“Other Rivers

On the edge of Tahrir Square, I met a twelve-year-old boy named Hassan Mohamed Abdel Hafiz who showed me an empty tear gas canister and a birdshot scar on his stomach. Scavenged canisters are a badge of honor for those who fight for the people who fight on the front lines of Egyptian protests; Hassan said he had acquired his after a battle with the police in front of the Lycée la Liberté, a block away from the square.

Published in the July 3, 2023 Issue Regarding today’s weather, is it fine to wear shorts? It took less than a minute for the next beep. This time, the writer was Number 35 Li Jialing’s Mama: We are wearing shorts, it’s not cold. Each message appeared in the standard WeChat format: a time stamp, the sender’s name, an avatar, and the text within a bubble.

The earliest documented clusters of coronavirus infections had occurred in the Huanan market. During my first visit, a week earlier, I had left after attracting the attention of a man who appeared to be a plainclothes police officer. The site remained sensitive, and a high blue wall blocked off the ground-floor stalls where the virus had spread. But the market’s second floor was open for business, which was why, when I returned, I brought the glasses. One guard inspected the loose frame.