LAST DAY OF RAMADAN AND NO FOOD

What is it with all the eateries in Egypt? For the last day of the holy month of Ramadan, we were in Marsa Matrouh. And most of the restaurants were closed. My friends’ desire to sample some local fish went unfulfilled. Even the international food chains like Pizza Hut, KFC and Chicken Tikka were closed. The reason being that the following day was Eid and everyone was busy with preparations for the big day that marks the culmination of the fasting month of Ramadan. There would be prayers to be offered early in the morning, new clothes to be bought, sweets to be made etc. The local eateries probably would be having some orders to be fulfilled for the next day and hence were closed for regular business. The sweet shops were of course doing brisk business.

After driving around the town for some time in search of dinner, we finally had burgers at Mc Donald’s-the only eatery that was open that night in Marsa Matrouh. It was a valuable lesson learnt -The day before Eid is probably not the best time to sample Egypt’s culinary delights!

“Ana tahban!”-"I am tired!"

“Am not coming to work today. I am tired.” How many of us have the luxury to say this and how many times? But I heard this at least three times today.

The carpenter, the plumber and an electrician were all scheduled to come to my house today for various repair jobs, jobs that had been pending since Ramadan. When they did not turn up at the designated time, I called each of them and surprisingly was told by all three that they could not make it today as they were tired!! Tired?? And maybe, I am tired of trying to get competent people to come and do the maintenance work at my house!


And I had thought that my woes would last only till Eid-after which all the jobs pending in my house could get completed. Now I understand that my wait may be a bit longer – I will probably have to wait for the effects of the Eid celebrations to wear offJ


You know a friend told me recently that she had read somewhere that Egyptians are the fourth happiest people in the world. Now I believe it! They really take no stress!

Ramadan and Iftars

This is my first Ramadan in Egypt and such a different experience from the Ramadan in Saudi Arabia. Majority of the Egyptians fast during this holy month- no food or water from sunrise to sunset. However, most of the cafes and restaurants are open during the day for the expatriates and the non Muslims. This is in sharp contrast to Saudi Arabia where eating or drinking in public places during the holy month of Ramadan is a punishable offence. Some of the other gulf countries like Dubai and Bahrain too are fairly strict in their observance of “no eating and drinking in public places” rule. Egypt, with its bustling tourism industry is much more “open” in this regard.

The offices work on curtailed hours like that in the any other Muslim country; and the expat non-muslim management in some companies also observes the fast during the office hours to show solidarity with their Egyptian workforce.

Cairo’s roads are the most unsafe at the best of times and an hour before the Iftar is probably even more dangerous and nerve racking with traffic at its peak coupled with reckless driving as the people are trying to reach their destinations to break their fast. During Iftar and for an hour after that, Cairo roads are blessedly empty and it is the best time to go out and get your grocery shopping done as I discovered a couple of days back when I went to Metro; no crowds at the shop and no long queues at the checkout counters. However, this is not possible in Saudi Arabia as all establishments close before Iftar and open only after the Iftar and the Maghrib prayers

Of course, the one thing that is universally common during Ramadan, whether it be Saudi Arabia, the gulf countries or Egypt is the difficulty to get any work done- whether at office or at home. For example, my landlady had been trying to get hold of a plumber to take care of a leaking toilet in our house and she told us how difficult it is to get anyone to come out and work during Ramadan. And when she finally managed to send over a plumber, he has done a stop-gap kind of repair that will tide us through the remaining days of Ramadan with a promise to come and complete the remaining work- but only after the end of Ramadan and EID.

There is a lot more that needs to be taken care of in our house but even we have now adopted the refrain-“After EID”!

Sham El Nessim

Yesterday, the park in front of my house on the Gamat-al-Dwal al arabiya road was filled with families out on a picnic. They were carrying baskets of food and drinks and had laid out mats on the grass. The children were busy playing whereas their parents lazed on the mats and enjoyed the salted fish, coloured eggs and spring onions.

It was Sham-el-Nesseim, a non-Muslim, non-Christian festival that has been celebrated in Egypt since the Pharonic times (around 4500 years ago). “Sham” in Arabic means “sniff” and “Nessim “ means “breeze”-therefore this festival literally means “sniffing the breeze”.

The day starts with families having breakfast together-salted fish (fiseekh), boiled coloured eggs and spring onions are the staple on this day. These foods have Pharonic symbolism-for example salted fish symbolizes fertility and welfare, eggs symbolize new life and green onions are thought to keep the evil eye away. Families spend the day together, going to the parks, near the river Nile or by the sea.

My landlady’s mom who stays just below us offered us some boiled eggs-she called it the “Egg of Upper Egypt”. Apparently this form of coloring the egg is very popular in Upper Egypt-the egg is boiled with onion skin and kohlingen, an Egyptian spice. The onion skin imparts the eggs with a brown colour. She served it with “dukka”, another Egyptian spice, which has as its base hazelnuts or chickpeas together with pepper, coriander seeds, sesame seeds and cumin seeds. The ingredients are ground together to a coarse powder. “Dukka” can also be used as a dip for breads along with olive oil. There are many recipes available for dukka - you can find one of them on http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,1591304,00.html

Dowry Practices in Egypt

Had dinner last night at an Egyptian friend’s house- we are vegetarians (well, actually “eggtarians”); the friend had taken pains to prepare a vegetarian meal. The meal was scrumptious –Lebanese style dolmas-capsicums, tomatoes, zucchinis, onions cored and filled with delicately spiced rice and boiled. For the Indian touch, the friend had added some Indian spices to the rice and the outcome was mouth-watering. The vegetable had been boiled to perfection-firm enough to be easily “knifed” and yet the rice stuffed inside had been cooked through.

My friends are a newly married couple and everything in their house is new. My friend’s wife showed me around their tiny apartment – while doing so, she pointed out the stuff that “she” had contributed to the house as part of the marriage contract. For the first couple of times, I felt odd when she said this but then I realized that she was stating this very matter of factly and without any trace of “show-off”. Then my friend started on about the stuff that he had contributed-soon this escalated into a discussion about the prevailing dowry practices in Egypt.

The man is responsible to provide the house, the curtains and the furniture. The woman is responsible for providing all the kitchen appliances and pots and the pans. Crockery, cutlery, bedclothes also form part of her “dowry.” And one cannot forget the children’s room which has to be fully furnished and equipped, even before the marriage!

Of course, all this frank discussion did sound a bit strange to us-but my mom who was with us reminded us that in India too, the dowry system is widely prevalent and a bigger dowry gets you a “better” husband. In some communities in India, where the dowry amounts involved are huge, the parents start accumulating funds for their daughters’ wedding on her birth. In India, it is usually the girl’s family that bears the entire onus of the wedding expenses, in addition to providing the dowry. Sometimes, the dowry may also include a furnished accommodation for the couple.

That evening, I came away with a lot of thoughts on the concept of dowry-should the union of two people be so fraught with “material” considerations. The maid who works at my house is Egyptian and she too has told me on several occasions that she needs to accumulate money for her dowry-to buy all that is part of her contribution to the marital home. But on second thoughts, all this obsessions with the material aspect of a marriage may be “practical” and provide the married couple with some amount of financial security.

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!