So November thus far has been pretty boring. And its getting cold. Que laughter from everybody reading this at home, where, from what I'm hearing, there is a nice blanket of snow on the ground. Okay, so I have absolutely gotten used to Egypt and yes I get cold when it is anywhere below 85 degrees. So what if I am beyond screwed for when I go home in a month? No. Big. Deal. Anyways, I know nobody really wants to read about how midterms in Arabic went so I wont bore you with all those details; instead, lets chat about random Egypt things.
Halloween
Many of you asked if Halloween is celebrated in Egypt and my standard answer was something like "I don't know, but Americans do". Flippant and slightly arrogant? Yeah, just a little. So I asked someone (after I and all the other Americans celebrated Halloween like we do at home... :) And the answer is no. Halloween is not officially celebrated here. It is actually not allowed to be celebrated by Muslims and the Islamic culture. As a monotheistic religion, they respect other monotheistic religions but they can't practice or celebrate a holiday that glorifies polytheistic deities. And as Halloween is originally a pagan celebration, it is not acceptable for Muslims to follow this. However, the West is a huge influence on, well, everything, and you can find some Muslims who believe that it is okay to celebrate it or who will let their children dress up. But you wont find anybody trick or treating. That would be without a doubt one of the sketchiest things to do around here.
Stike!
No, not baseball strikes. (Ha ha ha) People strikes. You hear of them from time to time, participate in one, or see one somewhere. Not that they are overly common, they are also not that uncommon. In Egypt, they are very uncommon. In some (ie alot) of countries here, if you go on strike, you have a high chance of getting beaten and/or automatically losing your job. And you absolutely need that job. At school, we have maids who will clean our rooms, change our sheets, wash the floors etc and janitors who keep the school really clean. Without them, the school turns into a garbage pit because for some reason, "students" feel that they cannot through away their own trash. They will let it blow away or leave it at their tables and chairs for somebody else to clean up. The tables in the food court after lunch are always piled high with trash while the "students" go hang around outside, smoke, and not go to class. So the janitors and maids went on strike not because of this but because the administration is retarded. They workers were being paid about 600 LE a month and were expected to feed and provided for their families with this. That is about 100 USD; and 600 LE a month for a family of four is nothing as you can well imagine. The administration decided to cut their wages down to 400 LE a month and give them health care. Well, the workers who already can't feed their families don't want health care, they want to be able to feed their hungry kids. They asked for a salary increase of 1200 LE instead. And went on strike for five days. They had meetings and held a sit in for five days in front of the Admin Building and the school got really really dirty. And after five days, they realized that it was an unfortunately pointless cause because the administration wasn't budging and they weren't getting paid. So they went back to work unhappy and hoping that the administration will follow through on the decision to discuss this after Christmas.
inshaAllah
This has to be one of my favorite Arabic sayings. It is used everywhere in every context. It is translated as "hopefully" or "God willing" So you can say " Will I see you tomorrow?" and you can respond "inshaAllah". That's fine. And so on and so on. But what kills me is when the teachers say "Tomorrow, you will have a quiz/test/midterm inshaAllah" Hopefully I will have a quiz tomorrow? How am I supposed to be hopeful about that, or God willing I take it tomorrow. God willing what? I pass it? Should I pray to God right before I take it or should I study my butt off because its going to be that hard? Also, I'm pretty sure that it is you Osteza who decides the quizzes and you should probably already know that most of the students aren't that hopeful that you give us one. In fact, I'm pretty sure they're hoping that you DONT give us a quiz/test./midterm. Okay, I know I'm reading into this a little too much, and that context isn't exactly what you mean, but still, it makes me laugh every time you say it. So does saying "Homework IN a piece of paper" :)
Reese's and Bacon
This is quite a large bone of contention with me as most of you who've had any sort of conversation with me in the past 3 months already know. One is understandable, the other NOT AT ALL! This is Egypt okay? This is home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world and has one of the only surviving ancient wonders of the world in the middle of their freakin mega city and nowhere and I mean absolutely no where can you find Reese's Peanut Butter cups. And if you know me really well, you know that I have looked. EVERYWHERE. They. Do. Not. Exist. You import everything else, including some pretty ridiculous and unnecessary things, so get on the ball and get me some Reese's . I have even gone as far as googling "Reese's in Egypt" and "Where can I find Reese's in Egypt" (I got instead "Jake Gyllenhaal Rumored Buying Engagment Ring, Whisks Reese" .....WTF?!?!) As for bacon (real bacon) you can't find that either. But its not kosher and pigs are dirty dirty animals that are not allowed for religious reasons, so okay. I can live with and accept that. Beef bacon is just not the same though. In fact, I usually won't even eat. But let it be known that with the 20 USD that I didn't exchange, I am buying more than one bacon egg and cheese from a DD's (which also don't exist here) as soon as I get off that plane at JFK at 5 am. Don't judge. In fact, if you see me over break, show up with a BEC and I'll probably kiss you.
Beds
Suck! Egyptians sleep on cement, I swear to God. I had a legit cloud that I slept in at school. I absolutely loved my bed. If you sat on it, you would sink, and if I was in it, you probably couldn't find my legs. Too many down comforters and blankets, but it was beyond fabulous. I have upgraded to a piece of plywood I think. I have to sleep on the thing they call a comforter because I would be in serious need of a chiropractor if I didn't. Actually, I might need one anyways....
Okay, this is turning into a bitter rant. Or maybe just a rant. But this is what happens when nothing happens in November. Maybe its the perpetual sun that is getting to me. At any rate, I have 2 days of school left before I am off to lay on a beach and drink martinis for 10 days (inshaAllah) I hope you all aren't too cold and snowed in at home yet and I'm sure after vacation I wont be as bitter and will have some sort of adventure to talk about, not just Egyptian nuances.
Ta Ta!
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