There’s something about book stores that can sweep booklovers off their feet – the aroma of old and new books, the serene atmosphere, and a room to scream your lungs out.
At least, that’s true of Bab Aldonia (The World’s Door), a bookstore in Cairo.
The bookstore opened over three years ago and boasts an impressive collection of books, a mini café, a music classroom, and the “Scream Room” – an increasingly popular space for Egyptians, young and old, to vent their frustrations loudly.
That’s not all.
The room also has drums that visitors can beat in order to release their stress, or, maybe as a way of enjoying the pleasures of percussion. A session can last for ten minutes.
According to CNN, the idea came from a Japanese product called the “shouting vase” – a plastic jug that emits a softer version of your angry cries, almost like a “whisper”.
The bookstore serves a vital purpose in a country which continues to see political upheavals, even six years after the citizens’ revolution. The pressure of not being able to express oneself freely under an authoritarian government makes the “Scream Room” a comforting, if not ideal, remedy.
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