iHtifaalaat - Celebrations
This post risks making it sound like it's all fun and games in Egypt. Which I suppoooose
it sort of is, aside from class. Life is fun here, amid the stress and annoyance, and for that,
I'm grateful. (Example, while dead stuck in traffic today, when the taxi driver was eerily
silent, I started counting the number of bumper stickers that made me laugh. 4 out of
the next 5 I saw were pretty great. My favorites: "NO FRIENDS!" Also, "WOMEN!
Up the power TIME!" I don't know what either mean.)
However, the daily routine of nescafé, homework, friends, Arabic practice, nescafé,
repeat has been broken up more often than usual with parties and fun things this
past month.
December and January, as they seem to be in so many places across the globe, are full
of celebrations in Egypt. I was given the privilege to participate as a bridesmaid in
Ghada's engagement party (congratulations Ghada and Gamal!) on December 10th.
I hung out with her family for nearly the entire day, rode in the zefa (parade) of cars
that swerves and speeds up and down the Corniche, honking all the while, and
applauded with the hundreds of guests as the couple arrived to the historic venue in
a boat. I'm afraid there might be a video somewhere of me as the only foreigner
attempting Egyptian dance in the middle of the sparkly dance floor.
There was also Christmas (duh), New Year's (duh) and not to mention my own
personal freak-out moment/celebration in seat 5C of an Olympic airlines flight to
Athens from Cairo, just before Christmas. On the way to a Christmas break trip
shared between myself and five other American friends, I might have squealed,
a little bit, when the plane took off.
I enjoy Egypt, I really do. But like a difficult friend whom you still love, a little
break from the pollution, the noise, the staring, the harassment, and the homework
was much needed. Almost all the students in my program did, in fact, or at least
took the opportunity to travel. The whole lot of Americans, all accustomed to
long, American University-style Christmas breaks, grew notably restless as late
December approached. As I stepped onto a bus from Alex to the Cairo airport,
early in the morning, snagging my last cheap snacks (ain't gonna find no 30
cent water bottles and 15 cent cookies in the crumbling European Union),
I'll never forget the intense excitement I felt just to, well, LEAVE.
Greece surpassed our expectations, and when some guests in our hostel
lamented the dirtiness of the streets and the poor state of the economy,
my travelling crew and I just nodded politely and listened, unimpressed.
Coming from the often dirty streets of Egypt, and the often less-developed
areas of Alexandria that we've grown fond of and used to, Athens was a
shiny sort of wonderland. Greeks were exceedingly friendly, their food was
simple and expertly done (grilled calamari, roasted pork, eggplant in myriad
different ways, stuffed zucchini, spinach pies, beautiful salads, and warm
red wine, among other tasty things).
My American sense of entitlement got a good shake to it when the Parthenon
was closed on Christmas Eve, due to a strike. I had a 30-second moment of
indignation and then we proceeded to have an incredible day, exploring an
offbeat district called Gazi, descending a random staircase into an underground
taverna, and spending two hours drinking good Greek wine and listening to
good music. Roasted chestnuts, conversations in the street with Egyptians
long-settled in Greece, tea and hypothetical questions during our freezing
hostel evenings, metro rides in giddy moods, and shoe shopping on Ermou
street are all things I'll never forget from that Christmas Eve. Christmas
morning we exchanged white elephant gifts and my loot consisted of warm
socks (NEEDED) and Greek dark chocolates (needed?) and a Christmas
evening we hiked to the highest hill in Athens (actually NOT the Acropolis,
weird, right?) to warm ourselves up.
All that said, I am finally truly glad to be back, though I was digging my
heels on the way. Watching the sun set over the fields (cotton? wheat?
watermelon? no idea) on the train from Cairo to Alex a week ago, drinking
hot tea offered to me from a genial man with a drink cart (affordable drinks
in every possible locale, i MISSED you), my heart felt full. Greece satisfied
some of that ever present longing for something different; a new place.
I have some energy to devote to Arabic again. I missed my neighborhood.
I missed my classmates. Celebrating the New Year the following day with
Egyptian and Flagship friends, I felt complete. It's weird that Egypt is home, but it is.
For New Year's in Egypt, people toss jars, bottles, and bags full of water
or God knows what else out windows. Lord help those down below in
the street, but it makes for a fun show if you're on a balcony. Not to mention
the full-size fireworks lit from balconies and curbs all over the city. I've never
seen such a panoramic fireworks show in my life. Sometimes, I adore places
without intense American safety rules.
A final celebration of the past several weeks was my roommate Kelsey's
24th birthday yesterday! Several of us put together a little surprise party
for her and by God it WORKED. She was actually surprised, it seems.
Since when do surprise parties actually work? Our director gave her a
gag gift of a terribly scented perfume, which is indicative of how great
our director is (truly) and the Greek café we tricked her into entering
dated from 1900 and was a dusty testament to the grandeur that was once
more prevalent in old Alexandria.
Finally, last night, a small group of us went to a Coptic Christmas Eve
service in Saint Mark's Cathedral. (Coptic service but in a Catholic cathedral?
Can an Egyptian please explain that to me?) Imagine Gregorian chants in
Arabic, in a cathedral that rivals anything you've seen in Europe, with near
white walls. Gorgeous. Today is Christmas for the Copts, so really it's been
just an extended Christmas season for us here. As they say, kull sina wa-intu tayyibeen!
This month holds a new lot of internship work, final exams and projects,
a visit from my older SISTER (!!!) in two days, and at the end of the
month a trip to Luxor and Aswan with the whole crew. I'll try to post once
more before that trip!
I hope all your own celebrations this past month were blessed and full and sweet.
No inset photos! Because I'm lazy! But here's a link to nearly 100 photos of our Greece trip:
Thanks! I love blogs from abroad!
ReplyDeleteI love that Egypt has become your home :D
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