Getting out in Algiers

We went after work tonight to a free concert by Mad Sheer Khan, part of a European Cultural Festival. He's a Algerian native, part Iranian and part Arab who lives now in France. He plays an amplified dilruba (a bowed instrument from India that sounds a lot like an electric guitar)to do Bob Dylan, James Brown and especially Jimi Hendrix songs. Weird. The best piece was his ender, done on African drums and for which he made the crowd get out of their seats to move.

We've ventured out a couple of other nights too this week. We went to a tony shopping and cafe district near Hydra, the city's international section. We had coffee and desserts in a cafe called Le Troquet and felt like we were in Paris. Del has abandoned hopes of losing weight in Algeria and is wondering if he can maybe hold the line on the certain gain that is coming. I mean tiramisu and chocolate cream gateaux! Then we shopped for DVDs, which cost $2, fruit and English newspapers.

We went downtown as well for Lebanese food followed by Italian ice. Yes, eating is a big diversion.