Rubbernecking

Egyptians are always there with a helpful hand. Some might call it nosy or Rubber- necking, but Egyptians call it the way of life...they are always sticking their nose in other people's business. 

One day, I was glad they were there. I was content that day, Spring Break from school,  first day. My bert friend and I were getting ready to vacation in Marsa Matruah.  I had just bought water at Sarai market and headed to the gym.

Then something unexplainable happened. The last thing I remembered, I came out and stepped down then blackness. All I heard was a snap and excruciating pain zapping through my body. I came back from the darkness and saw swarms of Egyptians surrounding me.  But I could not speak, the pain was unbearable.  I instead looked up to the sky and tried to focus on breathing. The sea of dark eyes, blue and green and melodic voices surrounded me.

Within seconds I had many trying to help, my friend that I had just left in the cafe came running to my aide. She begun to call the list of people and emergency services.  I had a French doctor craddling my head. And lots of Egyptians trying to do whatever they could to assist. Thank God for them.

Another time, Egyptians to the rescue.  I was riding the Metro in Cairo.  Swaying with the train when suddenly a man beside me collapsed on the train floor. I jumped out of the way. There were many heros picking the man up and sitting him on the bench. They gave him juice to try to revive him, opened the train window.  Talking to him. I was very touched heroic gesture.

One time I was sitting in a cafe in a quiet neighbourhood, when a fight broke outside. Fists were flying and loud angry shouting in Arabic. Two men disagreed about something.  Within minutes there were 20 men breaking up the fight and trying to calm the two angry men. It shortly ended as soon as it begun.

Thanking for this nosy culture for intervening every time. 

Frogger

Remember the famous Atari game Frogger, where the frog had to across the river on the moving logs and not fall into the river?

This is Egypt,  walking across the street.  Instead trying not to get hit by a moving car, bus, truck or horse and cart.

I miss my days of waiting patiently at a busy street for the crosswalk to show me the green man light-up, saying it's safe to walk across in America.  Not so in Egypt.  There are very few built in crosswalks in Egypt. Only a few designated crosswalks in Alexandria,  the second largest city in Egypt  Cairo on the other hand, doesn't appear to have too many.  Basically,  you are putting yourself in Gods hands and walk across. 

However, this is the mentality of Egyptians. This is their every day way of life. Egyptians cross anywhere, even expresswsys and very busy highways. After 2 years of living here I still can't believe it. 

I have only experienced it once in a very busy intersection in Alexandria, a round about. I thought I literally was going to die between my anxiety and cars coming practically from all directions. No, thank you, never attempted it again.  I would like to stay alive, thank you!

So, whenever I have to cross the street I always go with a friend and hold on for dear life. A few yelps escape my mouth, almost every time.  

Do you know the drivers do not stop or slow down for pedestrians.  But I have to tell you, if they hit any of you crossing the street, that car will be stopped. There will be many Egyptians with helpful hands and voices telling that driver to watch out and could they hit God's people! 

But that's another blog coming soon...

Taika Khankhatun

 Serves food and incredible,  freshly made desserts. We ordered kanafe and fatir with custard. We also ordered my favourite hot drink, "shay blabin" hot milk and black tea and my husband ordered his regular, "kahwa" Turkish coffee. 

The kanafe was served warm, dripping with syrup, nuts and dried fruit. Kanafe can be made many ways. The Syrians or Palestinians make it with a sweet cheese and Egyptians usually with a custard. It's a favourite dessert in the Middle East,  especially around Ramadan. 

The fatir was served warm as well, presented with powdered sugar and inside warm succulent vanilla custard. Fatir is very thin layers of dough, baked like a flat bread. I was fascinated that the cafe put custard inside the layers. The custard was smooth and flavourful, slidding across my tongue.

Taika Khankhatun cafe was nestled in a hidden corner of Khan el-Khalili (Arabic: خان الخليلي‎) is a famous bazaar and souq (or souk). I just had to request kanafe and we were off on another adventure for our dessert. There was live authentic Egyptian music, tablas and singing in Arabic, playing in the background.

It was quite a unique outdoor cafe. Colourful, plush sofas and fun, mystical tables. Each table had an original painting of an Egyptian life scene. Even in the far corner of the cafe there stood an rare, antique carriage. Everywhere you looked there was something special about this whimsical cafe.

The night becoming chillier, it was time for more tea. This time we ordered fresh mint and tea. It was displayed with flecks of Rosemary and clove sticks. So warm and cozy feel, we drunk hot tea on a chilly night in Egypt. 

Follow the Rules

Driving in Egypt is a pure talent, no other way to describe it. They have their own horn  language. The roads are lined but the lines are ignored. If traffic,  which is pretty much all the time, an Egyptian will find a pocket and slide their car into it. If the road has only 3 painted lanes, Egyptians will make 4 or 5 lanes. I call this Orderly Chaos. 

Oh and don't get me started about kids and cars.  So, kids in Egypt basically stand up in the car, whilethecar is moving. Very rarely they are strapped in by a seatbelt.  Kids are hanging out of a window or the sunroof. Teenagers are sitting on the door while in traffic.  Small children are sitting on their fathers lap, while the father is driving.  My friend once saw a mother breast feeding her baby while driving. Or kids sitting in the trunk while driving in traffic.

Egyptians never obey the rules of driving. They are either going too fast or going through red lights or not putting on their signal light. Egyptians will go in reverse on the highway because they missed their exit or there is an accident and they don't want to wait. They're thankfully checkpoints for speeders, but only sometimes checkpoints.

Orderly Chaos...the Art of Driving in Egypt. 

Andrea

Date night with my honey, cruising down the Nile. The boat, Andrea. It was the size of a double-decker bus. Cheesy and tacky on the outside but very classy and elegant inside. 

Staff very professional and all wearing masks. 2 hour trip down The Nile. Attended to guests, making sure we were served. 

Asked to choose from 2-type of dishes; food was amazing. Entertainment folklore dance called, Tanoura.

Tanoura is a Sufi swirling Egyptian folk dance, using a weighted colourful skirt. Sometimes swirling one skirt, sometimes two. 

On the Andrea, The Tanoura dance was with lite-up skirts. It was absolutely fabulous! I highly recommend not to miss this cruise,  (of course when it's safe again to be in large gatherings). The Andrea Cruise, catch it in Maadi, Cairo. 

Believe It, To See It

My mouth gapped open the first time I saw it but now it just makes me giggle. However, Egyptians don't think it's humorous but the way of life. 

Transporting goods is always stuffed to the rim. 

I really think its miracle the trucks don't tumble over. Usually traffic is quite tight, but once you see this many cars stay away of fear of the truck falling to one side.

Another thing that forms the O from your mouth, is how Egyptians pack people onto the back of a pick-up truck. And these days it's just plain crazy with Coronavirus. However , it is done still every day.

Or when driving along the city streets of Cairo you can spot whole families on a motorbike or moped. I'm not talking just 3 people but the whole family of 5 at times.

But by far my favourite transportation in Egypt is the horse and cart. The clippy clop of hoofs down the street is music to my ears. Farmers selling their fresh fruit and vegetables or canisters of gas being transported and sold.

What a sight to see a horse and cart trotting beside a BMW or Mercedes. Never anywhere else but Egypt,  the wonderful fascinations of Egypt transportation.

El Prince

El Prince is a delight. Located in Embaba area in Cairo, near the Nile. This famous eatery is known for their amazing molekhia, that their chef shows off in front of your table.  The chef easily poured each drop of the molekhia into a clay bowl on our table to share. (*Molekhia is a famous green leafy vegetable grown in Egypt.  It is known nationally for health benefits.) 

I never liked the consistency of this dish but at the El Prince that all changed. This all American girl changed her mind.  Molekhia 

All hot dishes where served in clay pots (bowls). Oven to table. Also, in the above photo is another known Egyptian dish, Torly, lamb, carrots,  potatoes,  peas,  tomatoe sauce with many glorious spices. 

They decorated the table as soon as you are seated in the outdoor seating dining.  It's decorated with tahini,  fresh baked Egyptian bread, baba ganoush, cucumber & tomato salad, and pickled eggplant before the main entrees arrived. 

I highly recommend this fabulous Egyptian eatery. Superb service and great priced. 

Egyptian Kids

Egyptian Kids

I love Egypt! I arrived August 16th, 2018. I never knew how amazing it would be to be here.

The day I decided to come to Egypt everything fell into place. It was my time to finally start my journey of travel. I would finally experience another world and culture. 

However, that meant leaving my beautiful daughter (college age) behind but I knew she was in good hands; studying at one of the best universities in California. She was happily making her life there, doing what she loves, film and theatre. I knew it was okay to leave that I had her blessing.

I felt it was fate. The school that I was going to work for, took very good care of me. I had amazing benefits and salary was decent. I felt like I finally have a great team to work with and that I was apart of something great.

I taught for 22 wonderful little people. I love each one of them like they are my own. The best time of the day was morning when my kids saw me and came running down the hall to give me lots of hugs! I just adored each one of them and I felt so honored to be their teacher.

I found teaching later in my life, but so thankful I found it. It has been a very fulfilling job.  It gives me the variety I need to keep my interest in a job and always enjoyed working with people, especially helping them. So, why not little people. I love that I have touched their lives and their families. 

Egyptian children are very sweet. I love their big imaginations and innocence. I enjoy watching young children play football on the free streets and neighbourhoods. I feel the kids, can enjoy the freedom of being a kid. 

**Before I moved to Egypt, I was teaching ESL to Chinese children.  These kids were not allowed to have the freedom to play much. Their parents had them constantly busy with school,  after school and extracurricular activities (like tennis, violin or English lessons).  Playing freely was not an option for these kids. It saddened me how, they were not allowed or had the freedom to be creative.

Sea of Eyes

 

Part 2

My journey begun. I reached Chicago O'hare airport and boarded my plane. Bye America. Landed in Istanbul Turkey 11 hours later. I had eight hours here. I did not venture out this time. I walked the halls of Istanbul airport, sweat pouring down my face. Met a new friend from Lebanon, she too had a long layover. We exchanged stories of our travels. 

Eight hours later I was back on the airplane heading to my new home, Alexandria Egypt. Once I decided to move abroad it was time think about where. There are lots of places to teach English but most of the places are in Asia. I'm not crazy about Asian culture. Probably only place I would have chosen either Korea, but they have insane working schedules (like 16 hour days) but was fascinated with their culture. Or my other choice was Thailand. However, neither country I knew no one. Knowing someone, even a friend of a friend, but no one. 

Then next on the list was the Middle East, either Dubai or Cairo. Dubai unfortunately did not allow non experienced teachers and I had only taught seniors and kids. So another country checked no. Egypt was really my first choice, but I wanted to weigh all my options. I was offered a job less than 30 days once I made my decision. This was really happening I was moving abroad, August 2018.

Three months later I sat on the edge of my seat once the airplane landed in Alexandria Egypt at 2:00 AM. I was wide awake. I followed the other passengers to the course, picked up our suitcases and went quickly through the custom lines. Here it goes; I stepped out to oven heat. A sea of dark, searching eyes overwhelmed me. I had never experienced such a sight. Or heard such melody language. My new school reassured me that they would be there at the airport to support my arrival. I searched for my name on flimsy paper. Saw nothing. I asked in English a guard if I could call my host, fortunately they obliged to my request. The school HR assured me a driver was waiting. I searched again and I found him.

Hello Egypt

 It happened so fast, once I decided to move abroad to world wide ancient country of Egypt. It had been two decades of learning in school and life about this lively yet conservative country. 

But the real reason I was moving to Egypt, to run away from a toxic relationship I kept going back to. I needed to break the cycle. My ex was Egyptian but he lived in America and I was moving 7,000 miles away. 

My universe changed drastically once I made the shift to move abroad. Everything fell into place. Plane ticket, check. Job as an international teacher, check. Housing and transportation once arrived, check.

I was on my way to a new land and life!