An IFTAR to remember...

Till now my iftars have been pretty boring!!! They are either at home on my own or in Ehab's company (my new Egyptian house mate), in Carrefour, Pizza Hut or Mc Donalds!!! Today I did it in a different way!! Although I was dead tired and wanted to use my 3hr iftar to sleep it did not take me long to say yes when Dr Ahmed (my boss and owner of the school) invited me out for iftar with some members of the staff mainly the 3 other managers of the center. The 1st surprise was that we were to go out of Alex in a little village called Kafr id-Dawwar (do not ask me where!!! I just know its out of Alex), which was really tiny though very traditional village. We ate in 'house' restaurant which was very traditional and it a way reminded me of those places where we go and eat rabbit in Malta!!

The meal was amazing!!! We had the usual Egyptian stuff, such as tehina, homos, baba ganug etc etc, soup, molokeja (horrible green slimy thing), okra, and main dish all the grilled meat in the world!! You had a choice of chicken, duck, rabbit, kofta, kebab. I feasted myself on a big piece of duck!! It was delicious!! Then we ended the meal with Konefa (traditional Ramadan sweet) and tea. The women then went to the Mosque to pray, while I hung out with the men. It was great fun!! The people were very nice too, and a good laugh!!!

Once again it was remarkable to see the way the food is right in front of you just a couple of minutes before the mosque calls out and then you start attacking your food!!!!

After the massive meal everyone was dead tired!!! At 6.30 we were all contemplating whether we should bother going back to Alex to open the Center (which had to be open by 6.45) or not!!

I stated that I would give everyone the day off, including Dr Ahmed, but that did not work out too well!!!!!

AIESEC in Egypt Conference

I finally got to experience a part of an AIESEC in Egypt conference. Unfortunately, work could not give me the day off to join all the AIESEC Alex AIESECers on Thursday, so i decided to go on my own adventure on Friday morning!!!!

Thus I took the bus to Ismalia, at 6am!!!! The 1st adventure was actually to getting a taxi!!! Dahhh who would be around at 6am on a Friday morning??? Especially during Ramadan!! Where people would have just gone to sleep at 5.30. Luckily I live within walking distance to the bus station, and double luck, a random taxi was driving by when I was busily dragging my luggage down the street!!!

The bus ride was not a bad as I expected it to be!!! The bus was quite comfortable! and the person who cleans the bus, a 22yr old girl called Hebba was extremely nice and friendly with me!! She kept on making sure that I was comfortable, and we kept on speaking about my imaginary husband!!! (loads of people ask foreigners what are they doing in Egypt, and a 23yr old Maltese girl living on her own and working here sounds very suspicious!! So I just tell them I'm married saves the hassle of explaining in my broken Arabic!!!!!) Anyway, unfortunately this girl did not leave me alone!!!! Little did she know that I was dying to close my eyes and I have no brain to try and a understand what she's asking me!!! He he though my moment came when the driver called her!!! so that's when I put my head and closed my eyes immediately faking sleep!!!

The conference was great!!! Very different from a Belgian one, more relaxed, though slightly similar to a Maltese one!!! This conference was very hard for the facilitators, cause it was during Ramadan!!! Imagine running sessions, shouting over the voices of the delegates and not being able to drink a sip of water!!! I was amazed by the spirit of the newies. Their loudness!!! AHHH how I missed the shouting the Maltese conferences. The people were soooo outgoing, and it was like being in a different world!! Even the veiled girls wore funky veils and nice clothes!!!! The most amazing was the night!!! people were dancing, singing, playing games etc without even drinking a drop of alcohol!! Imagine this happening in a Belgian or Maltese conference!!!!

I realized that what I miss most out of AIESEC are the conferences, the exhaustion you feel, the satisfaction of delivering a successful conference, the satisfied and motivated delegates, the satisfied feel you get when the people tell you thank you, and that you have done a great job!!! I wish I could run AIESEC conferences all my life!!!!

I also got the taste of attending an AIESEC conference as a trainee, and being looked at as a trainee. When I was not helping out in the sessions, Purvi and I just lazed on the lake or by the pool and it was fantastic to do nothing!!!!!!!!!! ....... and I used to frown at the trainees before, then they walked around doing nothing instead of attending sessions with the others!!!

The trip back was also great though scary!!! We left Fayed at about 11pm and got to Alex at 5am!!! The highway was terrible!! it was exteeeeemmmmeeeeeelllllyyyy foggy!!! It was very very scary!! you could not see ANYTHING outside!! thank god the driver was driving extremely slowly!!

I also got to have interesting discussions with some of the Egyptians about Genies, and Legends!!! I love listening to those things...... when I get more info I promise to tell you more!! I am not on my mission of discovering things about genies and the Quran and Egypt!!

I now feel closer to the AIESEC Alex members and if like them a lot!! Especially the new members!!! They remind me sooo much of some Maltese!!

The surprises of Ramadan....

People have warned me about certain changes in Ramadan, but I must say, have omitted to explain to me the most important ones!!!!!!!

It is now the 5th day of Ramadan, and I have not gotten down to trying out the whole thing yet - shame on me. I still think the reasoning behind Ramadan is not really right. And people should not fast to feel like the poor, as they say they do, but people should help out the poor and give them money and food all year round, not only during Ramadan!!! Its cool to not be able to drink and eat during the day, to understand the world's suffering, but on the other hand, doesn't it make the poor feel worse, if after sunset you are at home eating your heart out and the poor still don't have food to eat????? (though now, the new version I got is that people fast so all Muslims feel the same way and there is solidarity)

Anyway still have another 3 weeks of interviewing and observing to figure all this out. Regarding the changes, there are several, but the most shocking ones are the ones at work:

Girls getting Veiled. I never thought that it would be such a big deal when a girl gets veiled, and I didn't think that I would look at the girl any different, but now, that it has happened I do. One colleague and one student got veiled in Ramadan (apparently it is something many girls do). They were both really nice outgoing people, with whom I always felt very comfortable around. Though as soon as I saw them veiled I could not stop staring at them. They had a different feel, maybe a more holy feel. I don't know if I feel bad for them, cause they have had to do this to themselves, and they are now imprisoned under their veil, or I feel happy for them, cause they feel purified and closer to God!!! I still cannot help staring at them though!!!!

Girls wearing Alabeja. This is the female version of a Galabeja. That is the long shapeless dress. During Ramadan the girls are meant to be less tempting, especially during the fasting hours. So some of the girls at work are wearing this shapeless black dress. This was another shock!!! The girls who are usually wearing these tight mega colorful clothes are now walking around in black nightdresses!!!! I was also told that only the veiled women should wear this, as they should cover themselves completely!! Though once again, note the irony!! Most girl decide to change and take it off after the iftar, that is after the fasting is over!!!

The good change of Ramadan is the fact that I get to go home for 3hrs between 4 and 7. The fuck up is that my hours suck!! from 10am-4pm then 7pm-10.30pm, mega foreigner employee exploitation I get to cook something good for myself (though I seem to have lost much of my appetite in Egypt and cannot get myself to cook anything that's not peanut butter sandwich, fried toast, or cereal - if you can call that cooking) , and best of all I get to see sunset from my balcony and a quiet, car-less corniche!! I also get to walk it to and from work, which is so relaxing and beautiful as it is a nice and quiet walk on the corniche.

Another change is the laid back ness. During the day almost everything is closed, the few people who work do little, and the rest are sleeping or at home watching TV. After iftar, people start going out, though they are not as active!! After having filled up their stomach they are up to nothing, and just sit and smoke sheesha or chat or listen to music or continue watching TV!! What a life!!!!

If I will follow Ramadan one day this month??? Good question. As I don't really see the true sense of fasting yet I don't think I will do it for any special case. If I do try it out, it will be simply out of curiosity to know what it would feel like to do fasting for one day!!! Till now I am just on the rule that no food or drink while I am out of the house, which means from 10 till 4.30. Which is still not bad for a beginner!! Though I must admit I did not keep to it strictly!! Cause after a 3hr class continuously talking I had to take some water!!!!

Next weekend AIESEC in Egypt will be having its newies conference, which I am dying to go to. Unfortunately work did not give me the day off to attend the whole thing, but if I manage I will get there for the last 2 days!!! It will be interesting to see an AIESEC conference in the middle of such a holy month such as Ramadan!!! Maybe there will be my chance to try out the whole ado!

Getting ready for RAMADAN....

For those who don't know, Ramadan is the 9th month of the Muslim Calendar. The month of Ramadan is also when it is believed the Holy Quran (equivalent to our bible) "was sent down from heaven, a guidance unto men, a declaration of direction, and a means of Salvation." Ramadan is a time when Muslims concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It is apparently a time of worship and contemplation

During this month strict restraints are placed on the daily lives of Muslims. They are not allowed to eat or drink during the daylight hours. Smoking and sexual relations are also forbidden during the fasting. The fast start from sunrise to sunset, where finally at the end of the day the fast is broken with prayer and a meal called the 'iftar', which literally translated means breakfast. In the evening following the iftar, it is customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends, eating as much as possible is if, like the camels, storing as much food as possible for the next day, where the fast is resumed. I am infact teasing the girls at my place of work, telling them that the food they eat will all be stored in their hips and thighs!! ;P

Apparently, the good that a person acquires through the fast can be destroyed by five things:

1. The telling of a lie

2. Slander - (a false or malicious report about someone)

3. Denouncing someone behind his back

4. A false oath

5. Greed or covetousness

In addition to the five daily prayers, during Ramadan Muslims recite a special prayer called the Taraweeh prayer. This is usually 2-3 times longer than the daily prayers, and some Muslims spend the entire night in prayer. Finally on the evening on the 27th day Muslims celebrate the Laylat al Qadr which literally means the 'night of power', where it is believed that on this night, the Prophet Muhammad first received the revelation of the Holy Quran. And according tot he Quran, this is when God or Allah determines the course of the world for the following year - Weird ha!!!!

Finally when Ramadan ends there is the Shawwal which is celebrated for 3 days where the Muslims eat and eat and eat, as if to get back what they have lost during the fast. Gifts are also exchanged (the tradition is that the gifts are usually new clothes, and people have to wear new clothes during this feast). Friends and family gather to pray in congregation and for large meals.

All the streets are fully decorated with silver tinsel. Even the Center i work in has been decorated with ' RAMADAN KARIM' written all over the wall, KARIM thus meaning 'think about others and don't be selfless'. It pretty much reminds me of our Xmas, where we have little lights all over the place and the streets and houses are decorated, and Merry Xmas is written all over the walls. The only exception though is that houses are not decorated with Xmas trees, but with Ramadan Lamps, which are these plastic (or the original ones would be glass) lamps which light up and sing some traditional Ramadan Arabic song. Just like our Xmas carols! ;)

I have thought about whether I should do Ramadan or not, and came to the conclusion that there is no reason why I should do it, as I am not dedicating it to my God and I would rather do a proper lent this Easter. Though for respect to the Egyptians I have no intention of flashing around my bottles of water and coffees, of eating in the streets, or at work and of smoking away in front of those dying for a cigarette. I will eat before I leave home and spend the rest of the day without food and water. Considering that it means at least 8hrs of fasting, it is not that bad for a beginner!! ;)

So tomorrow is the special day, the 1st day of Ramadan. Tonight people will be awake all night getting ready for the first day of fasting - i.e. filling their bellies up at 5am!!! And tomorrow will be the 1st great If tar!! There are usually tents around the cities where people can go and have their if tar, where the poor people are fed and where there is belly dancing and entertainment all night!!! I am hoping that will be my destination tomorrow night!!! :D

I can't wait to go to as many iftar's as possible!!!!!

Back to AIESEC....

AIESEC Alex, like all the other LCs in the world is currently passing through recruitment - thus a fresh out of office Alumni like me would not decline a request to go and help out with the recruitment, especially if that meant waking up a 8am (blaq!!!!) and traveling to the other side of Alexandria - Abu Qir to the massive campus of AAST (actually the total outskirts of Alexandria). Although half heartedly I did wake up early and like a good ex- AIESECer went for her duties.

Surprisingly enough I must say that I had a really good time!!! Yes I did spend 2 whole hours explaining to Egyptian students what is AIESEC and how could they join over and over again. But I also got the opportunity to speak to a couple of university students and also to the student council in this university, who have actually asked me to come and make a speech to the student council so as to convince them to allow foreigners on the trips organized by the university. They also invited me to their activities and best of all offered to take me to the grand opening of Ramadan this Friday. Besides they got me drinks and paid my taxi ride back into Alex, saying that I was a guest on the university and that it was a pleasure for them to have me and it all came out of the university budget!!! - Aint that cool!!!! I told I guess Egyptian has also many advantages with regards to foreigners.

It was also cool meeting some of my ex-students on the campus and having a chat with them, as well as selling AIESEC - its cool to see how they recognized me and came to tell me hello!!! :D even if I did not recognize them at all!!!

Finally there was also the weird part of the selling, which was attracting the guys who were only interested in the two white skinned, light eyed, English speaking, one foreign girls (Nora and I) - the people of the student council later warned me about these people, though it had been a bit too late!!!!

Although now extremely exhausted I had a really good time, it reminded me of the good old recruitment days, and it also reminded me of my dearest LC LLN as this LC has the same enthusiasm and potential - I miss them sooooo much!!!!!

What a Weekend!!!!

This weekend was definitely a weekend of mixed feelings, good and bad news and thus once more an emotional up and down for me!!!

The 1st good news was that I got to see Tom one day before planned!!!! The plans were that I was meant to go to Cairo on Thursday night to spend the weekend together - only to find out that as Wednesday was a public holiday (which unfortunately I did not get to enjoy cause I did not get time off) - most of the Cairo people had decided to go to the north coast. We thus thought that it would be a good idea if Tom came up to Alex on Wed night and we could attempt a trip to the north coast to join the others. (please note this place is not really easy to go to if you don't speak Arabic or don't have a car!!!!)

2nd News - 2 bad ones at once on Thursday night!!!! Irena, my beloved (now pretty sarcastic) house mate got a cool job in Cairo, so she decided to abandon me to my destiny in Alex in my beloved apartment. Choice one - leave the apartment - too expensive - (are you joking!!!!! nothing can replace the calmness and beauty of the sea as soon as you wake up in the morning), choice 2 - get a replacement (which was obviously my alternative - will get more news about this later) 2nd bad news, Tom had to leave for Cairo Friday night - so no North Coast - actually this had disappointed me more than my deserter of a house mate as I had always wanted to go to the North Coast since I did not get the opportunity this summer, besides I was dying to spend two whole days with Tom - anyhow, it turned out that on Friday it was pretty cloudy, so that was a little comforting. So you can just imagine how devastated I was on Thursday night after this news!!! Luckily there is always Roastery (my Cafe) to cheer me up with its luscious Oreo Milkshake and Grilled Chicken. Which I definitely made a point to feast myself that night!!!

3rd News - was in fact a good news - it turned out that Tom did not have to leave Friday in fact but Sat Morning, so it means that we got to spend another night together, I would have rather preferred all Saturday but you can't have it all I guess.

Finally the 4th news was actually the most disastrous news, it was the new of the Bombing in the Sinai area, where the tourist haven of Israelis as well as thousands other people all over the world visit quite often. This coincidentally happened on the weekend where both Egypt and Israel celebrated the 6th of October, which to my understanding is the day Egypt won the peninsula of Sinai from the Israelis. There are no real suspects as yet, and nobody really knows who could have done it!! It was probably not the Egyptian Islamic Extrimists, as those are kept under tight eye, then who could it be, the AL-Qaeda?? - for what reason. Many of the Egyptians say that this could actually bring Egypt and Israel together for the fight against terrorism. Sinai was actually the only place in the Middle East where the Israelis felt pretty safe - not any longer I guess. Thank God none of the people were knew were hurt or injured, although quite a few people were actually in the surrounding area!!!!

Anyhow it turned out to be an interesting weekend - on Friday we went out shopping for vegetables in my favorite place in Cleopatra (where I live) - our vegetable market - which has all the things you want - fish, fruit (all sorts, even a thing called Ixta which, after our quest of trying it, found out, it was custard apple - which I have never heard of in my life - and which was definitely not to my liking ), live game and poultry which they eventually kill for you, all sorts of vegetables, milk in a plastic bag and many more. Tom and I then attempted to make a nice home meal of dumplings stew and baked potatoes!!! Which unfortunately did not turn out to be as successful as we thought.

We then enjoyed the serenity of the sea and finally decided to go and watch Fahrenheit 9/11 which is practically Michael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its ruthless agenda. Revealing certain facts ( though not sure if they have been twisted or not) about how Bush before and after his presidency, his relations to the Bin Laden family/ Saudi Arabia, and his intentions towards Iraq. Michael Moore depicted all this in quite, I must say, an influencing and witty way which, considering the elections are right round the corner, could definitely manipulate eventual results.

Saturday we then went to my 2nd favorite place in Egypt, which is Manxejja, Purvi (English/Indian/Kenyan Trainee here in Alex) and I decided to finally explore the 'peasants' streets of Alex on our own. Quite an experience I must say though, now that I have a grasp of what I call market Arabic, its much more fun speaking to the people in the shops and streets.

Finally the night ended with a touch of Egyptian Karaoke!!! I could not believe that these guys actually have the guts to stand up and sing in front of so many people without either being drunk or high!!!!! I never ever sang karaoke unless I was out of my mind!!!!! Though I swore to myself that one day I will do it!!! Though it definitely means loads of practicing in the shower!!!!!

Finally Back on Track

After a nice long week and a half of relaxing and luxury I am back to the life of an Egyptian.

Relaxing on the Deck Daddy getting into the Egyptian Culture

The time my parents were here was great!!! I got to lie on a ship's deck next to a pool while sailing down the Nile.

The view from the boat

I got to see all the greatness of Egypt once again through the huge and glorious temples in Edfu, Kom Ombo, Luxor and Aswan. Although this is the second time in 6 months visiting these temples, I will never get sick of listening to the story of the god Osiris and how his body was spread all over Egypt and about the goddess Hathor who apart from being beautiful was also the goddess of love and merriment.

Temples and Inscriptions

My favourite Temple - Philae Temple in Aswan

Sailing to Philea on a Nubian Felucca

Nevertheless, it was not the most pleasant holiday. The memories of being pestered by my sister and lectured by my parents, although forgotten, came back to mind, and then I suddenly remember one of the reasons why I left home!!!!! Though I must say that I really miss the pampering and the lavish meals!!!

Anything for a good Bargain!!! The Egyptians hassle the tourists lying on the deck of the cruise boats from their little rowing boats

Finally life is Alex is starting for me. The AIESEC people are now back in town, and finally, 3months after my arrival I got my welcome party. It was quite a surprise actually and I totally did not expect it, but it was great fun!! I was an excellent occasion to get drunk and let myself go, which is something I had not done in quite a while. Although young, the AIESEC people are great fun, I guess its nice to feel young once in a while ;). My Beweb (sorry for the spelling, in English terms this guy would be called a doorman) was probably shocked at the number of times we ordered Drinkies (the only store in Egypt that sells alcohol in abundance, and like everything else here in Egypt delivers right to your door) and he was also probably even more shocked at the amount of people flocking to my apartment!! Poor doorman, might actually give him 5pounds extra this month for his comprehension.

I also managed to get Sat off work, although the working hours are still terrible and make you feel a bit miserable sometimes, it is nothing in comparison to the pleasure of having a Saturday off. These Egyptians must learn that Thea Weekends are sacred! And nobody messes around with my weekend OK!!!!!

The house is looking way better now, my home decorating skills came into action, and I now have a nice sweet livable home with a beautiful view of the sea as soon as you wake up in the morning!!!! Ain't you jealous??!!!

My housemate (Irena) is also quite nice, although Russian she is quite an interesting character!!! She is 26 and passing through her own little life trauma. Actually pretty crazy in her thoughts for my perception of a Russian, but funnily enough she is also a good laugh. We often come home after work, make our asses comfortable on the sofa, light a cigarette and bitch about people at work, life in general, our lives and how we feel, very often staying up in about 4am or 5am!!!! This is what I guess is the coolest of having a house mate!! This is the 1st time I am living with someone, and I must say that I had gotten used to my independence, and sometimes solitude so at first it was hard to just sit and chat! But actually now, I cannot wait to go home for that!!!

Irena is a Sagittarius too, so we tend the share the different characteristics, although different in character. So its nice to hear that I am not the only one feeling this way and there are other people with the same desires as mine!!!! Besides she is the only one I find with a maturity and life experience high enough to have certain conversations with in Alex.

I have also now learnt how to deal with Egyptians, when before, someone use to charge me more, or bamboozle me I used to sulk and get frustrated at Egypt. But now I actually enjoy putting my foot down and giving them a piece of my mind in my broken Maltese / Arabic!!! The funniest is when the landlord found out that I have a different aspect to my nice docile character and saw the new Egyptian Thea scolding him cause he did not fix the window, the bell and the sink, and refusing to pay the deposit. Irena was then militant about having the ceiling fixed and we both stood our ground and refused to pay. We now have the sink, bell and window fixed and a guy coming to fix the ceiling next Friday, plus a proposal for marriage!!! The guy was so stunned by our straightforwardness that he immediately fell in love with us and wanted to marry us both!!! It was hilarious!!!

Anyway I think you have had enough of my long anecdote so I will stop here! But this is not the end!!!!

Egypt is the place to be.......

Egypt is seriously the place to be when you want to feel good!!! After weeks of down time, I put myself back on track, when shopping and bought some - what I call Egyptian clothing, i.e., bright, flowing, colorful etc etc. That is I bought bright colored tops and styles I never dreamt of wearing before.

The people at work were probably taken aback by the boldness of my change of style, but it was pretty nice to get compliments from everyone, even from the tuck shop guy. As soon as I walked in he looked at me and told me 'helwa helwa' which means nice or sweet, then went running to the administration office to tell the girls there, who came running out to see me!!!! So all throughout the day I got comments such as 'Wow' and 'Who is this pretty girl' and 'Gamila' (which also means nice).

It felt good and quite morale boosting getting compliments all day long, I think I should make it a habit once a week or fortnight at least!!! ;)