would be a good time to leave. So after flatly refusing him I just walked away, I ignored his order to stop. He followed me for a while but didn’t speak to me again. That was the only time I’ve really been worried about my safety here in Egypt.
Next I pulled the classic tourist trick, take your money out of your wallet and put it in another pocket. Then when someone asks for money you can show them your empty wallet. Knowing that I would have to pass many other police checkpoints I thought this was wise. But the rest of the day was free of armed men demanding money, but plenty of unarmed people did. I planned on going to the Sound and Light Show so I made my way toward the Sphinx.
The Sound and Light Show started at 8:30 so I had two hours to kill, so I took the long way to the Sphinx. I went down a small market street in the right direction. This time it was kids on bikes that wanted my money. They would ride next to me ask where I’m from, my name, then say “you give me money.” I think if I gave everyone money that asked for it today I wouldn’t have the two pounds for the bus ride home. Well eventually the streets got narrower and I became less sure of where I was going. Well as I was looking at a funny camel with designs cut into its hair a man asked me if I wanted a ride. Since I thought I was lost I thought this would be a great way to get unlost (probably not a word). Two birds with one stone, get to ride a camel and figure out how to get to the sphinx. Foolishly, I expected this man to own the camel; instead he says “follow me I take you better place” which I’m sure means his friend. Well he takes me down a few houses to a different camel. After asking the man about 5 times to actually tell me the price for a ride to the sphinx we settled on 20 pounds.(5$) I expected the camel guy, a kid my age, to walk in front of the camel and guide it while I sat on the saddle, like everyone else I saw. No… he told me to move back then hopped up there with me… I laughed when 20 feet later we see the Sphinx, I guess I was going the right direction.
Well I still had and hour and a half to blow so I told the kid to take me on a longer trip. I was glad I did this because 30 minutes later we were riding in the dunes up to a vista where we could see everything. There I saw the sunset over the pyramids and Cairo, something I will never forget.
At 8PM we returned right outside of the sphinx to the father and camel owner. First he was saying 130 pounds (26$) and I laughed and said no way. I talked him down to 70 (14$), a good price considering he was going to charge me 20 pounds for a 5 minute ride at first. Well I hurried over to the line for the Sound and Light Show.
As I have been in Egypt I have found that people here are not big on waiting in line. They don’t stay in their lines in cars, in line at the subway, and definitely not in line to buy tickets to the show. But this was different, they had velvet ropes and everything, everyone was waiting in line except the guy who cut right in front of me at the front of the line. As nicely as can be done I pushed him out of the way and told him to wait his damn turn.
The Sound and Light Show begins after dark, it is a light and laser show that showcases the sphinx and pyramids. There is also some history but mostly it’s a light show. The commentary was way overdone but it was entertaining, not sure it was worth 75 pounds (15$) but still cool.
I couldn’t find the bus I was supposed to take home so I took a quick taxi ride to the closest subway station. The Egyptian people redeemed themselves in my eyes when I was lost. I couldn’t find an English subway map and asked the subway guy for help. He didn’t understand but the person behind me told me to just follow him. He took me half way home and took me all the way to my next connection and made sure I got on the right train.
It was an amazing day here in Egypt, I got the see the best and worst Egypt has to offer.

Camels are disgusting animals.
Sound and Light Show is expensive.
Egyptian cops suck
Baksheesh is Bull$hit

Tourist

Day 23 June 13 – Tourist

Most of the places I’ve been over the last two weeks were very un-touristy. But back in Cairo it is a whole different story. Shop keepers yell at you to get your attention, little kids ask your name, where you’re from, then tell you to give them money. The most annoying is the taxi drivers, as I’m walking along they slow down beside me and lay on their horn until I look at them. The one that really pushed me over the edge was a guy who comes up stops right in front of me so I have to stop. Then reaches down grabs my hand, shakes it, and doesn’t let go. Now I’m already not liking this person and when after I try to pull my hand away, twice he continues to hold my hand tighter. So, angrily, I shove him away and tell him to do something very profane to himself.
Well after that episode I walked around the markets for a few hours seeing the people and what they are selling. I was surprised to see that the majority of street vendors sell car stuff. Like aftermarket horns, probably because they overuse the ones they have. I couldn’t believe the amount of car stuff they were selling, anyone need new windshield wipers or sparkplugs?
Well after about four hours of wandering around, and failing to find the movie theater I was looking for, I headed home.

My favorite tourist moment was when some kid about 12 years old starts walking with me. He starts chit-chatting, he was too friendly; my spider/tourist sense was tingling. As I expected he says, oh look here is my family bazaar please my friend come in, come in. Well I was already shopping so why not. I go in to find tourist stuff, little statues, little pyramids, papyrus pictures. Well let me describe the store owner, anything I looked at got a full description, I was the center of his world. So after about 5 minutes of him telling me how good of a deal I was getting I said, ”No thanks, have a nice day.” He looked utterly crestfallen; he looked like Cesar would have as he muttered “Et Tu Brutus?” As I left I heard him quietly, sadly ask, “what happened my friend?” I thought that was a classic tourist moment.


Some Egyptians have aftermarket hors that mimic police sirens, that would get you thrown in prison so fast back home.

I think every Egyptian merchant has learned how to say “hello my friend. British? American? Australian? Come see my Bazar?”

Sorry no pictures today

Going to the Pyramids tomorrow, Boom Shakalaka!

If They Say It Can’t Be Done, Do It

Day 22 June 12 – If They Say It Can’t Be Done, Do It

Today was my last day at Cafrashey, I was sad to go and say goodbye to Dr. Ishmail. I got up relatively early and watched another fingerling sale; that is the third time this week. Dr. Ishmail was feeling sick today so he stayed in his room most of the day. Ahmed ran the show again today because Dr. Mohamed was gone and Dr. Ishmail incapacitated.
After the fingerling sale, during a break, I played football (soccer) with the workers. I’m in good enough shape to keep up easily but I havn’t played in years are I was awful. I made one goal while allowing about 5 or 6. Also, Egpyt is, as you can imagine, pretty damn hot. I was drenched and nasty after the ten minute game.
The next order of business was harvesting an old brood stock. Mothers and fathers are used three times then given a year break. Once they can no longer produce, like these fish, they are sold for food. These were big fish, each full adult size. The fish are harvested from a very muddy pit, this was the first time I decided to “just watch.” I was leaving soon and didn’t feel like doing all the work to get clean, cleaning really is a process when nobody has outdoor hoses.
Well the time had finally come for my thank you lunch of steak and soda. I quickly found that this was not going to be as easy as I thought. No coal, cook was not informed and used some of the meat, timing was bad. Well after about 30 minutes I recognized that all of these problems were in people’s heads. All I had to do to make it happen was, as Nike said, “Just Do It.”
With a little help from Dr. Ishmail, who made a brief balcony visit, I cooked everything. Everything went great and I think the workers appreciated it. I said thank you to Dr. Ishmail but was sorry that Dr. Mohamed was no there for me to thank also.
Then I took the ride into Cairo to go back to the home of Dr. Elghobashy and family. Once there I spent the last few hours of the day taking full advantage of the Elghobahys’ all you can eat high speed internet.

Motorcycle Diaries

Day 21 June 11 – Motorcycle Diaries

So I have been living out of my backpack for the last 12 days, I left my suitcase at Abassa. I brought clothes, books, and some accessories with me. The books I brought in my backpack were The Sun Also Rises, Riding With the Blue Moth, and Heart of Darkness. I started Heart of Darkness, quickly got bored with it, then read the first ten pages of The Sun Also Rises and they sucked. So then I read Riding With the Blue Moth, which was amazing, and now I,m bored because the only other two books I have are awful. I know, someone is reading this saying, well you only read the beginning of those classic books, they will get better. Well no, if a book sucks in the beginning I will assume It’s going to suck in the end. All of my favorite books are good from page 1; that is one aspect of what makes them such good books.

So today was another day when I wake up and find the house empty. It turns out that Dr. Ishmail left really early in the morning to drive over the Suez Canal to Sinai with a load of fingerlings. Because Dr. Ishmail was gone until the afternoon, I worked with the third in charge, Ahmed Faruqe. We did lots of everyday work, feeding fish and checking on the other workers’ progress. Then I helped him do his English homework, I am always amazed how driven people are to learn English. Helping someone learn English makes me realize how bad my own English is. Cuz and K (because and ok) are not real words, at least by Scrabble rules.

When Dr. Ishmail came back he reminded me that I was leaving tomorrow! I have not been keeping track of what day it is very well, the plans are made around me but I’m usually lost. Well I had mentioned before that I wanted to do a BBQ for Dr. Ishmail and the workers to show my thanks. So I talked to Ahmed about it and he offered to drive me into the nearest town to get the supplies. I agreed and we got onto the motorcycle just after dark.

On a side note: Some of the workers own their own motorcycles at the farm. They are used to both drive to work and to shuttle between the two farms, which are 1/3 mile apart. I have often ridden on the back of the motorcycles between the two farms. The motorcycles are usually 150cc bikes with a top speed of about 60mph.

Well I’m just going to apologize to my mother now because she will not like this next part at all. So we head off, or course without helmets because this is Egypt. Sunset is the time mosquitoes come out, mosquitoes are attracted to light, so we ride without the lights on…. Now remember Egypt is a third world country, they don’t have nice roads, but they do have random speed bumps. So we are driving 50mph down a dark and broken road without helmets or headlights. I have having more fun than I can describe because what I was doing was so wonderfully ridiculous. Well the ride was lots of fun and we quickly arrived in a small city named El Hamol.

I quickly realized El Hamol was not a tourist destination by the amazed stares of little kids and adults alike. This is not the first time I have been the target of stares because I’m white but it always surprises me. Well Ahmed showed me around town and we got soda, steak, and spices. The steak defiantly wasn’t USDA triple A choice prime rib, but I am pretty sure it came from a cow…

The ride back was lots of fun, I really want a motorcycle. Sorry Mom. At least I said no when he offered to let me drive…

Moving Day

Day 20 June 10 - Moving Day

Today’s main event was the selling of fingerlings to a neighboring farm. Many of the local fish farms are much less advanced than Dr. Ishamil’s. They do not have the know-how or facilities to keep a brood stock, collect eggs, hatch them, feed them, and make them all male. For many of the other farmers it is easier to just buy inch, to two inch long fish. Dr. Ishmail makes even more money at the end of winter when he is able to sell babies when most of the other farmers cannot get their fish to reproduce because of the cold.
It is a pretty simple process but it was done so quickly and efficiently I was very impressed. It was obvious Dr. Ishmail already had this process planned when he had the farm built because the holding area was the perfect size and in the perfect location. In the fresh (unused salty water) canal there are concrete barriers the size of nets.
The first step is to catch all the fingerlings out of the green house tanks. The greenhouses are the trick that lets his fish reproduce in the winter. Unlike the harvest, the workers must be careful not to damage the fish. The fish are then placed into nets stretched over the special canal, this acts as a holding tank for the fish.
Next, Dr. Ishmail personally comes over and counts the number of fish in one scoop of the net. Dr. Ishmail feels it is his personal responsibility to ensure that the correct number of fingerlings are sold.
Next a person fills a four foot long by one foot diameter plastic bag with about 2 gallons of water. This bag is then held open for Dr. Ishmail who puts one scoop full, about 330 fish, inside.
It is then passed down the line to a person who inflates the bag from a tank of pure oxygen. This allows the fish to travel much longer distances than if they were simply filled with air. The bags are then stood up in the back of a pickup truck. What is amazing about this procedure is the speed with which it is done. Each bag can be filled, populated, oxygenated, and stacked in about twelve seconds.
The rest of the day was fun, I sat around watching CNN until I found a great movie. AIR FORCE ONE!!! I have been stuck watching CNN and Aljazeera, while entertaining they are both depressing. They make you think that the world is either going to melt, the stock market is going to crash, or world war will break out at any moment. So Air Force One was a wonderfully welcome respite from sensationalist news. My favorite line is “I would turn my back on god himself for Mother Russia!” With the combination of overly done fake Russian accent and the super dramatic music makes it a classic.

Catfish

Day 19 June 9 – Catfish

Today Dr. Ishmail and Mohamed went to Cairo before I woke up. I woke up a little late so my first meal was lunch. We talked yesterday about how everything tastes better grilled so Dr. Ishmail said we should have grilled catfish for lunch. So at noon we headed up to the roof to cook, they use a metal box on top of the tile roof. After about 5 minutes the fire went out on the coal/wood so they used a gallon jug to pour lighter fluid onto the hot embers... Well as you are probably now envisioning the jug caught on fire in his hand. Being on the roof it is not like he can just drop it and wait for it to burn itself out. So with the burning jug of lighter fluid in his hand he decides to throw it off the third story roof into the drive way. The ensuing explosion was pretty damn cool; the dogs, cats, and people in the driveway were less enthusiastic. I attempted to stomp out the square meter of burning spilled lighter fluid left of the roof. After the first stomp I, quickly and painfully, realized the rubber flip-flops I was wearing were inadequate to fight the flames. I decided to let nature take its course; luckily the house didn’t burn down.
After the cooking excitement I was pleasantly surprised to find how delicious the fish was. It wasn’t BBQ ribs but it was still pretty good. Tomorrow should be an exciting day; we will be moving fingerling and selling fry.

Night Life

Day 18 June 8 – Night Life

Today I did the whole operation of cutting off the catfish’s head, remove the gonads, and remove the pituitary glad myself. It was not pretty, there was blood everywhere, but everything else went fine. Then I gave the heads of the catfish to the dogs and cats; the rest of the body will be tomorrow’s lunch.

Then I got to play with the biggest catfish I have ever seen. They lowered the water of the concrete tank so we could have a chance of catching it. I would guess the thing weighed about 17 pounds and three feet long. The worker held up 4 fingers which I took to mean he was four years old. With a little training I was able to hold the fish still for a picture.

For the first time Dr. Ishmail, Mohamed, and I went into the city of Ca-Fra- Shay. Dr. Ishmail had to go for a meeting so Mohamed and I took a little tour. Before we separated we stopped for Pizza. I got a delicious seafood pizza with shrimp and calamari. We sat outside and were worried that it was about to start raining at any moment but all we got was a few drops.

So I noticed a few cultural differences while watching the people in the city. First, guys holding hands. I saw many teens and adults either holding hands or hooking arms. Now if you were to do this back home you would get some strange looks. Another thing that would get some strange looks is the way men kiss cheeks.

I think there is a major difference between the way American drive and the way Egyptians drive. Americans are just always in a hurry. Here in Egypt it is perfectly fine to walk in the road, in front of cars. It is fine to pull out in front of someone so they have to brake hard to keep from hitting you. If you come close to hitting someone you just kinda wave and nobody minds. In the US if you pull out and make somebody slow down you will probably get the finger.

Pillars

Day 17 June 7 – Pillars

During lunch I asked Mohamed about the five pillars of Islam. They are like the five requirements to get on god’s good side.
Alms for the poor. I think this is the source of Baksheesh. It is required for each Muslim to give poor people money. Mohamed said that people should give 2.5 percent of their yearly salary to the poor
Pray five times a day. I have seen this performed without fail. They take this very seriously, everybody prays, every time. Young kids are allowed to go to the mosque to learn how to pray correctly. Once the children turn ten years old their parents must force them to pray.
Pilgrimage to Mecca. Every Muslim who can afford and manage it must take a pilgrimage to the site of Mecca. Mecca is the site of a religious event, sorry I can’t remember what is was. I think it had something to do with Abraham and the building of a church? To fulfill the requirement the person much go during a certain time of the year, there is a special festival. The site of Mecca is in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Admit in the Oneness of Allah. Muslims often repeat "There is none worthy of worship except God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God." This pillar of Islam is admitting that Allah is the only god and Mohammed is his prophet. (Shia don’t meet this requirement because they don’t recognize Mohammed as the prophet, this is like a group of Christians not recognizing Jesus.)
Fast during the month of Ramadan. Each Muslim must not eat while the sun is up during Ramadan. “Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and women who are menstruating, pregnant or nursing, are permitted to break the fast and make up an equal number of days later in the year if they are healthy and able.” (Islam101.com)













I also found that after a pond is emptied and the fish are removed they do something special in the pond. While the pond is empty they bring in a tractor to clean out the ditch. Then compost is dumped into the bottom of the pond. Then when the pond is filled with water the compost will jumpstart the growth of algae. They also allow the water to remain stagnant for about a week to allow mosquitoes to lay their eggs in the pond. The mosquito eggs and algae work as free natural food for the fish in the pond.


This is a translation of the call to prayer they announce over loud speakers five times a day.

God is Great.
God is Great.
God is Great.
God is Great.
I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God.
I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God.
I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
Come to prayer!
Come to prayer!
Come to success!
Come to success!
God is Great!
God is Great!
There is none worthy of worship except God.

Egyptians just distrust Jews on principal.
In Saudi Arabia gas is 70 cents a gallon

Home Alone

Day 16 June 6 – Home Alone

Well normally somebody comes and knocks on my door at 8AM to tell me breakfast is ready, I don’t have an alarm. Well today nobody did and I was in bed until 11:20, oops. I totally forgot that both Dr. Ishmail and Dr. Mohamed were going to be gone today. Well I took a tour of the farm by myself, checked on my baby fry in the jar and looked around the farm. On the way I came across some donkey and cow herders who stopped so their stock could drink from the ponds. I stopped and looked at the baby donkey and the guy came up and said Salam. So I responded “Salam, Hi” he said something which of course I didn’t understand so I said “sorry I don’t understand.” Now I assumed by answering in a foreign language and looking confused the guy would stop talking; I was wrong, very wrong. The guy just kept talking, whenever he would stop I would repeat “Sorry I don’t speak Arabic”, “Sorry, I only speak English”, or “I don’t understand”. He just kept talking, I felt weird just walking away while he was talking to me so I just kind of stood there nodding along. Well eventually he ran out of steam and I wandered off….
The workers at the catfish farm invited me over for catfish dinner at 8PM. While this seems like a simple message to pass along, the language barrier is like a burning river of napalm. Using hand signals and pointing is not a good way to pass that barrier…
Well I showed up at 8 and found everyone in a small room. The room had two beds, a propane tank, satellite tv, 100 spiders, and a rug. We all sat on the rug and had a good meal of catfish with rice and tomatoes. Everyone was very nice and I even had a translator, a good time was had by all. As we finished eating and prepared for tea, the sun went under the horizon. I guess that was the signal for the mosquito D-Day, it was like somebody flipped a switch and the bugs were everywhere. I was killing them non-stop, I couldn’t stop long enough to drink my tea. Well at that very moment I was ready to go back home and avoid the carnage. Well before I could get a ride back everyone had to pray, a very interesting procedure that takes about 7 minutes. A game of pool later I went to sleep.

Fly swatters are wonderful

Suni vs Shia

Day 15 June 5 – Suni vs Shia

Well I guess I’ll go in chronological order..

I got up at 8am this morning to go and see the big event for the day, moving eggs and fry. It was very much like what I had already done at Desert Springs Tilapia. Lower the water the brood stock are in, catch them in net, separate males and females, and then catch the fry and eggs.
Then we moved the eggs into what looked like a large lemonade jar. The jar is tilted and a water line was put into the jar. This causes the eggs to continually be circulated by the water. The inflowing water continually overflows, but the unhatched eggs do not overflow. The point of putting the eggs in this jar is to separate the hatched eggs and the unhatched eggs. This works because the little fish swim out of the jar while the eggs stay inside.
Then while sitting around watching CNN I asked what the difference between Suni and Shia was. Mohamed told me that Suni are a type of Muslims, a branch, that are more strict than normal Muslims. He said that Shia are also a branch of Muslims but he thought (passionately) that they were wrong. He said Shia do not think The Prophet Mohammad was supposed to be the one god talked to, they think Ali (pronounced ally) should be in that position. Shia do not think Mohammad is the prophet which Is a major point of conflict between them and normal Muslims. Shia think god accidentally sent the message to Mohammed because he was sleeping in Ali’s bed (I think). In Iraq Saddam kept the Shia majority in check with an iron grip, with him gone they are trying to take power. The Shia would then implement their extremely strict version of Islamic law.
I am always amazed when I realize how similar all of the major world religions are. This is the way I see it, and keep in mind I’m no religious expert, feel free to correct me. Jews believe in the Old Testament, Christians Believe in the Old Testament and the New Testament, Muslims believe in the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Koran. The Koran just tells them that Mohammad was the last prophet. The only other differences I can see is the majority of Muslims make their religion a much larger part of their lives and a few other things. For example the women cover their hair and necks, and dress conservatively. Some people see this as oppression of women, which from an outsiders perspective is understandable. Think of it this way, Jewish men wear their little head cover (sorry I forgot the name is it Yamaka?), Muslim women just wear something else to show their devotion. You wouldn’t say Jewish men are oppressed because they wear theirs, why would you saw Muslim women are? (I have never seen anyone forced to wear one, or punished for not wearing one.) Suni and Shia would be much more likely to force women to wear veils than normal Muslims.

Relax Relapse

Day 14 June 4 – Relax Relapse

Today I woke up the glorious news that Obama won the Democratic nomination….Hooah! :) Today was much like yesterday, no big operation for the day. As I played solitaire and Dr. Ishmail played Snood (great time wasting game) he asked me if I could send him a certain type of tiny worm from the us.
The way it works now at the farm is they have to buy baby shrimp, called brine shrimp to feed the tiny fry. These are expensive and Dr. Ishmail is always trying to cut costs. To get around this he wants to grow these little worms on the side of the ponds so each day he can just feed the fry (baby fish) with these worms. The worms would be much cheaper to grow than it is to buy the brine shrimp.
Using these worms is a common practice in the US (so says Dr. Ishmail) but Egyptian laws are hampering him. It is much harder to get these worms because other species of the same type of worm are toxic. So the whole group of them are controlled, but not in the US. He has tried to bring them back from the US before but was thwarted, once someone sent the wrong type, another time his daughter forgot to add water to the vial. So he asked me to try and send him some Fed Ex when I get home, which I am more than happy to do. I can’t tell you how much he has taught me and how wonderful of a host he has been.
I also came to understand another aspect of fish farming in Egypt today, crappy infrastructure. I didn’t realize this for a while but the power has been out for the last 24 hours. Now you are thinking “Patrick, how could you not notice there is no power?” well that is because the power goes out so often that Dr. Ishmail bought a generator to cover when the power is out. This is vital because in the small tanks if the fish are not given new water and given oxygen, they will die in a matter of hours. Well at around 8PM the generator failed, his backup broke. Dr. Ishmail was obviously very concerned. He had to call a mechanic and electrician at 8:30 PM to come and fix it ASAP. Fortunately it was a minor problem, corrected in a matter or minutes. But it could have been catastrophic.
Dr. Ishmail’s son Mohammad was in Alexandria till the afternoon trying (successfully) to get his son accepted to an American school in Egypt. Now I always thought that America was not known for its good education system?!? Sorry Mr. Kukla, Dr. Schulter, and Mr. Sierra you teachers are the exception….well not you Mr. Sierra ;) But then again I guess they are better than Egyptian schools, and he learns English!

The farm im staying at has a tennis court, basket ball court, squash court, and a soccer field...ive decided to stay here another week :)

I am horrified at the prospect of my stand up fan dying during a power outage, It is the only thing keeping me from being drenched in sweat in bed. It also keeps the mosquitos at bay.

Relax

Day 13 June 4 – Relax

Today was wonderful; woke up late, no plans, just relax. I finally updated the blog today, the only internet connection is a USB cell phone connection. While very convenient it is also slow.

In the afternoon I went across the street to the catfish farm and repeated the process of artificial spawning. Then we cut off their heads, dug in their brains and pulled out their pituitary gland. I think I could do the process myself now! I was also assigned the following task. After a few hours replace the acetone the pituitary glands are in, repeat after another 12 hours, then dry for 2 hours, then refrigerate

I learned about this a while ago but just realized I never talked about it. I don't know exactly, but about one in a thousand catfish are called jumpers. Jumpers are catfish that grow dramatically larger, faster than others their age. They grow so much faster than their brothers and sisters that they end up eating them. This is a problem because every fish that dies is money down the drain. So every few days they catch all the jumpers and move them to a new tank with the other jumpers, jumpers don't eat jumpers. They have to do this every few days because "jumping" is a social, not genetic, trigger. Think of it like a wolf Alpha male, if one is removed another will always take its place. So when the 1st group of jumpers are removed other begin to grow more quickly.

At sunset I took the daily tour – check of the farm with Dr. Ishmail. We checked the fish and shot at some metal fish feeders with his S&W 9mm, with the added benefit of scaring away the wild dogs that steal fish.

The catfish in my hand are the same age and have been raised in the exact same conditions.

Pictures!

The Pictures are not in order..


This is injecting female catfish with the pituitary gland solution to speed up egg process.




















This is the water recycling device. This will allow Dr. Ishmail to multiply the population density of fish in concrete tanks by reducing the nitrogen levels of the water.









This is Mohammad slicing up the males gonads over a bowl of eggs.

Mohammad "would you like to try this?"

Patrick "No thanks, I'll take pictures."




This is a harvest at the farm Dr. Ishmail advises at. Here you can see the fish are very muddy. This was the day after his discovery that harvesting fish from the water inlet side was so effective in cleaning the fish. He will soon implement this discovery at this farm.



This is Mustafa!



He talked to me for almost 4 hours about Egypt and Islam. Very cool guy!









Remember to click on the pictures for a better view.

Why XY?

Day 12 June 2 – Why XY?

So there was nothing special going on at the farm today until 9PM so we just relaxed. At around 11AM some guy drove up shook hands and came inside with a plastic bag. We sat down at the greeting room table and drank a cup of tea; the black plastic bag sitting on the table. Now keep in mind, I don’t speak Arabic, I have no idea what the hell is going on; I just roll with it till I can figure out what they are doing. It became clear with the new guy opened the plastic bag and poured 50,000 Egyptian pounds onto the table(that is a little over 10,000 USD$). Well this surprised me, not in the least what I was expecting. It was all the money he made off the harvest a few days ago. People here only work in cash I found out, the banks don’t work the same way here Egypt. People don’t write checks or wire money, its all cash.
Over lunch I remembered something Mohamed said on the first day and asked about it. He had mentioned an YY male. I’ll be honest, I had too many fun friends in my high school freshman biology class to really learn anything. So I didn’t know what that meant but it was obvious it meant something. Like in that Phil Collins song, “It all means something and yet nothing to me.” So I asked. They explained that they are creating what are known as SuperMales.
This is how it works now. Males are XY and Females are XX genetically. After fish eggs hatch, for twelve days they don’t have sexual organs yet. Fish that have male organs are physically male and fish that are XY are genetically male. A normal male is the wild is both physically and genetically male. Their sex is already decided in their genes but the organs have not yet formed. Because physically male fish grow larger faster, farmers only want to grow and sell male fish. Because of this fact fish farmers add testosterone to the baby fish so even if they are genetically female they will grow male sex organs. While this is safe, it is expensive and only 90% effective, which causes problems with the fish reproduce at the wrong time. Also, people don’t like it that the fish they eat are given hormones.
If people could genetically change the fish so all of the children are males it would be great. If it were possible for two males, two XYs, to have children all of their kids would be male. So the way to make all babies males without using hormones is simple, figure out how two males can have sex!?!?! Well SuperMales are that solution; they are genetically males with female sex organs, guys who have babies. During those twelve days that the baby fish don’t have sexual organs, give them estrogen. That way even if the fish is genetically male they will grow female sexual organs.
Unfortunately, this is not the end of the process. I don’t really understand what the problem is but this is what I got. When you give the estrogen to a bunch of fish about half are genetically male and half are genetically female. Now Supermales are ONLY the ones that are genetically males with female sexual organs. But the only way to distinguish a Supermale from a female is to either genetically test each fish or to see if their offspring are all males. This is a pain in the ass and cots lots of money. Dr. Ishmail had made at one time 30 SuperMales, but he estimates it would take 1000 to be effective on the farm.
On a different subject, at 9PM we walked across the street with Mohamed to the catfish farm Dr. Ishmail owns. There we smashed up the Pituitary gland we collected a few days ago and mixed it with saline water. We then injected this into female fish who’s eggs were not yet ripe. We did this so that tomorrow we would be able to artificially spawn catfish again.
The rest of the day was wonderfully uneventful; I sat around and read my book. I read the entire book Uncle Chris gave me, Riding With the Blue Moth today. Amazing book, It goes for tragic, to depressing, to hopeful, to heartwarming in a few hundred pages. And it’s lots of fun if you are super awesome and have ridden your bike across the country. P.S. I’m bragging but I got 5 As and 1 B this last semester. I got my only B in Marine Biology, Ironic? I think so.


ok so i guess i didn't understand this very well. If you want a good explanation read the comments, Kev Fitz and Mr. Bong know what they are talking about.

Adviser

Day 11 June 1 – 8.55 PM – Adviser

I left Mohamed’s beautiful home this morning and left with Dr. Ishmail as he went to another farm. We traveled an hour to a farm which grows not only fish but many other crops like Mangos, citrus, and peaches. Dr. Ishmail is an adviser for the aquaculture side of the farm.
Today was a harvest so Dr. Ishmail thought he should be there and keep an eye on things. It was a harvest almost exactly like the once at Ca-Fa-Shey except for one important factor. Dr. Ishmail experiments often to improve and perfect his methods. In the harvest at Ca-Fa-Shey the fish were pushed up hill towards to water inlet pipe, unlike usual where the fish are drawn from the deep end. Dr. Ishmail tried this because he was hoping that by running water past the fish during harvest would keep them cleaner. It worked wonderfully! This new method had not been implemented at this farm yet.
We then headed to Dr. Ishmail’s other house, a farm house. There he grows mangos, oranges, peaches, and apricots. He is not trying to turn a large profit from the farm, it is more of a hobby. It was an amazing place and both I and Dr. Ishmail enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.

Alexandria

Day 10 May 31 – Alexandria

Today I drove with Dr. Ishmail and son Mohamed to his home in Alexandria. Alexandria has about four million people and It stretches along the coast of the Mediterranean coast. Their home was on one of the middle stories of a building a few blocks back for the coast. We went up to meet Dr. Ishmail’s wife, four daughters, and only grandson. The grandson, Mohamed's son, is named Ishmail after his grandfather.
After a wonderful lunch and cookies, Dr. Ishmail’s son Mohamed took me to his place for some rest. After a nice nap we drove along the coastal road, the main drag in Alex, to a thousand year old castle from the Ottoman Empire. Because it was a Friday night the boardwalk was packed with people, children, and vendors. After a quick tour of the boardwalk we drove to the largest mall in Alex. The mall was just like the one in Cairo, huge and full of cool stuff. There was a famous perfume store which sells perfume that can cost thousands of dollars.
The next stop on the tour was the Library of Alexandria. I remembered that the library was famous but I couldn’t remember exactly for what. I expected to see a very old, massive library, but was surprised to see a concrete dome. They told me then that the library burned down, with most of its contents, during the Roman rule. Then I remembered it was famous in history as the most impressive library but it burned down with much of the documented history up to that point. It was famous because it was destroyed. So now the library looks like a dome with a slice taken out of it. It is on the coast, it is supposed to represent the sun rising off of the ocean horizon.
After a wonderful dinner and desert we headed home. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cairo, but Alexandria was great. It was much less hectic and I loved the ocean view.

Ca-Fa-Shey

Day 9 May 30 – 11.02 PM - Ca-Fa-Shey

The plan was to see the harvest at 5AM, come back to my room at 7AM and leave to go to Ca-Fa-Shey. Well the driver showed up to take me to the harvest at around 6.50 so that didn’t work out. But I took the hour drive to Ca-Fa-Shey, a private farm owned by Dr. Ishmail. I found out later Dr. Ismail is famous in Egypt as the father of aquaculture. At the height of his production he was personally responsible for over 2 million pounds of fish production a year. He became wealthy years ago when he was the first to implement a new aquaculture technique.
The trip to Ca-Fa-Shey was a harrowing story in itself. Once again I feared for my life, three VERY near serious crash incidents. The drive was about an hour long through rural Egypt.
The first thing I saw was the beautiful garden in front of the home. A very nice home; the largest I have seen in Egypt by far. There is a full time cook, house cleaners, and a gardener. The house lies in front of a very sophisticated tilapia farm.
The hatcheries are made of cement with plastic covers. The plastic covers create a greenhouse effect dramatically raising the temperature. This allows the Tilapia to thrive in winter, normally their growth would slow and they would not spawn. While this temperature increase is great in winter it is very uncomfortable in summer. Inside it is probably 110 degrees with 70 percent humidity; instant sweat.
After the tour Dr. Ishmail’s son in law Mohamed, who is also a dentist, took me and showed me how to artificially spawn catfish. This is pretty nasty but it’s easy to do and the results are amazing. The first step is to get however many female catfish you need, then get 1/3 that number of males. Then massage/squeeze all of the females’ eggs out into a bowl. Next the males; this requires surgery. While the females survive the operation the males do not. It is important to keep the male catfish alive as long as possible, unfortunately for the fish. To keep the male catfish relatively calm during the operation, keep him upside down and his eyes and sensors covered. While holding the fish tightly, cut a three inch incision along the soft belly of the fish. Next, remove both of the gonads and place them off on the side. Holding the gonads above the bowl of eggs, stab and squeeze the gonads until you get the sperm all over the eggs. Then add water to the bowl of eggs and carefully mix it all together. You must work quickly because the sperm are only active for 30 to 60 seconds. Now just leave the eggs in warm water and you’re done.
Natural spawning means you just put some males and females together and let “the magic” happen. The reason people go to the trouble of artificially spawning fish is you get nearly double the fertilization, meaning twice the fish, and hopefully twice the money.
The reason the male fish must be alive for the operation is because later you can cut open its brain and remove the pituitary gland. If the fish was killed early in the operation the pituitary gland would decay quickly. The pituitary gland can be mixed with saline water to crate a fish hormone injection. This pituitary gland injection can be given to female fish to make their eggs ripen faster. This allows the fish to be spawned on the peoples schedule rather than the fish’s.
At 4PM we harvested one of Dr. Ishmail’s Tilapia ponds. When I came to the pond the water level was already so low you could see most of the fish. The previous Tilapia farm I worked at had plastic covers along the bottom of the ponds, these were muddy bottoms. This allowed me to observe the results of normal Tilapia spawning procedures. The male fish had half spherical holes in the bottom of the pond. In these holes the females would lay her eggs and the males would fertilize them. I assumed many of the Tilapia would be caught in these holes as the water level dropped, Dr. Ishmail told me that they would not because it is in their nature to find adequate water.
The worker dragged nets along the bottom to round all the fish up in a round pen. Then a worker got in with the fish and began to scoop them up in basket nets. The fish were then placed in a trailer pulled by a tractor. Once this was finished the fish were taken to a sorting station and graded into their appropriate sizes. I was surprised to see that no matter how small, all of the fish are sold.
I just found that Dr. Ishmail and Mohamed are leaving the farm to go to Alexandria this Friday and Saturday weekend. They asked me to come with them to Alexandria and I was thrilled to accept.

Catfish gain almost 1 pound for every pound of food they eat
Tilapia gain a pound of every 1.3 to 1.7 pounds of food they eat
Beef gain only 1 pound for every 10 pounds of food they eat.

Babies and Genetics

Day 8 May 29 – Babies and Genetics

Today was pretty relaxed, started with watching the workers catch some Tilapia from the brood stock. They then removed the eggs and fry from their mouths. After separating the eggs and fry from the fish that escaped last time (bigger).
Then I went to see some geneticists working with blue Tilapia. I wont lie and say I understood what they were doing but it sounded interesting.
After this I had a few wonderful hours of internet. I sat around and read email, the news, and downloaded music.
I learned the Arabic words for water, fish, net, tea, one, sugar, family, coffee, and thanks.
Tomorrow I will be going to Dr. Ismyal Radwan’s private fish farm for about a week in cafrashake. (that is how it sounds.)

THE FARM HAS CELL PHONE INTERNET AND CHANGES BY THE MEG SO I WILL UPLOAD PICS LATER.