A Typical Evening

A refresher from the heat.

“انتي عسل” (You are honey) The man shouted as we walked across the road in front of the Ramses Hilton, having just watched Clash of the Titans in 3D. Awful film, I don’t recommend it. We will be going to see Robin Hood, aka the “Tea Partier” next week. Thankfully Sarah Palin does not star as Maid Marian. I would never be able to stomach a film, even with my favorite actor Russell Crowe, if I had to listen to any words from her that lasted for over 10 seconds. As for the accusations of Robin Hood’s tea party sentiments, I am not sure I quite comprehend since he seems to be the embodiment of wealth distribution and socialism. I guess I will just have to see the film.

Cairo is getting hot these days. We are regularly making it into the 40‘s...for you American types, 100‘s. The heat accentuates the vibrant bouquet of petrol, dust, sheesha, and koshari wafting in the streets. It is followed by a finishing taste of some sort of carcinogenic chemical in the mouth. Cairo is, for the obsessive compulsive germ killing, anti bacterial handwash using, typical American, worse than the Nightmare on Elm Street. I long ago stopped caring. I admit to carrying hand-sanitizer with me should I ever truly get into a real mess but in the end I am not sure if it is anything more powerful or effective than a placebo.

We made it to a famous قهوة, or cafe, in wist ilbalad (downtown) where we engaged in one of my favorite Egyptian past times, drinking delicious blends of fresh fruit drinks combined with a fruity شيشة sheesha. For me it was a cocktail of freshly blended mango, strawberries, and banana garnished with fresh fruit around the rim and complemented by cantaloupe sheesha. After about 10 minutes we were laughing hysterically together, our bodies not accustomed to nicotine in vast quantities. Thankfully my sheesha smoking habit is generally limited to a once or twice a month periodicity. But again, breathing the air here is comparable to something like smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. I don’t think cantaloupe sheesha will add greatly to my exposure to unhealthiness. I know I have built up immunity anyway, I stopped getting sick every couple weeks about 5 months ago. I noticed more than anything my loss of the ability to smell. When I travel elsewhere it comes back after a few days. Upon my return to Cairo it is like I smell it all again for the first time and wonder why I have never noticed this smell before. After 24 hours I am reacclimatized and no longer notice anything peculiar.

The waiters joked with us and constantly tried to figure out my nationality. I am usually accused of being German, followed by Dutch, and Russian a distant third. Oh, and French is suggested as well because of my appearance of “sophistication” that I do not necessarily agree with. I thought my still heavily accented arabic would give my nationality away. “هي مصرية” (She’s Egyptian) My friend told them. They laugh but are thankfully not too prying. The coals on the hookah get changed more often than the other customers, the man likes to talk to two women more than anyone else. Through the screen I see the men across the street glancing at us as they sweep the floors of their shops for probably the 5th time that day. The call for مغرب maghrib is echoing in the busy streets. I take a moment to relish my surroundings, the taste of cantaloupe and strawberry, the fading light, the continual smile of my good friend who seems to be one of those people blessed with happiness and bringing it to others. I think this place has changed me more than I know. I wonder what I will be like when I return after years spent here.