Pampering in Cairo

Yesterday was “pampering” day. On my agenda - pedicure, manicure and waxing. Was not very sure what to expect-women all over the world have the same beauty needs but the techniques and the results differ from country to country.

Once, while in Saudi Arabia, I went to a local parlour (since my Indian beautician friend was away in India) for “waxing”. In India, to remove body hair, we use hot wax (a mixture of paraffin or beeswax), which is applied to the skin, a strip of cloth placed over it and quickly stripped off, yanking out the hair in the process. It is painful! I expected the same here; but imagine my horror when the girl at the parlour came towards me, holding a wax look-alike in the palm of her hand! This was no hot wax (since she was holding it so comfortably between her fingers) and where were the cloth strips? Was I going to be subjected to more pain than before? I demanded an explanation as to what was going on-she explained to me that it was “hallawa” and extremely good for the skin; she demonstrated how it would work- since then I have become a fan of the “hallawa” way.

“Halawa” literally means “sweet” and can be eaten too! Seriously! It is a mix of equal parts of water and sugar boiled together until caramelized. Add a few drops of lemon juice and its ready. It is cooled to room temperature, then applied to the skin and pulled against the direction of hair growth and voila! No hair and your skin feels soft and smooth. Good for the skin too-since it does not burn the skin like the wax which has to be applied hot and can also be washed away easily from clothes etc since the mix is water soluble. And to top it all, it tastes yummy too! I did hands and legs and it set me back by LE 45 (INR 315).

The pedicure and manicure here was a disappointment - they just put my feet and hands in hot water, scrubbed perfunctorily, cut nails, filed them in a weird square shape and rounded of with nail polish. Hey what’s this? What about the massage? Without the massage, I would feel that the whole point of getting a “parlour” pedicure is defeated. My friends in India will agree, I am sure!

The Africa Cup of Nations

Egypt won the Africa Cup of Nations last night. Caught the game at a nearby café. The enterprising café had put up chairs on the pavement adjoining the café and set up a television outside and squeezed in 70 people in a place meant for 30…. but it gets the adrenalin really going watching a sporting event in a social setting and with a big crowd. I was cheering along with my Egyptian friends for the Egypt team, pumping my arms at a great save by the Egyptian goalkeeper, throwing up my arms in despair when the Egyptian team failed to capitalize on a “golden chance”, feeling outraged when the Cameroon team members were roughing up the Egyptian players- and I thought to myself here I was watching a tournament that I had never heard of till I came to Cairo, and cheering a team that I knew nothing of …..but it did belong to my “resident” country and I have some good friends here and have had some good times here….

The celebrations after Egypt’s win were stupendous (can’t think of a more apt word here) –this is the second consecutive time that Egypt has won the championships-this time in a foreign land! Stayed up late into the night –the celebrations on my street were deafening and entertaining. Here are some images to give you an idea of the scale and the kind of celebrations -Cairene style!

Street Savvy in Cairo

I chose to walk to my Arabic class today-I have been in Cairo for close to three months now and have not really walked anywhere- walking to and fro from the car to my destination does not count. Having made the momentous decision, I observed the road from my apartment (yes, my apartment overlooks the busy Gameat al-Dowal al-Arabiya street) and decided the spot from where I would cross the road-a number of people were using this spot to cross to the other side; and also it looked to be the shortest distance to the other end.

So, on my maiden walk on the streets of Cairo, I stood at this spot, hoping for a break in the traffic or for the approaching cars to slow down and allow me to go through. When neither of these things happened and I was still waiting, at the end of five minutes I decided to “go” for it- took a deep breath, tightened the shoulder strap of my bag (thank God, I had worn sensible walking shoes that day!) and dived into the oncoming traffic. For a second, I just froze, I thought that I would be mowed down under a car; but then my “Mumbai training” took over and I forged ahead confidently, without hesitating or looking back and lo! and behold! I was “home”. I told myself I had done this before on the streets of Mumbai and I could do it again!

Though I had made it safely to the other side, my woes had not yet ended; I found it difficult to walk on the side of the road with the cars whizzing to within an inch of me –so I thought I would get onto the pavement-is it not the safe and sensible thing to do? Pavements are meant for pedestrian traffic after all! But not in Cairo –I found it impossible to get onto the pavement; the cars were parked so close to each other and so close to the kerb that I could not find enough space to squeeze through and I did not want to go through the embarrassing situation of having to wriggle my way through two cars-What if I got stuck? And even if I did manage to find my way through the maze of cars and to the pavement, getting off would again be a problem….the cars are parked on the keb, then “double parked” and even “triple parked”!

Walking to the class was an education on "street etiquette" in Cairo. I finally made it to the class-hurray! I am now “Cairo street savvy”

Book Fair-Nasr City

Had been quite excited about attending the international book fair at the Cairo Fair Grounds in Nasr City-but could not make it till today. And it being a Saturday and a school holiday, the place was swarming with people; it was tough getting to the shelves to have a “dekho”. For Arabic readers, the exhibition is a boon, but there is a good range of English titles too.

For books in English, enter through the gate 11 and make your way towards the Atelier Pavilion- here you will find books on just about everything-from agriculture to zoology. All the books are being sold at 10% discount, a higher rate of discount being offered on some. Next to the Atalier Pavilion is the Naguib Mahfouz Pavilion which is hosting the American University of Cairo -here the discounts are great-ranging from a minimum of 20% on all books to as high as 75% on certain books. Might be a good idea to make a list of books which you have coveted for some time (especially the dictionary and the encyclopedia types) and purchase them at this time of the year. Books on Egyptian history, the Pharaohs, Tutankhamen are plenty and available at bargain prices.

A word on the organization of the book fair-There are no signboards or banners put up to serve as a guide-had to ask for directions a number of times before reaching the area where the English titles were being exhibited. For expatriates, who can’t read Arabic and can speak only shuya shuya! (a little), navigating the huge grounds is extremely frustrating!

On a separate note, I recently finished reading “The Yacoubian Building” by Alaa AL Aswany, published in 2002. I, of course read the translated version; I do believe sometimes the sub-text is lost in translation-but I am glad that I read the book, nevertheless.

The book takes a look at the Egyptian society in the 1990’s. The protagonists are residents of the “Yacoubian Building”-the “real” Yacoubian Building exists to-date on Suleiman Basha Street in Cairo. Having lived in Cairo for the last three months, I was better able to relate to the places, events and circumstances as described in the book. The characters are well-etched and representative of the Egyptian society. The author has very skillfully narrated the turmoil, the change and the identity crisis that the country was going through at that time. He has done so by giving the readers a peek into the daily lives of the residents of the Yacoubian building, each with different ideologies, attitudes, circumstances and financial conditions-sometimes the characters seem so real that I felt as if I had met the person in Cairo. What I really liked about the book was the narrative-it is so gripping and “flows” so well that I managed to finish the book in one sitting!

Definitely worth reading, especially if you are staying in Egypt for some time.

Celebrations-Egyptian style!

Here are some ways in which you can celebrate your country’s win in the semi- final of a prestigious football event:-

Wrap yourself in your country’s flag and sprint across the busiest road of the city.
Ride your bicycle on one wheel, and if you are feeling really happy, you can go round in circles on the bicylce
Play football with cola cans on the streets of the city.
Cruise down the road in your luxury car, sitting on the bonnet or better still on the roof.
Hang out of the sun-roof of your car, waving the flag. Or, if your car does not have a sun-roof, you can hang out of the windows.
Form a human chain and weave your way in and out of the traffic.
Climb onto the roof of the parked cars and play the “tabla” while your friends dance below; to make it more interesting you can move from car to car-all is forgiven in the “happy times”
Show stunts on your motorcycle-with one leg stretched out and the other on the pillion, drive your bike in a circle
Move around in a circle to the beat of the drums
Firecrackers are passé –shake your deodorant cans, press the nozzle and put a cigarette lighter to the spray, watching it flare up. (this is definitely risky)
When you have celebrated enough on one side of the busy street, shift the action to the other side.
Make it impossible for the cars to pass through and turn the busy road into a playground.
If you are driving on the road where celebrations are in full swing, stop your car, get down and start dancing; soon others will join you and you can be at the centre of all the celebrations for some time.
Importantly, don’t let the decibel level down, not even for a nanosecond and not even a notch…keep celebrating into the wee hours of the morning.

The above is a sample of the ways that the Cairenes celebrated the Egyptian football team’s win in the semi-finals of the Africa cup of Nations on Thursday, on the busy Gameat al-Dowal al-Arabiya.

Hassled in Cairo

To date, I always thought that Cairo was an extremely safe city-safe for single women, safe for women to go out unescorted in the nights. A number of my expat friends and acquaintances have felt otherwise, they insisted that it is not “all that” safe - they had narrated incidents of kerb crawling and catcalls! But I was not convinced!

I believe them now after what I witnessed from my apartment window last night. Saw a smartly dressed woman walking on the street below. A man and a child were walking besides her and the man seemed to be saying something to her. They looked like a family to me, probably returning home after dinner at one of the nearby restaurants. But then I saw the lady suddenly dart in front of the man and rush to cross the street-she seemed to be avoiding the man. It then stuck me that the man was not known to her and had actually been following her trying to chat her up. To add to her woes, a car came and braked next to her and then started kerb crawling her…..Hey stop it! Leave her alone! I felt like shouting out to the men harassing her. As the lady continued walking, and the men followed her (one in the car and the other on foot), I could no longer see them. Was quite disturbed by what I saw. Is this the “real” Cairo and is this how the Cairenes behave?

Just last week, when I had cousins visiting from India, I had emphatically declared to them that Cairo is very safe and probably even more safer than Bombay (Mumbai) for women…..don’t know what to say now?.

Taxi!

SCENE 1

A woman is trying to get a taxi for some time; she flags down a cab, tells the taxi driver her destination and the taxi drives off-without her. Finally on her nth attempt, she finds a cab that is willing to take her to her destination.

SCENE 2

Another woman is crossing the road, she hails a cab even before she has reached the other side, does not bother giving her destination to the driver, opens the rear door of the taxi, gets in and the taxi roars off.

I was a witness to both these scenarios today-So which is a better way to "bag" a taxi in Cairo?

Wust El Balad

I had never wished with such intensity that I could understand/ speak Arabic- as I did last night when I went to see Wust el Balad perform at the El Sawy culture wheel. Wust el Balad (‘downtown” in Arabic) were fantastic…moving from soulful songs to “foot tapping” music effortlessly and the audience knew all the lyrics! The fans clapped in rhythm to the music, some danced to their music and still others sat enthralled by their music. I just loved their music- though I didn't know what they were singing about- a blend of oriental and the western. Their three vocalists have such powerful voices; each with his distinctive style of singing -they are backed by five others on drums, guitars, oud and the keyboard. Together they are pure magic!

And contributing to the magic was the venue-the 400 strong amphitheatre at the El Sawy, by the side of the river Nile. You can find this “happening” place tucked away under the 26th of July Bridge, and is the scene for everything from plays, movies, musical performances to yoga programs and even painting, photography and arabic classes. And all of this at very affordable prices-the ticket for the Wust el Balad concert was LE 25, (approx INR 175). The good things in life were never so accessible! A place very similar to the Prithvi theatre in Bombay which is also credited for showcasing “untested” talent from all over the country. El Sawy is an absolute “must visit”, whether for a movie in the wisdom hall, or to borrow a book from its library, grab a coffee by the river Nile or be part of a thrilling Wust el Balad performance!

Though the band was formed in 1999 by two of its current members, they have only just released their first album-till now a live performance was the only way to get your “Wust” fix. If you want to know more about them, check out their website at http://www.wustelbalad.com/

Music is a universal language-this came true for me last night. Hopefully, the next time I attend a concert of Wust el Balad, I will be the audience that sings along to their music!

Football Frenzy!

What is it about sports that drives people crazy?…a win for their favorite team can be a cause for celebration; at the same time a loss for the team they support can completely ruin their day and mood. What amazes me is the immense degree of involvement in a sport, which one probably doesn’t even play!- this passion for sports, represents to me, the ultimate in vicarious pleasure.

Here in Cairo, football is the most popular game, it can drive people crazy and how! Last night after Egypt’s win over Sudan in the Africa Cup of Nations, the streets filled up rapidly and the traffic scene was a nightmare. The fans celebrated their country’s win by honking, waving the Egyptian flag and even lighting up flares on the roads. It was a sight to behold! I was only thankful that I was watching the celebrations from the safety of my apartment window and not stuck in the “snail’s pace” traffic below. This outpouring of emotion reminds me of the times when you can see similar scenes in India after India’s win in a cricket match.

But why does someone else’s win make you feel like a winner? Is it a "patriotic thing" that makes you go completely bonkers when the national team wins? But then, I have sat rooted to the T.V while Steffi Graf played a Grand Slam final and prayed for her to win-she is a German and I an Indian….so it can’t be the patriotic thing. Also, the discovery of a life-saving drug or the launching of a satellite by your country does not result in the same outpouring of emotion

Is it the inroads that the media has made in our lives that makes us feel as if we are a part of the game from the beginning till the end? Earlier, it was the radio commentary that had people glued to their radio sets, now watching the games on big screens have become a social event. It is almost as if it is you playing every ball or striving every minute for a win. Then again it is the physical sports that score over those needing you to exercise your grey cells. A Sachin Tendulkar hitting a six on the last ball, taking the Indian team to victory gets the fans screaming for more; a Vishwanathan Anand making the winning move in chess is likely to elicit just polite clapping.

But I am not complaining – because the roads of Cairo are blessedly devoid of traffic when Egypt is playing a football match; but be warned-make it to your destination before the match ends or you could be caught in the “worst traffic jam ever”!

Rain and Dance

This morning while going to my belly dance workshop, I had a feeling of déjà vu. For a moment, I thought I was back on the roads of Bombay – the rain hitting my car’s windshield was reminiscent of the Bombay rains. I was traveling from Mohandissen to Maadi; strangely once I crossed Mohandissen into Zamalek, I encountered a perfect day –the sun out on a cold wintry morning. Had I just hallucinated of the rains? But no..wait, the rains soon caught up with me at Maadi….. I never knew it could rain so much in Cairo, it makes traveling such a chore. I know, coming from Bombay, I should not be complaining; there it rains for four months and it could be 4 days of continuous torrential rains!

My driver was incredulous when he heard this-“how can it rain so much? Cairo would be submerged!” But then Cairo is not equipped for such weather-where are the drains? Half an hour of rain leads to water logging and brings the traffic to a standstill. You can see these “water-pump vans” on the roads trying valiantly to drain off the water….but they are not effective and you can only pray for a sunny day to dry up the roads. People who have been residents here for a number of years say that they have not seen such rains in a long time-is it global warming at play? Dubai and Sharjah have been flooded this year...again the lack of drainage system has wrecked havoc with the city. The changing world weather will require re-thinking on the way we plan our cities-Will the “desert countries” have to invest in a drainage system and the tropical countries in desalination plants?

Onto my belly dance class-I am still getting stuck on the “camel” movement-am still the “vomiting camel”. This time the class was more fun-there were six of us and we had all levels-right from a lady attending for the first time to a semi-professional one. The teacher (Lorna Gow-she is a great teacher and I think anyone who wants to learn belly dancing must attend her workshops) is an extremely fun person and I liked it best when she made us pair up and then dance solo for the partner. Dancing solo for an audience of 7 would have been intimidating! You, kind of “freeze” thinking what movement to do next. But the key to making progress is, I think, to keep going and that’s exactly what I intend to do!