Life As I See It - From Egypt

Sunday, January 25, 2009

New Postings

Please go to tmallare.wordpress.com for further postings. Thanks. --Teresa

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The House in Marassi

We have finally moved into our new house up on the coast. As always, an adventure. First, no one gave us the ID card to get into the gated compound. We had to talk our way through. Fortunately we knew the name of someone else who lived there so we said we were going to visit him. Upon arrival, I found out we have a "house guy". He lives in a small, attached room behind the house. At first blush you may think, “So what’s the problem? Such a deal!” Well, I’m not saying it isn’t a good deal. But it is completely weird to have someone else in your house all day. He takes care of the outside maintenance, the kitchen, the floors and the dusting. I cook, Ron and I eat in the dining room. I come back to the kitchen, the pots and pans are washed and drying (there is no dishwasher here). I clear the table and take the dishes to the kitchen, he washes them immediately. TOTALLY weird… but not unacceptable! :)

We were told the house had heating and air conditioning. We came to look at it ahead of time and it had similar type units to what we have in Cairo. They have the heating and AC together in one unit and each unit is controlled separately by remote control. There’s at least one unit in each room. Guess what? The units here are AC only. It gets down into the 40’s on some nights! Last night was our first night and again, it was reminiscent of the Harrison Street house when we could see our breath in the air upon getting up on cold mornings. To make the situation more interesting, Ron was absolutely determined to make the unit in our bedroom have heat. He finally got the fan going (blowing cold air all over the place and taking the room from cold to frigid) and then could not get it to shut off. Oh happy day! At least it gives me something to write about!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Alexandra's Visit to Cairo

Ali has already posted many pictures of her visit on Facebook. We spent fun times together at coffee shops and local shops in Maadi, Cairo. We made two trips to the famed Khan al-Khalili Suuq - one of the oldest bazaars still in existence, dating back to the fourteenth century. The suuqs are where all the "bargaining" occurs. ALL prices are negotiable. And the wares seem unending. The Egyptians are, by and large, a very honest group of people. However, they do not consider asking more for an item than it is worth as being dishonest. They feel we should know the value of what we are buying and, if we don't, then they will use that to their advantage. Fortunately, I was accompanied by two of the best bargainers I know, Ali and Ron. Between the two of then, we came away with some terrific buys. Ali and I spent one day in Alexandria, on the north coast of Egypt. It is about 180 kilometers north of Cairo. One day was not nearly long enough but, we made the most of our time there. First we visited the Citadel, also known as Qaitbay Fort. This fort was originally built in 1479 where the Alexandria Lighthouse (one of the original seven wonders of the world) once stood. Our next stop was the Greco-Roman ruins (discovered less than fifty years ago and still being excavated). This was an awesome site and extremely interesting. Our last visit of the day was to the Bibliotech. It is an engineering marvel and has been open only since 2002. It is believed to be at or near the site of the original Great Library of Alexandria. Ron's administrative assistant has a sister who works in Alex (as the locals call it). She served as our tour guide and was a wealth of knowledge. Ibrahim was our driver and he was superb. I plan to spend a lot of time in Alexandria as time goes by so I will report more as I learn it. We saw our first demonstration against the war in Gaza while in Alexandria. It was a peaceful demonstration on the courthouse steps. Heba, our guide, said these are common and always peaceful. She said at times there will be people lined up along the Corniche for four kilometers or more holding signs of protest. Ron and I do not talk politics with the locals. And they do not ask us our opinion about the current conflict. They all love our newly elected president and believe he will bring positive change to their world. He gets a thumbs up from everyone we have met here. Back to Ali. She had a great trip and we are so thankful she could make it here to see us. She has already started devising a strategy for how to get back for another visit when the weather is warmer. She was hoping for 80 and 90 degree temperatures instead of (only) 70's. :)

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Ron and I were fortunate to see Megan on December 11th in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Abu Dhabi is one of the seven Emirates that combined to form the United Arab Emirates. We toured the Prince's palace, spent time at the beach and worked in some shopping. We capped off the evening at a Lebanese restaurant that Megan had been to before. Excellent! Megan was well, as you can see in the picture, and we very much enjoyed our time with her.

After Abu Dhabi, we drove to Dubai to see the storied development in the shape of a palm tree and the indoor ski slope at the Dubai Mall. In terms of shopping, Dubai is a Mecca. They have a one-month long shopping festival in Jan & Feb. that attracts shoppers from all over the world. It exceeded my expectations and imagination. The King of Prussia Mall in Philly is big. The Dubai Mall is mammoth. And they just opened the Emirates Mall, which is just as big but all the spaces are not yet filled. The Palm developments were quite interesting and parts of it were beautiful. All the Palms (there are currently three) are still under construction. In fact, all of Dubai is still under construction. It is not a beautiful city. Maybe 10-15 years from now it will have a gorgeous skyline. Right now every other tract of land is a construction site and the tower cranes dominate everything. The city is like a life-sized development model. Everything is new… buildings, cars, roads, everything. Unlike Egypt, you can get anything in Dubai. It is very Westernized and rather sterile, almost to the point of soullessness. We were there during the International Film Festival. There were news cameras at all the theaters and hotels. We missed all the movie stars… darn!

We returned to Abu Dhabi to fly back to Egypt. Abu Dhabi is older, and it was a lovely city to visit. Ron and I were actually glad to get back to Egypt. With all its difficulties, it is quite vibrant, full of life and is a never ending source of adventure.

Christmas in Cairo

Ron and I found an Episcopal church for Christmas Eve service. It was in a tiny little church that holds maybe 75 people if some are standing. Ours was the family service, so it was flush with children singing and arranging the crèche at the altar piece by piece as scripture was read. We sang all the traditional Christmas hymns and the service ended in candlelight. I didn’t think to take my camera but will later post a picture of the church.

Here’s the finished turkey product for Christmas dinner. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. When I took out the giblets and neck to make chicken stock, THIS appeared at the end of the neck! You’ve no idea how unexpected THIS was. When Ron came home I led him to the kitchen and then to the covered stock pot. He was thinking, “Oh good, hot turkey soup.” I was thinking… “Chop that head off!” He was severely disappointed. How do you like my apron? I didn’t think to bring one so I tied the arms of an older shirt around my waist. It’s not too pretty, but it worked.

We spent Christmas Day with a British couple from Ron's work. Ron is putting an ornament on the tree that they brought for us. We had a very different Christmas this year but an enjoyable one.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Eve Eve 2008

December 23^rd. Finally, a day that sort of reminds me of Christmas weather. Well, you have to have a lot of latitude with your memories under these circumstances. It was in the 50’s this morning…. cloudy and windy. The locals are wearing winter coats, all of them zipped up, many with hoods! It is so funny. What would they do in Kansas?

I am determined not to have a repeat of our Thanksgiving feast… calzone and the Arabic version of spicy chicken. I broke down and bought one of the gigantic turkeys they have here, weighing in at 31.1 pounds. As I’ve had a lot of experience with holiday turkeys, this will be a prize fight for sure. We’ll see which one of us ends up “roasted.” Today I made brine to soak the turkey in, baked banana bread and white bread and, planned out the rest of our dinner. I’m sure this sounds like nothing – especially to all you master chefs out there. Here, and for me, it is something.

First, I have no measuring cups or measuring spoons. Do they sell them in Egypt? I’m sure they do… but I have none. Then there’s the conversion factor for liquid and dry ingredients. Then, of course, Fahrenheit to Celsius. When I was in elementary school I remember my teacher telling me how the whole world was going to be using metric measurements and it was imperative that I learn them NOW. It was one chapter in our math book and I never visited that again until chemistry in high school! Therefore, these conversions are necessary and a pain in the …. they are a pain.

The oven and cook top do not have electronic ignition. Granted, our home didn’t have that either when I was growing up…. FORTY YEARS AGO! The gas is propane, coming in from a visible pipe through the wall near the stove. We have our very own shut off valve so a slow leak won’t asphyxiate us in the middle of the night or blow us up before I can make pancakes in the morning. Lighting the burners is a little tricky with a regular match, singed skin and all. So, we bought a butane lighter. We got it home and it had no butane. Apparently this is not uncommon, as when we returned it the guy took the butane out from under the counter and proceeded to fill it right up.

Back to the cooking… the banana bread was burned on the bottom – I chopped that right off as soon as it was cool enough. No one will ever know the difference. The white bread recipe SPECIFICALLY stated “put the rack near the bottom of the oven so the top of the bread pan is in the center.” Which I did. You guessed it; the bottom of the white bread was burned as well. It is amazing how delicious bread tastes without the bottom crust. :)

Well, no Christmas carols playing at Town Center or the Plaza, no snow, no “Ho, Ho, Ho” Hoers jingling their bells. And no family or friends to celebrate with. It sounds kind of bleak when you describe the bare facts of our Christmas. We are very thankful for modern communication technologies to keep us in touch with everyone. And, frankly, thankful for cooking fuel, food to cook, and a warm abode. It is amazing how circumstances can alter priorities. My Christmas present this year is a large dose of humble pie. It doesn’t taste very good but it definitely nourishes the soul.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Eid El Adha (Feast of Sacrifice)

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of last week the Turner office in Cairo was closed for the celebration of Eid El Adha, a major Muslim holiday. Yesterday was the day the animals were slaughtered. Ron and I took an afternoon walk. It was an experience we will not soon forget. (Please see pictures)

First off, this Eid is seventy days from the end of Ramadan and is in remembrance of Abraham, (Ibrahim) who was willing to sacrifice his son to God. God did not require of him this sacrifice so, Abraham offered a ram instead. That’s where the sheep come in. Everyone here who can afford it has a sheep (or cow or goat) slaughtered and cooked up to share with family, friends and those less fortunate. Here in Cairo you just walk down the street, find a herd of sheep and pick out the animal you want. They will slaughter it, skin it, disembowel and cut it up for you right on the spot. Some people prefer to take their animal home and perform this ritual themselves. I’m not overly squeamish about such things, having grown up in a hunting and fishing family, but this took me quite by surprise. They do it right on the sidewalk and blood just runs in rivulets down the street. I was standing right in it before I realized what was going on!

As we walked on, many men were walking about with blood all over them and wearing rubber boots to protect their shoes from the streams of blood. The smell was a curious mixture of dung and fresh blood mixed with rotting entrails– not easy to describe in a blog. And definitely not something you might want to try replicating! The children stood about, fascinated with all the sights. At some points you would see men with small hatchets trying to hack off ram antlers from skulls. One lady was holding onto the hoof end of a lamb’s leg while the other end boiled in a pot of water. The sheep hides were heaped about left and right… honestly, it was amazing. This wasn't taking place out in the country, it was happening in the heart of a metropolis of 16 to 18 million people!

I have posted some pictures. It is difficult, at times, to get the best pictures because many of the people do not want to be photographed. What an experience!