The Giza Club

July 2004

Part 1: "Stay away from the cooked lamb's testicles."

Part 2: Edwina has a son who works at the Victoria?

Part 3: Lessons included shoes, dinner, cymbals, coffee, and sheesha.

Part 4: "Hello I am fine and in Luxor and it's very hot."

Part 5: "She could have a whole school of Ghawazee."

Part 6: "Stand back and don't speak any English!"

Part 7: "The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the emotions."

Hi folks!

I made it to Egypt safe and sound. Rest assured that I have had no hassles at all! It only took 10 minutes (that's right 10) for me to check in thanks to British Airways online check in service. I didn't venture out into London during my stopover, though, because Heathrow is a bloody gargantuan airport. Like a minicity, really! It took me longer to transfer planes than to check in at SFO!

My room is quaint and small, but it has AC yay! And my own bathroom and a TV. However, I can hear the prayer call VERY CLEARLY at dawn as well as the roosters and the incessant honking of horns. People don't follow any traffic rules or signs. They just use their horns to get cars and pedestrians--even the elderly and baby carriages!--out of the way. I have yet to get a good night's sleep.

I've been using as much Arabic as I can. I've gotten to know my numbers and various pleasantries quite well. Unfortunately, I don't always understand the reply. My tummy is OK so far. I'm taking as much precautions as I can. I've eaten nothing raw, drunk no tap water, and am staying away from the cooked lamb's testicles. I did try the coffee and so far I'm OK.

Now for all you dance enthusiasts, here's the latest: My first night here I went to the Parisiana and saw LUCY perform LIVE! It was a real treat. She still looks good and dances good but she does spend a lot of time hobnobbing with the audience. I didn't mind too much because she spent about 2 1/2 hours on stage, with three costume changes. Also she hobnobbed with us and let us video tape her show !!! And we got pictures taken with her. I was positively star struck.

I don't want to go into too much detail because I have to pay for internet by the minute. Y'all can come over to my house and see the videos when I get back. Melinda and Jose, thank you thank you thank you for loaning me your recorder. I'm getting some good footage of dancing!

© Andrea
The cruise ship "Maxim" on the bank of the Nile.

We also went to the Maxim boat as per Edwina's suggestion and saw a dervish spinning and Asmahan doing more of her over the top entrances and athletic dancing. It was very entertaining. We also went to the Palmyra and saw, how can I call it, non-dancing. Me and my companions got up and cut a rug to the live music. It was trés fun!

Have yet to see a pyramid or museum. I did walk along the Nile last night though. I'm getting ready to go to Khan al Khalili and do some serious shopping, then I'll go see the pyramids and then see guess what? MORE DANCING!

More later.

Ma'a salaama,
Andrea

So, I got a chance to see Dina and Dalia at the opening gala. Dina did just what you said she'd do--abut 5 costumes changes and short dance numbers. Her style is very different and her moves are more subtle than others. Dalia was more classical oriental and I really liked her.

Edwina, do you remember Mohammed, who is a dance fan and works at the Victoria? He was happy that I know you, he said you are his mother. He has a connection to a costume factory that can make me anything for cheap, like $125!! I've seen their stuff and it looks pretty good. I might have them make Melinda's dress.

I don't know where or if Randa or Dandash or Sorraya are dancing somewhere in Cairo now but I'll investigate. All three of them are teachers in the festival. I'm only taking from Randa, though.

I bumped into Khairiyya (Mazin)* in the bathroom at the Mena House and spoke to her in very broken Arabic and I think she understood me. I said "you very good dancer. I friend of Edwina from California. You my teacher in Luxor? I go Luxor in 7 days." She said "inshallah" and gave me her phone number.

Lastly, I've taken a class from Magdy El Leisy who is Egyptian but lives in Germany. I really like his style, seems more of the people, grounded yet very cute with a weensy bit of ballet in the turns and lifting of the torso. I'm taking a private from him on Friday. And today I'm taking a lesson from Nagwa**along with 2 other girls I've been hanging out with. She insisted that we won't pay. We will of course, but we're not sure what a good rate is. $30 US an hour? I think that is what (Edwina's) Gilded Serpent article says.

Anyways, I'm off to see some sights in Cairo! More later!

Hi people!

I bring you news of Egyptian dance.

..................... There were more people this year (at the Cairo Dance Festival) than ever. You pay a lot for the classes although you don't learn much because there are too many people in them or the dancers are not teachers. You just have to follow along.

Randa's class was one of the better ones. Her English and teaching skills were better than others. She broke down movements and let us repeat them enough to learn them although you don't get any personal attention. and there wasn't enough space to really do some movements.

Dina's class was a waste of time. I only stayed for like 1 hour of the three. There were about 200 people, really! And even though she had a projection screen to help see, she didn't break things down and her movements are too subtle to see especially because she was wearing black pants and no hip scarf. I didn't get anything out of it. Although her show is entertaining, I don't want to dance like her.

Dandash is a good dancer in my opinion but a bad teacher. She would just do two entire songs, not bit by bit, over and over and over and over, the whole two songs for 3 hours! I stayed for her entire class anyway because I liked watching her dance and I did pick up a few movements. Unfortunately she's on a vacation and not dancing in Cairo for another month.

So those were the four classes ....... that I took. Magdy, Randa, Dina, and Dandash. It seems to me that the dancers in Egypt have discovered that you can make a lot of money teaching so they all offer privates at varying price ranges, even though they can't really teach. Aida Nour, I hear charges $30 an hour, Mona Said $100 and Nagwa Sultan $60.

I was late for the "Closing Gala" so I only caught the last act which was Camilia. She's Egyptian but her style seemed Lebanese to me, like Asmahan at the Maxim. Athletic movements with giant hip accents, lots of head tosses, and big arm movements. I can show you what I mean later. I think that is a major trend in Egyptian dance. People are either doing Dina-ish movements--i.e. tiny shimmies and sticking your butt out and walking as if you're about to fall--or big almost American-looking choreographies (Hanadi, Randa, Dina, Camilia). Another trend is the folklore (Raqia, Yousry, Magdy, Dandash, Dalia).

What happened to sharqi? Lucy seems to be only active performer of that genre. Actually, Edwina, I'm confused about the difference between 'real' sharqi and folklore. First, when you and Nagwa Sultan say folklore you don't mean like saidi or actual folk dances, is that right? You mean the style invented or cultivated by the Reda troupe, right? So how can an American like me tell the difference if everyone in the US who says they do real Egyptian dance is actually doing folklore?

I asked Nagwa this and she gestured (because she doesn't speak much English) making a tall and elegant persona. So I guess sharqi is more sophisticated or elegant, less earthy and cutesy. At my first lesson, I did a move that I thought was real Egyptian and she said "no no no! that's folklore!" Then later in my lessons she did the exact same movement only with different arms. I swear! So what is the real difference? Is it the movements or the arms or the feeling?

According to Nagwa, the only real sharqi dancers were herself (of course), Nagwa Fu'aad, Suhair Zaki, Fifi Abdo, and Lucy. Shushu, Mona, and Nelly were kind of but also folklore, whereas Dina is, in her words 'sex.' (funny!) Note the real sharqi dancers are old timers. Could it be that sharqi is evolving and o.g. dancers like Nagwa can't accept the new version of it? Please, Edwina, shed some light on this for me.

Speaking of Nagwa, no she did not give me a two and a half hour lesson for $30. I think that Nagwa, having already seen Edwina's article on the net, and made hundreds of copies of it before I even got to Egypt, realized that she will be more in demand and can charge more money. Ahmed refused to give me a price on the phone as I told you so I thought we were getting a complimentary lesson. It wasn't until after the lesson that she pulled out the price list (Egyptian way of doing business. Provide service first then demand extortionate rate): $60 per hour, or $35 if you have more than one student or take several one-on-ones. Video taping is an additional $40. In the end I paid $35 per one hour lesson for seven lessons, and $35 per video because I know Edwina and she gave me a free hour later. The discrepancy in price has caused much strife for all, but in the end I think the lessons were worth it. Once we established the rates, she stuck to them. I learned much from her. She also bought me some shoes and cooked me dinner three times and gave me finger cymbals and took me out to drink coffee and smoke sheesha twice. I fell like we've bonded over the seven days. Whether or not she really is the only one who teaches real sharqi is unknown to me.

Tonight I'm off to Luxor on the overnight train, non-sleeping car, for four days. I couldn't do more for a variety of reasons. First, my companion backed out on me at the last minute and second it will be too damned hot to stay longer! Maybe I can do two hour lessons with Khairiyya. Don't worry about me on the train. So far everything everyone has warned me abut is untrue. Not a single man has harassed me. I may have been ripped off a few times in Khan al Khalili or by a cab but honestly it's been like 50 cents to 2 dollars here and there and I'd rather give up my money than my personal safety and health!

If there's e-mail in Luxor, I'll give you another long update.

love,
Andrea

Ahlan wa sahlan! Ana kwayisa wa fee Luxor Harr giddan. Asshams aowie kateeran! Mafeesh zahma like in Cairo. There's a sample of my broken Arabic. I said "Hello I am fine and in Luxor it's very hot. The sun is very strong!"

There isn't traffic like in Cairo. It's fun to speak Arabic. Even though I slaughter the language I think the Egyptians appreciate that a tourist knows a few words. Luxor is very nice. It's smaller and way less polluted than Cairo. Right now is the slow season because it is so damn hot so it's more mellow they say. My hair feels like hair again as opposed to in Cairo where it felt like hay.

The drivers here are still crazy! They really like to use their horns and they don't like to stop! Luckily Luxor the town is small enough to get around on foot, but only in the early or late hours otherwise it's too hot. Many shops and offices close from 1 to 5pm, the hottest hours. To get to the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's tomb and other big ticket spots you've got to take a cab and an air conditioned one if you're lucky!

Can you believe that from my hotel room I can see Luxor temple? It's just right there in the middle of the city. You don't have to pay anything to see it from the outside, just take a stroll and there it is, an ancient monument with rows of sphinxes, hieroglyphs, towering statues of Ramses, and beautiful columns with lotuses and papyrus blossoms on the tops. Amazing. Last night I saw the Luxor temple at night, and it was all lit up and the temp was cooler and it was romantical.

Today I went into the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut's tomb and some other tombs. I saw some amazing painted reliefs. Hard to believe they are thousands of years old. I was gone half a day but I think the heat took a toll on me. I feel a wee bit weak. I'm taking another tour tomorrow, but earlier! I could of course go by myself and save some money but I don't feel like navigating and negotiating by myself. I think it's OK to spend a bit more for some convenience. I'm losing patience with the haggling process.

I had an awful train ride over though! Actually, it wasn't the train ride so much as just before the train ride. But as I recount my experience, know that I can now laugh at it a few days later. So I was feeling pretty intrepid and on top of the world before I got on the train. I was assured by several Egyptians that tourist first class on the train was cushy and safe because there were armed guards and strictly only tourists can go on. I felt confident because while I was initially intimidated by Cairo, I can now go about it confidently.

So I call a cab to the train station, which is only a 5 minute drive from my hotel. My friend at the Victoria hotel had pre-paid the cabbie 5 pounds (too much) and I was off. Well, the stupid driver takes me on the main street which is bumper-to-bumper traffic! I realized that walking would have been faster. Then he starts asking me for 5 more pounds! I lost it then. I started yelling at the cabbie in English "I'm not giving you any more money! This is bullshit! I'm going to miss my train! I could walk! You're such an asshole!" But of course I didn't know the way so I thought I should ask a pedestrian. So I stick my head out the window and start yelling to random pedestrians " Do you speak English? How do I get to the train station?" (I can't believe I did that!) No one spoke English!

So I stuck it out with the cabbie thinking well, the trip is already paid for. Then he has to go like half a mile out of the way so he can make a U-turn back to the station. The five minute ride turned into a half hour nightmare. By the time I got out of the cab, I was fuming. And guess what? I missed my train! A tourist police took pity and offered to help but I was pissed and had no patience left. He was speaking to me in Arabic and while I'll usually pull out my book and try to decipher what they are saying, I just yelled " I don't understand you! I'm just a tourist!" while I was crying. Oy vey! He ended up getting me on another train 2 1/2 hours later so I had time to sit and fume. I was hungry, tired, sad, angry, frustrated, everything.

When it came time to board the train, the tourist police helped me find my seat but the system is so jacked up that even he couldn't figure it out! I first ended up in Arabic 3rd class (not pretty) which made me pissed because not only did I pay for a first class seat, but I had to give hefty tip to the hotel manager for buying it for me. Well, fortunately the tourist police had made a mistake and after 4 more tries, he found my seat in Arabic 2nd class. Me alone in a non-sleeping cabin, no foot rest even, with 5 other men! Yikes! I cried again. The other passengers must have thought I was crazy which at the time I was. I had a 10 hour overnight journey ahead of me on an uncomfortable upright seat with five strange men in the cabin. When I put my carry on in the tray I thought to myself " I don't care if you take my stuff! Take my underwear and shampoo, take it all! Just leave me alone!" I made to Luxor in one piece. There was no problem on the train whatsoever in fact the other passengers made sure I didn't miss my stop. That's a microcosm of Egypt. You think you're in a precarious situation, then nothing happens.

My internet time is about to run out. Rest assured, that in spite of that story, I'm OK. I think it was due partially to my PMSing. Ladies, you know how that is! Gotta go!

love,
me

Hello fellow dance fans!

I'm at the end of my four day stay in Luxor and I have some stuff to report. First, Khairiyya* was very happy and sweet and grateful to receive Edwina's letter and her little care package. She said Edwina must go back to Luxor and Zahiyya too (that's Pepper) that she misses you both a lot. Second, Khairiyya is the most sweetest dancer I've met. Totally kind, unpresumptuous, caring, and also very beautiful still after all these years!

I didn't get a room at the Radwan or Ramoza because their numbers are not listed ! I ended up staying at the Emilio which is nice but snobby. They wouldn't let me take Khairiyya up to my room! The guy at the front desk said it was a law that Egyptians couldn't go into guests' hotel room--yeah right. At the Radwan, Khairiyya had no problem going in there. I know this because I shared some classes with a couple of nice French ladies (the ones you referred me to, Edwina) who were staying there.

So I had my first lesson in Khairiyya's apartment which has a fan but no a/c. It was challenging! Not only because her movements are so subtle but also because her English is very limited and she doesn't break anything down. So imagine she dancing for 1.5 hours and me trying to copy her in her hot little apartment. Interestingly, while I was focusing on her hip movements she would call my attention to her feet. She wanted to make sure I got the feet right most of all. After the first lesson, she said I was "shwaye shwaye" which I think means so so. She let me video her but only a bit so I studied the tape and the next day I was "kwayis" or good. My final lesson I graduated to "very good" but there's this one movement that I really need to practice. I videoed myself too (with the aid of Paola and Carine) since there was no mirror and I wanted to get an idea of how I looked compared to Khairiyya. She makes everything look easy but it's very hard. I have some pointers for other students of Ghawazee that I can show but can't explain in words. As I said, her movements are subtle.

For those of you who want to go and take classes with her, stay at the Radwan. I have the correct number now and the rooms are clean and there's a pool and you can have your lessons in your air-conditioned room.

It's really a shame how Khairiyya is treated in Egypt. In America and Europe she's revered and respected yet here, her husband (now dead) wouldn't let her dance and I hear the government won't let her dance and (promoters) take advantage of her and the bastard at the Emilio wouldn't let her in. She says she's through with men and her sisters and nieces have married men that won't let them dance so unfortunately she has no one to pass it on to! (How did I get all this with my limited Arabic and her limited English? Maybe I'm wrong, but Edwina you'll let me now, right?) I kept thinking that she should be an artist in residence in the US. She could have a whole school of Ghawazee. I'm sure there are tons of ladies who'd sign up! She'd get the respect and payment she deserves in the US! Maybe even meet a nice guy and fall in love. Is this a pipe dream? I told her she has to come to America because she has so many friends there and we all love her and she said "Insha-allah."

I also tried to check out the sharqi scene in Luxor though unsuccessfully. I went to the Sant Catrine which is very seedy. The Emilio sent me with a bodyguard. I don't think it was completely necessary but I don't think the Sant Catrine is frequented by any females or tourists. Anyway, I saw only the first dancer who was crap. Maybe she could dance but just didn't feel like it. She had a few OK movements but she was more interested in flirting with the all-male-besides-me audience. Hey I know in the US women do way more vulgar dances with strange men for free but in this setting, seeing her get up close to the guys and letting them put their hands on her shoulders or hips just didn't feel right. I felt uncomfortable. I videoed a bit and felt like a voyeur. There were supposedly two more dancers but it was already 1 AM and I had a 10 AM lesson with Khairiyya so I decided to call it a night.

love to you all,
Andrea

Just found this and your other messages. Khairiyya would love to come to America, but nobody has ever invited her. Every time somebody outside of Egypt sets up a seminar or trip for her out of the country, they back out of it. Khairiyya has given up on foreigners' "promises."

About the Sant Katarin, and all nightclubs in Egypt that have more than one dancer, they always put on a pretty but mediocre dancer first. If there's a "star" or very good dancer, she goes on towards the end. Clubs open between 11 PM and 12:30 am, so the first dancer goes on between midnight and 1 a.m. You usually won't see a good dancer till 2 a.m. at the earliest. I remember, I think in 1982, hanging in at a nightclub till 5 am to see Aza Sharif and, since I was ill, finally giving up, but I heard from other people in my group that she went on at 5:30 or 6 am. This is why when I set up my tour of Egypt in 1984, I told the travel agency that they could not schedule any tours (Pyramids and stuff) before 11 a.m.

By the way, the Sant Katarin is perfectly safe. I know it looks kind of scuzzy, but when I was there everyone was really nice, not like the Cairo nightclub scene, which is full of real sleazes. In Luxor, the guys in the audience at Sant Katarin are mostly decent, middle class working stiffs who just want one night off a week to escape their dull existences and enter a sort of dream world. They just want to have fun, not bother anyone, not even hit on foreign women (hardly any foreign women go into the place, so it doesn't attract the sort of men who want to pick up women, foreign or otherwise). Guys there bought me drinks, got me up to dance, dumped more money on me on stage than they did on the dancers, but none of them got fresh or pushy. In some ways it was the most pleasant evening I spent on my last trip to Egypt.

And the second dancer who went on -- she was on at least two hours -- did a lot of the schmoozing and so forth, but she could DANCE. Didn't matter if the music was old, modern, baladi, Big Band Sharqi, songs, folklore, whatever, she could interpret it right. She would dance a minute or two and then fool around awhile, but when she danced, she really did it. I wish I had had a minicam and the money to hire her to do a private show for me -- it probably would have cost only $50, and I would have had some great footage, better than anything that's come out on video commercially in Egypt in the last decade.

Hey, how did Khairiyya's health seem? Did she seem to be favoring her right shoulder and arm, or to be in pain or get tired easily?

E

It sounds like you understood Khairiyya right . . . she has a sort of intuitive way of understanding and communicating with foreigners even though she doesn't know English.

© Andrea
Not speaking English in the bazaar

Me again with more reflections and observations! It turns out that Arabic 2nd class is nicer than Tourist 1st class on the train. On the one hand, I didn't have to share a cabin with 5 strange men. I had to share the whole damn car with snorers and sleep farters! Oh, actually I think I was the major offender in the latter area. The chairs in tourist first class aren't any more comfy but they left the lights on and the foot rest hindered more than helped. By the time I got to Cairo, me knees had stiffened. But my journey wasn't over there. I, having learned better from before, decided to walk to the hotel but this meant crossing multiple lanes of traffic on foot and I think you all know well by now what dangers lie in that. I made it across safely, though my bag got bumped by a car.

2. We've all heard of the call to prayer five times a day, but did you know about the call to scratch? It's a silent call that happens around 5 PM. That's when I see all the males, young and old, scratching their crotches. It's like clockwork and it happens in unison. I think there is also a silent call to pick your nose several times a day. (I'm cracking myself up right now!)

3. Cairo does not sleep, not in the summer. It seems busiest at around midnight , maybe because that's when the temp has cooled down. Even kids roam the streets with their parents at that hour, shoe shopping or what have you.

4. I know I've gone on about the traffic, but let me say this final word. Have you seen the Simpsons episode in which Homer is stuck in this major traffic jam and he says "don't worry, I've got an ace up my sleeve?" You think he really has a solution but he ends up honking his horn thinking it will really help! Well, drivers in Cairo are a bunch of Homer Simpsons! They honk at each other as if it means something. There's three types of honks: 1--a friendly warning that the driver is coming behind you. 2--a proclamation that he has no intention of stopping for you now matter how crippled you are or how young your baby is. 3--road rage, i.e. "you a-hole! I don't care if I almost ran over you because I was reversing two blocks against traffic without my lights on! You should've moved!" (this really happened.)

That's enough for now. If I can't find anyone to go to a show with me, I can always do some late night shopping at Khan el Khalili.

love,
Andrea

(Khairiyya) didn't seem in pain at all, in fact I needed more breaks than she. She seemed eager to dance in order to lose weight! The other girls, Paola and Carine, however, had heard her complain about her shoulder but honestly I didn't see it. Maybe she's good at hiding the pain. Her vision is not so good though, she had trouble reading your letter and she had to have someone else write her letter to you.

Are you in China or India or still in the US? If you'll be in the US when I get back this Thursday, I'd love to hook up, share my videos, hear more about the evolution of raqs sharqi from you.

Let me know!

love,
Andrea

I will now attempt to wax poetic about Egypt, sort of summarize the sensory qualities of Egypt. Egypt is a place of yin and yang, good and bad stuff both in strong concentrated doses.

For instance: The smells are intense. The constant smell of exhaust and fuel as you travel in a cab. The smell of spices from Khan al Khalili so potent you always know when you're within a kilometer to it. The smell is a welcome break from the pollution as is the savory smell of shawarma cooking from a street vendor. You can smell the chicken, lamb, onion, and spices from down the block.

© Andrea
Cairo cabbie dancing at the wheel.
Yes, the cab is moving (quite fast), and no, he is not steering with his feet.

The sounds are intense. Egyptian pop music and Om Kalsoum is played everywhere! Egyptians love music, and even one taxi driver was dancing while driving or driving while dancing I don't know. People's cell phones ring to an Om Kalsoum or Hakim or Nancy Agram song. There's also the call to prayer 5 times a day which is audible from anywhere in the city because it's broadcast over loud speakers from the many mosques in Cairo. The sound of horns of course. Who needs stop lights or lanes or traffic laws when you have a horn? I think that if a car's horn wasn't working, the driver just wouldn't drive. It's that important!!

The sights are intense. More women than I had expected wear higaab (hair covering). And even though the temperature reached the 90's, men and women were covered up. Long sleeves and long skirts or long pants or galabayyas. How do they do that without breaking a sweat? One of my favorite daily sights was that of men riding bikes with a gigantic tray of pita bread balanced on their heads. That is some talent even without the kamikaze cars "sharing" the road. At my last opportunity, my last day in Cairo with the dusk approaching I got a picture of it! The many minarets piercing the skyline make for very picturesque panoramas. The variety of animals you see on the street is both cute and sad at times. Many stray cats, herds of cute long haired goats, donkeys and horses pulling carts of fish or bread or anything, stray dogs, caged geese or pigeon for sale on the street, hanging carcasses of beef and lamb in the sweltering heat.

The tastes are intense. The sweets like basboosa, gunaash, kunafa, and mahlabiyya. The spicy coffee. The bitter cheese. The gooey molokhaya. The sour pickled eggplants, cucumbers, carrots, and onions.

Finally, not to be forgotten are the yin and yang of emotions. Getting pissed off because I found out I've paid too much for pretty much everything. (take note people, don't pay more than 1/4 of the price quoted you!) but accepting that because I always felt safe from pick-pockets or other crimes against women. The strong sense of welcome from the Egyptians. I made a few very good friends there and many positive acquaintances. The overwhelming sense of peace I felt in the mosque of Suleyman Pasha at the Citadel. The annoyance of guards at the Luxor temple trying to get me to touch the monuments in exchange for baksheesh. Happiness that you shop in the Khan al Khalili at any hour of the day! (Why can't we have 24 hour shopping in the US?)

So those are my final reflections of Egypt. Actually, I'll miss trying to speak Arabic. Thanks for sharing my journey with me!

love to you all,
Andrea

Via e-mail.
© Andrea & Edwina. All rights reserved.
Edited for publication.
Opinions expressed are those of the writers and not necessarily of the Giza Club or its affiliates.

* Khairiyya Yusef Mazin is the only remaining active dancer of the Mazin family Egyptian Ghawazee dance dynasty. Edwina has researched and published extensively about the "Banat Mazin" (Mazin daughters) and can help Giza members arrange to study with them in Egypt. See her article in the Gilded Serpent online magazine about Khairiyya Yusef Mazin.

** See Edwina's article about Nagwa Sultan in the Gilded Serpent.