Travel, Egypt, Cairo, Vacations

Continued from March 5 post . . .

That night we went to Nadia’s house in what Ahmed called the upscale part of Cairo. On the bus, Ahmed informed us that Nadia’s family was upper middle class. Her husband owned several businesses. She did not speak English but her son Karim who would be there that night spoke good English.

Ahmed in general described a family like Nadia’s. Apparently, such families in Cairo owned three or four cars. The hefty SUV usually belonged to the son along with a motorbike, the shiny car to the sister, the older car to the mother and the rickety old one to the father.

It was night time, yet we could see that it was a chic part of town as evident from the bright lights, many fancy stores and foreign car dealerships in the neighborhood. We walked a few steps from our bus, weaving through the parked cars and other vehicles in front of the building, we went into the lobby and then into the elevator whose limit was ten people. Ahmed said that it was a new building and this was evident from the marble and granite dust in the lobby and some loose slabs lying around. Nadia and her family had been there just a few months.

The apartment was expansive with the sitting area and the dining area separated by some low chairs, the style that represented almost all the furniture in the space we were in. On one side of the living area, all were such chairs and on the other side was a sofa flanked by two chairs. There was a lot of similar-looking furniture and a lot of seating for a moderate-sized space.

As soon as we entered the apartment, the first thing we noticed was the home-remedy bandage on Nadia’s forearm and hand and a small nick on her upper lip and a tiny bump on her nose which I didn’t think was something that was acquired. Well, the narrative was she had felt dizzy and fallen down on the street that morning and had hurt herself. Later, someone in the group wondered if she was on drugs and if this is why she fainted. My speculation was she had not eaten. She did look famished though she was by no means light weight. She had not gone to the hospital yet because of our visit. Nadia was dressed traditionally in a galabeya and head scarf, seemed like a religious woman who prayed five times a day and kept house.

Nadia had this dignified posture and a round face sporting a Mona Lisa smile on a short frame and she spoke no English. We all sympathized with her condition. Soon we took our seats and a woman (maybe hired help, maybe a friend, it wasn’t too clear; she wore similar clothes like Nadia but displayed a different social class) brought the ubiquitous hibiscus juice in clear glasses neatly arranged on a tray. Like the mint tea in Morocco, hibiscus juice is the ice-breaker in Egypt. You just can’t escape it. The best version we had was in the tent in Edfu when we went to see the temple of Horus there.

Sporting tight jeans and a close haircut the son showed up soon. He was 24 and spoke good American English and kept saying that the youngsters in Egypt did the same things that American youngsters did, going to night clubs, etc. He had a girlfriend but till they got married, they returned home to their own separate beds. So much for his knowledge of the American culture!

Members in the group chimed in that 50 years ago that’s how things were in America. I guess we were more Arab back then.

Karim talked a lot partly because many questiosn wer asked of him. One question had to do with service in teh Egyptian army. He said that he was in the army but would be getting out within year because of some rules he was able to bend to his will because of his dad's connections. He was chubby and gap-toothed and it was clear that he hung around mainly to be there for moral support for his mother. He was a bit Teflon-coated, I thought. He showed us a copy of the DVD of the TV hit show "Desperate Housewives" he had got for his girlfriend. A young woman in the group mocked him for his taste and asked why he couldn't have found some better fare. When i asked what she would suggest, I didn't get an aswer.

The help brought out the food to the table. The food was amazingly delicious. Egypt is a vegetarian’s paradise. Nadia had made (I assume she made them but with one arm?) about six dishes. Potatoes, okra, eggplant, onions and tomatoes dominate Egyptian cooking. There is an extra zing to their dishes which seems to be the result of the tang in their tomatoes grown most likely naturally without any artificial coaxing we seem to do in the US. Maybe it’s because of the Nile water but the vegetables and fruits were very tasty.

I filled up my plate and one member wondered how possibly could I eat so much. Later I was told by another member that because I am small (on the first day of my trip I was indeed wearing a 6 petite) it’s legit for people to wonder how I can eat so much and still be petite.
I must confess though that when I travel abroad most of the times not expecting much vegetarian food, when I see it, I do behave like I had never seen food before nor will I see it again for days on end. Also, because non-vegetarians eat both kinds of food, I feel that there may not be much left for me if I am not alert. Hey, we all have our anxieties.

Knock on wood, since childhood food has been aplenty in my life yet we all know that fears are most of the time irrational. Anyway, after the first couple of days I slowed down and my total weight gain after the 2-week bingeing has been about six pounds. Not bad in my opinion. It’ll take ten-12 trips to the gym to burn the extra pounds I think.

Between dinner and dessert (Karim left during dessert), Nadia drew my attention to some fabulous crochet work visible on a low table and on a chair where a few of them (most of them black) were stacked up. Through sign language she communicated that she had made them. You could tell she was very proud of them. I picked them (most of them shawls and tablecloths) up and displayed them for the benefit of the others. Everybody went "ooh" "aah," etc. I asked Nadia if she sold them. She said no, they were made for the family. This is when we also asked about the people in the numerous photos on the wall and on the credenza top. In the wedding picture of Nadia’s parents the mother looked like a movie star. If Nadia were a bit lighter, her features and beauty would come through better too.

Soon our attention turned to the three desserts on the table. One of them was baklahva, which I avoided throughout my trip (just looked too syrupy and I get enough of it right here in NY) and some kind of pudding I think and the third one was a dish with lots of fresh strawberry slices in a pink, milky liquid. I tried this first, was blown away by its taste and stuck with it for the next ten minutes going at it like I’d never find this dish ever again in my life. Hardly anybody else went for it. No complaints here from me, though. I found out that the liquid was sweetened yogurt. I plan to make it at home one of these days when the strawberry season begins.

Later, a couple of us in the group (one in her early 30’s) obsessed a bit about the possible weight gain running our fingers beneath our pant waistline every few minutes. So when we saw a gym in the hotel we were happy and in fact did work out a couple of times the next two days we were there. I had taken my smallest size but had reduced enough before I left to make room for the inevitable expansion during the trip.

Visit to Nadia’s home (on our way out, many women in the group took a peek at her kitchen which looked very modern and neat) was on the 4th day of our trip and 3rd day in Egypt. On the third day of our trip and 2nd day in Giza (west side of the Nile) we went to see the pyramids. What impressed me more than the pyramids was the very looooong solar boat (http://www.solarnavigator.net/egyptian_solar_boat.htm;
http://www.egyptvoyager.com/museums_solar.htm) that some claim was used to carry the pharaoh’s mummified body from the east (where the sun rose) to the west (where the sun set, hence bodies were buried here) bank of the Nile.

Half of Egypt seems to be nothing but tombs (Dr. Hawaas of the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities is employed for life), a constant reminder of our temporary sojourn on this earth. Later the theme gets repeated through the book of the dead, the balancing of the feather with the dead person’s heart and if the heart weighed more than the feather, then heaven was not for this person (http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/mummy/Afterlife/Gods/Godstextx.html).
I like constant reminders of our mortality and the need for us to be aware of our judgment day. It seems that the ancient Egyptians were obsessed with this concept and with the desire for a better after life.

At night the optional light and sound show covering the three pyramids and the Sphinx was wonderful.

More to come in the days ahead.

Ciao!
Ro.