Safwan- This summer I was fortunate enough to get to know a group of students from the Middle East as part of the MEPI program through the state department. When I found out that Safwan, a 21 year old film major (he is actually the youngest director in Egypt as he wrote, directed, and produced the first action short movie in Egypt when he was 19), lives in Cairo I was sure to get to know him with the hopes of seeing him again during my travels. Now that I have a phone here it was so easy to meet up, although I still don't know my way around this massive city too well so he picked me up this afternoon. He took me to an Egyptian restaurant that is on a huge boat on the Nile. It was beautiful, the food was delicious, and it was so nice to see a familiar face. He showed me around the rest of the evening and has just further confirmed how generous and nice Egyptians are. Thank you UD and the MEPI program for choosing such amazing people. (For the record he misses all the professors and students that he met in Delaware, but most of all he misses Cucina di Napoli's chicken alfredo!)
Too much food- On the subject of loads of food, I think I've already gained ten pounds. The food here is delicious and there is WAY too much of it. Or perhaps it's just that it's too frequent. I'll wake up and eat the breakfast that Sawsan insists on bringing me, then I'll grab a bite to eat, only to be greeted again by Sawsan shoving more food in my face. And then after dinner there's always tea and dessert and fruit and juice and more dessert. And THEN, as soon as I'm certain we are done eating for the day, it's dinner time. Huh?! As I read before I came, and as I'm now experiencing, meal times are very different here. I think there may actually be four meals. I eat something when I wake up (maybe that's where I go wrong?) and then breakfast is around 10-11am, lunch anywhere from 2-5:30 and dinner after 10pm. In one of my Egypt culture books I found that it is common for families to be working on their dinners until 1 or 2 in the morning. This often includes children. segue...
Staying up late- Since you may be eating past midnight, people stay up LATE. I've yet to figure out if everyone takes a siesta as they do in many countries, but there must be some sort of trick to this. It is currently almost 1am on a Thursday night and the street below me is still jammed with people hanging out, driving, playing in the streets, selling things, and drinking tea. Sawsan and her family (including a seven-year-old) arrived at my apartment tonight (to bring me food, of course) after 10pm. I can't imagine this happening in the US.
Traffic lights- Every so often there are traffic lights that seem to be stuck on flashing yellow that is sometimes seen in the States in the wee hours of the night. However in Cairo, this is apparently a permanent fixture. In every direction. I asked Safwan if he had ever seen the lights turn red or green. His response? "Oh, I don't know. We don't look at them." Still trying to figure out how that works.
That's about all the random commentary I have for now.
GO BLUE HENS!! I'll be cheering from here.
What is the food like? Spicy? Savory? Tell more!
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