Food for Thought:

Just an update on life...mostly on food, but hey, that's life too.

We made pancakes today in the boy’s dorms…there is nothing quite as satisfying as pancakes I have decided. Maybe it’s because I miss eating pancakes every Sunday at home. Maybe it’s because I love when the whole group is together doing something silly and rewarding.

Maybe it’s because we also had French toast (toast france-owi), strawberries, bananas (in the pancakes!), nutella (chocolate spread), ful, and falafel. I actually helped cook the falafel (or falafels, as Amie says). There was also a watermelon.

Seriously, my life was complete after that breakfast.

We also watched a terrible film. No, that’s a lie. It was actually a very good film with one of my favorite Egyptian actors. I just hate absurd endings. Politics and martyrism aren’t my cup of tea….especially when I know that these are real things that I don’t have much power to change.

However, Wednesday, I watched an excellent film in my Ammiya professor’s house. I forget the name, but it was a documentary type film on the identity of a family in Egypt…it discusses some pretty major issues of what it means to be defined as Egyptian (esp. after Israel and 1948). I’m not too surprised that it is banned in the Middle East…

My teacher also had snacks for us…including snickers bars. It was the first thing I ate, and my life was instantly wonderful. Her mother also made a wonderful fruit salad of sorts…it was nut and dates and milk combination…yummy.

Thursday, I went to an outstanding restaurant (Coffee Roastery) and had an unbelievable Greek salad- fresh veggies, feta, garlic bread….sigh. Dessert was also quite the kicker: an amazing chocolate tort/icecream thing, and a strawberry cheesecake tort/icecream thing.

The conversation was fun, fast, and in Arabic (of course). I was pleased to discover that I am at a level of Arabic where I can understand all kinds of grammatical jokes in Arabic.

Tomorrow I am going exploring with friends, and will hopefully eat fa-teer…a wonderful bread pastry thing that is best eaten hot. I will also mix more food with thought, as I plan to take an absurd number of pictures of the daily Alexandrian life…I shall let you know the results.

And just 3la fikra: I would sell my first camel for some veggie bacon. I do not, however, miss normal sandwiches, because ben-tingan is just sooooo much better.

Surprise!!

So guess what I received in the mail today?!

The package I mailed to Teddy back in February.

Yep, they mailed a package sent from the person in Egypt back to the same person in Egypt, and failed to note that it was addressed to AMERICA (even after I went through customs and everything. Heck, I even wrote in freaking Arabic on the thing!)

But have no fear- Khalid (the program director) will be visiting the good ol’ US of A next week, and promised to mail it again from a post office in D.C.

In sha Allah, Teddy dear, you will have it in a couple of weeks.

Dearest Egypt, you better hope your post-offices and I never have another encounter again.

Ever.

Heli-belik.

Stayin’ Alive:

Just some really ishta things from my daily life.

I’ve:

learned folk-dancing,

watched a play in Arabic (and actually understood it!),

attended a classical concert by the Chinese Orchestra,

crashed a wedding party in the street,

played soccer with Egyptian kids,

eaten approximately nine million bentingan sandwiches (eggplant and tomato sauce),

watched the sunset,

attended a lecture on Sufism,

made custard,

danced in a courtyard,

made friends on the tram,

had my cheeks pinched by a little old lady,

been chased by a cat,

had lunch beside both the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea,

eaten cotton candy from a street vendor,

gone snorkeling,

climbed onto a roof to watch the stars,

read a novel in Arabic,

been on a boat on the Nile,

helped lost foreigners,

seen Wust-el-Balad in concert,

helped make pancakes (sort of),

gone to the biggest Mosque in Alexandria,

found five different post-offices,

made friends with the cashier at Abo Rabee3 (thus get service first!),

explored a book sale at the Library of Alexandria,

pondered life while sitting in the Sahara,

watched the Egypt-Algiers soccer match,

made friends with the store owners on my street,

photographed sheep,

watched Shrek 3 in Arabic,

gone on three safaris,

chased Chris with my shibshib (flip-flop),

(almost) seen a protest,

slept under the stars,

gone to an Jazz concert (Arabic Jazz, that is),

lindy-hopped in a bar/dance club,

ridden a camel and a horse,

climbed 3,000 steps to watch the sunrise on Mount Sinai,

ridden a bike in the pitch black dark,

thrown pencils at my friends (that’s a good thing),

taught the Egyptian girls bad words in English,

danced with the Bedouin,

discovered the beauty of sandwich mix (ful, falafel, egg),

lied about my name to creepers,

chased a runaway donkey,

learned Arabic curse words,

claimed I’m married,

visited some of the most famous places in the world,

and tasted pumpkin juice.

A lesson in Arabic:

I was thinking that, given I still have a while here, my future use of English is forever ruined. I blame this mostly on the differences of sentence structure between these two languages, but even more on those words that just aren’t going to translate. I’ve talked a lot about the use of religious expressions, but there are million other little things that I say without an English counter-part.

For your perusal and for future attempts of communication with me:

3la fikra [ah-la fik-ra]: something like “by the way” or “oh yeah, so…” The words actually translate into “on the idea,” but that’s literal and Arabic is hardly ever literal. “3la fikra” can also suggest subject change, i.e. talking, talking, talking and then “3la fikra” (sort of “guess what!”)

Ishta [ish-ta]: it literally means “cream.” Yes, you read that correctly, “cream.” We use it like “cool” though, or really as “awesome, neat, etc.” It’s definitely used a lot more by the younger generation here, but if I use this in the street, I am a real speaker of Arabic in the eyes of the Egyptians.

Khalos [kha-lus/ kha-loss]: Something like “without a doubt”…kind of. Or like “there is no question”…kind of. Or maybe sort of “the subject is over”….you see why this is hard, right?

Gamid/ gamda [ga-mid/ gam-da]: literal meaning: tough. Usages: ishta, cool, tough, kick-ass, awesome, su-weeeeeeeet, etc. Also used with the word "kha-los," i.e. "that movie was gamid kha-los!

Besssss [kinda self-explanatory]: I don’t know this in English…I know that one meaning is the word “but,” i.e.: I want to go to the movie, besssss, I have too much homework in Fusha. The second meaning is a little less clear…something like a filler word, but it can also be used to interrupt someone or it can even mean “only.” Yeah, good luck with that.

Mashi [ma-sheee]: Literally means “okay.” It is also the verb “to walk,” but let’s not get into that right now....

Ye3ni [yeah-ah-nee]: this is the equivalent of the valley-girl “like.” Except here, it is extremely good Arabic to use this word. It is especially helpful when one has a presentation and they are stumbling in their words, so they just say “ye3ni” in between words…it’s actually become quite natural to use. (i.e. Mommy probably won’t like my English usage of it).

Oah […..]: it’s not really “ahh” and not really “ohh” but something in between the two, in both pronunciation and meaning- sort of sounds like “oah.” For example, someone explains a word to me, and I say “oah” which implies that I understood. Or someone tells me a story, and I say “oah” which is something like an encouraging “go on.” It also just means “yes.” But not “yes” like the question “yes?” but more like I answer a question "yes" (thus indicating that I understood…yeah…)

Beged [be-ged/ bu-ged]: This one will take the cake for number of times I’ll use it. It literally means “really,’ i.e. “I crossed the Kornish!” “Beged?!” (and I didn’t cross the Kornish, 3la fikra). “Beged” is also just an expression of surprise, often used with the word “wu-la-hee.” Example: “I ate the entire plate of strawberries.” “Wulahee beged?!”

So translate the following:

Writing this blog was “ye3ni” “ishta” and hopefully your use of Arabic is “gamid” now. “Bessssss,” “wulahee beged,” I am tired "kha-los", and “3la fikra” I have class at 9AM. “Mashi?” “Mashi.”

Be-shwish:

So I was curious as to why Teddy hadn’t received his present I mailed him back in February (over a month ago), and decided to investigate. Thank goodness I had the slip with the tracking number (mailing that package was a hectic experience and I didn’t know where I had put the thing) and I checked online for its status.

It’s still sitting in the outgoing post-office in Alexandria, waiting to be mailed.

Dearest Egypt, I should have known.

A disturbing trend.

We discussed health/ health-care in Ammiya today, and I learned some very disturbing things about the health-systems here.

Did you know that the average man in Egypt lives to be 70-75 years old? Not too shocking- about the same as in America.

Did you know that the average woman in Egypt lives to be 60?

Yep.

Egypt, while not the cleanest place in the world, is not a third-world country with malnutrition, constant war, and lack of government aid. So why this phenomenon?

There are two things to consider:

1. What are the factors that play into this obscenely low life expectancy?

2. How do these factors differ between men and women here?

I’m not an expert by any means, but here are some thoughts/ potential answer to #1:

More disturbing than the lack of resources and doctors is the fact that women more often than not do NOT go to the doctor or hospital.

I don’t mean for little things like colds- I mean for major things like heart disease and cancer, the two leading causes of death here. Women do not go to the doctor, thus are often unaware of developing problems.

This is especially important in Egypt, considering the extreme exposure to second-hand smoke, the fact that the sun is much stronger here (given the depleting ozone layer thanks to pollution), the fats and oils that dominate the food, and that life in the city is just generally unhealthy.

It is also imperative to consider that women here (generally speaking) have a lot of children, and this certainly plays a role in their health…think about it- most girls get married at 21, and by the time they’re 35, have about five kids. I’m not saying this is a bad thing (heck, I want lots of kids) but I am saying that, given the lack of interest in women’s health, this is a problem here.

This bring me to my second question: the difference in health and life expectancy between men and women.

It would seem, given that they are exposed to pretty much the same elements, women and men should have almost the same life-expectancy. Like I said, malnutrition and war do not exist here. In addition to this, men are also the ones smoking- both cigarettes and sheesha- as well as eating the same food as the women.

But the difference?

Men go to the doctor when they have any major problem, women don’t.

The big question: why don’t the women do to the doctor?

It is culturally unacceptable to discuss the issues of/ treat women.

This is true for specifically female issues, i.e. breast cancer, cysts, etc (also think about pregnancy issues) but also for general health. The same relationships between men and women in the coffee shop, store, etc, appear to carry over into the hospital and doctor’s office. I.e. there is no such thing as a professional relationship between men and women because it is not appropriate for women to discuss personal issues with men.

Are there female doctors? Yes, of course. I have tons of Egyptian dorm-mates in the College of Medicine. But there are still problems: these girls don’t always go into practice, usually because they get married and have families of their own. Not a bad thing, but the result is a lack of medical resources here for women.

For this reason, many of the health issues that plague women here go undetected and thus, untreated.

I plan on researching this further, but for now I’ll just say this is indeed a disturbing trend.

The world is my playground!

I wanted to write just one blog on my entire trip of this past week, but I really wouldn’t do justice to my experience in Jordan if I did that.

There really aren’t words to describe walking through the wadi/cavern and then “happening” upon the world-famous building- the Treasury- that once existed for me only in pictures.

Pictures don’t do it justice….ever.

It’s simply astounding. The sides of the wadi join together to a point, and through the ancient, natural walls, you catch a glimpse of columns, walls, and statues unlike anything.

The sun only shines on the Treasury one hour every day. I am fortunate enough to have seen it twice in the sunlight.

I have literally never seen anything as beautiful, overwhelming, and surreal.

There is also the Monastery- an equally overwhelming building, and the step to the entry is taller than I am! There are similar ancient designs, colors in the rock, and obscenely large statues. The main difference is that, while the building from the pictures is hidden in the rocks, the Monastery is exposed to the harsher climate of being on top of a mountain. Yes, built into and on top of a mountain.

But there is so much more to Petra than the one famous picture that we all know from National Geographic, Indiana Jones, and postcards:

The air, the colors, the sunshine, the aroma, the dialect- just the life in the place! Nabateans lived there thousands of years ago, and the land and mountains are falling apart, but there is still as much life there as before.

This was also a dreamlike adventure because I only spoke in Arabic whilst exploring this wonder of the world.

No, I am not saying that there is some kind of spiritual connection between the speakers of Arabic and the land- but I am saying that my ability to communicate with the native Petraeans changed my interaction with this ancient land.

It got to be a bit of a joke that my friends and I couldn’t possibly be Egyptian, given our looks, but how in the world did we have Egyptian accents?? Needless to say, this sparked tons of dialogue.

I have never been invited to “drink tea” so many times, nor have I been questioned on my heritage.

But what struck me most about these people is their liveliness! That’s a little orientalist, to say the least, but oh so true.

There was a sense of constant business inside the ancient stone city: children running around, men offering rides on camels and donkeys, and the women making and selling handicrafts.

On the subject of these women- I became, along with Clara and Karen (and even Mike, our hero!) great friends with one of the women. Her name is Themiya, and she is Bedouin woman who lives with her husband and eight children in a Bedouin village inside Petra. She made everything she was selling with her own hands, and told me about her life- in great detail.

Yes, she will have a role in the play I am writing.

On a slightly creepier note, I climbed the Mountain of Sacrifice, and have several pictures there. It was only after I had climbed onto the high rock with Mike and Clara took our picture did I realize that I was standing in the place where all the residual blood from the sacrifice ran off to…yeah, not a pleasant thought actually.

I spent a day and a half in Petra- but I could have stayed for weeks. There is something to see in every corner- literally something carved into the side of every mountain.

Adventures in camel-riding will follow later, as well as stories on the good-life in Dahab….

Making friends in the Middle East pays off....

My first camel ride- EVER:

The Royal Burial Chamber:


The lesser known but equally beautiful Monastery as seen from inside a cave:


Me and Petra, no big:


The moon setting in Saint Catherine (Mount Sinai):

Cats still rule here:

If you have been to Egypt, you'll get this joke:


I am pretty much obsessed with camels: