My Fairy God-Parents

Thank you for all the holiday greetings and well wishes. It's nice to hear from so many of you.

I got a lot of questions and concerns about how I'm spending my holidays. I assure you I am in good company. I met a great Scottish couple on my Thanksgiving trip to the desert. And they have adopted me. I had a wonderful Christmas dinner with them and another holiday orphan; it started with smoked salmon and caviar and ended with a traditional trifle - and of course my small contribution, grandma's cookies.

This same couple has helped arrange for me to join them at the sold-out "best new year's eve party in Cairo." They even had a dress I could borrow. I only have to provide my own glass slippers.

I hope you all enjoy your own fairy-tale holidays and Cheers to 2009!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and Happy New Year!

I sent Christmas postcards to everyone but you might not see them until Easter, inshalla. So below are some electronic postcards of Cairo street scenes and the Nile.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Cooking Adventures

It's Christmas Cookie Time!!

I couldn't get through Christmas without my grandmother's famous sugar and spice cookies.
But baking them was an adventure as most things are here. It took no less than 8 trips to various grocery stores to collect all the ingredients. I had to learn that ghee is clarified butter. And that they sell vanilla extract dry here - like a packet of yeast. (Due to the alcohol content - seriously.) Baking soda is sold in pharmacies. And I also learned that a Swiss army knife and a coffee cup make a passable substitute for grinding spices. (Yes, I'm sure there are grinders or mortar and pestles here. But I didn't want to go to the additional effort to find them just for this.)

The molasses was the most difficult to find. Made even more so given that I dropped the first precious jar of it as soon as I got it home. Marble floors are not forgiving to glass jars. The ants ate well that night. I also learned that stores don't necessarily carry the same products all the time. I went back to the store where I first got molasses and there were none. So I looked in every store in Maadi until I found another jar.

The next step in the adventure is contending with the stove. It's a gas stove with no pilot light. So it has to be lit every time you use it. Besides crossing the street this is the most dangerous activity in Egypt. I have burned the hairs on my arms more than once. I finally found a fireplace lighter - but it ran out of fluid on the second use. So, until I can find a refill, I now stick a match in the end of the lighter, crouch by the side of the stove - I've learned to not stand in font of it, turn on the gas, and anxiously await the huge POOF that lets me know it's lit. It's quite nerve racking actually. Also, the stove has no numbers or gauge of any kind to judge the temperature. The guessing game adds to the excitement.

The first patch of cookies weren't quite right. The flour is different, spices are different, everything is different. The cookies were edible, and even not bad if you didn't know what they were suppose to taste like. But they weren't grandma's really. If you've had gradma's cookies you know they are worth all the effort.

So back to the drawing board. I played with the recipe a bit, I sifted and resifted the flour, doubled the spices, etc. The second batch is perfect, still baking now as I write. It'll make great Christmas gifts.

A second humorous food adventure happened while I was searching for all the cookie ingredients. I went to the real super walmart here called Carrefour. The place is Huge. They sell almost anything you can find in Cairo. And they have a lot of European and American food products. I was overwhelmed with the variety and availability of foods - like American cereals and baking products, and foreign items like Thai and Mexican foods. I had a blast planning meals for the upcoming weeks. I was excited to find salsa and nacho chips - even if they were mostly crushed. I wistfully dreamed of a dinner of nachos and brownies and watching LOST with my sister. (Come on it's Christmas, of course I'm a little homesick - sue me.)

I got so carried away I forgot to check the price. I ended up paying $17 for a small jar of salsa. Yes, I said seventeen US dollars for a SMALL jar of salsa. Best damn salsa I ever had - NOT.

A very common saying here is: you can find anything here - for a price.

Enjoy your holidays and family traditions whatever they may be.

Maadi-an Expat Oasis & St. Anthony's Monastary

There's a neighborhood in Cairo called Maadi. A lot Cairo's foreigners live. This of course has its pros and cons. Cons, more than it's fairshare of American fast food joints and restaurant chains. Pros more than it's fairshare of American fast food joints and restaurant chains. I'm joking. The Pros right now are the opportunity to commune with others in my situation, speak unbroken English, less staring and gawking by the Egyptians as they are more used to seeing foreigners, pubs and restaurants and even grocery stores where you can buy a beer, and pork is readily available. (Given that Egypt is like 95% Muslim who do not eat pork or drink alcohol both can be hard to find in many areas of the city like my neighborhood.)

I met some folks who live in Maadi on the desert tour, and they have provided some much needed comfort, support and entertainment. The Filipino teachers that live in my building have also connected with the Filipino community in Maadi. There are 6 Filipino teachers who live in my building and also work at the Futures Schools around the city. They have been here about 6 weeks longer that me and are that much further along in the making friends and finding their way around then I am. Thankfully they adopted me for this weekend and invited me along on a day trip to St. Anthony's Monastery. This is about 2.5 hour drive from Cairo east towards the Red Sea.

St. Anthony is considered the father of Christian monastic tradition. He lived in a cave in the Eastern Desert Mountains in the 4th century for 40 years. Today, you can climb the nearly 2,000 steps and 1,000 feet straight up the side of the mountain to see his cave. (My calves are still screaming at me for making the trip up.) You can tour the monastery which is still occupied and active. There is also the Church of St. Anthony built over the saint's tomb and containing one of Egypts most significant collections of Coptic wall paintings.

On the way home we drove the along the Red Sea. In this northern part of the sea it was rocky like the New England coastline. And the Greenies amongst you will be interested to learn that here in the land of oil there is a HUGE turbine wind farm generating energy along the sea coast.

Eid al-Adha

This post is not for the faint-of-heart.You have been warned.

Despite common misconception I have not seen any camels in the streets of Cairo. These days in the city they really only use camels for tourist rides and dinner. However, over the past month, I have seen makeshift stables pop up all over town housing sheep, goats, cows and farmer's families. I learned that this was all leading up to today's Eid al-Adha - The Great Feast. It commemorates Abraham's sacrifice of a sheep in place of his son. And thus entails the slaughter of many sheep. (OK, you see where this email is headed so if you keep reading it's your own fault.) In practice this holiday looks a lot like our American Thanksgiving. Most have the week off and travel to see their families. And there are lots of sales in the stores, children are given new clothes, it's all quite festive.

This morning, the city awoke early and shared morning prayers together like Friday noontime prayer that is called from the loudspeakers of every mosque. The mosques are packed and overflow into the streets. There is a carinval in the streets, amusement rides, cotton candy. And by 8 am the mass animal slaughter had already begun.

Silly Governor Palin's interview at the Turkey Farm that got so many hits on the internet for being gory is nothing compared to what I witnessed today. Despite the fact that when I was very young my grandfather was a butcher and my father hunts, this city girl has never seen anything like this in my life.

The streets truly ran red with the blood.

My neighbors slaughtered their sheep in the lobby of their building. Marble floors clean up easily with a water hose. I watched from my balcony. I could not help but think of the elevator scene in The Shining as the blood ran down the front steps and out the door into the street. I know it was not this bad, but to my sanitized sensibilities of frozen turkeys and shrink wrap it looked that bad to me.

I went to the butcher shop. I forced myself to witness this holiday in all it's glory. It was a party atmosphere there. Families arrive together, select their beast and then supervise its preparation. The butchers recognized me from the other day when I photographed the live sheep. They smiled and laughed as I photographed today's events. A young boy of maybe 8 proudly worked along side his father and showed off his blood soaked gallabaya.

Despite my shock, awe and queasy stomach, it is a festive holiday and a great feast. It's a time spent with family and dedicated to help those less forunate. All of the meat is divided into thirds - 1/3 is eaten, 1/3 distributed to family members, and 1/3 to the poor.

So everyone eats well today.
Enjoy your Holidays however you celebrate them.

Taxi Twilight Zone and Mugamma

I had a tough week this week. It’s always hard to return to work after a great vacation I know but this week was more trying than most. First, Hamdy, the schools driver was not available so I had to taxi-it all week. It is shocking how quickly one can become accustomed to having a driver at your service. Alas, I was on my own. It seems no matter what I did, I could not get taxi service in anything under 2 hours and at minimum 5 phone calls.

It’s difficult for me to be so dependent on others. I am used to moving under my own volition at my will. Inevitably at the scheduled time the taxi should have arrived I would get a call from the taxi driver himself. “Hello. How do I find your house?” Hello, You’re the driver isn’t that your job?!

Truth be told my apartment is hard to find. Other than major streets, I cannot see any discernable street signs. And I’d be hard pressed to explain how to get there even in English. “Ok, find Mokattam Hospital on Road 9. Look across the street. See the dirt road. No the other dirt road to the left of the temporary cow and sheep stable. (I’ll explain the farm animals in the street in another posting.) Yeah that one. Go to the end of that street. Go thru the construction site. Yeah really it’s OK. Then I’m on the right in the white and green building.”

Ya so, I am no help at all in directing the taxi driver. So, I must run downstairs and find the bawaab (door/security man) Housein. So that he can explain things. Either Housein’s directions aren’t very good or it is just really hard to find my place because they inevitably call at least 3 times before finding me. Thus, up and down I go all morning long 3 flights each time. When they call to say, “Really you want me to go thru the construction site?” I know it’s time to collect my bag and laptop to go. I haven’t gotten to work before 10 am this week.

Also, this week my one month tourist visa expired. So I had to go to the Egyptian office known as the Mugamma to extend it.

Much has been written about this cavernous bureaucratic monstrosity; including tales of more than one employee who actually LIVED in their offices, moved their whole families in. One family actually lived there undiscovered for 20 years. This place is a nightmare 15 circular floors of office space - think Orwell's 1984. Thankfully all of my work was on floor 2 which all looked like a bank with the staff behind protective glass windows and the customers milling around.

When I arrive, I am directed to window 12 for visa extension applications. I’m told to fill out the application, get copies of my passport and photos as well as buy stamps at window 43 then return to window 12 with everything in hand. Window 43 is like the cashiers window. You pay varying amounts of money depending on what visa you need and the teller behind the glass window gives you a variety of colored postage stamps indicating what you paid for and how much. When you return to your appointed window the teller then affixes them to your application. There are HUNDREDS of windows but only 2 cashier windows. So there is a real backup here. Most tellers speak English, but not the cashier. I got by with the help of some other kind souls in line.

Oh, important point here: no one but Americans actually stand in line and wait for the tellers to politely say next customer. It is a pushing and shoving match to get any service. You have to be assertive or you’ll never get out of there. I make it through virtually unscathed.

I return to window 12 with everything in hand and am told to return in 2 hours to pick up my passport. I am also told once I get my passport back I can then apply for multiple entry visa. I escape into the courtyard, thinking to myself that wasn’t so bad. I happily wander to American University in Cairo (AUC) Bookstore for their holiday sale. A bookstore is a favorite refuge of mine. I shed the taxi stress easily among the stacks.

At the appointed time, I return to collect my passport at a new window. In the meantime security has been stepped up and now I must put my bag thru a security conveyer belt - with no TV screen connected to see the contents inside. So my bags go for a ride and I go thru a metal detector. The woman at window 38 flips through a stack of passports until she finds my picture. I am directed to window 2 to get a multi-entry visa. I am given a new application and directed back to window 43 to pay again and collect new stamps.

At window 43 there is a melee. The man in front of me is taking too long for everyone’s liking. The men behind me start pushing and shoving and yelling. I am now pinned against the glass and a man behind me is screaming in my ear and leaning over me waving his money through the window in the tellers face. She is ignoring him. Thankfully, I have learned to say NO and STOP in Arabic, little good that it did. So there are like 5 people all with their hands and money stuck through the window slat and 15 more pushing to get in too. Now is a good time to mention too that deodorant is not commonly used here by all.

The man finally finishes and she looks at me. Remember she doesn't speak English. All of the people behind me take advantage of this and insist that they be serviced first. I am still pinned against the window can’t breathe from the pressure and the smell. Finally we communicate with help. She takes my money, gives me the change and starts counting out stamps through this little slat with 5 other arms grasping for anything. Stamps in hand I need to now extract myself from the crowd and get out of here. As I turn to squeeze out, I am jostled and I drop one of my precious stamps.

The crowd rushes to fill the empty space my body made and the stamp is stepped on. As I bend down to get it I am trampled. I sincerely know what it must have felt like to be a Walmart employee on Black Friday sales in the USA. I was crushed.

I cover my head and somehow I get my stamp and push my way free. I return to window 2 shaken and disheveled. I hand over my booty to the teller. She sees that everything is again in order and says nonchalantly I should return tomorrow to retrieve my passport.

I cried.

Right there in the middle of everything my heart sank, I felt nauseous and I cried. I cannot do this again tomorrow. I cannot. I unabashedly began begging, “Miss. Miss. Please today. Please.” “Ok. Ok 5 pm.”

I stumbled out of there in a fog. Still shaken, I found a café to hide and nurse my wounds and try to recover.

A few hours later, I head back to AUC to find that rarity a clean public bathroom. And I stumble onto a men’s volleyball tournament. And all the hell of this past week just disappeared.

Picture the volleyball scene from Top Gun, only with more tanned bodies. Nothing else mattered except sitting and watching this very important game. Stress just disintegrated with every serve and spike. Strangers next to me shared their pumpkin seed snacks. I cheered and laughed along with the crowd and enjoyed every second of it.

So there is always a silver lining - in this case a beautiful bronze one.

PS – I did get my passport and visa back tonight. I’m good until July 4, 2009. However, it clearly states, “Work is NOT permitted.”

So I am going to become a woman of leisure and a professional volleyball voyeur.

Enjoy your day and week whatever it may bring. And look for the silver lining and/or bronze god or goddesses.