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 Meet Darwich: The East-West Freak
By Tarek Atia
Meet Darwich, an Egyptian-American who was born in Egypt, brought
up in the United States, then came back to Egypt to work and live.
Darwich's story is an interactive web-based tale, where you will be able
to navigate through Darwich's adventures in any order you choose by
using the links in the text. You can start anywhere and finish anywhere,
and join in at any time.
By Tarek Atia
Signs of late summer
A tour of a beach town deep
into the off peak season reveals some hidden gems
It
was hard not to miss the store. Every other store around it was closed
and dark -- while the "dippin  dots"
light was shining bright.
It was only now, in the off
season, with the current lack of competition, that the "dots"
slogan was able to really resonate. What exactly was the "Ice Cream
of the Future"?
Darwich didn't really know but he
was always eager to document new concepts and ideas. So he sauntered
into the store, ready to show how impressed and interested he was in
whatever new form of ice cream they were offering.
The clerks were not all that
interested in talking about it. Of course not -- they work around the
stuff all day. It was weird. Tiny little dots
of ice cream. They had a different
consistency, of course, and tended
to melt better -- if such a thing can
be qualitatively measured. But really, it was just ice cream in a
different form, no big deal.
Another small deal that may have
been otherwise neglected had it been summertime was the "Name on
Rice" store. Too bad it was closed, but the sign said it all.
"We can write your name or your secret message on a grain of
rice."
Darwich had a secret message he
wanted to put on a grain of rice. All his PIN codes. He'd then put the
grain in his wallet and take it out to crib off of whenever he needed
to.
A great idea -- too bad
"Name on Rice" was closed.
Instead, someone else's idea was
always open. Namely -- the new booths that represented a generational
leap from the old polaroid passport
photo booths. These booths purported
to sketch you like a portrait artist would,
and allowed you to take glamour shots featuring new hairstyles and  colors.
The few remaining
beach goers were attracted to the machines for want of much else
flashing and whirring going on.
"Photoshop for the
masses," laughed Darwich. That's what it was all about.
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